Have you heard about the case of the headless bodies discovered in a prestigious Cape Town suburb? Body after lifeless body littered pretty gardens, heads nowhere to be found. The spaces had some things in common: big trees, a pool of water, which got some sleuths excited. The garden owners themselves, however, were spooked. Wouldn’t you be if your koi were disappearing one by costly one?
Pel’s fishing owl by Derek Keats.
But if there’s one reason Newlandites would forgive such an outrage, it is this: the prime suspect is that most mysterious, magnificent and secretive creature, the Pel’s fishing owl. What on earth is it doing in Cape Town? That’s the mystery (read more on page 15 of this month’s issue).
The wild live among us more than we realise. I’ll never forget walking in Newlands Forest a few years ago when into the clearing where I’d chosen to sit down trotted a caracal. It regarded me impassively as it padded on past, with its lithe caramel body and big paws. But I felt like I’d been touched by magic. Wild, or green, spaces are important for us humans, and especially for our children.
Some of you may have heard about Forest Schools, which exist in the US, UK and most Scandinavian countries. It’s found that children coming out of them have stronger social and creative skills, independence and greater self-confidence. In forests, state the schools, the children’s innate curiosity is developed, as is their motivation to learn. But, more vitally, kids form a connection with nature when playing in it. This is crucial for our planet because nothing is protected if it’s not recognised as important, and connection is the first step towards this recognition.
On 5 June, it’s World Environment Day, with a focus on the illegal trade in wildlife. On 8 June, it’s World Oceans Day. I think we’d all agree these environments need support, as do its warriors.
In South Africa, we’re lucky to have remarkable green spaces, and people who will fight for them, sometimes to the death, like the phenomenally brave Sikhosiphi ‘Bazooka’ Rhadebe, who died protecting the Xolobeni coastal dunes from being mined for titanium. These are the fights we nature-loving South Africans should be throwing our weight and money behind (as opposed to raising an extraordinary figure for a waitress who wasn’t tipped). And very importantly, we should be getting our children out into nature so they can pick up the baton where we leave off.
Almost every page of our June issue has ideas of how and where to take them. Why not start with a beautiful mountain destination (on pages 36 and 68), or Tsitsikamma’s amazing forest (page 86), or bucolic Philippolis (page 123), or Mauritius, even (page 80)? They will be rewarded with the richest experiences, and will hopefully, in turn, protect the green spaces that are important.
To our readers
Read about ‘Bazooka’ Rhadebe’s fight in his obituary on Daily Maverick. You can also find out more about Forest Schools and support the Urban Caracal Project. And if you feel more militant about the illegal wildlife trade, support the warriors of Sea Shepherd.
We’d love to hear from you. Mail us at [email protected].
Contributors this month
Naomi Roebert
Freelance travel writer Naomi loves nothing better than the bushveld in the late afternoon, when the earth is alive with the smell of a passing thundershower and the map of the stars starts unfolding in the sky. This year she traced the stars all the way home to Philippolis, Karoo (page 123).
Ryan Scott
A modern-day alchemist who has discovered the secret
to turning daydreams into reality, Ryan has this year already travelled to Jamaica, NY, Dassiesfontein and, most recently, Switzerland, where his chosen mode of transport in the snow was a fat bike (page 94).
Morgan Trimble
Originally from Kansas, the ‘Free State of America’, award- winning photographer and writer Morgan has travelled from Myanmar to Miami and many places in between. With a PhD in ecology and a passion for the wilderness, she’s now exploring SA – this issue she hiked the Tsitsikamma Trail (page 86).
This story first appeared in the June 2016 issue of Getaway magazine.
Our June issue is packed full of great winter holiday ideas. On shelves from 23 May.
