Experiences & Gratitude: Meat, Mountains, and Memories

 The Wedding Feast That Could Feed a Nation
Just like that, we’re at the end of the year and wow, what a ride. My latest adventure took me back to the Eastern Cape, where I attended a traditional Xhosa wedding in Ngcobo.

The Queen herself 🤣

Now let me tell you, growing up as South Sotho, we were always told the Xhosa people love their meat. But Fabtastic people, I thought they meant like normal humans love meat. Nope. They mean Guinness World Record, “is that a cow or a starter?” kind of love.

😻

I decided to ditch my Sotho attire and go full Xhosa glam, colourful, regal, and honestly, I looked like a Xhosa Queen who just discovered her royal roots. The vibe was electric, the outfits were dazzling, and the food… well, let’s just say I became a vegetarian for three days afterward, purely out of seeing so much meat, beef, pork, chicken, lamb.

My people 😻

Picture this, the starter was braai meat. Haibo! I was expecting maybe a salad or soup, but nope straight to the protein. Everywhere I turned, there was meat. I low key expected the DJ to announce: “Ladies and gentlemen, please proceed to the beef section for your next dance.” 😂Jokes aside, it was stunning. The culture, the outfits, the joy, the music, the laughter, unforgettable.

 From Meat Sweats to Mountain Steps
After surviving the Great Meat Marathon of Ngcobo, I figured my body deserved a detox. Enter: hiking. My amigos and I hit Cradle Moon for a quick 10km hike, my version of “catch and release” therapy. I have not seen my amigos in a long time, so it was lovely to catch up and laugh. Patricia, the ticket line is long gurl, get on the queue. LOL

The weather was perfect, cloudy, cool, basically the spa treatment of hiking conditions. Cradle Moon is one of those places that’s so well-kept. It’s a trail that’s big on conservation, memories, and reminding you that not all classrooms have four walls. Sometimes the best lessons are learned while dodging tree roots and forgetting about the “real” world.

Nothing beats nature 😊

 And when you’re done, you get to enjoy their burger at the gorgeous restaurant overlooking water that make you forget you ever swore off meat. Yes, I know. Full circle. Don’t judge me.


Whether it’s being crowned a temporary Xhosa Queen or conquering a trail with friends, I’m grateful for every experience. Travel, culture, hiking, they’ve all been my teachers this year.  If 2025 taught me anything, it’s that joy can be found in both a plate piled high with meat and a trail that leads you back to yourself.

🤔

Thank you for the support! Here is to 2026.

Until next time Fabtastic People!

Moira

Clarens & The Kingdom:

A Fabtastic Weekend of Adventures and Mountain Magic

Let’s start with the obvious; an invisible gun was held to my head to drive to this weekend getaway. 😂 And I mean it. Everyone and I do mean everyone knows I despise driving. I’m a professional passenger, highly qualified and highly experienced, with a passion for my craft. So, the fact that I “voluntarily” drove 3.5 hours to Clarens? I deserve an Oscar. 😂

Do not be fooled by the blue skies. It was 🥶

Now that I’ve finished venting, let’s get into it.

One weekend. Two countries. A mountain or three, and a whole lot of steps and LOTS of pictures.

We arrived in Clarens, a beautiful accommodation spot, on a cold winter night, high up on the hill, the house was 2km away from the entrance gate. But who’s counting? We were ready to forget adulting for few days. Clarens is a beautiful small town situated in the foothills of gorgeous Maluti Mountains in the Eastern Free State Province. If you’ve never been to this town, you are missing out.

2km walk 🫣

Our weekend was filled with laughter, hikes, spectacular views, and more walking than I do in a regular month. The plan was to hike a chilled 10km hike on Friday, get back for an early dinner, braai and conversation around the fire. The reality was we ended up hiking 24km, all thanks to those who were in front of us and holding a map. I won’t mention names. 😂😂

On Friday morning, we started with what was first in our agenda: hiking. First mountain we conquered was the Titanic.  It’s called Titanic because it literally looks like a ship. Seeing it from afar was amazing. We were all excited to see this mountain up close and be on top of it. We climbed it to the top and let me tell you the satisfaction was fabtastic. Our quads may have been screaming, but our spirits were singing. The rest of other mountains we climbed were not as “famous”.

❤️thanks Bra Vuyi, our photographer for the whole weekend
Titanic, all smiles before the climb
Was trying to make sense of this 🤔

It was so serine here. I pictured myself with a book and smoothie under the trees 😊😩

So, picture this; we’re mid-hike, and the lead group (with the map, naturally) texts us the route we needed to follow. We were all not familiar with the route hence the map. We followed the instruction, and we walked, and we walked and we walked some more. Then we see a spot in the distance and tell ourselves, “there’s No way we’re going there; it’s way too far.” Spoiler alert: we were going there. And this probably happened to us three times. Like a great packet of slap chips, it kept pulling us back in.

