Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
March 15th, 2010 by Amanda
Sihle Khumalo delighted his audience with his dry sense of humour at the launch of his second travelogue, Heart of Africa, at the Melrose Arch Exclusive Books last week. The event doubled as The Citizen newspaper’s first Citivibe book club do of the year, and CitiVibe editor Bruce Dennill was on hand to welcome guests and introduce the author.
Khumalo took centre stage as he quietly shared the joys of travelling in Africa – particularly in Uganda and Rwanda. Saying he grew up wanting to “have each leg in a different hemisphere”, he was thrilled to find an actual white line demarcating the equator in Uganda where he could do exactly that. Khumalo shared the story of trying to travel by ferry from Mpulungu in Zambia to Kigoma in Tanzania. The ferry’s day of departure kept changing, partly courtesy of it being unexpectedly hired by the UN to move refugees. First it was leaving on a Friday, maybe Saturday, and then Monday – possibly. Noting that the best way to travel in Africa is without planning or expectation, he laughingly told how he diligently went to the authorities to report that his visa would run out while he waited for the elusive ferry. The immigration officials were unruffled about it and told him to return to them once it had expired. Khumalo took it all in stride and all was resolved on the Monday. The ferry arrived on Tuesday.
Khumalo also related the dubious joys of accommodation in Africa – including a room with low walls allowing for some sharing of his neighbours’ more intimate moments. Also, a stay above a night club where Lucky Dube’s Remember Me was played again and again – welcome at first but perhaps a little too much at two in the morning.
One of the highlights of this trip around Central Africa was a night in a pub perched 30 metres above the river Nile with a thousand stars in the sky above him. He remembered thinking, “Wow! No amount of money can buy this!”. Another highlight was his third bungee jump in Jinja, Uganda (also above the Nile) with bare feet feeling “the breeze through my toes”.
One of the saddest moments of his trip was visiting the Kigali Memorial Centre in Rwanda. He realised that the Rwandan genocide could have been prevented and that the response could have been “far more swift”. However, he found the country itself beautiful and definitely recommends that other travellers put Rwanda on their itinerary. He said, “It truly is the land of a thousand hills”.
Guests were treated to a Q&A session: asking about his travel budget ($60 a day should do it); paying bribes in Africa (most of the time he didn’t have to pay officials); the idea of a “United States of Africa” (maybe in the long term but definitely not now); women in Africa (beautiful!); and whether he felt conspicuous while travelling (“No, after all I am a brother!”).
Saying his journey through the heart of Africa was not about getting to destinations but about exploring, he told how a security guard he met said that he was not in South Africa, that he was in the “real Africa” now.
Enthusiastic fans can probably look forward to a third book in Khumalo’s Africa series, as the author plans to travel to the continent’s northwest sometime in the near future – time, and his wife, permitting of course!
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Cats: Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel,
Zambia Tags: Book Launch,
Bruce Dennill,
Citivibe,
Heart of Africa,
Non-fiction,
Rwanda,
Sihle Khumalo,
South Africa,
The Citizen,
Travel,
Uganda,
Umuzi,
Zambia
March 8th, 2010 by Amanda
Umuzi and The Citizen’s Citivibe book club are pleased to invite you to the launch of Sihle Khumalo’s latest romp through our continent, Heart of Africa.
In Heart of Africa, the author who gave us Dark Continent my Black Arse once again travels into Africa by public transport, and this time to its continental core: the Great Lakes region. Ever the wandering stooge, he recounts with his signature wit and charm the sometimes impossible travails of getting from one point to another – even if the two are not remote from each other at all! A much matured storyteller emerges in these pages.
We hope to see you there!
