Oxford city break guide

Oxford city break guide:
Oxford is an international city on an intimate scale. One minute you can be pushing through crowded shopping streets, the next diving down a serene cobbled alleyway, its ancient stone walls laced with wisteria, or stepping through one of the college gatehouses into an enclosed and enigmatic world.

Renowned throughout the world as a centre of learning, and latterly as the home of Inspectors Morse and Lewis, Oxford blends medieval charm with the buzz of a modern city. The city may have given her name to everything from a prestigious dictionary to a bitter marmalade, but it is the university that most people associate with the town. Over the past eight centuries eminent scientists, philosophers, authors, archbishops, explorers and politicians have emerged from its ivory towers.

You can walk across Oxford’s medieval heart in less than 20 minutes, though on your way don’t be surprised to find a famous face crossing your path, or to catch yourself eavesdropping on snatches of conversation that range from philosophy to politics to physics. Yet despite its lofty, intellectual air there’s a modern dynamism about the city, which bustles with small businesses, intriguing cafes, quirky shops and, nowadays, some of the best hotels and restaurants in the country.
When to go?

There is no best time to visit Oxford, as every season has its charms. In early spring the trees of North Oxford droop with blossom, though May is when Oxford perhaps looks her loveliest. The trees are in full leaf, the students are in celebratory mood and the famous “Bumps” (boat race) is taking place along the river. In summer the student throngs melt away, leaving the city to residents and tourists, and you can punt and picnic on the rivers Thames (or Isis, as it’s known here) and Cherwell.

Oxford has thrived not only because of its university but due to its connections. Unlike its great rival Cambridge, out in the austere eastern Fens, Oxford sits handily in the centre of England, with easy access to London and the international airports of Heathrow and Gatwick.

There’s an air of lazy romance about the city, although it’s also the time when crowds of boisterous foreign students clog the shopping streets. Autumn, when the university students return and the trees are burnished bronze, is mournfully beautiful and Christmas, when the streets are eerily quiet and the medieval buildings frosted in snow, can be magical.
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Tunisia Carthage to the Sahara

Tunisia Carthage to the Sahara
The magnificent sites of northern Tunisia, the wide rural landscapes and the extraordinary artistry achieved by the north African mosaicists are described on the previous pages but yet more awaits those who have time to explore Tunisia further.

Our onward journey south leaves the Mediterranean climate behind. One notices the olive trees spaced further and further apart as they compete for the scarce moisture, until we arrive in the strange white landscapes of the chotts - the area of great salt lakes which divides the country in two - and enter the fringes of the great Sahara desert.

On the way, we continue to follow the story of the Roman world into the realms of its military past, climbing the foothills of the Aures Mountains to seek out the only legionary fortress in the whole of this vast province at Haidra, and exploring the empty landscapes of the south in search of traces of the frontier zone.
We drive south into the sand-sea desert in order to experience the real Sahara and to stay at a remote (but very comfortable) camp site under the stars.
In the semi-desert regions of the south, fortified farmsteads (Ksour) were a feature of the landscape from Roman times right through until the recent past, their remarkable Berber architecture demonstrating the ingenuity of the local people in adapting to harsh living conditions.

The Peloponnese from Homer to hadrian & beyond

The Peloponnese from Homer to hadrian & beyond
This is the land of Homer’s heroes and the great Bronze Age citadels from which they came. The home cities of Agamemnon, Menelaus and Nestor help us to put the Trojan War into its Greek context as a meeting with the world of the Hittites of Asia Minor, at a time when Greek colonists were hungry for land, and introducing their way of life to new territories across the sea.

In later times the Peloponnese was also home to major cities and sanctuaries of Classical Greece and, once again this part of Greece took centre stage in ancient world politics as the Peloponnesian War of the late 5th century BC brought the power of Athens to an end, and changed western civilisation forever.
Perhaps this was the memory immortalised by Homer in his epic poems. Certainly many aspects of the Mycenean culture rediscovered by Heinrich Schliemann clearly echo the world described by Homer.

