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STRANGER THINGS ON YOUR PLATE EXPLORE

tomato, one type of lettuce and one type of Future 50 Foods campaign, in conjunction MIXED DIET
apple. If you were lucky, your grocer carried with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Kiwi fruit (far left) entered
yellow as well as red onions. Today you’ll find by stating that 75% of the global food supply American supermarkets thanks
what you think are ‘ordinary’ products like comes from only 12 plant and five animal to one woman; an annual vine in
black garlic, habanero peppers and litchis in species. Just three (rice, maize and wheat) the cucumber and melon family,
your supermarket because people like Caplan make up nearly 60% of calories from plants African horned melons (centre)
pushed these products with a ‘once you try it, in the entire human diet, which excludes are also called African horned
you’ll love it’ approach. many valuable sources of nutrition. You might cucumbers, jelly melons, kiwano,
be getting enough calories, but hedged gourd, and melano;
If, like me, you’re a fussy eater, Caplan’s Bambara groundnuts (above) are
approach might frighten you. I shy away among the foods cited on the Knorr
from strange textures such as the caviar- Future 50 Foods campaign list
like bubbles inside a finger lime. Or the dark
green, mushy pulp of an African horned
melon. The downside of being a food ninny is
that if I’d lived in the 1960s, litchis would have
been such a strange fruit, I probably never
would have ventured to try one. And that
would have been very sad…

Vitality in variety

According to the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, there
are between 20 000 and 50 000 discovered
species of edible plants in the world, yet
only between 150 and 200 are regularly
consumed by humans, which negatively
impacts our health and the health of our
planet. Knorr reiterates this fact in their

Farrel Hirsch, head chef at Greenhouse Obakeng Leepile, owner of FoYoKo Dave Caras, Woolworths Foods
restaurant in Cape Town (Food You Know) Sorghum is a good example of a beautiful
There are so many foreign and local fruits, For me, the marula fruit needs to be a staple on and very tasty indigenous grain. Cook and, while
vegetables and grains that are not known. our supermarket shelves, also wild medlar (high still warm, dress it with olive oil and lemon juice
I love using madumbi, a local African potato. in vitamin C and tastes a bit like apples), raw and use as the base for a salad. Or slowly cook
Spekboom is also a great diverse ingredient, cacao beans and African horned cucumber. like a risotto, allow it to become creamy and
there are so many ways you can use this plant. It then flavour it with any number of combinations.
is tart and works well with venison and fish. We
pickle it and serve it on a pre-dessert to counter
the sweet aspect of the dish.

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a diet as limited as this does not provide of the severity of symptoms for those born Fourways-based clinical nutritionist Desi
nearly enough vitamins and minerals to keep with corn allergies. Gluten intolerance and Horsman says that only a select few people
you CrossFitting at your best. The Knorr list related allergies have also led the way for will shift toward ancient grains because of
consists of vegetables, grains, cereals, seeds, ancient grains like teff, amaranth and fonio allergies, even though ancient grains make
legumes and nuts from across the globe and to take a bow in the spotlight. The Bambara up a large part of Knorr’s Future 50 Foods
has been developed to inspire greater variety people of Mali have a saying that ‘fonio never list. ‘I don’t think it will be for the broader
in what we cook and eat. Many indigenous embarrasses the cook’ as it is so easy to population, more for those who are struggling
African foods are found on the list, so get prepare and can be used in dishes to replace with an allergy or intolerance,’ she says.
ready to expand your taste portfolio with any grain. Sounds like a dinner-party winner!
Bambara groundnuts, cowpeas, fonio and Horsman believes that you should try the
finger millet. Many of the others are not LOOKS ODD, TASTES GREAT farm-to-fork approach. ‘The more processed
indigenous to Africa, and some aren’t readily The durian (above) is a tropical fruit and refined, the less ideal it is for your health.
available everywhere, but Knorr hopes that often banned from Southeast Asian We have so many indigenous wild foods in
working with their worldwide partners, they hotels because of its strong smell; South Africa, we contribute to about 119
can make all 50 foods a daily reality for all. these eyeball-like fruit on the left are different species and yet our choices are
from the highly-caffeinated Amazon mainly between those 12 plant species. We
Ainltloerlegriacn, ts…ensitive, guarana plant; the Buddha's hand should be doing better,’ she says. ‘To get all
citron (below) is a weird citrus fruit the minerals and vitamins you need, a more
The food landscape is changing to from Japan diverse diet is key. Certain foods will only feed
accommodate the rising number of people certain strains of your gut microbiome, and
with allergies. As the number of children you have hundreds of them – so you need
with soy allergies is on the rise, mung beans diversity. Our supermarkets must introduce
are replacing soybeans in most processed more than just the everyday foods. We thrive
foods. Potato starch, meanwhile, is replacing on easy – if it is hard for us to come by, or we
maize as the thickener of choice because don’t know how to peel it or cook it, it is not
sustainable in our diet.’

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Pictures: Wendy Lategan, Greenhouse Restaurant, photomaru/ iStock.com, ricardohossoe/istock.com, Supply and demand little known, customers in restaurants and Monoculture farming is harming us
David_Bokuchava/istock.com, olgakr/istock.com retailers are reluctant to order or buy them. and our planet, and we have to fight back
The argument for variety has many We generally stick to what we know. This by demanding more variety in what is
postulations – we eat what we know and buy reluctance drives a vicious circle. Chefs and offered to us, planting what we cannot
what is available, farmers grow what they retailers are hesitant to sell these products find, and lobbying those in power to ensure
can sell for a profit, and stores sell what we’ll because we as customers don’t buy them. agrobiodiversity for our country.
buy. It is a constant turntable of production, Farmers are reluctant to farm them because
distribution, consumption, availability, chefs and retailers are in turn reluctant to One thing to remember is that we can
affordability, convenience and desirability – all buy from them, and so on.’ demand more variety, but we can never
economic drivers of food system supply have it all. Some fruits, like the oft-discussed
and demand. Our dietary monotony is linked to a decline durian, have such an off-putting smell that
in agrobiodiversity (the diversity of plants stores refuse to stock them while others,
Kobus Pienaar, Farming for the Future and animals used in agriculture), threatening like the rose apple from Southern Asia, don’t
manager at Woolworths Foods, says that the the resilience of our food system and, in travel well and will end up bruised and soft by
value chain (current food system) only chases turn, limiting the breadth of food we can eat. the time they reach their destination. These
profit, and customers demand quick and Since 1900, a staggering 75% of the genetic apples are mostly eaten off the tree and are
easy solutions that can fit in their busy lives. plant diversity in agriculture has been lost. In not commercially available. So, saddle up
‘People also earn more money than a century Thailand, for example, the 16 000 varieties of your produce bandwagon wisely.
ago and coupled with technology, the human rice once cultivated have dropped to just 37.
diet has changed more in the last 50 years
than in all the years before that. Our food
system is flawed and has lost its connection
with nature,’ he says.

