Sky Guide 2017: Africa South is a practical resource for all astronomers, whether they be novice, amateur or professional. It covers the upcoming year’s planetary movements, predicted eclipses, meteor showers – any events and facets of the night sky that change annually. Star charts plot the evening sky for each season, facilitating the identification of stars and constellations. The guide contains a wealth of information about the Sun, Moon, planets, comets, meteors and bright stars, with photos, diagrams, charts and images. There’s also an excellent list of useful websites and a comprehensive glossary.

This annual publication is an invaluable guide for anyone who has even a passing interest in the night skies of southern Africa and is ‘… an absolute must for first-time star-gazers and professional astronomers alike’.

Look inside for the tear-out entry form and enter to win an iOptron’s Astroboy portable telescope. The built-in computer moves the telescope so that it stays on target as the Earth rotates. Just click and it finds stars, planets, and deep-sky objects for you.

What is the origin of the word ‘bluetooth’? Which UK football ground is flanked by Bloemfontein & South Africa roads? When walking round Rondebosch Common, why is it wise not to go widdershins?

These are a few of the questions put to John Maytham by 567 CapeTalk listeners in the Rapid Fire insert on the late drive-time show. Join him on a tour of the oddest, arcane and most surprising questions – and be tickled by the weird and wonderful answers.

South Africa Road Atlas is completely revised and updated. It now includes all satellite towns and provides GPS co-ordinates for major road junctions.

South Africa Road Atlas provides 34 pages of detailed topography in a continuous map section at a scale of 1:1 250 000. The atlas contains 16 detailed tourist area maps which cover the Cape Peninsula, South Western Cape, Overberg, Garden Route, Eastern Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal coastline, Drakensburg, Midlands meander, Kwa-Zulu Natal battlefields, St Lucia (isimangaliso), uMfolozi Hluhluwe region, Gauteng region, Magaliesburg, Sun City and Pilanesberg and Kruger National Park.

The atlas provides 46 detailed street maps covering Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Langebaan, Simonstown, Worcester, Swellendam, Oudtshoorn, George, Mossel Bay, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Upington, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, Port Alfred, East London, Bhisho, Mthatha, Durban, Margate, Richards Bay, Ladysmith Ulundi, Kimberly, Bloemfontein, Welkom, Kroonstad, Klerksdorp, Potchefstroom, Johannesburg ‘ring road’ regional, Johannesburg central, Rosebank and Sandton (JHB), Midrand, Pretoria, Hartbeespoort Mafikeng, Rustenberg, Polokwane, Witbank (Emalahleni), Nelspruit white river and Phalaborwa.

Includes three detailed airport map layouts for O.R. Tambo, King Shaka and Cape Town International airports, as well as 16 accurate and easy-to-use strip routes across South Africa.

In 1994, Brad and Paige Holmes opened a small, live-music venue in the bohemian suburb of Melville in Johannesburg. They called it Bassline, which very soon became synonymous with cigarette smoke, great jazz and nights you wished would never end. They later moved the club to Newtown where it grew in prominence as the ultimate venue for live music, hosting amazing artists like Thandiswa Mazwai, Jimmy Dludlu, Lira, The Soil and Grammy Award-winning group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

In 2016 word spread like wildfire that everyone’s favourite club was closing its doors forever; this place that held all the promises of a new South Africa, a place where people of all races could come together, share a drink, dance and fall in love was to be no more. But as Bassline starts its new journey with Live @ the Bassline, yet another great story begins with Last Night At The Bassline.

In this book, esteemed music historian Professor David Coplan tells the story of Bassline and the Holmes’s journey in it, thus giving musicians and jazz fans something to hold on to even after its closure. This book is a tangible piece of the magic to take home and savour. And those who were never there will be given a chance to experience this dream.

With more than fifty iconic photographs from Oscar Gutierrez and other great photographers, the book is more than just a memoir. It is a gritty, smoky, passionate slice of time. Bassline will always be a reminder of what it feels like to live the impossible.

Our Ultimate 4×4 Trips Collection by Mariëlle Renssen is for all travellers who want to get their 4×4’s onto dirt roads. The book offers 22 fantastic 4×4 routes which have been driven and verified from the author’s own personal experience.

Our Ultimate 4×4 Trips Collection consists of detailed maps and 22 great routes which include accommodation, top sites, tourist resources, a fauna and flora checklist, packing list, geological information, full-colour photographs throughout, best and worst experience per trip, turn-by-turn descriptions of the routes driven, facts on each region, GPS points and a road atlas section of Southern Africa. The Book includes a bonus CD with GPS tracks of each route, and a PDF image of each route map.

