Archive for February, 2026
Our West Africa cruise to Senegal and The Gambia
February 28th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
I love travel and, over my 77 years, I’ve done over 200 foreign trips. Recently – together with my fiancée Tess – I made my first visit to West Africa. It was a cruise to Senegal and The Gambia. You can read an account of our holiday here. This brings the number of countries that […]
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West African Cruise Day 3: Sunday – Cruise the Sine-Saloum Delta, explore Joal Fadiouth and sail to Banjul, Gambia
February 15th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
This morning, we arrived in Senegal’s Sine-Saloum Delta, a UNESCO biosphere reserve and an important birding area. The park is a haven for lots of mammal and fish species, from marine turtles and dolphins to West African manatees and crocodiles. Today’s optional excursion started at 9.15 an and finished at 3.45 pm and it was […]
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West African Cruise Day 2: Saturday – Visit Gorée Island and begin cruise to the Saloum River Delta
February 15th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Our began with a trip to Gorée Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just a 20-minute ferry ride from Dakar. Here, our local guide Omar toldus about the island’s slave trade history at the museum in Fort d’Estrées and the Maison des Esclaves, where captives were imprisoned before being shipped overseas. We paid our respects […]
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West African Cruise Day 1: Friday – Arrive in Senegal
February 15th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
On Friday 13th, we started our trip. It was 4C and cloudy in London when we flew out of Heathrow Airport at 7 am heading for Brussels. After a trip of just 40 minutes and then a wait of four hours, we flew down to Dakar, a journey of 5 hours 40 minutes. There is […]
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West Africa Cruise: introduction
February 12th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
I used to have an objective to have visited as many countries as my age. Then I found that I was racing ahead with my international travel. Now my wish is the reverse: to live for as many years as the number of countries that I’ve visited! I’m about to start of a new trip […]
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A review of the new Korean film “No Other Choice”
February 10th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
From the Korean director of the infamous “Old Boy”, Park Chan-wook’s latest film will not be to everyone’s taste since this surreal black comedy is a tale of mayhem and murder, but it is done with some style and poses a challenging social problem: what do we do when traditional industries – in this case, […]
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A review of “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan
February 8th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Set in a small Irish town in 1985, the point of view is that of kindly coal merchant, Bill Furlong. As the story develops, it becomes the author’s response to the scandal of the Magdalen laundries. Claire Keegan’s writing is so exquisite that one needs to read it slowly and fortunately one can because the […]
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A review of “So Late In The Day” by Claire Keegan
February 2nd, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Claire Keegan is an Irish writer known for her short stories and this one has been published in a stand-alone work of just 45 pages. Set in modern-day Dublin, this beautifully-written tale describes the evolving relationship of Cathal and Sabine and the lack of care in too many young men even today. Sabine offers Cathal […]
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A review of the classic film “Gone With The Wind” (1939)
February 2nd, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Everything about this film is epic. It is set at the most transformational period of American history: the civil war and the reconstruction era. It is based on the very long and hugely popular 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell. It was the second most expensive film made up to that point, with only “Ben Hur” […]
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