There’s something very satisfying about paddling around in the mud and rocks of a river foreshore. And if the foreshore happens to be part of London’s River Thames, then there’s a good chance of finding something historically significant, too. There’s been a surge of interest in treasure hunting in the UK. Historians say the finds made by amateur archaeologists are playing a pivotal role in constructing England’s historical past. Now visitors to the country can take a stab at unearthing [...]

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Italy’s financial woes have seldom been far from the news for some time. But there is one casualty of the shortage of money that’s infrequently reported – the reduced funding for the country’s museums and monuments. A half-hour train trip from central Rome lies a little-known historical landmark, that may soon be forced to close its gates. The ‘Castello di Giulio II’ or Julius the Second’s Castle, is a centuries-old structure. Overlooking the ruins of Ostia Antica, the ancient harbour [...]

I’m back in Rome now, after six months in Juba. It’s taken a while to adjust. My stomach for one has not returned easily to normal fare after goat meat and rice. But I’m not complaining. In fact, my time in South Sudan has made me feel incredibly grateful. So many things have made me cry, ‘So lucky!’ since I’ve returned: hot water, clean water, vegetables that you can just wash and cook, yellow-yoked eggs, the cinema, classic architecture, good [...]

It was a meal to remember. I was sitting at an outside table with four fishermen. I had a whole cooked tilapia or bream in my left hand and a hunk of bread in the right. A cheetah was tethered to a pole, metres away. It ‘s a measure of how used I am to South Sudan after five months, that I didn’t blink at the cheetah, which paced to and fro nearby. I didn’t even ask for a knife [...]

I was giving a work colleague a lift back home, about a 15 minute drive. Suddenly she started shouting; “Get off the road! Get off the road!” It was difficult to react quickly. The road shoulder was just a ditch and dirt. If I’d pulled aside quickly, we could have rolled. As I slowed down to a halt, I turned my head to see a black limousine hurtle past, followed by a truck-load of soldiers, with their rifles trained on [...]

It’s the dry season here and hot. Hot! I’m used to high temperatures, growing up in Queensland, in Australia’s north-east. In summer, it’s regularly 35 degrees there. In my early twenties, I owned an old car without air conditioning and driving around, the sweat used to trickle down my legs. But Juba– well, it’s hot like I’ve never experienced before. I wake up at 5 in the morning, my head aching, my throat parched, in a room that feels like [...]

I was speaking with the Manager of the Ethiopian hotel down the corner from work. I go there at lunchtime sometimes to eat. We’d begun talking a few weeks ago, after I’d asked for one of the Ethiopian dishes on the menu. It arrived without cutlery, leaving my Virgo soul offended to the very core. He passed over a spoon, when he saw the waitress observing my anguish without budging. In the ensuing conversation, he explained he was Eritrean, married [...]

It’s 3 am and I’ve woken with a start. Someone is trying all the doors in the compound where I’m staying. There’s a heavy scrabbling in the ceiling and there are sounds of a police siren from the street. The manager here turns off the generator at 10pm, so I can’t switch on lights to see. I stay buried under the mosquito net sweating profusely because the air conditioning too is down. I try to count my blessings: I have [...]

My kingdom for a GPS I got my South Sudanese license yesterday. A triumph – as readers of my past blogs will realize. It means freedom for me here. Up till now, I’ve been relying on the drivers at work to get around. During the day this is fine, just a matter of negotiation with others going to the airport, delivering packages, and travelling into the field. But it’s the two ends of the day that are problematic. I live [...]