NEWS

For thousands of years, the impenetrable rainforest in southwest Uganda was home to an indigenous minority known as Batwa pygmies.   The Batwa inhabited this lush region on the border between Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda for over 60,000...

As we were driving along a dirt track in Ishasha, a section of Uganda’s Queen Elisabeth National Park, all of a sudden our guide JP stopped the car and asked me for the binoculars. He pointed to a magnificent sycamore tree a couple of hundred metres from where...

“No one who looks into a gorilla’s eyes—intelligent, gentle, vulnerable—can remain unchanged, for the gap between ape and human vanishes; we know that the gorilla still lives within us”   The quote is from George Schaller, who as a young 26-year-old...

In the heart of Central China, at the foothills of the Minh Mountains, lays Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve.   The Chinese say “Nowhere else under the sky can match Jiuzhaigou”.   This fabulous wilderness of pure streams, lakes the colour of opal, and thick...

Stretching from the wild outer reefs of the Coral Sea to the tangled mangrove and rain rainforest in the state of Queensland on Australian’s East Coast, the Great Barrier Reef is a 2,600 km wonder of nature!   Created by billions of tiny polyps in partnership...

“There is nothing in Italy more beautiful to me than the coast-road between Genoa and Spezzia”   Charles Dickens.   As a Ligurian, I know this is no exaggeration.   The eastern end of the Ligurian Riviera conjures idyllic images of sunshine and a shimmering...

For two weeks in late October/early November as the moon reaches its fullness during the Kartik Purmina, the small desert town of Pushkar in India’s central-eastern Rajasthan, becomes the epicentre of religious festivities and the largest livestock fair on the...

Easter is the perfect time to visit Malta if you want to experience its true soul and the grand pageantry of its heritage. I have spent several holidays here. My fondest memories are of my Easter breaks when I start the day eating the special Easter sweets before...

In the topical waters of the South Seas, we can hear a male humpback whale singing to attract a mate as we snorkel off an uninhabited island in the Kingdom of Tonga. Holding onto to the anchor chain of our yacht we try to breathe quietly to hear the whale’s...

The mist clears slowly as our jeep winds its way along a jungle trail. Every turn has the possibility of a revelation. Cries of different creatures fill the air, but their location remains a mystery. Suddenly a tiny owlet appears in a hole in a gigantic tree. It seems...

There is something special in my opinion, about being in a new place during a major festival celebration. The atmosphere is exciting, the people are friendlier and the location feels alive, energetic and a lot more fun! This is definitely the case for the most...

It’s February in East Africa and something magical and disquieting is taking place before our eyes. 1.3 million wildebeest have gathered in the shadow of Ol Donyo Lengai (Mountain of God) to give birth to their young. They arrived here in December and by late...

As our seaplane takes off from Colombo airport, we leave behind Sri Lanka’s golden shores and their heritage of Portuguese and Dutch maritime trade to fly deep into the heart of the island. The hinterland is dotted with the ruins of ancient Ceylonese royal cities and...

It is the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere and 200 km north of the Arctic Circle the sun only shines for a couple of hours every day. Temperatures do not rise above -5 °C and soft snow blankets the entire landscape. The vistas reveal an immense and...