The Travel Essay

When I first went to Penang, I was twelve years old. The images in my mind are fleeting, at best. It was a very hot August when we, the family, arrived on the island. I can remember taking the ferry from Butterworth and watching the waves as the vessel cut across the Straits. On Penang, […]

People have, for many years, been fascinated with Africa. They discovered minerals, gems and all manner of riches in this great continent. Explorers came in waves, many dying of fever and other calamities. Some survived, some went on to become famous and others made it their home. The Scottish explorer, Dr David Livingstone, was one […]

I don’t know when my forefathers came into this land. But it appears that we have been living in the desert for a very long time: we have adapted to the life of the desert and its ways. We are the bushmen of the Kalahari. My cousin Doma and I have been together from the […]

We chanced upon it one morning. When we got to the edge of the river, there was the roaring sound of water cascading down the falls. In the distance we could see the mists rising from the edge of the huge crevice. The sun had just risen in the east and its yellow rays pierced […]

We used to live close to the edge of the desert. When the rains came we were happy. The trees on the edge became green with leaves, the bushes were full and there were puddles of water everywhere. We could play almost anywhere. The dry river bed would overflow and many animals would come out […]

It was the end of the rains when my mother picked me up from the tawny bush where she had hidden us. My brother is a little older I think, by a few minutes. She bundled me gently in her jaws and placed me in front of the bush. I was licked all over and […]

When Cecil Rhodes dreamt of a railway from Cape Town to Cairo, he was ahead of his time. His successors managed to have the railway built in stages up to Northern Rhodesia, the present Zambia. Today, however, one can travel from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam and that, is a major achievement. The connecting […]

If there is a notion that a safari is a trying experience then let that thought be laid to rest. Safaris are now five-star affairs. Tented camps have luxurious beds, proper toilets and hot showers. In some camps, the tented mobile ones, it takes some getting used to. The showers may have to be short […]