Ok, so hands up – who amongst you knew (or had even heard of) the Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs? For us as school kids, much as the Incas hogged the limelight in South America, so did the Aztecs in Mesoamerica and these other civilisations didn’t get a mention. So it was interesting to discover more about their culture and visit […]
Whilst the Incas might grab the archaeological headlines in South America, it seems rather sad that the people known only as the “Upper Magdalena Culture” (after the river area they inhabited ) fail to attract the same celebrity – although their sculptural work is arguably superior. San Agustín and its surrounding area seems to have been a giant necropolis, with […]
I do love a good ruin and so I wasn’t disappointed with Peru’s Sacred Valley! Although the Inca empire is estimated to have lasted for less than 150 years (before it was rudely interrupted by the Spanish Conquistadors quest for power and gold), they managed to accomplish a great deal of infrastructure and construction in that time. We bought a […]
Sometimes our posts make it look like our lives are exciting and extraordinary, but it isn’t always sunshine and roses, so I thought I would bring it all down to earth a bit.. Today was not a good day, mechanically-speaking! We had overnighted in a typical “panoramic-view” type of spot, with no-one around – just us and the stars. But, […]
“Why do you want to go to Rio?” That was the reaction from fellow travellers and Brazilians alike, when we told them of our plan to visit the Big City. It’s always a little stressful (understatement!) to enter a large town and to drive into a big city scores 100 on the stressometer. There are overpasses, underpasses, tunnels, low cables, […]
Perhaps not the prettiest of waterfalls, but certainly one of the most powerful we have seen, Augrabies Falls was almost at full flow when we visited. Eastern South Africa had experienced very high rainfall (unusually high, locals said) during February and a number of sluice gates on the Orange River had been opened to try to prevent flooding in the […]
After the excitement of the new washing machine and a quick detour back to Cape Town (so that we could join the friendly Fish Hoek Scottish Dancing group for a class), we continued our journey north up the West Coast. The village of Paternoster has a laid-back feeling to it and it was nice to see pretty white-painted bungalows, rather […]
“But how are we going to wash our sheets and towels?!” – That was Francine’s first reaction when Dave suggested a life of living in a truck. “Oh, we’ll find somewhere. There are always laundries around, most of the campsites have washing machines and, if they don’t, you can always find someone willing to do your washing for you for […]
Small, but perfectly formed, the Kingdom of eSwatini is bordered by Mozambique to the East and South Africa to the North, South and West. It may not be a destination that immediately springs to mind for tourism, nevertheless it has a number of attractions, including the charming Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary. We were lucky to meet fellow traveller, Ellen, again, as […]
Sometimes we are intent on going to a place that’s off the beaten track and/or difficult to get to and the reward at the end is not really worth the effort taken (“a long walk down a windy beach to a café that is closed”, as comedian Bill Bailey once said). Francine had heard about Adam’s Calendar, a stone circle […]