On a recent assignment for Getaway, Paul Maughan-Brown and I covered more than 5000km in search of social isolation. Here’s what we found along the way.
It was on a stretch of road up towards Namaqualand that the first pang of travel-thrill hit me. We had just passed an arm of a wind turbine (have you any idea how big those things are?) being transported on the back of a long truck, the GPS showed a small vehicle slowly edging its way along an expansive map and Paul’s music didn’t seem to be all that bad. I breathed in as joy enveloped me and promptly sent a tweet to Getaway HQ, rubbing in the fact that I was on the road and they weren’t.
Besides never-ending road, what lay before us was a three-week assignment to some of the best places South Africa has to offer, with the only requirements being restricted cellphone and WiFi-signal, and ideally 4×4 access. Our journey took us from rocky Richtersveld to lush greens of KZN’s coastal bush, with a myriad of altitudes in between.
Here are some of the photographs from the assignment – get the latest issue for the full story, and destination details!
Namqualand.
Namqualand.
Richtersveld.
Richtersveld.
Richtersveld.
Groenfontein.
Groenfontein.
Groenfontein.
Gamkaberg.
Gamkaberg.
Gamkaberg.
Gamkaberg.
Baviaanskloof.
Baviaanskloof.
Baviaanskloof.
Tankwa Karoo.
Tankwa Karoo.
Bakkrans.
Bakkrans.
Bakkrans.
Bakkrans – Photo by Teagan Cunniffe
Mtentu.
Mtentu.
Mtentu.
Brides Veil.
Brides Veil.
IThala.
IThala – Photo by Teagan Cunniffe
IThala.
Mabibi.
Mabibi.
Mabibi – Photo by Teagan Cunniffe
Kosi Forest Lodge.
Kosi Forest Lodge.
Kosi Forest Lodge.
Kosi Forest Lodge.
For how to get off the grid – and more gorgeous photos – check out our August 2014 issue!
August issue of Getaway magazine: on shelves now!
