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Imagine Sydney Harbour, but instead of water lapping at its stony shores, picture it full of rice. Right up to the high tide mark. Over it in fact. That’s what 540 million tonnes of rice looks like. That’s how much rice we humans grow and consume every year.

But where does it come from? How is it grown?

While we were in Laos recently, Christina and I had a crash course in working a real life rice paddy. We went through each of the stages of the process, from seeding to consumption (yes, there were snacks at the end), and we were surprised at how complex and laborious rice farming is.

But it wasn’t just a lesson in agriculture.

We got a glimpse of the cultural connection that Laos has with rice — especially sticky rice — the role paddy fields play in Laos and in Asia more broadly.

Check out our other stories on Laos here, including where to stay in Luang Prabang.

Click here for other exciting and cultural activities in beautiful Luang Prabang.

And for more great deals of hotels in Luang Prabang, click here.

Rice Farming with Living Land Experience, Luang Prabang

Not far outside the ancient city of Luang Prabang, we find ourselves at Living Land Farm, an organic rice farm that still uses traditional and ancient agricultural methods to grow rice.

They offer visitors a hands-on experience that goes through the 13 stages of traditional, organic rice farming.

Our young guide, Mr Johnny, is a rice farmer of many generations, but who is also excellent at taking us through the various stages, his dry wit and affable manner making the experience even more enjoyable.

13 Stages of Rice Farming

I won’t go through each of the stages — I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.

The farm is split into the various stages of the rice harvest with paddies at all the significant steps of the crop.

The tour begins with planting the rice seeds saved from last year’s harvest. We learn how to separate the good grains from the empty ‘ghost’ grains using saline water.

Then we clamber into the mud of the paddy fields, sowing the grain, harvesting new seeds and tilling the earth.

These days, farmers use tractors (or as locals call them ‘Chinese buffalo’), but for our demonstration, we get to drive a hand plough behind a real water buffalo. It’s not an easy task; the sucking mud is thick and sticky, and the buffalo is determined and brutally strong.

We learn about the growth stages of rice, how long it takes for the crop to develop and the clever irrigation systems of the paddy fields. At its different growth stages, rice needs more or less water.

Once the plant has reached the panicle stage, when the grains have developed at the top of the stalk, the farmer drains all of the water out of the paddy by cutting into the surrounding bank. This allows the rice to mature ready for harvesting.

We have a go harvesting with a sickle that’s so sharp it cuts through the tough rice stalks like butter.

This experience was part of our trip to Laos with InsideAsia Tours, a travel company that does all the hard work for you and lets you enjoy the experiences that the destination offers. 

We were really impressed with this company. They thought of everything, but at the same time weren’t intrusive on our own plans or time. And their itineraries find you things to do and places to go that you’d probably miss if you were doing it all yourself. 

Highly recommended.

Back at The Homestead

After the harvest (and when we’ve washed the mud off our legs and feet), we move back to the homestead for the rest of the tour.

Here, we learn about how the farmers thresh the rice grains, remove all the chaff, polish the grains and cook the rice.

We also see what other things the community get up to after the growing season has finished.

There’s a forge and smithy for making tools, there’s a sugar cane ‘juicer’ — a massive timber cog and hand-wheel system — and also a cottage industry of weaving.

The older farmers who can no longer work the fields turn their hands to making hats, fish traps, tools, furniture and ornaments from bamboo and rice grass.

Finally, we sit down to enjoy the fruits of our labours. Kind of. An assortment of rice-based snacks — including Laos’ number one passion: sticky rice.

This cultural experience is a great thing to do while you’re in Luang Prabang — it makes you appreciate rice a lot more too!

We visited Living Land with Inside Asia Tours, but our experiences and opinions remain our own.

The post That Time We Worked On A Rice Paddy appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

It feels like it’s been ages since we’ve been out in the city and that there are just so many places and things to do that we haven’t heard of.

So it was with an odd feeling of being a bit out of touch that we ventured into Sydney to check out a few things that have started up in the past few weeks.

We’re talking a new bottle shop and bar, an old bar we feel like we should’ve been to a lot more often, a brand new whisky bar and even a bit of culture.

So here are some of our new top tips for Sydney – click these links to take you to each section:

Barrelhouse Cellars’ bottle shop and tasting room
Frank Mac’s
Men Let’s Talk at The Langham
Bangarra Dance Theatre and Cultural Attractions of Australia
Bar Besuto
MuMu and Dean & Nancy on 22

We hope you enjoy this Weekly Edition – Jim & Christina xx

Our first stop in this Sydney odyssey of entertainment is in the Rocks down by Circular Quay. This beautiful historic area—the oldest part of post-colonial Sydney in fact—used to be a hotspot for tourists, which meant you’d rarely see a local.

This all changed with Covid, which stopped the tourist flow. But where businesses can now have more outdoor seating, it’s meant locals are now coming to places like the Rocks more often.

The number of excellent little bars and restaurants in the Rocks has really boomed, and it feels like part of the city once again.

One such place is Barrelhouse Cellars on George Street, taking over what was once a pub. Built to house the King’s Tavern in 1842, this place is packed with history.

This superbly stocked independent bottle shop not only stocks a tonne of Australian craft spirits and excellent domestic wines, it also offers tastings here too.

Owned by the same guys who have the Barber Shop gin bar and the Duke of Clarence—an English pub straight from Dickensian London—in the city, and the resplendent Hickson House Distillery and Bar just round the corner, Barrelhouse Cellars is a brilliant idea.

Of course, you can just run in for a bottle before you go to dinner, but why not stay and have a tasting too?

We’re here try three of Hickson House’s own gins to really follow company lines, but you can also have Tasmanian whisky flights (three whiskies for just $15) or a bit of peat with three Islay whiskies for $14.

There are also rum flights, gin flights and wine to taste all within similar price ranges ($11-$15). And if you taste something you love – the bottle is right on hand to purchase. Such a great idea. There’s even a deli where you can pick up some nibbles on your way through.

It really makes the area feel like a neighbourhood again. Love it!

After our tasting, we decide to kick on for one more with our mate Ben. All the way along this terrace are great little bars worth exploring. We stop in at Frank Mac’s of a cheeky martini.

We take advantage of the ‘meal deal’ here: a cocktail from the menu and cheese toasty. Can’t say fairer. We even score great seats downstairs in the lounge, which is decked out like an old-school drawing room, with a stone fireplace, full bookcases and various ornaments and oddments around the room.

Also in the Rocks is one of Sydney’s finest hotels, the Langham. Although we’ve never stayed here (marketing guys at the Langham, I hope you picked up on this little hint) but we’ve been to the bar here—Observatory Bar—a few times.

It’s as beautifully designed and decorated as the rest of this exquisite hotel, and the drinks are at the same very high standard.

But we’re not here just for the cocktails and wine. This afternoon our dear friend Arrnott Olssen is holding a special event here called Men Let’s Talk, where a panel of men share their stories and challenges with a room of like-minded friends.

With mental health taking an ever-bigger section of the VIP area of society, it’s awesome Arrnott’s giving guys this space to explore and talk about their emotions and hardships openly.

Of course, once the hard bit’s done with and we’ve all regained some composure after some pretty raw conversations, we kick back and enjoy the generous hospitality of the Langham.

As the Observatory Bar’s first (and finest) ambassador, Arrnott has made sure there are plenty of delicious things for us to enjoy.