His colleague, Dave Caras, product
development manager for protein and
dairy, agrees: ‘As indigenous ingredients are

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s I patter away on the computer, Technology, ‘construct transport networks’ to
neurons hopefully firing, feeling rival those designed by humans. A specimen
if not like a superior member has been appointed the first ‘non-human
of Homo sapiens then at least a capable scholar in residence’ at a U.S. university. And
specimen, somewhere on a forest floor, you were worried about artificial intelligence
a slime mould is outperforming me. taking over your job! Ongoing discoveries
Slime mould is a strange beast. It was about the natural world are challenging
thought to be a fungus, but it’s not: it’s more what forms of life humans recognise as
like an amoeba, a single-celled critter. It’s sentient and smart beings – and thus our
not a plant, not an animal. It has no brain that entire relationship with our fragile planet.
corresponds to the convoluted organs we Anyone who’s been manipulated by a pet cat
mammals are used to. And yet it is smart. It or stared into a gorilla’s wise eyes knows it
can ‘hunt’, sending tendrils sneaking towards already: creatures have smarts. We’ve just
prey like fungi. It can figure its way through been a little slow (ahem) to recognise forms
mazes, ‘remember’ where it has been and, of intelligence other than our own.
according to the New Jersey Institute of

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SOLAR POWER But plant smarts are everywhere. Michael Pollan has written

Our most obviously neglected companions on the planet are plants about how species like potatoes and mari1juana have arguably ‘used’
– from carnivorous sundews, to baobabs that have lived for 4 000 humans to expand and thrive by making themselves desirable.

years, gathering who knows what knowledge. Pollan also wrote about Gagliano’s work in an article called

Australia-based academic Monica Gagliano has been trying to ‘The Intelligent Plant’. He notes that neurotransmitters such as

fathom how to get inside plant heads – extremely metaphorically. dopamine have been found in plants, not that they have neurons as

Besides plant language, she’s we know them. But something is co-

interested in learning and memory ordinating things.

and whether a plant can demonstrate Examples of unnervingly smart plant

either to us humans. Such matters are behaviour? Being able to communicate

the domain of psychology, or the study among themselves. We’ve known that

of human cognition, she’s written. She’s acacia trees not only pump out a tannin

challenging the fact that ‘neurons and to stop browsers overindulging in its

brains are the key’ to cognition. leaves, but send a chemical SOS to

She proved to her own satisfaction other trees. Neighbours then also up

that the ‘sensitive plant’ Mimosa their tannin levels, and force the kudu

pudica, which droops its leaves in or whatever to move along.

self-defence when touched or shaken, Scientists call this ‘signalling’

could learn to ignore her stimuli once rather than ‘talking’, but it is what it

it figured she wasn’t going to hurt it. is: communication.

‘They learned really fast, and they It gets really complex: when a

remember for a very long time,’ caterpillar bites into a lima bean leaf,

she wrote. the bean emits a chemical distress

She’s also worked with peas. signal. Not to other plants – but to

Using the concept of Pavlov’s dog wasps that then decimate the pests

(ring a bell = stimulus; salivating (they lay eggs in them). This rather

= being able to ‘imagine’ dinner suggests that the bean is perfectly

coming up), she taught pea plants aware of the existence of both

to anticipate food (light) by using caterpillars and wasps, which is more

a small fan. The fan indicated where than can be said for some humans’

the light would come from. And yes, knowledge of the interrelationships

the plants started reacting to the between things.

fan before any light was on offer –

getting a head start, as it were. ‘In

other words, the plant is imagining UNQUESTIONABLY

the food arriving,’ Gagliano said, during SMART

a keynote address at an event organised Neither plant nor animal, slime

by Bioneers, a nonprofit organisation that mould (pictured left ) comes in

promotes innovative solutions to global myriad colours and forms and

environmental and bio-cultural challenges. demonstrates intriguing forms of

Gagliano has taken more flack from intelligence; baobabs (above) live

other academics for her work than she for thouands of years accumulating

deserves, not so much for the data, but who-knows-what wealth of

for her language: academic humans get knowledge; and who doesn’t wonder

a bit territorial about terms such as how Venus' flytraps developed

learning and imagining. a talent for hunting?

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IF YOU BUILD IT

Many birds are remarkable architects,
designing and then crafting nests using found
materials and their beaks. Some, like these
male baya weavers (Ploceus philippinus)
fashion their grass palaces in order to lure
prospective females.

Humans share Anaesthetics used According to the Greek
ancestors with apes. by humans also work philosopher Epicharmus
to immobilise Venus' of Kos, ‘Everything that is
UH, SERIOUSLY
flytraps. alive is intelligent’.
Scientific discoveries that
have lifted eyebrows. Which True. True. Inconclusive.
didn’t pass the peer reviews

and which are true?

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FLIGHT BEHAVIOUR something is going on,’ he told Australian ONLINE AND
Geographic. ‘There are enough bits to it UNDERGROUND
Birds are more usual studies for and they talk to each other enough for
intelligence. Ravens and crows (corvids) us to speculate that they may even It’s fascinating that communication –
win on brain size and, says Nat Geo, have have sentences.’ and cooperative communication – seems
outsmarted the odd child. Smaller species
have phenomenal stamina and navigational But my favourite tale of bird smarts to come up so much in conversations
abilities: a godwit tagged E7 flew nonstop comes from the European jay, as described about intelligence in the natural world.
for eight days and 11 760km from Alaska, by Isabella Tree in Wilding. It farms oak Something seems to happen when life
to New Zealand. Little E7 was not lost; trees. It will take acorns, head for a thorny becomes more interactive. Even trees,
godwits do this by choice. protected spot where there’s lots of light, in old-growth forests, are starting to be
away from the shade of the parent tree, and seen as interconnected societies, not
Ravens can pre-plan, and pick a tool hammer the acorns into the good earth – as loners. Some, like Douglas pines, fuse
to access food – and repeat this after many as 7 500 in 28 days. After the oaks their roots; all tap into what the author
24 hours. One researcher claims of The Hidden Life of Trees has called
crows can recognise individuals germinate in these perfect locations, the the ‘wood-wide web’, an underground
– and hold grudges (they could jays gather the nutrient-rich cotyledons fungal network that connects them all
recognise enemies wearing for their chicks. The baby oak doesn’t and through which they share nutrients.
masks weeks later). They’ve also seem to need its cotyledons to thrive, Even slime mould has the ability to fuse
been known to build decoy nests and in fact it buries them under the cells, meaning crowds of individuals can
with huge amounts of noise and ground – the jay must yank the ‘share’ a body and make decisions that
swagger – then secretly move sapling up just a little to get at
in to a hidden pad, built the food. Which only it seems benefit the oozy collective.
on the sly. Australian to know how to do, and
researcher Darryl which the baby oaks don’t
Jones found crows seem to mind. So do jays
that use about 200 have a sense of time, and
vocal elements. ‘They an understanding of the
talk to each other all future? We don’t know
day, every day, and so how to ask.

Root tips change direction The roots of young mielie As described by Michael Pollan: Dogs given an
before they reach a poison or plants make loud clicking ‘Someone once hooked a house MRI scan recognised
sounds, and bend toward plant up to a polygraph test and
an impossibly hard barrier. imagined setting it on fire. Electrical pictures of
And they recognise kin and other sounds. activity surged. Researchers said their owners
don’t compete, but cooperate. plants recognised researchers who’d and other dogs.
crushed or murdered other plants,
and got upset when a live shrimp was Inconclusive.
The dogs got
dropped in boiling water.’ distracted.

True. True. Discredited.

