The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,200 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.
Purely by chance, I saw an ad for Lucky Tsotsi’s Shebeen and Bar while on Facebook recently
What are the odds of stumbling across a shebeen in Sydney?
The concept though familiar to me would probably be a little confusing for the average Sydneysider or anyone who hasn’t visited South Africa’s townships firsthand. A ‘shebeen’ is an unlicensed tavern, usually the local for people to meet their chomas, enjoy some drinks, share a meal and pantsula the night away, township style!
So it was with great excitement and curiosity a few weeks later that we headed to this venue for my birthday with four South African mates. Tough judges all, we joked about how the place would hold up for authenticity of food and atmosphere, thousands of miles away from home and South Africa’s densely populated townships.
Lucky’s was already packed when we got there at 5pm on a Saturday. With its colourful décor and artwork; fantastic range of South African, local and European wines and beer, great innovative cocktails and shooters, we saw the promise of a great night out.
The menu promotes dishes as diverse as the inhabitants of South Africa itself. African, Dutch, Indian, British, Portuguese, French and Malay influences are represented in the food with a cheeky twist to the original dishes. So, if you’re into ribs and chicken, that’s there too but a deviation from the standard fare on the menu to sample the street food is well worth it.
The lamb samoosas were just the way I would eat them at a Durban takeaway. Large, golden triangles of thin fried pastry filled with spicy lamb mince and fresh coriander. (There’s also a vegetarian version)
I ordered Lucky’s “bunny chow”, a rather stylish version of the original curry filling in a loaf of bread. This one made with cob bread and a chicken curry filling served with a shooter glass of sambals and yoghurt to mix into the dish before eating. Fun to eat. mildly spicy and highly recommended.
A side order of “slap” chips failed to impress. They looked and tasted ordinary unlike the soft, oily ones soaked in vinegar served back home, (a great hangover cure, according to the guys in our group – we’ll take their word for it!)
Other options included my favourite, pap and sous as well as samp and beans and chicken livers peri peri.
All meals had to be ordered upfront at the bar or you will sit a long time as two of our guests found out if expecting a waiter to come over to take your order.
Lucky’s is a lively addition to the bar and dining scene in Sydney. It fills a niche for something uniquely South African and has appeal to the foodie crowd and those wanting a cultural experience without having to travel far to get one.
Township chic at its best!
Now that’s something to blow your vuvuzela about!
Vuvuzela rating: 4/5
Lucky Tsotsi’s Shebeen and Bar
http://www.luckytsotsi.com.au
245 Oxford St Darlinghurst, Sydney
Angeltrekker’s quick guide to South African slang
Choma – friend
Pantsula – popular township dance
Slap chips (pronounced “slup” chips) – thick cut deep fried soft chips drenched in vinegar
Bunny chow – an Indian dish of curried lamb, chicken or vegetables served in a hollowed out loaf of bread with a side of grated carrot and chilli, tomatoes and chopped onion.
Vuvuzela – an annoying sounding, very popular horn, often blown at soccer matches and other celebratory events across South Africa and now worldwide thanks to FIFA World Cup fans who loved them so much, they bought thousands to take back to their home countries!
check out this bloglink for more on Vuvuzelas:
48 degrees and climbing by the time we finally made it to Desert Camp at Sossusvlei. Timeless, vast open spaces and mountainous dunes of baked red and orange sand stretch out in every direction, simply breathtaking!
The Namib, widely believed by scientists to be the world’s oldest desert at over 55 million years old, is also home to the towering sand dunes of Sossusvlei, the world’s highest.
The air is dry and the temperature soaring. Nothing moves out there in the dazzling heat of the mid afternoon sun except a lone lizard eyeing me lazily from the deck as I relax in the cooler interior of the tented camp.
We had arrived at Desert Camp the day before, after a 4 hour drive from Windhoek, Namibia’s capital city. After a quick stop for supplies at Rehoboth, a small town enroute, we headed over the mountains and the harrowing Deadman’s Pass, a killer track which caused considerable anxiety for me on the return trip as the car struggled to ascend the steep winding escarpment. Yikes!
Apart from the upsetting sight of a dead ostrich in the middle of the road, the victim of some thoughtless speeding motorist no doubt, we saw little else except springbok for miles until a closer look at the map showed that we were almost at our destination.
I loved the luxury of Desert Camp’s “camping” experience which felt more like “glamping” with tents – on a concrete foundation, partially walled, with beds, good quality linen and an impressive zip up fully fitted outdoor kitchen, luxury bathroom and canvas-type tent cover. In keeping with low impact sustainable tourism initiatives for which the area is well known, tent structures blend seamlessly into the colours of the ever changing red, ochre, brown landscape.
