It really is an incredible time to watch sport at the moment – over the past few weeks we have been privileged to be able to watch, among others, Wimbledon, The Open, Tour de France, The Euros, the British and Irish Lions Tour and now, the Olympics. Notwithstanding the amazing sport being played, it is surely going to make Read more

The British and Irish Lions tour has officially got underway. The team is comprised of players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with tours occurring every four years and rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in order. It is no wonder then that it is such a momentous occasion, and a highlight for many players, who may Read more

Birdwatching must be one of the most frustrating activities one can engage in. Not only do birds not sit still for very long, they often almost deliberately hide behind bushes and shrubs, making a clear view of the bird almost impossible. Then when you finally are able to have a clear line of sight, either you are looking straight Read more

Imagine if we had to wake up on a planet that no longer had any rhinos. Will we tell our children that we did nothing as these magnificent creatures were hunted into extinction? What a tragic day that will be! This is exactly the scenario Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco wants to avoid. 

HSH Princess Charlene’s recent Read more

I recently stumbled across an old copy of T.V. Bulpin’s excellent Discovering Southern Africa. Sadly, T.V. passed away in 1999 but I always enjoy reading extracts from his book, which invariably invoke the urge to curl up in an armchair with a cup of coffee, a fire burning in the background, and lose oneself in his voyages of discovery. Read more

If you try to gaze at what lies beyond the hazy edge of our atmosphere, you usually end up completely blinded by the light of our closest star and the sky stays desperately empty and blue. However, as the Earth continues swirling the Sun eventually disappears behind the horizon and for a brief instant, we can contemplate the universe Read more

Giraffes –the name believed to be derived from the Arab word zarafa meaning ‘fast walker’ – have captured the human imagination for millennia. The Roman poet Horace opined that the giraffe’s unique appearance resembled that of a camel with leopard markings, which together with its Arabic name gave rise to the scientific title Giraffa camelopardalis. The earliest human association  Read more

I’ve always found the distant past intriguing. And by distant past, I mean a time before the dinosaurs, and even a time before Africa became a continent, a time where our world would most certainly look like an alien planet providing, we could actually be able to see it. And if that distant past has, well, passed, everything is Read more

Port Elizabeth has recently been renamed Gqeberha. Gqeberha was the isiXhosa name for Walmer Township, one of the first and oldest Port Elizabeth townships. Gqeberha is also the isiXhosa name for the Baakens River which flows through the city. Far be it for me to comment on the merits of this change, but it does make one think of Read more

In a game viewer, you can usually find a fierce competition between spotters: who is going to see the first animal? and if the lion is so far that all the others can’t even see it or if you can spot a horn through thick sickle bushes, it’s even better. You can also include your guests in tracking the Read more