Here I was thinking about my choices in life🤣. Still had six more km to go.
Clarens Castle 🏰

But we pushed on, at no point did any of us think of taking a break because we had no clue how far we had left. Just fabtastic conversations, epic views, and the kind of exhaustion that made you question your life choices. lol

After surviving on the reserve tank, we strolled into town. “Stroll” being the lie we told ourselves. It was 2km downhill into town. And then, because life isn’t fair, another 2km back up to the house. At some point, we saw the house in the distance, just 50 meters away but it felt like 1,000km. Bless bra Vuyi, who came and rescued us with a car. From 50 meters away. Yes. It was that serious. Don’t judge. After all this we still had our braai and conversations, call us crazy but after good body, leg stretches and nice shower we forgot all about 24km.

The next day, we switched countries like true globetrotters and headed into the Kingdom of Lesotho for some snow filled fun at AFRI -SKI, a stunning 3,222m above sea level. If this wasn’t on your bucket list add it now. Even if you don’t ski, like me, just being there is magic, buzzing, seeing all people from different walks of life. We played on the snow, others were bum boarding, and I used many of my talents and took videos and pictures of them. So much happened here can’t put it in writing, pictures will be my reciepts.

Entering the gates of The Kingdom
These two were having so much fun bum boarding if they could they would have slept here🤣

YOH! The drive up; Hair-raising. Literally. I have never in my life seen so many hairpins turns on a single road. It was gut wrenching in a good way. Thank goodness I wasn’t driving (remember, I’m a professional passenger). I was doing what I do best: taking pictures, offering driver some snacks services, and clutching my seat during the sharp turns. The whole experience, border posts, the people, was amazing.  Muscles were sore, spirits were high and souls well fed.  All in all, this weekend was everything:

  • Two countries ✅
  • Mountains conquered ✅
  • Snow experienced ✅
  • Endless laughter ✅
  • And memories for days ✅

We celebrated milestones, hiked more than intended, made it through dramatic elevations and emotions, and came back a little more alive than before.

On to the next adventure!

Until next time, my Fabtastic people
Moira

Taroko Farm Chronicles

Modderfontein reserve

 Taroko Farm, Modderfontein, a trail so flat I call it a walk not a hike, heck I once walked the eleven kilometres with flip-flops. 😂. Yes, you read that right, flip-flops, it was not by choice, I have forgotten my hiking shoes on that day. Do not try this at home. Hehehehe. Eleven kilometres later, I lived to tell the tale.

A picture tells 1000 stories! We all been a blooming flower in winter season at some point in our lives😊

This was a long soulful stroll. I’ve always said hiking isn’t just about burning calories or pretending you like granola bars or carrot sticks. It’s a full body experience, mind, body, soul, and occasionally, questionable footwear.  A glorious, chat filled, soul nourishing walk. I am time stamping this one 26.07.2025, we walked and talked for eleven kilometres. At one point, our amigos had to remind us that we were surrounded by nature, apparently, we were so deep in discussion we forgot to look up. Sorry, trees. LOL We’ll admire you next time. Not going deep into what we talked about; we talked about things we grew up hearing and doing. Some of it we are applying in our lives today. This conversation sparked beautiful memories of things my grandma used to give us and made us feel better, that being either having a headache or tummy ache. She was a legend. I wish I documented them because I have forgotten most of it.  We talked about the myths, truths, and how it will be forgotten 100 years from now because most of it is not documented. We truly went down memory lane, we had many AHA moments.

When I got home my brain was buzzing with ideas, reflections, and a desperate need to document it all. From that day on, I have been documenting what I remember for my kids and how it ties into my life now, That’s a start right…. Who knows, this podcast might just be on the cards. Bra Gab you will be my first guest!

Jen I leave it right here🤣

Let’s talk about the magic of writing things down, even if you’re just rambling. Whether it’s a blog post, a journal entry, or a scribble on a paper, documenting experiences is like bottling time. It’s a gift to your future self and a breadcrumb trail for future generations. Imagine your great grandkids stumbling upon your post and thinking, “Wow, grandma really walked 11km in flip-flops? Or grandma grew doing one two three…  Your thoughts today might be someone’s inspiration tomorrow. Okay I’m done being a TED talker.

We call her photo conductor 😃Pum

Oh, and Taroko Farm is evolving! Trailwolf Padel coming soon; Yes please.  Theres options for everyone, cycling, fishing, bird watching farmers market, ceramic painting experience and more.

See what I mean 🤣💕

To my loyal readers, thank you for sticking around. To the new ones, welcome to the chaos. I never usually date my posts, but this one needed it. Some walks are just too good to leave undated. And while I won’t spill every detail (got to keep some mystery alive), I hope you feel inspired to walk, talk, and maybe even write about it.

So go on document your flip-flop moments. Your Bra Gab conversations. THANK YOU, Bra Gab. Because one day, someone might read it and smile, or laugh, or walk 11km just to see what the fuss is about.

Of course I hugged the tree😀

Until next time Fabtastic People!

Stay tuned!

Moira