resilience – Michael Reid Books

Franschhoek, January 2026 — A New Beginning

https://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DBDF2001-811B-47AC-BFCE-33DAE5D776A9-1024x768.jpeg 1024 768 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books https://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DBDF2001-811B-47AC-BFCE-33DAE5D776A9-1024x768.jpeg January 18, 2026 August 31, 2026

January 18, 2026 Thank you for your concern and good wishes. Our flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town was smooth and uneventful. While driving into Franschhoek, we could see areas that had been severely burnt. Acres of scorched earth and blackened trees surrounded us. The smell of smoke still hung in the air. Although we…

Johannesburg, January 2026 — Drama on the Road

https://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/4D9FE65D-477B-4A88-AA3F-8F3E119B8E73-1024x814.jpeg 1024 814 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books https://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/4D9FE65D-477B-4A88-AA3F-8F3E119B8E73-1024x814.jpeg January 17, 2026 August 31, 2026

January 17, 2026 We sat on the tarmac waiting for passengers to arrive from their lodges. Ours’ was closest to the airport, with only one road to traverse. It remained passable. The other reserves were further away, and the rain had suddenly returned with a vengeance. All the grass visible in the picture (below) was soon to be totally…

Sultanahmet, February 2025 — Work in Progress

https://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Sultanahmet001-1024x768.jpeg 1024 768 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books https://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Sultanahmet001-1024x768.jpeg February 15, 2025 January 2, 2026

February 11, 2025 This is our hotel – a converted jail in Sultanahmet. Bill and I are back in Istanbul for a few days, preparing for our trip to Africa. Outside our hotel window we can see the 6th Century old Hagia Sophia being repaired and retrofitted. It was first a church, then a mosque,…