Any Excuse to Travel

Stories from travels in

Africa

Essaouira doors

Opened or closed?

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. So said Flora Whittemore, an American woman who lived till 103 and

Sleepy or stormy?

After the hustle that was the souks of Marrakesh, it was a refreshing change to wander about the souks in the medina in Essaouira where

Surf or turf?

I’d be hard pushed to choose between a day by the sea or a day at the races. So any day that I can have

Pop culture or traditional culture?

The Man Who Knew Too Much, Hitchcock’s 1956 thriller, with Doris Day and Jimmy Stewart opens in Marrakesh. Ten years later, in 1966, Our Man in Marrakesh aka Bang!

Berber village high atlas

Day trippin’ in the Atlas Mountains

The High Atlas are something special. Yes, the valleys and the rivers are spectacular and the scenery is jaw-dropping, but it’s the Berber villages that

Street food or restaurants?

I wouldn’t think twice about eating from a market stall in Dublin or Budapest or London or anywhere in Europe, but move me to another

Adamant or rude?

I need to learn how to say no. A firm, authoritative, no. One that brooks no argument. It doesn’t need an exclamation mark. Or any

Men chatting marrakesh

Fear or propriety?

I can sit for hours and watch the world go by, blatantly staring at the teeming masses that flow back and forth as I sit

Lioness in African sun

Light from a big sky

Late afternoon. April. South Africa. The African sun starts to set and this particular part of the world is bathed in a godly light. Cecile

Safari south africa rhino

All eyes on me – Safari in South Africa

Alaska. South Africa. Could two places be more different? And yet, while in South Africa on safari, Alaska kept popping into my head. And it