From Kasbahs to Camels: Souks, Spices and A Journey Across the Moroccan Desert We’ve just spent five sensory laden days travelling in Morocco. From deep within the cachophany of traders hawking their abundant wares in the Marrakesh Souks to carving a path through vast arid plains, palm-fringed oases, to the ever-changing sand dunes of the … Continue reading Morocco
We have been planning a trip to South Africa for years. Many friends and colleagues have travelled here and waxed lyrical about the country. They’ve painted a feeling of the place, often linked to rugby or wine or food. While here, we talked about why it’s taken us so long to visit. Covid notwithstanding, we … Continue reading South Africa – Conclusion
Our last two days were spent in Plettenberg Bay. We were staying at The Plettenberg, a truly lovely boutique hotel at a headland overlooking the expansive coastline. We have been privileged to stay in a lot of nice places this holiday - the result of a decision to cancel a safari addition to the holiday … Continue reading Plettenberg Bay
We’re really enjoying South Africa. It is a beautiful country. The scenery is stunning. The food is genuinely excellent (and very cheap). The climate is perfect. There is a huge amount to see and do, despite our trip being a chilled meander along the coast. The wine is very good and the people we’ve interacted … Continue reading Oudtshoorn and Wilderness
We set off at 6:30 for the drive to Gansbaai, a port town further along the coast. It was an hour or so’s drive from Hermanus. On arrival, we were really efficiently checked in by Amy, a Marine Biologist, and joined by 28 other folk for our briefing for the cage dive. It was at … Continue reading The Great White Elephant
Wednesday, 6th Cape Town was done. We picked up our hire car the next morning, and despite our next hotel being a long drive east, we headed southwest, making our way towards Boulder’s Beach because… Penguins. Look! Penguins! More Penguins. They’re the best: There were warnings they bite. After Penguins (yes, we saw all of … Continue reading Cape of Good Hope and Hermanus
Our next two days in Cape Town were a whirlwind of sights, food, history and weather. On our second day, we went for a run along the coast, the Atlantic waves crashing over the sea wall as we shook off the travels from the day before. As we returned, the skies darkened and the heavens … Continue reading Cape Town – Days 2 & 3
Like the rest of the world, our 2021 plans were scuppered by Covid, and Boris Johnson. We had booked to travel to South Africa and explore the Garden Route. Travel was banned, and we suffered the tortuous process of trying to get a refund from British Airways. 3 years later, we flipped Covid the bird … Continue reading South Africa: Cape Town
We checked into the Marriot Beach resort in Hurghada, which we’d hoped would be a rather nice interlude between the hectic dusty, harassed and gastric tour of tombs and pharaohs. It turned out to be in the middle of a dusty derelict area on the skirts of Hurghada and not an ideal place for the … Continue reading Hurghada and the Red Sea
The following morning, Shona and I went for a run along the Aswan river side, which was a pretty unpleasant experience - not just the grime, fumes and traffic but for Shona, the stares and [Arabic] comments from the groups of men and teenage boys. We’re both acutely aware that this isn’t our culture, and … Continue reading Luxor
Travels with Sklaroffs 