Cape to Cairo: The Roads Less Travelled (April–August 2025)
DAY 0 | 22 APRIL 2025: Pulmonary embolism, family illness, death and a derailed Rovos Rail train notwithstanding, we caught our plane from Cape Town to Johannesburg — the only flight we have planned as we make our way north to Cairo via public transport. In the 19th century, the British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes vainly envisioned a railway from Cape Town to Cairo — fitting, then, that our off-the-beaten-track, trans-African adventure should begin with a train safari to Victoria Falls. (WhatsApp Community Broadcast)
Over the Hill and Far Away: Backpacking South America at 40-something
SOUTH AMERICA: South America had been on our bucket list since before we were married. Pushing 50, we finally got around to it – a three-and-a-half-month flashback to our salad days, backpacking through Asia and the Middle East in the 1990s. (Publication: ‘Intrepid Explorer’)
Amazon Adventure
SOUTH AMERICA | PERU | AMAZON RIVER: Sluggish ceiling fans stir the sticky heat. A picture of Jesus jostles for wall space with tortoise heads and turtle shells, a caiman skin, a puma’s pelt and mounted head. River turtle and alligator are on the menu. (Publication: ‘Intrepid Explorer’)
Zambezi Zvakanaka: Canoeing Zimbabwe’s Middle Zambezi River
ZIMBABWE | MIDDLE ZAMBEZI RIVER: It’s New Year’s day and we are setting out to explore 121 kilometres of the Middle Zambezi at midsummer. The Zambezi River has Zimbabwe’s highest density of hippo and Nile crocodile – 33 hippos and 6 adult crocodiles per kilometre of river. Note to self: Do not be tempted to trail languid limbs in these deceptively still waters. (Publication: ‘Travel Africa’)
Shark! The Whole Tooth
The lion is the undisputed King of the Jungle. The shark rules the seas. Both have toothsome reputations and, as it happens, identical preying patterns. The lion, however, has a better press. Kim Maclean, the ‘Shark Lady’, from Gansbaai, is doing for sharks what Disney did for lions. (Publication: ‘Discover Africa’)