Latest / Wander the World with Pippa Hudson / Wander the World: Dustbugs Travel couple explores more than 600 SA towns

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Wander the World: Dustbugs Travel couple explores more than 600 SA towns · Wander the World with Pippa Hudson

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Lots more messages coming in about your favorite small towns,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: and in the second alt explain to you why we
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: are talking about this in particular today. But let me
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: just share a few more of your contributions. Ivan or
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: iv I's saying only two places to reference as the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: best small towns in South Africa. One of them is
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: for Mark Locate. The other is Vit sunt at the
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  Speaker 1: Breader River. Places to relax at with a bottle of
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: wine and a good book that sounds like my kind
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: of weekend weekend. If I'm saying you, what else have
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  Speaker 1: we got? Kim has to vote for Front Shook. She says,
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  Speaker 1: I have actually tenanted my Cape Town homes that I
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: could move to the Front Shook Valley to live there permanently.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: JC putting in another vote for the small town of Grayton,
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  Speaker 1: saying they love the Saturday market, lovely accommodation and restaurants,
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  Speaker 1: and the fact that there are no traffic lights. Derek, Okay,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: now I'm going to unearth a whole nother argument. Is
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  Speaker 1: it napier or napier? As long as I have lived
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: in Cape Town, I've heard people arguing about this, and
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  Speaker 1: I honestly don't know, but that village, Derek reckons, that's
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  Speaker 1: the best one. He says, it's an authentic village with
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  Speaker 1: historical buildings surrounded by farmland, horses and sheep, literally one
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  Speaker 1: hundred meters from the main street. The Saturday Village market
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  Speaker 1: offers food and crafts made by the actual villagers who
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  Speaker 1: are selling those items. The heart of the town is
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  Speaker 1: its strip farms which run down to the river through
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  Speaker 1: the village. It has not one takeaway franchise and no
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  Speaker 1: traffic lights. It is hard to find a more authentic village.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps my guests would like to weigh in on the argument,
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  Speaker 1: is it napier or napier.
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  Speaker 2: We go napier for English speaking and Nappi for Afrikaans.
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  Speaker 3: So it can be both.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: We're trying to keep everybody happy today with me and
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: studio are Curtis and Sonya Dylan. It is time for
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  Speaker 1: us to wander the world, and they are going to
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: help us wander our part of the world because they
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  Speaker 1: are absolutely passionate about getting South Africans visiting our own
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  Speaker 1: country and exploring the many different beautiful nooks and crannies
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  Speaker 1: of South Africa. They are true South African explorers and
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  Speaker 1: they are the husband and wife duo behind a platform
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  Speaker 1: called dust Bugs Travel.
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  Speaker 3: You might have come across them.
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  Speaker 1: On YouTube primarily, but also on other social media, and
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  Speaker 1: they love crisscrossing the country, visiting and documenting its tiny
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  Speaker 1: door piece, the places you might just whiz past in
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  Speaker 1: your car without stopping to look. Perhaps you've never even
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  Speaker 1: noticed the signboard pointing you off the main drag to
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  Speaker 1: go and find these places. They are doing it for you.
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  Speaker 1: And at the last count I think it was six
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty, is that correct?
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  Speaker 4: Six hundred and fifty towns in places and still going,
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  Speaker 4: still going.
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  Speaker 1: Well, welcome, first of all, it's wonderful to have you
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  Speaker 1: both with us. Thanks for coming into studio. How did
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  Speaker 1: this all begin? Who had the idea that you were
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  Speaker 1: going to go start visiting small towns all over South Africa.
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  Speaker 4: It's a crazy time. I don't know. I'm sure most
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  Speaker 4: people remember twenty twenty with COVID. Yeah, we were all
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  Speaker 4: locked up in our flat sitting looking at the beach
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  Speaker 4: with the seagulls walking around wondering where their next chip
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  Speaker 4: is going.
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  Speaker 3: To come from.
