Travel again, 25 years on

In 2001 we traveled to southern Africa, the lure being a total eclipse (on June 21) in Zimbabwe. But while we were in the area, we figured we'd stick around. After two weeks on the eclipse tour, we spent another two weeks in Botswana on another tour that I booked through a South African company (in those days, the internet was still a place where you might be interacting with a dog, who knew? but in this case the random selection worked out just fine and we had a marvelous excursion through various national parks, including the exquisite Okavango Delta), and finally two weeks in Namibia with a South African climber I also rustled up on the internet, Richard Behne—in order to do some climbing. It was a trip of a lifetime. Here we are in Zimbabwe (note the elephants), then in Namibia atop Spitzkoppe, the highest mountain in the country, and on the Wattenberg plateau.

Back then, I was still using a film camera, so the photos I took were slides, some of which I digitized—but apparently didn't save at full resolution. They're blurry and grainy, but they give some idea of some of what captivated us. For the following photos, you can go here to see the images individually and for some description.

I would love to return to that part of the world—and next time, I'd like to go to the Garden Coast of South Africa, in springtime. Maybe it'll happen. Who knows?

Book Report: London Rules

11. Mick Herron, London Rules (2018)

Ha, I see that with the last Slow Horses report, I was also slogging my way through a long nonfiction book (which I also realize I never finished, uh oh). This time, it's a biography of Theodore Roosevelt. Which I am feeling quite happy to get back to now, after this retreat into fantastical fiction. I'm ready again for the real world—though not necessarily the real world I happen to live in. Then again, no, that's not true: the real world I live in is just fine. It's the real world of the headlines that I'd just as soon keep avoiding. (Though today does bring some reasonably good news as the Republicans begin to show a bit of spine. Let's see what happens tomorrow—or just later today . . .)

In any case, back to London Rules, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Mick Herron is a helluva writer, and storyteller. And once again, the TV series with Gary Oldman kept flashing through my head as I read, and once again, I enjoyed the difference between the story on the page and the dramatized screenplay. Also, it helps to be able to "see" the characters so well. 

The story here begins with a terrorist attack in a village in England, and then moves on to other seemingly random acts of violence (including the murder of 18 penguins and an accidental death by falling paint can), which the Slow Horses manage to make sense of—and which point to a leak within the Secret Service itself. Of course, it's not so simple as sabotage, nor is everything under any kind of control. Though things do work out in the end and Jackson Lamb keeps the upper hand. 

And now, back to Teddy, who is about to take a long break in the wilds of "Dakota."