Drinks are drunk, canapés are… canaped, and new friends chat with old. What a wonderful, positive way to spend an afternoon.

This afternoon, we’re in the Rocks once again, but this time we’re here for some serious culture. Down one of the finger wharfs of Walsh Bay is the illustrious Bangarra Dance Theatre Company.

For more than 30 years, Bangarra’s contemporary First Nations dancers have drawn on 65,000 years of culture in performances that preserve Australia’s Indigenous cultures through theatre, music and movement, as well as stories inspired by the customs and Songlines of Elders.

These remarkable performers somehow meld traditional dance techniques passed down through these songlines with contemporary and classical styles into a beautiful tapestry that everyone ought to see.

But what we’re here to experience today takes things up several notches. Cultural Attractions of Australia has experiences that take you multiple levels of back-stage so you really get to learn about what you’re seeing. And the behind-the-scenes tour of Bangarra is transformative.

The experience begins with the excellent Matthew Doyle, who is a descendent of the Muruwari people of the Lightning Ridge region of NSW, and who grew up on Dharawal land in southern Sydney.

Matthew welcomes us to Country and then performs a smoking ceremony, which is somehow humbling and empowering at the same time. Matthew is closely aligned with the Bangarra Dance Company and has performed as part of the troupe too.

Next, we meet the impressive Frances Rings, Bangarra’s artistic director. She shows us round the theatre, explaining some of the art and photos on the wall and telling us her story.

She also introduces us to the story that’s being told in the current production called Yuldea, which tells the savage history of the building of the Trans-Australian Railway in the early 1900s and its impact.

Next we’re allowed into the rehearsal studio to watch the dancers practise their routines. It’s amazing to be so close to these amazing artists and to watch them work. Seeing them out of costume but still creating this fascinating story makes everything so much more real and personal.

This is part of the Cultural Attractions of Australia’s experience, though if there is a performance on at the time, guests will go to that instead.

After being allowed to watch almost an entire act, we quietly leave the studio and visit the wardrobe, the workshop where the costumes are crafted, kept and—essentially—mended ready for the next performance.

Finally, we make our way to the theatre’s waterside event space Dangarra O Badu (Dancing on Waters) for a bite to eat.

We’re treated to lunch by Plate Events and Catering—a 100% owned and operated commercial kitchen that uses bush tucker ingredients to make canapés and cocktails. https://plateevents.com.au/

The food is all superb, ranging from delicate finger lime and sweet chilli yabbie tartlets to substantial kangaroo skewers with saltbush aioli. And cocktails using Aussie craft spirits, including Seven Seasons Green Ant gin, which has real green ants in it.

This whole Cultural Attractions of Australia experience has been so interesting, and they have a number of other similarly impressive itineraries to look at, from tours of Fremantle Prison’s convict art to a foodie tour of Sydney Opera House.

This evening, we’re in the newly developed entertainment precinct Sydney Place near Circular Quay. Down the narrow confines of Underwood Street is a doorway that leads to a cosy yet chic subterranean Tokyo-style bar.

This is Bar Besuto, latest brainchild of Joel Best, owner of superb Japanese omakase restaurant Besuto that we talked about a little while ago—you can read our review here.

Taking the concept of omakase and its intimate dining experience to his ultimate passion of Japanese whisky, Joel has created an atmospheric space that matches his dining experiences.

You can choose the whisky you’d like to drink, but Joel and his cohorts behind the bar can also create whisky flights for you. To be honest, it’s probably the best call, as there are so many whiskies here—most of which you’ll have never heard of.

With a laser focus on Japanese whisky generally, and high-end and extremely rare bottles specifically, Bar Besuto is a haven for likeminded connoisseurs.

We start the evening with a beautifully refreshing whisky highball (the perfect way to start a romantic evening out by the way) using Ichiro Distillery’s Malt and Grain whisky, before Joel moves us on to the serious business of the whisky flight he has planned for us.

The flight is made of 7.5ml tasters of five different whiskies from Kanosuke Distillery in the southern island of Kyushu.

The first glass is a clear new-make whisky. This is a real whisky fan’s drink as it’s the pure spirit the distiller’s made. It hasn’t aged in oak barrels, it’s fresh from the still. I personally love tasting new make as it shows what the spirit really has under the hood, but it’s an acquired taste.

We move through the next few whiskies, all from the same tiny distillery in Japan. Joel tells us in incredible detail about each one as well as some of the other whiskies he has behind the bar. To give you an idea, Hibiki and Yamazaki, two of the most popular Japanese whiskies, are real entry-level drams here.

In fact some of the bottles are so limited-edition with a tiny number ever made, and collected by Joel over the years, they don’t exist anywhere else in the world anymore.

Alongside this magical tour that’s opening a whole new realm of Japanese whisky up to us, the hidden kitchen next door delivers little omakase-style plates to us.

Just as it was when we had dinner at Besuto recently, so the food here is incredible. Bite-size dishes of pure genius.

At one point, Joel even serves a whisky with a bump of superb N25 caviar, bringing out a whole new level of flavour with its integral umami and adding a whole new layer of luxury to the experience.

Bar Besuto is a bar of two sides. In the same way you can have a nip of superb Japanese whisky for $7, there are also ones you can buy that are $800 each. You can buy a whole bottle here (the most expensive of which is $35,000) and they’ll hold it for you in the bar in your own special locker.

And a flight of five 7.5ml Ichiro’s Malt and Grain whiskies is $3,000.

At the same time, you can sit down to a cocktail here for the same price you’d pay for one anywhere else in the city, but these will all have a Japanese whisky twist to them. Whether it’s a boulevardier with Suntori whisky, a white lady with Roku gin or a vodka martini with Haku vodka.

Bar Besuto is the place you can come and sit at the bar to have a passionate chat with your bartender about the most interesting assortment of Japanese whisky in Australia. And probably a better selection than many Japanese bars.

Tonight, we’re out with our excellent friends Kath and Jarrod. We’ve come for dinner to MuMu in the city, a vast, open-plan restaurant serving Asian street food with a modern twist.

Our top picks here are the crispy eggplant (even if you don’t like eggplant, you’ll still love this dish), the beef tartare with curry leaf murukku, mint, coriander and pickled daikon on a pappadum, and the grilled baby black-lipped abalone with chilli, garlic and coriander, brown butter and vermicelli.

But so many of the other things we’ve tried here are excellent.

And with the open kitchen at the back of the restaurant (I have to sit with my back to it or I’ll end up ignoring everyone and watching the chefs), and the bar with its retro fridges banked up to one side, this restaurant is really all about the food.

Finally, for a cheeky nightcap, we head skyward to Dean and Nancy, a very cool bar up above of the A by Adina in Australia Square. It’s one of those places in Sydney where the amazing aerial views of the city are eclipsed by the interior.

The mid-century vibe of this cocktail bar fits perfectly with our perfectly made martinis. An excellent finish to a lovely evening.

The post T.W.E—Out And About In Sydney appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

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When we told our friends we were going on the Ghan, we were surprised at the range of reactions.

For the most part, it was a positive mix of envy and intrigue. But one friend in particular made us realise that a lot of the people don’t know what this iconic train journey is really about.

“How are you going to make sitting on a train for four days look interesting?” he asked.

For one, you’re not just sitting on the train the whole time. It’s not a commuter line.

