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. Sunday Times Travel ..read more

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 the equally wonderful Sudwala Caves. The caverns are packed with fossils and bats and were once the refuge of a great Swazi king and his people. This is the story of how the park came to be. The Dinosaur Park · Mpumalanga Tourism · Fortis Hotel Malaga · Sunday Times Lifestyle - Travel ..read more

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 exaggerated. The National Audio Company of Springfield, Missouri, USA, makes about 10 million cassette tapes a year for tapeheads and artists as different as Pearl Jam and Arianna Grande. Those musicians have helped ensure that there's life the old dog yet. In this epis ..read more

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, they hark back to travel's Golden Age, when the likes of the legendary Orient-Express carried society's ritziest across continents under clouds of luxury, exoticism and entitlement. Certainly, in an age of instantaneous everything, of night flights and sleeping pills and waking up on run ..read more

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 David Attenborough, follows the story of a family of African wild dogs as they battle a rival pack for territory and food on a wide floodplain along the Zambezi River. The episode is an epic production in every way. During long periods on location, the crew heard and saw animal behaviour that had ne ..read more

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 Jock Camp is so special. Sunday Times Travel · Jock Safari Lodge ..read more

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. MSC Cruises · Sunday Times Travel ..read more

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. Sunday Times Travel ..read more

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. Sail training on Picton Castle · Sunday Times Travel ..read more

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, e-mail grooveazensound@gmail.com. Sunday Times Travel ..read more