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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Lions have dominated my last few safari posts. I promise you that we are seeing other animals. But, I can’t resist writing about such wonderful sightings. And, so it is again this morning. Once lions are spotted, Jaco drives off-road to follow them. We watch as a female lion displays submissive behavior to a male, cowing down before him. Then, the Land Rover creeps along as the male and female walk towards a small lake where the rest of the pride waits. Suddenly, the lion gives a long roar followed by four short bursts. After the second roaring session, the lioness [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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As the days count down and we face the ultimate reality that at some point we will have to return to lands where the word ´sunny´ is mearly a concept. We are determined to make the most of every little hour that remains. With that in mind we planned a wild rollercoaster week skirting through Belize (hence the title - I thought it was funny and don´t care what anyone else says) and north Guatamala. From cave to coral, Monkey to Mayan this whistlestop tour would be just long enough to stratch the surface of two Central American Republics we are [View Full Entry]

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