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FOUR LEGS GOOD… – and learn and gain cultural memory. Some BRAINBOXES Pictures: Iuliia Morozova/istockphoto.com, tahir abbas/istockphoto.com, lexanderCher/istockphoto.com, michael meijer/istockphoto.com,
populations use specialised tools, like poking Flicketti/istockphoto.com, clickclick1/istockphoto.com, mihtiander/istockphoto.com, JillLang/istockphoto.com, ConstantinCornel/istockphoto.com,
And so, to mammals. Elephants have the the spines of a dead scorpion fish at a moray Ants SteffenWalter/istockphoto.com
largest brains of any land mammal, with eel burrow to flush it. Insects that operate in collectives.
300 billion neurons, three times the number
in the average human noggin. We know they Sperm whales have the biggest brains Hup, 2, 3…
display emotions, and that social bonds and on earth, although killer whales appear
taught behaviour are enormously important to out-think them. Killer whale brains Tree shrews
(remember the teen bulls moved by well- have an extra paralimbic lobe, associated Pint-sized mammals more closely related
meaning people to a new reserve with no with emotional awareness and memory
adults? They turned mean, killing rhino and formation. Unlike the more solitary to primates than rodents – and they’re
forcing themselves on female elephants giants such as blue whales, orcas hunt 10% brain. Antidepressants work on
– role models matter in elephant circles.) in packs, which requires sophisticated
Again, we know so little about their brains, communication and social organisation. socially stressed shrews.
really, even as some of us buy trinkets
made of their teeth. The BBC says they It seems it takes smarts to recognise Humans
teach each other to self-medicate – even intelligence, and perhaps humans have Dextrous mammal with complex social
chewing on a certain tree to induce labour. used rather narrow definitions in their
interactions with the vegetal and animal structures and colourful language.
Whales and dolphins are brainboxes too. worlds. Definitions that suit us two-legged
The U.S. Navy taught dolphins, which are beasts, with thumbs and neuroses and Dolphins
thought to be able to process new information a taste for domination. It may be worth A brain full of spindle neurons,
20 times faster than we do, to detect mines. remembering that in terms of body-to-brain associated with memory, problem-solving
Dolphins also ‘talk’ – in holograms, possibly size ratios, the clear mammal winner is the and planning. And eyes that operate
humble tree shrew. Appointing
a slime mould as a ‘non-human scholar’ independently.
at Hampshire College really makes sense.
It ‘researches problems from a non-human
perspective’, the university says. And
helps us ‘think about the world without
human biases’.

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Run
for
the

hills

Five seriously sublime trails APRIL 2020 113
worth lacing up for

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Lucky 13

So passionate is extreme trail runner Ryan Sandes about the mountains in his own backyard, that he
established the 13 Peaks Challenge, a route connecting his favourite peaks that works as a personal
endeavour with the goal to run or hike the route according to available time and desired intensity. Sandes
explains that, ‘13 Peaks was born out of wanting to link up some of my favourite peaks on Table Mountain
and across the Cape Peninsula. One evening I sketched those peaks in my notepad and linked them up in
a logical route that would make for a great adventure. I wanted the start and finish to be in the same place to
mimic the famous “rounds” in the UK.’

The route starts and finishes at Signal Hill and takes runners to 12 more peaks in between, namely, Lion’s
Head, Maclear’s Beacon, Grootkop, Judas Peak, Klein Leeukop, Suther Peak, Chapman’s Peak, Noordhoek
Peak, Muizenberg Peak, Constantiaberg, Klassenkop, and Devil’s Peak.

‘On my sketch, the distance between peaks didn’t seem too extreme and I guesstimated it to be about
55km,’ says Sandes. ‘I convinced my buddy, Kane Reilly, to join me for a fun day out, exploring the Cape
Peninsula on foot and covering the route I’d put on paper. After 19 hours, having covered over 100km with
6 000 metres of vertical we made it off the mountain.’

Sandes and Reilly had only summited 12 and a half peaks because their headlamp batteries died, but they
nevertheless thought the route had been among the most epic mountain adventures they’d experienced.

‘There is something really magical about the whole Table Mountain area,’ says Sandes. ‘While Kane and
I didn’t finish the full route, we promised to go back and complete it. And I thought how cool it would be if
more people could experience those 13 peaks, too.’

To accommodate runners unable to complete all 13 peaks in one day, Ryan created one-day, two-day
and multi-day categories so that anyone – hikers and runners – could feasibly complete the Challenge. ‘It’s
about getting out there and exploring our beautiful wilderness areas, not just about times,’ Sandes explains.
The challenge has been taken up by expert runners and utter novices, and there’ve been some heroic tales,
too. One man who’d spiralled into self-despair due to a weight problem took up the challenge as a means to
taking back control of his life, while a number of cancer sufferers have undertaken the challenge as a way of
saying ‘stuff you’ to their illness.

Sandes has formulated his 13 Peaks as either a one-day challenge in which you have 24 hours to
complete the route, a two-day (or 48-hour) challenge, or a multi-day challenge in which you can take as
many days as you prefer, as long as you time your stops and pick up from the same spot where you last
stopped. Beyond this, there are two rules Sandes asks runners to abide by: ‘Don’t be a chop,’ he says. ‘And
keep safe.’ 13peaks.co.za

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Viking madness

Run. Camp. Sleep (maybe). Repeat… It’s no accident that the Ragnar Trail sounds like it was named after some rabble-rousing Norse god
with a dark sense of humour. The creators of this international off-road racing phenomenon like to describe what they offer as ‘the best
worst idea you’ll ever have’. It’ll be fun, but there may be a modicum of suffering involved. The good kind, presumably. Teams of eight run
three different trail routes, relay style, through the night, totalling around 21km per person for a collective distance of 100 miles for the
team. Ultra teams have just four runners who each cover double the distance. Payback – for the effort, the training, and the slog – comes

in the form of camaraderie and the sociable atmosphere at the race village, where competitors set up camp and have all kinds of activities
and entertainment (and food trucks) to tap into.

Ragnar was dreamed up by Steve Hill (yes, his actual name) who had always wanted to establish an overnight running relay across the
mountains of Utah. The first event, known as the Wasatch Back Relay, was in 2004 and spanned 188 miles from Logan to Park City. From
humble beginnings, it’s grown to become the USA’s largest overnight relay series. The inaugural Cape Town edition of this global event is

scheduled to happen at Elgin Grabouw Country Club on 23 and 24 May. Keep an eye on the website for postponements.
Oh, ja… Ragnar was apparently a heroic king in 9th-century Scandinavia. He was known as a conqueror and a fearless leader, free-

spirited and a bit wild. So dressing up in crazy costumes is expected. runragnar.com/za

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Pictures: Jared Paisley, Craig Kolesky/Red Bull Content Pool Terence Vrugtman, Llewellyn Lloyd/Reblex Photography, Jacques Marais SERIOUSLY COOL RACES EXPLORE

Careening through the Karoo

The creators of the tried-and-tested MTB race known as Trek2Teebus have created
Trail2Teebus, a stage race that was scheduled to kick off on 1 May. For three days, runners
will have a choice of routes through the Eastern Cape’s Steynsburg region. It’ll traverse vast

open plains, mountain ridgelines and Karoo koppies, with the main focus being Teebus, a
landmark hillock that breaks the flatness of the surrounding veld. The event includes a 12km

opening day sunset run with a sosatie braai at the halfway mark and the promise of star-
filled night skies unimpeded by light pollution. On Saturday, runners choose between a 40- or

20km stage, with a final 20km run on the Sunday. There’s space for just 200 runners – it’s
fully catered, with all meals provided, plus accommodation on Harmonie Farm, 12 kilometres
outside Steynsburg, where the race village offers a choice between single-person dome tents

or two-person luxury canvas tents with beds and linen. Keep an eye on the website for date
changes or cancellations. trail2teebus.co.za

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Hobbit-worthy Hogsback

Okay, okay, okay. So there is no real legit reason why Hogsback keeps getting associated with J. R. R. Tolkien. Some say the author visited the area
as a toddler and that those early memories of the Amathole Mountains inspired his vivid descriptions of environments in The Lord of the Rings.

Admittedly, with its lush forests and waterfalls and all-round atmosphere of a faraway place, Hogsback really does feel enchanted. And so cue the
Merrell Hobbit Trail Runs, for which you don’t need to have big hairy feet, but you will need a pair of durable trail-running shoes,
a decent set of knees, loads of endurance and a passion for nature.

