by Editor | Jun 23, 2014 | Products
Article and photos by Gary Cox
The Playaway audiobook player (headphone jack along the bottom)
For many years, I have enjoyed listening to audiobooks. They fill the hours on long flights and often go with me while I’m doing routine chores and running errands. Audiobooks bring the text to life, with a good narrator strengthening the performance with different voices and proper emotional emphasis. It is easy to imagine the appeal of radio programs before television made visual entertainment the dominant force that it is today.
The process of downloading audiobooks involves multiple steps and the menus in my favorite player require extensive navigation to play a book. I have gotten used to it because I enjoy the medium, but I suspect that less technologically inclined people might not survive the effort.
The case and the player
I recently had the chance to try out the Playaway all in one audiobook player assembled in Ohio. It is an audiobook with a dedicated player bundled in a convenient plastic case. The case and player I received mimic a book cover, with a typical summary description of the story and credits. The case held the two ounce player and a single AAA battery (for longer term storage to avoid any chance of corroding the player). The player fits comfortably in my shirt pocket. The top of the player is heavier with the battery and slides into a pocket naturally. The standard headphone jack in the bottom (headphones not included) of the player faces the top of the pocket so that my headphones remains untangled.
The case holds the player and the battery
The player controls are standard, allowing me to navigate the contents of the single audiobook, with a back lit LCD display clearly showing the current position and messages during startup and shutdown. The layout of the flexible rubber buttons allows space for large fingers. The buttons respond to comfortable pressure, and the power button toggles a lock to prevent accidental pushes when in a pocket. The player features a speed button, allowing five different playback speeds.
The player displays the book cover
The main target audience for these audio books is lending libraries and facilities where multiple people can borrow the books to listen and return them when they are finished. There are thousands of titles offered on the site in various genres. According to the seller, the audio players are well suited for children, seniors and visually impaired individuals, as well as avid readers like me. My personal experience of using the Playaway audiobook has been positive.
The battery compartment is on the top of the player
In our house, we read many paperback books. Once finished, they go to a local charity or recycling bin depending on their condition. We keep several bookshelves of fiction too good to part with after the first reading. These consist of hard to get, no longer in print, or favorite authors we expect to take out again. It is easy to imagine using the Playaway books to build a library of audiobook favorites. In summary, the Playaway all in one audiobook offered me the convenience and simplicity of function in an attractive portable package. Findaway World, 31999 Aurora Road Solon, Ohio 44139, 1-877-893-0808, www.my.playaway.com, jbelardo@findawayworld.com
by Editor | Jun 9, 2014 | Luxury Travel
Article and photos by Josette King
The lodge and swimming pool
In the local Shangaan language, so I had heard, shumbalala means “the place where lions sleep.” And I was headed to Shumbalala, the intimate luxury lodge located in the heart of South Africa’s Thornybush Game Reserve, known for the density of its resident population of lions as well as other Big Fives species (buffalo, elephant, leopard and rhino). My expectations were high. Even as I transferred from the car that had brought me from nearby Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport to the Shumbalala open game viewing vehicle that met me at the gate (no private vehicles were allowed in Thornybush), I held my camera at the ready for lions.
Rhinos enjoyed a nap in the shade
Moments later, I had forgotten about them. I was staring slack jawed at a scene I had never before experienced in my repeated visits to Africa: a tangle of rhinos, tightly huddled together in search of relief from the searing midday heat under the meager shade of a roadside tree.
Throughout my stay, while I enjoyed plenty of big cat sightings, leopards and cheetahs as well as the eponymous lions, rhinos commanded the limelight. Whether in a breeding herd with young calves grazing in the sunset or in groups of mature males crashing determinedly through the bush, they were an awesome sight. And like the other big game I encountered around Thornybush, these often shy behemoths were sufficiently habituated to humans that they all but ignored our presence, allowing for an outstanding opportunity to observe and photograph them at length and at close range.
The sleeping area of Suite Number Three
At Shumbalala, game viewing was only the beginning of an exceptional safari experience in the grand South African tradition. Nestled in a shaded grove at the edge of a seasonal river, reduced to a busy water hole when I visited at the height of the dry season, the property was a secluded oasis of classic elegance in the midst of a great swath of pristine open bush. With its spacious main lodge and only five guestrooms, each a cozy free standing thatched structure, Shumbalala offered the opulent comfort of an African country manor of a bygone era and the personalized hospitality to which only an intimate boutique property can aspire.
We came across this leopard concealed in the underbrush
The meals as well as the early morning and late afternoon game drives punctuated the days with enjoyable convivial interludes. From a hearty late morning brunch, bountiful mid afternoon high tea and elegant five course evening dinner, and some snack opportunities in between, every dish was beautifully prepared and served; and the cuisine was an artful blend of local specialties and international classics.
The wine cellar
Another notable feature of Shumbalala was its state of the art wine cellar. It was a lovely pre-dinner treat to visit the romantic vaulted space and select from a number of excellent South African labels a bottle to enhance my evening’s menu.
With its superb accommodations and hospitality, excellent game viewing opportunities and easy road and air access from the international hub of Johannesburg, Shumbalala was an ideal destination for travelers who preferred an easy one stop luxury safari experience. I personally found it an outstanding stop in my regional itinerary of game reserves and national parks.
A Shumbalala sunset