If the Ghan were to run nonstop from Darwin to Adelaide at its average speed, the train would pull into Adelaide in about a day and a half. Instead, it takes four days.

Check out our video on the Ghan’s off-train excursions here: 

For another, the majority of the time you’re on the train, you’re either sleeping, eating, drinking or chatting with other passengers. There’s almost not enough time to stare out the window and to embrace the romance of the scenery as it rolls alongside your tracks.

Here’s our video of what it’s like on the Ghan–the cabins, the food, the views.

What Off-Train Experiences Did We Do?

First of all, it’s important to know there’s a difference between going north to going south. Departing from Darwin, the journey is called the Ghan Expedition. It’s a four-day three-night trip.

Check out our full review of what it’s like onboard the Ghan here.

Departing from Adelaide, the train is simply The Ghan and takes three days and two nights. This trip therefore has fewer off-train experiences than the Ghan Expedition.

We were on the Ghan Expedition from Darwin to Adelaide, and these* are the things we did on our way down:

*These experiences are all included in the price of the ticket. There are options like scenic flights that will cost extra.

1. Katherine and Nitmiluk Gorge

After only a few hours on the train—just enough to settle into your cabin and grab a drink at the bar—the train pulls into Katherine.

From the platform, we’re taken by coach to the banks of the Nitmiluk (once Katherine) River for a cruise through the enigmatic Nitmiluk Gorge.

The flowing river that sits between the towering red cliffs is full of barramundi, which means lots of crocodiles too. But aside from the wildlife, there’s also a rich history here. The river represents country borders and therefore a meeting place for the Jawoyn, Dagoman and Wardaman people.

Separated by natural weirs, the river is in fact a network of several gorges, so there are times when you have to disembark the launch and cross to the next boat.

Although the guided boat ride is interesting, having your feet on the ground here really brings home the spiritual significance of this place. There’s a magic in these rocks that seeps through the soles of your shoes.

2. Alice Springs and Standley Chasm Crafting And Cultural Walk

Day two sees the Ghan pull into the central city of Alice Springs, where you spend the whole day.

Standley Chasm (or Angkerle Atwatye—meaning ‘Gap of Water’—in the Arrernte language) is a half-hour coach ride west of town. We start with the opportunity to try our hand at telling our story through painting with symbols and techniques that the Arrernte (pronounced ‘a-run-duh’) have used for millennia.

We’re then led on a guided walk through the bush to the impressive Standley Chasm.

At its narrowest, the chasm is just three metres wide, yet its cliffs tower 80m either side.

Of course, this is a deeply spiritual place for the Arrente, but it’s not just the chasm that’s special. Our guide shows us some of the other things that are special here that he learnt when he was growing up.

We put our ears against the trunks of river oak trees to hear the strange popping clicking noises of the tree drinking water and learn about the songlines of the Western Arrernte.

After a light lunch, we head back to the train to change for dinner.

3. Outback dinner at historic Telegraph Station

Not far out of Alice Springs is the historic site of Telegraph Station. This was the first place in Australia to be able to send and receive telecommunications from Britain and was the original site of the settlement that became Alice Springs.

This site, which dates back to 1871, is set out for our al fresco feast with gala-style tables, free-flowing wine and beer, camel rides, a band, a stargazer and even a blacksmith showing traditional smithing techniques.

It’s an atmospheric dinner that not only takes you back to a bygone era but that also highlights the outback spirit of this incredible journey.

4. Coober Pedy

Saving the best till last, the full day in and around Coober Pedy is amazing. Famous for its opal mines, this strange underground town is a must-see.

– Lunch and noodling in the mine

Down a long, sloping tunnel of a mine that’s been set up for visitors, we explore the various excavated rooms, have a go at ‘noodling’, which is the name given to searching through stone chips for opal, and even smashing the wall with a mining pick.

Set in a long, high-ceilinged hall, our lunch table stretches out waiting for our attention. The food is excellent and the novel setting makes it even better.

– Town of Coober Pedy

Soon, we head into the weird barren town of Coober Pedy itself. Many of the homes here are built underground. Temperatures can go higher than 50°C in the summer, but the cool rock keeps these subterranean homes at a comfortable 25°C year round.

We visit a home that’s open to tours and visit an opal shop as well.

Keen to explore the town further, Christina and I escape the group and go exploring. Coober Pedy does not disappoint and is even stranger than we thought it would be.

Our final stop is at the Serbian Orthodox Church, which, like many of the homes, digs into the side of a hill and down. It has an eerie, Indiana Jones quality.

– Breakaways and Dog Fence

After a short stop at the Dog Fence—the longest continuous construction on earth, which runs from the Gold Coast in Qld right down the Australian Bight in SA—we also visit the Breakaways, a set of striking plateaus seemingly sprouting from the desert floor.

They’re the result of the ancient inland sea that once filled this expanse of land and the create such an unearthly landscape.

Part of this national park has been used in a number of films over the years, including Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome.

– Camp fire beside the train

Our coach takes us back to the train through the vast minefields that cover almost 6,000km² and are home to some 1.3 million mine shafts.

We arrive back at the train to discover the crew have been busy setting up a huge bonfire next to the tracks.

Drinks and canapés circulate, and we relax around the warm glow of the fire as the sun goes down and the desert turns chilly.

We travelled on the Ghan as media guests with Journey Beyond, but our experiences and opinions remain our own.

The post On The Right Side Of The Tracks – what are the Ghan’s off-train experiences like? appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Our bus drops us on the outskirts of town on the edge of the desert and we make our way to the elevated ironbark path. Raised above the sands, it snakes up to the top of the dune, avoiding endangered desert skink nests, and weaving between the tufts of tough spinifex and mulga scrub.

The broad timber deck that greets us at the end of this serpentine sentier presents a view that fills us with awe—even though we’re expecting it. Protruding from the otherwise flat horizon and glowing in the late afternoon light, Uluru beetles its brow back at us.

There’s a tension in the air. Everyone, Uluru included, is waiting, breath held tight, for the show to start.

From the comfort of our blankets—the desert night brings a chill wind—we sit on the terrace on the deck’s eastern side. The sun has all but disappeared behind Kata Tjuta on the horizon behind us and the lights from the deck dim.

We gaze at Uluru across the some 9km of desert, the heart of Australia and the sacred icon of Anangu—the people who have always lived here. We’re transfixed.

But then, in front of us, a glint in the darkness catches our eye.

A tree bursts into flame.

And then another goes up. And another and another. In the background, the mulga scrub lights up reddy gold as if also on fire. The show has begun.

At first it’s as if there are just a few more stars twinkling in the dark sky over Uluru. But then the stars move and change colour.

Soon, we’re looking at strands of lights reaching into the heavens—songlines of the Mala Story. A tjukurpa or creation story of Anangu.

More and more lights dot the heavens above Uluru, painting the story in Sky Country.

We see the giant paw prints of Kurpany, the devil dog sent to destroy the Mala People, walk through the air. We see trees and rocks and flying birds drawn in light, and then the terror of two gleaming red eyes.

Blue-white points of sharp teeth follow, then the pricked ears and snarling features of Kurpany as the devil dog shows itself.

200 metres tall, the ferocious face of the demon looms over us, its biting jaws snapping shut.

It’s an ancient tale, a history, told with a mosaic of state-of-the-art technology; over 1200 drones, six lasers and seven light projectors. And the sounds and narration of the story by Anangu elders boom out over the desert.

