Smugglers, bandits and refugees
The GR 10 Trans Pyrenean Way trail involved interminable steep descents and climbs through dense chestnut and holm oak forests. We had seen nobody since we left the highway and border town of Perthus. The summer heat was so intense that I think even the crickets were quiet. Occasionally there...
Leaving the shores of the Mediterranean Sea
Living in the midst of a mountain range, there is a magnetism that draws you towards the mountains and the outdoors. The most famous hiking trail in Spain must be the Camino de Santiago (St James' Way). Although this trail passes through our doorstep (a section called the Aragonese Route),...
Mobile camping – A safari at its best.
Mobile tented camps, due to their not being permanent, have very little impact on the wildlife around them. In this case we become the visitors. I had taken Nick and Moira Bienstock on their honeymoon sixteen years ago, and now thanks to the modern age of the internet, they were...
To Santiago and beyond
This is an update on my previous post, the Way. The day after my son Laurence and I had biked to the French border, my nephew Christopher joined our party and we set off from our Pyrenean village to Santiago de Compostela: the ancient cathedral town and legendary resting place...
Let sleeping elephant lie!
While on safari in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, I was awakened at 02:30 one night by the familiar sound of snoring, but with a slight difference. It sounded like someone snoring down a hose pipe half-filled with water, creating a sort of gurgling sound as he snored. It was indeed an...
The Way
My son Laurence, his cousin Christopher, and I are about to embark on a journey. Traveling for several days from one point to another, with a specific aim in mind, is deep rooted in human culture. Most, although not all, of us aspire to at least one such adventure in...
Daring, outlandish reds, whites and some gold?
Most of the land is so dry that it is only fit for hardy cereals or livestock, but the first part is bordered by the Ebro river ...
Unusual Lion Encounter In the Masai Mara
By the end of the third day, these lions had full bellies, and all that remained of the carcass was the bare skull, spinal column, rib cage and the skin, stretched out like a picnic blanket.
Cat on the roof
As we sat watching her, one of her young cubs approached us in a manner that indicated he had an unusual fascination with the vehicle.
What a way to get a flat tyre!
There seemed to be pups everywhere, often approaching the vehicle very closely to investigate. This all seemed very endearing until it was time to drive away.
Who will be President?
We disembark onto the beach and are welcomed to one of the most remote camps in Africa. The waves lapping gently onto the sandy shore are rhythmical and peaceful, but the atmosphere in camp is electric. Talk is centred on who will be the next President. Of course, this camp is not on the arid shores of the Libyan desert, and the executed President was not Muammar Gaddafi.
Market Day
The trails provided ample shade as they crept through dense beech forests, and then all of a sudden would lead us onto exposed high mountain pastures.
