Reflections From Malta
I wander the high walls of ancient fortifications and look out to sea as the Knights of Malta and the ancient Romans did centuries ago.
Following the Phoenicians
The quavering song echoes...in the morning sun coming through the glass. For us, it signifies a surreal send-off, a farewell to Africa.
Among the Flying Dead
Its paint is the dull grey of rotting corpses. The resurrected monstrosity shambles skyward, bloated in the sun.
The Cathedral in the Gateway
The Virgin Mary, in marble, stands astride its walls above the portico, arms spread towards the sea, gazing over the precipice...
The Slow Sound of Patient Annihilation
Flying around the world in a Twin Otter over the last five years has shown me the enormity of this planet, even as it has shrunk.
The Unsubdued Sahara
This was once called Port Etienne and was an aviation outpost of the French mail run from Toulouse to Dakar...
The Muse of Saint-Exupéry
Beyond our line of sight from twelve thousand feet the dunes undulate endlessly in the wind, expelling the Harmattan into the sky like smoke
The A(frica)-Team
The crew has gelled, and friendships have formed which will outlast this outrageous adventure...we have found our stride in Africa.
Under the Harmattan
Before we get close to shore we encounter the Harmattan. The aircraft plows through a sky of dust blown by winter winds from the Sahara...
Entropy in Paradise
We bear away from the continent and cross one hundred and fifty nautical miles of water from the mainland out to the island of Sao Tome...
Message in a Bottle
...drifting past the fervid banks and sandbars littered with the ancient wrecks of steamers, something immortal emergent from...
No Stars on the Perimeter
January 17th:
Northern Namibia is a desolation of arid scrub that crawls across the verge of the Kalahari Desert.
Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?
The flight from Zanzibar to Livingstone reveals once again the sprawling emptiness of this continent...
Island of Stone and Spice
"This place, Zanzibar, this is spice island, this is the land of stone and spice," he says.
Before the Flood
Through flooded side streets pitted with potholes and scarred with ditches and ruts, our driver forges through the outskirts of Nairobi...
In Search of Kilimanjaro
...remote and alien high above the sweltering swards of the African savanna.
Into Africa
We landed in Dar es Salam at night and are now slogging our way through this realm of sweat where everybody disappears in the dark...