At its end, we were left breathless, and with an inkling of the true meaning of tjukurpa.

As Rene Kulitja, Anangu elder, internationally acclaimed artist and member of the Anangu Working Group that brought this experience into being, explained to us:

“Tjukurpa is complex and simple; it’s a belief system that has existed since the first sunrise and it’s a way of living for Anangu.”

Developed by Parks Australia under the advisement of Anangu, this page tells you more about the culture, origins, meanings and applications of tjurkurpa.

Wintjiri Wiru—where ancient stories and high tech meet

Suggesting ‘beautiful view out to the horizon’ in Anangu’s language Pitjantjatjara, Wintjiri Wiru tells part of the creation story—the tjukurpa—of the Mala People living at Uluru.

This story is part of Uluru, in its DNA—as it is with Anangu too.

Physical evidence on Uluru, like Kurpany’s giant paw prints, as well as rock art, have given this history context for Anangu for millennia.

And now Wintjiri Wiru brings it to life in a new way.

We’re lucky to be at the launch of this incredible installation—a show that will run twice a night every night for the foreseeable future.

The evening kicks off with drinks and canapés on the deck, whose iron edges are decorated and illuminated with the story of its artist, the incredible Christine Brumby.

These refreshments are indicative of what guests will be served in hampers when they arrive, and focus is all very much on local produce and Indigenous-owned small businesses. Beer is from Jarrah Boys Brewery, gin is from Beechwood Distillery and even the water—Yaru—is from Bundjalung Country.

While we enjoy the superb service of the staff, an inma—a sacred ceremonial dance—starts up with young Anangu girls dancing on the stage and elders singing and clapping. Then women and then men dance the inma signifying the beginning of the Mala Story.

It’s a humbling thing to witness—to be a part of, as these inma are enormously important to culture and are rarely seen.

The sun finally falls lower and lower, and we find our places on the terrace.

The show lasts about 25 minutes and there are two drone ‘acts’ that go for about 10 minutes each—though you lose track of time while you’re watching this incredible story evolve in the sky and on the ground.

The following day, we’re lucky enough to be allowed to see behind the scenes of Wintjiri Wiru. This is the extraordinary storage and launch facility where all the drones are kept.

It’s a 45m x 45m platform in the scrub that’s somehow invisible from the viewing platform. Cooled are flows underneath it into the housings of the drones which store six drones each. They take off and land here during the shows and the teams can control each individual unit from here.

The technology used here is fascinating, some of which designer Bruce Ramus and his team had to invent as an outcome of this installation.

Two Wintjiri Wiru Experiences On Offer

Guests at the Ayers Rock Resort can book their Wintjiri Wiru experiences through the hotel’s website here.

There are two options:

Wintjiri Wiru Sunset Dinner is a three-hour experience, starting with cocktails and canapés on the open-air theatre while the sun sets behind Kata Tjuta, then you’re given a gourmet hamper full of delicious food that celebrates native ingredients.

When the sun has completely set, you take your seat to watch the amazing drone, light and laser show. It’s a truly immersive experience that will leave you astounded.

This ticket includes transfers from and back to the resort.

Wintjiri Wiru After Dark is the dessert experience. Because this session begins about two hours after dark, you won’t see the impressive views of Uluru and Kata Tjuta as the sun sets.

This post-dinner show only serves light refreshments like native-spiced popcorn, but the Wintjiri Wiru show is just as magnificent as the earlier one.

Wintjiri Wiru After Dark is also a bit shorter—about 90 minutes long from leaving the resort to your return.

For us, travel is all about experiencing and learning about cultures different to ours. Here are more stories from our journeys that you might like. J&Cx

Anangu share the Mala story, from Kaltukatjara to Uluru, through a drone, sound and light show designed and produced by RAMUS.

We visited Uluru and the launch of Wintjiri Wiru as media guests, but our experiences and opinions remain our own. Additional images by Getty.

The post Songlines in Sky Country—drones tell ancient tales above Uluru appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

The waterways of Mooloolaba in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast have special meaning for the Kabi Kabi, the traditional custodians of the region.

From the elegant decks of a 115-year-old sailing boat, skipper Simon Thornalley and Kabi Kabi woman ‘Aunty’ Bridgette Chilli paint a picture of what this area represents to a culture that’s tens of thousands of years old.

Check out our video from our time aboard the good ship Spray of The Coral Coast here.

Saltwater Eco Tours—the Cultural Tour on the Mooloolah River

Sailing the Mooloolah River, just beyond the reach of multimillion-dollar waterfront mansions and luxury superyachts, is the Spray of The Coral Coast, a tidy century-old timber boat, its masts reaching for the sky.

Captained by owner Simon Thornalley, who is himself of Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander heritage, the Spray of The Coral Coast is a classic 58ft gaff-rigged Huon-pine ketch.

Built in 1925 to the plans of the original Spray that Joshua Slocum sailed single-handedly around the world between 1895 and 1898, the Spray of The Coral Coast is one of a kind.

And just as Slocum was the first person to circumnavigate the globe on his own, so Simon has created something truly unique; the first of its like.

What to expect on Saltwater Eco Tours’ Cultural Tour

At the Penny Lane Jetty, Bridgette performs a smoke ceremony, welcoming us to her homeland and cleansing us so that we can all “walk on Country with the same footprint.” Her song lets the ancestors, the Old Ones, know we’re here and asks for safe passage up and down the river.

Before we get underway, Simon also plays his didgeridoo for us. Its deep resonating music rings in our ears as the crew cast off and we strike a course along the Mooloolah River.

As we go, Aunty Bridgette tells us the stories she learnt from her grandmother, who raised her the traditional Kabi Kabi ways, passing stories and knowledge down to her the way her grandmother had, so had always been down the millennia.

Her explanations of what the land here means, how it translates and speaks of its own and the Kabi Kabi’s history, is as important as it is fascinating.

Lunch is literally a moveable feast—a never-ending procession of delicious bush-tucker and platters as we sail the river, listening to Aunty Bridgette tell her history.

Deliciously prepared snacks of kangaroo, crocodile, grilled prawns, bunya nut, even a cocktail using Australian botanicals too, come from the galley, as well as a cheese and charcuterie plate.

There’s even a bar set up where you can order more cocktails or beers while you travel.

You’re welcome to go below deck too. Simon is very proud of the renovation—there are some photos of the work that needed to be done and of the Spray of The Coral Coast through its 115-year service.

Before we leave, Aunty Bridgette also performs an ochre ceremony on all of us, protecting us from the world and blessing us.

It’s a remarkable experience from beginning to end.

You can’t help but wonder why there aren’t more experiences like this that teach about the incredible history that run through this land like the rivers themselves.

Perhaps you find some of the answer from how hard it was for Simon to even get approval to start the business and renovate this boat, which is in itself a touchstone of history.

Again and again, Simon had to deal with financiers and councils telling him to just use a regular boat or that his wasn’t a viable business idea. To see Saltwater Eco Tours survive the hardest couple of years for tourism thanks to Covid is sign enough that they were all wrong.

But having sailed with Simon, we can say with authority they were truly blind to the opportunity and ignorant to the significance of this adventure.

Set Sail with Saltwater Eco Tours

We experienced the Saltwater Cultural Tour and there are a range of different tours available to book here.