In fact, immersion in a sublime outdoor environment makes this trail event one of the most rewarding and soul-invigorating in the country.
According to trail fundi, Karoline Hanks, the Hobbit is one of the best all-round trail events in the country. It involves ‘very technical single track,
forest, rolling grassland, easier Jeep track, steep climbs and very runnable descents,’ she says. ‘I love the forest sections – they’re truly magical,
with the turacos calling in the canopy above, the giant earthworms and the chance of stumbling across real Hobbits.’ Hanks is joking about the
Hobbits, of course, but she does say there’s incredible Shire-style hospitality and festive spirit. ‘The overnight stay at Cata Hut after day one is
simply wonderful – it’s all about big toasty bonfires, mugs of thick soup, red wine, good laughs, sharing of war stories and excellent home-cooked
food. ‘Day two ends in the beautiful village of Hogsback where the Mountain Runner organising team ensures a friendly, vibrant atmosphere. Every

runner is made to feel like a total rock star.’
There are challenges, too, of course. ‘The start of day one through the forest, in the early morning gloom, can be tricky – there’s mud, exposed tree
roots, slippery rocks, and some gnarly sections where you must keep your wits about you,’ says Hanks. ‘There are some serious climbs on day one
as well, and day two brings some steep ascents and a dark, early morning start with torchlight. Climbing the Hog is possibly when the calves will

burn the most – you have been out a while at this stage, and are starting to enter the pain cave.’
The pain doesn’t seem to stay the will, though. The knee-shattering two-day 90km Hobbit race has long been sold out. You can however still sign

up for one of the three adventures that were originally planned for 26 April but will now be rescheduled, hopefully for later this year – there’s a
38km for mild extremists, a 16km for the totally sane, and a 5km for the more laid-back. mountainrunner.co.za

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Safari sprint

The Amanzi Trail Stage Race is another new adventure
dreamed up by the same folks responsible for the K-Way
SkyRun, the LED Lenser Wartrail Challenge and the
4Peaks Mountain Challenge. It’s happening in the Amanzi
Private Game Reserve in the Free State, some 65km from
Bloemfontein’s airport. It’s a three-day stage race that
was scheduled to kick off with a gentle 10km prologue
route starting at 5pm on the evening of 22 May. The next
morning, there’s a 30km route, and on the final day,
a relatively moderate 15km run. Expect sublime scenery
and animal spotting as you go. While the R1 000 entry
fee includes a boerieroll at the end of each stage, you
can book other meals and accommodation in advance.
Keep an eye out for the new date, hopefully later in 2020.
pureadventures.co.za

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Fin

ding Otang

From a new book by
Gareth Patterson,
comes a curious tale of
mysterious human-like
beings believed to inhabit
the Knysna forests

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t is now 17 years since my first sighting. Once you’ve seen I had other sightings, and I recorded sightings reported by

a bipedal, hair-covered human-like being with your own indigenous people in the area; I even photographed footprints

eyes, your life changes forever. of the being. But I was in a dilemma.

Initially, the experience of seeing them left me shocked and On the one hand, I felt that I should write about it. By letting

confused. I had seen something that, according to science, does not what I had seen and learnt be known, hopefully these beings

exist. What was it? An ancient hominoid species that has endured might be afforded protection in that their habitat would not be

into the present? further encroached upon by humankind. In Bhutan, despite the

After my first deeply shocking sighting, I repeatedly replayed the fact that the existence of the yeti (known as migoi in Bhutan

incident in my mind. I questioned it, but I always concluded that I had and strongly believed in by the local people) has not been

seen what I had seen. proven, the government has had the foresight to create the

Once the shock had eased, I developed empathy for these beings, Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary specifically to protect the habitat

followed by sympathy and of the migoi.
a sense of responsibility A strange upright being walked On the other hand – apart
for them. away from the pool and from risk to my reputation
A few years ago, I was as a wildlife conservationist

guiding a group of six well- who has authored eleven
books! – letting it be known
disappeared among the rockseducated middle-aged people
on one of my Secret Elephants that the being exists would

Forest Experiences in the same area where I’d had my first sighting. attract the wrong kind of attention; what about people who

They had all read The Secret Elephants, in which I briefly mention might seek them out for the wrong reasons? But after thinking

the local indigenous people’s knowledge of these mysterious beings. long and hard about this, and knowing of their elusiveness and

We were admiring the view of a valley bordering the central inaccessibility, I decided to write the book.

Knysna forest and one of the women was peering through * ‘In July 1999, at a hotel called Madiba’s Tide overlooking
binoculars at an eddying pool in the river below. Suddenly she said
loudly, ‘Gareth, what is that?’ and pointed down into the valley. We the shimmering Knysna lagoon, I was told a strange story.

all looked and we all saw it. Approximately six to seven feet tall, I was visiting the southern Cape with my then girlfriend,

a strange upright being walked away from the pool and disappeared Fransje, to finalise the creation of a large natural habitat

among the rocks and boulders. sanctuary, in partnership with the International Fund for

After it had gone, the group turned to me and asked what they Animal Welfare (IFAW), for a group of lions we had rescued

had seen. I asked them if they recalled the section in The Secret from South Africa’s sordid canned hunting industry which

Elephants where I had mentioned the mysterious beings known to involves captive-bred lions being raised to later be shot

the local people. in fenced areas by international trophy hunters. In 1997,

It was then that I witnessed the effect that seeing this strange in conjunction with IFAW and the British investigative

being has on people. It took us more than half an hour to reach our programme, The Cook Report, we exposed to the world the

end destination and in that time no-one uttered a word. When we horrors of canned hunting which resulted in international

reached our destination, our goodbyes broke the silence and they condemnation of the practice. With the discussions and

drove away. plans for the natural habitat sanctuary completed (the

For many years after my first sighting, I researched the mysterious lions went on to live out the rest of their lives in the

being and its existence in the place where I live and work, and I comparative freedom of the magnificent 100-hectare

also investigated reports of the existence of not dissimilar beings sanctuary), Fransje and I decided to visit Knysna for

elsewhere in the world. a few days – we specifically went to explore the Knysna

126 APRIL 2020 kulula.com

BIGFOOT ON THE GARDEN ROUTE EXPLORE

Forest, home of the world’s most southerly and most As they got closer, they
endangered elephants. realised that they were

At the time of our visit in 1999, the local forestry three bipedal
authorities had reported that the Knysna elephants were now ape-like animals
a ‘functionally extinct population’, claiming that only one elderly
elephant remained in the expanses of the forest. They referred to Juan paused again before saying, ‘The next time I saw them
this elephant as ‘The Matriarch’. was later that afternoon at the hotel bar, and they were clearly
subdued and strangely quiet. Sensing something was wrong, I
For the previous two decades I had been fascinated by the asked them whether they’d had a good time in the forest.’
elusive and extraordinary Knysna elephants at the southern tip
of Africa. Now, in 1999, I had an opportunity to visit the Knysna ‘What did they say, Juan?’ asked Fransje.
forests for the very first time. I had vague plans that perhaps Juan nodded at Fransje and said, ‘It was what they saw in
sometime in the future I should come to live in this place the forest.’
and learn for myself what the true status was of these ‘An elephant?’ Fransje ventured.
legendary elephants. ‘No, Fransje,’ replied Juan, ‘it was beings far more mysterious
than our Knysna elephants. They had followed the route I had
For my entire adult life, I have worked for the greater recommended which leads up to the Diepwalle Forest Station in
protection of the African lion and lived in the dry savannah the central forest.’
and scrublands of the lions’ range. I knew nothing about the His expression serious, Juan then said, ‘The Germans told
Afromontane forest that exists north of the town of Knysna. me that as they were driving towards Diepwalle they saw three
upright figures on the side of the road. At first they thought
Fransje and I were told the strange story on the morning we they were people, but as they got closer, they realised that
were about to head into the forests for the very first time. At
breakfast, the hotel manager Juan, knowing that we were about they were three bipedal ape-like animals which quickly
to visit the forest, sat down at our table. crossed the road and vanished into the forest.
They were russet coloured, the Germans said, and
‘Gareth,’ he said, ‘perhaps when the canned lion work is over, covered in hair.’
you and Fransje should move down here and take time off from ‘Baboons surely, Juan?’ I said.
other things to investigate what is really going on with the Juan’s face remained serious. ‘That’s what I said
Knysna elephants.’ to them, Gareth. And then they almost got angry
with me for suggesting this. These were educated,
It was as though Juan had read my mind.
‘The forestry department claims that there is only one lonely well-travelled people, and they certainly knew what
old female still alive, but many of us locals simply do not believe
this. The forest is huge and dense. How can anyone be certain
that only one elephant exists?’
Juan paused and then said, ‘But if you do come down here, you
must be aware that there might be a greater mystery out there
than the Knysna elephants.’
Intrigued, I asked Juan to expand on this.
He gave us a wry smile and said, ‘What I am about
to tell you I would not have believed, had I not heard
it myself. Recently I had a party of well-travelled
German guests. One morning they planned to drive
into the forest, and before they left they asked me
for directions to the central forest, which I duly
gave them.’

