Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

27 August 2024 | 08:45 CAT

2 minute read

World traveller Kate Turkington is one of South Africa’s best-known travel writers and broadcasters.
Along her travels to countries both near and far, Kate has encountered Emperor penguins in
Antarctica, dined with Comrades in Cuba, and confronted Afar warriors in Ethiopia’s Rift Valley. No
stranger to adventure, she has felt the sting of the wind at Everest Base Camp in Tibet and climbed
Ayers Rock in the red heart of Australia, just to mention a few. In fact, there are very few places in
the world that Kate hasn’t visited. ‘I love to travel because I love to learn,’ says Kate, wanting to
share her experiences with other people.
Kate Turkington was born and brought up in London during World War 2, and being evacuated along
with her sister at the age of 4 during Hitler’s regime is what she feels was the beginning of her love
for travel. ‘After that I wasn’t scared to go anywhere’, says Kate.
On the travel segment this week, Kate spoke about visiting National Parks. South Africa boast a score
of game parks, 19 in all, and Kate has visited every one of them. But her favourite amongst them is
definitely the Kruger National Park, which she still rates as the best in the world. With fantastic
game, friendly staff, good restaurants and sill reasonably affordable rates for local travellers, the
Kruger National Park is the game reserve of choice for both local and international tourists. Because
the number of visitors are limited as compared with other national parks all over Africa, she says one
can be assured of an ‘absolutely fantastic experience’ with barely any disappointment of game
sightings.
Regarding a trip to the Serengeti and the migration of wildebeest, Kate say that visitors must be
prepared for crowding of vehicles along the river bank…even though it is an extraordinary sight to
witness millions of wildebeest cross the river. Going down into the crater, she remembers seeing a
pride of over 300 lions – an astounding sight to be sure, but again, marred by the challenge of over-
crowding of vehicles. East Africa is a wonderful experience, but Kate feels that South Africa’s parks
still top the list. An important consideration when visiting National Parks within the country is to
book in advance, because parks are restricted and only allow a limited number of visitors. She
recommends the SANPARKS website as it is user-friendly and easy to book on.
Kate has toured countries across the world but she still chooses to call South Africa home. She’s
been here for 54 years and claims that ‘South Africa is the best country in the world’.

Listen to the full interview with Ml Muhammad Kara and Ml Ibrahim Daya.