BEHIND THE SCENES

Photographer, writer and tour guide Evan Naudé has been contributing to go! since 2017. For this issue, he went looking for echoes of Dalene Matthee in the Langkloof and the Knysna Forest (page 52).

What was the highlight? Flying in a microlight early one morning with Morné Jonker from Louvain Guest Farm in the Langkloof. I’d never flown in one before and the bird’s-eye view of the Outeniqua Mountains at sunrise was spectacular.

Anything interesting that didn’t make the cut? While we were driving to visit Jimmy Zondagh on his farm Belle-Vue, we pulled over at the Langkloof Gallery & Sculpture Garden where artist Sheena Ridley displays her work in an old farm shed. Her garden is filled with interesting sculptures and she’ll tell you the stories behind each one over a cup of coffee. ridley.co.za

Do you have a connection with Dalene Matthee’s books? Circles in a Forest was a set work when I was in high school. I read all the others, too, including Fiela’s Child and The Mulberry

Forest. But it’s Saul Barnard from Circles in a Forest who has stuck with me, thanks to his compassion for the creatures of the forest and his special bond with Oupoot the elephant.

Favourite place in the Knysna Forest? I love the two-day Harkerville Coast Hiking Trail that takes you through the forest to the sea and back. It’s one of the first overnight trails I hiked as a child and it’s still a favourite.

Tell us about your photography tours. I lead tours to places where I have had some of the best experiences as a journalist – the Cederberg, Tankwa Karoo, West Coast… I teach guests photography techniques and how to use their camera, but the goal is also to have a relaxing holiday in a beautiful place. ( Visit evannaude.com for more info. – Ed.)

What do you never leave home without? I use my GPS a lot, but I love a good paper map. Slingsby’s maps, and those produced by Tracks4Africa, are both great for back roads, hiking trails and 4x4 tracks because they indicate places that Google doesn’t know about.