Category Archives: Africa

For the Love of the Grape

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Traveler

In addition to cemeteries, sunsets, and trains, I love wine. There was one particularly cloudy, wet, drizzly day toward the end of my Cape Town sojourn, and that is the day that called for one of those other things South … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Day trips, South Africa, Stellenbosch, Tourism, Wine, Winelands, Zevenwacht | Leave a comment

Things are Looking Up

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Traveler

Where I have lived for over thirty years, it is said that people “never look up.”  In fact, that is often one of the ways you know who the tourists are:  They’re looking up. New York City, of course, is … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, May 2016, Nature, Sky, Sunset, The Train | Leave a comment

Cemetery of Souls

Posted on January 7, 2017 by Traveler

I love cemeteries.  I always have. A macabre attraction to some, granted, but to me, what is macabre about the unwavering silence, or the peace we project onto those souls planted beneath the soil? It’s hard to resist the rough … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Cemeteries, South Africa | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Cemetery of Trees

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Traveler

On an early morning off-train mini-safari excursion to Hwange National Park during the journey from Victoria Falls to Pretoria is where we, the rail travelers, saw wakes of vultures, dazzles of zebras, towers of giraffes, and herds of elephants.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Cemeteries, Safari, Zimbabwe | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Hey, hey we’re the Monkeys

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Traveler

One of the sights most tourists are enthusiastic about seeing on a trip to Africa (or anywhere for that matter) are our close relatives in the monkey family. I saw a few types of monkeys on this trip.  While in … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Animals, May 2016, Safari, South Africa, Zimbabwe | Leave a comment

The Big Five

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Traveler

In Africa, you often hear of what is referred to as The Big Five.  Including the African lion, the Big Five are what every safari tourist hopes to see before they have to head home.  They are the large game … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Animals, May 2016, Safari | Leave a comment

Birds in Paradise

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Traveler

Many of the birds we saw in Africa had names — as in genus, species names — I just don’t recall any of them (except the vulture, of course, and perhaps the ostrich and the penguin). The birds are curiously … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Birds, South Africa | Leave a comment

Birds of prey

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Traveler

I had never seen a vulture before. Then, on an early-morning safari in Zimbabwe, our guided group came across a large collection (also known as a “committee”) of vultures resting in a patch of trees. Commonly, the grand prize of … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Birds, May 2016, Safari, Zimbabwe | 1 Comment

A Stop on the Blue Train

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Traveler

One of the primary reasons for choosing South Africa as a destination was because of a long-running love affair with train travel — particularly of the “luxury” kind.  In researching a 2010 trip to Eastern Europe, I learned about South … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Matjiesfontein, May 2016, South Africa, The Blue Train, The Train | Leave a comment

The fields and the Falls

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Traveler

I have been back in the U.S. for a while now, since end of May 2016, from what was an uplifting, educational, and truly inspiring experience.  Two out of three of those would have been worth the resources invested in … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, May 2016, South Africa, Zimbabwe | Tagged , , | 2 Comments