The White Lady of Brandberg

Post by Willie for Notes from Africa Another fascinating place  in Namibia is the Brandberg Mountain. Situated in the north-western area of the Namib (Damaraland), the Brandberg Massif is a granite intrusion which forms a dome-shaped massif.  It is huge covering approxing 650 km², with its highest point being at 2573 metres (8442 feet) about sea-level. On […]

Spitzkoppe – Between a rock and a hard place

Post by Willie for Notes from Africa Spitzkoppe in Namibia is a spectacular and unusual place.  The Spitzkoppe and Pontok mountains rise dramatically from an otherwise flat semi-desert landscape.  There are many reasons to visit this fascinating set of mountains and the surrounding area. Many years ago when traveling from Windhoek to Swakupmund I saw […]

The Big Cat Whisperer

If you have read Lisa’s quirky post “Take your camera to the bathroom (and other Kalahari safari tips)” you would know that self-drive game viewing can be rewarding and fun.  Especially if you are prepared to put in the time and effort.  A vehicle with high lookout position certainly helps.  Kruger presented some different challenges to the […]

Kenya: Kilifi Countryside

Post by Willie for Notes from Africa On leaving for my first trip to Kenya I got the usual instructions from Lisa to take lots of photographs.  I travelled to the coastal area of Kenya and stayed and worked in and around the town of Kilifi.  I worked there with my good friend Colin, a […]

May the Wors be with you

With twelve public holidays annually, South Africa has one of the highest holiday counts in the world.  Besides a number of cultural and religious public holidays there are also some non-official days of celebration, which are strategically important for the psyche of the nation. Today is Braai Day.  That is braai as in barbecue, a time-honoured activity […]

Fishing with Mandela

Guest post by Willie A tall grey shadow has been cast over South Africa for almost a week now. South Africans have many emotions about the passing of one of the most iconic figures of our time.  When the massive display of grief on the passing of Nelson Mandela becomes a bit overpowering, it is […]

New Year’s Day beach walk

This is a guest post by Willie for Notes from Africa. Full of energy we planned to start the new year with a nice outdoor excursion.  Well, the original plan was to go “kloofing” (swimming/paddling) down through a long mountain river gorge. But too many other people had the same idea and so we (group of […]

Under the sea

A guest post by Willie for Notes from Africa This song immediately came to mind while I was taking the photos. Days later I still cannot get this song out of my head. So you follow the link below at your own peril! The seaweed is always greener In somebody else’s lake You dream about […]

GPS Roulette: “Danger” is my middle name

A guest post by Willie for Notes from Africa GPS devices are amazing tools, but should not be trusted implicitly if used as a travelling aid. A healthy dose of common sense is still required when using this modern marvel, which has become such a big part of everyday life. Somebody I know tells the […]

Hercules, the 100 kg baby

This is a guest post by Willie for Notes from Africa In South Africa rhinos have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. The poaching of rhinos for their horns is as tragic as the shark finning story recently featured on this blog. Totally senseless with no significant benefit to anybody, except […]