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Krakow, Poland

A long week-end spent in Polands ancient capital, exploring the old city and the surrounding area. Amongst my favourites was the beautiful Basilica of the Virgin Mary with its unusual asymetrical spires and luscious interior, the spectacular painting presented by St Florian Gate and the Wieliczka Salt Mine.

The mine is one of the major tourist draws and whilst going there might at first be considered to be the equivalent of being sent to the salt mines, the World Heritage Site is actually very interesting. More than 320m below the surface of the earth and over 300 km long, the mine includes a number of churches but most especially the so-called Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland. Carved entirely out of salt by three different... more...

Nufenen Pass, Switzerland

In July of 2008 I chose to drive back from a family holiday in Tuscany via the mountains of Switzerland.

Firstly we stopped with some friends in the small village of Sessa in Ticino, very close to the lovely city of Lugano. Whilst staying there I noticed two families of Barn Swallows who had made nests in teh ceiling above the breakfast table. After questioning my friends I found that they had been there for generations and were relatively used to a human presence, so teh morning found me happily clicking away as the adults flitted back and forth to feed their ravenous young. more...

Best of 2007 Travel Blog

The best images from my massive trip in 2007. From the magnificent sea eagles of Norway to the weird and wonderful moai of Easter Island, via Kenya, Tanzanai Madagascar, Botswana, northern Canada, Antarctica and Argentina 2007

Easter Island

19 December 2007

The final stop in my 4-month odyssey was Easter Island or Rapa Nui (Big Rapa, so named by labourers from Rapa in the Bass Islands, but the locals also call it Te pito o te henua - The Navel of the World), amongst the most isolated inhabited islands in the world, more than 3600 kilometers and 5 hours from Santiago de Chile. Most famous for the hundreds of Moai (sometimes called Easter Island heads) that literally litter the desolate countryside, it proved to be an unforgettable and magical four days.

Quarried from compressed volcanic ash using only stone hand chisels there were more than 880 of the Moai scattered around the island, though the majority are still within the area of the one extinct volcano, Rano Raraku, from which they originated. The largest completed more

Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile

13 December 2007

The last morning of my stay at the Explora Patagonia in Torres del Paine National Park was one of the most spectacular I have ever experienced. After hiking for more than three days with little sunshine but lots of rain and constant wind such as I have nearly never before experienced, dawn broke with perfect stillness, the few grey clouds in evidence only lending the scene even more weight. My jaw dropped and I proceed to ramble very happily, shooting as if I was watching a lion kill in Africa. Simply staggeringly beautiful.

But that is not to say I did not enjoy the previous three days as we went on multi-hour hikes both morning and afternoon in search of the elusive puma, and elusive he remained as not a sighting did I get. But I did thoroughly enjoy the variety of creatures more

Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

8 December 2007

After the wonders of Antarctica, it was time for a bit of R&R and I headed into the heart of Tierra del Fuego to stay at the wonderfully relaxing Estancia Rivadavia. A working ranch run by Myrna, the latest in the family who has held homestead for more than 60 years. My days were spent exploring the majestic landscape on horseback (an angle from which I was not perfectly comfortable) and discussing all sorts of things with the most attractive guide I can remember in any location, whilst watching the wild horses run back and forth

But from a photographic point of view the definite highlight was on the ranch itself. As it is a working one, multiple gauchos work with the horses, training and exercising them, and amongst the techniques is one I had never seen, nor indeed ever heard of. As part more

Southern Ocean

5 December 2007

For many of the visitors to Antarctica the various sea days can become very boring, and during a 3-week trip via South Georgia this can be up to 10 days, but not for me. Much of my time was spent on deck, trying to get the perfect shot of the various magnificent seabirds, especially the Wandering Albatross with its 12-foot wing span. Unfortunately no perfect shots but a great deal of wonder. To the uninitiated the great Southern Ocean might well be a desert with very little evident life, but the truth is quite the obverse. A great variety of seabirds, primarily tube-noses, constantly flit across the wastes in search of food and we saw more than 10 different species, often hundreds of miles from the nearest land. Besides the majestic Wandering, the real highlight was early on when we found a locally rare Sooty Albatross who circled the ship for more than an hour. more

Antarctic Peninsula

5 December 2007

During my first visit three years ago I was astounded by the immense beauty of Antarctica so on this trip I was quite trepidatious, thinking that perhaps that I had over-estimated it and that this time I would be disappointed. Happily my worries were all for nothing and it was as good as I could have hoped. This time we came south from South Georgia and given the very calm seas we made an attempt to make a rare stop at Elephant Island but were unfortunately stymied by a dense fog which made any landing impossible.

