While the promise of a connecting bus to Kasane kept going through my mind, I sat in the dirt at the side of the road wondering where it all went wrong. Being stranded in a desert town 350Km from the boarder was not how I had planned on spending the day. But neither was rescuing a 600 litre fuel tank while hitchhiking across the Kalahari in a 28 tonne truck bound for the Congo! After getting up a 4.30am and packing my tent in the dark, I left the Ovakango Delta heading towards Nata while expecting to get a connecting bus to Kasane. Having done this route in reverse a week before, I felt relaxed, expecting an easy day travelling. I should have known better, after all, this is Africa. On arriving in Nata, the bus ... read more

You walk into the heart of the African desert surrounded by sand dunes scattering the landscape. The environment is freezing cold and you dehydrate quickly. As the winds pick up you are temporarily blinded by the sand blasting into your face. Your vision clears for a moment as you find yourself gazing up at one of the most spectacular sights in the African Namibian Desert - Dune 45. After waking up at 4am and driving for 3 hours along the trans-Kalahari highway you finally arrive at the Namib Naukluft National Park, home to Sossusvlei, Deadvlei, Dune45, and 50,000 Sq. Km of pristine desert begging to be explored. As you hike into the Namibian desert, you walk past blinding white salt pans, apricot colored sand dunes, turquoise desert lakes and the occasional desert scorpion. You stop for ... read more

As you approach the Northern Drakensburg, you feel mesmarised by the dragon mountains covering the horizon. Baboons run wild across the road while african children burn the land while hunting with dogs. The smell of smoke lingers in the air, while you are met with beautiful lakes and misty mountains. At only 3482 metres above sea level, this place truely is a hikers paradise. While in Johannesburg I met a couple of lads that showed me some photos of the dramatic landscapes in the Northern Drakensburg. They warned me hiking in the mountains isnt cheap and getting there is difficult on public transport, but even on a backpackers budget, I knew the challenge was set and it had to be done. The Northern Drakensburg is a remote part of South Africa, close to the country Losoto. ... read more

You scratch another mosquito byte as you head deeper into the Colombian Jungle. Sweat pores down your face saturating your stinking clothes. Your back aches from sleeping in a hammock while you take another stride in soaking wet shoes. For a moment you feel a sense of isolation as your mind drifts back to the 2003 kidnappings. You lose your concentration and slip once again in the thick mud. Blisters become painful as you wade through fast flowing rivers and over spectacular mountain passes. Suddenly the Colombian army surrounds the expedition team. The negotiations start and the real adventure begins. "Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) is the archaeological site of an ancient city in Sierra Nevada. It is believed to have been founded about 800 A.D., 650 years earlier than Machu Picchu. It was discovered in 1972, ... read more

I have just crossed the boarder from Tucan (Ecuador) to Ipialas (Colombia) and it was surprisingly easy. We had absolutely no problems, for the first time everything went incredibly smoothly. The night before entering Colombia, I sat at the bar in the Secret Garden Hostel (Quito, Ecuador) nervously discussing the safest approach into Colombia. We talked to other travellers heading south and got information on the current political situation. We were warned not to catch any night buses in the South of Colombia. Apparently you get a lot of shakedown in which the army take everyone off the bus at gun point and make you stand in line with your hands and feet apart against the bus while they search you. We were also told that the FARC regularly intercept buses, get everyone off and then ... read more