The post Sailing on the Sunshine Coast – Saltwater Eco Tours cultural cruise  appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

When we’re travelling in Australia, we sometimes like to play a game. We look at an area and try to imagine what it would have looked like 500 years ago, then what it might’ve looked like 5,000 years before that.

Houses and gardens, parks and sea walls dissolve, and in their place are thickets of trees, broad deserts and craggy cliffs down to stony shores. The wilderness of Australia.

It’s often a difficult exercise.

But when you’re in the Kimberley – arguably one of the most isolated yet most spectacular places on earth – it’s not hard at all. Things change slowly in the Kimberley.

Check out our video on Wandjina rock art in the Kimberley:

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

Of course, 5,000 years ago – even 50,000 years ago – signs of human habitation were here. In fact, their ancient legacy still remains today. As old as the hills into which they’re carved.

The ancient rock paintings in the Kimberley’s galleries are now as much part of the country as its ember-like red earth, its riotous, rugged coastline and the benevolent yet irascible spirit that dwells in every leaf, rock and river.

Gwion Gwion art in the Kimberley – paintings of life before time began

Already home to superlatives like Mitchell Falls – Australia’s highest tiered waterfall, Montgomery Reef – the country’s closest onshore reef and the third highest tides in the world (behind Alaska and Nova Scotia), the Kimberley has been comfortable with its status for millennia.

But the Gwion Gwion rock art – known also as ‘the Bradshaws’ after Joesph Bradshaw, who found them in 1891 – is perhaps the most significant preeminence to us humans.

These paintings, possibly the oldest form of art in the world (and the oldest depictions of humans), are shrouded in mystery.

How old are the Gwion Gwion Bradshaws?

It’s been difficult to date them because to use things like radiocarbon dating technology, you need traces of biological data – carbon for example. And there’s just none left in the ancient pigments painted onto the walls of the Kimberley caves. In fact, the paintings have become the caves.

However, fossils of mud wasp nests, which were built on top of the paintings, do still have organic material to carbon date. The fossils are around 17,500 years old, so the paintings go back at least that far.

But bearing in mind the nests would not have been built (and allowed to remain) while the artists were still in residence, it’s very hard to know how fresh the paint was before the wasps moved in.

Other Gwion Gwion art depicts the giant form of a Thylacoleo, the massive ancestor of the Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger. The Thylacoleo became extinct around 45,000 years ago, so it would be easy to extrapolate that these paintings are contemporaries of this 130kg ‘dinosaur’.

There are so many other theories and suggestions about these paintings that pinning down a specific date for these incredible works of ancient history – let alone getting scientists to agree – is almost impossible.

Either way, these artworks are old, beautiful and incredibly important.

How many Gwion Gwion and Wandjina sites are there?

Spread over an enormous area – around 50,000km² – there are literally hundreds of thousands of gallery sites in the Kimberley of both the ancient Gwion Gwion artwork and Wandjina images that also date back many thousands of years.

And scientists believe there are many that still haven’t been discovered yet.

The rock art we saw while we were in the Kimberley was from Raft Point – a remote, steep bluff of deep red rock that launches from the shores of the Indian Ocean. Known by the local Worrorra People as Umbre, this area is home to one of the more accessible galleries from the sea.

At the time, we were travelling with National Geographic on an expedition ship, and to clamber from a Zodiac onto the crunchy sand at Umbre, then scramble up to the caves filled with those legendary paintings was unforgettable.

National Geographic expedition leader Steve Egan explained some of the details of the ancient Aboriginal Wandjina paintings above our heads. You can watch his lesson on our video here.

It was an entrancing experience and one that we will never forget.

It made it all the more painful to learn of news that, in disgraceful acts ostensibly to clear bushland for fire safety, the WA government in 2009 damaged or destroyed over 5,000 of the known 8,742 sites of Bradshaw art with aerial firebombing and back burning.

Much of this area was presumed (incorrectly) to have high potential for oil and gas reserves.

Incredibly, this is still happening.

In mid-2020, Rio Tinto bombed parts of the Pilbara, a region south of the Kimberley, to expand an iron ore mine. They utterly destroyed two culturally and scientifically significant sacred sites, one of which was dated to be over 46,000 years old.

And this was sanctioned by ministerial consent via outdated Aboriginal heritage laws.

You can read more about the Rio Tinto disaster here.

In legal developments, three of Rio Tinto bosses have been fined (but still hold their senior positions) for the destruction of one of Australia’s oldest archaeological sites.

The fines relate to bonuses of the three heads of the mining firm amounting to around £4m (AU$7.3m). 

The cave site sat above high-grade iron ore estimated at £75m – AU$137m.

We’ve travelled through a lot of Australia. We’ve seen its high peaks, its deep caverns, its beaches and its forests, its cities and its vast, ranging deserts.

They all have one thing in common: they all give you a sense of this incredible country – they all feel like home.

But the Kimberley feels more like Australia and yet at the same time less like anywhere else on earth.

Perhaps the spirit of the Wandjina – the unique, ghostly forms of cloud and rain eidolons found in the rock art of the Kimberley – is what gives this place its magic.

And the paintings of the Gwion Gwion and Wandjina are a talisman of this fascinating ancient landscape.

If you want to see more about our time with National Geographic in the Kimberley, click here.

The post Explore the oldest art gallery on earth – the Kimberley, Australia appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

As the long-tail boat pulls away from Khong Kha Pier and its iconic giant crab statue, the mangrove looms closer – mysterious and somehow more tropical than the palm trees lining the beachside resort town of Ao Nang.

We’re heading for Koh Klang – literally ‘island in the middle’. This large island is right in the centre of the mangrove forest, facing Ao Nang across the broad opening to the Krabi River.

And like two sides of a coin, they couldn’t be more different.

Here’s our video of our time on Koh Klang:

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

Very few travellers make it to Koh Klang, which is the way the locals like it. Their focus is on eco-tourism and culture, and they’re happy to leave the partying and hedonism to the mainland.

Indeed, the 98% Muslim community here – something unsurprising the further south you travel in Thailand – means alcohol is not allowed, neither is pork nor inappropriate or immodest dress.

And as we pull up to the rickety wooden wharf, we meet our driver on Koh Klang and our ride – a tuktuk sidecar motorbike. There are no cars on the island’s narrow little roads.

We’re soon zooming through the lanes that cross flat farmland and dense jungle; the occasional water buffalo moping at us from its field or the even more occasional house sprouting from the trees.

Things to do on Koh Klang

English is not widely spoken on Koh Klang, but visitors seem to get by. Locals are welcoming and patient, and they’re keen to show visitors around.

They’re proud of their culture and heritage, and have worked hard at the eco-tourism approach.

Batik painting

This wax and dye art form is found all over the world, from Egypt to China and goes back thousands of years.

We’ve tried this before in Borneo – it’s very satisfying watching the dye bleed across the surface of the fabric to the edges of the wax.

But sitting the sunshine on this peaceful little island, the resident water buffalo keeping an eye on us makes this batik experience even more memorable.

This is also a workshop for professional artists, and you can see their work in the main building. There’s also a shop where you can buy their finished pieces and you get to keep your work too as part of the experience.

Sponsored by the World Vision Foundation of Thailand, the Batik Patek Housewife Group is locally run so that all the money they earn here stays with the workers.

Tie dye

Further down the road, we pull over again by a village of sorts. A simple collection of buildings, many with open walls and dirt floors, others with woven wicker and bare concrete.

