The Spar Cave on Scotland's Isle of Skye is a truly wondrous place. In the 19th century it was a fashionable destination for well-to-do Victorian trippers, drawn north to the rugged Strathaird peninsula by Sir Walter Scott's poem The Lord of the Isles in which he wrote of a mermaid bathing in a pool concealed deep within the enchanted cell.
NO ORDINARY CHRISTMAS: Bolivia, South America
Magically, as our bus enters the lakeshore city of Puno, the sounds of flutes, drums and bells float across the air. Craning our necks out of the window, we see elaborately costumed dancers twirling to the rhythm of the music. “Puno is the festival capital of Peru!” says our bus driver.
DEATH AND DOLCE IN THE DOLOMITES: Italy
Here I was, in a cramped machine-gun post 8,000 feet up on Lagazuoi in the Italian Dolomites, where ninety years previously the Austrians had defended their Alps front line against Italians who had joined the war on the side of the Entente Powers.
THE HUNTERS AND THE HUNTED: A Kenya Photo Safari Adventure
Everyone who has a chance to see nearly two million animals on the move has been touched by the magic of this place. What is it that gets under their skin? The urgency of the movement of the wildebeest? The wide open plains? The African light?
HIKING THE SAMARIA GORGE: A SENSORY EXPERIENCE: Crete, Greece
From the moment I reached the threshold of the trail leading through the Samaria Gorge, on Crete, I became acutely aware of the limitations of conveying my experience in text or on film. The sheer magnitude of this landscape is impossible to capture in a photo or even in words. And yet my camera lens was resilient when it came to struggling to capture the pristine vistas or vivid colours of the floral and fauna.
MAASAI MARA: Kenya, East Africa
There are so many beautiful places to visit in Kenya, from sea level to mountain tops which can reach up to 10,000 feet or more; and of course there is always Mount Kenya at 17,058 feet, Africa's highest peak with its famous Club and golf course set on the lower shoulder. The Africans you will meet go out of their way to be helpful and friendly. Don't wait too long before travelling to this wordly paradise.
THE ASTOUNDING TEMPLES AND TREES OF ANGKOR: Cambodia
The full moon hangs low. Voluminous clouds shroud us in darkness as we ride toward Cambodia’s ancient Angkor temples, and the world’s largest religious monument. The open sides of the tuk-tuk (essentially a motorcycle pulling a covered cart, in which my girlfriend Jen and I sit) allow us to breathe in the cool, tropical air, a far cry from the stifling midday heat.
CHILLIN’ IN CHILE: Exploring the Atacama Desert on a Horse With No Name
I arrived in the Atacama Desert four days ago, and it rained. I’m not joking. It rained. San Pedro de Atacama is one of the driest places on earth. The average humidity is 35%, the skies are clear for 330 days a year, and there is very little rain, which generally falls over about three days in February.
HIKING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD: Glencolmcille, Ireland
As I stand high above the ocean I envision my fate if I were to stumble on a rock, slip on the narrow muddy path or get blown over the edge of the highest sea cliffs in Europe. I take a deep breath and my first steps towards crossing One Man's Pass.
THE VIEW FROM SNOWDON: Wales
The view from the summit of Mount Snowdon, when the cold wet mist evaporates from the barren slopes, is a vista of yellow-brown hills and intensely green meadows. This rugged region of North Wales served as a training ground for Sir Edmund Hillary’s mountaineering team before their ascent of Mount Everest in 1953.
HIKING HALLASAN IN THE SNOW: Mount Halla, South Korea
At the foot of Mount Halla, my girlfriend Jen and I stop and gape at the meter of snow clogging the trailhead. Our guidebook clearly specified: no special equipment required. From a distance, the only visible snow lies atop Hallasan’s trapezoidal summit, like a white fin on a surfacing whale.
THE HEAVENLY GATES: Sapa, Vietnam
Jumping off the Victoria Express train in 5:00am fog at Loa Cai, a Vietnamese border town next to China, is not the most inviting start to the day, but I am here - determined to find the Heavenly Gates near the mountain-top town of Sapa.
WONDERLAND OF ROCKS AND TREES: Joshua Tree National Park, California
I’ve never been much interested in rocks. I’ve always seen them as lumps of matter, squatting sullenly in the earth. So when I started on a journey through the Joshua Tree National Park, near Palm Springs, California, I never expect to be so excited and amazed by the rocks found there, or by the intriguing Joshua Tree forest which gives the park its name.
MEMORIAL TO AN INTREPID TRAVELER: Sir Edmund Hillary 1919-2008
A young man named Mitch Grave climbed to the base camp of Mount Everest with his school group from Vancouver when he was only 13 years old, the youngest boy on the trek. One of the adventures he encountered was this remarkable meeting with the famous mountaineer, Sir Edmund Hillary.
