What with the rising cost of travel, the scary exchange rate, the cost of visas, traffic congestion on the roads to the coast, the environmental cost of air travel and – generally – a lack of time, perhaps we should revisit the concept of holidays. Do we really have to travel halfway across the world or halfway across the country for a holiday to ‘count’? After all, what makes a holiday a holiday anyway? What makes it special? Two days of genuine relaxation within 100km of your home is worth more than a week in a glamorous resort if you’re stressing out about work, are in semi-constant contact with the office, or are trying to figure out how you are going to resuscitate your credit card when you get back. A holiday is a state of mind.

It’s a series of special moments that you will treasure forever. And that’s what’s so great about staycations. No long queuing and interviews for visas, no long queues at the airport, no long flights, and no long, thousand-yard-stare, endless drives through the Karoo. By choosing a staycation, you minimise the boring, long bits of holidays, and maximize the fun, interesting bits that make for treasured memories. And, hey, you save money, save fuel, and pile up carbon credits at the same time. What’s not to love? And you would be amazed at how much there is to do so close to the city – stunning hikes and country stays, big five safaris, awesome golf, amazing adventures, romantic retreats, and genuinely fun family-friendly resorts where your kids can act their age, and so can you.

So, check it out – you’ll find amazing golf staycations, adventure staycations, safari staycations and a range of fabulous one-tank-cations spreading out from the city like the petals of a daisy. North, south, east, west – close to home is best.

A Big Hand For The Spirits explores the space where science, religion and magic come together – where the world behaves in ways that are at once absolutely normal but also utterly amazing.

An ecologist on the run from a hit man joins up with a brilliant physicist struggling to reconcile his traditional African beliefs with science, an anaesthetist dealing with a bad marriage, a physically powerful, but emotionally distraught river guide, and an enigmatic recovering drug addict who alternates wildly between reality and fantasy.

Together they travel overland from Vic Falls to Malawi, encountering many adventures, some intellectual, some fun, and some downright terrifying.

As they explore the power of their individual and collective unconscious, they discover that they are connected in unexpected ways and, through means both mystical and prosaic, work together to survive and achieve each other’s goals.

The action, which includes wild white water rafting, tracking elephants, dabbling in witchcraft, catching snakes and learning to dive, mirrors the characters’ exploration of the nature of reality, time and truth – and whether there are, in fact, only three thousand people in the world. The climax on the edge of Lake Malawi revolves around a dramatic performance of the Gule Wamkulu spirit dancers that may – or may not – be instrumental in bringing it all together.