Event Details
- Date: Thursday, 11 March 2010
- Time: 6:00 PM for 6:30 PM
- Venue: Exclusive Books, Melrose Arch, Shop No HL19
Melrose Arch Piazza
Melrose Arch Blvd
Johannesburg | Map - RSVP: melrosearch@exclusivebooks.co.za, 011 684 1260
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Cats: Events,
Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel Tags: Citivibe,
Citivibe Book Club,
Dark Continent My Black Arse,
Events,
Exclusive Books,
Heart of Africa,
Melrose Arch,
Non-fiction,
Sihle Khumalo,
South Africa,
Travel,
Umuzi
February 26th, 2010 by Amanda
The accidental tourist, Chris Harvie, has been at it again. The author of Do NOT Take this Road to El-Karama had the good fortune to attend a rather raucous wedding in a small Karoo town recently:
'Whoop!” exclaimed the umfundisi, beaming mischievously – glinting eyes and shining teeth in a glowing round face.
“Umtshato!” yelled the congregation, also beaming, in response. “Wedding!”
And this was not the first time. The good priest brought it on every time he thought he was losing his audience – which was quite often – and it was very effective.
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Cats: Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel Tags: Chris Harvie,
Do NOT Take This Road to El-Karama,
Karoo,
Kruger National Park,
Nile River,
Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Sunday Times,
Travel,
Uganda,
Umuzi,
Wedding
January 25th, 2010 by Jani
Intrepid traveler Sihle Khumalo has been all over Africa (you can read about his meanderings in Heart of Africa and Dark Continent My Black Arse) and can say with some confidence that he’s well-acquainted with the continent’s many different transport systems. Except, that is, for those of his native country – South Africa.
Always eager to experience things for himself Khumalo recently undertook a journey from Soweto to Sandton by way of Johannesburg’s newly-minted Bus Rapid Transit network, ReaVaya. How did BRT fare? Here’s Khumalo’s on his maiden journey:
Having travelled by public transport in more than 10 other African countries, it was only natural that I explore my own backyard using taxis and the newly launched Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) System – better known as ReaVaya. Amongst other things I wanted to see how our public transport system compares with the rest of Mama Africa.
My plan was pretty straightforward: take ReaVaya from Soweto to the centre of Johannesburg and then a taxi to Sandton. On a Friday afternoon, a day before my trip, I decided to walk from my office – which is in downtown Johannesburg – to buy myself a ReaVaya ticket.
In Gandhi Square, at the Metrobus ticket kiosk, I was told by a gum-chewing lady that she only sold tickets for Metrobus and not ReaVaya.
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Image courtesy New Mobility Agenda
Cats: Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel Tags: BRT,
Bus Rapid Transit,
Dark Continent My Black Arse,
Heart of Africa,
Johannesburg,
New Mobility Agenda,
Non-fiction,
ReaVaya,
Sihle Khumalo,
South Africa,
Transport,
Travel,
Umuzi
January 13th, 2010 by Amanda
Sihle Khumalo has done something many dream of but few have the heart to do – he’s traveled right through Africa.
He discusses his trips and the surprising discoveries he made in Dark Continent My Black Arse and his latest – Heart of Africa. Though there may be many reasons for not undertaking such a trip, the construction of a key section of the Cape-to-Cairo highway means fewer excuses.
An Egyptian and a Sudanese company signed an agreement on Tuesday to build a key section of the Cape-to-Cairo highway, an Egyptian official said.The road has been a dream since the late 19th century, when British officials planned a road to connect their colonies in Africa. Under the agreement, a 400-km (250-mile) stretch of highway will be built between Aswan in Egypt and Dongola in Sudan at a cost of $500 million, Osama Saleh, chairman of the General Authority for Investment, told reporters.
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November 18th, 2009 by Amanda
No stranger to traveling or travel writing Chris Harvie, author of Do Not Take this Road to El-Karama recently undertook a journey to Sirheni camp in the Kruger National Park:
Not the stressed-out Venus, the wet bed or the 45°C heat could drown out our serenity. ‘Welcome to Sire-hee-nee Bashvelt Camp, Kroojah” squawked Australian Kelly from the Garmin as we entered the camp.
Fed up with the German bloke aggressively instructing us to stay on the route and tired of even the seductive French tones of Stéphanie, we had set the contraption to Australian English. You should hear Kelly trying to say Thohoyandou.
