https://www.southafrica.net/uk/en/travel Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

And because we never give you a day off, today’s weekend homework is in the Xhosa of native tongues on International Language Day.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting South Africa and done their prep will know about the unique throat-clicking Xhosa lingo.

Which is spoken as a first language by 8 million people and as a second language in South Africa.

Particularly in Nelson Mandela’s Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng, and also in parts of Zimbabwe and Lesotho.

Which try as you may, or badger your guide Seseko, you will almost certainly never be able to master.

One of the many joys of visiting foreign shores is learning a few words in the local lingua.

Always a better idea than holding up two fingers and shouting slowly ‘Beero’ at a Spanish waiter like some we could mention.

Parla Italiano

What a carthorse: Daughterie carries me around

Of course sometimes you can overreach.

Just as this cretino did on a family holiday to La Citta Eterna.

When I tried out some of the Italian I had learned in my conversational language class.

And greeted the concierge as we would come back at night with a cheery…

‘Bueno Notte e sogni d’oro’.

Which I only learned on my return from Il Bel Paese when my bewildered teacher Donata asked me how I’d got on means…

‘Good night and dreams of gold’.

Bangladeshi bangers

Asmery old time: With Bangladeshi Asmery

Now every day should be an International Language Day but seeing that it’s today a history lesson… see, we do work you.

ILD has been around since 1999 but had its origins in the Bangladesh freedom fight of 1952 when they were known as East Bengal.

And the now Bangladeshis were pushing for recognition of their Bengali language as an official central state language instead of a provincial language.

So, if you’re reading and I know you will be Ms Bangladesh Asmery from Barbados days, this one’s for you.

And Seseko… and here’s how to speak Xhosa. Good luck.

Africa, Countries

Get me out to Kruger wonderland

4th September 20254th September 2025 funtime65

David Haye, Gemma Collins and Harry Redknapp can be heroes if they like, but get me out to Kruger wonderland, and we’ll do it our way.

As the I’m a Celebrity all-stars ready themselves to decamp to South Africa we, of course, aim our sights higher.

No slumming for us as we check out the Untamed At Satara offer, in the exclusive Satara Plains Camp.

Now we know money is no object to the likes of The GC but we save hard to go on holiday.

So we need to make every rand of the 4,950pps (£206) per night until the end of the season in 30 September, count.

Too tense, this is suite

Fourmidable: Mark, Randanaman, Issy and Iain

Our campers will be housed in tented suites, with no comfort spared.

All meals are created by on camp chefs, no amateurs here.

And all house beverages, including selected South African wines (remember to put your ice in your white wine.

And there are two safari activities per day.

Ignoring, of course, the evidence of this picture of this South African game reserve Gang of Four.

You’re the celebrity

You are treated like a real celebrity on safari.

With the best rangers who use high-tech equipment, and even better, their wits to track the Big Five.

Although we can’t promise that you’ll be as lucky and find a new cheetah mum Thandie and her cubs.

Nestling under a bush.

You’d need intrepid Zimbabwean tracker Hewart, for that.

And we can’t see our old Scots-Springbok pal and host Iain at Mount Camdeboo letting him go.

Carry on camping

Now our pals at Satara will be packing up camp to return it solely to the animals before pitching again in May.

So whether you do watch the antics of the C-listers on I’m A Celeb or SA has always been a bucket list.

You’ll probably be thinking like me and saying get me out to Kruger wonderland.

Africa, Food & Wine

All I do each night is braai

2nd November 20242nd November 2024 funtime65

With apologies to Take That, and in my defence it is to promote Gary Barlow’s Wine Tour: South Africa, I have ‘all I do each night is braai’ running around my head.

The braai, or barbecue, as South Africans are quick to tell you is a religion in the Rainbow Nation, only matched by rugby.

And viewers of Gary’s Wine Tour which kicks off on November 11 on ITV will see the great man chomp through boerewors and sosaties (that’s spiced sausages and skewered meat to you and me).

All against the backdrops of stunning and varied South African scenery.

Bok for good

Along the way Gary will be joined by pals from the showbiz world.

Including music producer Eliot Kennedy, Michaela Strachan, Ben Shephard, Jane McDonald and Mica Paris.

The first episode sees Gary, who boasts his own brand, dive straight in to South African viticulture.

Gary and best buddy Eliot are Bok for good (soz) for a crash course at the Spier Wine Farm in Franschhoek.

Before tucking into their braai.

Never veldt better

After a restorative wine themed spa treatment, the boys head off to try their hand at wine blending.

