My new best friends in Doha
Mrs Waze, AC and Buftar … it’s okay if you don’t recognise them. I didn’t have a clue who they were either until soon after I arrived in Doha as a newbie South African. But now, four months on, I wouldn’t be without them. They are my new best friends. Ehteraz used to be my […]
Fruit and veggie heaven comes to Doha
Snake gourd, red bananas, Jack fruit, kohlrabi, yams, pak-choy … and the list goes on and on. Fruit and veggie shopping in Doha is both a visual feast and geography lesson. Well, it is if your fruit and vegetable fare has been confined to common old garden varieties of potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, apples, oranges, […]
HE, tea and dust in Doha
The small stuff can be a game changer in Doha. Every country has its own quirks or, at least, that’s how these so-called differences or peculiarities are perceived by outsiders. But they’re normal to those who have always lived there and therefore, hardly worth a mention. In Qatar, there’s a wealth of small things, that […]
Storytelling in motion at Qatar’s iconic museum
If you want to give yourself a head start in understanding the story of Qatar and her people, begin with a visit to the iconic Qatar National Museum in Doha. The museum is angular, circular and almost space-aged. It sprawls over a large tract of land, alongside a busy highway, close to the Corniche, or […]
Church in Doha
We came over brow of the four-lane highway to be greeted by something shining extremely brightly in the distance below. For the late Sister Ethel Nomoyle, an Irish nun who established the Missionvale Care Centre in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), her first encounter with the area had been sun glinting off thousands of tin shacks. For […]
Dancing to a new beat in Doha
Whether it’s starting a new job, moving neighbourhoods or taking up a new hobby, any change requires us to adapt.
And. that’s what we are endeavouring to do in Doha – adapt to the new rhythm of life here.
Spoil your senses at Doha market
I love Souq Waqif. I enjoy it because it encapsulates so much of what I imagined of the Middle East – the rich and colourful sights of people going about their lives, the exotic smells and a cacophony of sounds that are foreign to this South African. Souq Waqif is a centrally situated traditional market […]
All aboard for bus tour of Doha
A great starting point Old and new; the big, the bold and mundane; the panoramic vistas, the sounds, the smells and the unexpected are all to be anticipated on a Yellow Bus tour of Doha. This city sightseeing tour has yellow double-decker buses instead of the usual red ones that are popular throughout leading destinations […]
Catching a ride in Doha
With 2.8 million people in Qatar, and a further 1.5 million expected for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in November, that’s a lot of people to move around … Transport in Doha comes in every guise and form, but without the jalopies, donkey carts, bakkies and taxis of South Africa. I miss the latter. Yes, […]
High-rise living in Doha
When you live closer to the clouds … I now live on the 26th floor of a high-rise building. While this may be the norm for millions of others around the globe, if you’re a plat-op-die aarde (flat-on-the-ground) South African like me, living closer to the clouds takes some serious readjustment. That is, of course, […]