Blogs from South Africa, Africa - page 9

“You watch the slow lope of a lioness and forget to breathe. You marvel at the tripod of a giraffe bent to water.” – Jodi Picoult Olifants camp was the next destination on this journey and, on this occasion, a golden rule had to be broken by virtue of the distance getting there being 154kms which was much further than the target of about 75kms travel between stops. The reason for this was largely not being able to book into any other camp closer to Lower Sabie as we had spent time camping a few years back at Satara. Not a problem as it afforded time to thread slowly to the end point taking in the spectacular Kruger tapestry of endless views and multiple brown and green colours. Impossible to get bored gazing at these surrounds. ... read more

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for our destruction.” – Rachel Carson Every adventure has a start point and, in this case, ours was on a very cold and wintery morning from Johannesburg. It was an opportune time to leave “the big smoke” for something brighter and more cheerful. The wind of the preceding days had very effectively re-arranged the dust on the many mine dumps which dot the landscape, and the cold air was thick with this brown dust providing a doomsday feel to the city and its surrounds. August and September are traditionally windy, dry months which add this smoggy blanket to the dry, winter-tinged countryside. It is not appealing but nature will do its thing ... read more

In the winter of our discontent - ”Despair is the state we fall into when one’s imagination fails. When we have no stories that describe the present and guide the future, hope evaporates. Political failure is, in essence, a failure of imagination.”- George Monbiot. C-19 continues to defy any form of linear progression and rages on relentlessly testing just about every scientific and medical theory that our so-called global experts have spewed forth into a highly confused populace. This can be neatly revealed by a quick scan of the current state of heightened chaos in countries around the world. What better place to start than China where they are experiencing their broadest outbreak since the shenanigans in the wet markets of Wuhan one and a half years ago. To compound their problems, it is the Delta ... read more

“Confusion is to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.”- Isaac Newton If one likens Covid-19 to a large roulette wheel spinning in a casino and randomly stopping every now and then to deliver a new number with a sinister message, it is certainly delivering just that. A pandemic which kicked off in February 2020, continues to spin out of control and shows little heed for many of the efforts being frantically thrown at it by seriously confused humans across the globe. A quick global check reveals interesting scenarios. In England, PM Boris Johnson is desperate to announce to the Poms that Covid-19 has been defeated and life can return to normal. His target date for this massive announcement is 19th July. Will it happen? Watching Wimbledon over the past ... read more

I have been 5 years of the last 6 in the region, hoping to do the world famous "Sardine Run" once. Well, now it's done. Let me explain a little the process of the Sardine Run. Each year, in June and July, the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa witness one of the biggest animal migration...underwater! Millions of sardines makes their way up from Port Elizabeth all the way to Durban. The highlight being the few weeks around the 1st July from the little town of Port St Johns to Coffee Bay in the Transkei. Put it simply....this is a mere 168kms from home if you had to draw a straight line from my home and the backpackers where we are staying in Transkei. But by road, it's 380kms...and it takes just short of 6 hours ... read more