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The Essence of Mongolia
It’s been a long wait and the world has changed irrevocably since we first floated the idea of offering 4WD tours to exciting destinations back in 2019 how our lives have changed in the ensuing four years. Landing in Ulan Bataar bought an immense sense of familiarity, the sense of space, the clarity of the …
Africa – The Final Week
We can’t quite believe it’s here, the final week, after 4 months researching the Balkans & Africa, it’s simply too immense to put into words so a lousy blog will have to do!!!! Crossing into Zimbabwe we overnighted on the shores of the immense Lake Kariba, one of the largest man-made lakes on earth, and …
Africa – Week 8
Crossing the equator, we eventually made it into downtown Kampala, with possibly the worst traffic, outside of the Western Ring Road, in Melbourne, that I have ever seen, the joint was utter chaos. We scrambled up a dirt track, wondering where we would end up, until we reached the gates of the superb Latitude 0 …
Africa – Week 7
Leaving Mbala we drove north through the Tongwe Forest Reserve, this was the Central Africa from my distant memories of 30 years ago, a thin red dirt track that wound its way through a verdant green forest, we eventually reached the spectacularly located Hilltop Resort in Kigoma. Before retiring to the Hilltop, we couldn’t miss …
Africa – Week 5 & 6
Our research trip has been so action-packed time got away from us, add this to the fact that we are travelling in a VERY remote part of Africa with limited WIFI and we suddenly found ourselves two weeks since our last post, so here is two weeks roiled into one. Our last days in Zimbabwe …
Africa – Week 4
As I sit here, writing the next blog, overlooking the Okavongo River in Namibia where children are playing on the bank on the other side of the river, in Angola, I can’t help but be in awe at the immensity of Africa, the adventure and ever-changing experiences this epic continent provides. What feels like a …
Africa – Week 3
Winding our way south we reached the southernmost tip of the African continent and the meeting point of the Indian & Atlantic oceans at Cape L’argulhas. The seas were pounding with a huge swell, you could see a shelf, a remnant, of the Africa continent disappearing under that mighty swell, the remainder of the day …
Africa – Week 2
Whales in the morning – Elephants in the afternoon St Lucia is renowned for having hippos wander its streets, something I thought to be a bit like the myth that kangaroos bounce down the main streets in any city in Australia, but it is indeed true with the locals being surprised at my cynicism. We …
Africa – Week 1
We hit the tarmac with a thud that awoke me from my partial slumber, after an overnight flight from London to Johannesburg. It was off the plane into a taxi and over to collect the Compass Expeditions owned Toyota Landcruiser support vehicle that will be our home for the next 3 months. We are currently …
Med to the Balkans research trip – week 3
Our 3rd and final week saw us entering the storybook world of Dubrovnik, a fabled walled city on the Adriatic coastline. This UNESCO listed city left us in no doubt why Warner Bros chose this location for the renowned Game of Thrones series. Walking the 2-kilometre-long city walls offered stupendous views of the old city …
Med to the Balkans research trip – week 2
We kicked off week two leaving our 5-star hotel at Livorno with a drive down through the stunning region of Tuscany, a superb landscape of centuries old wineries and cypress lined driveways at the end of which lay grandiose villas, the scene was magnificent and followed the path of the ancient Romans known as the …
Med to the Balkans research trip – week 1
Endless delays, baggage issues, a good dose of jet lag and being bitten by an overexcited hotel dog couldn’t dampen our spirits as the plane touched down at the Franjo Tudman Airport on the outskirts of the Croatian capital, Zagreb. It had been three years since we had completed our last research trip and since …