With Werner Herzog’s ‘Fitzcarraldo’ and Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ in our minds, my wife and I boarded the rather modest but dependable river boat Luis Afonso, for a two-night 900km journey down the Amazon River from Manaus to Santarem in Brazil. Here’s a set of iPhone photos from the trip:             […]

The first set of photos from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.                       All images ©2014 Stuart Gradon

Quick post with some photos from Belo Horizonte, Brazil earlier this week during the World Cup.         All images ©2014 Stuart Gradon

Some photos from my time in Brasilia, Brazil earlier in the week for World Cup 2014.               All images ©2014 Stuart Gradon

…though there’ll probably be more to come… The vuvuzela doesn’t translate well to television. Having watched a few matches on tv I have to admit the monotone hum it produces doesn’t enhance the viewing experience. Perhaps it even diminishes it, leaving fans wishing they could hear the usual crowd chanting and bands. But really, it’s […]

The concept of time is on my mind as I stand at Rondebosch metrorail station awaiting transport to the Germany vs. Argentina quarterfinal in Cape Town. The World Cup doesn’t offer up much in the way of a personal schedule. To be honest, days haven’t really existed since my arrival here. I don’t know what […]

The break between matches in Cape Town have afforded me the chance to get out and see little of the area around the city. Spent Thursday in the Stellenbosch wine country area on Warwick Estate vineyards, a winery established by a Canadian who moved to South Africa in the 1970s. Norma Ratcliffe has been producing […]