The first time I ever saw elephants in a national park, it was a life-changing experience. Africa offers some of the best places in the world to encounter these giants up close. As a travel expert with 10+ years on safari all around Africa, I’ll guide you through where to see elephants in Africa, why these national parks are special, and when to visit them (some times are better than others). By the end, you’ll know where to find them in Kenya, Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Kenya: Amboseli […]

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When people think of a holiday in Africa, chances are Zimbabwe hasn’t been top of mind for most. But my recent return trip to this beautiful southern African nation refreshed my perspective.  I was last here twenty years ago as a backpacker, and I often think back fondly of that adventurous trip. And while the country has come a long way, it’s also kept many of the things that make it such a neat experience. There’s far too much to see for me to list out in this one article, […]

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Q. I remember when I was on an airplane for the very first time. I was so excited that I asked to be seated next to a window. The view from the plane window was just breathtakingly amazing. The bird’s-eye view provides a different perspective on the land below. You have produced a collection of cinematic drone masterpiece. Tell us what drew you to aerial photography in the very beginning? I think my fascination for the aerial perspective began when I was very young and through movies. I remember watching […]

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The Silver-Haired Volunteer and her husband see the world through their volunteer efforts post retirement. This book chronicles their experiences in some rather lesser visited destinations including Senegal, Uganda, Namibia and in Ghana (working with sex workers). Outside their scope of Africa is a volunteer stint in Thailand – where they worked with gender idenity. Life overseas is certainly different then at home. Details of their experiences linger – including challenges without technology, challenges of the ‘porcelain’ kind, trekking to see the Gorillas in Uganda and even being attacked by […]

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Clutching my throat, I asked my guide Hans, “Do you know what plant this is?” “That’s not a good plant. It’s poisonous, and you shouldn’t touch it. You need to wash your hands thoroughly.” “But, I put it in my mouth.” Blank stare, followed by Hans’s eyes growing wider. “I took a bite of it and now my mouth is burning. Really burning. It’s like I’m gargling with carbolic acid,” I managed to explain in a hoarse voice, as my throat swelled tighter and tighter. Anthony, our other guide, heard […]

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In late 2013, I decided to ride a bicycle through Africa in an attempt to turn my life around. My parents had passed away back home in Ireland but, to tell the truth, it was not their memory that had dislodged my equilibrium, it was me indulging in self-destruction. It all seemed so impossible on the airplane as I sat reading a beginner’s manual about how to repair punctures, but after a year spent riding through deserts, mountains, remote wilderness, and wildlife corridors, I returned home to appear in a […]

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  I’ve had an overseas bucket list since I was 18 years of age and I’m still nowhere close to completing the list, though I figure If I get to have 15 countries under my belt I’d be a very happy guy. So far I have visited 8 countries (Peru, Mexico, Philippines, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Mongolia, UAE and Brazil)…my highlights of those trips were: Trekking the Inca Trail in Peru Staying in a Yurt in Mongolia Sand dune boarding in Dubai Climbing the Chichen Itza pyramid in Mexico Swimming the Coastal […]

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We jumped on our Air Asia flight last night from MAA-BKK. The route opened up earlier this year and we immediately seized the opportunity to buy severely discounted tickets during Air Asia’s promotional period. We paid £89 per person for the round trip ticket – about 3.5 hours each way! Course with Air Asia you get a basic flight – no food or drink, seats that are agonizingly tight for tall people and most of the time a middle or window seat (aisle seats are an extra cost). Airports in […]

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The benefit of being a travel writer is that you can mix pleasure and work. If you love traveling and writing and moving – then your work is not really “work”. In today’s travel writing world – there are many technological trappings to ensure that one can maintain a certain type of nomadic lifestyle. Merely fifteen years ago nearly all of these items and services did not even exist! When shopping for items, I look for the following characteristics – in this order: quality, durability, weight, size and speed (if […]

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Ngoma Safari Lodge is located on the edges of Chobe National Park in Botswana. This fairly new property opened in May 2011 and was officially dedicated in July 2011 with his Excellency, Botswana’s President Seretse Khama Ian Khama attending the opening ceremonies. This is isolated luxury at its finest and rawest; the lodge is accessible by any of 3 dirt roads – which are more like 4wd tracks among the bush – there are no signs and you must reserve the rooms ahead of time. This is not a lodge […]

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I have acquired a Namibian souvenir in the form of a haircut or perhaps, lack of hair. That is what I get for going into an African barber – leave with a totally shaved head – most of the people here have very short hair. So now I fit in well. We are in the Caprivi Strip – a narrow band of the country bordered by Angola, Zambia and Botswana. It has a convoluted history – at times under Italian, German and South African control. Namibia became a country merely […]

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Upon finalizing my flights to South Africa from Bangkok, I told a good friend who has traveled extensively in Africa that I would kiss the African soil for him. He replied, “Kiss Africa’s ground for me, but remember: Africa always wins. No matter how much you try to make sense of all the nonsense, it’ll never make sense. Thus Africa wins.” Winning or not, the unpredictability of adventure travel in Sub Saharan Africa has always appealed to me – oh and its vast outdoor beauty and finding areas of this […]

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Long bus rides are a great time to sit back and think about travel and upcoming trips. During one such recent 16 hour ride in Brazil I thought about which countries I would like to visit on each continent. Here are countries still to visit: North America – last one to visit is Panama (done late 2010) South America – Bolivia – Ecuador (done 2013) – Venezuela Africa – Botswana (done) – Egypt (done) – South Africa (done) – Namibia (done) – Gambia (done) – Uganda – Rwanda – Madagascar […]

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Our tour through Southern Africa began in Zambia and on arrival into Livingstone we were transferred to our accommodation on the banks of the Zambezi River, a few miles upstream from the Victoria Falls. Arriving in plenty of time before the tour began I made the most of the opportunities available in the area – this being one of Africa’s adventure capitals offering a range of activities, from bungy jumping to sunset cruising. Our first day was spent relaxing from a long flight on the banks of the Zambezi. Watching […]

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I remember looking out my window on the night flight from Europe to South Africa and seeing nothing but black below. No city lights for hours. Not until the next morning when the plane was over South Africa, were any signs of civilization present. On that flight I tried to imagine what it would be like to actually be in one of those areas that seemed so dark from above. Well, we finally entered this part of Africa when we crossed the “veterinary cordon” in Namibia’s Caprivi Strip. This fence […]

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