Routes covered:

• Addo NP
• Baviaanskloof
• Biedouw Valley
• Blyde River Canyon
• Camdeboo 4×4 Trail
• Camdeboo NP
• Cederberg Central
• Mozambique
• Die Hel
• Drakensberg Passes
• Gannaga
• Hluhluwe-iMfolozi NP
• iSimangaliso St Lucia
• Karoo NP
• Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
• Lesotho-Drakensberg
• Mac Mac
• Forestry 4×4 Trail
• Mapungubwe NP
• Marakele NP
• Meiringspoort
• Mokala NP
• Mountain Zebra NP
• Namakwa Trail
• Namaqua NP
• Northeastern Cape
• North Kruger
• Central Kruger
• Northern Namibia
• Ouberg
• Richtersveld NP
• Sodwana
• Southern Lesotho
• Southern Namibia
• Swatberg
• Tankwa Karoo NP
• Tshugulu 4×4 Trail
• Garub, Skelton Coast and Etosha NP
• Caprivi and Okavango Panhandle

The book will inspire you to travel and make you believe that you are capable of putting together stunning nature tours, without the assistance of a travel agent. You don’t need to be a Rambo to attempt these routes. You will be so bitten by the back-road bug that offers zero cellphone reception or Wi-Fi. You will end up wanting to do more and more. Or if you are an armchair traveller, simply experience these routes through the eyes of the author, to see some of the most amazing places in the world.

For many people, visiting South African game reserves is all about ticking off the ‘Big Five’. But what about those animals you’ve got almost zero chance of seeing?

Justin Fox goes in search of South Africa’s most elusive animals – the ‘Impossible Five’ – the Cape mountain leopard, aardvark, pangolin, naturally occurring white lion and the riverine rabbit.

Besides the animals, the book is peopled with an immensely likeable cast of characters and provides compelling insights into wild South Africa and the local game-ranging and natural-science industries.

Blind Date At A Funeral is a collection of coming-of-age stories by bestselling author Trevor Romain, which he recorded in journals, notebooks and on beer-stained bar napkins over the years and is retelling now.

Trevor takes us on a tour of his own memories, filled with anecdotes about foolish endeavours, dumb decisions, army adventures and the searing pain of losing the love of your life. Each story is accompanied by one of Trevor’s classic drawings and carefully crafted with a pitch-perfect combination of humour and nostalgia.

Both entertaining and deeply moving, this is a book about what it really means to be proudly South African.

As Africa's oldest orchestra, and certainly its most versatile, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra is a proud part of the fabric of the Mother City. Founded in 1914 as a municipally funded ensemble, the orchestra was privatised in 1986 and later merged with the former Capab orchestra, achieving independence in 2000.

A Century Of Symphony tells the story of Cape Town’s orchestras over the past 100 years. Bringing together reminiscences, anecdotes and heartfelt stories by players, conductors and audience members, images of the orchestra both past and present, and information gathered from city, newspaper and university archives, A Century Of Symphony offers a timeless perspective on the place of orchestral music in the life of the city.

The challenges of running an orchestra in the 21st century are formidable, but the orchestra’s mission to deliver first-class music played by first-class musicians in a sustainable way has never been more apparent. Outreach and education efforts in disadvantaged communities point the way to the future. This is a story not only worth telling, but also worth preserving, for Cape Town’s orchestras have been the cultural jewel of the city for 100 years.

(Includes a shrinkwrapped CD of music played by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra)

So many people watch films and yet so few know how to write a film well. Film writing is a very specific art form. Over the past twenty-something years Janet van Eeden made every mistake in the book and eventually turned to the experts. Using advice from screenwriting experts such as Robert McKee and Christopher Vogler, among many others, Janet van Eeden developed an effective approach to scriptwriting.

Cut to the Chase breaks down the essentials of writing for film. Janet van Eeden shares her experience of writing feature films and short films, as well as her many years of lecturing, in this book. This user-friendly manual unlocks the world of scriptwriting for students. It includes a step-by-step writing programme, setting specific tasks after each chapter, so that the reader can build up their own film script.

The reader is guided towards writing a well thought-out first draft script written to internationally acceptable standards.

Crafted in his signature flair-for-detail and humorous writing style, veteran sports journalist Liam Del Carme takes rugby fans and Springbok supporters on the ride of a lifetime in this behind-the-scenes account, Winging It: On tour with the Boks. With more than 25 years’ experience as an insightful sports writer, Del Carme has travelled to six of the seven continents as part of the press corps who follow and write about the national rugby team in all its iterations at international level. His anecdotes will have you wide-eyed with wonderment and chuckling appreciatively at his talent for telling a funny story.

