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Travel – Quickening Climate Change, Or Creating Holes In Bucket Lists
By EMILY SHERLOCK The last two years have seen record-high global temperatures and more extreme weather events as a result of climate change, and it is becoming increasingly clear to many that the future of the planet’s much-loved destinations is no...
Paris 2024 Olympic Torch – Like A Relay To A Flame
The Paris 2024 Olympic Torch Relay features some 30 UNESCO World Heritage sites. The flame will end its journey in Paris on July 26 for an opening ceremony which, for the first time in the history of the modern Olympic Games, will take place within a UNESCO...
Travel: Rosendal – A State Of Quiet Freedom, Or Crafting Some Quiet Time
By DANIEL VORSTER South Africa offers a variety of getaway destinations, ranging from beaches pristine mountains. For business people flying into South Africa, there are also numerous options available for a quick weekend away or for longer stays. I flew into South...
Travel: Sacred Superstition, Or Mysteries After Dark
Some sacred sites around the globe are believed to turn into paranormal hotspots as the sun sets. From the echoing chants of lost souls to spine-chilling apparition sightings, many travellers find these eerie transformations particularly interesting. "Seeing is...
Travel: Vanilla Is A Neutral Flavour or How A Milkshake Almost Destroyed Switzerland
By BRUCE DENNILL I should never have taken the milkshake. I had just flown business class for the first time, and there was free stuff in the arrivals lounge at Zurich Airport. I had just had a shower in a bathroom named “Chicago”. Others were named “Boston”...
Conservation: A Small Sumatran, Or Rare Rhino Reprieve
By Plt. Kepala Balai Taman Nasional Way Kambas The Government of Indonesia has announced the birth of a Sumatran rhino at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) in Way Kambas National Park, Lampung Province on September 30, 2023. Minister of Environment and...
Travel: The Tipping Point, Or Playing The Percentages
Paying attention to tipping etiquette can make a holiday in a foreign country less awkward and more rewarding for all concerned. Travel experts from Panache Cruises suggest the following guide. United Kingdom Tipping is not expected in the UK because...
Travel: Restless In Reykjavik, Or Searching For A Hemingway Moment And Finding The Travel Channel
By BEN WRIGHT “Yes, there are a lot of tourists in Iceland now, perhaps too many,” said Silvia, in perfect English and with no irony. Her daughters, who spoke English too, as well as Icelandic and Zulu, were playing with mine at Boston Airport. We were on the...
Travel: Forgotten Footsteps, Or No Size Fits All
By OBIE OBERHOLZER Oman. 2014. Sometimes I do odd things in strange places. As a chaser of line and light, I slowly walk into another mud village in Oman. Each time on entering, I whisper an Islamic greeting. At the entrance gate to the abandoned village...
Travel: Angling For Credibility, Or Russian To Conclusions
By PINKY KHOABANE Pinky Khoabane is a journalist, a writer and publisher of an online publication Uncensored. The legendary reggae musician Bob Marley crafted the song, “Don’t let them fool you”, in which he bemoaned the master narrative that...
Travel: A-Spire To Legend, Or A Tall Tale Told
By BRUCE DENNILL “Let’s go and see the devil.” “Pardon?” It is the final night of a trip to the venerable Karoo capital of Graaff-Reinet, and with the end of dinner, the official itinerary is complete. Some of our party have retired to bed. Others have enjoyed a...
Culture: Safeguarding Heritage, Or Incredible Intangibles
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] During their annual meeting in late 2021, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage inscribed four elements on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of...
Travel: Florida’s Secret Paradise, Or A Gulf Dream
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] BY JOE DAVID From November to early May, Florida is a tropical paradise of sunny days and moonlit nights. In the western area (a short distance from Fort Myers), there are two secluded islands off the Florida coast on...
Amused Bouche: Emzini, Westdene, Johannesburg
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Emzini, Westdene, Johannesburg. Carte: A menu that looks simple (a no frills type-on-paper affair) is filled with varied dish options, allowing diners with any preference to choose something put...
Amused Bouche: The Farm Stall At Halls, Mbombela, Mpumalanga
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Farm Stall at Halls, N4 Halls Gateway, Mbombela. Carte: Separate food and drinks menus, with plenty of choice - reflecting a pleasing combination of imagination and a lack of pretence - on both....
Travel: Koh Samui – Bustle And Bliss, Or Delicious Diversions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By EUGENE YIGA After a short flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui, it was good to escape the heat and humidity with two things that became essentials during our stay: air-conditioned vans and cold towels. Indeed, as much as...
Travel: New Horizons, Or A Jewel In The Rough
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By EUGENE YIGA Everyone has a story. And one of the most moving stories I came across in my trip to Kenya was that of a Maasai tribeswoman. “My name is Peris,” she says. “I’m the mother of five children. I was brought up...