We finish in Athens, and now spend two days here seeing not only the National Museum, but also the new Acropolis Museum, both with incomparable collections which illustrate all aspects of life and death in Ancient Greece.

Starting with the oracle at Delphi, as all great journeys should, we cross to the Peloponnese and travel through a beautiful countryside of mountains, plains and seascapes. Your journey follows the course of history through the coming of Rome, and then early Christianity, visiting the impressive Byzantine and Frankish city of Mistra.

Prehistoric Morocco early rock art

Prehistoric Morocco early rock art
All over the world, in remote and seemingly inhospitable landscapes, people over thousands of years have left physical renderings of what was important to them. In the foothills of the Atlas and anti-atlas mountains of southern Morocco lie boulders and fractured rock strata covered with incised animals, some typical of the Savannah and some domesticated species, as well as enigmatic symbols whose meanings remain obscure.

Over 250 sites have been identified in this region, and antelope, gazelle, ostrich, elephant rhino and lion, as well as cattle, horses and camels have all been immortalised on rocky boulders in an area from which the real animals have long disappeared.
This all provides the focus for a most unusual journey through southern Morocco. It focuses on the rich legacy of rock art sites, but even those with no interest in the art could not help but be impressed with the journey, the landscapes and the glimpses of contemporary life in this remote region.

Scholars today have attempted to classify these into groups on stylistic grounds, to date them using science and what is known of environmental conditions at various times, and to guess at their meaning/

The route follows non-tarmac roads and wheel tracks, and all needs to be covered in 4x4s rather than a coach. You will see extraordinary oasis towns, with gold, pink and orange walls which blend beautifully with the desert colours, impressive mountain scenery, pomegranate and palm groves.

Malta & Gozo Prehistory and History

Malta & Gozo Prehistory and History:
A thousand years before the Great pyramid at Giza was constructed, people on the tiny island of Malta were moving stones weighing up to 50 tonnes, to make the oldest surviving free-standing structures in the world. Decorated with some of the most extraordinary art to be found anywhere in the Mediterranean, they were made by a society intensely engaged in the practice of ritual and ceremonial activities.

We will never know for sure why this extraordinary culture developed, and the only intriguing glimpses we have of the early people are in the well-proportioned figures found as statuettes at some of the temple sites.
It was a valuable prize to be coveted by all the powers through history, and the island became famous as the Headquarters of the Knights Hospitallers of St John.

To understand Malta’s subsequent history you have to see the mighty harbour at Valletta, a safe and secure haven in the middle of the busy shipping lanes of the Mediterranean.

It was later a treasured gem of the British Empire, leaving a legacy of familiar landmarks of times gone by such as red telephone boxes.

Visit to Rastafarian Indigenous Village

Blissing out on world-class beaches around the island, bargaining at the local market, drumming at a Rastafarian village, dancing with the locals at a Maroon village, sampling Kingston nightlife.

Escape the all-inclusive resorts and see a side of Jamaica that few tourists experience on this whirlwind ten-day adventure. Meet true Rastafarians and learn about the original inhabitants of the island while hiking through lush wilderness. There are chances to visit the Appleton Estates rum distillery, the Bob Marley Museum and a Blue Mountain coffee plantation—for a taste of culture with a splash of fun in the sun. With plenty of time to relax on Jamaica's famous white sand beaches, you're going to come back well rested—and with a real understanding of this vibrant island.

