As he is wont to do, Josh brought home bacon. He bought it from the local meat shop, owned or at least staffed by Fijian Indians. Without asking for advice, Josh was given some anyway, from the friendly lady who said (conspiratorially?), “It tastes very good in dahl.” Why an Indian lady would volunteer this…
Poisson Cru–Raw Fish
The Polynesian diet is very limited because there is hardly anything that grows here other than fruit. We eat about 1 kilo of raw tuna per week on average. Sometimes we eat even more, like on islands where there were no grocery stores. Most of the time, we prepare raw tuna dishes ourselves in the…
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Antarctica
As a kid growing up in the 80s, I hadn’t associated the Falkland Islands with anything other than the war between the British and the Argentinians. But there is so much more to the Falkland Islands than this conflict. Although the politics provide an integral context to any visit, it is really the scenery, the wildlife, and…
Cape of Good Coffee
Cape Town has almost exclusively “third wave” coffee, which is the barista art as well as the art of micro-roasting. What makes Cape Town different is that all the main roasters also have coffee shops. So each place has its own character, identity, and coffee. The three big ones in Cape Town are Origin Roasters;…
Have Your Cape, and Eat it Too!
Cape Town–all of South Africa, really–is filled with fresh food. You won’t find much in the way of imported produce or processed foods because the country is too far removed from the rest of the world, and too well-endowed with yielding lands to bother messing with what already works. One of the highlights of Cape…
Beyond the Big Five
Leo Oliphant Until just a few months ago, a safari seemed like a dream deferred. It was the thing to do when I turned 60. jackal When we happened upon the inexpensive Emirates flight to South Africa, suddenly a safari seemed immanent–and it was affordable, too. I would soon find out that one does not…
A Kitchen Nightmare in Cape Town
It has taken us weeks to digest a bad experience we had in a restaurant. And I don’t mean the food. It was good. Or the service. It was pretty good too. This is one of those experiences that is so surreal, we still scratch our heads and wonder, “Did that really happen? Surely, someone…
Spring back. Fall ahead.
It’s springtime here in the deep southern hemisphere. Josh was the first to feel it. His clogged nose and watery eyes came and went with the bloom of the acacia trees. I see spring everywhere. People and mannequins donning yellow, green, and Robin’s egg blue. Sandals on and bare feet out. It’s easy to think it’s…
Baboons Like Flowers
At the Cape of Good Hope, we passed by a troop of baboons gorging on flowers. They’re not gentle about it. The road was strewn with mutilated stems and half-eaten buds. Destructive mischievous creatures. this photo was taken with the Sony NEX-F3.
Some Cape Town Observations
Cape Town is gorgeous and could easily beat the likes of Vancouver, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Rio, Miami, and San Francisco for scenery. The array of stunning natural beauty within close range of a vibrant urban core is simply staggering. The people are friendly too. But here are some other observations. 1. There is a noticeable…
Resurrected
Resurrection Thoughts of resurrecting the blog came about first in Transylvania, Romania. Not just because of the opportunity to make resurrection puns in Dracula’s homeland. I had also been quite inspired after spending almost a month in the Ukraine, which charmed my socks off. The beer was great, the people were friendly, the food was…
Grasslands, horses and thunderstorms – the Mongolian Experience in a nutshell
So it was that we pulled into UB, inspired by the unfathomably gorgeous scenery for the three hours of daylight we’d had coming into town, but embittered by that miserable train ride. It was Nadaam, day of the national festival, so we had little time to get going. Breakfast at the guesthouse consisted of bread,…
Love and Barley 