[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 02.05.2016] One of the absolute privileges of travelling in Europe is discovering its majestic capital cities. London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Berlin, to name but a few, are all names that evoke enchanting days spent admiring superlative architecture and immersing oneself in millennia of history and culture. In Africa, the complete opposite holds true: …
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 01.05.2016] Hostel Life:If the backpack is the raison d’être of the budget traveller, then the backpacker hostel is his/her lifeblood. It is both the glue the binds a sequence of travel experiences and the source of social interaction that can often help to define an entire trip. The hostel’s primary function, as indicated by its …
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 14.04.2016] The traffic is snarling, that really is the only way to describe this pre-dawn suburban Nairobi logistical catastrophe. Our coach is currently stranded in an ocean of vehicles facing so many different directions as they attempt to find an escape route that it seems as though the world’s largest magnet has drawn …
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 12.04.2016] The rain, when it came, was not entirely unpleasant; the relative temperatures of both water and air were more than bearable and the darkening skies made the brooding hills seem even more dramatic. In a remarkably uncharacteristic display of forward planning, I had even thought to bring my backpack’s impermeable cover to …
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 01.04.2016] Staring out of the window for hours on end during any of the never-ending bus journeys that perversely form the backbone of my travel enjoyment, my mind invariably drifts to some of the most life-affirming experiences I have had on the road. Summiting the peak of a volcano after four hours of …
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 26.03.2016] Power cut. Cold shower. No Wi-Fi. As warm embraces go, Mama Africa might have tried a little harder when welcoming me back to her bosom, particularly after twenty hours of travel, two entirely sleepless flights and a 6am layover from hell in the zombie wasteland ghetto fleapit masquerading as Addis Ababa International …
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 27.02.2016] “We have a lead, they also stole our tampons.” There is a calm, controlled authority about Chelsee’s voice that reignites a tiny flicker of hope in me, where none ought to exist. Without a moment’s hesitation, she disappears into the undergrowth and I follow her lead. Lotte, meanwhile, is holding our beach …
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 21.02.2016] “The King, officer. Where is the King?” We are at a crossroads of dirt tracks somewhere in Eastern Swaziland and the last signpost to the Hlane Royal Residence was 27km back. With no map and two South African marijuana smugglers driving us in their battered bakkie, the chances of success in this …
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 19.02.2016] The Backpack:Quite simply the raison d’être of the backpacker. Its mere ownership qualifies for backpacker status regardless of age, social standing or number of children born since the last expedition. The internal capacity fluctuation challenges all laws of physics through its unexplainable reverse black hole properties: the exact same contents that fit in neatly …
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 16.02.2016] For all my lifelong reluctance to believe in the existence of fate, destiny, kismet and the like, it is sometimes difficult to resist the notion that there are greater forces at work than we imagine. As I arrived at Bloemfontein bus station after the horrors of Lesotho, to be greeted by the …