The Middle World, between the Modern World as we know it, and the Wilderness, is rich in many idiosyncrasies, little marvels, charms and surprises. Here are a few that I encounter as I travel through on my safaris into the wilderness. You can watch the video here: Enjoy!...
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In this story on my solo safari into the South-east of Angola, I travel through the Middle World. In Africa, across most of the more remote countryside, one finds ever fewer signs of the Modern World as we know it. Even the few artifacts that could be recognised as “modern” may be adapted to different purposes, and look different. This story is about my observations while travelling through the Middle World on my way to the wilderness. You can watch the video here Enjoy!...
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This story captures the final days and hours in the run-up to an extended solo safari into the African wilderness. It has a twist too, about solving a serious unforseen problem with the safari vehicle. Enjoy!...
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You can read through the text below,or listen to the narrative. Enjoy! We could not see him yet, but we could hear the crack and thump of his browsing as he shouldered aside the seemingly impenetrable tangle of the thickets. He was close. So close that when he stopped, I could hear the grind of the great molars chewing through bundles of vegetation. A pinch of fine dust from between my feet told that the air was almost still, with an eddy now and then. We should have moved out of his way, but I could not resist the...
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You can listen to the voice narrative, or read through the text below. Enjoy! The young male lion’s skull lay forlorn on the edge of a hollow. It had once held water, but now it has dried to a desolation of cracked mud. Around, a calcific flat stretched away in scrub-mottled grey to a thin blur of trees on the horizon. It was a bitter picture. I looked around. Nowhere on the bleached surface could I see even a single bone from the rest of the skeleton. Had the scavengers felt awkward about desecrating the countenance of...
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My old Land Cruiser has, over the years of bush travelling, accumulated all the bumps and dents and scratches the bush needed to inflict on it. It wears the bush comfortably now, like an everyday warmer. But, it knows to inflict lots of discomfort on its driver. The suspension is about as soft as an empty freight train’s; over uneven surfaces it raises a cacophony of rattles and squeaks that drown out any conversation and numbs the mind; it drives like an oxcart and the cab is a custom-built furnace during the day, and a fridge at night. So,...
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Parked in front of the Lion and Elephant Hotel, Zimbabwe It is part of bush tradition, no, it is bush religion to stop over at The Lion and Elephant on the banks of the Bubi if the route north leads through Zimbabwe. It is unassuming, inexpensive and just worn enough at the seams so that it feels comfortable, like an old shirt. It has become a sort of a tradition for me to overnight there if the route north leads through Zimbabwe. Here is an extract from my book, The Wanderers: “It was around two in the afternoon. The...
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The happy chaos of an African “shopping mall” deep in rural Mozambique. Note the bustling atmosphere, the flimsy shop cubicles, the the wares spilling out onto the road surface in places. Expeditions into remote Africa inevitably have to traverse vast distances through various shades of civilisation (in the Western frame of reference), along roads that severely tax the vehicle, the patience and resistance to reckless abuse of alcohol. Nevertheless, it is often richly spiced with charm, surprises and, of course, challenges that combine to make for a fascinating experience in itself. To illustrate, I quote a few paragraphs...
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Actually, on secondary roads in Africa bridges are something of a luxury......
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