We’d run the gauntlet of Giyani’s cops and cows, both hazards lurking in the shade of occasional thorn-bushes and randomly rushing unexpectedly into the road. We’d negotiated potholes through lovely Venda villages and overtaken numerous Mozambican bakkies headed for the border at Pafuri, laden with plastic chairs and plywood cupboards.
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Cats: Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel Tags: Chris Harvie,
Do NOT Take This Road to El-Karama,
KNP,
Kruger National Park,
Nile River,
Non-fiction,
Pafuri,
Sirheni,
South Africa,
Sunday Times,
Travel,
Uganda,
Umuzi
November 4th, 2009 by Emily
Shile Khumalo, as we know, is an adventurous man. He documented his solo, backpacking journey from Cape Town divers parts Africa in the beststelling Dark Continent, My Black Arse, which now has a sequel in Heart of Africa.
In this podcast on his first book, Khumalo makes the salient point that many South Africans feel separated from the rest of the continent. His journey was undertaken firstly to connect with other Africans, but also to explore the continent on his own imaginative terms, as opposed to those dictated by the mainstream media.
Listen:
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Cats: Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel Tags: Africa,
Dark Continent My Black Arse,
Non-fiction,
Podcast,
Sihle Khumalo,
South Africa,
Travel,
Umuzi,
Vox Pop Africa
October 28th, 2009 by Emily
For those who have always wanted to travel Africa, Sihle Khumalo’s Heart of Africa is a must read – as is his first book, Dark Continent, My Black Arse. For those who stubbornly cling to the overwhelmingly negative, pre-conceived notions about the continent that obtain in this world, it might be a good idea to pick the book up as well. No? This interview between Richard Stupart and the author will convince you otherwise! Happy reading…
This time it’s a super treat. On-theme, but not about either me, packing or visas for a change. Sihle Khumalo, who was kind enough to phone me the other week, was even kind enough to do a mini-interview on questions Cape to Cairo related. For those who don’t remember, Sihle Khumalo is the author of Dark Continent, my Black Arse – the book that initially inspired the idea, now manifested, of travelling Cape to Cairo on public transport. He was also the person that I most dearly wanted to ask questions about his journey, since much of my intended route will go along a similar path. So, without further ado, I give you an interview with Sihle:
Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
I was born in Nqutu, a small rural town in KZN. Completed my matric at a boarding school in Pietermaritzburg before furthering my education at Natal Technikon. I worked for Transnet for more almsot 11 years before joining the Anglo American’s Exploration Division. I am 34 years old (born in June 1975) and i am married with two kids aged 5 years and 4 months.
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Cats: Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel Tags: Dark Continent My Black Arse,
Heart of Africa,
Interview,
Non-fiction,
Richard Stupart,
Sihle Khumalo,
South Africa,
Travel,
Umuzi
October 2nd, 2009 by Emily
“I can’t imagine a better guide into the heart of Africa than Sihle Khumalo – a no-nonsense traveller, an astute observer, a lover of people and a man with a fine sense of humour. Where to next, Sihle?”
– Max du Preez
The most recent offering by traveller Sihle Khumalo. 150 years separate Khumalo from that other explorer of Africa: the Englishman John Hanning Speke. Speke set out to “discover” the source of the Nile, and Khumalo to figure out what the hell Speke and men like him were after.
Khumalo’s 2008 journey to Central Africa was not without its challenges. First he had to outperform his famous earlier trip and bestselling book Dark Continent, My Black Arse. Then he elected to travel, as before, by public transport only. Which in practice often meant more transit and less transport.
Giving himself a mere four weeks, and propelled by a frank fascination with the Victorian explorers, Khumalo set out on a six-pronged quest aiming, inter alia, to ferry across Lake Tanganyika, stand on the equator in Uganda, bungee jump at the source of the Nile, or see if any mountain gorillas were forthcoming (none were).
But it was his emotive visit to the Memorial Centre at Kigali, epicentre of the Rwandan genocide, that brought home elemental questions: What is at the heart of Africa? What makes me an African? Where lies my centre?