The people here have set up a business similar to the batik group, though more rustic.

Here you learn to make tie dye – a traditional technique of the area. The women here use natural dye as well: tree bark, berries, roots, whatever they can forage from the local area.

By tying pieces of wood to folded fabric, boiling it in dye then soaking it in water to fix the colour, we make some beautiful patterns in the cloth.

You can also buy pieces from the racks – anything from shirts and scarves to tote bags.

Wooden handicraft

This workshop and community store sells incredibly intricate model boats that the owner has made. They’re historic miniatures of the prawning boats his father once built, though these days modern motorboats are more common.

He also makes wooden muskets that fire balls of baked clay. I’m really surprised at how powerful and accurate these guns are.

Traditional rice production

We also stop in at a place that sells the rice from the island. The rice here is multicoloured – ranging from white to red – and is unique to the world.

You can also have a go at using traditional machines that de-husk and pound rice grains.

Fruit trees

Do you know where cashews come from? We stop in at our driver’s friend’s place where there are three or four huge cashew trees in the garden.

I’m fascinated to learn that the nuts grow underneath a kind of pear-shaped fruit that are incredibly juicy and tasty. When they’re ripe the fruit turn bright red and are even sweeter than when they’re yellow.

The cashew nuts grow inside thick shells that are almost impossible to crack.

Back at the wharf, we board our boat with the voice of the call to prayer from one of the island’s four mosques resonating to the water’s edge. It’s been an unforgettable experience.

Getting to Koh Klang

From Khong Kha Pier, it’s only a 10-minute boat ride to the nearest point on the island. Longtail boats hold up to eight people and it costs TBH300 for a return trip.

You can hire a boat for longer if you want to explore more of the mangrove forest. This will cost around TBH600-800 depending on how long you want to sail for.

For more stories on Thailand, check out our guide to Ayutthaya – Thailand’s forgotten capital, 11 reasons to visit Chiang Mai and our romantic honeymoon itinerary in Thailand.

You can also find our other stories on the Land of Smiles here in our Thailand library.

This region of southern Thailand started out as a tourist destination a couple of decades ago when regulars had had enough of over-tourism of Phuket across the bay.

They went in search of a new paradise and what they found was an untouched province surrounded by those dramatic karst islands and spectacular beaches Krabi is known for.

Of course Krabi – or more specifically Ao Nang – is now suffering at the same hands that shaped modern-day Phuket.

Koh Klang and its unchanged aesthetic are a subtle reminder that true authentic Thai experiences are never too far away, but also how different the area is now.

To think that this whole region once looked like Koh Klang is somewhat bitter sweet. It’s important that places like this still exist.

We travelled to Koh Klang with Amazing Thailand – the national tourism board.

The post Beyond Krabi – Koh Klang the eco-tourism island appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

From the humble Khomani People – known also as the Kalahari Bushmen – to the fierce and noble Zulu, the cultures of South Africa breathe life into the landscape.

Each culture is as distinct in its history, perspective, art and language as the cities to the wilderness and the cold peaks of Mafadi to the baked earth of the deserts.

Within and beyond its boundaries, this country’s cultures are what bring the land to life with a vibrance and vitality that’s hard to describe.

Here’s a short video exploring a few of the most interesting cultural aspects of South Africa:

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

When we were in South Africa recently, we found it hard to get a handle on the bewildering realms of culture here.

From the arid lands of the Kalahari to the sweeping blue of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, South Africa’s landscape is the beating heart of the romance of travel.

5 places to experience and understand South African culture

Of course, a place like South Africa has a million ways and places of experiencing its culture, but here are the places we think really highlight the country and explain its diversity, attitudes and personality.

1. Where we all came from – the Cradle of Humankind

In the broken hills northwest of Johannesburg, the limestone Caves of Sterkfontein hide the very keystone to the beginnings of human life – the Cradle of Humankind.

The subterranean visitors’ centre – Maropeng – is cleverly put together and gives a lot of information about human evolution and the archaeological site.

But the cave system, which you can go into, brings it all to life. You get to see the spot where archaeologists unearthed the fossils of ‘Mrs Ples’, a 2.1-million-year-old Australopithecus skull, and Little Foot, an almost complete Australopithecus skeleton more than three million years old.

These caves continue to deliver evidence of our pre-historic existence and are an active dig site. It’s the one of the richest sources of hominid fossil sites in the world.

The hour-long tour of the caves is challenging at times, with lots of stairs and very low crawl-height ceilings.

2. Soweto, Mandela’s House and the Apartheid Museum

Although Apartheid happened throughout South Africa, Johannesburg was certainly the most affected. Joburg’s townships – slums where black Africans were sent as part of segregation – are now both cultural hubs and important reminders of what people went through.

Soweto, the country’s biggest township with over two million residents, was home to Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, whose house you can – and should – visit.

Stay at Lebo’s in the north of the township and take a tour in their bright yellow tuktuks. You can also hear stories from people who lived through Apartheid at Lebo’s, and the dinners they serve up are excellent.

For more information, check out our full story on Lebo’s and Soweto here or watch our video around Soweto below.

Closer to the city centre, the Apartheid Museum is the most concentrated source of information about the atrocities committed during the 1948-1994 regime. If you go anywhere in Johannesburg, make sure it’s here.

It’s heartbreaking, haunting and utterly horrendous the things people did (and still do) to each other because of the colour of skin. And yet an example of how we can change for the better.

Along with the Seven Pillars of the South African Constitution – democracy, equality, reconciliation, diversity, responsibility, respect and freedom – everybody should learn about what happened here.

It’s a sadly under-taught part of our history.

3. Durban’s beaches, Zulus and nightlife

On the east coast of South Africa, the city of Durban looks out across the Indian Ocean. Its 600km of beaches and warm waters are a surfer’s dream, while its cruisy nightlife makes for a perfect break by the sea.

Culturally, Durban is interesting for two reasons: firstly, this area is part of the KwaZulu Natal – the Zulu Kingdom. For a snapshot of traditional Zulu life, you have to visit the Zulu Village at the PheZulu Safari Park.

The Gasa clan have been performing traditional dances, rituals and ceremonies here for over 30 years here. It’s fascinating and beautiful to watch, and the singing and music is enchanting.

Durban is also home to a big population of migrants from the Asian subcontinent. In fact, it’s said that Durban is the biggest ‘Indian’ city outside India. Indians were brought to South Africa to work on the Transvaal railways. They brought many customs and traditions – not to mention food.

One dish unique to Durban is ‘bunny chow’. Nothing to do with rabbits or rabbit food, this dish gets its name from the Indian cooks who created the dish known as bania. A loaf of bread halved and hollowed out, then filled with your choice of curry.

It’s unbelievably tasty and, as people who love a curry, we’re shocked we haven’t had this before.

This restaurant – House of Curries – in Durban’s fun-filled Florida Road is a top spot for bunny chow.

4. Rourke’s Drift and Isandlwana

Made famous by Michael Caine’s performance in the 1964 movie Zulu, Rourke’s Drift is the historic battle site during the Anglo-Zulu wars of 1879 where 139 British soldiers held off over 4,000 Zulu warriors.

More Victoria Crosses were awarded in this single battle than any other in the British Empire.

What the film doesn’t tell you is the day before, thanks to an error by commanding officer Lord Chelmsford, 1,300 of the British colonial army were massacred by an enormous Zulu force at the site of Isandlwana.