A magnificent sunset set the scene for sundowners from the comfort of the deck and a drop in temperature by a few degrees.
That night under an unforgettably clear starlit sky, we enjoyed a simple meal of fillet steak, baked potatoes and bread braaied on a charcoal fire while sipping on an excellent South African red and an after dinner Amarula Cream liqueur.
The stillness of the camp with only one other tourist there, made me feel like I was standing at the edge of the world with the only sightings being that of a lovely large owl and a lonely looking jackal who kept his distance. The desert can be a treacherous place after dark and the temperature dropped sharply after sunset.
After a great night’s sleep, it was time for the highlight of my stay – a hot air balloon ride over the desert at sunrise!
We were driven to the site on the back of a safari truck together with ten other tourists from Germany, Belgium, South Africa and the UK picked up from game lodges along the way.
We watched as the tour team worked on getting our balloon gradually inflated. The balloonist, a Belgian who had settled in Namibia some years earlier as a tour operator regaled us with tales of the desert and what we could expect next.
There is nothing quite like a laid back balloon ride at sunrise. As we gently glided along, the shapes and contours of predawn gave way to the light filled beauty of the red sand dunes below. A remarkable feature of the Namib are the thousands of mysterious looking fairy circles imprinted on the earth, clearly visible from the air.
No-one knows for sure what caused them although one popular theory is that the circles were created by termites eating away at the seeds of grass millions of years ago. The view of the top of the highest dunes was extra-ordinary with the whole landscape before us changing colour constantly.
Post balloon ride we were treated to another highlighy a gourmet champagne breakfast at our landing spot. Unforgettable, and done with finesse especially the champagne bottle tops hacked off with machetes. Nice touch out in the middle of nowhere!
Namibia and the Namib were must see places on this “off the beaten track” traveller’s bucket list. I highly recommend this experience.
Glossary:
*braai* a South African word for bbq
*glamping* slang for diva-like or glamour camping
“machete” a long handled bushknife
Photography all rights reserved – @Angeltrekker
Just when I thought I’d succeeded in getting through this year’s horrendous winter without the dreaded flu, here I sit huddled in my pjs, Uggs and blankets, feeling sorry for myself.
With my blocked yet streaming nose, aching bones, sore throat and raspy cough I am housebound and resentful. In between watching mindless tv, I check Facebook but nothing too earth shattering going on there. Next I check out 
Movies on Demand on Foxtel but nothing screams out “Watch me, Watch me” After a marathon six episodes of Family Guy I turn off the tv.
Sigh!
The flu medication makes me drowsy and I drift off for the second time today. Determined to break my cabin fever, I’ve decided to write up this post to pass the time. Today’s post is what it is. The rant of a bored, flu ridden person on the couch on a bleak Saturday afternoon but hey, at least the weather matches my mood!
My head hurts and playing Angry Birds and Tetris just makes it worse
Aah well, time for more meds and a doze
Hopefully this damn bug will be gone by the time I wake up.
On the surface, I guess I was just your average teenage drama queen, with a major crush on Michael Jackson. I sang along to his songs, wore the glove and did the moonwalk (well, my version of it anyway!). I never quite fitted in with my happy go lucky classmates though, as very few seemed to care about the injustices which lay beyond our classroom or their family homes.
Often, I escaped into the fascinating world of books and film, daydreaming about the life I’d lead as a grownup, being the change I wanted to see in the world. Your average teen, except this played out against the backdrop of South Africa at the height of the Apartheid era. It was a time of great uncertainty and upheaval in an abnormal society, in which racial segregation and seperate development policies were rigidly entrenched in legislation. A child’s future was determined at birth by the colour of his or her skin, the job reservation system ensuring that if you weren’t “White” you were a second class citizen, marked for a future that was second class in every way.
The Government’s intention to control the masses in this way backfired , as my family and I were taking none of that lying down along with thousands of others in the streets and townships of South Africa, openly protesting the unjust laws and inhumane treatment of the majority of the population. The “Struggl
e” was our internal fight for freedom and justice within a country that we loved and hated at the same time. The collective “we” being people of diverse cultural, religious and educational backgrounds who bravely stood up to the regime time and time again until we achieved that ultimate goal, a democratic South Africa and a free Nelson Mandela together with the release of his felow political prisoners.
We were home schooled from an early age as well as attending the local public school and had no doubt as to who our real leaders were and why we were to take our education seriously.
My sister and I were driven to school in our eccentric Dad’s collection of 1950’s and 60s cars with bumper stickers which read “Free Nelson Mandela!”, “Aluta Continua” and ” unban the ANC!” We were harrassed by the police, who would flag us over demanding that my dad remove the bumper stickers. He would refuse and they would then rip off the stickers or deface them while shouting at him that he was being let off with a warning. Any form of protest action no matter how peaceful or silent was shut down with the full might of the law. including teargassing schoolchildren. I too felt the sting of teargas at age 12 while boycotting school classes during the nationwide defiance campaign.
