a life in 25 pictures

 1. Hello world, I’m here! Me with mother Colleen Pauline Cullen Bristow, Yeoville, Jhb, 1956.

2. Bramley 1960: What are you today David? Already a minor celebrity on Kelvin Road.

3. Under 10A soccer team (front row, second from left), Bryanston Primary School, 1966.

4. 1st rugby team (back row, second from left), Bryanston High School, 1973.

5. “When the army calls a man, it turns his dreams to dust”(centre), Youngsfield Artillery, 1974.

6. Five lads go a’venturing: Maun “international" airport (back to camera), July 1975.

7. The journalism student, learning about deadlines on Rhodeo rag, Rhodes University, 1977.

8. Making the documentary which nearly sank my academic ship: “Settler City” 1980.

9. A real journalist, The Star newspaper, Johannesburg, 1981.

10. Jugal Peak, SA Mountain Club Himalayan expedition, October1982.

11 .With mate Don, having just climbed the Groot Spitzkop, July 1983.

12. The Sowetan sub-editor’s Christmas lunch 1982: Sydney, me, Sonia (RIP), Lance, Maureen and Phil (RIP).

13. Enviro Science Masters student with Carla and Wuppertal shoes, Cape Town 1985.

14. O Solo Mio, the Drakensberg Grand Traverse, 1987.

15. The game guide and safari lodge manager: chilling with Shirley Hunter on the Boro River. Okavango Delta, 1988.

16. The publisher, Pachyderm Press,The South African Gardener's Almanac book launch, 1990.

17. Deadlines, damn deadlines! Editor of Getaway travel magazine, circa 2000.

18. Being interviewed by TV presenter Gerald de Kok on the first Cape Epic multi-stage mountain bike race in SA, 2004.

19. Paddling the Selinda Spillway, Okavango-Linyanti: the first time the channel had flowed in two decades. 2007.

20. Forging the “Spine of the Dragon” mountain bike route across Lesotho. Total distance from Beit Bridge to Cape Town 4,500 km, 58 days. April - June 2011.

21. On the Pico do Orizabo, my Pico da Comeuppance, third highest peak in North America: my last big climb, just before succumbing to pulmonary oedema. 2013.

22. Impressing the locals with my mod cons: on Chole Mjini Island in the Zanzibar archipelago, while researching my travel magnus opus, African Icons (Pat de la Harpe looking on), 2014.

23. Mashatu road block: one of several times riding the Tour de Tuli, 2015-2019.

24. With longtime homey Nigel at Afrika Burn (playing Willem Wikkelspies), 2018.

25. The kids are alright. Time for the next generation to shine: Daniel, Ben, Bella and Jessie.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. 
    Edward Abbey, American gonzo author and environmental crusader