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  Speaker 4: So we decided, listen, we're going to have to make
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  Speaker 4: a plan because life was crazy at that stage. So
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  Speaker 4: you know, as life carries on, we got swept up
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  Speaker 4: back into work again. Worked twenty five was seven, carried
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  Speaker 4: on and then in twenty twenty one, my brother's son
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  Speaker 4: passed away. I'm sorry, and it was just like a
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  Speaker 4: shock to ass and that's when we decided, listen, life
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  Speaker 4: just a short way have to start living. And that's
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  Speaker 4: when you started traveling. And we just started sharing it
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  Speaker 4: on YouTube, specifically for my mother because she can't travel
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  Speaker 4: and she wanted to see where we go, and also
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  Speaker 4: for our family and friends. We started doing it and
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  Speaker 4: that's how the traveling started and the YouTube channel began.
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  Speaker 1: And I mean, I love this because I'm literally busy
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  Speaker 1: right now reading Marita Fana Fairir's new book, which is
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: about her travels in overseas, and she made the comment
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  Speaker 1: about how in the olden days, when travel was exotic
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  Speaker 1: and something you only did occasionally, it was a real
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  Speaker 1: occasion to share your travel snaps and adventures with the
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  Speaker 1: whole neighborhood and you'd all come and watch the slides
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  Speaker 1: in somebody's house. And today it's so easy to snap
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  Speaker 1: a peck and say this.
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  Speaker 3: Is where we are exactly.
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  Speaker 1: Kelly there's something about the way you guys are doing
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  Speaker 1: it that is appealing because it's gone from being hey ma,
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  Speaker 1: this is where we are this weekend to something much
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  Speaker 1: bigger than that, Sonya.
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  Speaker 3: I mean talked to us about how the platform has
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  Speaker 3: grown since then. Do you know what, Papa.
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  Speaker 2: We're a normal, regular, everyday husband and wife. We still
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  Speaker 2: work full time. Every now and again, our profession, which
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  Speaker 2: is real estate, gets a little too much and we
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  Speaker 2: need to escape. And it's also important for us. We
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  Speaker 2: live in the Western Cape in the town of Strand
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  Speaker 2: we're extremely happy then. We love it, but we also
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  Speaker 2: feel it's incredibly important for us to see other parts
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  Speaker 2: of our country because sometimes I think we live in
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  Speaker 2: a little bubble and it's important to see how other
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  Speaker 2: folks live in other towns. And there's so much beauty
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  Speaker 2: everywhere in our country. That's why we and will never
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  Speaker 2: run out of places.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, if you had to put a percentage on it,
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  Speaker 1: do you think you've even scratched the surface or you
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  Speaker 1: only quart of the way there.
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  Speaker 4: Well, we've done. We've done most places in the Western Cape,
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  Speaker 4: most places in the Northern Cape through the Karoo, a
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  Speaker 4: lot of places in the Free State the Eastern Cape,
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  Speaker 4: and we've started doing Quasialuna Tel and put Alonga and this.
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  Speaker 4: We've done all of these and there's like way over
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  Speaker 4: six hundred and fifty places. But I think there's still
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  Speaker 4: that many left to do.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you're not even halfway through the provinces exact, Yeah, exactly,
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  Speaker 1: but they so far now becomes stricky.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's like two thousand kilometers just to get
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  Speaker 2: there and put Malanga lu Popo, so then we need
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  Speaker 2: to spend a few weeks there to explore enough towns. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: but we love it, I mean, we absolutely love it. It
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  Speaker 2: is just far for us to travel.
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  Speaker 3: Now, how do you travel? Do you drive everywhere? Do
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  Speaker 3: you sometimes fly? Is it all by road?
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  Speaker 4: All by road?
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  Speaker 2: Yo?
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  Speaker 4: What we do is you'r inted vehicle and then we
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  Speaker 4: hit the road. We've just come back from a three
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  Speaker 4: weeks trip, twenty one days on the road.
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  Speaker 3: Now and where were you in these last week?
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  Speaker 4: We we've covered quite a lot of places. We got
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  Speaker 4: about twenty three towns that we went through and then
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  Speaker 4: we've finished off in Our most favorite place in the
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  Speaker 4: world is the Kruger National Park.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, any particular part of the park or camp
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  Speaker 1: or was it the whole experience?
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  Speaker 4: The whole experience. But we spent three days in Tambuti, you.
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  Speaker 2: Know, okay, which I was born in Lompopo, so I
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  Speaker 2: basically grew up in Lattaba. So the center is very
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  Speaker 2: dear to my heart. Right, it's not always possible to
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  Speaker 2: get there, will take anywhere in Kruger that anyone can
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  Speaker 2: give us so young from the.