Winging It: On Tour With The Boks is an insider’s view of life on tour from one of South Africa’s most enduring sports writers, Liam Del Carme, while he follows the much-cherished national rugby team, the Springboks.

Del Carme takes the reader across continents and time zones as he shares the helter-skelter atmosphere of meeting looming writing deadlines while finding ways to maintain his sanity. The book explores the ebb and flow of touring with one of rugby’s iconic teams since 1996, including three Rugby World Cups, various Tri-Nations and Rugby Championships, as well as end-of-year tours, in destinations all over the world. He explores the characters, destinations and his travel companions while sharing his highs and lows of covering great rugby moments.

In the book, the reader gets to see the personal side of prominent sports personalities, including Nick Mallett, Harry Viljoen, Gcobani Bobo, Jake White, Eddie Jones, Joost van der Westhuizen, Clive Woodward, Peter de Villiers, Graham Henry, Jean de Villiers, Naas Botha, John Hart, Owen Nkumane, Chester Williams, Allister Coetzee, Heyneke Meyer, Rudolf Straeuli, Os du Randt and Dick Muir.

This exciting third book from David Bristow covers everything environmental in South Africa that you always wanted to know about.

The topics in this book include pesticides, poaching, petrol, plastics, population, pollination, pollution, pods, politics, pharmaceuticals, people, prophets, power and poop. Find out what industrially manufactured foods and large-scale farming are doing to us; how state capture has derailed our civil service and triggered sewerage spills, oil slicks and air pollution; who benefits most from health supplements; and what are the real costs of generating power and what works best – coal, nuclear, fracking, solar or wind.

You will also read about the good deeds of our eco heroes: those who bring water and hope to stricken towns; who farm regeneratively and sell us wholesome foods; who clean up other people’s messes; as well as individual superheroes who nurture their own back gardens. This book celebrates some of them. Written in the same engaging style as his previous two books in the series Stories from the Veld series (The Game Ranger, the Knife, the Lion and the Sheep and Of Hominins, Hunter-Gatherers and Heroes), this book is a journey into unravelling the environmental landscape of South Africa.

Alles oor Suid-Afrika is reeds sedert 1992 die mees omvattende naslaanboek vir Suid- Afrikaanse skoliere (en hul ouers!) wanneer hulle op soek is na inligting oor die land. Hierdie uitgawe – met hersiene en opgedateerde inhoud en fotografie – sal beslis sy status behou! Hierdie grootformaatboek propvol kennis is hoogs visueel met volkleurfoto’s, -kaarte en -illustrasies en die teks is maklik om te lees en te verstaan. Bykomende belangstelling word geprikkel deur brokkies inligting wat in teksboksies en verlengde opskrifte vervat word. Plekke om te besoek word ook aanbeveel en pas by die betrokke tema wat op die dubbelbladsy-uitleg bespreek word. Die teks is opgedeel in afdelings soos lank, lank gelede; die mense; die kultuur; die gemeenskap; wetenskap en tegnologie; die ekonomie; die land; en die natuurlewe, wat elke aspek van Suid-Afrika dek.

Eco-friendly gardening is fast catching on. Butterflies are visible signs of a healthy garden, and, with their whimsical flight patterns and glorious colours, they are among the most alluring of our aerial visitors. Gardening for butterflies shows how to attract these beautiful insects, giving step-by-step instructions for planning and planting a garden that will cater for the greatest number and diversity of butterflies. Using a Durban garden as a case study, it includes a recommended layout and plant lists for this area, as well as for other regions around the country. The book showcases 95 garden butterflies and moths, showing their full life cycle, including pupa, eggs and caterpillar. Stunning photography and point-form text ensure accurate identification of each stage in the cycle, and an interesting introduction discusses such topics as the extraordinary process of metamorphosis and the curious habits of these mercurial insects. Whether you’re tempted to undertake a full-scale transformation of your garden to attract butterflies, make smaller adjustments to it, or if you simply want to identify those insects already visiting your space, this book will amaze and enchant you.

Pollinators, parasites, predators, decomposers – insects arguably play the most important roles in the functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems.

