Thursday Doors

This is the cell door behind which Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years on Robben Island.

RnR @ the J&B Met

Two weeks ago, this was South Africa’s equivalent of Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot. Every year there is a theme. This year’s was about mixing and matching – promoting J&B whisky with a contrasting soft drink. I wore my Swazi flag shirt matched with blue shorts. Don and I tried out for the most elegant…

Walking Safari in Kruger National Park

“Nothing but breathing the air of Africa, and actually walking through it, can communicate the indescribable sensations which every traveller of feeling will experience” William Burchell, Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa (1824) Yaybo! We staggered out of our tents in Lower Sabie at 4am into the gloaming. The birds were already tweeting away when I made…

Walking on Water

The grey heron looks as though it is walking on water. In the hippo pool close by Lower Sabie Campsite, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Soka Uncobe: Male Circumcision in Swaziland

Soka Uncobe is the slogan of the Male Circumcision (MC) programme which began in 2008 in Swaziland. A Task Force led by the Ministry of Health aimed to integrate male circumcision into the services of all hospitals and health centres. Its ambitious target was to circumcise of 80% of men in the 18-49 age group…

Statues

Some people in South Africa are getting angry about statues; there is a campaign to remove all symbols of colonialism. The statue of Cecil Rhodes at Cape Town University had to be removed from its plinth because of protests from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). This group objects to any symbol of colonialism which they…