kulula.com APRIL 2020 127

EXPLORE BIGFOOT ON THE GARDEN ROUTE

baboons were. I then realised that my fabricated or embellished the whole story? I cannot see why he

guests were clearly in shock because would do this. He seems a genuine guy, and he knows we are

of what they had seen. They had seen not gullible tourists. The story has a hint of truth to it, but at the

something that is supposed not to have same time it seems totally fantastical and unbelievable.’

existed for hundreds of thousands of years. We continued into the Knysna forest. It was like no other place

And they were so disturbed by what they had seen that they cut I had ever seen. The forest is dense and beautiful with shafts of

short their stay here and left first thing the next morning.’ lemon-coloured light penetrating its depths. Moving out of the

‘Extraordinary,’ Fransje said, her The forest is dense and forest, we entered the big sky
eyes wide. country of the mountain fynbos

‘Baboons,’ I thought to myself. beautiful with shafts of in the north. We got out of the
Later, as we drove to the edge of vehicle on the top of a hill and

the forest, we came across a troop lemon-coloured light looked around us. To the south,
of baboons. penetrating its depths beyond the vastness of the dark
I noticed that these Knysna green forest, we could just make
baboons were quite dark and out the Indian Ocean. To the

stockier than the savannah north, as far as the eye could

baboons I was used to. As I slowed down for us to watch see, were the isolated mountain fynbos expanses.

the baboons, Fransje asked me what I’d thought of Juan’s Knowing elephants, grey ghosts even in the relatively open

strange story. bushlands that I was used to, I knew that what was lying below

Looking at the baboons, I paused and then said, ‘It certainly is us could conceal any numberof elephants.

a very strange story. On the one hand, as we both know, baboons ‘There could be others out there,’ I wondered to myself.

will not uncommonly stand upright for short periods to get a And two years later, in May 2001, when Fransje and I returned Extract courtesy of the author and Tracey McDonald Publishers, Illustration: Patrick Latimer

better view of things and that must have been what the German to Knysna and I embarked on a full-time study, I quickly

guests saw. But…’ discovered that there were indeed other elephants out there.

‘But what, Gareth?’ But there were also creatures of another kind. And after my first

I paused again before replying. ‘Firstly, what I find strange sighting of one of these beings the following year, it was me who

is that, as Juan told us, the Germans were clearly in a state of was affected by extreme shock because of what I had seen. Like

shock because of what they had seen. Secondly, has Juan just Juan’s German guests, I too had seen the impossible.

Beyond belief

Known for his work on the African lion, Gareth Patterson is an environmentalist,
wildlife researcher and author who – for over 25 years – has worked to improve
the protection of African wildlife. He is the author of numerous books about his
work with lions and in 2009 published The Secret Elephants, about his research
on Knysna’s secretive elephants. His new book, Beyond the Secret Elephants: On
Mystery, Elephants and Discovery continues the tale and also reveals his startling
discovery of a relict hominoid known to the indigenous forest people as the otang. The
book is published by Tracey McDonald Publishers and is in all good bookstores.

128 APRIL 2020 kulula.com





TOGETHER APART DISCOVER

SARS-CoV-2 illustration by Alissa Eckert and Dan Higgins, Centers for Disease WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER
Control and Prevention Public Health Image Library
‘So far we have seen epidemics in countries with advanced health systems but even they have struggled to cope. As the
virus moves to low-income countries, we’re deeply concerned about the impact it could have among populations with
high HIV prevalence or among malnourished children. That’s why we’re calling on every country and every individual
to do everything they can to stop transmission. Washing your hands will help reduce your risk of infection but it’s also
an act of solidarity because it reduces the risk you will infect others in your community and around the world. Do it
for yourself, do it for others. We also ask people to express their solidarity by refraining from hoarding essential items
including medicines. Hoarding can create shortages of medicines and other essential products, which can exacerbate

suffering. We’re grateful to everyone who has contributed to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Since we
launched it on Friday [13 March] more than 110 000 people have contributed almost US$19 million. These funds will
help to buy diagnostics tests, supplies for health workers and support research and development. If you would like to

contribute, please go to who.int and click on the orange Donate button at the top of the page.
‘We’re also grateful for the way different sectors of society are coming together. This started with the Safe Hands
Challenge, which has started celebrities, world leaders and people everywhere demonstrating how to wash their
hands. This afternoon WHO and the International Chamber of Commerce issued a joint call to action to the global
business community. The ICC will send regular advice to its network of more than 45 million businesses to protect
their workers, customers and local communities and to support the production and distribution of essential supplies.
WHO is also working with Global Citizen to launch the Solidarity Sessions, a series of virtual concerts with leading

musicians from around the world.
‘This is the defining global health crisis of our time. The days, weeks and months ahead will be a test of our resolve,

a test of our trust in science and a test of solidarity. Crises like this tend to bring out the best and worst in humanity.
Like me, I’m sure you have been touched by the videos of people applauding health workers from their balconies or the

stories of people offering to do grocery shopping for older people in their community. This amazing spirit of human
solidarity must become even more infectious than the virus itself. Although we may have to be physically apart from
each other for a while we can come together in ways we never have before. We’re all in this together and we can only
succeed together, so the rule of the game is “together”. I thank you.’ –Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general
of the World Health Organization, at the COVID-19 media briefing on 16 March, the day after President Cyril Ramaphosa

declared a national state of disaster in South Africa

132 141Disrupting fashion
Crazy shoes, books and online shopping

147Picnics and pink drinks

kulula.com APRIL 2020 131

132 APRIL 2020 Fashion – whatever that
means in a world where going
against trends is so on-trend
– is a lot more than meets the
eye. Mart-Marié du Toit takes
a stroll down the catwalk

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FASHION’S UPSTARTS DISCOVER

kulula.com APRIL 2020 133

Thebe Magugu Floyd Avenue
Floyd Avenue kulula.com

t is an exciting time for global fashion, with sustainability,
cultural sensitivity and transparency in design being discussed
alongside calls by Extinction Rebellion, amongst others, for fashion weeks
(and the polluting fashion system by association) to be scrapped. Designers
are being forced to rethink their design ethos, the fabrics they use and the
miles they are travelling to various fashion weeks for fear of getting a hiding
from climate change protestors. Because, as we all know, it just takes one
bucket of red paint on a fur coat to inflame global media.
In South Africa, a few renegade designers are opting to cut their cloth against the
grain. They are following in the footsteps of designers such as Marianne Fassler and
Clive Rundle, veterans who were breaking the rules and consequently taking the lead
way back in the 1980s. At one point, everyone was screaming at Fassler to stop using
leopard print and to tone down her love affair with African prints. But she stubbornly
refused to succumb to mainstream pressure and she – perhaps more than anyone
else at the time – liberated fashion from convention. Along with Rundle, she created
what was essentially an anti-fashion movement, her Leopard Frock brand becoming
iconic despite its ongoing ability to encapsulate otherness.
And, of course, these early rule-breakers inspired countless designers
who’ve followed.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

The early 2000s saw the blossoming of the Smarteez, a sub-culture in Soweto started
by Floyd Avenue, Kepi Mngomezulu, Thabo Tsatsinyane and Sibu Sithole that brought
township street style to the catwalk. This popular DIY-design collective refused to be
burdened by apartheid’s awful legacy or by social expectations of dress. The Smarteez
scorned ‘popular fashion’ to create a new look for Soweto, one that defied expectations
and became a platform for those keen to ruffle the feathers of the conservative world.

