Today it’s April the 7th 2018, a day that marks the 24th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide. … More
Category: Travel
As Time Goes By …
Giving a training course to a group of nurses in Rwanda gave me a new perspective on the concept of … More
Where was A-ha’s ‘Take on Me’ music video shot?
Who’d have thought, the little café round the corner has a proud secret – it was the location of one of the most famous MTV music videos of all.
English words that only Indians use
Why not hear this on my podcast (The Non-Friction Podcast) Did you know Indians use some English words and phrases … More
Unguarded Moments
The basic facts I knew about Rwanda before I lived there were: it has rare mountain gorillas. Diane Fossey, the … More
Being mindful – bug bites and quiet nights
Most of the nights after work were quiet nights at home and I found my pace shifted down a gear, … More
The Creepy Village of Kuldhara
When a fellow traveller at the hotel in the desert town of Jaisalmer told us there was a haunted village … More
In Search of Silence and the Missing Female to Female Nine Pin
It’s been a few months since I last posted for the series ‘Letters from the Heart of Africa’. We are … More
The Childhood Adventures of Owning a Globe
On my seventh birthday my parents gave me a globe. My own spherical world of colourful landmasses and oceans, strung … More
Mistakes on a Train: a Helpful Traveller Goofs Up
Travelling can bring out the very best in us; we help each other with heavy luggage; we give up seats; … More
When the Bangles Don’t Fit
A street stall selling costume jewellery Guwahati, Assam, India 2017 ***
The nemesis of my sole
Heel gobbler. Lace snapper. Tongue cracker. In the stony, dusty backstreets of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, shoes took one … More
The Apple Seller and His Fruit-net Hat
The apple seller and his fruit-net hat. Ganeshguri market, Guwahati, Assam, India. 2017 https://www.facebook.com/bloggingaway/
Feeling down: the 6th Week Blip
Six weeks in to my volunteering placement in Rwanda I felt down. I had hit what psychologists call the ‘6th … More
A weekend in the rural beauty of Rwanda
One Friday after work, I took a bus from Kigali till I reached a sleepy village called Gahini beside a … More
The Resilience of Hope
I passed the cream-coloured boundary wall the next morning, its smooth surface was now pock-marked with a spray of holes, … More
Travel Advice in Pictures: Modern British Queuing
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A Festering Malice: the Grenade Attack
What kind of person would throw a grenade at a cemetery? What must happen in a person’s mind for them … More
The Day When Time Slowed Down
Einstein said that the faster you travel, the more time slows down. In fact, if you travel at the speed … More
Leisure pursuits: tennis, jogging and painful stomach-flattening (please do not try this at home)
I settled in to the small bungalow. My social life revolved around a good circle of colleagues and friends , my work … More
The Spotless City
How could a city in a developing country be so completely litter-free? From the airport taxi, the streets of Kigali, … More
Politicians and Popstars
Over the years the Kigali Genocide Memorial has been visited by countless celebrities and dignitaries; Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, Natalie … More
Where to propose in Paris
I had always said to my then girlfriend Sarah that I would never propose to her in Paris; ‘it’s too … More
My friends, the survivors
I settled in to my role as an adviser at the Kigali Genocide Memorial – I got a desk, there was … More
The Chatter of the Raindrops
Continuing the series Letters from the Heart of Africa. My first few nights in Rwanda brought me shallow, dreamless sleeps; … More
Kivu: The Shimmering Lake in the Shadow of the Volcano
In the very heart of Africa, between Rwanda and D.R. Congo, is a silvery, majestic lake framed by breezy palms … More
Stolen socks and missing underpants
One morning I phoned my friend Thierry. “Someone’s stolen my clothes.” “I can lend you clothes,” he said. Thierry was … More
Banana-leaf balls, making friends and a bitter falling out
The twin pillars of passion in Rwanda are Christianity and English Premier League Football. The sides of the small buses, … More
We Need To Talk About Why People Kill Each Other
Continuing the series, Letters from the Heart of Africa No narrative on Rwanda can really ever avoid the genocide. Its magnitude … More
The Little Fish Mystery
This is a true mystery that happened in my kitchen – it involves multiple murders, male-only breeding, a sex-change and … More
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