Our flight from Casablanca to Cape Town was eventful. We encountered an Air Morocco ticket agent who didn’t want to allow Frances to carry on her small suitcase containing her laptop, professional camera and lenses. This was the first of a few challenges with carryon baggage weight restrictions. It seems as if each airline we flew in Africa and Asia had different regulations for both carry on and checked baggage. Fortunately, we were able to…
Howick is Goodenough! Between teaching at the Amy Foundation in Cape Town and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, we were fortunate to spend the weekend with our dear friends Stan and Mary Goodenough in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal Province. Nearby Howick Falls is a waterfall approximately 95 m in height and lies on the Umgeni River. The Zulu people called the falls KwaNogqaza, which means “Place of the Tall One. We traditionally take a group photo…
Our visit to Durban had everything to do with teaching for my dear friend Chats DeVroop at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Chats and I have been friends ever since he arrived at my doorstep in the mid-1990s and introduced himself. I had met his brother at a Jazz Education conference and that’s how Chats knew about me and my interest in South African jazz music. Luckily, I was home when Chats knocked on my door.…
We had heard from our friends Stan and Mary Goodenough that the Maldives islands were a little-known jewel. This was an understatement. The Maldives is a country with hundreds of small islands near the southwest coast of India. With input from Stan and Mary, Frances found Malahini a resort that was only a 10 minute boat ride from the airport island and Male the major city, but galaxies away from the usual hustle and bustle…
I was very excited to return to Singapore where I had visited on my first sabbatical in 1988. I remembered it to be the cleanest city I had ever seen and this did not change. The government has strict regulations which impose a fine and/or jail time about keeping public sanitation strictly regulated, therefore no chewing gum or spitting on the sidewalk; no drawing of graffiti; public transportation such as bus and subway are considered…
I was very excited to return to Ubud, Bali after 30 years. To say it has changed is a gross understatement. The main intersection in town has transformed from a sleepy corner into two lanes with one-way traffic. There are still no traffic Lights or even stop signs and it is very challenging to cross the street and walk on the street as the sidewalks are questionable. It is far more commercialized than it was…
