travel

From Shingwedzi camp, we moved to spend two nights at Mopani camp in the Kruger National Park.  Each thatched chalet blended into the African bush.  A giant baobab silhouetted against the setting sun stood in poetic majesty.  A rabbit (or hare) greeted us at the chalet as dusk settled.  Cliff and Fjord played drafts while I prepared supper. At dawn …

Babalala picnic site is 32 Km from Shingwedzi camp where we stayed in the Kruger National Park.  Here we shared a family meal, surrounded by Africa in her splendour.  Impala grazed just meters away and Elephants moved silently to and from quenching their thirst at the reservoir. Most enchanting to the children were the hornbills who took fruit and bread …

Shingwedzi Camp is a fine reason for me to keep my blog, providing me with records of experiences.  Cliff tells me that we stayed there before, roughly 10 years ago.  I have zero recollection, nothing looked or felt familiar.  Either age is a factor, or I live too much in my head and engage too little with the world around …

The centerpiece of Dullstroom in Mpumalanga is The Old Transvaal Inn.  The stone walls speak of history and durability.  We stopped at the inn for lunch en route to the Kruger National Park.  The food was good but sitting still on the verandah to enjoy it was difficult.  The shop inside called me to explore.  Rooms offering a plethora of …

The car winds through the lowveld.  South Africa revealing her humble soil and her majesty at every turn.  My eyes focus on a book set in Ireland and America.  Glancing up I am aware of my infidelity.  My unfaithfulness to the beauty around me, nature now pouring herself out, a waterfall cascading from rock.  Twinned with unfaithfulness to the work …

  It was not a dark and stormy night.  It was a perfect summer evening in the African bush, which started with no hint of the chilling events which would transpire in the space of one hour of mayhem.  Our luxury tent at the unfenced Mpila camp in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park blended into the bush.  Our son Fjord was four then …

Some days being South African feels bleak, crime is an ugly reality, urban decay and litter befoul potential beauty.  The fuel price is rampant and here in Gauteng we have the dastard e-tolls just for an extra dollop of misery.   Viewing images of Jacob Zuma is like waking the day after a car prang, bile rises on the realisation …

Leaving Natal on the freeway is too harsh an exit from a holiday in Durban, we prefer to adjust gradually, exiting via the Midlands Meander, stopping to revisit favourite places and discover new delights.  On our last trip we stopped for lunch at The Junction Bistro in Nottingham road for the first time. The food was lovely and good value.  …

I remember The Waffle House when it was still The Teahouse of the Blue Lagoon.  In my school days it was already an institution.  My son Fjord can only eat home-made waffles made with Orgran ‘No Egg’ as his is allergic to eggs.  It is not fair to go a-wafflin’ when he cannot partake.   We were prepared to block our …

Until the year 2000 I lived in Pinetown and Durban.  In all those years I saw very little of the Natal South Coast.  Durbanites consider any trip more than 30km to warrant a packed lunch.  The South Coast was viewed as ‘That place where the uncouth Vaalies (Transvaalers) over-run during holiday season.’  The irony that I now visit as a …