Sirente is a long mountain that rises from the village of Rovere on the Altipiano of Abruzzo and at its peak reaches up to 2200 meters above sea level. The plateau of the Altipiano sits at between 1350 and 1450 meters above sea level. Rovere sits on the western and southern slopes of a small…
My Travels: Summer in the Appenines
Yesterday I arrived in Roca di Mezzo, on the Altipiano of Abruzzo, a large plateau home to five quaint mountain villages set at 1350 metres above sea level. Rocca di Mezzo lies between the capital city of the region, L’Aquila, which was recently devastated by an earthquake and Avezzano, a medieval university city to the…
My Travels: Setting up a Tripod in Rome
My evening in Rome started out on Piazza Bologna at a Kosher Sushi Bar called Duruma. It was hot and sticky and a very refreshing Mojito or two prepared me for an evening of photography in Travestere. We drove by car to Piazza Trilussa and got stuck in Roman traffic at 8:30 in the evening!…
On Trail: Playing in the Bush
The second time I was in the Timbavati I was very lucky. The Timbavati River was flowing clear in parts, and submerged in other sections. It was April, with warm days and cool nights. Unlike my first trail which was with fellow school friends, this was a mixed group with adults. I was in my…
On Trail: Chinese,Japanese, Oh! Taiwanese
In the old days under the Apartheid government South Africa had few state friends. Indeed, the only three were Paraguay, Israel and Taiwan. There was a program to teach their diplomats English by inclusion, so they lived in Johannesburg for 3 months and attended adult English classes at WITS. Somehow someone (and I think it…
On Trail: Teutonic Design
I remember one trail with German, Swiss and Austrian exchange students: they were all young adults at university who were brought out by The South Africa Foundation to spend three months in our country and see what makes us tick. In the eighties the only ticking was that of the time bomb waiting to destroy…
Conversations about Work and Corners
The Greeks use the word work to mean labour as well as to mean trying to pull a fast one. They say the only work left in Greece is the work where you pull a fast one on your neighbour. Sitting in the lounge at Oliver Tambo Airport after an intercontinental flight is far removed…
Conversations: Five Things My Father Taught Me
My father did not actively teach, but reinforced ideas. This is what I learnt from him: Have faith. Act now. Be punctual. Be prepared. Have compassion. For all the trials and tribulations he faced, and he faced as much as any of us and sometimes more, he kept his faith. It was a complex religion…
Conversations with Mr Stander
I found a letter in the pile of personal documents my mother gave me. It was posted on 24 February 1958 from Warmbaths, then part of the Transvaal. The single small stamp looks like the precursor of a portrait of the stylised zebra that Investec has as its emblem. The envelope is addressed simply to:…
The Lost Immigrants 6 September 2002
Edinburgh's late summer was beautiful. The festival was over and a lazy peace enveloped the city. It was warm and the people were warm. The crowd of orthopaedic surgeons from South Africa were great fun albeit that a large part of the fun involved trying as many pubs as possible. This all culminated with the…
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