In Three Great Books, we highlight must-reads for a topic, city or country.

The German philosopher Friedrich Schiller believed that periods of oppression and tyranny produce the greatest works of art; in his words, that “truth and beauty, with their own indestructible vitality, struggle triumphantly to the surface.” In South Africa’s case, at least, he just may have been right. The apartheid era and its aftermath have inspired a wealth of high-quality literature from the likes of Alan Paton, Zakes Mda and Nobel Prize winners Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee. Three great books:

Continue reading >>

The eight-minute amateur video of an extraordinary showdown between buffalo and lions—with a special appearance by a hungry crocodile—at South Africa’s Kruger National Park has become a YouTube phenomenon, viewed more than 10 million times and celebrated by experienced nature photographers. It was shot by an American on vacation in 2004—a Texan named David Budzinski—who told ABC News he uses the camera “maybe once a year.” The video was shown privately for two years until another man on the same safari who’d asked Budzinski for a copy decided to post it on YouTube so friends could see it. Oh, friends saw it all right. Now, National Geographic Channel is planning to produce a special about it.

Continue reading >>

I’m not one to go bungee jumping in New Zealand or canyoning in Costa Rica, yet presenting myself as great white bait in an underwater cage in South Africa has always held a certain appeal. I’ll admit it—I’m obsessed with sharks. And the chance to see the greatest predator of them all in a purportedly safe environment appeals to me in a totally primal way. I have, however, pondered the ethical questions that go along with cage diving. So I was interested to read about Joshua Hammer’s experience in Kleinbaai (two hours from Cape Town) in a detailed piece in the New York Times. 

Continue reading >>

Nobody brings the world together like muppets. The new season of the PBS series Independent Lens debuts this week with the documentary The World According to Sesame Street, a look at how the TV show for kids has become a global phenomenon. Los Angeles Times critic Robert Lloyd writes in a stellar review: “It runs in more than 120 countries, mostly in dubbed versions of the original, but in more and more places—beginning as far back as 1972, after an inquiry from Germany—it is being produced locally, retooled for the native audience, with new characters and settings reflecting native culture and concerns.” The documentary focuses on productions of “Sesame Street” in three countries places: Bangladesh, Kosovo and South Africa. 

Continue reading >>

The author of The Wonder Safaris: African Journeys of Miracles and Surprises, among other books, discusses how his battle with AIDS changed his life in a compelling story in the Mail&Guardian by Andie Miller. “It’s a weird irony for me,” he told Miller, “in that when I published ‘Wonder Safaris’ I’d finally achieved my dream, which was to be able to go wherever I wanted. That gave me the credibility to keep travelling and walk the journeys that I wanted to make my life about. And at that point I physically couldn’t walk. So it did force me to think about different journeys.”

Continue reading >>