Rastafarianism is first and foremost a native Jamaican religion - indigenous to Jamaica and it is therefore a significant contributor to the enrichment of Jamaica’s cultural identity. Rastafarians, also known as Rastas, have as primary tenet of their religion and lifestyle, the teachings of Marcus Garvey. Garveyism and the Rastas by extension, promote ethnic pride, self-determination, self-reliance and the recognition of the country’s African roots which are all positives, especially, for a country still in the infancy of nation-building. The Rastafarian ‘dread locked’ hairstyle is recognized worldwide as Jamaican. Dread locks was popularized in the 1970s when Bob Marley and the Wailers hit the world stage – this era, quite possibly, signified the launch of “Brand Jamaica”. The brand was represented by a guitar toting ‘rebel with a positive cause’, with dread locked hair: a Rastafarian. Rastafarians have also had great impact on Jamaica’s music industry, tourism industry, fashion, language among other cultural aspects.

If you'd prefer to leave the city behind for the day, venture up into the famous coffee-producing Blue Mountains. The lush hills and fresh air are a nice break from the coastal heat. Tour a coffee plantation or two and enjoy a cup of the area's black gold.

Where I have traveled this summer- Antarctic

About Arctic / Antarctic
On an antarctic cruise, you have a rare chance to appreciate the beauty of one of world's most remote and unspoiled places.

Although Antarctica may not provide ideal conditions for sunbathing, the cruise will give you a chance to visit a magnificently scenic part of the world that few people ever see. There will be unique opportunities for face-to-face encounters with the exotic wildlife that dwell in this icy realm.

These includine a variety of penguins, crabeaters, Weddell and leopard seals, humpback and killer whales, migratory birds, and nesting Antarctic terns. In addition to the wildlife, the natural wonders of Antarctica will leave you spellbound. Imagine the awe-inspiring vistas of snowcapped peaks, sheer cliffs, giant icebergs, and clear, dark-blue waters.

I spent last summer studying abroad in Antarctic focusing on its emerging economy and the impacts of globalization in the developing world. This winter I will be spending three weeks abroad traveling through Fiji and New Zealand.

Western Isles and Scotland

Western Isles and Scotland

Love and romance in Scotland

Scotland is one of the most romantic places in the world and a great location to rekindle the flame of love, or even wed.

This is our very successful archaeological journey through the West of Scotland. We have invited archaeologists who are or have been researching or working along the Antonine Wall; in Argyll along the west coast; through the Highlands of Inverness and into Perth to come and give us their own introduction to their sites and areas. You will also be accompanied throughout by an archaeologist who will be able to weave the different threads of the story into that of Scotland.

We follow Scotland’s story through the prehistoric and early Pictish peoples, to the arrival of the Romans, discovering her early ambition to take all of Britain, and seeing the archaeological evidence of her failed attempt to do so. We have included a visit to the tiny island of Iona and the monastery founded by St Columba who brought Christianity to Scotland from Ireland.

We cover a lot of ground and there will be some long drives but this will be an adventurous archaeological journey through the glorious and dramatic landscapes of the Highlands and Islands. This challenging environment was the stimulus for all manner of ingenious responses by the early local population. ‘Crannogs’, dwellings built on small islands or on stilts in the lochs; ‘brochs’, fortified towers with walls so thick that people could walk around inside them and so high that they could do so on many storeys, and ‘duns’, smaller fortified tower/farmsteads.

International travel- Canada's spirit bear

Life through my lens: Canada's spirit bear
Mark Carwardine, the zoologist and BBC presenter, recalls an unforgettable first encounter with a spirit bear in Canada.

Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9.9 million square kilometres, Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.

I had been waiting quietly on the riverbank for several hours, listening to the gentle patter of rain. Every so often a black bear would pass by, fishing for salmon on its way upstream. But suddenly an apparition emerged, ghostlike, from the dark recesses of the forest: a rare and elusive spirit bear.

I was in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, the largest remaining tract of intact temperate rainforest left in the world, which stretches seamlessly from the northern end of Vancouver Island all the way to south-east Alaska.

This breathtaking wilderness is chock-full of wildlife, but the spirit bear is the jewel in its crown.