Their street style came with an African edge – a traditional Zulu headdress, paired
with lime green skinny jeans and a sharply tailored mauve jacket with periwinkle trim.
Or a plain white button-down shirt dressed up with an oversized magenta bow tie. This
was technicolor couture, created for the so-called post-apartheid ‘Rainbow Generation’,
pushing against their elders’ expectations of traditional dress.

Our new wave of fashion disruptors thinks about more than just the design strutting
along the catwalk. Take Thebe Magugu, for example, who might just be the king of South

134 APRIL 2020

FASHION’S UPSTARTS DISCOVER

Like the now-iconic Versace safety-pin Viktor & Rolf
dress that Liz Hurley wore in 1994,
fashion wants to stir up emotion. Floyd Avenue African fashion right now. He won the
And there’s a slew of fashion 2019 International Fashion Showcase,
designers who are pushing against a platform for emerging fashion designers to exhibit
what the establishment deems their work during London Fashion Week and proceeded to
aesthetically pleasing. also palm the LVMH Prize for emerging talent – which earns him
Enter ugly fashion. a grant of €300 000 as well as support from the LVMH group for a
There’s been a wave of it over the year to develop his creative work. He is the first African designer to be
last couple of years, and there are awarded the prize, the most lucrative in the industry.
three main drivers. The first is quite His collections make bold political statements, without
a slogan tee in sight. His 2018 ‘Home Economics’ collection
self-explanatory: Clothing that simply was created to comment on femicide in South Africa. According to
fulfils the need for comfort. Can you Magugu, ‘women who assert any sense of self-government are always
even sit in some of the outfits waltzing seen as a threat to be stifled, stemming from the damaging fear of the
down the catwalk? Probably not. Ugly feminine – that’s why they can be discredited as problematic or
fashion bypasses catwalk lavishness in discarded in a field.’
favour of practicality and functionality. His collection is a reference to homemaking and consumerism,
But there is also a kind of creative communicating ideas of expectation and disposability, while the
politics at play. Many young designers colours remind one of chemicals that reacted with one another –
magnesium purples, high-in-alkaline pinks with sulphuric brights
are acting on an overt desire to – which speak of the hostile environment in which women find themselves.
escape the pretentious haute couture Think oversized housecoats in muted colours worn over bright pink dresses
with large prints and sharp angles.
snobbishness that abounds in the Another status quo disruptor is Trevor Stuurman, an influencer admired for
fashion world. Well, at least until his innate ability to reshape the African narrative. His Afrocentric aesthetic
challenges stereotypes about Africa and Africanness, which might not
money lures them to some always go down well with the older generations. Starting as fashion reporter
mega catwalk. for Elle, Stuurman cemented himself as a voice for the fashion-conscious,

The third motivation for knowingly with his Instagram account showing off his diverse talents in styling,
designing ‘ugly fashion’ pieces is that photography and storytelling. He has also been tasked with taking official
the rapidly changing social landscape portraits for the likes of the Obama family, Beyoncé and Naomi Campbell.

is compelling designers to create Stuurman is known for his print-rich self-portraits that not only
unsettling fashion for the sake of showcase his innate style but his way of incorporating art into his
nonconformity. An example is the daily life. Try as one might, you won’t find normal or boring in the
label Viktor & Rolf. Their Spring 2019 Stuurman world.
Haute Couture Collection became an
instant internet sensation when they
created 18 oversized and exaggerated
silhouette gowns with layers of tulle
and pleated chiffon plastered with
meme-like sans-serif font slogans.
This fashion statement collection
includes profanities like ‘F*ck this,
I’m going to Paris’, truth bombs like
‘I am not shy, I just don’t like you’, and
the political message, ‘I want a better
world’. The desire was to explore the
power of expressive clothing by spitting
obscenities into the supposedly luxury
space that so much fashion seems

to occupy.

kulula.com APRIL 2020 135

Roman Handt’s anti-n ormal boxing wear

AGAINST THE NORM Martelle Ludik's genderfluid threads

Textile artisan and fashion scientist Roman Handt’s Viviers
philosophy is that clothing needs to make us re-think what is
acceptable to wear. ‘It is not necessarily a visual thing, but more kulula.com
about what the garment is made of. Think about the label Ecoalf – all of their
clothing is made out of recyclable bottles or plastics found on land as well as fishnet
reclaimed from the sea.’

The responsibility, it seems, lies with the designer as well as the consumer, and
technology is helping us to change our habits. ‘Things that are acceptable to wear are those
things that are sensitive to the environment and the future of our planet,’ says Handt. But that
doesn’t mean the designs have to be boring! Handt’s ‘Fight the Norm’ designer boxing wear
does exactly what it says on the label. And his ‘Gender Neutral’ collection consists of beautifully
constructed pieces in lace and silky fabrics with intricate embroidery that can be worn
by men and women, exposing the social constructs of gender which he has reified
to appear natural. The looks are classy, monochrome and fitted, and a fun look at
genderfluidity in fashion.

The baggy athleisure pants can be worn in the ‘usual’ way by men or pulled up and
rocked as a onesie by women, whilst other pieces can be worn as is by men, women
and anyone in between. Such shifts in the paradigm of gendered clothing might be a
shock to some, but no-one can deny the benefits they afford – such as being able
to choose from all the shelves at your favourite boutique. And maybe dip into your
partner’s wardrobe without fear.

‘I have never tried to shock an audience willingly, but sometimes the result of
the work we do seems to strike some shock or horror in people, which is fun
because our garments are about creating conversation,’ Handt says.

OUT THE BOX

Globally, designs that are conversation starters are purposefully created by
designers who want to send a message – be it political, environmental or personal.
If a conversation is what we’re having, we could start by talking about the prêt-à-
porter fashion designs of Martelle Ludik. His ‘Beauty is a Drag’ feature for HUF
magazine plays with genderfluidity. Male models wear bold red leopard-print
palazzo pants combined with pleather gloves and their midriffs are exposed in
sheer stockings paired with cropped pleather jackets with pink puffy sleeves.
This is pleather-gender-bending at its best, and Ludik makes it runway and ready-
to-wear worthy.

Foreign fashion provocateurs include Rick Owens and the stylist Ib Kamara,
both of whom design in ways that are so abrasively against the norm that they
can’t help but grate your soul with the shocking beauty of what they create.

136 APRIL 2020

FASHION’S UPSTARTS DISCOVER

Roman Handt

LUCKILY, MOST TRENDS Roman Handt
ONLY LAST FOR A WHILE… Crochet gone wild

DISCO COLLARS APRIL 2020 137

Those in the know will tell you that
these will be the biggest trend for

2020. Think John Travolta and
Donny Osmond in the 1970s. This
trend has made its comeback via
Victoria Beckham and is said to be

all the rage.

POLKA DOTS ON
GROWN-UPS

No jokes. We’re talking big and bold
and way too colourful.

MUSTARD + GOLD =
MARIGOLD

The colour will be seen on
everything from shoes to earrings to

underwear.

SUIT UP LIKE STINSON

The suits for 2020 will be tailored,
embellished and just a tad too fancy

for the office.

