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Palatial Lisbon
$ 0.00Because the Portuguese were such a seafaring (and colonising) nation, they came into contact with many different cultures and societies, absorbing and assimilating their tastes and styles. And of course, the conquering Moors from North Africa left a very rich architectural heritage throughout Portugal and Spain. And so … Lisbon has its French-inspired Versailles in the Queluz palace.
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Monumental Lisbon
$ 0.00It’s a bit like a seesaw … some of the most appealing attractions lie at opposite ends of the city, with Lisbon the central pivot. Witness wonderful Belém all the way to the west and the captivating Azulejo (Tile) museum all the way to the east. And yet both these destinations were highlights of our stay in Lisbon. Belém, particularly, snuck into our hearts.
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Street Lisbon
$ 0.00Lisbon is difficult to define. It has grunge, elegance; shabby neighbourhoods, exquisitely sculpted cathedrals; grand plazas and mouldy time-worn squares. According to one of Lisbon’s many legends, the city was built on seven hills (these actually exist and interestingly enough, each one is topped by a church) and it’s often spoken of as “a cidade das sete colinas”.
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Evora Portugal photo essay
$ 0.00What does Obelix from the French comic books have to do with Évora? He's a menhir sculptor, that's what, and just outside the Portuguese town is a megalithic ceremonial site with 95 of these giant stone pillars. As Asterix fans know, Obelix's superhuman strength had him habitually carrying a menhir around on his back. But Old Town Évora is so much more than cromlechs and menhirs…
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Seville photo essay
$ 0.00Sun-drenched and hot ꟷ mid-May it was a healthy 37°C at 5 p.m.! ꟷ Seville’s streets are lined with heat-embracing bougainvillea, jacaranda and oleander. But you can also escape into the city’s immensely narrow, always cobbled, streets with their furtive glimpses into leafy courtyards brimming with blooms. That said, we were always thoroughly lost in Seville, in spite of carrying a map.
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Alhambra photo essay
$ 0.00Full disclosure here. When we first stood at the high point of San Nicolás Plaza to look across at the hill on which the Alhambra is built, I wondered quietly to myself what the fuss was all about. After all, we were staring at Spain's most poeticised historical palace and fortress sprawled in front of the purple-blue Sierra Nevada. Which, incidentally, in May still showed veins of snow.
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Córdoba photo essay
$ 0.00The old Roman-walled town of Córdoba took us completely by surprise. Admittedly we like to arrive in new, unexplored places a little under-researched so that we can get under their skin, without too many preconceived ideas. We prefer to wander and absorb the energy and (try to) act like a local. All the same, we didn’t expect Córdoba to be so charming and historically rich.
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Madrid’s Graffiti
$ 0.00During a four-day stay in Spain’s capital city, what immediately struck us was the proliferation of graffiti (admittedly not in the chi-chi shopping precincts). But this was graffiti elevated to real funky street art. When I delved a little further, it was fascinating to learn about La Movida Madrileña, a spontaneous creative movement that swelled after the death in 1975 of dictator Francisco Franco.
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Impressions of Madrid
$ 0.00Even diehard lovers of the African continent, its wonderful wildness and untamed animal life, need to venture into the refined air and sophistication of Europe so now and again ꟷ and that’s just what Gravel Road Adventures did in May this year. Destination Spain and Portugal. It was a 3,000 km road trip, executed in a wide circle from Madrid
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Okavango – face-off between Delta & Panhandle
$ 0.00Finally it was time for the Lord of the River. The guide tosses a wedge of tilapia into the channel as a lure to a fish eagle, giving photographers the chance to capture this bird’s ever graceful manoeuvres. Getting that prize photo needs some really fast action, though, and a lot of practice. So, the white chest blaze of a fish eagle identified on a tree at the channel edge …
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Cruising the Caprivi
$ 0.00We boarded our floating palace, tracked by envious eyes from Ndhovu Lodge's deck. Soon nothing disturbed our peace but the wash of our wake and nimble wire-tailed swallows darting all about. As we cruised slowly past the shore on our way to our river island for the night, the low-slung sun picked out a slow procession of elephants filing to the river edge.
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Not-so-secret Kenton
$ 0.00At the Boesmansrivier boat slipway on the western banks of the estuary (follow River Street from the little settlement), there is a 3.5 km walk (one way) along a truly exquisite stretch of beach to a rocky headland, frothing turquoise ocean on your left, pristine dune hills to your right. Here there is nothing but footprints.
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Slow Revolution in Britstown
$ 0.00There's an inspiring message emerging from the far-flung forgotten place of Britstown, and it's all about how South Africa can take back its ailing country towns. The remodelling of old rundown properties (that yet show great potential) into appealing coffee shops, restaurants and lodges makes it attractive for travellers, and eventually first-time visitors, to stay awhile.
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Northern Kruger Remoteness
$ 0.00Fat-girthed baobabs and giant canopied nyala trees. Crocs and hippos. A varied and prolific bird life (think waterbirds and raptors, shimmery-plumaged show-dancers and strutting kommandants). And, if you’re lucky, migrating herds of elephant (depending on the rain and the seasons). But, most of all … Wildness and Solitude, the kind where you’re the only 4×4 on the road.
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Mokala, place of sable & roan
$ 0.00Our excitement spiked a notch when, outlined on a bouldered kopje with the nimble stance of a mountain goat, was the masked face and arched horns of a roan antelope. Next, a harem of kudu females with a dinky calf high-tailed it into the thicket, bobbing pom-poms like white warning flashers.
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Sani Pass under ice (and some snow)
$ 0.00On a beautiful day, the benches outside Sani Mountain Lodge have sensational views onto the loopy Sani road, the hills, kloofs and valley far, far below. But today, the wind was needle-piercing cold in spite of muffled-up kids, oblivious to temperature, scraping up the ice
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