“The idea of the shop started after our employees at the game farm did not have decent jackets for winter. And I realised there was not a place in the area where we could buy proper warm jackets.
"My wife and I decided on this one-stop shop for outdoor and luxury that offers a variety of in-demand products ranging from clothing, optics, cooler boxes, flashlights and braais to confectionery, spices, jams, and olives," Maré said.
“Through Leisure and Adventure, we hope to play a role in driving economic growth and creating new opportunities in a range of geographically remote areas. By providing easy access to basic amenities, as well as to more specialised goods for travellers, we hope to create linkages with the local tourism industry and provide a meaningful boost to surrounding businesses.
“After being restricted for so long by the pandemic and lockdowns, people are ready to get outdoors again, and we want to make it easier and more convenient for visitors and holidaymakers than ever before. We’re very excited to be joining the Modimolle community, and we firmly believe that this will be a space to watch.”
As is the norm with such media junkets, a trip is not complete until one journo misses a flight or arrives late.
Our beautiful trip was no different, thanks to Njabulo Ngcobo and his companions – Sydney Morweng and Sir Jacob Mawela. The trio arrived all 90 minutes late and messed up the itinerary!
However, it was sheer laughter and banter as we left Jozi for the 189km journey to the north. Photojournalist Mawela paid back for his latecoming by being the best storyteller on the road.
Holding a beer in one hand and a book in the other, he entertained the travel group with his knowledge of movies, especially the Jurassic Park series
When we finally arrived at Modimolle, we spent the night at Weesgerus, a 58-hectare resort just 3km outside the town.
The resort is a perfect space for a family holiday, offering big chalets. It is surrounded by lush bushveld vegetation such as boekenhout, vaalbos, wildesering and at least 35 other tree species.
To vouch for its reputation as a tourism centre, the town boasts excellent guesthouses and around it there are game and nature reserves for an African safari experience and hunting lodges. The Nyl River extensive floodplain, parts of which in the Nylsvley Nature Reserve, is a paradise for birders.
Though neighbouring Bela-Bela is better known for tourism Modimolle, formerly known as Nylstroom, is taking giant steps forward as an ideal destination boasting lusher greenery in its bushveld. It's dreamland for advenures tourists via zipline facilities, horseriding and moutain-biking.
Its history is worth telling as it makes a good fireside story, especially the story about a group of Voortrekkers, known as the Jerusalem Trekkers, who left the Cape Colony during the 1860s for the interior with one intent – to find the holy land.
And when they finally arrived in the area in 1866, the Afrikaner group saw a local mountain and thought it could be a pyramid, and also noted a northward flowing river and thought it was the Nile, or Nyl in their language. They decided to settle there and in due course the town of Nylstroom came to be.
During the Saturday morning we spent there, we saw the famous Modimolle, the mountain the Trekkers had thought it was an Egyptian pyramid. Modimolle, meaning "the spirits have eaten" or "God has eaten", holds a significance value for the spirituality of local African communities and others far beyond Limpopo province limits.
According to information we got, the name came from an old tradition of offering food to the forefathers' spirits by tribes in the area and then pushing their enemies over the cliffs of the hill.
In 2002 Nylstroom town was renamed Modimolle. This could only mean the spirits have prevailed.
bambalelep@sowetan.co.za
Trip to Modimolle a tonic for the soul and one's health
New adventure shop in town adds to Waterberg's tourism pedigree
Image: 123RF
After months of being in the newsroom, a long trip away from the office environment was indeed a tonic I needed.
The Leisure and Adventure Modimolle media trip to Limpopo turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.
It was one of those in-and-out trips that work wonders on your mind and health in general.
To mark Tourism Month, journos were invited to the opening of Leisure and Adventure shop, right in the middle of Modimolle, the commercial and political capital of the Waterberg region.
The launch of the new Leisure and Adventure went well and attracted both young and old who packed the two-storey retail shop.
While most people enjoyed shopping, others went for the free boerewors rolls.
According to the owner of Leisure and Adventure, Arnoux Maré, the opening of the shop in the area is aimed at creating job opportunities. He said has managed to employ 20 locals.
Maré, CEO of Innovative Solutions Group, also owns a game farm in the area.
Image: SUPPLIED
“The idea of the shop started after our employees at the game farm did not have decent jackets for winter. And I realised there was not a place in the area where we could buy proper warm jackets.
"My wife and I decided on this one-stop shop for outdoor and luxury that offers a variety of in-demand products ranging from clothing, optics, cooler boxes, flashlights and braais to confectionery, spices, jams, and olives," Maré said.
“Through Leisure and Adventure, we hope to play a role in driving economic growth and creating new opportunities in a range of geographically remote areas. By providing easy access to basic amenities, as well as to more specialised goods for travellers, we hope to create linkages with the local tourism industry and provide a meaningful boost to surrounding businesses.
“After being restricted for so long by the pandemic and lockdowns, people are ready to get outdoors again, and we want to make it easier and more convenient for visitors and holidaymakers than ever before. We’re very excited to be joining the Modimolle community, and we firmly believe that this will be a space to watch.”
As is the norm with such media junkets, a trip is not complete until one journo misses a flight or arrives late.
Our beautiful trip was no different, thanks to Njabulo Ngcobo and his companions – Sydney Morweng and Sir Jacob Mawela. The trio arrived all 90 minutes late and messed up the itinerary!
However, it was sheer laughter and banter as we left Jozi for the 189km journey to the north. Photojournalist Mawela paid back for his latecoming by being the best storyteller on the road.
Holding a beer in one hand and a book in the other, he entertained the travel group with his knowledge of movies, especially the Jurassic Park series
When we finally arrived at Modimolle, we spent the night at Weesgerus, a 58-hectare resort just 3km outside the town.
The resort is a perfect space for a family holiday, offering big chalets. It is surrounded by lush bushveld vegetation such as boekenhout, vaalbos, wildesering and at least 35 other tree species.
To vouch for its reputation as a tourism centre, the town boasts excellent guesthouses and around it there are game and nature reserves for an African safari experience and hunting lodges. The Nyl River extensive floodplain, parts of which in the Nylsvley Nature Reserve, is a paradise for birders.
Though neighbouring Bela-Bela is better known for tourism Modimolle, formerly known as Nylstroom, is taking giant steps forward as an ideal destination boasting lusher greenery in its bushveld. It's dreamland for advenures tourists via zipline facilities, horseriding and moutain-biking.
Its history is worth telling as it makes a good fireside story, especially the story about a group of Voortrekkers, known as the Jerusalem Trekkers, who left the Cape Colony during the 1860s for the interior with one intent – to find the holy land.
And when they finally arrived in the area in 1866, the Afrikaner group saw a local mountain and thought it could be a pyramid, and also noted a northward flowing river and thought it was the Nile, or Nyl in their language. They decided to settle there and in due course the town of Nylstroom came to be.
During the Saturday morning we spent there, we saw the famous Modimolle, the mountain the Trekkers had thought it was an Egyptian pyramid. Modimolle, meaning "the spirits have eaten" or "God has eaten", holds a significance value for the spirituality of local African communities and others far beyond Limpopo province limits.
According to information we got, the name came from an old tradition of offering food to the forefathers' spirits by tribes in the area and then pushing their enemies over the cliffs of the hill.
In 2002 Nylstroom town was renamed Modimolle. This could only mean the spirits have prevailed.
bambalelep@sowetan.co.za
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