Looking back on that tumultuous yet exciting time of my teens and early 20s, I realise how far I have travelled, shaped by my early life experience and ambition. I am still taken aback though, when that old hated enemy rears its familiar head in this so-called first world country that I now call home. I see subliminal elements of it aimed at the “other”in society more often than not. It seems that ignorance really does breed contempt in some people.
So I say NO! to
redneck behaviour
sexist comments
cultural and religious intolerance
narrow mindsets
letting others perceptions of you be a limiting factor to achieving your goals and ambitions
and YES! to
treating people as you would like to be treated
smiling and meaning it
giving a sincere compliment
embracing cultural diversity
having empathy for others
being the best YOU that you can be
As Nelson Mandela famously said ” there is no passion to be found in playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living”
Later that morning I head to the trendy Art Café opposite the resort , which has become my early morning hangout. The café attracts an eclectic mix of expats, locals and arty types and has a great laid back vibe. Perfect for idling about with a good book until my midday massage treatment.
I order the excellent chilli cheese and mushroom omelette with toast, washed down with a strong Balinese coffee, followed by freshly squeezed orange and mandarin juice and a fruit plate for just $4. (AUD)
Tropical palms sway gently in the sensual breeze, traditional fishing boats painted in bright yellows, reds and blues, fresh from the morning haul, dotted along the white sand. A Hindu temple cow moos in the background, shaking me from my reverie as I lay face down on a beachside massage table, wonderfully relaxed with every knead of the masseuse’s expert hands.$7 for an hour long traditional Balinese massage, much better than anything I’ve had for 10 times that price back in Sydney.
Sanur is one of the oldest traditional fishing villages in Bali. French, German and Dutch tourists dominate this end of the beach and so far its been peaceful and thankfully no familiar chant of “Aussie oi,oi,oi” to be heard much to my relief, having had enough of that mantra in Thailand and Fiji on recent trips.
No shortage of expat types hanging around the Italian place on the beach serving up its’ wood fired pizzas, pastas and a range of risottos and bruschettas. A little further along the strip is my favourite little beach shack , discovered on my first foray out of the resort.
The Swing up Bamboo Beach Bar like the name suggests has swings instead of bar stools and offers a standard western menu of burgers, sandwiches and wraps alongside a more appealing (to me anyway) menu of local flavours. The Nasi Goreng which I ordered for my dinner was simply the best I’ve ever eaten. A generous portion of chicken satay, prawns, minced chicken and rice with an egg fried and placed on top, served with prawn crackers, chilli paste and soy sauce. A fresh coconut rum and lime cocktail or two is refreshing after the spicy flavour of the dish
Radmila Naidoo is Sydney based and loves to travel, explore and adventure across the globe. Favourite haunts include South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Bali, Singapore, China, North America, Europe and the Pacific Islands.
Angeltrekker photography – Site Solutions ™ All rights reserved 2012
Travel, adventure, getaways!
An unrepentant travel junkie, these three words send tingles down my spine.
With the drudgery of the daily grind, the thrill of planning and taking a holiday every four months or so has become a favourite pastime. My trips researched and purchased with the click of a mouse. Package deals are out. Personalised travel and adventures so in. Images of fun in the sun, tropical beaches, rice paddies, hammocks, cocktails, spa pamper sessions, retreats, jungles, snow-capped mountains, safaris, exotic food, diverse cultures, sights, sounds and smells, visits home to family, play in a loop across my mind.
Where will it be this time? I get to choose amongst my many travel ‘hats’. South East Asia for a luxury tropical getaway and some quiet contemplation followed by body, mind and soul ayur vedic spa treatments – Africa for its glorius welcoming sunsets, breathtaking vistas, and a country close to my heart, home sweet home, South Africa, for its gorgeous beaches, the great outdoors, shopping, food, partying and the promise of hanging out with my beloved family and friends. Then maybe a week long cruise around my birthday to the Pacific Islands for some breathtakingly beautiful beaches and local cuisine, as well as lots of onboard entertainment and activities – or a return to Bali, glorius Bali for a total disconnect from the crazy pace of life across the water in the land Down Under.
Online I go to Expedia, Agoda, TripAdviser, GoogleMaps and Facebook for a heads up trawl on hotspots, hangouts and tourist traps to avoid , easy, effortless and all from the comfort of my couch. My ‘virtual’ tourist hat sits comfortably alongside the others. Admittedly I find myself reaching for it more than any other as that familiar feeling of wanting to flee the daily grind takes over.
Angeltrekker 