21 September 2021

My wish-list Many people call this their bucket list, I personally prefer wish-list, everyone has one and the experiences on them will vary greatly from sleeping out under the stars to being waited on hand and foot by your own personal butler. Here are the top 5 travel adventures on my wish-list. Iceland The land of fire and ice is high on my list of must-do travel moments. I think I may have to visit twice so I can experience the Northern Lights, snowmobile adventures and frozen waterfalls in the winter, then return in the summer so I can take in the midnight sun, enjoy the Blue Lagoon, and see all the nature that summer has to offer. Swim with the pigs Yes, this is a real thing! The district of Exuma in the Bahamas is home to 20-something adorable pigs. Welcome to Pig Island where all pigs go to heaven. Uninhabited and accessible only by boat you float across the shimmering water and as your boat approaches the beach the pigs and piglets take to the water to greet you. Los Angeles – Sunset Strip This is high on my wish list. Apart from the usual touristy things to do such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Beverley Hills tour and walk to the Hollywood sign I so want to visit the likes of Whisky-a-Go-Go, Rainbow Bar and Grill and The Troubadour where many of my idols such as Bon Jovi and Guns & Roses have graced with their presence and rock shows. Namibia One of the safest countries in Africa and rich of history, exotic animals, diverse culture, adventure-packed excursions and massive deserts, Namibia is a fantastic destination for the traveller who wants to experience something new and exciting. Slide down the iconic “Big Daddy” red sand dune in Sossusvlei, visit the Africat Foundation Cheetah Sanctuary then head for Etosha National Park home to rhinos, elephants, giraffes, lions and much more. Elephant Hills – Thailand Located in Thailand’s Khao Sok National Park, Elephant Hills is unique and the countries first luxury tented jungle camp. You stay in luxurious glamping tents, with all the facilities expected of a 4* hotel, plus can choose from one of 4 soft adventure tours, where you will take part in their Ethical Elephant Adventure Experience, getting to feed these majestic animals before observing them in their natural habitat – a true must for all elephant lovers like me.

05 December 2019

Finally we are starting to see Tour Operators and sightseeing companies, put aside the pound signs in their eyes and drop cruel and unethical "touristy" animal experiences. I was lucky enough to be able to arrange a honeymoon to Cambodia involving a visit to one of the "ethical" elephant sanctuaries. The Mondulkuri Elephant Valley Project is a registered Cambodian NGO. Their key motivation over the past 10 years in developing the Elephant Valley Project has been to set an example for how to look after and treat elephants. Being a highly endangered animal their main goal is to give the elephants back their independence, natural behaviour and dignity. Their goal is to simply let the elephants just be elephants in a stress free natural habitat. From a visitor’s point of view this implies that ‘putting the elephants first’ also means that they do many of the activities that you can find elsewhere (feeding, swimming) and in turn feel that this difference has come to define why they are a True Sanctuary for captive elephants. They offer a variety of tours ranging from a quick half day trip for people in a hurry to a 3 day Elephant Immersion Experience. My customers chose the Ele Lovers experience which gave them the chance to Hike into the beautiful Cambodian jungle and spend a full day observing two different elephant herds, following them as they graze, play and wander through their forest home. Learn about the elephants, local indigenous people’s culture, forest and conservation. A new elephant sanctuary in Chiang Rai, Thailand has recently opened using the same model. Meet Doe, Darling, Sambo and Ruby. Their stories are harrowing and the EVP is doing everything they can to protect the elephants, their habitat, the future of Cambodia's forests and the local community. Let's keep things ethical and hopefully see a lot more natural interaction with animals in the future.

