SEPTEMBER 2026
TALK
DATE: Tuesday 15th September
TIME: 20:00
SPEAKER: Kate McCallum
VENUE: The Athenaeum in Newlands, located at the intersection of Campground Road & Mariendahl Lane.
Drive through Boundary Terrace office park gates, turn left at the top into the dedicated Athenaeum parking area.
TOPIC: Bhutan
Kate McCallum will talk about two visits she made to Bhutan, one of the most beautiful and enchanting countries she has been to.
A Buddhist constitutional monarchy set in a remote part of the Himalayan mountains, Bhutan’s architecture is traditional, and everyone wears national dress made from exquisitely woven and highly valued textiles.
Kate’s career has been in the South African publishing industry, where she was Managing Director of Oxford University Press Southern Africa for 12 years, after which she ran her own business as an international publishing consultant.
She is a reader first and foremost. She reads as she breathes – fiction, non-fiction, biography and autobiography, travel and exploration, history, letters, food writing, crime, politics, medicine, children’s books, anything in print.
Volunteer work includes being Honorary Librarian of the Mountain Club of SA, and being a member of the Eastern Cederberg Rock Art Group, which searches for and records rock art for the Heritage Agency of SA.
A traveler and mountaineer, she has walked in most of the European countries, visited much of south-east Asia, and been on mountaineering expeditions to Kyrgystan, Western China, Peru, Tibet, and Siberia. She has also organized and led hiking trips to Bhutan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
Her latest trip was on an expedition cruise ship to the Antarctic, including South Georgia, where an unplanned part of the trip included standing in every place that Sir Ernest Shackleton had been after the shipwreck of the Endurance in the Weddell Sea.
Details of this month’s outing to follow!
OUTING
DATE: Saturday
VENUE:
MEET:
_________________________________________
READ THE LATEST VASSA Newsletter AUGUST 2026
or access all newsletters in Publications
____________________________________________
A GENTLE REMINDER / CODE OF CONDUCT
TALKS happen on the third Tuesday of a month, at the Athenaeum in Newlands. All are welcome, free of charge.
OUTINGS happen on the last Saturday of a month (usually). Members only.
VASSA outings/excursions usually take us onto exclusive properties, and frequently into private homes – which is a privilege deserving respect and courtesy, and our host’s privacy being safeguarded. Hence our Code of Conduct.
GENERAL
Only paid up members may attend Outings. (Visitors pay the annual price of membership to attend an outing.)
Always wear your VASSA name badge to Outings. It’s a courtesy to fellow members as well as a safety measure to hosts who generously allow us into their homes.
Strictly no pets ever, or children without prior arrangement.
ON ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
On arrival, make sure to sign the register which has a clause that indemnifies VASSA and/or its agents against all injury, loss, damage, costs and/or expenses which you and/or any other person may incur as a result of your participation.
Then, stay close to the leader so that the host can be introduced. Do not wander off before the introduction.
On departure, gather around the leader to thank the host. Do not leave before this.
If you have to leave before the end of the outing, inform the outing leader so that others don’t wait or look for you.
PHOTOGRAPH PROTOCOL
We need to safeguard the privacy of our hosts in this digital age.
Before taking interior photographs, check with the outing leader that this is permitted.
Although we may sometimes be allowed to take interior photos if we have permission from the property owner / occupant, we should use them only for personal or research purposes.
So do not post photographs of any interior on social media – this is deemed a security risk.
And never post images of a location / farm online with either GPS co-ordinates or the name and location / address attached, nor as a caption or other “tag” such as the “check in” option on Facebook.
Some already “public” exterior shots, such as the gateposts or gables, may be used to illustrate posts to social media or to the VASSA Facebook page.
ON THE PROPERTY
Switch off cell phones or put them on ‘silent’.
Do not … Touch anything / Pick up porcelain to check maker’s mark / Take books out of bookcases, etc. / Open closed doors / Sit on the furniture / Use the toilet without asking the host’s permission / Take plant slips from the garden.
Also do not … Engage the host in private conversations while everyone else is milling around / Use the privilege of an outing to organise private business arrangements or return visits with the host / Voice personal comments while on site.
LIMITING NUMBERS
Vassa outings are usually open for all members to attend. However, certain outings may not be able to accommodate a large group of people, in which case numbers are limited to a first come first served basis, and a contact email address is always provided to secure your spot.
If you cannot attend, let the organiser know so that someone else on the waiting list can.
____________________________________________