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This article originally appeared on 28 Mar 2012 in The Daily Maverick. Some of the most successful tales in recent years have …

As I take out the old fishing pliers, I can smell the sea on the old Transkei coast and hear the surf …

Justice must be done for the sake of our society, for healing the memory of our terrible past and, most importantly, to bring some closure to the families of the victims.

In memory of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and those who have opened new connections between us and all sentient beings.

It was in Hemingway’s book about the Spanish Civil War, For Whom the Bell Tolls, that I found something so true about humanity that it helped me make sense of what I had witnessed in covering wars on our continent and beyond — war is a monstrosity.

I shall never forget the haunting voices in Boipatong that day, calling out ‘Rooikop! Rooikop!’ — trying desperately to bear some witness to what had happened and to who they believed was responsible.

Roughly the size of New Jersey, Eswatini — formerly known as Swaziland — is governed by a monarch who has absolute power. On Wednesday, officials said that five deportees from the US were being held in isolated units in its jails, acknowledging “widespread concern” but insisting the deported men “pose no threat to the country or its citizens.”

In Afghanistan, I was thrown into a world beyond my emotional understanding, writing, filming and taking one step after another. I was trying to comprehend this strange world of constant battle on the front lines, and to understand the men who lived in the midst of it.

Crocodiles are one of the oldest surviving species on earth. Their presence is recorded in the works of Herodotus, Shakespeare and many other classical writers. They have been part of Africa and African mythology since ancient times, but years ago crocodiles were mysteriously dying off in the rivers of South Africa’s Northern provinces in the area around the Kruger Park. Some 120 carcasses were found and scientists were studying what is happening to the animals. Many believe that the deaths of the crocodiles are linked to climate change.

In the years that I have been working and travelling as a journalist on this continent, some of my most memorable experiences have been on aeroplanes. For me, that precise moment when the wheels lift off the ground is always a thrilling experience. As you hang in the sky in that first ethereal split second, time itself seems to be suspended, holding you in the thrall of the promise of the destination that lies ahead. But sometimes, the flight itself is as much of an adventure as the place you are going to.

I can proudly say I have covered Africa from south to north - from lovely Cape Town to fascinating Algiers...

Years ago, I visited Debre Bizen, a remote and ancient Coptic monastery in Eritrea that was founded 600 years ago. I found it a moving and spiritual experience . . .

Mombasa, the second largest city in Kenya, is also the busiest port on the East African coast. For more than 500 years it has stood as the centrepoint of trade between East and Central Africa, India and the Middle East.

In 2003 I visited the Marsh Arabs of Iraq who were struggling to rebuild their lives after decades of oppression. Their almost forgotten way of life left a deep impression on me.

Some years ago I hiked deep into the Drakensberg to see these marvels of human creativity

I have always loved travelling on trains. My best memories from high school were taking the train down from Joburg to what was then Grahamstown. These are the memories of a particularly fascinating journey I made a decade or so ago.

‘It isn’t safe’: South African first responders attacked while saving lives Ambulance crews and paramedics are increasingly being robbed, their vehicles hijacked while they are working, in a country with one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime.

My Xhosa teacher Ally Weakley (seen here centre) was a powerful advocate of non-racialism in apartheid South Africa. He was tragically gunned down in rage after Chris Hani's assassination. Rhodes honoured him this weekend by naming their main sports field after him. Here, published in the Sunday Times this weekend, I remember just what a powerful influence he had on my life.

Years ago I went to the Svalbard islands in the Arctic circle. What a powerful, magical experience it was! Under the little-known Svalbard treaty, South Africans have the right to live, trap, fish and prospect for minerals in a remote archipelago deep in the Arctic Circle. Hamilton Wende went there to try his luck.

Al, ex-British army and our security advisor, spread a map out on the hood of our vehicle. ‘We’ll take the Amarah road,’ he said. ‘The other road through Nasiriyah is not too good. Bandits are operating on that route.’ He paused. ‘I must make one thing clear. There are no weapons on this convoy. If bandits pull us over, we comply 100%. There must be no threatening gestures.’

Al, ex-British army and our security advisor, spread a map out on the hood of our vehicle. ‘We’ll take the Amarah road,’ he said. ‘The other road through Nasiriyah is not too good. Bandits are operating on that route.’ He paused. ‘I must make one thing clear. There are no weapons on this convoy. If bandits pull us over, we comply 100%. There must be no threatening gestures.’

Al, ex-British army and our security advisor, spread a map out on the hood of our vehicle. ‘We’ll take the Amarah road,’ he said. ‘The other road through Nasiriyah is not too good. Bandits are operating on that route.’ He paused. ‘I must make one thing clear. There are no weapons on this convoy. If bandits pull us over, we comply 100%. There must be no threatening gestures.’

Al, ex-British army and our security advisor, spread a map out on the hood of our vehicle. ‘We’ll take the Amarah road,’ he said. ‘The other road through Nasiriyah is not too good. Bandits are operating on that route.’ He paused. ‘I must make one thing clear. There are no weapons on this convoy. If bandits pull us over, we comply 100%. There must be no threatening gestures.’

‘I never knew Hemingway was that witty,’ my friend Allan said as we chatted in his apartment in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. I was reading aloud to him from Hemingway’s classic memoir about his early days as a struggling writer: A Moveable Feast.