How We *Almost* Got Stranded at the South Africa – Lesotho Border.
We had our documents and visas in order. The plan was foolproof. Or so we thought.
We had our documents and visas in order. The plan was foolproof. Or so we thought.
My 90-day multiple-entry visa for South Africa allowed me to slow travel through Cape Town, the Western Cape and Kruger National Park.
Incredible hikes, dining in the dark, ghetto music, a walking safari, outdoor cinema and more.
These are all the reasons I want to make 2016 the year of Africa for me, and hopefully for you!
Looking for things to do in Durban? Pop-up restaurants, a traditional outdoor church, local theatre and more offbeat Durban adventures! If Cape Town is the pretty face of South Africa, Durban is its hipster soul. The infectious spirit of the locals, the alternative curry culinary experiences and the artistic bent of the city blew me away. I fell in love the moment I saw its long white coastline, caressed by the deep blue Indian Ocean. It’s Zulu name eThekwini encapsulates this perfect confluence of water and earth. Here are some quirky ways to experience offbeat Durban: Delve into the local art scene My friend Andrea Rees (who runs The Heart of a Woman project near Cape Town) stumbled on a tweet about Hayani while we were in Durban. We landed at the local Playhouse Theatre that night, the only outsiders to catch a phenomenal two-man play. It traced the stories of two young boys and how their lives have changed over the last two decades in South Africa. Even though part of it was in the native Xhosa language, the …
On a lazy Sunday afternoon, the whiff of gently spiced curries floats through the streets of Mamelodi Township. Men from the township chat jovially under a wooden shelter, drinking beer, taking turns to stir the large metal pots on the open fire. Cow heads, they tell me as I look curiously, reminded of open-air communal cooking in India, though you seldom find men cooking here. From a narrow street ahead, reggae music pours out, calling me towards it, towards women chilling in the outdoors over beer and gossip, dancing, playing pool! This is no party, just their only day off work. And so what if most of them are domestic workers with meagre wages, they sure know how to have a good time. I awkwardly smile at first, wondering if I am intruding. But the awkwardness melts away quickly in their jokes, and turns to hugs when they hear I’m from India. Take a picture of us, they urge me, so you can show your people how we live here; I oblige, for we can sure learn a thing or two …
Even before I stepped out of the airport, a local, seeing my sleep-deprived self looking for an ATM, offered to buy me coffee! Dramatic mountains shrouded in mist greeted me as we drove into the Rainbow nation.