07 August 2019

Have your kids ever dreamed of becoming astronauts? Are you curious to see space shuttles and rockets up close? If so, then Kennedy Space Centre is an absolute must on any visit to Florida. The main Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Centre is a massive, sprawling area, almost resembling a theme park in places. Your mission starts here... the Space Centre is organised into Mission Zones where attractions and tours are grouped in order from first to present. From the dawn of space exploration to current and ongoing missions, you can get an up-close, hands-on feel for the story of humans in space. Fuel your quest for inspiration right here. The main attractions are Heroes and Legends, Behind the gates, Race to the moon, Shuttle: A spaceship like no other and NASA now + next. In advance we decided to visit on the day that a real live astronaut would be giving talks, plus a chance to meet them, photos, autographs and even lunch! My son is a massive science geek so this was a no brainer. We were extremely lucky to be visiting on the day Anna Fisher was the resident astronaut. A truly remarkable, inspiring lady who would make you believe you are capable of following your dreams and achieving a 100% success rate. Dr. Anna Fisher was selected as an astronaut by NASA in January 1978 as one of the first six female astronauts. When her husband was selected by NASA in 1980, they became the first married couple ever to be employed by them and in 1984 she became the first mother to travel in space. Following lunch was the bus tour - access to the restricted zones, vehicle assembly building, launch complex 39 plus all the bits in-between, ending in a tour of the Apollo vs Saturn Centre where space comes to life. You truly cannot comprehend the immense scale of the complex until you visit it yourself. When you first enter, you view a short multimedia presentation about JFK’s goal of putting a man on the moon. From there, you enter a viewing area overlooking the control centre for the Apollo 8 mission and saw what it was like to manage the mission here on land. You can easily spend at least an hour at the Apollo/Saturn V centre, taking in the show, touching a moon rock, and examining the Saturn rocket. Once you take the bus back to the visitor centre you can fill your time with some of the other exhibits. A walk around the Astronaut Memorial brings home that no matter how exciting and scientifically advanced the NASA programme is, space travel is a dangerous and courageous vocation. I have to say it brought a tear to my eye and a lump in my throat to think that these astronauts laid down their lives, although doing something they had an extreme passion for, all in the name of innovation and exploration. If you are thinking of taking kids young and old alike to Kennedy Space Centre for a day trip, I say DO IT!

01 August 2019

Details kindly provided by a lovely customer who writes as Wayfarer's Travels…. Banjul provides a convenient starting point from which to explore deeper into Africa. Roads (if you can call them that) are far and few between so it`s essential to hire a boat and crew for a couple of weeks. The river is very wide for the first few miles and due to the currents, it`s quite unusual in that one side is saline and the other fresh water. Hence from our boat I was able to photograph dolphins at one side and crocs and hippos at the other. Sadly, Gambia’s main claim to fame has always been the slave trade. In the 17th century hundreds of thousands of innocent natives were kidnapped and shipped off to America to work as slaves mainly on the cotton plantations. One of our objectives was to find the birthplace of Kunta Kinte, the slave who featured in the film and TV series “Roots”, and to learn more about his past. We found the village where he was born, Juffure, on the banks of the river about 30 miles upstream. Nearby in the middle of the river lies the island to which he and the other captives were initially taken. The huge slave house remains, albeit in ruins, and in strategic positions around the shoreline are huge cannons to ward off any would-be invaders. Unfortunately, the island is now gradually disappearing due to coastal erosion. The island was originally named “James Island” but has now been renamed “Kunta Kinte Island” in his memory. Gambia is often referred to as the land of The Mandinka. The Mandinka are the largest tribe in that part of West Africa. At certain times of the year it is tradition for their older boys to be taken out into the bush by a few village elders and the witch doctor. Here they are said to become men, when they are circumcised, and then they spend a month in the bush learning the village traditions and family values. No one else is allowed in that area during that period. In the meantime, the villagers celebrate the occasion with traditional dances accompanied by the witch doctor who is covered from head to foot with red or brown tassels as he swings huge machetes. We were fortunate to witness one of these dances as we made our way through one of the villages but had to be on our toes as the machetes flashed past our noses a bit too close for comfort! About 300 miles upstream we came across several small native villages where they still live in mud huts and where the only access to any health care in some of the more remote areas was to the local medicine man or the witch doctor! Not surprisingly the mortality rate of young children was very high – particularly amongst males for some reason. The resultant imbalance of the sexes meant that it was common for the men to have several wives. Our little boat also braved the mangrove swamps where we were able to photograph many spectacular birds, both huge and colourful. Then it was onward to a stretch of river banked by jungle, one of the few places on earth where chimpanzees flourish in the wild. A couple of clothes pegs would have come in handy as the stench in the mangrove swamps was something else!