One of the animal world’s great enigmas, it is a walking contradiction – a white black bear (an extremely rare colour variant of the American black bear). It is neither a polar bear nor albino. It has normal pigmentation in its eyes, nose and skin and the whiteness comes from a recessive gene, so, to be born white, the bear must inherit the gene from both parents. Also known as the ghost bear, or Kermode bear (named after Francis Kermode, former director of the Royal British Columbia Museum), it is elusive and rarely seen – except for a few weeks every year in one tiny corner of the forest.

Found nowhere else in the world, it spends the winter fast asleep and prefers to hide in the dark, tangled recesses of the forest. But if you go to the right place, at the right time of year, your chances of a close encounter are surprisingly good.

Travel ocity: Ancient Mexico

Travel ocity: Ancient Mexico
To date our Mexican tours have tended to concentrate on the better known giants of ancient Mesoamerica: Maya, Aztec, Teotihuacan, but Mexico was one of the world’s major independent cradles of civilisation. The varied landscapes and environments across this vast country produced a great range of adaptations and of fascinating local cultures, the focus of this new tour.
To date our Mexican tours have tended to concentrate on the better known giants of ancient Mesoamerica: Maya, Aztec, Teotihuacan, but Mexico was one of the world’s major independent cradles of civilisation. The varied landscapes and environments across this vast country produced a great range of adaptations and of fascinating local cultures, the focus of this new tour.

Peoples with exotic names such as the Totonacs, Toltecs, the Cholulans, the Zapotecs and Mixtecs shared the same calendar systems, held certain gods and views of the cosmos in common, practiced human sacrifice and played a game with a rubber ball in a special court that was of great ritual significance. Yet they spoke a range of separate languages and produced an array of different styles in art and architecture that display a striking individuality and vivacity.

The splendid achievements of some of these local cultures of ancient Mexico are becoming better known through the archaeological work of recent years: El Tajin, for example, in the steamy hotlands of northern Veracruz, was a great city with a unique architectural style and eleven ball-courts, and Cacaxtla with superb and intriguing wall paintings, flourished in the very different temperate environment of the valley of Mexico.

At other times it was part of the Hellenistic worldWe also fly south to explore a whole new and archaeologically rich area of ancient Mexico, the marvellous upland region of Oaxaca, land of the Zapotecs and Mixtecs, and still home to traditional communities of their descendants today.

Freighter travel- Phil Davis's

Freighter travel- Phil Davis's

We've rented the same cottage in Dunwich on the Suffolk coast for seven years and I'll do it forever. There's just a pub, a fish and chip shop and a shale beach and it has a very austere kind of beauty. It's a bucket-and-spade holiday with my wife Eve, my little girl Amy, nine, and my son Hugo, 15, who joins us because he lives in Suffolk with his mother, my former partner Madeleine. We have a lovely time. It depends on the weather of course, but if it's sunny we can laze about in the garden, go for walks or drive to friends. Suffolk is very trendy now but I have history there. I've been in love with it since I bought a little cottage in Orford in 1984. That bit of the coast from Orford down to Woodbridge is my favourite place in the world.

Last Easter we stayed at the Elysium Hotel in Paphos. It was absolutely wonderful; a five-star hotel with lovely rooms and amazing food. We had a dinner and breakfast deal and I wasn't expecting much, I thought we'd eat out most of the time but we didn't go anywhere else. They also had a fantastic pool and the staff were charming.At other times it was part of the Hellenistic world.

Southhall travel- Anatolia & Cappadocia

Southhall travel- Anatolia & Cappadocia
The history and prehistory of central Anatolia has been an extraordinarily rich pageant. At times this was the home of her own culturally distinctive kingdoms and empires. At other times it was part of the Hellenistic world, the Roman Empire or at the centre of Turkish Empires. Some were led here by the Silk Road and the Spice Route, whilst others came from the Mediterranean.
The history and prehistory of central Anatolia has been an extraordinarily rich pageant. My wife lent me One Day.At times this was the home of her own culturally distinctive kingdoms and empires. At other times it was part of the Hellenistic world, the Roman Empire or at the centre of Turkish Empires. Some were led here by the Silk Road and the Spice Route, whilst others came from the Mediterranean.

