It’s a magical time of year.

The words ‘Christmas’ and ‘New Year’ mean it’s time to relax and spend with family and friends, enjoying the summer holidays It also means hours spent on shopping for presents, cooking food, cleaning and a lot of stress that somehow doesn’t go with the ‘peaceful wishes’ one sees on Christmas cards.

Whatever you are doing or wherever you are going for Christmas I wish you and your family a peaceful, blessed and happy festive season. I hope you get to take some time amidst all the chaos to read our jam-packed December edition of Wildside. In this edition we showcase some of SA’s Best Bush Escapes, give you tips on how to recycle over the festive season and have a look at the severe threat the endangered pangolin is under due to organised crime syndicates.