Early one Sunday morning I set out and discovered South Africa
Luke Alfred
Publisher: Tafelberg
ISBN: 9780624075530
Authors on their new books: Luke Alfred on his book Early one Sunday morning I set out and discovered South Africa.
Hi Luke! You were a sports journalist; was walking your own personal sporting activity? Please tell our readers about your background. And maybe about walking.
No immediate relationship for me between walking and sport. Walking, in fact, was a way of escaping my past as a sports journalist and heading off in a new creative direction ...
I asked you about walking, because your book Early one Sunday morning ... is mostly about travels on foot. Or how would you describe this book?
It’s a meditation on contemporary South Africa; it’s literature and history, through the medium of 12 walks in a calendar year through the length and breadth of our breathtaking and sometimes stunningly frustrating country.
There are plenty of travel guides on some of the most well known walks in the country: the Otter Trail, the Hole in the Wall Trail, Blyde River Canyon ... but your book is different. The walks you discuss are not even necessarily nature trails! What inspired you, and what gave you the first idea to write something about various walks in this country?
I came from a walking and hiking family, so it’s a fairly natural activity for me. Walking gives you an interesting perspective into human time. I like its sense of scale and the activity’s meditativeness.
Why did you write Early one Sunday morning ..., and did you write this in one go, or did you put this book together after years of travelling?
I wrote it to tell people something different to the normal junk you find in newspapers. I wrote it because landscape provides inspiration, and I wanted to share my view of the world and the country. I wanted to do something different, face a different challenge and have some fun while doing it.
A journey on foot through the soul of the country. Please can you share some of the stories which crossed your path along the way?
On one walk, I walked with Philip Kgosana, who led an anti-pass book demonstration to parliament in 1960. It was a seminal moment in the history of anti-apartheid protest.
Is it safe to travel by foot in South Africa?
Yes, but don’t do anything stupid. Don’t walk in unsafe places at night, for example.
Can you recommend a specific walk (discussed in your book) to our readers – and why?
Walk on Table Mountain; walk in Soweto; don’t be hijacked by your fears. Create your own walk!
What have you discovered about this country’s past while travelling?
It’s interesting, contested, often full of incredible stories. There’s always some new fact or anecdote to roll back and discover for the first time. South Africa is a fountain of stories untold.
A practical question: Your book’s title refers to walks on a Sunday morning – can all the walks in this book be walked in one day?
Mostly, yes; one walk was planned for two days, but after walking for 25 kilometres on day one, we bailed. Walking isn’t a macho activity for me; you aren’t trying to beat anyone, you’re trying to discover things ...
Can you share maybe three of your favourite photographs from your travels with our readers?
I particularly like the photos of our two sons while walking in the Cederberg one late summer morning ...
A proud dad (middle) with sons, Sam (green T-shirt) and Jake (turquoise T-shirt) – walking in the Cederberg.
The long walk to reconciliation: Freedom Day walk at the foot of the Voortrekker Monument
Carling Black Label brigade: Vuka Tshabalala (centre) in Orlando Pirates tracksuit, with the peerless Bangomuzi Manyana (green Nedbank Cup hat) in the foreground
Photos: Provided
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