Our programme provides the framework for a journey through a massive sweep of time starting with the earliest Neolithic city in the Near East at Çatal Höyük, and follows the story through the superbly-sited Hittite capital city of Hattusas, to the capital of the Phrygian realm of King Midas at Gordion and Kerkenes Dağ, a remote and utterly spectacular forgotten mountain city, which has been excavated for many years by your Guide Lecturer.

We discover hidden early Christian churches and monasteries cut into the strange rock formations of eroded volcanic tuffs - a fairytale landscape. Isolated cells were carved out of the pinnacles by ascetic monks and entire settlements were created underground. The elegant monuments of pre- Ottoman Seljuk Turkey we see as we travel provide a final chapter to our story through the millennia.

This year we fly into Konya, saving one day-long journey and enabling us to begin the story with the earliest site.

I regularly go on the net and research golfing holidays and Mauritius looks good. There are interesting things there such as the capital, Port Louis, and formal gardens and a zoo with giant tortoises, so there are things for all the family, I've checked. Eve has come to terms with my golf obsession.

South hall travel- Which was your best holiday?

South hall travel- Which was your best holiday?

I always try to go somewhere historic in Britain at Easter with my partner [David L Williams, a filmmaker] and our three children. Last year we stayed in a really lovely b & b near Hadrian’s Wall and felt really free; there was nobody there and it was absolutely stunning. We’d walk the wall in the daytime with a lunch the b & b had packed. We’d think we’d done brilliantly, but after hours of walking we’d find out how far we’d gone and it would turn out to be a mile and a half or something! It was up and down, but it didn’t matter. It was fantastic.

I discovered Northumberland fairly recently – the beaches there are so beautiful, and it’s like the Fifties up there: unspoilt and with very few people. Easter’s good for holidaying in England; we seem to get the warm weather then, and a rainy summer.

What do you need for a perfect holiday?

A camper van and the open road. I just love the feeling of “We’re off!” We did own one until recently, but we’ve outgrown it. We hire them now because the big ones are very expensive. I had a lot of caravanning holidays when I was young with my parents and have very happy memories, and this is me trying to replicate that.

What do you always take with you?

A washing line and pegs, a tin opener and a couple of books for each of us. We take Scrabble or Boggle or Bananagrams, probably all three. Lately we’ve quite got into Carcassonne, a game where you build a medieval city out of tiles. We get really into our games and then we go off them, so it’s good to have a few.

What’s your best piece of travel advice?

Always have double the number of pairs of knickers of the days you’re away, because anything can happen. You don’t want to get caught short.

Where would you like to go next?

Somewhere in Britain within an hour of home. I think Britain is very underrated as a holiday destination. I’d like to do things like walk the Ridgeway through Oxfordshire. I think we might do a bit of canoeing and camping in the Wye Valley next.

Freshly honed after the successful first trip, we present a tour to some of the best-preserved Roman cities in the world, lying abandoned in dramatic terrain in one of the least-visited of countries. The museums contain breath-taking surprises, with artefacts and mosaics of the finest quality. The infrastructure for visitors is new and all tours to Algeria are escorted by a police presence.

Single travel- Berlin city break guide- Why go?

Single trave- Berlin city break guide
Why go?

Because since the fall of its world-famous Wall, Berlin has busied itself with becoming one of the most stimulating creative and cultural centres in Europe. These days it’s a city of many faces, known equally as a hedonistic hub (parties here often go on for days rather than hours), a magnet for history buffs (the city was at the heart of much of the turbulent 20th century) and, increasingly, as a destination for families – thanks to a wealth of green spaces (see the sprawling Tiergarten), lots of indoor and outdoor playgrounds plus plenty of attractions to keep the little ones occupied.

