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Category Archives: Travelling
On soap, water and being worth it
We’re bumping along a track through scrubby woodland in a because-we-need-it four-by-four. It’s the end of a dehydrating day spent working in a haze of heat and orange dust. Digging, sieving, scraping. Tstetse flies biting through clothing, sweat bees dipping … Continue reading
Posted in Thinking, or ranting, or both, Zambia
Tagged 4x4, age, Archaeology, shower gel, skin, soap, Travel, water, youth, Zambia
5 Comments
The song I know of Africa (who doesn’t know one of me)
Is that a humming sound? Hum becomes buzz. An insect passes by, unhurried. Buzz fades into hum again – and the insect vanishes. A bird on creaking wings utters a plaintive call as it crosses the glinting river and heads … Continue reading
Posted in If you only read one ..., Zambia
Tagged Africa, elephant, giant eagle owl, giraffe, Isaak Dinesen, Karen Blixen, Luangwa, Travel, Zambia
18 Comments
Seeking an armadillo cure, we bring no guns but find a Trigger
Seven in the morning and it’s twilight in the Sunrise café. The curtains are still drawn on the city of Dripping Springs, Texas. City? Population 3000? Whatever. ‘It’s an old building,’ says our waitress, terser than you’d expect. She’s probably … Continue reading
In which Thelma and Louise drink wine – and have a sobering evening
‘Hey, Louise, we need to find us a cliff.’ That’s my sister-in-law, Thelma. Not her real name. But it kinda suits her. Elvis the cat bats his tail against the floor. It’s his real name and he recognises it. He’s a … Continue reading
Posted in Texas
Tagged Dripping Springs, Elvis, Groundhog Day, Oklahoma, Texas, Thelma and Louise, thunder, tornado, Travel, vineyard, Wine
10 Comments
Africa, the first time. Passports are important things.
You learn a lot from travel, not always the obvious things about culture, diversity, language and stuff. My first trip to Africa taught me that you really should keep your passport up to date. Especially if you have ‘journalist’ as your … Continue reading
Posted in Socks, spoons, stones and sunsets, Travelling, Zambia
Tagged Bulawayo, Harare, Ian Smith, journalist, Kwe Kwe, Meikles Hotel, Mumbwa Caves, Philips, Rhodesia, UDI, Zimbabwe
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A man walks into a bar. . . Pub conversation, Zambia-style
Football. It’s a universal language – well except in the USA of course. (What’s that? That other game they play with the pointy ball that isn’t rugby? American football. Doh.) Anthro-man walks into a bar. In Zambia. ‘Hello, how are … Continue reading
The fall of the Fort of Ussher?
We’re in a taxi heading back into Accra from the University at Legon, our first and only attempt at sightseeing on this very short visit. As we near the coast, the throat-searing fumes spewed from elderly vehicles stuck in stagnant … Continue reading
Posted in Ghana, Travelling
Tagged Accra, Ashanti, Fort Ussher, Ga, heritage, Jamestown, jerry john rawlings, Legon, pirogues, slaves, Unesco tentative list, Usshertown
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