On Safari

Well, today is my last post for a while - I'm off on adventures! Here's a clue...



Have a wonderful holiday season, enjoy the magic of this time of year and I will see you in 2012. Thank you for popping by my little blog - I have a feeling the New Year is going to be a big one for South of the Sahara.

This wonderful image is from Russell Smith. You can read more here, or go to his blog.

Joy to the World

Absolutely love this. It had me at the pom-poms.



via Black Eiffel, by Angela Hardison.

Tour South Africa: the Quaint

Sadly, today is the last of our trip around South Africa with Sam. But I do think she saved the best for last - these are her suggestions if you'd like to enjoy some of the more quaint aspects of South Africa.

To recap, this is part of a series I'm hosting on South of the Sahara for anyone interested in where to visit, what to do, and what to eat in South Africa (you can also read more by clicking on the Tour South Africa tag at the bottom of this post).

If you like something quaint...

" Visit the picturesque town of Clarens in the Free State. Set against the backdrop of the Maluti Mountains, this little town is an art lover's dream. Visit one of the galleries and be inspired to create your own paintings.



On your way to a Kruger Safari? Don't forget to stop by Pilgrim's Rest. It seems that time has stood still in this antique mining town. The historic 1870's village is a living memory of South Africa's lucrative gold rush era.

Enjoy the beauty of nature at the foothills of the majestic Drakensberg Mountains. I usually go once a year, over Christmas. The scenery is breathtaking during summer and there is nothing to match the peaceful ambience and lush green environment. If you like the great outdoors, do attempt the hiking trails, horse riding, mountain biking and adventure sports. Or like me, just grab a good book and relax amidst your beautiful, placid surroundings.



Wakkerstroom is the hidden jewel of Mpumalanga and one of the premier bird watching districts in the country. It is a charming little town where you can escape for the weekend, far from the traffic, noise and hustle and bustle of the city.



Thanks to Kirstey for allowing me to share some of my favourite places in South Africa."

Sam, thank you for sharing with us!

You can catch up on fashion news on Sam's blog, Frills and Thrills.

The pics of Clarens in this post is by Sam, too, and you can read more about her visit there on her blog, here. The pic of the Drakensburg is from here. The lilac-breasted roller can be found in Mpumalanga, and the pic was from here.

Jackie Besteman

These lovely illustrations are the handiwork of South African-born (and Toronto based) artist Jackie Besteman

Tour South Africa: Durban

Here's another installment of our journey around South Africa, led by our intrepid leader, Sam.

To recap, this is part of a series I'm hosting on South of the Sahara for anyone interested in where to visit, what to do, and what to eat in South Africa (you can also read more by clicking on the Tour South Africa tag at the bottom of this post).

If you're in Durban...

"Do shop at Gateway Theatre of Shopping. It is my favourite mall in the entire country. You will find everything you need under one roof - fashion, shoes, home decor, movies, restaurants, electronics, computers, furniture, as well as groceries. You're also spoiled for choice when it comes to entertainment. Ride a surfboard at the wave house, watch a play at the Barnyard Theatre, go indoor rock climbing, go-carting, bowling, take your kids to the Fantasy Forest arcade or indoor amusement park... the list is endless. You may never want to leave.



Visit the Essenwood Flea market every Saturday in Musgrave, to purchase indigenous African artwork, home made delicacies, crafts and clothes. Don't miss out on the scrumptious avo-on-toast, I've never seen anything sell that fast.



Eating out: have Italian food at Luna Blu or Spiga d'Oro in Morningside, Indian at Jaipur Palace, healthy at Nourish in Westville, break some plates at the Grecian Plaka, or dine al fresco at Bean Bag Bohemia. If you like spicy Portuguese food, drive down to Ballito to sample oceanic delights at Beira Alta.

For something indulgent, book a High Tea at the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga, where you will be served decadent desserts, pastries and luscious mini cakes in the opulently decorated Palm Court.



Take a cable car over the Moses Mabhida Stadium, which is a modern architectural masterpiece that was built for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. You will be awe-inspired by the 360 degree view of the city.



Experience the wonders of the sea at uShaka Marine World, which also has a water park.

Drive further up the East Coast and go fishing in St Lucia, snorkelling at the nearby Cape Vidal, or scuba diving in Sodwana Bay."



The beautiful photo of the crafter at Essenwood Flea Market from here, the stadium pic from here, and the Cape Vidal image from here.

More Campaign Furniture

If you've read this blog before, you know I'm a huge sucker for campaign furniture (read here and here). The latest issue of House & Leisure magazine has an opening story with lovely safari-style settings filled with it.









It reminded me of some of the campaign furniture I've seen lately in other places:

This Dunlin chair is actually modelled after the chairs used by East India Company during British Colonial times.



I would kill for these two campaign chests - as seen on Good Bones Great Pieces.



Here's a campaign dresser used beautifully in a little boy's room (so sweet!)



And oh, the classic leather campaign mirror... (from the always reliable remodelista)

Good Golly, Miss Molly!

Molly is so lovely, and shares her outfits and fashion sense on her sweet blog, Miss Molly.



Love these images she just put up, from the 46664 range at Stuttafords (yes, proceeds from sales go to the humanitarian efforts of the 46664 campaign)









I looked around and found a few more - looks like you can get a few Madiba style shirts, too!





Read more here.

Last Dictator Standing

So I haven't posted about advertising for a long, long time. But I think this is a perfect ad to get us back into the swing of it.

Lauren Fowler

I've been enjoying and admiring the work of Lauren Fowler for a while now - illustrator, graphic designer and artist. Lovely.













Check out her website and her blog.

