MZANZI TRAVEL - ISSUE 3

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Explore Hidden Gems Our regular feature in which we visit some unique, hidden-away and off-the-beaten-track places you probably didn’t know existed…but which are truly worth a mind-blowing visit. Daniel S Edwards /www.shutterstock.com InnaFelker /www.shutterstock.com Pascal RATEAU /www.shutterstock.com Go to Gugs for some ‘Loxion Kulcha’ No visit to Cape Town is complete without a tour of Gugulethu, or Gugs as it is affectionately known by locals, while also taking in the other surrounding townships, or ‘locations’ such as Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Langa. This is a lifetime opportunity to brush up on your ‘loxion kulcha’, which is local slang for ‘location culture’. ‘Location’ refers to the apartheid-era government’s designation of segregated African townships that were established on the outskirts of all major cities and towns to house migrant labour from the ‘bantustan’ rural areas. You’ll learn all about this when taking one of a number of excellent tours available. What started as symbols of oppression, are today centres of vibrant and colourful activity and township life. The highlight of any visit to Gugs is a feast of dance, dining and wining (more like beer or whisky, though) at Mzoli’s, which is variously known as Mzoli’s Place, Mzoli’s Butchery or Mzoli’s Meat. Try out your latest dance moves to some riveting kwaito music; 54 |ISSUE 3|www.mzanzitravel.co.za | MZANZI TRAVEL
Explore feast on huge chunks of meat braai’d on open fires; or just mingle and chat with the sexy, fashionable crowd. Mzoli’s is endorsed by famous people like DJ Fresh and TV chef Jamie Oliver and is a favourite for all who have made it, the local glitterati, the aspiring wanna-be-seens and the kings and queens of bling, as well as tourists and locals from all over Cape Town and the country. Get into the groove and you will never want to leave the party. The various township tours on offer will take you to a variety of interesting places and activities, including the Amy Biehl Memorial (created in remembrance of the American exchange student who came to South Africa to make a difference and was sadly murdered here during the political disturbances); the Maboneng Township Art Experience; visit the Seven Stones memorial; various guided walking or cycling tours; visiting the shanty towns where you can interact with locals; ride around in an iphela (local taxi); visit a sangoma (traditional healer); shop at the Gugulethu Square Mall; enjoy some beer at one of a number of shebeens (taverns); buy some essentials at a spaza shop; buy locally hand-made arts and crafts; and much more. If you have partied too much for the drive back home, you can always stay overnight in one of a number of excellent B&Bs. A number of experienced operators offer tours, including LaGuGu Tours email info@lagugu.co.za or Tel +27 (0)79 612 2108 or +27 (0)72 692 8159; Siviwe Tours siviwe@townshiptourscapetown. co.za or Tel +27 (0)76 483 5539; or Nomvuyo’s Tours Tel +27 (0)83 372 9131 or info@nomvuyos-tours.co.za. Millwood Gold Mining Town, Knysna Hidden deep in the dense Knysna Forest is something no-one would expect: a ghost gold mining town dating back to the 1880s, or what is left of it. Of all the most unlikely places, this was once the scene of a frenzied gold rush and a booming mining town – complete with homes, hotels, lively boarding houses, general stores, perhaps a brothel or two, a busy post office with a weekly mail service between the town and Knysna, a police station and even a hospital! It even preceded the famous Johannesburg gold rush. What remains of it today in the silence of the forest is a single miner’s cottage, some mine shafts with rails and diggers’ carts, an eerie grave-yard, some foundations of buildings and ghost-like street signs marking now overgrown and mostly invisible streets. In the 1880s prospectors found signs of alluvial gold here. The news soon spread and triggered a mad gold rush by fortune-seekers from as far away as California, the United Kingdom and Australia. Within just a few weeks some two thousand mining claims were pegged on the Millwood gold fields, and an entire village sprung up here. Sadly, within the first year only a measly 656 ozs of gold were recovered and by 1890 virtually all the mining activities collapsed. The miners packed up and left, rushing off to the gold reefs of Johannesburg. Today, save for some haunting reminders, the entire village has again been reclaimed by the forest. Even so, you can still walk its streets and imagine what it was like, or venture into a mining shaft, or visit the little mining museum. Tours of the mining village are on offer, or you can walk it by yourself, while the beautiful surroundings make for a lovely hike. There is a museum, a store, a shed with recovered original mining equipment and a coffee shop as well. The old ghost town can easily be accessed, and for more extensive forest hikes permits can be purchased. Contacts: Goudveld Forestry Station – Tel +27 (0)44 389 0129; Thesen Island Office - +27 (0)44 302 5600. St Blaize Trail, Mossel Bay… spectacular seaside cliffs and ancient human settlements The 13.5km St Blaize Trail, one of the most spectacular hiking trails in South Africa, runs along the contours of high cliffs, pounded by the sea below. The trail dips down to secluded little beaches and large rock pools, as well as to a series of caves which archaeologists discovered were the site of some of the oldest human settlements dating back 162,000 years, also providing a unique record of the climate from about 400,000 to 30,0000 years ago. Artefacts of Khoisan communities dating back 80,000 years were also discovered here, including middens consisting mainly of shells – also used to make ornamental beads - that indicated these early residents had lived largely on a diet of shellfish. The trail starts at the big cave below the working lighthouse – which you can visit or stay in – at The Point in Mossel Bay. Or you can start the hike at the other end at Dana Bay. The trail is generally an easy and comfortable hike along a good pathway that runs mostly high up along the cliffs. It also forms part of the greater Oystercatcher trail starting at the Gourits River mouth. Halfway along the trail you’ll pass Pinnacle Point Golf Course and the nearby casino. But other than that you will be alone with nature in all its glory, including dramatic sea views and plenty of fynbos. Boardwalks and stairways will at times lead you down to tiny beaches and some of the caves. Visits to archaeological sites can be arranged. Contacts: Mossel Bay Tourism Tel +27 (0) 44 691 2202. For archaeological sites www.humanorigin.co.za. Magwa…waterfalls, magical forest and tea plantation In the Wild Coast region of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, close to the small towns of Lusikisiki and Port St John’s, lies a beautiful forested area interspersed by deep ravines, rivers, waterfalls and…a large tea plantation. Known as Magwa, the area is home to the spectacular Magwa Falls and the 1,800 hectare Magwa tea plantation, the oldest, largest and, some say, last remaining working tea plantation in South Africa. MZANZI TRAVEL| www.mzanzitravel.co.za|ISSUE 3 | 55
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MZANZI TRAVEL - ISSUE 3

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