Try camping – it’s much cheaper 4

Try camping – it’s much cheaper

As you have no doubt gathered, Rob and I are inveterate travelers and will pack a suitcase at the drop of a hat.  We’ve been privileged to visit many overseas countries (at great expense...

The Himba – Namibia’s proud people of the past 0

The Himba – Namibia’s proud people of the past

It is hard to imagine that just a few hours drive from the teeming metropolis of modern Windhoek, there lives a small native tribe who exist pretty much as they have done for hundreds of...

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Weekend at Spitzkoppe – Matterhorn of Namibia

Anyone who has traveled from Windhoek to Swakopmund will be familiar with the imposing outline of the Spitzkoppe mountains.  Standing on a flat plain at an altitude of 1728m above sea level, they should...

A heavy cross to bear 0

A heavy cross to bear

 I once read a story about a desperate young mother whose firstborn child had taken ill and died.  Grief stricken, she carried the body of the child to Buddha and asked him to perform...

Weekend at Waterberg 1

Weekend at Waterberg

Summer is not the best time of the year to go to the Waterberg as we were to find out when we paid the area a visit.  However, we duly set off from Windhoek on...

A trifle bizarre! 1

A trifle bizarre!

When you think back over your life, who are the folks that you remember most? It’s not the quiet peaceful guys that stand out in your mind but those unconventional people who did extraordinary things, drove...

Franz Joseph Glacier 0

Franz Josef Glacier

In ancient times, so the Maori story goes, Hinehukatere just loved to go climbing in the mountains of South Island and she often persuaded her lover, Tawe, to venture into the mountains with her. Tawe,...

Rastas Never Die 2

Rastas Never Die

I’ve got a strong belief that what you focus on grows. The more thought you give to something, the more it pops up in your life. On a recent holiday I heard (what I...

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2009 – The year of the snake

No, this isn’t about the Chinese Year of the Snake, but about an amazing year that we’ve had as far as snake sightings are concerned.  Yesterday morning while we were walking back from the...

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Ghanzi to Grasslands

They say that Africa is not for sissies – I think they should qualify that and say that the backroads of Botswana are not for sissies.  Our trip to the Central Kalahari and Chobe for...

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Piper Pan in the Central Kalahari Park

Day 2 – Grasslands to Piper Pan  185km Hillary’s research told us that this was a very sandy stretch with deep corrugations and one could expect to take the whole day to cover the relatively short...

136-jon-hillary-jane-1-passarge-valley-23042009 2

Passarge Valley in the Central Kalahari Park

Days 6-8 – Piper Pan to Passage Valley 80kms Jon drove in front for the first part of our trip to Passarge Valley as he and Hillary knew the way. The road was sandy in parts, but...

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Weekends at Ameib Ranch

The First of Several Weekends at Ameib Ranch – June 2006 Someone in Underberg once said: “Here comes the tortoise” when I drove the Toyota into their driveway.  I smiled when I realized that they were...

Coming to one’s senses 1

Coming to one’s senses

Being a relatively healthy individual (touch wood, of course) I’m no pundit on medicines and how they work, but I have recently developed an interest in the phenomenon of the unconscious and deep sleep...

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Weekend at Homeb

A Weekend in Homeb – October 2006 Rob gave me a wonderful little book called ‘The Namib’ by Mary Seely – which gives one all sorts of interesting bits of information about the desert. ...