http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.robinkermode.nz en-us Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:11:31 +1200 Rocketspark http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/169539/ashbourne-estate-and-kruger-national-park-with-nick-mostly/ We arrive at Kruger Mpumalanga Airport. It was opened in October 2002 on the back of the Football World Cup in SA and as a major gateway to the Kruger National Park.... Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post169539 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/168775/five-more-days-in-paje/ I am trying to look like Bill, hair back and all!Maalum Cave is a beautiful natural limestone cave near Paje, and only 15mins walk from where we are staying."Inside is a sheltered pool of clear, cool freshwater where visitors can swim, float and explore the rock formations. Sunlight enters through the open roof, giving the water its striking turquoise colour. The cave is surrounded by a peaceful garden and small nature sanctuary where visitors might spot butterflies, birds and monkeys. The ... Sat, 15 Aug 2026 06:06:21 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post168775 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/168692/jozani-forest-day-trip-from-paje/ We leave for Jozani forest at 11am, so I go over the road to Kuumba while Bill works. Sample exercises Sameer puts me through. (He paired exercises  up - one set of one, then a set of the other, and you do both sets 3 times)  Here are two exercises I paired up. I did each one three times. ... Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post168692 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/168506/stone-town-and-paje/ We are off to Zanzibar. This is the route we take, stopping in Johannesburg for a few hours, changing flights, then off to Zanzibar.... Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post168506 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/168328/swakopmund-to-windhoek-via-spitzkoppe-and-hohenstein/ These photos above are to let you know that I sleep in the car, so I’m all go when we get there, and Bill has done all the driving, so he can have a sleep.Below is a typical road for this drive - although they don't usually have this much traffic, or a hill.  But it is very very straight. ... Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post168328 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/167929/swakopmund--ocean-swimming-and-more/ I didn't come to Swakopmund planning to become an ocean swimmer.  It happened completely by chance.After joining Nikola on her wonderful Swakopmund history walking tour, she invited us to watch the rugby (and a meal and drink) on Saturday - the Springboks were playing Scotland.  There we met a friend of hers, Wil-Merie, and during the conversation she mentioned that she belonged to a local ocean swimming group. She wasn’t swimming at the time, but she smiled and said, “You should g... Sat, 25 Jul 2026 20:23:00 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post167929 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/167779/camp-xakanaxa-on-the-edge-of-the-okavango-delta/ I am a kleptoparasite with these photos. These photos were taken by Gabrielle Brooks (a 19-year-old student from Stellenbosch), who was on safari with us at Camp Xakanaxa.  This is where we were. ... Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post167779 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/167729/the-living-desert-tour-swakopmund/ We had met Chantal at the talk about hydrogen power in Namibia at the Museum education centre.  She got up at the meeting and said she would offer free Living Desert tours to anyone there. This was in response to discussion about putting hydrogen plants in certain places in the desert.She said," The desert is living, not a place to put just anything."  She quoted her trainer, saying she had been leading Living Desert tours for 11 years. She told us she was trained by Tommy Collard... Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post167729 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/167488/visiting-serowe-farm-a-funding-project-for-sos-childrens-village/ Danielle had said Mr Bikkie might give me a tour of the farm. I asked, and he was very happy to do that, first the village, then the farm. Mr Bikkie manages both. Here we are, ready to go. ... Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post167488 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/post/167298/serowe-botswana--young-people-co-creating-stories-day-3/ The next day arrives. I have printed the story books at the hotel. I also sorted through all the resources I prepared, along with the games and activities we didn't do, and packaged them up to give to Katso so she can play later.  I also put them in a drive she can access.  See at the end. The young people arrive at 7.30am. We arrive at 8.00am. First, I hand out their journals and name tags.... Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.robinkermode.nz/blog/#post167298