Safaris are like dating. Not the most obvious metaphor, but bear with me. When you start dating someone new, they’re like an exciting puzzle. As you see them more often, you get more comfortable and figure out a bit more of that puzzle. It’s exciting, scary and even a little confusing. I’d argue that the […]
Some trips you’ve planned in your head from the age of five, while others come to you in a moment of inspiration. Consider this your moment of inspiration. This one goes out to the impulsive among you—can I get a show of hands? If I could bestow upon you one perfectly constructed and heavily discounted […]
I will bet you any amount of money you like that when foraging for truffles in the likes of Piemonte and Perigord, there is no danger of you being stalked by a 550 lb black-maned Kalahari lion. I bet you thought you’d never get that chance, either—how wrong you were! It just so happens that […]
Fez. You might love it or hate it, but indifference is unlikely. You’ve never seen a place like Fez. Think of the medina as one huge treasure-hunt, a life-size labyrinth to lose yourself in, and don’t venture in without a ball of string. Few places are so difficult to understand and yet able to get […]
Separating fantastic fact from the equally legendary fiction in the life of Frederick Courteney Selous is no easy task. Getting a full and accurate account of his life may never be possible, but let’s be frank, it doesn’t really matter. When you count the likes of Cecil Rhodes and Teddy Roosevelt among your friends, an […]
Although there are many things that make the internet great, one of its shortcomings is the way safari companies often exercise their right to poetic licence. A small amount of embellishment is fine, outright fabrications are not. To help you see what I am on about, I need to get a little dull for a […]
I’m torn—a big part of my job is to convey to you the amazing places that I go, so that you can go there too, and see just how amazing it was. Sometimes, however, I find a place so special that I’d really rather keep it to myself. So if I tell you about my […]
On a trip to Africa you’re likely going to want a healthy dose of big-ticket wildlife. Stick with me, that’s coming, just not quite yet. The thing about a trip to Kenya is that the experience goes way beyond the safari. As I began to explain a few weeks ago, it’s about exposing yourself to something […]
December has hit (along with the snow), and suddenly everyone is in a planning panic for Christmas vacation. We know, we warn you to come to us far in advance for the good stuff. But in the eleventh hour, we can still toss a few truffles in your stocking. Huvafen Fushi, Maldives Huvafen Fushi is […]
I’d been in the air for so long that I’d almost forgotten where I was going, and was starting to wonder if I would ever get there. I went to the back of the plane to stretch my legs and looked out through the window when my breath caught in my chest. Stretching away as […]
In my mind, I am Russell Crowe in the movie Gladiator; charging into battle, meting out death and destruction with all manner of things sharp and pointy from the saddle of an expertly ridden horse. Or, I’m Wyatt Earp, dealing justice in the wild west on horseback… in my mind. The reality of me on […]
When an angry silverback gorilla tells you its time to leave—you jolly well listen. From Rwanda’s capital—Kigali—a two and a half hour drive into the mountains brought me to the comfortable Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge and the threshold of Volcanoes National Park. The lodge is not what I was there for, however; the following morning I met Francois—the most […]
On a recent trip I had it all—the best room, the best guide, the best meal, and yet something was missing. What has happened to me? Have I become that complicated? Quite the opposite in fact. If you take an old tree and cut through the rings of time, you will find at its heart the […]
Imagine an all-seeing, all-knowing force, constantly watching over you. It knows what you like, what you don’t like, where you’re from and where you’re going, and precisely where you are at all times. Sounds rather perfect to us. It’s a surprisingly large leap between four and five star service at a luxury hotel. There are […]
It’s a tricky thing, being off the grid. How disconnected can you be, really? I think that’s why I like Africa so much. Most of the countries that you can travel to have modern cell phone networks and broadband internet connectivity, but you can still find places that don’t. There are remote regions all over […]
Ten years ago you had to look pretty hard to find a fantastic place to stay in Marrakech. Sure there was a grand dame (that would be La Mamounia), but mostly it was a city of damsels in distress—long-in-the-tooth-and-never-that-beautiful-in the-first-place sort of places. And then began the riad renaissance, a remarkable era of restoration in […]