Marion Whitehead

Marion Whitehead has an insatiable curiosity to see what or who is around the next bend, especially when it involves mountains. The author of Passes & Poorts: Getaway’s Top 30 Scenic Mountain Routes in the Western Cape had many excuses to explore the African continent during her five years at Getaway. Some recent highs include getting lost in the narrow alleyways of Stone Town in Zanzibar, shooting her first leopard pic in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia and shivering amid snowy peaks at the top of Sani Pass.

Locally, she likes to travel from one farm stall to the next, breaking her journey and filling up her basket with delicious local produce. The former Getaway assistant editor shares her finds in her Roadside Rendezvous column for Getaway.

A Rhodes journalism graduate, Marion is now a freelance photojournalist and her addiction to wonderment keeps her on the road, her Nikon at the ready, looking for more beautiful landscapes to capture in order to lure readers to go adventuring.

In between travels, she indulges her green leanings, tries out alternative technologies and takes on garden projects, installing easy-to-care-for organic food gardens for environmentally aware and health-conscious Capetonians and coaching those wanting to develop their own green fingers.

This links to her other area of interest, natural healthcare. Marion writes widely on how to promote optimal health, from effective stress management and nutrition to dealing with depression using natural remedies free of side-effects.

Passes & Poorts is available from bookstores, or online at www.jacana.co.za.