This lavishly illustrated and highly authoritative book is structured around southern Africa’s 13 distinct biomes; it

• reflects the essential role insects play in most ecological processes such as pollination, predation, parasitism, soil modifi cation and nutrient recycling;
• details how they serve as food for multitudes of other organisms, including bacteria and fungi, as well as specially adapted plants, insect-feeding arthropods, reptiles, birds and mammals;
• depicts the insects and phenomena described in some 1,600 photographs that accompany the accessible text;
• highlights the crucial role insects play as ecosystem service providers, giving intimate insight into the beauty and importance of insects in the natural world.
• includes a guide to each of the 25 insect orders found in southern Africa, with images showing their diagnostic characters.

Four years. Seven continents. An unprecedented quest to document and preserve our last remaining wild lands.

In more than 200 striking images, acclaimed South African photographers Peter and Beverly Pickford have created an epic, unparalleled portrait of some of our planet’s most untouched places: from the heat-beaten country of Namibia’s Skeleton Coast to Alaska and the Yukon’s abundance of water, in ocean, river and lake; from the subantarctic islands’ wind-tossed shores in the south to the Arctic’s immense expanses of cracked pancake ice in the north; and the dazzling juxtaposition of desert and water in Australia’s Kimberley to the remote, frozen peaks of Tibet and Patagonia. Within these extreme landscapes, Beverly and Peter’s images illuminate and celebrate myriad forms of life: polar bears, rhinoceroses and bharal, as well as the humble lichen, are all evocatively pictured within the landscapes upon which they depend. This is a wildlife book like no other, its images aching with what words struggle to describe: the resonance of wilderness in our inner being, the power of land to transform our emotion, and our ability to transcend the immediate to become sublime.

Wild Land’s stunning images are accompanied by a fascinating text in which Peter not only vividly describes the photographers’ adventures in pursuit of wild land, but also delivers a timely message that highlights the urgent need for these lands to be preserved for the future of the planet – a future on which humankind’s very survival is dependent.

This is a collection of thought-provoking and empowering poems that simply undress the truth. From social justice, grief, hate, love, identity, and necropolitics, this book covers a range of important topics that often go unnoticed or unspoken. Written by a talented poet, each poem is a powerful reminder of the importance of using our voices to make a positive change.

This book also features captivating illustrations that bring each poem to life in a unique and memorable way. You'll find yourself getting lost in the intricate details of the artwork, making each poem even more impactful.

Whether you're an avid poetry reader or just looking for a book that will challenge and inspire you, "101 Poems about Things We Should Be Loud About" comes as a game changer in what poetry is today. With its powerful messages and stunning illustrations, this book is sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone who picks it up.

A photographic meander through Hermanus, the perfect souvenir for anyone who has ever visited this unique town.

Ever since 1503 when an off-course seafarer climbed Table Mountain to find out where on Earth he was, visitors to the Cape have toiled, scrambled, ridden on horseback, climbed or run to the top ... and written about it afterwards.

Taken together, these reports provide a fascinating biography of the mountain. Looked at separately, they are thrilling reads, penned by larger-than-life voyagers and, often unlikely, adventurers. The life-stories of 27 visitors are told with flair and humour. Together with the accounts of the ascents, they provide a riveting read.

This is the first time that the English translations of these reports, written in various languages, including Russian and Swedish, have been collected in one volume.

Southern Peninsula Classics is a collection of the most wonderful mountain adventures you will have the pleasure of experiencing on the southern Cape Peninsula – from Constantia Nek all the way down to the very tip of Cape Point.

It includes a selection of stunning hikes, from short, gentle ambles, to long, strenuous full day outings and everything between. It even has a two-day hike in the Cape of Good Hope Reserve. There are also a number of exciting scrambles up some of the more rocky areas and peaks, where sometimes a rope may be necessary for protection. And includes some of the more popular caves in the Kalk Bay mountains.

In addition, the book describes some of the easy to moderate rock climbs found along this part of the Table Mountain Chain, which are ideal if you are new to the climbing game and looking for climbs to sharpen your trad experience. Besides the vast selection of hikes, scrambles and climbs, Southern Peninsula Classics is also a treasure trove of tales, facts and historical anecdotes, that will keep you fascinated from page to page.

Whether you are a visitor to the beautiful Cape Peninsula seeking a once-off classic experience, a local who wants to explore the best that the Southern Peninsula has to offer, or someone simply interested in the tales and rich tapestry that surrounds this unique and special peninsula at the tip of Africa, this is a book that should not be missed.

Cattle, property and wildlife adventures beat the drum in this African roller-coaster of adrenaline, danger and envy. From the first chant to the last lot, the stage is set for a fast-paced narrative full of action, power-plays and latent deception.

Puff Adders In The Panicum is an anthology of short, true vignettes describing Andrew Hutchinson's experiences as an auctioneer.