Tales of these two epic battles are brought to life by the incredible guides of Fugitives’ Drift Lodge Owners and founders of this beautiful park and lodge – the Rattray family – are widely respected for their work with the Zulu nation.

For more information, you really should check out our full story of the battles and Fugitives’ Drift.

You should also watch our video walkthrough too!

5. On Safari in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and the Kalahari Bushmen

In the Western Cape, a spear of South Africa pierces the Kalahari Desert, its tip forming a confluence of countries: Namibia on the left, Botswana on the right and cleaving between them is South Africa.

This section of the Kalahari Desert is known as the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Not only is it home to a huge number of beautiful native birds, animals and plants, it’s also the lands of the nomadic San People.

For centuries, these ‘Kalahari Bushmen’ have roamed the dessert, but these days the Khomani 2,000-strong community is restricted to a small section of the Kalahari.

As the government tries to reconcile with the Khomani, programmes like the !Xaus Game Lodge – a safari lodge owned and run by the tribespeople – are aiming to give back something back.

We stayed at !Xaus Lodge (pronounced similar to ‘house’ but with a ‘k’) and had an incredible time. There was also an opportunity to visit a Khomani village and speak with some of the San who worked there making handicraft. It was a remarkable experience.

You can read more about the Transfrontier Park, the San People and !Xaus Lodge here in our full review.

There’s also a short video walkthrough we’ve put together you should check out too:

These are just a few of the ways to learn about and enjoy the wide-ranging and fascinating cultures of South Africa. We loved our time there and can’t wait to go back again. There’s just so much to see and do.

Have you been to South Africa? Do you have a top place you’ve been to there or anywhere that shows off a country’s culture?

We travelled to South Africa as media with South African Tourism.

The post Beyond the Cape – South African destinations you must visit appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Our tuk-tuk burbles and bounces through the tight alleys and broad streets of Soweto, South Africa’s biggest and oldest township.

As we go, our driver Thando – a Soweto local – talks us through our surroundings, though she’s often interrupted with cheery greetings of “sharp-sharp!” and waves from passers-by.

Soon, we’re waving back and high-fiving laughing kids who come close to the muddy curbs as we zoom by.

Thando skilfully guides our bright yellow bug around potholes and open drains that cleave the road like deep scars.

And although there are smiles and waves here now, you can tell it hasn’t always been like this.

Soweto’s dark past and the horrors these streets have seen have caused the deepest scars of all.

Click here to watch our video of Soweto on Youtube.

Soweto – the city within a city

In the 1930s – 10 years before the official start of Apartheid – the South African government began separating black Africans and moving them away from Johannesburg. So began the ‘townships’ and the genesis of Soweto.

The townships – basically forced slums – southwest of the city became ever more populated and borders blurred.

In 1959, the government came up with the abhorrent concept of a competition to name the area. As if things weren’t inhumane enough.

Soweto was the winning moniker, a derivative of South Western Townships. It’s an acronymic style you’re more likely to find in New York. Think Soho, Dumbo or Nolita.

But the name Soweto stuck.

Exploring Soweto with Lebo’s tuk-tuk tours

Lebo Malepa, owner and founder of Lebo’s Soweto, first started running tours of the township – the neighbourhood he grew up in – at the turn of the century.

He saw buses of tourists coming to Soweto on what we’d see as poverty tourism now while selling crafts at the Hector Pieterson Memorial, just up the road from Nelson Mandela’s house.

Lebo decided visitors should see the real Soweto and learn about life here rather than staring through the windows of a coach at the people they’d never get to meet down below.

From there, he began bicycle tours of Soweto, bringing tourists even closer to his community, and then turned his family home in the northwest of the township into a hostel.

These days, Lebo also has tuk-tuks that run tours across Soweto. The tours take you further into the neighbourhood than walking or cycling can but still allow you to feel the ethos of the township.

Locals recognise the bright yellow tuk-tuks and respond well to visitors, knowing that the money is staying in Soweto and that the intention for coming here is good. Anecdotally, we hear stories from locals who used to feel angry about the coaches coming to Soweto; they felt like animals in a zoo.

But with Lebo’s tours, it’s somehow different. You feel more connected.

From Lebo’s Backpackers, Thando drives our tuk-tuk through many different parts of Soweto, stopping regularly where we can get out and Thado tells us more about life here.

Curious children come up to us, wanting a high five or even a hug. Others climb into our empty tuk-tuk with a cheeky grin.

We’re taken to the poorest parts of the township. And bearing in mind Soweto didn’t have power until the 1980s, life here is tough to say the least. Streets are mere dusty tracks and houses are no more than a few pieces of corrugated metal pushed together.

Still, folks here smile and are welcoming, their children are healthy and cleanly dressed, and the sense of community is strong.

Although poverty is clearly an issue, futility is not.

House of a hero

Our tour culminates in a visit to Nelson Mandela’s house. It’s on a famous street – Vilakazi Street. It’s the only street in the world where two Nobel Peace Prize winners have lived. Both Mandela and Desmond Tutu were from Soweto.

Mandela’s house is an interesting museum of his life, though if you want a fuller story of him, the Apartheid Museum closer to town has more.

The house has a lot of information about Nelson’s wife Winnie. In fact, she spent more time here alone with their daughters while he was in prison, constantly under attack from the police. There are stories of her hiding behind furniture while officers shot into the house from the street.

Horrendous stories and ones we should all know.

Back at Lebo’s place for tea and a tale

We drive back to Lebo’s house, our bright yellow tuk-tuk a motorised Pac-Man, dodging left and right with past ghosts close behind.

It’s almost time for dinner, a communal affair in the garden bar across the road. Cooking on open fires, huge blackened pots are full of stews bubble away, and the buffet of vegetables grown in Lebo’s garden.

There’s even a bar here selling locally made Soweto Gold lager.

For once, our timing is perfect. We’re in Soweto for the last Thursday of the month, and at Lebo’s that means storytelling.

We sit around a big bonfire, sipping our Soweto Golds and listen Antoinette Sithole tell her story. The sister of Hector Pieterson, Antoinette was there the day he died on 16th June 1976 – one of the most important incidents during Apartheid.

Hector had been shot. He was only 12 years old.

Hearing Antoinette tell her story in this setting and in this place is both haunting and empowering. I just wish I were here on the last Thursday of the month again.

Sam Nzima’s photograph of Hector’s body being carried away by Mbuyisa Makhubo with Antoinette in tow became an icon for the uprising and brought about international condemnation of the Vorster Government.

Soweto – more than just a slum

Many people who hear of Soweto but haven’t seen it with their own eyes might think of it as a township full of poverty and sadness.

It’s so much more than that.

There’s an incredible sense of community here. And it’s a sense that locals are willing to share. Hearing stories from the mouths of people who actually lived through Apartheid is so much more meaningful than reading it in a book.

The tourism industry is finally getting it right and allowing the vision of those like Lebo to make some good come of the darkness that brought about the townships.

Restaurants and bars, particularly in and around Vilakazi Street, offer a literally taste of township life. The Wine Bar is a good example – serving traditional dishes like lamb’s trotters, chicken livers, oxtail, mogodu (lamb tripe) and hardbody chicken – also known as mleqwa.

And of course there’s a selection of great wine you’d expect in South Africa. They even have some good Cuban cigars here – just make your choices carefully!

