Fodor’s Travel. Oct 2022. Growing up in India, I often watched many Bollywood movies where the actors magically broke into a vibrant dance and song in a foreign land. Backgrounds of pristine white sand beaches, dramatic waterfalls, and seven colored Earths profoundly influenced the lifestyle and thinking of the viewers. With its proximity to India […]

AFAR. May 2022. As guests arrive at Kasane International Airport in the northeastern corner of Botswana, a woman driver begins to load luggage onto an open-air jeep. Wearing a khaki uniform with a red and white scarf tied neatly around her neck, she helps the fresh arrivals into her vehicle and cruises through the city’s […]

Khabar Magazine. April 2022 cover story. To reach Mauritius—located 1250 miles east of Africa, in the middle of the Indian Ocean—it takes six hours on a plane from India, twelve hours from Paris, and four hours from Johannesburg, where I boarded the flight. Ram Doobree, my limousine driver, meets me and my husband at the […]

CheapOAir Miles Away. October 2019. Senegal is one of West Africa’s most popular destinations, famous for its vibrant music scene, colorful architecture, and diverse culture. It’s also the safest country in the region with political stability, religious harmony, and no major health risks. The people are polite, welcoming, and proud of their teranga (which means hospitality in […]

For Cuisine Noir Magazine. Oct 2018. If you don’t want to wait around to sync schedules with your parents, family or friends, you don’t have to. With technology at their fingertips and transparency among travelers, women are more empowered than ever to travel the world on their own. Moreover, the rewards are a more enriching […]

For Cuisine Noir Magazine. February 2018.  Kenya has some of the best-preserved wildlife and to see it with your own eyes is a dream come true. As I drove in a rustic jeep through the vast expanse of the Masai Mara watching, herds of zebras, giraffes, wildebeest and prides of lions walk past me, it […]

For Cuisine Noir Magazine. January 2018.  I arrived in Dar es Salaam with Grace Odogbili, a Nigerian-American chef and caterer from Brooklyn. Having worked with New York’s top restaurants and caterers, Odogbili started her own business, Dining With Grace, in 2010 to offer people a chance to savor regional cuisines of the African diaspora. She teaches nutritional […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away Blog. November 2017.  Ready to explore the enormous continent of Africa but don’t know where to start? There are 54 countries in Africa, offering amazing opportunities to immerse in the culture, as well as view nature and wildlife. Most travelers flock to South Africa, not realizing it is farther, more expensive, […]