Swaziland's Merchant Navy - a land locked kingdom...

A friend of mine, Robbie, who does voice overs, sent this through to me and it put a smile on my face.  It is an extract from the The Star in Johannesburg, South Africa.  It sums up the determination (with humour) of the African people when facing a curved ball;

"The situation is absolutely under control," Transport Minister Ephraem Magagula told the Swaziland Parliament in Mbabane . "Our nation's merchant navy is perfectly safe. We just don't know where it is, that's all."Replying to an MP's question, Minister Magagula admitted that the landlocked country had completely lost track of its only ship, the Swazimar: "We believe it is in a sea somewhere.  At one time, we sent a team of men to look for it, but there was a problem with drink and they failed to find it, and so, technically, yes, we've lost it a bit.  But I categorically reject all suggestions of incompetence on the part of this government.  The Swazimar is a big ship painted in the sort of nice bright colours you can see at night.  Mark my words, it will turn up.  The right honourable gentleman opposite is a very naughty man, and he will laugh on the other side of his face when my ship comes in."

Love it.

Birding in Africa

I am really excited as I have just got 'Roberts' Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa' through the post.  I can see your eyelids closing...

I was never really interested in birds until I went to Africa.  In the UK most of the birds are rather dull in comparison to their African cousins although at times those cousins do visit the UK but it seems that they have to possess a 'dull' passport to get here.  No, the African birds are gloriously coloured (like this white fronted bee eater), often have some really quirky nature to them and are easy to spot.  So after my first visit to Africa, many years ago, I got rather hooked on birding becoming a bit of a twitcher myself, and proud of it.

And most people who come on a Sense Africa trip also get the bug (or is it the bird?) and spend a lot of time pouring over bird books identifying all manner of birds around the water hole.  Best done with a gin and tonic too, if you want to take the more light hearted approach at birding.

So back to my new found acquisition, where I can listen to bird calls of every bird seen in Southern Africa, and a host of other useful information to marvel at. Twitcher signing off.