Expert Insights

September 12, 2013 Off-Road Cycling in Croatia

Read time – 3 minutes Following two excellent trips to Dubrovnik and the enchanting islands of the Dalmatian Coast, Croatia sits in top spot on my list of favourite European destinations. This laid-back country, steeped in medieval history and lapped by turquoise waters, is home to smooth tarmac roads that would make for a very pleasant road ride…if that...

September 12, 2013 A Baracoa Adventure

Read time – 3 minutes Plastic scrapes along the coarse river bed, ripples lapping at the shore. The chipped wooden oars come to rest in the shallow water beneath us. On a grassy mound in the distance, I am distracted by two men standing knee-deep in the River Toa which flows through Cuba, casting and...

September 12, 2013 In the Footsteps of Edmund Hilary

Read time – 3 minutes Nepal, Kathmandu and Everest – a few names I became aware of early in life having spent my formative years on a certain little Southern Hemisphere island. Down there you learn about the mystical kingdom of Nepal even if you fail to pay attention at school! All thanks to one man –...

September 12, 2013 Joyce’s Story

Read time – 1 minute Joyce is a little eight-year-old girl who lives 100 yards away from our school in Kasalu, Zambia. I met her last December and discovered she was not attending school. She was a very quiet, softly spoken kid with a downtrodden demeanour and a sad face. Her life had been pretty...

September 12, 2013 A First Taste of India

Read time – 3 minutes “Did you get ill then?” seems to be the first question that comes to mind when you tell people you’ve just come back from India. It may not be an actual medical condition but it seems as if everyone knows about the dreaded Delhi Belly. It was with that in my...

September 12, 2013 Exploring the Antarctic

Read time – 2 minutes Antarctica is so much more than the sum of its parts. It took a second visit to really appreciate this. As with all travel experiences, memories are dictated by the pictures taken, the diaries kept and the anecdotes relayed upon return. As months turn to years, what is left are fragments...

September 12, 2013 A Feast of Wild Places: A Tour of Patagonia

Read time – 2 minutes Charred and smoking, piles of red hot coal formed a line of fire, dividing the town’s main square. Plumes of ash flew into the air as a local parrillero braved the searing heat to tend to the burning coals; an iron rod clenched in one hand, he wiped the soot...

September 12, 2013 Laos and Vietnam by Bike

Read time – 3 minutes I first travelled with Exodus in 1984 on an adventure trek in Morocco and have been with them many times since on walking trips to Kilimanjaro, India, Nepal and elsewhere but only two years ago did I take up cycling and I am now hooked on. Before joining the Laos...

September 12, 2013 Mount Everest Expedition – The full story

Read time – 2 minutes Valerie Parkinson was the first British woman to climb, without supplementary oxygen, the world’s eighth highest mountain. Having reached the summit of Manaslu at 8163m on the Nepal/Tibet border in 2008, what better way to celebrate her 50th birthday in 2009, than by attempting Mount Everest? Valerie is the long-standing...

September 11, 2013 Conquering Kilimanjaro

Read time – 5 minutes Exodus traveller Natalie Amos battles the scree and shale as she struggles to reach the peak of Kilimanjaro. It’s his handshake that tells his story. His grip is strong, and his palms have been toughened by years of hoisting bags, and clients, as they scramble over the icy scree and...