Culture: Re-building Al-Nouri Mosque, Or Courtyards Dialogue
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] An international jury recently announced that an entry by eight Egyptian architects won the international competition for the reconstruction of the historic Al-Nouri Mosque complex in Mosul, Iraq, a major component of...
Book Reviews: Secret Cities, Or Getting Lost With Gusto
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Secret Brooklyn by Michelle Young and Augustin Pasquet Secret Edinburgh: An Unusual Guide by Hanna Robinson Secret Naples by Valerio Ceva Grimaldi, Maria Franchini and Fernando Pisacane There are...
Travel: 2022 World Book Capital, Or Guadala-iterature
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Guadalajara in Mexico was named World Book Capital for the year 2022 by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, on the recommendation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee. The city was selected for its...
Food: Feeling Desserted, Or Experiments On Ice
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] It seems that plain vanilla ice cream might soon come out of fashion in Lithuania, where chefs are experimenting with natural flavours: fresh vegetables, flowers, and even stinging nettle. Chefs around the world are...
Amused Bouche: Lekker Bistro, Parys, Free State
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Lekker Bistro, 60 Bree Street, Parys. Carte: The menu’s written out on a chalkboard, which is brought to your table and balanced on a chair. The basics – chicken, steak, fish – but prepared with equal...
Travel: Hale Family Not Quite Met, Or An Agent Of Change On Sail
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL We were on a mission. Final day in New York. Final day in the US. Final day of a long-planned trip abroad. Who knew when or if another one would be possible? We had to get to the Met. The Beautiful Wife...
Travel: Wading In Wekiwa, Or The Joys Of The Spring
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Figuring out the highway system in Orlando, Florida becomes, for an out-of-towner, a necessary short-term hobby. In many (sensible) countries, a major road goes to, or through, a destination, and at that...
Travel: San Francisco – A City With Its Faults, Or Has The Bay Lost Its Way?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By JOE DAVID For many years, I have been travelling west to pay homage to San Francisco and to close members of the family who still insist on living in the Bay Area. Sadly, I discovered during my recent trip that the...
Travel: Borderline Edginess, Or Taken For A Ride By Hitler
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Donkeys are a regular sight in the Northern Cape. They’re exceptionally hardy creatures, which is useful when there’s not much to eat in the semi-desert scrub of the Kgalagadi, and when there are...
Travel: Fantasy And Fabergé, Or Russian To See New Exhibit
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] On 7 February 2020 at 3pm, the new, permanent treasury at the Amalienborg Museum will be revealed. On display will be Russian jewellery from the period 1860-1917, with a focus on the close ties between the Danish and...
Travel: Wild Coast Meander – Several Rivers Run Through It, Or Don’t Have A Kei, Man
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DAVID ALSTON After careful surveillance by our tour organiser, our group of 14 golden oldies were sternly admonished to ‘keep the sea on our left’ before we left East London by kombi after a reunion at the...
Travel: More And Moraingy In Madagascar, Or Boxed In By Culture
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL We pull over on the side of Route de L’Ouest, the main street that runs through Dzamandzar, a small town on the west coast of Nosy Be. It’s the biggest thoroughfare in the area, but it’s...
Travel: In The Footsteps Of Anne Frank, Or A Spirit Endures
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRYAN ANDREWS Most people who have heard the story of Anne Frank, or who have read even a part of her diary, have the impression that she was an unfortunate young girl destroyed by the Nazis. I was one of those...
Travel: Boldly Barefoot, Or Shell-Shocked By History
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRYAN ANDREWS Invoking a totally different set of emotions to those I experienced on the Via Dolorosa and in Hezekiah’s Tunnel was my visit to Yad Vashem – Israel’s Holocaust Museum. In one word, it was...
Advertorial: Private lodge shareholding ownership opportunity – Dopotta Game Reserve, Tuli Block, Botswana
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] ADVERTORIAL Copyright DW BAILEY The Tuli Block of Botswana is a land of contrast. It is also known as the Land of the Giants due to its extremes, including massive Baobab trees, numerous herds of elephants, the...
Travel: Boldly Barefoot, Or Through A Tunnel Darkly
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRYAN ANDREWS The Via Dolorosa was my first barefoot experience in Jerusalem but it certainly wasn’t my last. One of the more notable ones - because it forced me to tackle one of my fears head on - was my walk...
Travel: Boldly Barefoot, Or Almost Via Dolorosa
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRYAN ANDREWS Probably my most meaningful barefoot walk was in Jerusalem. I was one of those people who never wanted to go to Israel. I didn’t want my picture of the Holy Land to be shattered by reality, so I...
Travel: Boldly Barefoot, Or Ambulating In Athens
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRYAN ANDREWS My introduction to barefoot travel was by accident…well, almost by accident. It was 2003 and my wife and I were on a visit to Greece. On our first morning in Athens, we did what I recommend that...
