South Africa

There is a bleak stretch of road north of the Maluti mountains in South Africa where a local bus dropped me one chilly evening.  I was lucky to find shelter at the crossroads where a landlady with a lantern showed me to a spare room.  Before the sun rose the next morning, I stood with […]

Across the belt of Africa below the Sahara, on grassland sometimes swept by fires, a searching eye might come to rest on homely mounds of earth dotting the landscape: castle-like dwellings of termites.  Humble though they appear, a wealth of lore and discovery attaches to these modest features. That these mounds and their termite builders […]

It is the season of posies, bonbons and extravagances like breakfast in bed.  Or a child’s endearing drawing.  None of that is to be sniffed at.  Any token of affection offered when the world’s afire is a sign to cling to even if it means a few crumbs in the covers. With customary tulips and […]

During the last gasps of apartheid South Africa the surrounding countries that had taken in refugees and exiles from the townships suffered from car bombs and commando raids by special forces who suspected that ‘runaways were likely up to no good’.  Quiet towns would shake with random explosions.  Or letter bombs would send bloodied and […]