#FRINGEME

Another 1970s trend that you might
want to avoid, seeing as the 2020
fringing will be in bright,
bold colours.

CROCHET 2.0 – NOT YOUR
GRANDMA’S CROCHET

Just don’t wear it top to bottom.

SOME LIKE IT HOT
(PANTS)

Hot pants will be getting even
shorter and re-styled for the office

as well as next to the pool. Just
check your workplace clothing rules

before attempting this one.

kulula.com

DISCOVER FASHION’S UPSTARTS

Nao Serati’s gender-neutral athleisure Viviers Viviers
brand is a favourite amongst South African
fashionistas. He plays with fashion’s fluidity London-based stylist Viviers
and the ability to swing between highbrow Kamara’s recent work, 2026,
and lo-fi. His designs ask, dissect and often explored what black masculinity could look Pictures: Aart Verrips, Eunice Driver
subvert what it is to be a man or a woman in like in the future. For this exhibition, he dumpster-
dived in areas of Joburg with photographer Kristin-Lee
modern-day Africa. Moolman, searching for discarded outfits and refashioning
them into new clothes.
Onder die Invloed (Under the Influence) Owens, meanwhile, creates grungy, post-apocalyptic
caught the eye of fashion-forward observers designs such as his signature machine-washed and tumble-
when Sho Madjozi wore one of their designs dried leather jacket – it’s a cool demonstration of his ability to
disrupt the scene and start a new trend based on doing something
at the 2018 Global Citizen Festival. This ridiculous for the sake of fashion.
design partnership consists of artist and Some call what Owens does inventive. Others only see the ugly.
designer Leanie van der Vyfer, engineer According to designer Lezanne Viviers, ‘Purposefully ugly fashion often
Louis Christie and fashion designer Elaine jokes with the fashion world and with consumerism by seeing how far
du Plessis. Their conceptual work usually trends could be created and pushed and still be accepted to drive sales on
starts with one of them saying, ‘That’s a retail level.’
impossible.’ These concepts include the live- Viviers knows all about pushing. She, like Owens and Kamara, lives in
feed tracksuit (designed in collaboration with the alt-normal world. Her VIVIERS brand is designed for the individual who
streetwear brand Young and Lazy) and light- doesn’t fit into a square box. ‘Or even into a box at all,’ she says.
up costumes that were designed for the Club Her creations are often oversized and in bold hues, attention-grabbing
with daring styles and touch-me-now fabrics. At her studio, the design
Pilsener music video ‘Midnight Drum’. process is thought of differently, with sustainable practice taking precedence.
Textile waste is minimised and off-cut fabrics and ‘dead stock’ fabrics are used in limited
Jacques Bam moves expertly between edition collections. As a Marianne Fassler protégé, Viviers knows all about convention-
conceptual and commercial design, with challenging design and her lookbook is anything but beige. The VIVIERS SS2020
a skill rarely seen in young designers. He campaign, in collaboration with artists Marlene Hettie Steyn, sees men dressed in
collaborated with MRP on the successful soft, silky fabrics, in shapes and colours traditionally thought of as ‘feminine’ – think
MRP x BAM collection in 2019. His new puffed sleeves and long, ruched skirts in soft purples and iridescent pinks.
collection, ‘Pluralism 19/20’, plays with
multiplicity and aims to explore the idea

of pluralism by creating multifaceted
garments, which can be adapted and
interchanged to uniquely suit each wearer’s
individuality. It’s a clip-on clip-off with
standout prints and playful silhouettes
where you can add or remove details to suit

your mood or the event that you
are attending.

138 APRIL 2020 kulula.com





SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE DISCOVER

MINGLE / BROWSE / BUY

CONNECT & COLLECT

CAENDPCWOEARLRTLEDD Not so easy rider

Sorry, okes… Apologies,
ladies… You’ll need to
stash your leathers and
put off plans to rev your
engines with the rest
of the crew… The next
iteration of the continent’s
largest motorbike soiree,
Bike Fest SA, has been
cancelled. The event, which
comprises five editions in
different locations around
the country, has already
seen one leg – in Jeffrey’s
Bay – which culminated
on 1 March. The South
Coast edition that was set
to happen in Port Edward
this month has been
shelved along with other
events across the country.
The next scheduled Bike
Fest SA shindig is due to
happen in Clarens towards
the end of July. And there
are separate festivals in
Ballito in September and
Langebaan in October.
Best to keep an eye on
the website and on
Facebook for updates
and developments.
bikefestsa.co.za

kulula.com APRIL 2020 141

Chicken feet Serious stones

The next best thing to wearing a bucket of fried chicken on your feet, the A radiant round-cut tanzanite set in a pool of
latest collab from Crocs just might go down as the strangest event in shoe shimmering gold, the Rose Gold Millennium
design history. They’ve taken their classic clog – built from a white Croslite Tanzanite Pendant is another stunner from
foam base with ventilation ports – and sent them into some sort of bizarre Shimansky. It can be bespoke-crafted with the
trans-dimensional universe with KFC (yes, that KFC!) and come out with tanzanite of your choice, selected from this South
KFC x Crocs Classic Clogs. The shoes are decked out in a fried chicken
print and the sole features the Colonel’s iconic red and white stripes. The African jeweller’s collection of stones.
shoes come with a pair of Jibbitz (Crocs shoe charm) in the shape of fried shimansky.co.za
chicken wings… and they’re scented, too!
kulula.com
Before utter panic sets in – and, yes, we’re totally serious about all
of the above – you
can console (see
what we did there?)
yourself with the shoe
manufacturer’s other
newcomer: the Crocs
Brooklyn Wedge,
a notably more
sophisticated women’s
shoe featuring
the latest Crocs
innovation, namely
its LiteRide™ foam
technology. These
ones can convincingly
be worn unironically,
shamelessly and in
public. crocssa.co.za

142 APRIL 2020

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE DISCOVER

xxxxxxxx

Elegantly Elgin Totally tiki

At Elgin Ridge, one of very few certified biodynamic Produced at his distillery in Kommetjie, rum-
wine producers in the country, Brian and Marion Smith maker James Copeland’s latest innovation is his
handcrafted Copeland Tiki Gin. Inspired by the
have just released their latest vintages – an elegant tropical energy and flavours of those island-style
Sauvignon Blanc and a deep-red Pinot Noir. Winemaker cocktail bars that were all the rage in the 1950s,
Kosie van der Merwe says the naturally fermented 282 the gin features a rummy molasses base and
Sauvignon Blanc 2017 (R135 per bottle) has aromas of is distilled with real pineapple, tonka beans and
ripe pineapple, blackcurrant and Elderflower, while there’s tropical spices and ingredients – cloves, cassia and
a lovely lime undertone on the palate. The 282 Pinot ginger – typically associated with spiced rums.
Noir 2015, meanwhile is all ‘dark cherries, roasted cocoa It is very much a gin, though, made with juniper,
beans and pine needles’ on the nose, followed by ‘green lemon peel, coriander and angelica root to give it
olive tapenade, dark cherries and dry salon tea flavours’ classic London Dry-style credibility. And it is just
on the palate. The red is R250 per bottle and well worth it. marvellous on the palate. copelandrum.com

elginridge.com Seriously sweet

KAMERS/Makers From De Krans Wines, this Alcohol-Free Sparkling
Muscat Nectar is 100% made from Muscat grapes and then
The autumn edition of the country’s
favourite artisanal market was due to take given a slight fizz during bottling. An ideal sipper if you’re
place this month in Sandton. Dozens of taking a break from the booze, or have been put in charge of
innovators, entrepreneurs and crafters and the car keys, this bubbly grape juice (it’s not dealcoholised but
makers would be displaying and selling entirely alcohol free) has some perky tropical fruit flavours on
everything from garagiste spirits to sexy top of the Muscat notes and there’s a bit of acid for balance.
socks made from bamboo. The live market
which was scheduled for 23 to 27 April It’s just R58 a bottle and you can get it from the estate in
is unlikely to go ahead, but you can still Calitzdorp (it’s well known for its Portuguese cultivar wines,
support local creative entrepreneurs by most of which do include alcohol), or from stores around the
shopping online at shop.kamersvol.com.
country. dekrans.co.za

