16th October 2009
Starting in Chengdu, home of the Panda Breeding Research Institute, I travelled west climbing through mountains and mist. Passing through a road tunnel near the mountain's summit the weather suddenly changed: the sun shone through the clouds sending bolts...
16th October 2009
Flying in to North Island by helicopter from Mahe, a mere 15 minute ride, you are shown breathtaking views of pristine white beaches and clear turquoise waters and if you're lucky, whales and dolphins can sometimes be spotted. North Island is one of the i...
15th October 2009
I could not sleep. I wandered dream-like through a fairy-tale land. I was surrounded by giant cakes, stories high, a delicate white icing highlighting the windows and tracing fragile patterns on the walls and crenellations. Wafts of incense and perfume de...
15th October 2009
Signs that speak of "Fixed Prices" in five different languages are a warning to any self-respecting traveller to stay away. So too, anywhere trying to sell itself on the back of Star Wars. These two lessons I learned quickly on arrival in Tunisia. Thankfu...
15th October 2009
Tajikistan, a land-locked country of 7 million people borders China in the East, Afghanistan in the South, Uzbekistan to the west and Kyrghyzstan to the North. Described as being 93 % mountains and 100 % adventure they're not far off the mark.
Currentl...
15th October 2009
My five week adventure started in Peru's capital Lima, its ancient cathedral and catacombs contrasting with the cosmopolitan, vibrant district of Miraflores just five minutes from some of the best waves in Peru.
A brief flight over the intriguing, myst...
15th October 2009
Flying over the highest red dunes from Sossusvlei towards the coast in a little Cessna 210 when there is nothing else you can see for 360 degrees but sand dunes (for 45 minutes) was truly humbling. It left me and my two fellow passengers unable to speak: ...
15th October 2009
Leptis Magna, Sabratha, and Cyrene are some of the most evocative and tantalising names in the history of antiquity. Combine them with Siwa and Alexandria in Egypt and you have the makings of a fascinating journey. I flew with my eldest son (a classicist ...
15th October 2009
"Do you know the film 'Legends of the Fall'? It is a wonderful film shot here in Libya in the 1950s starring John Wayne and Sophia Loren. It is wonderful because it ends here, in Leptis Magna, and you can see many of the statues still in situ. They have n...
15th September 2009
In September my sister asked if I would be interested in joining her on a trip to the Karoo. I am always happy travelling with my sister but had little knowledge of the Karoo. I thought it would be flat and uninteresting with a lot of grazing sheep so had...
15th September 2009
I was lucky enough to visit Northern Mozambique in January for the third time in three years. This area is really beginning to open up to tourism and now is certainly the time to go, as it is a rapidly changing area, although luckily the building of hotel...
15th September 2009
Madagascar is an island with a feast of experiences ranging from desert and sandstone to sprawling lemur-filled primary rainforests to some of the most beautiful islands I have ever encountered. The people are delightfully friendly, if not a little amused...
15th September 2009
I've just returned from my third trip to Russia but my first time travelling to the less visited towns outside Moscow and St Petersburg. Known as the Golden Ring, this circle of towns, some on the Volga, others just 90 minutes outside the city, are famed ...
11th August 2009
I wasn't prepared for the mind boggling facts that make Botswana and the Okavango Delta such an amazing geographical phenomenon let alone for the reality of flying over this incredible land.
Botswana is a landlocked, flat country, the same size as Fra...
10th August 2009
Rain & the Garden of Eden with the Long Necked Leopard.
If anyone thinks that it rains in Britain then no one has experienced a downfall as I did in Tanzania. It didn't just rain, the heavens literally opened...
Leaving behind six inches of snow, I ...
