The TravelGround Blog

This is a round up of some of our favourite Travel Blogs here in the TravelGround Office. These aren’t necessarily Travel Blogs that promote South Africa, but all of them are by South African’s and written from a South African reference point. Read on to become addicted…

• Settling in with the Swiss by Anneliese Mostert: 29-year old Anneliese has only been running the Settling in with the Swiss Blog since January this year, but she has already amassed some fantastic anecdotes of her life in Switzerland (and the temptation of encountering Swiss Chocolates at every turn!). Anneliese’s blog is kept lively not only because of experiences that feel so foreign to a South African (like heading up to Engelberg to witness the first snows), but also because each post is regularly peppered with photos of her new life in Switzerland.
  

  South African's enjoying a real Swiss Fondue

• The Canadian Chronicles: Observations of a South African Emigre: Geraldine’s blog is the story of a South African in Canada. There are the usual whimsical stories of day to day life as a South African in a far off land, but this blog can also be slightly more cutting than some of the others in our round-up. This is the kind of sarcasm that only a South African can achieve, and it can be absolutely hilarious!
  • “When you ask me if I’m Australian, it fills me with such joy. Especially if you ask me if I’m British, after I tell you I’m actually South African. It’s ok if you ignore my 4th generation South African roots, I really don’t mind. I mean, I’m practically a British citizen, aren’t I?“
• Greedy Gourmet: Always thinking of the next meal: The Greedy Gourmet Blog isn’t strictly a Travel Blog, but its a fantastically-well written site by a South African woman (Michelle) who married a Brit and now lives in Essex (where she claims there aren’t any decent restaurants!).  Michelle’s recipe’s are an exploration of the palette (or at least they seem to be as I haven’t cooked any of them myself), but the post’s that I’ve enjoyed the most are of her travels to France, including the Schengen Visa issues involved (agh!!).
  

  Michelle's (the Greedy Gourmet's) Creamy Asparagus Soup

• The Tales of Cherry-Blossom by Moyra Makina: Historically Moyra’s Blog is simply the tale of her life told for her friends and family, but it took on an exciting twist when she recently departed from South Africa on a long journey to Bali! Her posts are not fast and furious, but each entry is a substantial update, romantically recounted and covering all aspects of this bubbly personality’s adventures in tropical paradise. Her first encounter with Bali can be found here…
  

  Moyra's tough life of surfing in Bali

• Yours is the Earth by Andrew Barry: Andrew is a Saffer that recently landed himself a job for 2 years in New York City. This blog is brand new, but the first few post have been the perfect mix of story-telling and humorous observations. Being a new blog, this is the perfect place to begin following a Travel Blog… after all, the real fun is not in reading back over someone’s experience of a foreign country (you could buy a book for that), but in being involved in their experiences as they happen. And if the person is a South African then all the better!! If you would like to subscibe to the RSS feed of Andrew’s blog then click here. You won’t be disappointed.
  

  The view of NYC from Andrew's apartment in New Jersey

If you’d like to continue exploring some of South Africa’s best blogs of the year, then the South African Blog Award Winners 2009 is a good place to start (especially since that list includes 2 of our Top 5 Travel Blogs listed above).