November first is the official end of hurricane season, so it was time to leave Trinidad and start our trek north. We are very excite to start another cruising season in the Caribbean, not only because our first stop is Grenada and the Grenadines (which are amazing) but also because we have so many islands to explore this year. Unlike last year where we had to travel over 2,500 miles and therefore skip many countries along the way, this year we are already here in the Caribbean and can take our time to explore all the islands. And our first stop [View Full Entry]

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Day 598 (16.11.08) After a monstrous bus journey with little to report, we disembarked in Puno a little sleepy and unprepared. Meeting up with another couple Amelie and Hugo who were travelling with their 10 month old cherub Emil we shared a taxi into town and found ourselves some lodgings. Famished from our respective journeys, we hit town to scope out something to eat. The five of us found a great local place with a 2 soles llunch menu (about 40p), and left the little restaurant feeling much more awake and alive. We had the afternoon to figure out our plans [View Full Entry]

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Last night’s rain leads to a colorful sunrise this morning. Because of the muddy conditions, Jaco is limited to driving the Land Rover on the main roads. A giraffe stops her breakfast to take a look at us as we hurry by. We’re on the hunt for elephants today. And, we find a herd of them, tinged red from their mud bath. Jaco stops the vehicle so that we can observe the mamas and babies crossing the road. One of the younger elephants is still working on his coordination as he trips in front of us. The Land Rover creeps quietly [View Full Entry]

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The map arrived on a cold, dark, wet London morning in January. The map was a glowing ray of adventure and mystery on a cold, dark, wet London morning. An Adventure that would see me facing death in a cold, dark, snowy paradise. Bulgaria - March 1997 They say that a journey of a thousand miles starts with one small step, but that's not true - a journey starts long before a shoe is tied, before a bag is packed or a ticket booked. Travel starts in your head. When an idea grabs you and you know that you must go. [View Full Entry]

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When we got married in May, we didn't have the wherewithal to have a reception and didn't think it necessary. However, we had second thoughts and decided to take the plunge. We're very glad we did- it was a fantastic day... Mitsu left early in order to get her hair and make-up and so on done, Maya and I headed out a little later. I practised reading my wedding speech several times at home and on the train, I was bricking myself about it. We got to the venue to find my gorgeous wife looking even more ravishing- a right jaw [View Full Entry]

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In the nearly four decades that I've been taking up space on this planet, I've never encountered a place quite as rainy as Salento. Wet seasons in the Amazon can only dream of delivering the quantities of water that the skies above Salento deluged the town with during the four days I was there. There was none of the tropical policy of "afternoons only", with torrential cloudbursts around the clock. To say that it pissed down - a phrase I would hesitate to use in genteel company - would convey a small amount of the frustration that this caused me but [View Full Entry]

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.....The ice was all around : It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound! Not quite as dramatic as the Ancient Mariner's trip but still very impressive! Today began with an early morning boat ride of the Jokulsarlon lagoon and definitely one of the highlights of the trip. I believe it was even worth losing the feeling in my feet and hands for the whole day to see the blue icebergs at close proximity. Not exactly the monsters I was expecting but still very impressive to see. The lagoon is formed by chunks of ice melting [View Full Entry]

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We arrived into Sydney on the night the local rugby team - Manly, beat their arch rivals Melbourne for the first time in many years with a score of 40 - 0, also it being a bank holiday weekend everyone was very drunk. The streets were awash with football fans and party goers. We found a room in a massive party style hostel (which was terrible). We got out as fast as we could the following day to find something better. We probably only spent about three days in Sydney. Straight away we realised that we were going to run out [View Full Entry]

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