The former capital of Champagne, whose famous fairs have brought prosperity for a long time, Troyes is a city of art, with numerous churches, museums, old mansions and houses.

Troyes has been the French hosiery capital since the 16th century, and also of the andouillette (sausage made of chitterlings). Troyes Gare means: Train station. Read the rest »

It was the second last day today, but in order to start, we needed to repair the damage from the previous day.

This consisted of a broken halfshaft in the front left and the bolts that had come loose in the crown wheel.

The rear diff housing was so damaged due to these problems that after disassembly the bearings could not be adjusted. Read the rest »

It was the fall of 1987 when we drove over Moki Dugway to access the Valley of the Gods road. We didn’t know that Moki was not suitable for an RV or that it grew narrower as it went. On that trip, we learned not to follow all the wheel tracks we saw. 

We chugged southbound on SR 261 in our old ’78 Titan and faced Moki Dugway without hesitation. Our first tremors came during the set of switchbacks, but gravel roads without rails and a 1,000-foot sheer drop-off shook us up more. Halfway to the bottom, we came face to face with another motor home whose occupants were equally as ignorant – but hey, they were on the inside track. All they had to do was watch us go over the edge and report a fatality. Read the rest »

Since its official opening in April 2009, Bushbabies Monkey Sanctuary, located on the northern slopes of the Magaliesberg in Hartbeespoort, has widened its spectrum of primates to over 70 free-released specimens.

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Whether globe trotting on a well earned break, or simply attending an important meeting it is safe to say that there are many ways to kill a cat or should the adage be adapted to read ‘Many roads to Rome?

Despite the limitations brought about by blindness there are many myths.  One of these is that blind people always travel on the arm of someone.  This is in some situations certainly the case.  However, through completing a course in mobility, that is the use of a long cane, or a guide-dog, travelling independently can be a most liberating experience for people who are blind.   Read the rest »

Alive! The word pops into my head as we enter Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo Airport.

Ironic really, isn’t it, for a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world? Yet I feel it. Sense it. Am reminded of a friend who says he comes alive every time he returns – feels boring, bland and disconnected for weeks in his new country, Australia every time he goes back.

“An electricity in the air” is how another friend describes it. People seem to laugh more, live more. Read the rest »

The Kawaza School Fund is a private fund started by Robin Pope Safaris in 1988 to assist in improvements at Kawaza Basic School, one of the local schools in the Nsefu Chiefdom. They sent us this article in the beginning of January 2008.

Huge improvements have been made at Kawaza since this time and the school is almost unrecognizable from the first photos that were taken. Over the past 5 years other schools have been added to the list of schools that Kawaza School Fund assists. Read the rest »