Trips

France/Spain (The Camino de Santiago)

The Penitent Pilgrim
Every prilgrimage should have a purpose as there is a lot of introspection and soul-searching that takes place along the way.

Camino Frances: Part One
There are probably as many explanations of a pilgrimage as there are routes to Santiago, and there are also just as many reasons why people walk The Way of St James as it is also called.

Camino Frances: Part Two
One doesn’t choose to walk the Camino – the Camino chooses you, not unlike when casting directors of a movie say to auditioning actors “don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

Camino Frances: Part Three
Descending into Spain down the Pyrenees was a test of one’s knees. Many pilgrims took to zig-zagging down the impossibly steep path that lead to Roncesvalles.

Camino Frances: Part Four
It is said that walking the first part of the Camino (I guess wherever you start) tames the body, the second part tames the mind and the last section brings joy to the soul.

Camino Frances: Part Five
One thing you learn quickly on the Camino is that you are not in control and you have to just go with the flow when things take a turn for the worse.

Camino Frances: Part Six
It hardly seemed possible that I had started 800 kms back in St Jean Pied de Port. Before I left home I would lie in bed at night and have minor panic attacks about walking such great distances.

Subarnapur, Nepal

Royal Chitwan National Park
A short drive back to the hotel and a break before lunch, then it was on to the Royal Chitwan National Park for an elephant-back safari. Fantastic! Not overly long, just about two-and-a-half hours, with four passengers per elephant.

South America

The Condors of Colca Canyon – August 2003
The Colca Canyon is undeniably beautiful, with a great diversity of flora and fauna, but it is especially interesting for birdwatchers, for it is here that one finds an abundance of humming birds, kestrels, falcons, partridges and its greatest attraction, the Andean condors.

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu – August 2003
It is difficult to describe our feelings when we first saw Machu Picchu. Spread out on a lofty mountaintop, with its famous backdrop of Waynapicchu, the Urubamba River roaring down below and set off by the surrounding jungle-cloaked mountains, it was way beyond all our expectations.

New Zealand

Franz Josef Glacier – February 2007
Descending from the Southern Alps on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, the Franz Josef Glacier is about twelve kilometers long and is one of the few glaciers that approaches so close to the coast.

Botswana – 2009

In April 2009 we set off from Windhoek and our good friends Jon and Hillary Hardwick set off from Durban. We met at a few kilometres outside of Ghanzi in Botswana and we left for a few weeks in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and other fairly remote parts of Botswana. This is an account of that trip.

Ghanzi to Grasslands
They say that Africa is not for sissies – I think they should qualify that and say that the backroads of Botswana are not for sissies.

Piper Pan in the Central Kalahari Park
There are only two campsites at Piper Pan and they are about six kilometers apart, which makes each site very private.

Passarge Valley in the Central Kalahari Park
We were delighted when we had just taken up the lead on the way to Passarge and I spotted a big lion asleep under a Catophractes bush right next to the road.

The Lions of Passarge Valley (Gallery)
We came upon this lion kill in Passarge Valley, in the Central Kalahari Park

Deception Valley and Maun

Deception Valley gets its name from the mirages that make the area look like a huge lake in the heat. The other reason it’s called Deception is because although the ground surface looks dry after rains, beneath the dry crust the mud is slippery and causes havoc with vehicles that venture onto it.

Mankwe and Savute
Mankwe is an upmarket lodge, but has several well-located campsites for the likes of us. With its nifty open air shower and a flushing toilet it was quite luxurious by camping standards.