Emma Fisher

So, of course we couldn´t visit Colombia without sampling one of its finest exports... After spending our first week around the Carribbean coast of Cartegena and Tayrona national park enjoying our last rays of sun before heading towards the Andes, we travelled overland to the stunningly beautiful Zona Cafetera, the heart of coffee country in Colombia. Simply rolling hills of small coffee plantations, and this is where we found the Hacienda Guayabal, a 65 hectare coffee finca in the heart of it all. A real family affair, a place where we could see everything we knew about coffee in one place, from the planting of the tiny coffee bean to the roasting of the end product. The family were amazing, we were made to feel so welcome and fortunately Miguel, Teresa´s son was good at English ... read more

For the last 6 weeks we have been in Central America. Firstly in Panama, then overland through Costa Rica and on to Nicaragua. Our time in Panama was spent mainly on the Carribbean coast in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro. A stunning group of islands, with a real Carribean influence - extremely laid back locals, great jerk chicken and cool tunes. This is also where we started our passion for nature, after meeting up with a couple of naturalists from South Africa who had us traipsing up and down kilometres of beach in the middle of the night in search of leatherback turtles laying their eggs. This kind of paid off, although only in part as us amateurs managed to actually scare the giant beast off with our torch, much to everyone´s dispair, Simon ... read more

Thermals and pringles, the only way through this So, Australia and New Zealand, the last 6 weeks. Obviously we have both been to Oz before so really just a stop over and a chance to use up our free flghts rather than traipsing around the obvious sights. We did however, manage to see both kangeroos and koalas in the wild. We spent a few days in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney and managed to meet up with one of my Yoga mates (aka Maree) from the beach in Goa. Neither of us have done any yoga since (although we both vowed we were hooked) but it still sounds impressive and also becomes quite believable when you repeat it to yourself again and again. After Sydney we flew to New Zealand, first to the South Island. We ... read more

After Borneo we arrived in Cambodia. Our first thoughts where that it reminded us our India, the busy streets and parks, bustling markets - all with their conflicting aromas, and the return of the street seller - although selling a little bit different this time - deep fried (huge) spiders, cockroaches, beetles and flies to name a few of their wares which neither of us were brave enough to partake in - Simon's theory being that if there is no flesh then what is there to eat - good point! We spent a few days in Phnom Penh, the capital, and then headed north to Siem Reap to see and experience Angkor. In Phnom Penh I began to understand more about the sad and devastating recent history of Cambodia, our tuk-tuk driver told me his tale ... read more

PICS TO FOLLOW I cannot believe five weeks have passed since we were separated from our luggage at Bangkok airport...It has been a very active 5 weeks involving a lot of transport - mad 'Dukes of Hazard style' car rides (car and driver complete with) big busy ferries, traditional Thai longboats on very rough sea, numerous dive boats and even a kayak... Our first stop was Koh Phi Phi - a beautiful island in the Andaman Sea - with the most amazing coastline, clear blue sea and fantastic sealife - in fact snorkelling with baby black tip reef sharks right beneath us. We stayed on the East coast of the island - a place called Tokho beach - where Pon and Bird - had created a little hideaway haven from the main town - with great ... read more