And despite the cheap rents and bohemian reputation (the city’s unofficial motto is “Poor But Sexy”), there’s also a lot on offer for well-heeled and business travellers, from ritzy hotels and classy boutiques to Michelin-starred dining spots. A grand European all-rounder? And then some…
When to go?
Tales of Berlin’s notoriously long and harsh winters send shivers up the spines of visitors before they’ve even arrived – but don’t worry, they’re not that much worse than those in Britain. Still, the preferred time to visit is in the warmer months (April-September), when you can explore the city’s waterways and parks, as well as the numerous lakes (and sights) that lie within striking distance of the centre.
You have now a unique opportunity to share your own travel to Tuscany story with the rest of the world!
Spring and autumn are also pleasant times to visit Berlin, and there are plenty of cultural events happening all year round. To paraphrase comedian Billy Connolly: there's no such thing as a bad time to visit Berlin, just bring the right clothing…

Wholesale travel

Wholesale travel

And the best hotel you've stayed in?

After the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, the island of Phuket has my favourite hotel in the world – the Amanpuri. It's absolutely exquisite. They've created the ultimate in discreet luxury, marrying the local exoticism with minimalism, while avoiding all the ridiculous pomp and ceremony you find in similar resorts around the world. It's very Zen and calming: you feel at one with nature because it has luxury huts rather than a single grandiose building. I've been twice and it costs the earth, but I'd love to visit again.

What do you need for a perfect holiday?

I prefer to travel from London to anywhere hotter. Apart from that, I think it's the company I'm away with that can really make or break a trip. Beyond that, I'm not particularly materialistic. I can do quite basic holidays and I can also do luxury – ultimately it's just about being able to get the time off. I'm always thinking about work, no matter where I am. I love my job, so I find it hard to switch off.

What do you always need to take with you?

My iPhone – I've not quite got to the point where I can turn my phone off when I'm on holiday. I'd like to get there one day, but it's yet to happen. I've also got to have my sketchpad and camera as I'm always making note of ideas and sights when I'm away.
Thursday I travelled up to London to attend the launch of the final report on the excavations carried out at San Vincenzo al Volturno in the region of Molise in Italy. Some Andante guests may remember visiting this site where the great Carolingian abbey with its remarkable painted crypts…

Kyack travel

Travelers' reviews

Every trip we've taken to Disney World, my husband has been singled out in some way by Disney. Three trips in a row he's been placed on the screen at the Monsters Ins. Laugh Floor. so, it was his hope this year to blend into the back ground and not get "noticed" But alas, it was not to be. We were at Epcot and had stopped by The Rose and Crown to look over the menu for the "Ireland" stall during the Food and Wine Fest. and as we were stopped the British Players began setting up their " King Arthur and the Holy Grail" skit, so we decided to watch since we love it. Well on and on they go and begin picking their victims.... umm participants, and guess who gets picked to be Galahad! Yep my husband, it was awesome, the look on his face! But he's a good guy and went with it and got into the part, and we even good natured about all the photos and video I took.

Kyack travel
The Singapore HeritageFest, an annual signature event organised by the National Heritage Board's Education and Outreach Division, brings you on an interactive journey to Singapore's rich diversity of cultures. From exhibitions to heritage tours, culinary events to concerts, the festival's many events and activities is an appeal to both the young and old, and to a wide variety of interests as well.

Global travel

My travels
The Andes fascinated me long before I got to see them. I had been brought up on the Andean tales of my paternal grandfather, a former railway engineer in Chile and Bolivia. On my mother's side I had ancestors who hailed from the Italian Alps, where so many of the great Andean climbers and adventurers originated. The Andes, as the world's longest continuous mountain range, came to hold the promise of an endless succession of extreme and sublime landscapes.
I planned an ambitious transcontinental route that would begin by following Humboldt and Bolívar through the northern and central Andes and end up with Darwin at South America's southernmost tip. I estimated that it would be six months of near-continuous travelling, largely by bus, but also by train and boat, and even on horseback and on foot.

