Comic Life : 2008
Comic Life is the in-flight magazine for kulula.com airline. A captive readership of approximately 250 000 every month makes it South Africa's most widely read monthly magazine. With a light-hearted tone and practical subject matter, it's a great flight companion (and a good excuse to chat with - or ignore - the stranger sitting next to you!)
I compiled a selection of town and city guides each month for the duration of 2008.
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Juicy June City Guides / Cape Town
David Donde is a self-dubbed coffee evangelist, eligible culture vulture and connoisseur of all things authentic who still skriks his broeke when the
David marvels that we think of
“I think
“I think it attracted the creatives from around the country with its beauty and dynamics. You know - what has; gets.”
“Food and wine capital of
Favourite restaurant?
“Depends on what you’re looking for.” Top would be Aubergine (impeccable service) or Ginja (extraordinary food). More accessible favourites include Vasco Da Gama Pub and Sloppy Sam, Greenpoint. For a real feel, Zarina’s in
What should we really boast about?
"I’ve been mountain biking all over, it’s got the best mountain biking in the world."
Something special to do while you’re here that the locals totally take for granted
“Take a car up
“Political pessimism – assuming that the bad that we’ve got is any worse than the bad that anybody else has. Crime. We sit in a dichotomy of 1st world and 3rd world and we somehow take the bad bits out of both.”
“tear up lots of bureaucracy. We’ve taken it on without taking advantage of it”
Does
“Sexier women.”
“
If you could build anywhere regardless of council law or existing infrastructure…
“There’s a trailer park just beyond Simon’s Town that has the most amazing rocks and contact with the sea. I’d build there.”
How many Cape Towns are there?
“The Northern Suburbs, the Southern Suburbs, and the Atlantic Seaboard (
Something that we probably all agree on? “The clarity of light in
Parting thought
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you!
Bored? Stuff to do.
Veteran Entertainer and music maestro, Andy Lund, is at it again. This the tribute show chaperone is teaming up with friends and making his own music. Andy Lund & the Mission Men release their album, Soundtrack For A Muted Heart, on the 7th June at the
ART
Art is odd. Sometimes awesome. But always interesting. And galleries are where you get it. What If The World Gallery was recently included in Contemporary Magazine’s (
NATURE
Go play with the Aliens! Rather than hide from the cold, embrace the open air with a walk through the pines and feinbos while you still can. The pleasant but ecologically problematic mix of indigenous and other species is slowly being returned to its original condition. You’ll need a pair of gumboots and a warm coat for a good gallop in the wet. Borrow a dog or some restless children and take an easy stroll in Newlands forest,
Bet you didn’t think…
you could go caving in
Knsyna - Forests , vleis and getaway fantasies
Think forests and fish eagles, seafood and sea.
Voice Of The Hills
Meet Saney Martin. He’s been a seaman, a cab driver, a milkman, a man apart and a Knysna area local for the best part of forty years.The bright eyed and bushy bearded Scout leader is also the captain of the Loose Goose and a fountain of knowledge, wisdom and wit on the greater area. His version of a day job involves gandering about on the Sedgefield lagoons giving the low-down on naughty habits of birds of a feather. The something-year old might spend his days on the water, but his humour is dry as a duck.
Is Knysna centre still the same?
“It’s changed a lot in 30 years. It was a homely village before; you walked into the post office and didn’t have to give your name – they knew you. About 25 years ago, I started noticing, the Tourist busses coming all year round, and that’s when this place ‘took off’” .(wry smile)
How have the demographics changed?
In those days you had the early hippies living out in the bush – all these Freaks doing leatherwork and jewellery. The Rastafarians are a recent arrival – the last 10-15 years.
Are attitudes to recycling changing out here in paradise?
They’re generally lax. The town that’s best at recycling is Sedgefield, the smallest town of them all. It’s in Knysna’s municipality. Sedgefield locals insisted, so the council actually recycles. Also, on the Sedgefield ‘island’ they’ve taken it upon themselves to erect perches for fish eagles, and the conservancy gets experts from the parks board to advise them (on greening the area) ; biologists, horticulturalists – the best.
A lot of people have solar heating, and there’s a new system of evacuated tubes for heating. It works super efficiently.
A lot of people are starting to run their diesel bakkies on used cooking oil. You filter it properly, have your vehicle fitted with filters and pre-heaters. Driving behind them is really nice, because it reminds you of chips!
What could be done better?
The municipality tries its best, and there are a lot of fuddy-duddies who will complain about everything, but they should’ve had a traffic bypass around Knysna a long, long time ago. Through
There’s a lot of traffic on this part of the N2 – and a lot of speeding cameras!
Kaiman’s river has had a lot of accidents. There’s a peculiar arrangement there. They’ve now lowered the one side of the road so that trucks don’t go over the edge. There’s a camera right before that bend (towards Knysna) with a 40km and 60km limit in each lane, so EVERYBODY slows.
Tales from your homestead?
Once we had a goose who was pretty nasty, and people used to hoot at the gate not because of any dog, but because of the goose! We used to cut bamboo sticks and have them lying around near the doorstep because that guy would grab hold of your clothing and beat you with his wings!
The monkeys saw us harvesting carrots one day and the next day all the carrots were gone. Monkey see, monkey do. So we harvested the beetroots at night. (another wry smile)
Give Knysna a title?
The place where the forests are.
Parting thought
We don’t want a bottom fence. (his land opens into the indigenous forest)
So much beauty, so much to do
Road trip au natural
Take the old forest route between George and Knysna for a true view of the wild and the wonderful and a different way to get form A to B. It’s not hard to find with GPS or by asking a local. It runs off Knysna road in George (N9 / N12) and comes out past Bibbeyshoek onto the N2 just before Knysna itself. The meandering gravel road cuts neatly through the lush, indigenous bush with a fair few exits to the coastal strip and the N2. It has little traffic, and unlike the N2, there are no speed cameras. A leisurely pace, however, is the wisest way to navigate its blind corners and sudden troupes of baboons (please don’t feed them). Take your time and take in the view!
A
If you thought bird watching was for the - well, birds; then you haven’t taken a trip on the Loose Goose. The comfortable, amiable boat trawls the waters of the Swartvlei lake all year round. A lake trip offers the insightful observations of it’s captain, Saney Young, who keeps a birdy - I mean beady - eye on his feathered friends. For incredible views you’ll never get from the road or the forest path, glide around on the Goose. Good with sundowners, and family friendly to closely supervised children.
SO Your Wild Oats…
hunting for local curious or just curious about the locals? The Sedgefield Saturday morning market is the place to go, naturally. Combining the talents and tastes of the Wild Oats Community Farmers Market and the Scarab Village Craft Market, this community co-operative brings together the best of indigenous, organic produce and crafty craft. Year round with seasonal hours. Cnr N2 & Jan Van Riebeeck Sts, Sedgefield www.tourismsedgefield.co.za tel 044 883 1177
Labels: arts, comic life, culture, music, print, tourism, travel
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10:08