Before a drive up into the mountains to learn the art of pairing great food with the right tipple.

And they finish with a spectacular drive along the coast to Camps Bay.

Where they try a glass of Gary’s favourite wine in the shadow of the Twelve Apostles.

Of course, the first piece of advice South Africans will give you, and you can have this for free, is put ice in your white wine.

The rand tour

But we imagine that Gary and his SA pals will tell you that… and much, much more.

While you’ll also get a peek through the keyhole at the Kruger National Park (staying at Kruger Shalati).

And Johannesburg (where he resides at Sanctuary Mandela)

And we’ll keep you updated here with Gary and his South Africanophile pals as he progresses through the republic.

Now SA is just two hours ahead of the UK and your pound will fetch 22 SA Rand.

Flight of fancy

Get the Braai on: Port Elizabeth township

If you’re thinking of your long-haul trip for next year.

While there is increased flight capacity into Cape Town in 2025.

With Norse Atlantic flying three times weekly from Gatwick.

Triple daily flights from Heathrow (January-March) with British Airways.

And an extension of Virgin Atlantic‘s season through to the end of April.

It’s been a few years since I was last in SA and watching the sneak preview of Gary Barlow’s series.

I can honestly say all I do each night is braai hoping that I’ll be a part of you again some day.

Africa, Countries, Food & Wine

South Africa is a rand old team to pay for

5th October 20245th October 2024 funtime65

Special delivery just in on long-haul value… South Africa is a rand old team to pay for.

We’ve been along to the post office to this week to exchange currency.

And, of course, listened intently to our postmasters on where people have been going.

And for those who like to get well away from it all, the long-haulers, that is South Africa.

That is backed up by a survey from Post Office Travel Money.

Pot of gold over the Rainbow Nation

Get the Braai on: Port Elizabeth township, South Africa

They reveal that the Rainbow Nation has beaten 31 other resorts and cities to claim top spot for the first time in six years.

Which is about how long it has been since we visited the Capes.

We’ll put the gap before Post Office customers came to their senses.

And restored SA back to its rightful top spot down to things like Covid and cost-of-living crises.

Because it seems a no-brainer that the jewel of southern Africa should be the best value.

And most rewarding of any of the options out there.

Now the natural beauty, wildlife, versatility, culture and history of South Africa speak for themselves and are entertainment on tap.

Time of your life

Table is set: And food and drink flowing

But what separates South Africa for British tourists is that it lies on a similar time range.

Just an hour ahead which means that there is no jet lag.

And, of course, they speak English, although it is fun and is recommended to try any one of the 11 other official languages.

With our favourite being Xhosa, the back-of-the-throat clicking language spoken in the Eastern Cape.

For the Post Office survey destinations were rated by ten staple items.

So that would be a cup of filter coffee, a 330ml bottle of local lager, a 330ml bottle of cola, a 175ml glass of wine and a cocktail for drinks.

While the staples also include a small chocolate bar, a 1.5l bottle of supermarket mineral water, a 200ml bottle of suncream, a 50ml tube/bottle of insect repellent.

And a three-course evening meal for two adults including a bottle of house wine.

And remember that to go truly native then you need to drink your wine with ice cubes in it.

While every self-respecting South African pines for a braai, or barbecue.

Now Cape Town comes out on top with this basket costing £55.59.

Where the price is right

For Asianophiles Tokyo and Hoi Ann in Vietnam come in second and third.

While we are heartened to see that St James in Barbados sits in a respectable 26th with their basket costing £141.29… without the rum!

Of course we would urge not to penny pinch on holiday and not to be put off your dream destinations for a few dollars more.

And if the Post Office basket of staples does cost £163 in New York, £164 in Costa Rica and £165 in Sydney don’t let that be your dealbreaker.

You can always economise when you get home.

That said we’ll always jump on the chance to big up the Rainbow Nation.

And are glad to confirm South Africa is a rand old team to pay for.

Africa, Countries

Join the Mandela Line and vote

26th May 202426th May 2024 funtime65

With this year seeing more people getting to elect their leaders than at any time in history let’s not waste our hard-earned right… let’s join the Mandela Line and vote.

Apathy when there’s a democratic deficiency and change is dressed up as a broken status quo is understandable.

And when we’ve fallen into the trap Aldous Huxley warned us of that our leaders would anaesthetise us.

By giving us exactly what we’ve been asking for, rampant consumerism and instant gratification, it is understandable.

And will explain why we’re more interested in voting contestants in and out of Love Island, I’m A Celeb and Big Brother than politicians to parliament.

