Laurie A. Claase is a freelance writer and editor based in Cape Town. After having travelled around the world, working on a dive boat in the Red sea, on a ferry between the Greek islands, in a Scottish country hotel and teaching English in Taiwan where she met her American husband, she finally made Cape Town her home base in 1997. From here she has made forays into southern Africa and has published accounts of her travels in a range of national and international publications.