On reaching Colombia, I concentrated my attention on the magnificently preserved Andean colonial towns, uncanny reminders of a bygone Spain. Travelling from the vibrant salsa capital of Cali to the whitewashed colonial jewel of Popayán, and then south through emerald green scenery towards the Ecuadorean border, I began imagining myself on a journey ever closer to paradise. I found my own personal Eden in the Laguna de la Cocha, a secluded lake outside the far southern town of Pasto, surrounded by flower-filled meadows and forested mountains, and with a Swiss-style wooden lodge where I ate delicious trout before being rowed out to the island of Corota. This surviving enclave of rainforest, dense with lianas and giant bromeliads, was described to me as a "centre of energy" rivalled only by Peru's Machu Picchu.

At Pasto there were numerous indications that I was approaching at last the heart of the Andes, including guinea pig, a famous Andean delicacy, being served at the local restaurants. Overshadowing the landscape was the active Galera volcano, which marked my arrival at a long corridor of volcanoes forming the backbone of neighbouring Ecuador.
In the south of Ecuador I hired a horse and guide to take me on the section of Inca road that leads from the exposed mountain village of Achapullas to the ruins of an Inca palace and temple at Ingapirka, huddled in a deep valley.

The achievement of the Incas' efficient transport system over some of South America's most difficult terrain seemed even more extraordinary when compared with what I would soon find in Peru. For much of the next two months I would be travelling on rickety buses along perilous mountain roads.

The sensational 150km dirt track from the remote northern town of Chachapoyas to Celelendín climbed up to a height of more than 4,000m before descending along a crumbling ledge clinging to a sheer precipice.

The roads remained largely unpaved and vertiginous as I continued along the Andes' spine to the battleground of Ayacucho (in 1824 the Spaniards suffered their final defeat here, which led the independence of Peru), and then down towards the Inca capital of Cuzco. From southern Peru, through Bolivia, and into northern Argentina, my route alternated between the luxuriant jungles on the Andes' eastern slopes, and deserts on the west. Each day brought landscapes more spectacular than the next, though perhaps my most memorable walk was into Peru's Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world. Condors hovered above as I descended a near-vertical slope before ascending the other side to some half-deserted 16th-century hamlets accessible only by footpath.

The autumn was well advanced as I headed south into Patagonia, through near-uninhabited landscapes of lakes, forests and glaciers; the first flurries of snow had begun to fall as I reached the point when the Andes is shattered into a labyrinth of fjords and islands. I finished my journey on a small boat that sails every week from the Chilean port of Punta Arenas to the intimate island town of Puerto Williams, the most southerly community in the world. The exhilarating boat trip, lasting 36 hours, took me across the notoriously stormy Straits of Magellan, through the glacier-lined Beagle Channel, and to places where Darwin had concluded that life barely existed at all. By now I had come to think of the Andes almost in human terms. On seeing them disappear into the choppy, icy seas, I could have been waving a final goodbye to a dear old friend.

Travel guides

Travel guides
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Hula Loop - Transport only

Highlights: 4 days travel around Viti Levu Island. With plenty of time to relax, snorkel, swim or dive on Fiji’s best beaches, village visits, sevusevu ceremony, sand boarding, hot pools, mud pools, jungle trek, water fall swimming and much more.

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Inca Discovery
Sampling seafood in Lima, exploring ruins and haggling at local markets in the Sacred Valley, conquering the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
Description

Perfect for those looking to experience the region’s archeological and cultural treasures in a short amount of time, this adventure includes a four-day trek along the Inca Trail. This is one of the world’s best known hikes and will reward those willing to break a sweat with a stunning combination of mountainscapes, cloud forests and jungles. We run our own treks, which ensures the fair treatment of our porters and quality equipment. Our knowledgeable CEOs will work hard to make certain the first glimpse of Machu Picchu will burn itself into your memory.