How many travellers can relate to The Serpent?

Hanging over a toilet bowl, retching in the oppressive heat. Watching ‘true crime’ series The Serpent set in 1970s Bangkok brings back raw memories of the first year spent living in Dar es Salaam in 1999. We weren’t being poisoned by a sinister character bent on robbery or murder, but rather simply adjusting to life…

The Wedding

Getting married and leaving for Africa in one go Choosing items for our wedding list seemed like a bizarre ritual, in our case, undertaken on one rainy Saturday afternoon in John Lewis. “This cutlery or that one?” I asked browsing displays of stainless steel knives and forks that all looked the same. Ben barely feigned…

Arriving in Zanzibar

Emigrating to East Africa, 2 days after our wedding in February 1999 Fellow passengers who had boarded with us in Abu Dhabi ignored the illuminated seat belt signs, leaping to their feet as the seven-four-seven taxied to a stop. Polite appeals over the microphone to remain seated by Gulf Air staff hostesses went unheeded. We…