Red Cappuccino

I've turned into a red cappuccino fan and have been ordering cup after cup with reckless abandon. I imagine Mma Ramotswe would fancy a cup herself, after a long day! Here is an excellent post about the drink along with a simple recipe.

The Elephant Whisperer

What's better than a book about a conservationist in Africa? A book about him adopting a rogue elephant herd, of course!

Lawrence Anthony devoted his life to animal conservation, protecting the world's endangered species. Then he was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand. His common sense told him to refuse, but he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them.

In order to save their lives, Anthony took them in. In the years that followed he became a part of their family. And as he battled to create a bond with the elephants, he came to realize that they had a great deal to teach him about life, loyalty, and freedom.

The Elephant Whisperer is a heartwarming, exciting, funny, and sometimes sad memoir of Anthony's experiences with these huge yet sympathetic creatures. Set against the background of life on an African game reserve, with unforgettable characters and exotic wildlife, Anthony's unrelenting efforts at animal protection and his remarkable connection with nature will inspire animal lovers and adventurous souls everywhere. 

Source: The Elephant Whisperer on Amazon.

ZA vs. SA

Ever wondered why the South African rand is represented by ZAR instead of SAR and why South African websites have a .co.za extension?

As expected, wikipedia provided me with za answer:

None of the official names for South Africa can be abbreviated to ZA, which is an abbreviation of the Dutch Zuid-Afrika. This is a legacy of when Dutch was an official language in South Africa, before being replaced by Afrikaans, in which the name of the country is Suid-Afrika. Afrikaans joined English and Dutch as an official language of South Africa in 1925 in a synonym-status with Dutch, and in the South African Constitution of 1961 Dutch was removed as an official language altogether and replaced by Afrikaans. In 1983 Dutch lost its synonym-status with Afrikaans. However, the .sa domain is used by Saudi Arabia and ZAR is the ISO 4217 currency code for the South African Rand. The international vehicle code for South Africa has been ZA since 1936.

NeighbourGoods Market

Located in Braamfontein, in the heart of the inner city, the NeighbourGoods Market is open every Saturday from 9AM to 3PM. The market covers 2 floors of an airy building and has multiple stalls setup by various food vendors including  local farmers, fine-food purveyors, organic merchants, bakers and distributors, grocers, mongers, butchers, artisan producers, celebrated local chefs, and micro enterprises. There were plenty of options to choose from: Pizza, Thai, Mexican, Paella and many more. The market was buzzing with activity and reminded us of Madrid's Mercado San Miguel.

We tried some interesting African vegetarian food, sampled all sorts of sauces, cheeses, and chocolate and ended up buying some delicious hummus and olives. The dessert stalls looked wonderful - crepes, cupcakes, Belgian waffles and more. There were also several options for drinks, wine, beer and among others, spiked tender coconut water (two shots of rum went straight into the coconut!). The open rooftop area was a great place to hang out.

An excellent local experience. There are also some nice art galleries and cafés in the area, in case you want to go on a leisurely post-prandial stroll.

Official Website.  Pictures. More pictures.