By now, many of us have seen the headlines and desperate images coming out of Morocco, where on Friday night a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck, with its epicentre in the High-Atlas mountains, a remote area of villages south of Marrakech. Parts of the Taroudant region, and the Marrakech Medina were also affected. First responders have […]
The Rabat-Tangier A-5 is a modern, four lane tollway traversing some of Morocco’s most fertile agricultural land, crossing several major rivers just before they finish their course in the nearby Atlantic, and passing beside the main coastal towns of what was once the Spanish protectorate of Morocco, namely Larache and the colourful artistic medina of […]
The drive from the new Chengis Khann International Airport to city center in Ulaanbaatar is 55 km. Initial planning for the airport was done in 2006 with a US$385 million 40-year loan agreement signed between the Government of Mongolia and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. It was built and opened on the 4th of […]
On a recent trip to Oaxaca, one of the culinary and cultural hearts of magnificent Mexico, I was lucky enough to experience the wonder, strangeness and joy that is the Day of the Dead (el Dia de los Muertos). I’d always been somewhat flummoxed by the differences between Day of the Dead and Halloween and […]
Bold statement coming in: I’m declaring 2023 the year for Peru and, heck, why not 2024, too! The short and the sweet of it is as follows: the shadow cast by the pandemic, coupled with political unrest earlier this year, has resulted in a slower return to travel than many other countries have experienced over […]
Nature is fragile, let’s preserve it. This sentence is the introduction to my video as well as my conclusion after having spent most weekends in the past 5 month in Camargue. Patiently, I explored most areas the park: its lakes, channels, tracks, beaches and salt flats, in search of the best locations. And when the […]
When I was a child, I was mad at my parents for buying a family van instead of a horse. I refused to understand why using a horse to get around the suburbs of Toronto was not a practical choice and that a van would be much more suitable for our family. As you can […]
Integral to the grandiose setting, the alluring mist and immensity of sound that comes from getting close to the Iguazú Falls is the often overlooked, culturally and naturally diverse province of Misiones. Political borders aside, this area is the heart of Argentina’s Atlantic Rainforest. Misiones province was named after the Jesuit missions that formed there […]
Uruguay is of wood and marble, of grain and sheen; where rural charm sits at the table next to aristocracy and both happily have sand between their toes or dirt under the nail from the outdoor explorations of the day. Olive orchards, hillside wineries, cattle ranches and small fishing boats all populate this tiny pear-shaped […]
I’m no expert. I don’t have bitters at home or dried fruits, nor proper stemware. Those who know me know that typically I drink straight from the can. But every once in a while I do like to treat myself to a cocktail. Something fancy. And a few weeks ago I was in Colombia for […]
“Just look out for two old codgers standing in arrivals.” This was the closing sentence in an email I received from my father’s cousin, and even though we had never met, I knew instantly that we would get along. Sure enough, after a flight across the Atlantic to Lisbon, and then another north to Oporto, […]
This week, a conversation with Joe Perez, Trufflepig’s new Operations Manager. Previous to the travel business, Joe worked on a number of ships with the Merchant Marines. He describes a different pace of life in international waters: days are counted differently, maps become faulty and you quickly realize there is a difference between Magnetic North […]
Our man Anton lives at the pace of a cruising bike in the grand city of London England. There is something special about the pace of a free-wheeling bicycle – it allows you to float past the riff-raff, watching life roll by, almost unseen. The bike, since its invention, has barely evolved, a perfect invention […]
Much like on Route 66, prior to the days of interstate highways and big service centres, when travelers found food and gas at roadside stands, in South Africa you stop at the farmstall. These little snippets of nostalgia are a step back in time and a delight to visit. Farmstalls are generally family-run businesses set […]
There was a time period at the end of the 70’s, when rock and roll belched up 15 minute ballads sticky with hairspray, and the efficiency of a 2-4 beat and counterculture got lost in the woods and egos of stadium shows. We ended up with “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”. Fortunately punk rock and […]
Located in one of the sunniest parts of the French Alps, the small town of Barcelonnette (not to be confused with Barcelona in Spain) is home to almost 3000 souls. Barcelonnette is not only a friendly family ski town known to every ski enthusiast in the South of France (only 3h away from Marseille), it […]