Of course, there are clear and confronting signs of poverty here, but the sense of community, of dignity and genuine joy is incredibly strong.

It’s true that the townships are still a symbol of white oppression, but they’re also one of Black pride.

For more of our stories from South Africa, click here.

We travelled as media with South African Tourism.

The post The city within a city – Soweto, the pulsing heart of Johannesburg appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Sitting obstinately across the borders of three different countries, the 60 million-year-old Kalahari Desert sends the clear message that it doesn’t care for any of our modern constructs of nation states.

And while the lines in the sand mark the limits of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, each dune of the desert is like the Kalahari is shrugging its broad shoulders.

Those same lines blur when you’re here too.

There’s something about being in this ancient landscape, seeing its incredible nature, learning its secrets and meeting its peoples, that makes you feel small and insignificant but great, eternal and part of it all at the same time.

Visiting this remarkable landscape feels like you have the very sands of time beneath your feet.

Check out our video walkthrough of !Xaus Lodge and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park:

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, officially established in 2000, takes up a large part of the Kalahari Desert. And if the names Kgalagadi and Kalahari seem similar to you, that’s because it’s the same word.

To the Khomani San (also known as the Kalahari Bushmen) the desert is Kgalagadi – a word meaning ‘great thirst’.

!Xaus Lodge – safari in the Kalahari

Within the realm of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is the !Xaus Lodge – a refuge from the wilderness and a connector to the culture in the Kalahari.

There are plenty of accommodation options for safari in the Kalahari and within the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, but !Xaus Lodge is different.

It gives you a more authentic experience and an opportunity to make a positive impact to the indigenous population of this part of Africa. This cultural connection isn’t something you’ll find in many other safari lodges.

Where is !Xaus Lodge and how do you get there?

About 25km from the western border of the Transfrontier Park and also where Namibia begins, !Xaus Lodge is in the spear of South Africa that sticks up from the Northern Cape, squeezing in between Namibia and Botswana.

As addresses go, I don’t envy the postie who has !Xaus Lodge on their route. “91st Dune, off the Auob River Road” will take you to the front door of the lodge, but who’s counting dunes?

The lodge really is in the middle of nowhere.

From the provincial town of Upington and its airport, you have a two-and-a-half hour drive north to the park’s border control. The high fences and strict regulations have a number of purposes. They keep the animals in the park and poachers out, they ensure visitors are equipped and have paid their fees.

It’s also a land crossing into Botswana.

From the border, you have about 20km of sandy, bumpy unsealed roads to drive until you come to the meeting point where your guide from !Xaus Lodge will transfer you to a company vehicle – and then you start counting dunes!

91 dunes take up about 50km of the desert, so the drive is a long one. But what a journey it is.

What animals are you likely to see there?

From the moment you enter the park, the amount of wildlife you see jumps impressively.

Because of the sparseness of vegetation and tall trees here in the desert, it’s easier to spot creatures as you drive around the park.

Of course, because they’re wild animals living in a vast landscape, it’s impossible to guarantee a spotter’s list.

However, here’s what we saw, and apart from the three male black maned lions lying by the side of the road and the eland (South Africa’s largest antelope and the Khomani people’s most sacred animal) what we encountered on our trip wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park doesn’t have elephant, rhinoceros or hippopotamus.

What does !Xaus mean?

!Xaus Lodge was built in this location, far from the main road and the river for a few reasons. But mostly, it’s here because of the waterhole below the lodge. At a certain angle, the waterhole looks a bit like a heart, hence the name.

The word !xaus means ‘heart’ in the Khoisan language of the Khomani San people. Both the ‘!’ and the ‘X’ represent the clicks many of the languages in Africa use. ‘!’ is a click from the front of the mouth where your tongue leaves your alveolar ridge.

The ‘X’ is from the tongue leaving your soft palate at the back of your throat – though sounds similar to a ‘k’ sound in non-click languages.

It’s a complicated set of sounds to make, so it’s not frowned upon to just say ‘Kaus’ – rhyming with ‘house’.

But there’s a good reason why the lodge has a Khomani name…

Why is !Xaus Lodge so special?

Apart from being the only safari lodge this far inside the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, !Xaus Lodge is also run and staffed by actual Khomani San people, who are the rightful occupants of this land.

State park borders were established here in 1931 which resulted in dispossession and eviction of San from their homelands.

The government built !Xaus Lodge in 2011 to give the Khomani. The idea was to create for them a money-making business – part of an ongoing reconciliation programme. You can find out more about the Khomani’s battle with the government here.

The NGO for the Transfrontier Park help with things like marketing, logistics and hospitality training, but all profits all go back to Bushmen.

What this gives you as a guest – apart from knowing that your money is helping the cultural heritage of one of Africa’s first nation peoples – it also means you’re incredibly close to the knowledge of the land.

There aren’t many that can say they’ve met and travelled with a real Kalahari Bushman.

What’s the lodge and the rooms like?

Both for safety from animals and for minimising impact on the environment, the whole lodge is up on stilts.

From the main lodge, which has a pool, dining room, bar, reception, shop and viewing areas, the 12 chalets are set out along a wooden walkway perched on the top of the 91st dune.

Below the lip of the dune, the waterhole, which is usually dry but always has a large water-filled trough, stretches out before you – 1km across and 3km around. From the veranda in your room, you can see wildlife coming to drink from miles around.

Inside, the chalets are fairly simple, with sparse decorations, though the novelty of the wooden walls and roof give interest enough. Beds are large and comfortable, as are the loungers on the balcony.

The bathroom runs off the bore water from a deep-drill well. Amazingly, the water is very saline, which makes the shower a bit strange and unsatisfying. A clay pot of drinking water is regularly topped up though.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all made by the Khomani staff. The meals are served at the big communal table in the main lodge. Food is a mixed bag, though always tasty.

Transporting goods from Cape Town and Johannesburg present their own challenges. But you don’t come somewhere like this for the food.

As for the bar, you’ll find a good selection of South African wine and beer – even craft brews from nearby Upington called Kalahari Craft Beer, which is excellent. 

What activities does !Xaus Lodge offer?

Day and night drives across the dunes in the lodge’s safari 4×4 with fully open sides offer incredible views of the desert and its wildlife. There’s also a sunset drive that ends in drinks high on a dune looking out across the park.

There’s an early morning hike from the lodge with an experienced Khomani San tracker. We were with Castro – an absolute genius who can spot an animal spore or an insect burrow from 100 yards. You point out a bird and he’ll tell you what it’s thinking.

One of the most incredible experiences though is the visit to the Khomani camp. Not far from the lodge is a spot where local San people gather to make traditional jewellery and ornaments with wood, bone and ostrich eggs.

A short walk from the lodge takes you to their camp where you get to meet Bushman elder. He explains a short history of his people, shows some primitive weapons they still use, shows how to make fire by hand and teaches you some Khoisan words.

He also introduces you to his family.

You must be accompanied to do this though. The proximity to a water source means it’s not safe to go anywhere beyond the lodge without a guide.

The sight of fresh leopard tracks in the sand around our lodge and sight of a hyena at the drinking hole was enough to convince us to stay close to Castro.

We really didn’t know what to expect from our trip to the Kalahari. But we left feeling like something inside us had changed. It seems that Africa has that constant effect on you.

If this story isn’t enough for you, here are some other reasons why you should visit South Africa.

We visited !Xaus Lodge and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park as media guests of South African Tourism.

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