Updated January 2018 It’s the best time of year along South African shores: whale watching season! I observed more whales than I could count along the 70km coastline at De Hoop Nature Reserve, in the Western Cape. This UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site is also…
It was only after I returned to South Africa in early 2012 – after living abroad and travelling for two years – that I truly began to explore Johannesburg as a tourist would. And that’s when my love affair with this city began. Here are 11 things…
This year I was hoping to participate in the fifth Put Foot Rally, perhaps I’ll go next year. My cousin, Pawel Motylski, and his team, The Polar Bear Express, won ‘Best Crew 2014’ and they told me all about their adventures. As seen in the…
Inner-city Johannesburg is an open-air gallery and international street-art destination – and it’s right here in our backyard. Graffiti writers work by the light of streetlamps and conceal their identities because of strict by-laws that govern vandalism to private and public property. Yet the walls…
I recently spent a few days in Durban – named the most underrated South African city by CNN in 2014, which saw numerous publications and news agencies follow suit. And in case you didn’t know, it’s also been rated as the South African city with the…
Welcome to the new home of my blog Eager Journeys. That’s right it’s a pun on my name Iga, how could you not love it? ;) Now that it’s finally launched I want to celebrate, besides it’s my blog so I can do whatever I want,…
There are few reasons why anyone would agree to wake hours before the sun. A sunrise hot air balloon flight over the Magalies River Valley in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, well, that’s reason enough. Silence. This is the place of morning calm,…
These black and white, long-exposure captures of the Johannesburg skyline paint it in a different colour, to reveal the relaxed atmosphere that enveloped the cityscape at twilight on New Year’s Eve. Few cars were seen navigating the street grid that stretches below Randlords. One of…
Three thousand artworks hung pegged to twine as hundreds weaved between them, like a needle sewing thread. They stopped. They stared. They smiled. The historic electric workshop in Newtown – which houses the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre – was transformed into a walk-though art gallery for the “Night of…
It’s known as the ‘Supermoon’ to us non-astronomy types, but to those who study the night sky and beyond — as they peer into the past — it’s the Perigee moon. ‘Tis the largest full moon of the year, due to its proximity to the…
There aren’t many more satisfying ways I can think of than to spend a Sunday afternoon on the rooftop of the City of Gold. Randlords, on the 22nd floor of South Point Towers in Braamfontein, offers splendid panoramic views of the Johannesburg skyline. The bustle below…
The end of one day merely ushers in the beginning of another Some find hope in the end; some find hope in the beginning And so one never knows whether it’s the sunrise or the sunset that is more beautiful And perhaps there is no…
Darkness is sent scuttling by his imminent presence. He calls life into existence through his majestic course across the heavens. The sunflower awakens for his ritual of worship. After twilight he bows his head, awaiting dawn.
To celebrate the Lunar New Year and the start of the year of the dragon, I visited the Nan Hua Buddhist temple in Bronkhorstspruit, which is approximately 100km from Sandton. The stalls which attracted so many hungry customers really did give me the impression that I…
Fracking: You’re either for it or against it! There seem to be no gray zones when it comes to hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. I was in the Karoo, a semi-desert region of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa, at the end of…
The centre piece of Graaff-Reinet is its national monument: the Dutch Reformed church. It greets visitors at the end of the main street in this small Karoo town, which is aptly named Church Street. And why would it be called anything else? The church is…