Really red

The Retief Reserve Cape Blend 2016 is a seriously robust
red from Van Loveren Family Vineyards. With equal parts
Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon, plus 26% Shiraz, it was
aged in oak barrels for 12 months to give it what cellar master
Bussell Retief describes as gentle red berry fruit aromas. On
the palate, meanwhile, you should pick up dried fig and vanilla,
plus plum, blackberry and a dark-chocolate finish. It’s one to
savour now, keep for a special occasion or haul out when the
coming winter sends you indoors. vanloveren.co.za

kulula.com APRIL 2020 143

DISCOVER SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

End of days Huh? Serious beast Family secrets Words: Keith Bain, Pictures: Ari Kruger, Supplied

Londoner Andrew Hunter From Faber & Faber, What Most fans of English comedy It doesn’t start well. Cara, who
Murray is a wordsmith, joke- Happened? is a new book from will know David Walliams as works reception at a snooty
writer and researcher – in his British playwright, screenwriter, one half of the ridiculously funny
TV show, Little Britain. That was hotel, is told by one guest that
spare time he performs in filmmaker and novelist Hanif all sorts of depraved fun and the she is ‘a fat bitch’. Well, that’s all
the West End comedy show Kureishi. It’s a collection of short sort of show that has stayed in author Marian Keyes needs to
Austentatious, and is a co-host peoples’ memories long after pull up her sleeves and then start
of the podcast, No Such Thing fiction stories and essays in the fact. But Walliams is also pulling back the layers of food
as a Fish. His first novel, The which he grapples with all sorts an author and the creator of
Last Day, is a high-concept of topics, sparing nothing as he some of the most successful insecurities, body image
thriller set in 2059 – it’s a doom- offers up random insights into books for children ever created. and self-image that have given
and-gloom future in which the They incorporate a lot of that rise to Cara’s awful secretive
world has stopped turning. As everything from the ancient whacky humour that made the binge-eating disorder. It’s these
a result, half the world lives in classics to the weird world of TV show such a hit. His latest kinds of compulsions, addictions
endless daylight, while the other social media. Mostly though he madcap literary adventure and sometimes debilitating habits
half suffers permanent night. hones in on issues of personal (illustrated by Tony Ross) is The and behaviours that Grown Ups
Between these two extremes, Beast of Buckingham Palace
a slim slither of twilight brings cultural interest and offers which tells of a kind of post- is ultimately about, whether
balance to a single region on the unusual perspectives. There’s the apocalyptic time when London it’s the guilt someone feels
planet where survival is feasible. is in ruin and darkness has about being rich or the sense of
Of course, there’s going to be story in which he scratches his fallen across the realm. Prince emasculation a man feels when
a lot of intrigue, high-stakes head over the revelation that the Alfred, a bookish weakling, he’s an employee in his wife’s
secrets, and opportunities for three most desirable occupations must outwit the dreadful beast firm. All this is wrapped up in
the fragile balance to be thrown in the UK are librarian, author and that stalks the corridors of the a family saga involving the vast
asunder. It’s a bold page-turner, academic – all three of which he palace at night and summon Casey clan – they get together
crisply written, and published by assumed were dying out in this up all his courage to rescue frequently to celebrate, but these
his mum, the Queen, from the social gatherings seldom allow
Penguin Random House. high-tech age. And there’s the Tower of London. And perhaps various underlying resentments
chapter entitled ‘Birdy Num-Num’
in which he uses Peter Sellers as save the whole world! to surface. Until Cara’s
concussion…
a starting point for a discussion
around multiracial society. If

nothing else, this book will make
you wish you were smarter. It’s
witty, wonderful and a bit wicked.

144 APRIL 2020 kulula.com





PINK FOR THE WIN DISCOVER

It’s not only Easter
eggs you’ll find at
the end of this trail of
seasonal delights

Treasure
hunt

Pagan pairing APRIL 2020 147

They’re ancient pagan symbols, the super-fertile bunny and the egg,
linked with the genesis of all life and believed to hold magical powers.
Easter – whether from the Scandinavian ‘Ostra’ or Germanic ‘Ostern’
– derives from the names of mythological goddesses of spring and
fertility. Their festivals were held over the spring equinox; at the feast of
the Saxon fertility goddess Eostre, an ox was sacrificed and its crossed
horns became a seasonal symbol that was carved into the celebratory
cakes. From the Saxon word ‘boun’ meaning ‘ox’, we have the English
‘bun’. These buns were Christianised by early church fathers competing
with pagan customs – they simply reinterpreted the ox horns as
a crucifix. In 1592, Queen Elizabeth I decreed that hot cross buns could
only be sold on Good Friday, Christmas and for funerals – they were too
sacred for daily use. Superstition attributed hot cross buns with bringing
good luck, keeping nasty spirits out of the kitchen, protecting ships at
sea, and holding friendships together.

kulula.com

DISCOVER PINK FOR THE WIN

We still think they’re best at satisfying a flavour craving, though, which is why we’re
glad that at Stellenbosch Hills this month, you can discover for yourself how
deliciously hot cross buns pair with wine. They’ve come up with a pairing of three

CA N C E L L E Ddifferent hot cross buns with a trio of award-winning wines. First up is a traditional

no-raisin hot cross bun paired with the 1707 Reserve White 2019, a Chardonnay-
dominated blend available in limited quantities. Then there’s a bun festooned with
cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg – it’s partnered with the 2017 Shiraz,
pretty spicy itself. Finally, there’s a chocolate hot cross bun that goes with the
estate’s Bushvine Pinotage, a full-bodied 2017 vintage packed with black berry,
plum and mulberry notes. Pairings are R55 per person. stellenbosch-hills.co.za

Go hunting for mushrooms

For a decade, Stellenbosch’s Delheim Wine Estate has been
hosting wild mushroom hunts – or, more correctly, mushroom
forages. They’re extremely popular and tremendous fun and are
introduced by renowned Cape Town mushroom foraging expert Gary
Goldman. Before leading foragers into the woods, Gary will teach
you what’s edible, what should be avoided and how to forage in an
eco-conscious way. With baskets full, you’ll return to the winery’s
Garden Restaurant for a sumptuous mushroom-inspired feast, fit for
avid foragers and crowned with servings of the 2019 Delheim Chenin
Blanc Wild Ferment – the latest vintage release of this wine. There
are two hunts this coming mushroom season, on 16 June and 3 July.
They last from 10am until 3pm and are R850 per person, which
includes a mystery gift and mushroom-inspired lunch with wine
after you’ve foraged. They sell out fast, so don’t dally. delheim.com,
quicket.co.za

Picnic in paradise kulula.com

Quoin Rock Wine Estate is dishing up some
epicurean swag this Easter. On 12 April – Easter
Sunday for those who celebrate – they’ll be
serving up picnic baskets stocked with bistronomic

CA N C E L L E Ddelicacies (sustainable foie gras, panna cotta, cheese, charcuterie and a few surprises)

from their award-winning Gåte Restaurant. Great for languid lunches surrounded by the
estate’s rolling vineyards, the picnics are R400 per person and available from noon until
5pm. For R250, children get treats tailored to their tastes (Rootstock crisps, milkshake,
cookie, mac and cheese, and seasonal berries, and get to take part in an Easter egg
hunt). If packed lunches aren’t your thing, Gåte will be serving a six-course lunch with
either a tea or wine pairing and service included for R1 240. quoinrock.co.za

148 APRIL 2020