Recent Travels
Recent Posts
Unravelling Tanzania
Reading Time: 4 minutesAfter hearing the idea of cultural villages, and after visiting a couple-I was on the lookout for these when I arrived in Tanzania. Not having made friends with many Tanzanian’s in my life, I knew very little about Tanzanian culture. I was in lucky to find one online, however many of the uber drivers I
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Unprepared for Tanzania
Reading Time: 4 minutesBag packed, passport in hand and patiently waiting my 2am flight to Tanzania from Bangkok Airport. This long awaited visit to the beautiful East African destination evoked a cocktail of emotions in me. The first was excitement-I was going to one of the main havens of beautiful multi coloured fabric, I imagined myself as a
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Vietnam Food Tour
Reading Time: 5 minutesAs a lover of food, it is not surprising that I ended up on a food tour that took me round the inner streets of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in search of some of the best food spots not necessarily frequented by tourists, but more predominantly enjoyed by locals.
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Why do it alone?
Reading Time: 6 minutesBefore I share some of my travel experiences and lessons I feel the need to give a bit of context and background. I love globetrotting-and I know many people will respond, ‘yes so do I’, but I feel like you need to understand how much so that you can fully understand me and this article.
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First Impressions-Georgetown, Malaysia
Reading Time: 6 minutesWhen speaking to my friend about my upcoming trip to Penang, she insisted I stop through George Town. Without any further research, this drove my decision to base myself there during my visit to the region.
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Travel Misadventure: Mandlovu and the Thai law authorities
Reading Time: 4 minutesI quietly lay on the lounger in the patio of the hotel I was staying, soaking in the words of Richard Branson in my own little corner and minding Branson’s business. As mine was unattended, about five members of the Thai police decided to mind my business and came to the patio demanding something.
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Journey of Discovery
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe world is like a book, and those that do not travel only read the first page. A quote by St Augustine that has been echoed time and time again by various travel writers and many who have been stung by the travel bug. Having explored a few countries in Asia, Africa and America its
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Left Behind on the West Highland Way
Reading Time: 5 minutesMy body has an annoying and inconvenient way of reminding me that I am not limitless. I’m a Mandlovu woman-apparently, it doesn’t care. One of these reminders came three days after my friend, Sarah, and I had started the 7-day, 154.5km West Highland Way hike in the north of Scotland.
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Fun and Frolicking in Victoria Falls
Reading Time: 7 minutesNature lovers and adrenalin junkies alike flock the Victoria Falls every year to explore the town and its many offerings. On this occasion, we definitely fell into both camps.
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Slumbering and Partying-Victoria Falls
Reading Time: 5 minutesWhen I first started looking at travelling to Victoria Falls I almost scratched it off the itinerary. A simple search for accommodation exposed a range of options that were waaay outside my budget. In discussions with a family member who has travelled extensively in the area, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the town also offered a variety of backpacker or budget
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In the Wild-Zimbabwean Edition
Reading Time: 7 minutesBelieve it or not, there are people who grew up on the motherland but have never set eyes on a wild animal. In Africa, they have urban and rural areas. Contrary to common belief, in urban areas there are generally no monkeys hanging on the ledges of buildings, elephants at every water fountain in the local parks or
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Where I caught my zzzs in Thailand (Part 2)
Reading Time: 5 minutesPak-Up Hostel (Trip Advisor Rated 4.5/5 Booking.com rating of 8.7/10 at £9/night bed in dorm room) After staying comfortably at Deejai Hostel in Chiang Mai, I felt I could do it again and this time even possibly try out a……dorm room.
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Where I caught my zzzs in Thailand (Part 1)
Reading Time: 6 minutesAs I have mentioned before, Thailand was my first real taster of real solo travel. I had taken a leap towards a long standing dream without the familiar comfort of my bed. As anyone taking such a leap, I had gone out and sought the wise wisdom of others who have walked the path before.
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Top 6 travel lessons of 2016
Reading Time: 7 minutesThere are a few travel adventures I have not yet documented on this site, which should be coming next year. However, I wanted to share my top six travel lessons of 2016:
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Scampering through Soweto
Reading Time: 7 minutesSoweto is one of the biggest townships of South Africa. Historically it was a shanty town that housed black people who moved to Johannesburg from different parts of Africa to work in the gold mines. In the mid-nineties, due to the shortage of housing there were developments built which also provided better standard housing.
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Tan y Fron Glamping in Doglellau, Wales
Reading Time: 4 minutesAs it was summer, I fancied a bit of an outdoor adventure. Since spending time in Cardiff at the beginning of the year with Traverse, I had been reminded how diverse Wales was and my friends agreed to venture that way, but not quite in the way I envisioned.
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Food for Thought (1)-Nelson Mandela
Reading Time: 1 minuteI learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear
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More than just a bed in CapeTown
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe Backpack (TripAdvisor rating 4.5/5 Booking.com customer rating of 8.6/10 at £20/night)
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Harare (the heart beat of Zimbabwe)
Reading Time: 9 minutesMy home, the city I was born, the first place I think of when I try to draw on my childhood memories. Harare, located in the Northeast of the country, is the capital city of Zimbabwe and with a vibrancy to match. I may be a bit biased but I generally always have a good
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Memorable Food from Thailand
Reading Time: 5 minutesApologies, the title to this post is actually misleading. This post contains some of the amazing food I ate in Thailand. As I did not always have my camera with me, there are some meals that safely reside in my happy place.
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Hiking Up Snowdon
Reading Time: 5 minutesSnowdon is the highest mountain in Wales at 1,085metres above sea level. Located in Gwynedd, North Wales it is also the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. As one who loves the open air, adventure, nature and challenge, it seemed like a good idea to go up for a hike up
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The world from a different lens
Reading Time: 4 minutesOne of the things that makes the world interesting and keeps it moving is the fact that it is made up of diverse people, with different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, abilities, expectations and the like.
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Action Stoppers…
Reading Time: 4 minutes“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.” (Henry Ford)
Read MoreIntentional Activity List (a.k.a Bucket List)
Reading Time: 4 minutesAfter watching Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman about three years ago I was really intrigued by the idea of creating a bucket list of things I would like to do. While watching the film I was aroused and really felt that sense of excitement and achievement with them as they ticked things off their list.
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Brussels on a Budget
Reading Time: 6 minutesMy friends and I embarked on a challenge to ‘travel to Brussels for under £100’ and see if it would negatively affect the experience if we travelled on the cheap.
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Dreams to Goals to Reality
Reading Time: 4 minutesTo be successful we need to combine our dreams with reality. The reason that so many people do not live their dreams is because of the approach they use to articulate and set their goals.
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Going with the flow…all the way East
Reading Time: 5 minutesI had always wanted to go to Thailand, this country seemed to offer an the opportunity to explore a culture and landscape completely different from what I had ever experienced. Given the range of other countries in Asia-I cannot really explain why I would choose Thailand over say China, Vietnam or other Asian nations.
Read MoreWelcome to Mandlovu
Reading Time: 1 minuteMy very first post on WordPress! Exciting times!!! This blog has been created to serve two main purposes which are to improve my writing and to share my experiences of food, travel and random life lessons. I would like this blog to be a forum for discussion and sharing of ideas, thoughts and recommendations. I am not an expert
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