One common consequence of divorce is that friends, family, and, in some cases, children may feel compelled to take sides, often without fully understanding the situation’s complexities....
YOU, yes, you, are the inspiration for these scribblings. That is how I justify my ongoing missives to tell the story of places, people and ordinary things, from the most extraordinary to the very...
Romance, Karin Blixen, handsome hunters, man-eating predators, and giraffes loping in languid, stretched-out strides across a grassy plain are the images I see in my mind’s eye whenever I think...
Just swiping through these photos was enough to lift my mood. The radiant colours, cerulean sky, cotton ball clouds and endless views buoyed my flagging spirits. These Kenyan days were first-class....
Not even my spirit animal, the ever-joyful, rambunctious Cape Robin Chats, scrubbing in the dust can lift my melancholic spirits today. They’re trying their best, to no avail. A bone weary dog...
There are days when my mind does not settle on one spot. Instead, my attention span is short. This phenomenon happens when too many exciting things happen around me, and my FOMO kicks in. Right now,...
A monster, state of the art 18-tonne Mercedes Overlander parked next door—a charming French couple with two boys. The youngest is having a bad day. Nothing seems to be working for him....
The negotiations taking place a mere ten meters from my window, where a clapped-out army green Defender is being appraised, have snatched my attention from my writing. The buyer, a true connoisseur...
Gurus often suggest that we look closer and more reflectively and be wholly immersed in our immediate surroundings to understand a place’s essence. Our slow meander through Uganda...
Some mornings, I wake up and pinch myself. How different my life has turned out? I woke up at five thirty this morning, and in a past life, that would be the time I’d leave home to go for my...
This morning, I woke up with a spring in my step. It’s hard to believe, considering the day we had yesterday. In the background, I have Laurika Rauch singing about the Karoo, Mannejies Roux and...
The Pearl of Africa – a term coined by Winston Churchill in 1908 due to the profusion of birds, insects, and reptiles found in this garden of Eden. Locals fondly call Uganda the Banana...
The rotund architect rubbed his puffy hand around in circles on his bloated face and through his mousey, sparse hair, pondering his shoes through bloodshot eyes while negatively shaking his head in...
Hold a sea shell to your ear. Listen to the shh’s of lapping waves onto the shore. The cool breeze gently washes over me while I type. Outside, the tide is rolling in after a long day of...
At last! We are getting into the swing of things. Our days are longer, and distances travelled are slightly shorter as we fall into the relaxed African rhythm. This boils down to the realisation that...
Butch’s meander “down memory lane” was complete. He’d explored, found, re-examined and reminisced about his childhood. He’d told all his stories, and his heart was full....
I believe that childhood memories are sweet for most adults. Unsullied, pure and gentle, we recall our “small” years. Days are long, weekends endless, and a year takes a lifetime....
When that unambiguous missile hits, no one is left unscathed. It’s uncanny how annoying minor inconveniences are, yet we refuse to recognise that first little glitch in our perfectly...
The Honey Badger’s top speed is 90kmph on a good road with no traffic. On busy African rural roads and highways, we go at a steady 65kmph if we’re lucky. What would normally be a...
Before I know it, it’s Thursday; weeks are slipping past me so quickly I have to double-check to ensure I’m on the same day as the calendar. We are currently traveling most days which...
Our favourite destination would always be to visit a National Park. The dry season is the preferred time in Zambia. During the rainy season, Summer, many roads are impassable, the rivers are swollen,...
Butch was born on the 12th of December, 1949, in a small country hospital in Chingola, Zambia. Jan, his handsome dad, was a mine captain, and his gentle jazz pianist mom was a devoted wife, loving...
Saturday, the 21st of October, 2023. The Springboks will be running onto the field in three and a half hours to beat the English in the semi-final of the RWC, and my nerves are shot. Butch has been...
Butch has just been handed a 3kg Nile Perch. It is ginormous. Lake Tanganyika is breathtaking, and there are even waves on it. Small waves pound the beach a mere three meters from where I sit. The...