The narratives are mostly set in the Albany area, around Grahamstown, known as “Settler Country”, as this was where the British settled in the 1800s. The communities in this area comprise hard-working, unpretentious folk, which is reflected in the writer’s stories about his time as an auctioneer both in this area and elsewhere. His stories are unembellished and most interesting. As the narrator, Andrew Hutchinson, successfully gives the reader insight into the areas in which he worked and he aptly reflects the interesting characters and strange foibles of the people whom he met as an auctioneer.

His writing is humorous and exposes the appearance of “offerings of sweet success and the promise of prosperity” with the reality of “puff adders” ready to strike. Andrew’s understanding of the people with whom he did business and his “business partners” is evident in his writing. Should the reader not be of South African origin, the glossary of words and expressions included will clarify the references made.

The stories are enjoyable and easy to read, and provide an understanding and awareness of the challenges and triumphs faced by auctioneers, as well as an insight into the world of the people with whom he dealt.

The same poet who observes that “everybody is a bridge/’’ then asks in Zen-fashion, “Is it me, or is it you?/ are you reflection or projection / or the light that’s shining through?’’ can also note in a very down-to-earth way, that “If we hadn’t robbed the car washers of their coin/they might not have turned so mean, you know? / Let them earn a little income, bra/ If we’d chiselled our hearts open, tried to see it from the middle/we’d have softened just a little.”

And so, while keeping the big picture of the difficulties before us unflinchingly, Anton imbues such philosophical and political statements with images of very real people and their struggle for survival. But this is one aspect of his writing.

As importantly, through these ‘poems, prose- poems, notes & fragments’, runs a whimsical sense of his youth and later years as a white South African whose numerous relatives and friends make their appearance in the form of anecdotal history turned into poetic narrative.

In this way, the collection is varied, and very personal and true to Anton’s past and present, a very satisfying buffet that offers a unique taste of his Buddhistic soul.

“I had endured enough spaghetti arms and failed take-offs to last a lifetime. I wanted to, once again, move forward with my surfing. It took a simple idea to make that a reality”

Death of a Weekend Warrior is the story of Bernard’s surfing journey. It describes the highs, lows, people, places, and waves he has experienced over the past thirty years. For Bernard, a weekend warrior represents a plateauing of performance, a stagnation. The death of a weekend warrior represents his progression and development.

In this book, Katz unpacks his own insecurities and reflects on the many facets that make up the world of the average weekend surfer. His personal journey is intertwined with descriptions of famous surf spots and explanations of some of the nuances of surfing, localism, surfboard design, the art of tube riding, and more.

The Rugby World Cup is the pinnacle tournament for players, coaches and fans alike.

Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has analysed and debated rugby for over 30 years. Known for his brilliant and often forthright commentary, gathered here is a collection of his ideas and opinions and anecdotes for the coming world cup:

• The Magic of the World Cup
• The Springbok Machine
• The Springboks in 2023
• Competition Stronger Than Ever
• Playing in France
• The Rassie Factor
• Matches that will decide the RWC
• Key Players
• The Referees
• The Coaches and Captains – leadership is key
• Handling the pressure – the mental challenge
• Nick’s predictions

The much-anticipated sequel to The Turtle Dove Told Me (Modjaji Books, 2013), which won a SALA Award in 2014, Stem Of The Moon is the second volume in a trilogy that spans the years 1990 - 2010.

In this collection, Sliepen paints impressions of a small town, Clarens in the Free State, as well as glimpses of life in the Netherlands and Bali. The reader shares the intimate experience of the birth of her first child and the poems take us on a profound journey through Namibia.

Sliepen's latest collection is a love song to a child, a lover, a mother, and the quiet strength of the moon that connects us all.

In an exciting departure from the Road to Glory script, Jeremy Daniel captures a single thrilling sporting moment in each of the lives of 20 South African sports stars.

Lungi Ngidi (Cricket); Quinton de Kock (Cricket); Akani Simbine (Sprinting); Faf de Klerk (Rugby); Ernst van Dyk (Wheelchair racing); Luvo Manyonga (Long jump); Kevin Anderson (Tennis); Cheslin Kolbe (Rugby); Chad le Clos (Swimming); Percy Tau (Soccer); Louis Oosthuizen (Golf); Lucas Radebe (Soccer); Josia Thugwane (Long-distance runner); Bongiwe Msomi (Netball); Caster Semanya (Athletics); Janine van Wyk (Women's soccer); Sunette Viljoen (Cricketer turned javelin thrower); Tatjana Schoenmaker (Swimming).