I remember the first time I travelled abroad. It was all a mad panic. I visited Dubai in 2009 and I had no idea how to navigate an international airport. There were constant announcements blaring over the speakers, long queues and a series of misadventures to locate the nearest restroom. Now I navigate the airport…
Many who travel think exploring a new city is about raving at the nightclubs, clambering aboard buses and meandering along city tours. I guess it is a little about that. But for me, it is about the in-between spaces I find myself suspended in. It’s those unique encounters that remind us we are all merely…
The morning was warm, but the early morning coolness still lingered in the indigenous forest. We zigzagged up the steep staircase that makes up the first half of the trail up Skeleton Gorge. We were only a third of the way up but our breathing was heavy and our hearts were racing. I paused to look…
I stumble into Vida e Cafe on Kloof Street, treading mud over the ivory tiled floors. “One cappuccino and apple-and-cinnamon muffin please,” I pleaded with the barista. “You’re wet,” he remarked. Yes, it’s raining. I stated, with the same sarcasm as Janet from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I took a seat by the open window near the entrance…
I am on my way back into my corner of the Klein Karoo. It was raining when we left Cape Town, but as we passed through the Huguenot Tunnel, the African sun greeted us. I watched as the landscape changed from fynbos to a patchwork of vineyards sprawled alongside the R60. It feels good getting…
I’m standing on top of Devil’s Peak, marvelling at the world. You can see every corner of Cape Town from this height, from the City Bowl to the Southern Suburbs, the forested Tokai region and even all the way to Gordon’s Bay. I breathe it all in. Silence. It was a golden morning. I could…
Baristas are sort of like the modern day bartenders – that is – therapists to the common man. In films you always see that one guy sitting in the corner, sipping his whisky and confiding in the disgruntled barman. He wails about his marital problems or work issues while the bartender nods absent-mindedly while wiping…
Last night I fell asleep to the therapeutic sound of thunder and rain. It was my last night in Switzerland. It had been magical so far — better than I could have imagined. I’m having a love affair with the European summer, I think to myself. It’s cool this morning. The rain is gone, but…
The Swiss landscape is something to behold. It is something out of The Sound of Music. Manicured carpets of grass stretch wide along Zugersee (Lake Zug) and trees burst out of the earth in an array of colours, from lime to crimson to jade green. Today, a cycle was on the to-do list. I am…
Lucerne is a city in central Switzerland. It is a compact city, caught between Lake Lucerne and the towering shape of Mount Pilatus. After a short tour of the city highlights, we headed towards the station to grab a bus to the foot of Mount Pilatus. I ended up having one of my stereotypes about the Swiss ruined…
