HIV/AIDS is something we haven’t even begun to discuss on This Tourism Week, I’m ashamed to say. And this is unforgivable because I myself lost a loved one to the disease in the mid ‘90s. Today, an HIV+ result is no longer a death sentence – but nevertheless, AIDS is devastating South Africa and we as tourism practitioners need to do everything we can to educate one another about it.

Please visit BarefootClients for a moving account of writer Charles King’s struggle with the dreaded HIV test – of what he went through before the test itself and what he felt when it came back negative.

And if you’re in the Nelspruit / Waterval Boven / Lowveld area (or anywhere else, for that matter – the world’s a village these days) and you need a good writer, Charles is your man. Contact him at charles.king@vodamail.co.za