Land of the Zulus

Land of the Zulus

THANDA SAFARI IN KWAZULU NATAL I recently stumbled across an old copy of T.V. Bulpin’s excellent Discovering Southern Africa. Sadly, T.V. passed away in 1999 but I always enjoy reading extracts from his book, which invariably invoke the urge to curl up in an...
A glimpse of the universe

A glimpse of the universe

If you try to gaze at what lies beyond the hazy edge of our atmosphere, you usually end up completely blinded by the light of our closest star and the sky stays desperately empty and blue. However, as the Earth continues swirling the Sun eventually disappears behind...
Standing Tall

Standing Tall

Giraffes –the name believed to be derived from the Arab word zarafa meaning ‘fast walker’ – have captured the human imagination for millennia. The Roman poet Horace opined that the giraffe’s unique appearance resembled that of a camel with leopard markings, which...
The land before Thanda

The land before Thanda

I’ve always found the distant past intriguing. And by distant past, I mean a time before the dinosaurs, and even a time before Africa became a continent, a time where our world would most certainly look like an alien planet providing, we could actually be able to see...
What’s in a name?

What’s in a name?

Port Elizabeth has recently been renamed Gqeberha. Gqeberha was the isiXhosa name for Walmer Township, one of the first and oldest Port Elizabeth townships. Gqeberha is also the isiXhosa name for the Baakens River which flows through the city. Far be it for...