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  Speaker 1: Corner, I know, I'm with you on that, and I
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  Speaker 1: love the way, I mean, the way you guys share
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  Speaker 1: your content. It's just it's not just taking off another
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  Speaker 1: town and this is what it looked like. And here's
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  Speaker 1: a picture of the pretty church or the most landmark building.
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  Speaker 1: You guys really seem to make an effort to connect
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  Speaker 1: with the people that you find there and to explore
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  Speaker 1: the local businesses, the local eateries, et cetera. Curtis, why
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  Speaker 1: is that so important to you?
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  Speaker 4: You know, it's nice for us to showcase seeing that
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  Speaker 4: we're going through the effort to get this, to show
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  Speaker 4: what is there, what what the people are like, and
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  Speaker 4: what's interesting for us is to meet the people in
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  Speaker 4: the towns. And that's our experience is finding that the
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  Speaker 4: people of the towns are so eager to share their
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  Speaker 4: places with us, you know, and that's what's what's amazing.
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  Speaker 4: Every town has special people and they just so welcome
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  Speaker 4: and that's when we walk around there and we go
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  Speaker 4: and eat at the places and they find out what
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  Speaker 4: we're doing. They're so willing to share stories with us.
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  Speaker 4: So that's what makes it fun for us.
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  Speaker 1: So, sonya, do you go with a plan, like we're
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  Speaker 1: going to this town and we've already researched, we know
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  Speaker 1: we've got to look at X y Z, or do
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  Speaker 1: you prefer to travel more organically and get there and
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  Speaker 1: see where the road takes.
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  Speaker 2: One hundred percent organically, we go with a route. But
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  Speaker 2: so we have towns planned and mapped out, but we
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  Speaker 2: don't have any specific plans in a town except if
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  Speaker 2: it's an overnight stop, then we have accommodation booked, okay,
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  Speaker 2: So we literally explorers by heart. So we arrive in
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  Speaker 2: the town, whether it is a large place or whether
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  Speaker 2: it is a small, small, little, teeny tiny town, and
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  Speaker 2: we show what we happen upon and we still value
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  Speaker 2: the things that very often are overlooked. So sorry for example,
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  Speaker 2: for example, an old, broken down, beautiful historic bulging. We
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  Speaker 2: don't see the demise, the decay they neglect. We see
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  Speaker 2: the beauty that their store exists. And I think it's
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  Speaker 2: so important when one travels to try and focus on
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  Speaker 2: the good and the beauty that still remains. And that
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  Speaker 2: I think is our premise.
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  Speaker 1: Just for anybody who's coming into this conversation midway. Our
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  Speaker 1: guests with us in studio today Ore Curtis and Sonya
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  Speaker 1: Dylan of dust Bugs Travel, and you want to go
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  Speaker 1: on to YouTube primarily to explore their channel and see
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  Speaker 1: their travel content. They have already passed through over six
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty small towns in South Africa and they're
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  Speaker 1: nowhere close to being done yet. And what I love
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  Speaker 1: about this story is the way they like to experience places.
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  Speaker 1: It reminds me a bit of that TV show Going
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  Speaker 1: Nowhere Slowly.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, we've heard in a hurry.
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  Speaker 1: You are about soaking up the atmosphere, meeting the people,
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  Speaker 1: getting the feel of the rears of a town, not
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  Speaker 1: just ticking off. Okay, we've seen the main attraction and
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  Speaker 1: let's move on to the next one.
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  Speaker 3: And I think it.
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  Speaker 1: Shows in the kind of contact that the content that
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  Speaker 1: you're producing. Now, let's talk about creating the content because
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: not everybody likes being on camera. There's always a driver
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  Speaker 1: and a navigator. In my experience, when couples travel together,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: talk to us about how you to divvy up the
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  Speaker 1: responsibilities off first getting you there and secondly producing the
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  Speaker 1: film content.
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  Speaker 4: Well, what we do is when we decided okay, we're
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  Speaker 4: going to we're next trip is ahead of us, I
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  Speaker 4: sit and I plan the route that you're going to
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  Speaker 4: be taking, and which which towns we haven't done yet,
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  Speaker 4: and the shortest through to get there. And once that's
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  Speaker 4: been done, we discuss where we're going to be sleeping
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  Speaker 4: over and then Sonya finds accommodation which has a lot
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: of people contact us to offer us accommodation. So then
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  Speaker 4: we try and plan it according to that. And then
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  Speaker 4: after that when we hit the road, Sonya doesn't appear
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  Speaker 4: on camera often she doesn't like it. And then I
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  Speaker 4: form everything and we form everything. She does all when
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: we're in a certain place, she does a bit of
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  Speaker 4: research about the town, the history of the town and.
