An unabashed tourist and her family explore the world one holiday at a time.
Seasick and swaying slightly from the rough crossing, we were hustled onto a bus the moment we set foot at the docks of the infamous Robben Island, with hardly any time to look at the series of placards explaining the former prison island’s history. Apparently we weren’t going to get a chance to explore by ourselves. Was this intentionally so...
I have never seen water quite as blue as those at Comino Island in Malta. The Blue Lagoon might not be very creatively named, but it definitely is accurate. This is the kind of water to which all of the clichés apply: azure, crystal-clear, mind-blowingly beautiful, worthy of a wish-you-were-here postcard. Gareth and I arrived very early in the morning, so we...
The Afrikaans Language Monument just outside of Paarl in the Western Cape is impressive. It was designed with the intention of showing how fast Afrikaans, one of the world’s youngest languages, grew through the shape of a rapidly ascending curve. That’s the intention. The reality is, it’s an embarrassingly large phallic symbol erected by a patriarchal society to boast about...
Whenever he gets the chance, Gareth drags me off to see cars on display. We visited the Ferrari museum while in Italy, which I found extremely boring (but who am I to come between a man and his lifelong obsession?). So with good grace I relented yet again and let him take me to the Franschhoek Motor Museum. After all,...
My forefathers, the brothers Jean and Gabriel le Roux, arrived in the Cape of Good Hope in 1688. As Huguenots, a protestant denomination inspired by Calvinism, they were persecuted by their Catholic countrymen and finally fled France for the promise of religious freedom in the colonies. The brothers settled on a farm in the Paarl area of what is today...
A bee zooms past us, eagerly on its way to pollinate the rows of bushes in the field of green and purple that stretches out before us. The aroma of lavender permeates the air. A small pond glimmers in the late afternoon sun and tall trees lead our eyes upwards towards the mountains. Somewhere out of sight a horse neighs,...
The day after we arrived in St Helena Bay dawned brightly, wind-still and with a clear blue sky. We jumped into our rental car and set out to explore the surrounding coastline of South Africa’s West Coast Peninsula. Our first port of call was Paternoster, one of the oldest fishing villages on the west coast and a lovely little tourist...
There is just something magical about an ocean view. It’s as if all your worries and stress just fade away the moment you sit down and watch the waves lapping on the shore. I don’t know how people who live by the seaside get anything done. I would just stare out my window all day long. On last year’s trip...
“Look at all those cars parked by there? Must be something going on.” Gareth points out the window as we drive through the streets of Stellenbosch in our rental car. “Could it be the cheese and wine festival?” my mother asks from the back seat. I turn off the main road and park the car on the dusty sidewalk. A...
When two people are travelling together, there are bound to be some things that the one didn’t enjoy quite as much as the other one. I think it’s a good idea to reflect on the trip afterwards, to learn from possible mistakes and to better plan for the next one. So… the verdict is out on our Ciao Italy 2014 trip:...