A line of election activists

Not to sneer, of course, at those who think Big Brother is a Geordie voiceover rather than the OG (that’s Gen Z for original) George Orwell’s all-seeing dictator.

And that’s because our ancestors struggled, protested and often fought and died for our right to vote.

Much like they did, and more, in South Africa.

So that the 98% of the population could have the government that reflected them.

And have their moment, as they did, 40 years ago.

Queueing overnight in most instances to vote for the Great Man.

Everyone a voter

You will meet them when you visit the Rainbow Nation and be sure to ask them of their experience.

All parts of the republic from Amos, the waiter we met in Graaff-Reinet, who was involved in the armed struggle.

To game reserve owner Iain in Mount Cambedoo.

The vast majority of whom will wax lyrical.

About how heroic Madiba, the Father of the Nation was, and continues to be.

Port of call

The Voting Line is reflected and symbolised in the metal installation we found in the Donkin Reserve in Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha since we visited.

Where our guide par excellence Siseko got us to the end of the line to stand next to South Africa’s saviour.

For South Africa, of course, we can read America, Britain, India, and anywhere around the world.

And a reminder that 60 countries of four billion people which is half the population of the world are voting this year.

So get to the polling station because it is everyone’s duty to join the Mandela Line and vote.

All major airlines fly out to South Africa and remember it is on the same Greenwich Mean Time so there will be no time adjustment.

Only the South Africans appreciate so much more the gift that is a free vote.

Africa, America, Countries, UK

Get Black History Month

8th October 20228th October 2022 funtime65

He’s a bit of a forgotten Commander in Chief but he is the US President who did get Black History Month… he brought it to the masses

Gerald Ford officially recognised the programme in 1976, the bicentenary of the USA.

When he called on the public to: ‘seize the opportunity to honour the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavour throughout our history.’

Of course theirs is February to mark the birthday months of the Great Emancipator Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

Ours in Britain is October and dates back to 1987 to mark 150 years of emancipation in the Caribbean.

Of course black history isn’t and shouldn’t be restricted to either February or October.

And while I’ve had to seek out black history myself around the world thankfully it is taught now in schools.

And, of course, it isn’t a black and white issue, these black icons should be everyone’s icons.

We share your dream

Dr Martin Luther King: A leader for the ages and how we could do with his like today.

You can follow in Dr King’s footsteps throughout the Deep South from his birthplace of Atlanta, Georgia.

Through the bridge protest in Selma, Alabama to his final days in Memphis, Tennessee.

And his memorial in the unfinished statue in Washington DC, unfinished because it can’t be completed until the struggle is.

Sweet Harriet

Harriet Tubman: And even before the film of her life Harriet was immortalised in song in Swing Low, Sweet Harriet.

And you thought it was an England rugby song…

No, she was coming for to carry me home (the black slaves of the Civil War era, that is).

And you can see how she did it at the Slave Haven in Memphis.

Rightly now she stands proud on pedestals in the modern-day Oo Es of Eh, and most poignantly in her home state of Maryland.

The long march

Nelson Mandela: Mandela’s status and reach marks him out as the only statesman icon of our age.

With nearly 300 locations named after the first post-Apartheid President of South Africa.

Of course there were those, take a bow Glasgow who would rename the street on which the SA embassy was after Mandela.

So correspondence would be delivered to Nelson Mandela Place.

Mandela rests for eternity in his native Eastern Cape in inland in Qunu where they still speak his gullet-clicking Xhosa language.

Redemption Song

Bob Marley: And while there are other deserving black legends of music none pioneered black political empowerment quite like the King of Reggae.

Marley emboldened black people through his musical message at a time when racism was institutionalised throughout the UK and the world.

Of course pilgrims pay homage to Bob in his native Caribbean at mases (concerts) like the One Love gog I attended at Barbados Crop Over.

But most especially in his native and much-referenced Kingston in Jamaica.

Sweet Mary

Mary Seacole: Much though still needs to be done to level up with those we put on a pedestal.

And it is instructive that when the British government set up their emergency hospitals during Covid they called them Nightingales.

After Florence, whose harsh matronly rule of the hospitals out in Crimea are now being revisited by historians.

While Jamaican-born Mary is only recently being studied in schools.

Flo, we should remember, also turned Mary away, probably on account of her race, but she went on to set up her own hospital.

But Flo gets her own museum and gentle Mary must make do with a reference in the London Museum.

All something then to explore as we get Black History Month.

Tag: https://www.southafrica.net/uk/en/travel

In the Xhosa of native tongues on International Language Day