An update …
After 5 days, James did eventually get out of the mud in Kazakhstan with the help of the firemen, the army and this surprisingly small-looking, but obviously bad-ass truck! Apparently it had an anchor to keep it stable while it pulled the truck out…
Welcome back James!
It has long been a dream / bucket list item for me to have my own photography exhibition. In 2021, I finally achieved my ambition 😀 Origins of the exhibition In my backyard began as a personal project to document the immediate surroundings of my current home. I was conscious that while we may remember…
One of the key things I wanted to do while in Estelà was visit Don Alberto Gutiérrez, a bit of a recluse who has spent the last 40 years carving all sorts of designs into the stones on his farm in the Tisey-Estanzuela Nature Reserve just outside of town. Once again, I arranged a day trip through Treehuggers, and…
One of EstelÃ’s claims to fame is that it is the largest cigar producer outside of Cuba.  Cigar manufacturing is the biggest employer in the region and the surroundings are filled with tobacco plantations and really cool looking drying and fermenting sheds that are absolutely enormous!  So, when I found myself with a free…
Last time I was in Nicaragua, I visited Matagalpa and ended up at the Finca Esperanza Verde – an ecolodge located about 45 minutes away further up in the mountains. At that time, Vivianne and Andrew had just taken over as owners and Max was a very small bundle of puppy fur. I couldn’t wait to…
The morning of Day 4 saw us exploring the Gentoo Penguin colony at Cuverville Island and, over lunch, the Vavilov re-positioned to Wilhelmina Bay for our second excursion of the day (yes, they planned to keep us busy)! This time it was a zodiac cruise to look for Antarctic mammals – particularly pertinent after Derek’s…
Visiting the Mitad del Mundo (or middle of the world) is something that almost everyone who comes to Quito does. When I first visited it 14 years ago, it was a massive monument and a yellow line that marked the Equator line (in theory). Oh my – how it has changed! The big monument is…