Expert Insights

September 09, 2013 Eye for a bargin

Read time – 3 minutes The ground pitches and rolls beneath my foot. I capitulate precariously, grasping a rough knotted rope to maintain my balance. Fortunately it is stretched taught and holds my weight, allowing me to steady myself and clamber onto dry land with an undignified lurch. A week on the waves has clearly...

September 06, 2013 Rajasthan Cycle Review

Read time – 6 minutes Like many people, India was one of the places that I had always wanted to travel to. I had read the books, seen the movies – and now I was sat on an aeroplane ready to go. The gentleman I sat next to on the plane (who turned out to...

September 06, 2013 The (Gastronomic) Mont Blanc Circuit

You might think that two weeks of trekking in the Mont Blanc region would be great way to lose a little weight. Tour Leader Charlie Boscoe explains why this isn’t necessarily the case! It is impossible to walk the meadows and passes below the towering peaks of Mont Blanc without feeling a stirring of the...

September 06, 2013 India’s Himalayas of Ladakh

Read time – 4 minutes A brisk wind races through the high passes, scattering prayer flags flapping and fluttering against the sky. The haunting echo of footsteps tracing the corridor of a Buddhist monastery is swept away, the sun streams down over the lush green tea plantations of Darjeeling. Somewhere more secretive, the elusive shadow...

September 06, 2013 The Amalfi Coast Best Bits – Eat, Walk, Love

Read time – 3 minutes The old man’s eyes are honest as he whispers to me, “Here, in this region, we have everything you can possibly look for.” This wisened face belongs to one of the family who own the Hotel Le Due Torri where we are staying, high in the hills near the Amalfi...

September 06, 2013 The Galapagos Islands and Turtles

Read time – 3 minutes “You will get bored of sea turtles,” the appropriately named Darwin says as he outlines the week’s adventures aboard the Cachalote. Nods ripple around the group signalling agreement – it’s a risk we are prepared to take. Sea Turtle, Galapagos Galapagos Islands Cruise On day one of the Galapagos cruise, our boat docks...

September 05, 2013 Adventure Trips for the New Year

Read time – 3 minutes For the first New Year ever I have not made a resolution – I have, after many years, finally admitted to myself that I’m not going to keep it anyway, so why bother making one? New Year Adventures Instead, I’m looking down alternative avenues. After all, with the inclement weather forcing...

September 05, 2013 Food and Drink of the Picos de Europa

Read time – 2 minutes Amidst the alpine scenery of white limestone karst, green hills flecked white with roaming sheep and goats, picturesque trails wind between shepherd’s huts and villages. The Picos de Europa is a haven of tranquility in northern Spain, known for its sumptuous, hearty cuisine full of flavours from the surrounding hills....

September 05, 2013 Iceland Winter Activities Highlights

Read time – 3 minutes Having lived in Kiruna, northern Sweden, as a child, I thought I’d pretty much seen it all when it comes to winter in an isolated cold environment. That was until I visited Iceland in December – when I realised I’d not seen the half of it. It may have been...

September 05, 2013 In Search of Emperor Penguins

Read time – 3 minutes Paul Goldstein visits the Emperor Penguin colony of Snow Hill Island on the Ice-Breaker the Kapitan Kehlebnikov. As I sit in the clinical surrounds of London SW12, my thoughts of work are compromised by visions of the Southern Seas. To do justice to the Emperor Pilgrimage is beyond pen or...