My husband and I wanted to explore Zimbabwe on a camping trip. There were a few doubts, though. I was a bit concerned about just having a thin canvas wall between me and a lion! The reason: a few of the camps we wanted to stay in were not fenced off and the animals could walk right through at any time. It's not that I haven't been camping near wild animals, but usually we have stayed in a fenced off area. We had also heard some horrifying reports that are unfortunately true, of people being attacked by lions. Another concern was how safe it would be to travel on our own with regards border crossings and police road blocks, bribery and corruption. Then we heard of a tour group doing a tour through Zimbabwe which sounded ... read more

You know that thought that crosses your mind when you are travelling or visiting a place and while you are there you think: So and so would love it here….. these friends would enjoy it here, next time we should invite these people, etc. Well, we often had that thought while we were at Ponta Malongane on our own, so we have invited a few people over the years. But we all know the minute you invite others and carry on about how wonderful the place is, you are pre-empting disaster. In 2007 we invited some dear friends, the Morris & Birch families to join us for a week, but at the end of the trip we wondered if it was a good idea, because it rained......non stop! At least, it felt that way. It was ... read more

Eureka! Paul has found our photos so I can now refresh my memory and write my next blog. So what do you do when your eldest son has flown the nest, migrating from the southern to the northern hemisphere to start a new life in London? You visit him of course! What can I tell you about London that no-one else has told before? Probably not much, but our photos might just do the job. We took an over abundance of pictures of everything we saw. I will use this opportunity to let the pictures tell most of the story with a couple of unscripted snippets. We visited the usual tourist traps, some we have seen before and others we haven’t: Museums, Tower of London, Cutty Sark, London eye, Harrods, Camden town amongst others. Fragments of ... read more

June 2004 Stuck at the border – are we ever going to get into Mozambique? Before I start my blog I would like to give you a little bit of information regarding Mozambique. With the Mozambican Civil War between FRELIMO and RENAMO ending in 1992, this country was still reeling from the after effects of this long war. People were poor and starving, the tourism industry was non existent and wildlife was depleted, slaughtered to feed the starving masses or elephants were killed for their ivory. Slowly towards the end of the 20th century tourism picked up extremely quickly and people were returning to a tourist destination that was very popular before 1975. However, in 2004 the effects of the war could still be seen, although the general infrastructure of the country was doing an about ... read more

June 2002 Our first trip to Ponta Malongane, Mozambique The long civil war in Mozambique had ended in 1992 and at the turn of the century, tourism was slowly becoming a popular means of income for the Mozambicans again, with lots to offer and South Africans were starting to explore this country again and we were fortunate to be amongst those that did. After such a devastating war, in 2002 it still needed plenty of finance and work to recover from the destruction of war, though. Earlier in the year Paul and Philip went to Ponta do Ouro for a long weekend with my brother, for a diving trip. Jacques and I had to stay behind as Jacques was writing exams for his Matric year, the last year of school. They did some sightseeing while they ... read more