Travel: Palace Pause, Or The Hermitage On Hold
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL There’s a queue. For a museum. That’s a good thing. Speaks of an appreciation of history and culture, and the value of intellect over addictions to social media and gossip. So, on principle, it’s...
Picture Essay: Up Close In Istanbul, Or The Djinn Is In The Detail
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL It's easy to lose sight of the small stuff in a city like Istanbul, spread across two continents and home to 17 million people. Looking up at the minarets and the gargantuan domes is easy, but if...
Travel: Assignment Ass-essment, Or Bringing Up The Rear
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Visiting an island engages many parts of a tourist’s body. There is the feel on your skin of the thick-as-a-blanket humidity as you step out of a plane that came from somewhere with breathable...
Travel: Confirmed Identity, Or En Route To Empathy
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL It's a routine stopover for us, pulling off the highway to the coast and parking outside a rural supermarket selling sweets, braai meat and local artisanal bits and pieces of all kinds (edible,...
Travel: In Tent City, Or Bright Lights, Small Cultural Festival
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The 2014 Kalahari Desert Festival was held from 21-23 March at Witdraai near Askham (essentially, head north out of Upington and look for the signs on the left; if you hit Namibia, you've gone too...
Travel: In Through The Out Door, or Secret Eldest Child And The Missing Keys
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL It’s an ideal way to end a Friday afternoon. Done with work and arrived at a self-catering cottage on a small farm out in the country with the sun still high enough to encourage all of us to...
Travel: Sweetness Of The Swiss, Or A Rich Chocolate History
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By GREG VORSTER Elsewhere on this site, a trip to Switzerland nearly ended in disaster no thanks to a milkshake and the mistaken notion that placing it in carry-on luggage was a good idea. Treats have their...
Opinion: Home Is Where The Five-Star Is
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ah, luxury. It’s always pretty special when you open the door to a lavish hotel suite and are greeted for the first time by a fresh, pristine layout, furnished with the very latest in plush...
Travel: Tea And Sympathy (For Bears), Or To Coin A Phase
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The hotel we’re in for the junket is lovely. But it’s miles from anywhere, a round of golf costs five hundred million dirham and there’s only so much of the course you can walk around, simply...
Travel: Toy Story, Or The Art Of Exploration
By BRUCE DENNILL Istanbul. Home to the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Golden Horn, the Grand Bazaar, the Topkapi Palace and dozens of other world-famous tourist attractions, it’s also riddled with side roads; non-descript, non-guidebook diversions that are...
Essay: Alleviating Airport Angst, Or A Sacrifice This Side Of Security
By BRUCE DENNILL Airport angst. It’s a thing. Anyone who’s felt annoyed when they’ve had to arrive at a placed composed primarily of tiles and x-ray machines four hours before they’ll be able to leave it ahead of an international flight has suffered from this...
Travel: Personable Probosces, Or Why The Long Face?
By BRUCE DENNILL These photographs were taken at the petting zoo/farmyard at Seasons Lifestyle Estate near Brits. Other people go there to invest in property or to play golf. To each his own.
Travel: Cultural Comeback, Or Say Hello To Auntie
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The iconic Tan’ Malie Se Winkel, just west of the Arc de Triomphed Hartbeespoort Dam wall, went through a long, sad patch...
Travel: Of Peace, Tranquillity, Irony And Neil Diamond, Or Dikhololo For Dummies
By BRUCE DENNILL “Guests come here for the peace and tranquillity of nature. We therefore request everyone to be considerate towards one another and assist us in providing the very best that a tranquil, relaxing resort can provide.” And later: “Music taste...
Hiking: Great Ocean Walk, Or Wild Women On Top Of The Twelve Apostles
By TAMMY BALLANTYNE It would most likely be true to say that after summiting Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro a year ago, most other walking trips could be considered tame by comparison. This thought had crossed my mind when I signed up to travel to Victoria,...
Travel: Re-Visiting The South Coast Or Back To Bedlam, Except That It Isn’t
By BRUCE DENNILL In 1997, I joined a gaggle of mates for a trip to the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal for a New Years’ holiday. As it turned out, about 30 000 other people had the same idea, so relaxing on the beach was more of a theoretical construct than it was...
Travel: Trail Mix
By TAMMY BALLANTYNE There were several moments on the Otter Trail where I looked up and thought: “This is tougher than I thought it would be.” When the pack I was carrying bit into my shoulders and my trail runners just wouldn’t grip on the wet boulders, it...
Travel: Dune Anything Later?
By BRUCE DENNILL It’s the end of a long day. The Namibian border is within sight. This is not an area in which there are a great number of options for an evening meal, though the neat, well-run Kalahari Info & Tented Camp has a coffee shop if you get there...