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  Speaker 2: Stuff like that, but on the fly, not ahead of
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  Speaker 2: time or anything. We feel it's lost in the moment, honestly,
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  Speaker 2: and we don't have the time to do a lot
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  Speaker 2: of research, and we feel it's best for us just
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  Speaker 2: happen upon things that works best for us.
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  Speaker 4: We found that when you're driving through the streets of
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  Speaker 4: a town, you do come across the most amazing places.
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  Speaker 4: You go off the main road, go into the suburbs,
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  Speaker 4: and we come across wonderful old monuments that there have
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: been there since the eighteen hundreds and things like that.
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  Speaker 4: That's what we love to find. Yeah, old buildings that
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  Speaker 4: might be destroyed, but you come across that and you'll
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: find a cornerstone and you'll see the data does boilt
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: in eighteen ninety seven or something like it, which is fascinating.
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  Speaker 1: It's my favorite way to get trouble to travel is
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: to get lost. Is get yourself to the destination and
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: then just walk and see where you end up. And Okay,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: sometimes that ends you up in a dodgy part of
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: town you didn't want to be in, primarily if you're
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: in a big city, but in the small towns.
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  Speaker 3: Not so much.
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  Speaker 1: And it's often in those moments where you don't know
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  Speaker 1: where on earth you are that you stop to ask
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  Speaker 1: somebody for help and suddenly you're having a conversation with
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: somebody who points you to the next thing to see
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: and tells you where to eat, and you know what
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: you must not miss while you there. Terry has written
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: in saying I found Curtis and Sonya's content when I
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: was doing research on the next town we were going
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  Speaker 1: to visit. I love their videos so real. It's like
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: a family member giving you great advice. And Terry, I
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: wish you could see the smiles on the two faces
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: in studio with us right now, because I think you've
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: just nailed exactly what they're trying to do, and in fact,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: that is how it started, giving the family members.
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: An update on where they were and what they were doing.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: We've got a voice note that's come in from a
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: listener who also wants to respond, who I think is
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: familiar with the dust Bugs travel content.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: Let's take a listen to that.
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: Hello, Papa and john Ya from Conscientiam coming infant in
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: conversation with Curtis and Sonya. I just wanted to say
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: that I am from the South African Air Force Museum
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: at a supplant in Kaita, and Curtis and Sony came
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: to visit us and a great surprise and they it's
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: such a great documentary about the museum and the and
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: the friends, the volunteers and that and and Wessat on
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: YouTube and with absolutely fantastic. So I just wanted to
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: let you know that they've also been to our museum
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: and it was an absolute pleasure having them there and
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: thanks to them that we have grown more and more
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: just more more people get to hear about our museum.
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: Thanks bye, Thanks.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: John for sending that through. Thanks John, And I mean,
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: that's lovely. That's the kind of impact.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: I mean, these small towns don't get a lot of
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: off the beaten tracturists. It must be incredibly impactful for
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: them to be sort of put onto a stage like
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: the one you're offering. Do you do you ever get
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: that kind of feedback from places you've been to to say, hey,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: somebody came because of your content.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Often, Papa, that's probably the most rewarding part of our
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: channel is the feedback we get from the smallest business
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: where you refer to which you refer to in the
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: beginning that says people are coming now and saying they
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: saw they saw them on dustbugs and a lady just
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: this morning in find vakestore let us know that the
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: bookings they getting is from our video. So yeah, that
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: brings us great joy because that's the positive impact that
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: we were seeking to.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Bringar Where is from Vegsdorp, I've never heard of such
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: a place.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: In the Karkay Adding to.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: The list a couple of other listeners sharing their favorite
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: small towns and let me just share a few more
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: of these messages and see if if our guests would
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: like to comment on the places that they have been to.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: Elsa says, we love carpsho Hoop which is magical and
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: again that's the place I've never heard of.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: Have you guys been to carp sho Hoop?
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Not yet?
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: Okay?
