Blogs from South Africa, Africa - page 8

Sometime, it's not the destination that count, but just the journey. Here we are for one of those journey and potentially one of the most luxurious long-haul train in the South Hemisphere. Thanks to the Covid, the Blue train is offering a super discount to people living in South Africa. Put it simply, it was a too good deal not to live this experience once! The train normally leave Pretoria at 2pm and you arrive two days later at 12pm in Cape Town. Well, thanks to some thieves, they stole cables next to Worcester and we ended arriving only at 4pm in Cape Town. We arrived at Pretoria train station just after 12pm. You are welcomed in a special lounge. First things first, a little rapid covid test to make sure everybody is clean and ready ... read more

“Out of suffering comes the serious mind; out of salvation, the grateful heart; out of endurance, fortitude; out of deliverance, faith. Patient endurance attends to all things.” – Teresa of Avila “A lockdown? This word is seldom heard or mentioned and conjures up an image of a maximum-security prison being placed in lockdown to keep unruly inmates under control. But here we are, restricted to our homes, trying to understand “social distancing” and many people trying to figure out what it all means.” This is a paragraph out of the very first Covid-19 blog written and published on 29th March 2020. It never crossed my mind that, 18 months later, it would still be a case of banging away on the keyboard for this 48th blog edition, trying to make sense of this pandemic which has ... read more

“With Covid-19, we’ve made it to the life raft. Dry land is far away.”- Marc Lipsitch (epidemiologist) March 2021 The above quote is appropriate; the daily outpouring of news on the twists and turns of this pandemic are never-ending and yet, many people across the globe have adapted to a “new normal” which largely translates to covid-19 fatigue and simply moving on. We don’t talk about it quite as much, there are many conspiracy theories and lately, the conversation has zoomed in on the “anti-vaxxers” who espouse all manner of theory, largely lacking in logic, but undoubtedly, they are putting themselves at far greater risk than those vaccinated. For many people, Covid-19 has slipped off the front page. A quick, around the globe review, strongly suggests that this virus and its little army of mutants, is ... read more

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” – Henry David Thoreau A splendid two-night stay at Sirheni Bush Camp duly ended and, all that was left, was a slow drive up the R56 to Punda Maria, the final stop on this ten-day expedition through Kruger. The name Punda Maria is a little out of step with all other Kruger camp names which are based on local language interpretations. It has a distinct Portuguese “flavour” to it. Well, it turns out that a guy named Coetser was posted to that area way back in 1919 as the first ranger. He mistakenly named his post Punda Maria thinking this was the Swahili name for zebra (the first big game he ... read more

“I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want.” – Andy Warhol A wonderful added advantage of selecting camp sites never visited before, is the element of the “unknown.” Without exception, each one of the four visited thus far has delivered big time in terms of each being very different and unique from the others. There is no “one size fits all” and there is a real sense of anticipation setting off for the next destination. Shingwedzi had us enthralled due to its totally different layout and location on a wide and currently, dry river bed. The next leg of this superb adventure was a gentle nudge northward along the H1-7 having done the necessary research to get us to Sirheni Bush Camp; 36kms away. “Kruger Routes- ... read more