Category Adventures

When I was a travelling unicorn in Africa in the 80s

My most favorite decade of travel was the 80s – ahhh the good old days. No internet,  no plastic problems, no over-tourism, no mobile phones, no selfie sticks, no extinction problems and best of all, nobody knew where you were. We just drifted around, using the trusted travelers grapevine as our Stone Age Tripadvisor, only […]

Covid 19 news from my guides around the world…

In April I wrote to my guides in different places around the world to get an on-the-ground-perspective of what was happening in the world. One day we will look back at this post as a piece of history, and a reminder of what we went through. Here is what they said: NEWS FROM MARCELLO IN […]

Cuba – a journey and a lesson

Cuba: Pina Coladas, cigars, tropical beaches, salsa and old cars! That’s the main image most people have of this hot, time-warped Caribbean island. But, as with any travels, we discovered much more than that: a land with a rocky history, which still very much affects the present, and locals bracing themselves for the future. Above […]

Revisiting Ethiopia 10 years on…

It had been a few years since I had been to Ethiopia, so I was curious to see the changes. Sometimes things change for the good, sometimes for the worse. But I think what I had forgotten is that it’s how Ethiopia changes you. Unlike most other countries which you visit, learn about the culture […]

Bedouin women making history

Um Yasser, a middle-aged Bedouin woman of the Hamada tribe in South Sinai, was born in a rock house, but spent much of her childhood living in a cave dwelling in the desert, where she and her mother tended their herd of goats. The Bedouins are an old, conservative ethnic group, with laws that govern […]

Oman -why I fell in love with it

Oman… I wasn’t quite sure what to expect before arriving, not having done much research. Saw a few pictures, heard it was nice, that’s about it. And then I arrived and it all fell into place…

The Sinai Trail – a 220km hiking odyssey across the desert

The Sinai Trail is a 220km epic walk accompanied by Bedouin guides through the mountains and desert of South Sinai

Hiking 200km through the desert: the Sinai Trail – part 1 – Anticipation

You know that feeling of needing a soul-stirring adventure? A little challenge to get your pulse up and give you that “alive feeling” again? That was me, stuck in my office a few months back. Bored and flicking through Facebook I found something that rang my bell: the opportunity to hike 200km through the Sinai […]

Addicted to Morocco

Why Morocco is one of my favourite countries to travel in…

A fascination for the Sahara

Sahara is the Arabic word for desert.  Visit a desert or two, and you will find out that the desert is a magical, ever-changing landscape and not just a huge pile of sand:  huge golden dunes,  flat packed desert,  a moonscape scattered with strange rock formations or craggy and colourful mountains. If you care to spend a few days […]