South Africa is epic in so many ways. To honour of Tourism Month and Heritage Day this month, I asked local and international travel bloggers what they love most about South Africa. Here’s what they said, along with a few interesting facts, you may not have…
Just over a decade ago, Lonely Planet named Qatar one of the most boring places on earth. And truth be told, I wasn’t particularly thrilled at the thought of a 21-hour layover in Doha due to a missed connection because of insufficient lead time on…
When you plan your trip to the mighty Zambezi River and Victoria Falls with Africa Odyssey be sure to do so during the full moon, so you can go in search of elusive moonbows. We clink our G&Ts to the setting sun on a sundowners…
The Kingdom of eSwatini (once known as Swaziland) is Africa’s smallest country at no more than 200 kilometres from north to south and 130 kilometres from east to west. Despite its small size I discovered that it’s a land of adventure and cultural experiences. eSwatini…
Each May Swaziland’s Ezulwini Valley reverberates with song and the thundering sound of thousands of stomping feet and clapping hands, as Bushfire Festival goers dance to Africa’s soulful tunes and most prolific voices. Don’t make the same mistake I did, don’t let it take you 10…
Three hours from London by train and 15 minutes from Newcastle Gateshead lies the North East county of Durham. It’s a portmanteau of the Celtic word “dun”, which means hill fort and the old Norse “holme”, meaning island. This is a land of castles and UNESCO sites, meadows…
Late last year, I spent two days exploring Newcastle Upon Tyne and Gateshead (on northern and southern banks of the Tyne River respectively). If you’re a keen street photographer, both towns are quite picturesque, especially alongside the Quayside, where seven bridges arch over the Tyne…
Travelling to the United Kingdom on the South African rand (and a number of other currencies) can be expensive, but it doesn’t mean you’ll have to eat nothing but two-minute noodles after your return. Many of the best museums and art galleries in the UK…
A post shared by Pani Tobiasza (@panitobiasza) on Apr 15, 2017 at 10:05am PDT How do Poles celebrate Easter? With a number of beautiful religious traditions that also involve heaps of mouth-watering food being shoveled on your plate by well-meaning family members, who really only…
Sugar cane fields, vanilla plantations and a dash of rum sweeten any stay on Mauritius. I had my first real taste of holidaying at a resort, when I visited the west and east coast of this Indian Ocean island. I was very excited, as it’s…
Each weekend Mpumalanga’s highlands welcome visitors, with fresh trout, macademia nuts and whiskey, plus some boozy cake on the side. Dullstroom is what weekends are made of. Like a curled up cat rising from a nap, the morning mist gently lifts from the dams, dances with…
Friends and people I meet on my travels often ask me about my top travel destinations. I still have many more places I’d love to visit, but based on the 34 countries I’ve travelled to so far, some are rather surprised when I mention Bolivia. I…
If you love craft beer, small-town living and spectacular landscapes then you have to join the Clarens Craft Beer Festival in the Free State. This small South African town is famed for its two-day annual beer festival, which happens around the last weekend of February. Besides beer,…
I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t visited one of South Africa’s most beautiful regions — the Midlands Meander in KwaZulu-Natal — until recently. Before I continue I’m posting a few more photographs below so that you can see just how beautiful this region…
I followed in the ox-wagon tracks of the Great Trek through Jock of the Bushveld country along the Panorama Route three times in the last year. I wrote about my highlights for Travel Ideas magazine. Before you head out on a road trip along the…
10 friends. 16 days. 2 300 kilometres (or somewhere in that region) makes for an epic road trip along South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal coast. Last year, nine friends and I, packed ourselves into three cars to road trip across South Africa. We started in Johannesburg and made…