Journal of a travel junkie

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It’s not just cricket that Jonty Rhodes has on his mind these days. It’s his home country, South Africa, or rather, promoting it.

A while after he was named the ambassador for South Africa tourism here in India, Jonty has decided to share all that he loves about his native land in the form of a book. Called My South African Diary, the book sees Jonty deliver a journal-style narrative as he travels to the most stunning locations in the Rainbow Nation, delivering homilies on the wildlife, scenic beauty, hospitality and food and wine for the discerning traveller.
Says Jonty, “My work gave me the opportunity to travel across the world, but it involved travelling more out of compulsion and not for leisure. I would just land in a city, finish my work, and move out — not spending much time going around and exploring places. But I was more than happy to get a chance to work on My South African Diary as this gave me a chance to revisit places I haven’t been to in a long time. It was like walking down memory lane, places that I visited as a kid with my family.”
The process of working on the book was special for another reason as well “because the pictures which you see in them have been captured by Caroline McClelland, a fashion photographer who also happens to be my fiancé,” says Jonty.
Jonty is hoping that the book will result in quite a few tourists making a memorable trip to his home country. He says, “There is one distinctive thing about South Africa. It’s the fact that you don’t have to explore it: The country unfolds itself to tell you its story.”