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: If that is close to Barberton, we were recently invited
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: to spend two days there. But that's Puma Langa, I
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: think if I'm not mistaken, So that's on our list.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you're adding to their list, Elsa, thank you
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: for that. Another verte for Dwarsker Sports from Niki, who
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: says seaside peace and tranquility and she also loves force
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: for lacquer, flace and career hospitality. Anita speaking straight to
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: my heart in naming Nature's Valley as her paradise, She says,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: the indigenous forest, the lagoon, the longest beach, the beautiful sea,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: the dolphins.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: Just one small shop and pub.
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  Speaker 1: There is nothing to compare, Anita, I spent so many
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: childhood holidays and Natures Valley. So I'm with you one
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: hundred percent. And i can see by the nods that
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I'm getting from across the desk.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: You guys love it too.
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: Definitely beautiful. I love the drive down to get here, Yes,
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: absolutely stunning, absolutely gorgeous.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, you've seen so much in so many towns,
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: it must be very difficult to name favorites. But is
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: there one or maybe one or three that you can
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: mention that have really crept it their way into your hearts.
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: That's really difficult because we've met so many places and
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: many people in so many places. It's difficult to put
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: our finger on it. But there's luck. We said in
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: the beginning, there's just one special place where us and
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: that's the crew.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: Of National Point.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: We find it very heart to single one town out.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: I'm sure.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, let's see, Hippe saying her favorite is Pringle Bay,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: far enough out of the city but close enough still
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: to get to it. With lovely sea and restaurants. Kevin says,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: still By every beach has blue flag status. The town
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: is beautiful, has that setting on a pristine river estuary,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: excellent facilities including doctors, dentists, a great hospital just fifteen
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: minutes away, and great sporting facilities, and wonderful restaurants and
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: coffee shops. And Kevin, I've never been to Stillby, but
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: when my parents were install By not so long ago,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: and they went out to eat and discovered that the
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: restaurant there were in didn't have a liquor license, somebody
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: at the next door table poured my dad a glass
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: of wine out of the bottle he'd bought, and bought
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: it across. I've never forgotten that story because I think
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: it says so much about the nature of the friendliness
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: of the people in that town. So absolutely thank you
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: for naving still By. And then several people voting for
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Arniston as being so beautiful and peaceful. David taking us
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: a little bit further afield since the east must be
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: one of the best, and Chris says, I've just spent
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: a week in Fraserburg in the northern Kve some of
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: the most wonderful career architecture I've ever seen. Have you
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: guys made it to Fraserburg yet, yes, yes, first trips? Yes, yes, Okay,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: now okay, So I completely take the point that you
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: don't like to play favorites or name favorites other than
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: the Kruger National Park, which we will allow. Let's maybe
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: just talk a little bit about how you manage the
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: costs of travel. As you've said, you are starting to
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: get to the point where there's enough traction on the
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: platform that people invite you to come to them. But
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: it's not easy juggling full time work with this kind
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: of travel, especially if you're driving, and the cost of
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: petrol and car insurance and tires and all of that stuff.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: How do you finance and sort of budget for these.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Trips, Papa, We're essentially budget travelers, so we don't go
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: exorbitant vehicles, and you know, our accommodation for the most
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: part is sponsored lately because folks have reached out to us,
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: which were very grateful for or and self financed for
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: the most part. So we work and then yeah, we go.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: We don't have children, so we believe in living life
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: to the fullest and not having to leave anything for
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: anyone if you know what I mean. So, yeah, we
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: just enjoy life.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Okay, a very interesting anonymous message in which I'm going
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: to share with you and ask you if it's something
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: you've had experience with or would like to respond the
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: person rights. I'm sending this message on behalf of I
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: think many other people of color who have had uncomfortable,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: lukewarm experiences in some of these small, insular, quaint towns.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: In your experience, how receptive are they?
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: You know?
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: When you spoke about the hospitality in Stallby specifically, I
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: wanted to make a comment and say that we found
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: it to be extended across our beautiful country. Honestly, there
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: is nothing that beats South African hospitality and we have
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: found that in every single town we visited. Do we
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: sometimes get someone who's a little stand or fish, yes,
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: but yeah, anywhere in the world.
