One of my guy friends once told me that he never goes on vacation with any of the women he dates because he knows traveling together would ruin his relationship. After traveling with my relatives on many occasions, I was close to adopting my friend’s attitude, just to preserve the ties of family. But my trips with friends had gone well enough. So when my friend, Sandra, announced that she...

It was Sandra’s suggestion that we donate supplies to a school in South Africa – preferably one that hadn’t benefited from the largesse of some other donor – and Judith and I agreed, gladly. We bought pens, pencils, notebooks, erasers, sharpeners, pencil cases and T-shirts – enough to be given to the kids who needed them the most. The principal had sent letters to the parents of 36 students inviting...

First, food service disappeared. Then, a charge for pillows and baggage appeared. And one for window and aisle seats and those with extra legroom. Now some airlines are charging a fee for seat selection. Will a restroom fee be next? While travelling in South Africa, on each of our South African Airways flights – Johannesburg to Victoria Falls to Cape Town to Durban to Johannesburg – meals were served. On...

About an hour after we left Durban‘s King Shaka Airport, we were at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Though only a short distance away, it felt like a different world. As we exited, we noticed Stefan looking anxiously towards the arrivals gate then at his cell phone, as if trying to decide whether to make a call. We shouted his name and he turned and smiled widely. It was...

Our last morning in Durban began with us watching the sun as it rose over the Indian Ocean. And watching as the area known as the Golden Mile, Durban‘s popular stretch of beach came to life with vendors, tourists, swimmers, people out for their morning walk and workers cleaning up the beach. One of the things we wanted to do was dip our toes in the ocean. The sand was...

Living in the U.S., we’ve become accustomed to a certain standard of living and hygiene and assume, unwittingly, that these same standards are more or less universal. I was reminded of this while traveling through South Africa. We couldn’t get used to bathtubs and basins in older establishments that were equipped with separate taps for hot and cold water – but no mixer. Obviously, the smart thing to have done...

It wasn’t until I was sitting in the dining room of the Beach Hotel on the morning of our last day in Durban that I finally realized what I’d been missing during the two weeks we traveled around South Africa. At a table close to ours, a group of nattily attired women in dresses made from African fabric, sat engaged in lively conversation. In this room of business people, young professionals and...

I’m still not sure what it is about Durban – I can’t quite put my finger on it exactly. But whatever it is, it creeps under your skin, sneaks up to your chest, grabs hold of your heart and just doesn’t let go. Could it be the sunrise? Alison at Compassline Africa had booked us into the Beach Hotel and the room we had gave us front row seats to the...

When we began planning the Durban leg of our trip, we knew nothing about the rock paintings at Giant’s Castle but once we did, they quickly became a must-see. Created approximately 5,000 years ago by the first known inhabitants of South Africa, the Bushman or San people, and most of it located in the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, they are the largest group of rock paintings to be found south of the...

Exactly a month – 31 days – ago, I responded to the challenge to post everyday for 365 days. I did it on a lark. This blog was registered back in 2007 and though I write (almost) everyday for work, I hadn’t been able to muster up the energy or enthusiasm to post even once a week. That is, until I saw the challenge. It said to me: Dare to...