Much like on Route 66, prior to the days of interstate highways and big service centres, when travelers found food and gas at roadside stands, in South Africa you stop at the farmstall. These little snippets of nostalgia are a step back in time and a delight to visit. Farmstalls are generally family-run businesses set […]
Last week Conde Nast Traveler released its annual Travel Specialists list, kind of like the Oscars of the travel world. And with another record-breaking 7 Trufflepig planners with their names in lights (again), we feel more than usually justified in describing ourselves as the Tiny Company with the Great Big Nose. We are of course […]
We may be a tiny travel company (with a great big nose) but when Conde Nast Traveler magazine published its “2017 Top Travel Specialists” list last week, we blushed hot pink to see that Trufflepig has more experts listed than any other outfit. Our very own Dan, Rudston, Tyler and Sebastian, for Italy, Spain, Southern Africa and Myanmar. CNT describe them as “the […]
Cape Town remains one of our favourite cities in the world. It’s just our kind of place, dynamic, fun, constantly reinventing itself, achingly pretty, in short piggy as all get out. I’ve just returned from my yearly jaunt down to the mother city and wanted to share a quick some fresh digs I discovered when […]
Sometimes—you might even say often—we travel to escape. When routines become audible like the meshing of gears, we feel the compulsion to lose ourselves, to shed skin. Some places encourage fantasies of time travel—where we imagine ourselves living as adults in a different age. Take the ancient Medina of Fez for example, or the caves […]
Love is in the air. Mostly because we’re trying desperately to ward off the snowy chill of February, but also because of that heart-shaped holiday awaiting us at the end of the week. Whether you think it’s a perfect time for romance or a total Hallmark sham, you can’t lose if you simply look at […]
Remember that Sounder article a while back about our silly sailor friend Phil, the Austrian guy who sailed from Cape Town to Rio and back? I sort of figured a journey like that would drain the crazy from his boat. Nope. On January 3rd I got an email from Phil with the news that he was going […]
Every campfire conversation in Africa promises a lifetime of embellishment, exaggeration and sweeping generalization. Having sat around many a campfire myself, you’ll have to forgive me the indulgence. I’ve heard many a Kenyan take pot shots at Southern African safaris, and Southern Africans are no less opinionated, so I’ll try here to present a balanced […]
There’s something to be said about being an original. Nearly a decade ago, Singita set the tone and claimed the style and design throne of South African safari lodges with the opening of Singita Lebombo. It remains the yardstick against which any lodge claiming to the best is measured against. Year after year Lebombo continues to […]
We all want to see lions, giraffes and elephants – these exotic animals have captured our imaginations from a very young age. For most tourists, a trip to Africa means a trip to see the lions, giraffes and elephants, but moving past this simple declaration they become quickly paralyzed by all the choice. This is […]
Ever taken a yoga class? How about a tennis lesson? What about sailing instruction? Ever learn how to sail a 62-foot yacht from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro? And back? No, it’s not something many have done. Hardly anyone, in fact. But Trufflepig’s friend, Phil Haemmerle, he has. So when we found out Phil […]
Okay, so you haven’t quite gotten around to planning that late December holiday getaway. You don’t need more guilt heaped on your work-weary shoulders. But you do need some help. The Christmas to New Year’s travel window is a busy one, so there’s no more time to waste. Here’s a rundown of of what could […]
Tswalu was born two decades ago when and English businessman named Stephen Boler began acquiring cattle farms in a far-flung corner of the southern Kalahari. His ultimate goal was to restore a huge swath of the desert back into a pristine wilderness. When Boler passed away in 1998, the reserve was taken over by the Oppenheimer family who continued […]
I’m not an avid biker. Nor do I have any sort of bike tech knowledge. I’ve been procrastinating giving my own bike a spring tune-up for about 6 years (and I’ve only owned the bike for 5 years). Although I don’t even own a helmet (much to the distress of my family and friends) or […]
On my recent holiday to Cape Town, all I wanted was more time. After two weeks I had climbed mountains, swam with sharks, cycled cities, and ate my weight in food, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. In a city that has so much to offer, you’ll find it’s hard to sit […]
Every time our Africa trip planner, Dan Achber, returns from a research trip (which he did just a few days ago) I hound him for photos from his journey. Dan has a knack for taking the kind of in-your-face wildlife photos that remind me it’s not merely what you see when you’re on safari, but […]