Actually, “jumped around like a maniac” is a better description of what I did. But you know what I mean.

This is Jovi, lead singer of a band from Soweto called BCUC. He made me jump around like a maniac.

South Africa is a geographically diverse country with eye-popping natural wonders everywhere you look. We all know the big ones: Kruger National Park, Table Mountain, the Karoo, the Drakensberg Mountains. But if you dig deeper into your travel book you’ll find dozens of lesser known places, offering their own unique versions of dramatic South African beauty. De Hoop Nature Reserve is one of those places.

I spent the weekend at the De Hoop Nature Reserve, a seaside wilderness in the Overberg region of the Western Cape. It will take me a day or two to get my photos together and write a full post, so here are a few Instagrams to whet your appetite.

It’s time for my last Namibia post.

Sand meets sea near Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Deserts have always fascinated me, so spending time in the desert was my number-one priority in Namibia. After meeting up with my friend Michelle in Windhoek, we hopped into our rented hatchback and headed for Swakopmund, a popular Namibian holiday destination on Africa’s Atlantic coast.

On Tuesday evening I received this text message from George Khosi, coach of the Hillbrow Boxing Club:

there is an accident at the gym the ring is damaged by a tax coach

On a cold August evening last year, I sat in bed messing around with my new iPad. I hit the camera button and shot a picture of the Melville Cat. Then I went to the app store and downloaded a free app called Instagram. I plugged in the photo, added an Instagram filter, and got this.

On my recent visit to Etosha National Park, I learned that you can’t just rock up to a game park, drive around, and expect to take fabulous wildlife photos. Good wildlife photography is a lot of work and requires equipment that I don’t have, like binoculars and a telephoto lens. It’s also difficult to take good wildlife photos while simultaneously driving a car.

While in Namibia recently, I spent three days in Etosha National Park. Etosha is considered one of the best places in Southern Africa for game-viewing. (Although if you are really into seeing animals, December is not the best time to go to Etosha. There’s a lot of water in the park at this time of year so the animals aren’t forced to come into the open and drink at the waterholes, as they are during the dry season. In December you have to look a bit harder.)