A throaty tenor danced across the inky night, joined moments later by a chorus of lighter voices. The empty footpath widened as I approached the Kartlis Deda statue. The disembodied voices echoed across the cool night. Lit in soft green, Mother Georgia towered above me. The nearby voices lifted in perfect harmony, swelling as the ethereal melody penetrated …
Maybe it was the wine. Or perhaps it was the latticed balconies. The unfettered hospitality played a part. And the idyllic scenery was persuasive. For the life of me, I can’t pin down precisely what made Tbilisi, Georgia so charming. Since leaving Georgia, I’ve taken on the mantle of fangirl for the Republic of Georgia. …
Seven years ago, I boarded a flight that forever changed the direction of my life. The flight took me from Los Angeles, my home for the previous two years, to Sydney, Australia. Sydney was the first stop on a largely unplanned year of traveling around the world. The route would take me home by way of Asia …
Arriving in Tanzania started on a shaky note. I hadn’t realized someone robbed me of my cash my last day in Cape Town until I stood at the border between Kenya and Tanzania. I gutted my bag and found nothing. I sat miffed among my scattered possessions, wondering how my cash had vanished. The very cash that was meant …
For seven months, the gaping absence of Africa stories on my blog has nagged me. During this time, some of you wrote me with concern. Thank you, all is well. I needed time to sort out personal things post-Africa. As this new year takes shape, I am jumping (maybe limping) back into writing. And for starters, I thought …
I stare owl-eyed into the waiting dala dala as 27 faces stared back. The minivan—for though it has extra rows of seats compared to the soccer-mom-mobiles of the U.S., it’s still just a minivan—is bursting full and a chorus of mzungu echoes through the van as a flurry of shifting takes place. An older Tanzanian woman, …
The sky is lit with fiery fingers of color, the dense humidity and the clouds pulling the saffron flames across the sky. Zanzibar does not disappoint. I arrived last week in the wake of my safari, I needed a base for two weeks to work on a few new assignments and all signs (and recs …
I attacked Cape Town with fervor this past week, and ticked the checklist of must sees: flora and fauna at Kirstenbosch gardens—check, Houts Bay harbor—check, Table Mountain—oh yes, check. Add to that much wandering the streets and chatting and the only thing left for this week is Robben Island and a township tour. As such, …