My roommate had gone for breakfast by the time my alarm went off. So after having had a relaxed wash, I made my way down to breakfast at exactly 09h00. As I wandered into the restaurant, I was greeted by a sea of pale faces and a babble of Estuary English. I vowed there and then never to go and stay in a hotel frequented by Brits again! Nothing was right - there were no fried eggs, the tea tasted funny (as did the milk) and who on earth would want noodles and rice for breakfast! As I sat there eating my noodles and rice with chillies I looked around wondering why my fellow diners had bothered coming and not stayed in the UK! At 09h30, we all met in the lobby and headed off to ... read more

It's half four. Usually that means that it's cold and dark and I'm getting up early to go on another jaunt to some far off place and experience something different. Well; two out of three's not bad - it's cold and (nearly) dark but it's actually half four in the afternoon and I'm in Bedfont (near Heathrow) having completed a day's work in the office. It all started the day before. After a very hectic weekend trying to tie up lose ends before taking a break, I finished my meal, brought the car round from the garage and packed my trusty camera equipment and suitcase. At precisely 18h00, not by plan, I pulled away into the darkness and headed for the main motorway running from the North West of England southwards. My plan was to spend ... read more

Four days in which to enjoy Sweden's Midsommarfest!... read more

Early to bed, early to rise. It was 05h15 when the phone rang; it was the front desk reminding me to get up. Why so early? It wasn’t going to take me 45 minutes to have a wash, get dressed and meet in Reception for the 06h00 safari. Oh well, as I had to answer the phone anyway, I got up. It was still dark as I made my way through the cold building to Reception. Both Jill and Brian were there, but there was no sign of Alfred, our guide. As 06h00 approached, so did Alfred. He guided us to our jeep and bade us farewell - he was off back to bed! It was cold and dark as our Jeep Jockey drove along the deserted roads to the entrance of the park. We were ... read more

After the theatrical entertainment of the previous evening, I was relieved that there was no second performance. The marula fruit remained fastened to the trees and the Clog Family von Genet kept their slippers on and rested. As such, I had a remarkably full night’s sleep, having hit the pillow at an extremely modest 21h30. However, it was now 06h15 and the alarm hadn’t gone off. It was still dark but there were sounds. From the direction in which my feet were facing, the snuffling was alarming enough, but it was the low rumbles, sounds of breaking branches and general scary behaviour inches from my head that was my main worry. Peering into the gloom, I saw an elephant standing right outside my veranda, almost at the foot of my bed. I didn’t even need to ... read more