Heart of Africa is the unputdownable account of a journey that seldom went as planned. Khumalo’s unfailing eye for the good, the bad and the amusing in Africa, his refreshing candour and his sheer cheek, make this book every bit as delightful as its forerunner.
from Heart of Africa
At 18:30 the railways official opened the main door which lead through the first-class reservations office to the platforms. A board at the side of the reservations office announced that the Victoria Falls-bound train was departing from platform four at 20:00. Even though there was no prebooked seating in third class, I couldn ’t understand why some people were running and others walking very fast towards the train, given that there was still an hour and a half before the time of departure. So I continued sauntering at a leisurely pace as people rushed past me.
Their behaviour made sense when I eventually got to the train. The first reason was immediately obvious: there were bad coaches and there were awful ones, and it was to your advantage to get there first and pick yourself a bad one. The second reason dawned on me a bit later: people wanted to sit next to the window so they could rest their heads on the sill during the night because the seat backs were too low for you to rest your head. A third reason appeared only when it was too late: people walked up and down the aisle all night, making sleep impossible for anyone sitting on an aisle seat.
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Cats: Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel Tags: Central Africa,
Dark Continent My Black Arse,
Heart of Africa,
John Hanning Speke,
Kigali,
Memorial Centre,
Non-fiction,
Sihle Khumalo,
South Africa,
Travel,
Umuzi
September 22nd, 2009 by Emily
Sihle Khumalo, author of the bestselling travel book, Dark Continent My Black Arse, and the forthcoming sequel, Heart of Africa, is not one to pull verbal punches.
In a piece whose trenchancy and tack is reminiscent of Zukiswa Wanner’s recent rant about book marketing, Khumalo lays it all out on the table: “Black people and reading just do not mix,” he writes in the Sunday Times – a sentence that’s prelude to a bemused j’accuse toward his “fellow darkies’” disinclination to pick up a book, any book.
Khumalo’s piece drew many spirited responses – both for and against – in the Times‘ letters section. Here’s the roundup, starting with the original article:
It’s a fact: darkies just don’t read
by Sihle Khumalo
Black people and reading just do not mix. First things first: before anybody tells me about the string of degrees they have, I am talking about general (i.e. non-academic) reading.
In this country, with almost 50 million people, a book has to sell only 5000 copies to be regarded as a bestseller. That can only mean one thing: South Africans – of whom almost 90% are black and about 95% of those African – just do not read.
I have often wondered why blacks don’t read. I have narrowed it down to two reasons: Firstly the inferior Bantu education – which most of us were exposed to – never, ever encouraged us to read. The last thing the National Party wanted was vast numbers of knowledgeable blacks.
Go to any black household and you will find lots of music tapes, LPs, CDs and DVDs and a handful, if any, of general books. That, by the way, includes blacks in the suburbs. The lack of reading is a black thing, irrespective of where you live. It is way more fashionable to have loads of music than to be truly knowledgeable. But then again, will it suit the ANC government all of a sudden to have a vast number of broad-minded, knowledgeable black South Africans? I have my doubts, because that would mean singing talent alone would not make you a senior government official.
Responses from the Times letters page
Concerned librarian: The lack of general reading interest so sadly lamented by Sihle Khumalo extends also, I’m afraid, to those custodians of knowledge, the librarians, who also do not read. Read more.
Dr PFG Mtimkulu: Sihle Khumalo’s article, “It’s a fact: darkies just don’t read”, is sad but true. When the book shop he referred to opened at Maponya Mall, I was excited, thinking that this would inculcate a culture of reading among blacks. Read more.
Monde Ndandani: Along comes the “author of the bestselling book”, Dark Continent My Black Arse, which, in the midst of millions of what this author calls “darkies”, I have no intentions of reading. Read more.
Bathini Masina: I write in response to Sihle Khumalo’s article: “It’s a fact: darkies just don’t read”. His scathing and poorly (if at all) researched article was a repulsive attempt to market himself and his ideologies to other radicals. Read more.
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Photo courtesy Victor Dlamini
Cats: Feature,
Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel Tags: Blacks Don't Read,
Dark Continent My Black Arse,
Feature,
Heart of Africa,
Non-fiction,
Sihle Khumalo,
South Africa,
Travel,
Umuzi