Out first stop was at Half Moon Island which I visited under similarly snowy conditions on the previous voyage and spent some hours with the quirky Chinstrap Penguins and young Weddel Seal, before heading off to Deception Island, one of the most typical stops on any Antarctic itinerary. Despite this stop being not the most interesting, I did find the various more

South Georgia, UK Territory

28 November 2007

Finally! I had arrived at one of the centerpieces of my trip. South Georgia and its extraordinarily abundant wildlife and over the next three days, amidst some great weather, we managed to make seven landings. The number one draw for many visitors of the British Overseas Territory are the massive colonies of King Penguins, spread alongst a number of the beaches on the east coast of the island, some of which such as Salisbury Plain have estimated populations of over 200,000 pairs. The sight of that many of the resplendent birds packed onto one beach is simply quite staggering, and was for me the main draw. I literally must have spent at least 12 hours hanging out with surfing, swimming, arguing, mating and arguing birds, and could easily have spent more..

As in many bird species (and counter to most mammals) the King chicks are not the most attractive, their dull brown down coats... more

Falkland Islands, UK Territory

22 November 2007

After my first trip to Antarctica with Quark Expeditions three years ago I had been itching to go back, most especially to South Georgia so this trip, also with Quark, was to be the centerpiece of my four-month odyssey. The first stop was the Falkland Islands, just 25 years after it sprang onto the international stage (essentially the last colonial war of the British Empire). After leaving Ushuaia and hitting a Force 8 (the remnants of a hurricane) we headed for West Falkland and two small rat-free islands, West Point and Carcass Island.

On the first beautiful day West Point Island had seen for weeks we had the great opportunity to visit at close quarters a colony of Black-browed Albatrosses, bizarrely intermingled with a big group of Rockhopper Penguins. None of the biologists we spoke with could think of another location where this was happening and indeed had no conclusive explanation for the phenomenon. I spent a very... more

Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

7 November 2007

After a brief sojourn in London and Toronto to visit my father I was on to the next main stop in my adventure – the Polar Bears in Churchill, Manitoba in the far north of Canada. The trip had been recommended to me by Conrad of Extraordinary Expeditions (who in fact helped organized the whole shebang) and booked with Natural Habitat, an excellent operator who specialize in ecotourism. I had been looking forward to this for quite a long time and in no way did it disappoint. During my 5 days in Churchill we saw at least 40 different bears (hard to count as we so many each day) and it was essentially divided into two parts – the official tour staying in the Tundra Lodge and theunofficial two days whilst in Churchill prowling around a dog farm prowling for bears.

The Tundra Lodge itself is run by Great White Bear Tours but Natural Habit appear to book it out for the whole season. It is akin to a very tall train with attached sleeper cars... more

Botswana

October 2007

Botswana has probably become the premiere wildlife destination in Africa. The allure of the Okavango Delta with its superb camps and abundant wildife, coupled with the arid expanses of the Kalahari and the Mkgadikgadi Pans makes for a truly wonderful experience. I have primarily used Wilderness Safaris, who host a number of the best camps.

Madagascar

October 2007

East Africa

September 2007

Namibia

April-May 2007

Namibia had been a dream of mine for a number of years and in the spring of 2007 I finally got the chance to visit. Quite simply, a staggering country - the variety of landscapes boggled the mind as with a landmass three times the size of the UK and only 1.8 million inhabitants there are extraordinarily wide open spaces.

China

September 2006

A two-week trip through the main tourist stops of China. Although very interesting, it was obvious that most tourists are stuck in the trap of staying in the same hotels, seeing the same things, with guides who generally quite literally follow the party line.

Nevertheless I found it fascinating - from the small walled town of Pingyao with its intricate alleys and rich history, to the bustling modernity of Shanghai, from the the touristic but still amazing Great Wall to the sad story of the modern Yangtze and Three Gorges Dam.