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Ramblings

Photos, travel stories, reportage and random stuff from New Zealand and around the world by Peter de Graaf

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Ethiopia

Africa Featured Weird Travel 

A beastly back rub: Hanging out with the hyenas of Harar

March 29, 2019September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Ethiopia, Harar, hyena

There are times in your life when you ask yourself: How did I get here? For me, one of those times was in a rubbish dump at night in Ethiopia with a 60kg hyena on my back. 

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Africa 

Six things to do in Harar, Ethiopia, that don’t involve hyenas

March 29, 2019September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Ethiopia, Harar, hyena, Jugol

If you find yourself in Harar, Ethiopia, but you don’t fancy getting a back massage from a hyena: Relax. There’s plenty of other things to do.

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Africa Europe 

Best and worst hotels

June 29, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 2 Comments Axum, Chișinău, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, Harar, hotels, Kibuye, Moldova, Muscat, Oman, Picos de Europa, Romania, Rwanda, Spain, Tiraspol, Transnistria

My pick of best and worst accommodation ranging from a flash eco-resort to a chicken coop.

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Photos Weird Travel 

Phone booths of the world

June 25, 2018August 31, 2021 pdg 12 Comments Armenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, Hungary, Iran, Laos, Macedonia, New Zealand, phone booth, Portugal, Romania, Spain, telephone, Ukraine, USA, Vanuatu

The phone booth has, tragically, become an endangered species — hence my mission to preserve these once ubiquitous features of our urban landscape through photography.

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Africa Photos 

Ethiopia’s Meskel festival in pictures

June 13, 2018June 16, 2018 pdg 0 Comments Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Meskel

Once a year Ethiopia’s Christians celebrate what they say was the discovery of Christ’s cross more than 1600 years ago. All over the country they dress in brightly coloured robes, dance, sing, pray and build towering bonfires.

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Africa 

Meskel: Ethiopia’s festival of fire

June 13, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Meskel

Nothing was going to stop me seeing one of Africa’s most colourful festivals — or so I thought.

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Africa Photos 

Ethiopia in pictures

June 3, 2018April 21, 2019 pdg 2 Comments Addis Ababa, Axum, Ethiopia, Harar, Lalibela

A photographic journey through one of the most fascinating countries on the planet, including the 12th century rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the colourful eastern city of Harar, and the spiritual epicentre of Axum — legendary home of the Ark of the Covenant.

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About Ramblings

Kia ora and welcome to Ramblings, a fairly random collection of travel stories, photos and reportage from New Zealand and around the world by Peter de Graaf. I’m a reporter and occasional travel writer based in Kerikeri, a small town in New Zealand’s Far North. Read more...

LATEST

Fiordland’s Hollyford Valley: A walk back in time
New Zealand 

Fiordland’s Hollyford Valley: A walk back in time

April 6, 2022April 7, 2022 pdg 0

Where experiencing one of New Zealand’s wildest places doesn’t mean you have to go without fine food and lodgings.

The Hunger Diary: My father and the Dutch famine
Europe 

The Hunger Diary: My father and the Dutch famine

March 26, 2022March 28, 2022 pdg 2
Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip
Europe Photos 

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip

March 20, 2022March 20, 2022 pdg 0
The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?
Europe Weird Travel 

The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?

November 18, 2021November 19, 2021 pdg 0

WEIRD TRAVEL

The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?
Europe Weird Travel 

The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?

November 18, 2021November 19, 2021 pdg 0

The monks of Sedlec Abbey, in what is now the Czech Republic, turned a problem into a morbid masterpiece.

Is this the world’s most bizarre place for a castle?
Europe Featured Weird Travel 

Is this the world’s most bizarre place for a castle?

July 22, 2020July 4, 2021 pdg 3
The Merry Cemetery: Where folk art conquers grief
Europe Top stories Weird Travel 

The Merry Cemetery: Where folk art conquers grief

August 24, 2019December 28, 2020 pdg 0
Is this the world’s strangest parade?
Europe Photos Weird Travel 

Is this the world’s strangest parade?

August 11, 2019September 20, 2020 pdg 0

PHOTOS

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip
Europe Photos 

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip

March 20, 2022March 20, 2022 pdg 0

Towering monuments, vibrant cities, and a national identity which has somehow survived Soviet oppression and a turbulent history — those are a few of my memories from a trip to Ukraine long before the Russian invasion.

Egypt in pictures
Africa Photos 

Egypt in pictures

November 12, 2021November 12, 2021 pdg 0
Cambodia in pictures
Asia Photos 

Cambodia in pictures

October 4, 2021October 4, 2021 pdg 0
Albania in pictures
Europe Photos Top stories 

Albania in pictures

September 13, 2021October 4, 2021 pdg 0
Czechostalgia: A photographic ramble through 1990s Bohemia
Europe Photos 

Czechostalgia: A photographic ramble through 1990s Bohemia

August 28, 2021August 28, 2021 pdg 0
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