Sunday Times Travel

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | From jail to the wilderness

Rusty Labuschagne was jailed for 10 years in horrific conditions in a Zimbabwean prison for a crime that did not happen. In this espisode, he speaks to Paul Ash about prison life, humility, forgiveness and the healing power of the bush.

13 Sep 2019 33 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Walking with Dinosaurs

The Dinosaur Park in Mpumalanga province in South Africa should be much more famous than it is. The life-size animals, which include a brontosaurs, were created by one of the country's top wildlife artists and live out their days in a gorgeous piece of sub-tropical forest at the edge of…

22 Jun 2019 15 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Time Travel - Who's dumb enough to make a travel podcast on cassette tape?

Sunday Times Travel editor Paul Ash has always travelled with a tape recorder. Long after cleverer people dumped clunky tapes for the brittle efficiency of solid-state flash-memory recorders, pundits have been shouting "Tape is dead!" from the rooftops. Yet, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of tape's death have been greatly…

18 May 2019 27 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Steam Fever - The Seven Habits of highly successful railway barons

Every dreamer loves a train. Maybe it's the sheer moxie they represent as they curl around mountains and cut across plains; maybe it's the human progress they signify. For the curious, their slow pace and on-board freedom of movement encourage strangers to mingle and connections to spark. For the nostalgic,…

28 Apr 2019 16 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Song of the Painted Wolves: Three years in the wilderness with a pack of African wild dogs

The makers of "Dynasties", BBC Earth's five-part series on the epic lives of five animal families, spent years filming with the African wild dogs, or "painted wolves" as they are now widely known, in the Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe. "Painted Wolves", one episode in the series narrated by…

12 Nov 2018 16 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Why staying at a private camp in Kruger National Park is worth the money

Jock Safari Lodge is one of eight privately-run camps in the world-famous Kruger National Park in South Africa. Staying in a private camp may be expensive but it offers unbeatable luxury and private game drives with some of the best rangers and trackers in the world. Paul Ash discovers why…

21 Oct 2018 6 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | A dot in the ocean

The island of St Helena is a tiny speck of volcanic rock in the middle of the South Atlantic. It may be one of the remotest inhabited places on Earth and until 2017, the only way to get there was by ship which took five days to motor there from…

9 Oct 2018 13 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Oh ship!

The South African summer cruise season is just around the corner. This year, MSC is bringing a bigger ship to local waters. As a taster, Paul Ash recalls a voyage on the much-loved MSC Sinfonia in 2016.

30 Sep 2018 10 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Shots Fired

The game rangers and guardians of South Africa's Kruger National Park are engaged in a bitter and dangerous struggle against armed gangs of rhino poachers. Paul Ash spent three days in the world-famous wildlife reserve, listening to their stories.

24 Sep 2018 13 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | How to run away to sea

Paul Ash boards a traditional square-rigged sailing ship for a voyage from Cape Town and speaks to the crew about life on the ocean wave. Sea shanty sung by Ordinary Seaman Dikembe Dio, aboard the Picton Castle in February 2015.

3 Sep 2018 16 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Lisbon in Four Voices

Paul Ash speaks to some Lisboetas - people born and raised in Lisbon - about what makes their city so magical. The original hang drum music was composed and performed by Lisbon-based musician Nuno Moreno. The track "1116" is from his album Groove A Zen Sound, available directly from Nuno,…

12 Aug 2018 13 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Blinded by the sun

The battle of Spioenkop was one of the bloodiest of the Anglo-Boer War. Just outside Ladysmith, KZN, a guide shares his heartrending stories.

3 Nov 2017 7 min

Sunday Times Travel Podcast | Where the wild things walk

In this podcast, iSimangaliso Wetland Park's lead wilderness trails guide, Mandla Buthelezi, tells Paul Ash about buffaloes and lions, the warning snarl a leopard makes - and what you should do if you get charged by a hippo.

4 Aug 2017 5 min