Tour South Africa: Johannesburg

Tonight our journey through South Africa continues, led by Sam from Frills and Thrills...

To recap, this is part of a series I'm hosting on South of the Sahara for anyone interested in where to visit, what to do, and what to eat in South Africa (you can also read more by clicking on the Tour South Africa tag at the bottom of this post).

"Have a cup of coffee in the bohemian district of Melville, where culture, arts and interesting people collide.



Shop at The Mall of Rosebank. You will find a stylish mix of chain stores and exclusive boutiques. A word of warning: you will leave with an armful of shopping bags and a maxed out credit card. Eat at the Melrose Arch Piazza. It's a trendy social locale where you can get dressed up for a romantic dinner or just a fun evening with friends.



If you go during your lunch hour, you can get some shopping done at the luxury Melrose Arch Mall. There are a variety of continental restaurants you can try, from authentic African at Moyo, Greek at Mezepoli, Asian at Orient or Italian at Piza e Vino."

Pics from here and here.

House Beautiful has Done It Again

I just got the Dec/Jan 2012 issue of House Beautiful and they have yet another house featured that is just up my street. The gorgeous West Hollywood house of Mark D Sikes is meant to have the breezy elegance of a house in St Barts - and for me its just so inviting and beautiful! Serene white with punches of black. Stripes! Florals! Chinoiserie, chandeliers and seashells! Bamboo, caning and wallpaper. Masculine and feminine. I'd like to move there now.

There are not too many images online yet, so I've done some scanning. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.















I'll be checking out the Mark D Sikes blog regularly from now on, I think.

Cape Town Design City 2014

I've just had the most glorious day - a lot of good friends over for brunch: lots of food, laughter and running around with everyone's kids. This is what this time of year is for! And I am so blessed, with good friends like the one who knows me well enough to bring me the most magnificent flowers (easiest way to make me happy), the other one who knows me well enough to know I am overwhelmed with getting food ready so she puts them in water for me, and yet another one who quietly does some washing up while no one is looking so that clean-up time goes quickly when everyone has left.

The perfect ending to our 2011 Thanksgiving weekend.

Weekends aside, there is something I've been meaning to look into for a while now, and that is that Cape Town has been chosen as the World Design Capital for 2014.



Of course my first reaction on hearing this was woohoo! And then, a second later, what does this mean?

I did some checking on the Cape Town 2014 website. Here's some info (all from the website, but put together by moi):


The World Design Capital title is awarded bi-annually by the International Council for Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) to give global prominence to cities that use design for their social, economic and cultural development. The World Design Capital title is awarded in advance, allowing winning cities sufficient time to plan, develop and promote a year-long programme of World Design Capital-themed events for their designated year.

Cape Town’s World Design Capital 2014 bid concept, “Live Design, Transform Life”, focuses strongly on socially responsive design.

The year 2014 represents a significant milestone for Cape Town and South Africa, marking 20 years since we embraced freedom in 1994. For this reason, 2014 will be a momentous year, as we take stock of the challenges and gains of our transformation, and celebrate the achievements of the past two decades, both as a City and as a country.

Our bid recognizes and mobilises Cape Town’s considerable design resources towards addressing the legacies of our City’s apartheid past. It is aimed specifically at dealing with the vast imbalances that exist in our society and is organized into three broad themes: Rebuild Cape Town through community cohesion; Reconnect Cape Town through infrastructural enhancement, and Reposition Cape Town for the knowledge economy.

The global landscape has changed irrevocably in recent years. Devastating economic and natural disasters have had a sobering effect on all aspects of life, including design. There is a growing need for practical design thinking, participatory methods and people-centred solutions to real problems. In this context, Cape Town has much to inspire the world. Ours is a proudly African bid, with the ultimate goal of achieving a sustainable, inclusive and more liveable African city, rooted in the strengths of our people and communities – to ‘Live Design. Transform Life.’

It just blows me away - its all that I love about design, and it seems to address a lot of the needs that South Africa has at this point (you can read more info on this page). Right now there doesn't seem to be too much info on the year-long programme of events in/for the city, but the website itself is already showcasing some inspiring stuff.

Just in one competition - Design Indaba's Your Street - three great ideas were considered, and I believe these are the kind of projects that will get more traction because Cape Town is 2014 World Design Capital.

Acre Road in Kensington, Cape Town, won the R100 000, which means a community that needs uplifting will get a new soccer field, and dance area, using recycled rubbish.

Your Street CT winners - Acre Road, Kensington from Design Indaba on Vimeo.

Growing and greening the city was a proposal to deal with urbanisation and feeding the city.



And a simple idea of painting fire retardant paint that could prevent fires in squatter camps and save lives also was one of the finalists.




I'm excited to see what else this means for innovative design that works for Cape Town, and hopefully for South Africa as a whole. I'll keep a watch on the World Design Capital Bid 2014 website but if you see anything interesting, let me know!

A Kalahari Night

I'm home, feeling icky, so hopefully I'll feel better soon and write a real post. Until then, enjoy this.

Kalahari night - TEST from Joe Louw on Vimeo.

Thanks to the hubby for forwarding! From Joe Louw

Murmuration

Have a wonderful weekend.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

from here

Alfresco

Gosh, where did the week go? Christmas shopping, visa applications (anyone else travelling for Christmas?), crawling into bed early one night, making dinner, walking the dogs in the rain in the dark... and not getting to blog. But here's something I need to share - I picked up my November issue of House Beautiful tonight, which I haven't had time to get through and had a good look at the Vermont home of Deidre Heekin and Caleb Barber. I'd like to live in their house!



I love the mix of modern and traditional, the saturated colours, the wood, the gold, the white... it just seems homey and beautiful.