Isabella Morris

Isabella is a Johannesburg-based writer and editor who enjoys reading literature from the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia. When she’s not travelling, she writes about her travels, surrounded by her family and her pets. If she could visit only one more place, it would be Tunisia. She dreams of writing a great war novel set in Singapore.

Isabella's Cultural Tip

My top cultural tip when visiting South Africa is to have no pre-expectations. Go with the flow. Let the country reveal itself to you. You’ll leave with experiences you never imagined possible.

Memorable Travel Experience

At dawn on a mid-winter morning in 2009 I hot air ballooned across the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. As we rose above the colossi of Memnon, I couldn’t help but think of the men who created the phenomenal statuary that I saw across Egypt. Imposing. Humbling. In the Museum in Cairo I walked around Tutankhamen’s tomb and found a fingerprint on the gilded surface. A fingerprint across time. Such a metaphor for Egypt.

Culture Smart! guide(s):

South africa