Tag: lockdown

Africa, Johannesburg

Four family-friendly hikes around Johannesburg

by s.a.b1 Comment on Four family-friendly hikes around Johannesburg

Years ago, if you’d told me I would live in a country of super outdoorsy people, and I myself would regularly partake in the fun activity that is hiking, I would have scoffed at you and asked “Have we met?”… And yet here I am, a proudly adopted South African, and one who apparently goes hiking now, so much so that I ordered the fugliest shoes ever for our next outing (no apparently they don’t make pretty hiking shoes, only ugly ones, but they are khaki, at least)… Evidently the CoVid-19 lockdown and its travel restrictions have helped encourage me on this new, somewhat unnatural, path (see what I did there?): for the past 120 days we’ve been on various levels of lockdown and the last 45 days have allowed us to go outdoors, but only within our province of residence, and when you live in the smallest province in the country, that is more notable for its big cities and its oh-so passé wedding belt filled with pseudo boho barns, there is little to do besides research hiking grounds and trails that are family friendly to occupy most of your week-ends.

Best for scenery: Mountain Sanctuary

Ok, technically this is just outside of Gauteng, in the North West, but so close it almost counts as being in the same province.. Plus Mountain Sanctuary is truly one of the most beautiful hiking grounds in the region. This is a place we discovered with our ex-neighbours, back when we were free to travel and the children in our cluster were the closest of friends, free to mix and play together pretty much from dawn to dusk. Our friends have moved to Cape Town, our children miss sharing their twin houses with their best friends, and I miss the banter and fun we all had, everyday.

Coming to Mountain Sanctuary you’ll find beautiful trails (evidently) but also some gorgeous natural pools that the kids love jumping into, no matter the season. Following the natural pools is relatively easy along a kids-friendly trail, and you can make as many breaks as the little ones need, to swim or to snack. There is something for everyone here, from very short hikes to full-day ones, and this is a place that strives to offer freedom to its visitors rather than restricted trails.

You can book for day hikes, or stay overnight as well, and booking is essential these days as the number of visitors is restricted.

Best for variety of trails: Rustig

Rustig is a family-farm in the Magaliesburg, specialising in cattle and game, but it also offers small cottages and basic tented accommodation for overnight stays and a variety of trails around the Magaliesburg mountains. A big plus for me is the scenery and woods that cover most of the bottom section of the trails, and which the kids enjoyed thouroughly.

For some reason the reception staff insist on making any family with smaller children stick to the 3km trail… In my opinion that is a pretty useless recommendation, first because we ended up walking it within less than an hour, and then we scrambled to hook up to the second trail the wrong way up and that’s when we got a little confused, even though the trails are very well signed with very visible coloured markers every few meters (unless you’re seeing them from the back: having completed the baby trail in no time, we took the red trail up from the end, and ended up missing a turn and hiking up part of the blue one as well before we came back down to the red markers… all in a well-walked day then). So if you go, and the full of good intentions lady at reception tells you “we don’t allow small children on the 5km trail”, but you know your kids have done 15km before without any problems, just ignore her and take the red one at the turn…

If you do go with bigger kids, then by all means try one of the longer trails that goes all the way to the top of the rocky mountain, the sight is absolutely stunning, but some of the paths are quite close to the drop and lack a proper barrier, and that feels a little risky for this mama. Be mindful the trails are full of loose stones, and going down sometimes feels a little tricky but slowly gets the job done.

We went on a Sunday, it was minimally crowded, the entrance was very well organised with the number of visitors limited and booking essential, and we had a lovely picnic on the side of the trail, overlooking the vlei underneath the farm, and whilst it was one of the coldest days this winter the view and light was truly beautiful.

Best for an easy long trail: Cradlemoon

Another hike we did recently is the one at Cradlemoon. This is extremely convenient for Johannesburg dwellers, as it is literally just outside of the city. We came here with a family of friends and what a wonderful time the kids all had, after weeks of physical distancing from any other children their age, watching them happily catch up and happily chattering through the walk felt like utter bliss.

Cradlemoon is a lodge as well, with a beautiful river and lake and game you can pretty much walk by (we saw the zebras and the giraffes and pretty much walked into the hippos at some point, but they also have rhinos etc.) and there are a couple of trails to choose from, marked by ease. The one we did ended up quite long, over 10km, but overall flattish and easy to walk, so it was easy to have the kids walk together in the middle between the dads and the moms, giving us all plenty of opportunity to catch up on life in lockdown…

The week-ends get incredibly crowded during the week-end, a consequence of Cradlemoon’s convenience, and the restaurant operates a take-away that looks like a fish feeding frenzy at lunch, so we opted out and instead went home to some takeaway from one of our favourite fish eateries.

