Category Archives: Uncategorized

3:52 p.m., aboard the Blue Train near Geelbek, South Africa I noticed something odd the first time I left Suite 22 to explore the train. When I looked down the hallway, it seemed to go forever.  I realized this is … Continue reading →

My long-anticipated trip on the Blue Train has begun. We pulled out of the Cape Town station at 8:52 a.m., bound for an arrival tomorrow at 12:50 p.m. in Pretoria. I am in Suite 22, a room which precisely matches … Continue reading →

These are two more photos from our tour of the Robben Island prison two days ago, one showing the concertina wire atop the walls and another, taken from the courtyard of F Section, looking out through a doorway to the … Continue reading →

Robben Island turns out to have much more to it than a single famous prison cell.  We found this out yesterday afternoon, when Darlene and I took a ferry carrying about 300 visitors to the island, where we were met … Continue reading →

…the cell is an ideal place to learn to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the process of your own mind and feelings. In judging our progress as individuals we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one’s … Continue reading →

Cape Town is proud of its stunning natural wonder, Table Mountain, and everywhere you look when you take the rotating cable car to the top, you find amazing views — AND requests to help place the site in the final … Continue reading →

An ordinary tour leader would have taken a straight shot on the N2 from St. Lucia Estuary to Durban’s King Shaka International Airport for our two-hour flight last night to Cape Town. But thanks to Gate1, we are in the … Continue reading →

Our river expedition in the St. Lucia Estuary this morning was mainly about hippos.  These cuddly looking fellows kill more people in Africa than does any other animal.  How? They can run 45 kilometers an hour, they can weigh two … Continue reading →

In yesterday’s post about elephants in the Imfolozi Game Reserve, I gave an elephant credit for making impressive dents in the front bumper of our Land Rover.  Darlene this morning, when she read the account, reminded me that it was … Continue reading →

“There’s ellies there and ellies there,” Lee, our guide at the Imfolozi Game Reserve, told us this afternoon, pointing in turn to both sides of the dirt road.  In fact, our visit to the park, once the exclusive hunting ground … Continue reading →