Smell the coffee!
Welcome to a blog that covers anything from great coffee shops to travel in strange places to stories about what makes the world so wonderful and weird. And if you like it, check out my books!
Welcome to a blog that covers anything from great coffee shops to travel in strange places to stories about what makes the world so wonderful and weird. And if you like it, check out my books!
““I had a sensational story, but no one wanted it. Which turned this into a story about two hunts, the first being the cruel, devastating kind for animals in Africa, the second being the cruel, frustrating kind for a publisher in America.””
The death of a young family in Stellenbosch wasn’t everything that it seemed to be. Until it was.
It’s hard to concentrate on the magical countryside of the Scottish Highlands when the skies are so gorgeous.
In a country of exquisite coastlines, the south is hardly known. And this being Africa, maybe it will stay that way.
A hard-living group of men scour the ocean bed off the desolate coast of Namibia for diamonds. Some even find them.
In the abandoned mines of West Africa, men dig for the gems that might have been left behind.
Today, the occasional plane makes its way to St. Helena. But not too long ago, it took seven days by ship to reach the far-flung island where Napoleon was exiled.
The longest train ride, and one of the only trains, in West Africa, RAN takes a very market-driven route from Abidjan to Niamey. From fruit to chicken to sheep, you can buy almost anything on board.
A trip to a mystical and forgotten world of believers and crusaders, where two worlds collided with bloody consequences in one of the most beautiful parts of France.
In a corner of Africa, hunters from the Middle East run amok with submachine guns, killing and maiming animals, then spirit away their orphaned infants to keep them as pets. Even worse than this massacre is that no one wants to know about it
On countless islands in the Seychelles where man caused species to be wiped out, a new order is bringing birds and insects and creatures back again.
It took a long time for good coffee to be accepted by New York City, and it’s proud of that.
Mother. Nurse. Gold-digger. Cause célèbre. When Daisy de Melker stood trial in 1932, accused of poisoning her son and two husbands, the public couldn’t get enough of her. Crowds gathered outside court baying for blood, and she waved to them like a celebrity.
A dirty, grimy, graffiti-stained tenement popular with a group of local drug dealers is where the author found a cheap apartment when he first moved to New York City. Then things went terribly wrong.
A wonderfully quirky tale about the people in New York City whose mission is to find treasure … in what other people throw away.
More than thirty murders, nine fugitives, and one man obsessed by the search for justice. In this thrilling and fascinating true account of Frank Bender and his work, The Girl with the Crooked Nose draws readers into the cases that he has solved, the intricacies of his art, the colourful characters he encounters, and the personal cost of his strange obsession.
Ever thought of moving to a new country? Ted Botha and Jenni Baxter did – him to New York, her to Sydney, Australia. Business emails quickly turned to friendship, despite the thousands of miles that divided them, and they soon realised that they were going through the same trials and tribulations unique to expatriates.
A story of travel and self-discovery through Africa, Apartheid in my Rucksack unfolds just as apartheid was ending.
Reminiscent of Water for Elephants and The Life of Pi, The Animal Lover takes you on a journey through past and present you won’t quickly forget.
