A few months ago, the New York Times placed Cape Town at the top of its list of 52 places to visit in 2014. There's no denying it. This is an amazing place. It's about twice as expensive as anywhere else in South Africa, but still quite affordable. I love the sea-faring history of this city, first established by the Dutch East India Company as a victualing station for ships bound round the Cape of Good Hope for India and beyond. Nelson Mandela made his first...

It's early fall here in the Cape Winelands and that means harvest time. The endless straight rows of vines are heavy with bunches of ripe, purple fruit peeking out from their leaves. The hills are teaming with workers busy moving the grapes from vine to cellar where the annual production cycle is beginning. We are spending two nights in Franschhoek in the heart of South African wine country. "French Corner," as the translation goes, was settled by Huguenots ...

I haven't been playing close attention to my state of mind since we pulled out of town, and our lives, exactly seven months ago today. But I have a general idea what it's been. I recon about a third of the time I'm feeling exactly the same as I would at home: preoccupied with the many things that need to get done in the run of a day; looking forward to a fun or exciting event in the not too distant future; mildly worried about things over which I have little o...

We are currently on an overnight train from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth on the southeast coast of Africa. We decided to splurge a little and book premiere class which we'd read on "The Man in Seat 61" was outstanding value for the price. The price is not at all bad. About $150 per person which includes two lovely cabins, meals and our transport across the country. Park Station is in one of the rougher parts of downtown Jo'burg so we hired a driver from our ...

The Southern Cross has changed since we were last south of the equator two and a half months ago. It is slightly more upright and higher in the night sky. It's good to see it again. This is my fourth visit to the southern hemisphere and seeing it is like meeting an old friend after a long absence. We arrived in Johannesburg a week and a half ago after a long but comfortable flight from Doha. After retrieving our rental car, we went back into the airport for ...