I am in Malaysia right now at B's place and departing for southern China in 2 days.
KL is a big city, very Asian and nice and warm. Today we had a high of 33C with high humidity. As long as you do not have to work outside it is quite nice.

As I was wondering what was going on in Africa so I went to my usual BBC world news and had a look at this. Why do they (the mysterious "they") always represent Africa as a place of sadness and chaos?

Brief stop at Changi, Singapore airport

I always blog when I go through Changi. first because there is easy access to free internet all over the airport. Second, I think, is because this is usually my first stop leaving South Africa and I am usually on my way somewhere nice. third, after Changi access to the internet usually gets more difficult, so it is sort a last chace for a while.
This time I am on my way to Malaysia, where I have never been before to visit B, S and the Cs.
Soon I will then fly to southern China, train northern China (if Chengdu can be considered northern) and fly back to Malaysia. I will take 3 weeks to do it just so I do it slowly.

Swaziland, some birds

Ok, we all know that I have a crappy little camera and taking photos of birds usually ends up in fuzzy pictures. Just the same here are some bird photos from my last trip to Swaziland.

First the bee-eaters which I have already shown you, but I think that this time the pictures are a bit better. They are beautiful creatures and honestly quite interesting to watch.

This one is a fly-catcher....bee-eater and fly-catchers!!!

And a couple of different kinds of sunbirds on a stunning tree, a weeping-boer-bean tree. I so want one of those tree in my garden...what garden you ask? I don't know.

Travel news

I admit I am feeling under-motivated to blog the photos I took in Swaziland because crossing back into South Africa I was given a one moth visa with no possibility of renewal so I am packing madly, running around to meetings etc and generally getting ready to go to Malaysia, Australia and then Canada.

I am looking forward to visiting friends but honestly totally not into the spirit of packing and getting going again.
I am still recuperating from something and I am quite tired.

Swaziland, more animals

I am back from Swaziland... I have been for a while really. This trip was great. It was warmer than last time, in fact quite warm. I was better organized and stayed in a quieter, more isolated spot (still in Mlilwane) and it was great. I think this time I noticed plants more, possibly because since it was the start of summer there was more blooms etc. First though let me show you more pictures of animals.

That's a blesbok. They are plentiful in Mlilwane. They are actually difficult to take picture off with a regular camera because they tend to be quite shy. They do this "snorting thing" when they see somebody. I am not sure if it is a warning sounds for the others, a threatening sound to the person approaching or what, but they snort. I call them The Snorters.

This is a male nyala, probably my favourite antelop. The male in particular has a very weird look.

This is a Nile Monitor Lizard. They are pretty big and quite nice I think. they live in or near water and are quite shy. I felt lucky to see one and I even ended up seeing two!

And here are a few shots of warthogs, just because I like them.

Of course South Africa is also making it to the news

In a situation not half as confusing but not as simple as it appears either, South Africa is making the news with miners strike going bad, police shooting and politicians using the situation to pay back other politicians for past actions.
It had potential for turning very bad when J. Malema went to the military and a state of emergency was declared before he managed to start a riot within the military....but then again on this continent, maybe more than anywhere else, anything has a potential to turn bad quickly.

The world has gone crazy.....or is it: the world is staying crazy

Ok, this time I am seriously confused!
US, German and UK embassies!?!?!?! what do they have to do with anything?!?!

It is actually hard to figure who is manipulating and who is being manipulated in this all thing.

I know my last visit to Swaziland was a few months back but I am thinking about it because I am planning another trip to Swazi.

So here are a few photos, a summary of a sort of why I want to go back.

At night there is a spot where you can get really close to the hippos in the evening. This is what it looks like with a small, old digital camera. but when you are there and can hear them breath etc it is pretty cool. A lot cooler than it looks in these photos. They really are about 5 metres away from where you can stand and there is just a little stone wall between you and then. However they cannot climb walls so you are safe.

Sunsets! And now it is thunder-storm time of the year so there should be some spectacular clouds.

Feel good piece of news

How often do you read the news and feel good about it. I tell you, it does not happen to me very often, but here is a bit of "feel good" news.

Arts Alive Festival 2012 in Johannesburg

From Saturday 1st to today Sunday 9th Johannesburg had the Arts Alive Festival. It included Jazz on the Lake which every year takes place at Zoo Lake. The Festival had some great shows, music, theater, dance etc. Unfortunately I was way busy with "stuff" but today I did catch a show.
I caught a dance show at Museum Africa called "Afternoon at a Foehn". Honestly the title has nothing to do with anything that I could tell but it was a FABULOUS show. It was clever, funny, poetic, imaginative etc etc. I loved it.
Here is a photo from the Arts Alive site.