Best for climbers: Hennops

Like I said Rustig has beautiful rocky mountains but climbing up requires negotiating trails full of rolling rocks… I love climbing as I enjoy the feeling in my legs from pushing up and then the beautiful view from the top, but as an ex-dancer I don’t have the most solid of ankles and I prefer smoother grounds, and for this reason I really enjoyed Hennops, one of the first hikes we did when we moved to South Africa.

There are four distance trails, we opted for the 5km one, starting by crossing the suspension bridge over the little stream, then climbing through the prettiest highveld woods, where we met a few zonkeys (first time I ever saw any) before moving up through lower bush. That’s my only complaint about Hennops: most of the hike is up on top of the hill, meaning there is very little shadow, and although we stocked up on SPF and water it still feels a little much, so I would recommend getting here early to avoid the midday sun, even during winter.

There you have it, dear locked down friends, some ideas of hikes that are super easy and convenient for those of us with little ones. I hope you’ll share your own ideas in the comments. Happy level 3… I guess…

With love, S.

Style, Style Notes

The new office style

by s.a.bLeave a Comment on The new office style

I have to say, this whole working from home situation has created a conundrum for me. You see, most days, my usual getting ready routine in the morning involves getting dressed from the shoes up… and most office days, that means high heels, the more fabulous the better. Now, with most of us non essential workers (yes I also feel very valuable thanks to this term…) working from home, high heels are suddenly redundant, much to my chagrin, and in fact I feel a little odd even putting on shoes to walk to my desk, turn on my laptop, and start what usually looks like a never-ending symphony of video calls.

I know, there are some hardcore fashionistas out there who work from home with their 120mm Loubies on and I applaud them; there is also the other end of the spectrum, with the club of pyjama all-day lovers, and actually the other day I was on a video call where someone forgot to put a top on and yet hadn’t realised their camera was on (at least I hope they hadn’t realised). Let’s not judge…

Still, in these strange times where your bed is metres away from your desk, when your children’s headmaster is also your husband, and the school’s recess time with all its squeals often coincides with that big deal conference call about how this funding structure or that guarantee scheme will save the world’s economy, it’s fair to say office style has taken a whole new meaning. Also, why do most people insist on video calls? What is the appeal of a poor resolution image that is badly-lit and weakens the connection? And whilst we’re here, why can’t video call apps have a filter that smooths out wrinkles and exasperated facial expressions….? Dear Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Skype creators, food for thought. Until then, I’ll use a combination of my desk lamp and my selfie light to create the illusion of a glow, and the minute non essential goods are available to buy again in South Africa I’m ordering one of those ring lights used by make-up artists. If you’re going to spend your day on a video call, why not look good.

Anyways I digress. You’ll find I do that a lot. We’re talking style, specifically home office style. Getting ready in the morning is still very much a pleasure for me. With the aforementioned video calls in mind, I now start my outfits from the top down. I usually opt for a light top, because that makes a nicer frame for my face on video. I have loads of open embroidery blouses in whites and creams, most of them from Zara, and they are getting use a lot. When I have a very serious meeting ahead, I usually opt for a classic button down, like the one in the photos above, which is Misha Noonoo’s Husband Shirt. Without knowing, one could guess that my bottoms are just joggers, but to date I have not gone there yet; then again we’re only on week four of this lockdown, ask me again in a few weeks and I may be a completely different person. For now, I usually go for jeans (no, I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone, but it helps to make sure they still fit from time to time, what with the fridge and pantry so close to my office) or paperbag carrot trousers, they are my favourite cut at the moment and I love the ease of the knotted belt.

What I miss the most in this new office style is accessories… Picture this: me packing my wallet, mobile phone, make-up goodies etc into my favourite Chanel jumbo, only to walk down the corridor to my home office, how silly would that be? How about me wearing some serious heels, only to take them out as I fold my legs under my to sit more comfortably through virtual meeting number five… I mostly wear flat espadrilles, sometimes a wedge if I’m feeling particularly committed to the stylish cause, but yes, I miss my accessories. Sometimes when it’s a bit chilly, I wear one of my CSGMs, and seeing as we’re going into Autumn and Winter here, with a bit of luck that will be everyday. Until then… let’s just say my home office style is quite basic.

With love, S.