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: In the world you'll find that. But with majority of
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: the people, like I said in the beginning of so
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: happy to see her, so friendly and that doesn't matter
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: who you speak to. Everybody, all groups of people are
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: so friendly and welcoming when we get there.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: So my advice to someone like that would be be
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: your friendliest self, be open, engage in conversation because that
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: opens the door.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: It's really I completely take your point.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: How you go in and putting yourself out there and
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: approach people if you're in This counts anywhere in the world,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: not just in small town South Africa, if you approach
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: a place with an open heart, with friendliness, with a
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: willingness to learn, to be patient, to be respectful of
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: people's space. My experience certainly has been that you know,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: there will always be the one or two having a
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: bad day and are feeling grumpy or just not people people,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: and that's fine. But for the most part, my experience
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: has been is if you approach people, if you make
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: an effort to engage in their language, for example, learn
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: a couple of words before you go somewhere, they appreciate
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: the effort, they're glad to have somebody showing an interest
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: in their part of the world, and respond similarly. So
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: that's been our experience. And you know, to the person
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: who said that messes, I'm really hot from our hearts.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Sorry if you've had a different kind of experience, And
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: one hopes that the further we get into our new
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: way of being together in this country, the less and
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: less those negative kinds of experience is going to happen,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: and that more people are going to be receptive to
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: welcoming anybody who makes the effort to visit their town,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: particularly if it's one that is a little off the
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: beaten track and can really benefit from the tourist support
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: of their local economy. For those who are asking who
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: came in halfway our guests, so Curtis and Sonya Dylan
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: of the travel platform dust Bugs Travel, and you said
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: YouTube is I mean that's your core business. The video
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: content goes on YouTube if somebody is on Instagram, Facebook
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: or the other platforms where you've got a presence as well.
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: I have got faceboo book page also Dustbugs Travel, Instagram,
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: TikTok were on all of them, so we have got
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: our main platform is YouTube.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: Okay, what's next?
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: Have you already started working on the planning for the
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: next trip You've just got back on over three.
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: Weeks at this stage, my main job at the stage
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: is to edit all the videos that we've shot, because
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: there's a there's a ton of them, so I'm going
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: to get that editing done. But we are starting to
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: think about the next one, which is going to be
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: around about December, but we'll have to that's let's slein
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: the planning stages.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: But it'll be upcountry because yes, so it will probably
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: be Puma Langa and Mpopo perhaps a little bit. Of
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: course you Lunatwel, which remains largely unexplored for us.
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: So yes, okay, so watch this space.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, I was gonna ask and if we've got time,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: have you ever had things go horribly wrong? Just the
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: trip where it was a nightmare? So know what happened.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: We rent a very small vehicle because we love gravel roads,
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: therefore the name Dustbugs. But we firmly believe one doesn't
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: really need a four by four to to traverse our country.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: So we rent a small little car and we were
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: outside Loxton on the Bookworth Road in the Kreuia wish oh, yes,
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: and we picked the gravel road and not the tower
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: and then no signal, but no signal late afternoon, darkness
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: was falling and we got stuck in the mud and
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: there was not a single car in sight. And he
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: pushed and pushed and pushed it and I sat on a
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: rock next to the road, crying, and eventually he got.
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: Out so yeah, to dig out the mud from the tires,
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: but got out at.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: The end of the day. But I mean, nothing really, nothing,
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: nothing bad. As long as one is vigilant in our
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: own country, there's absolutely no issues traveling. And we've done
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: ninety thousand kilometers, so.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: That's a wonderful thing to hear.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I have to say, I mean, it's the
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: times things go wrong that are the times you remember
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: and talk about for the.
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: Rest of your life.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: That's fine because they are the memories that are gold
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: that you will dine off for the rest of your life. Listen,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: we've had so much fun engaging with you and talking
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: about these memories of your wonderful travels. Thank you for
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: coming into studio today the big trek all the way
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: from a strand, and thank you for doing such a
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: wonderful job of showcasing how much this country has to
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: offer and it's wonderful people and their warm hospitality. I
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: think you can hear it shining out of their voices
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: that they've got a positive attitude to travel, which is
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: what I think is making their platform so successful and engaging.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: And if you've never explored it yourself, please go onto
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: YouTube and check out dust Bugs. Travel Curtis and Sonya
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Dylan Save travels to you for the next journey and
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: look forward to seeing the videos from the latest trip.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us today, Thank.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: You, thank you for having us.
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: Huge pleasure to have you with us.