Category: Travel

The Cuillin Ridge on the Isle of Skye is one of Britain’s greatest mountaineering challenges. It involves 4,000 meters of ascent and descent along 12km of continuous Alpine terrain, where weather conditions can turn quickly, scuppering the chances of a successful traverse. With this in mind, I approached this expedition with some trepidation, especially with… Continue reading Traversing the Cuillin Ridge

The town of Debark rests at the foot of the Simien Mountain range, a Unesco World Heritage Site in northern Ethiopia that’s marked by steep cliffs and breathtaking canyon-style gorges. We’re going trekking for four days and this is where we meet our guide and our rather elaborate support team. Hiring a guide feels luxurious… Continue reading Ethiopia Travel Notes Part II: The Simeon Mountains

We touched down into Addis Ababa late in the night. On the flight, we were fortunate to meet a couple, David and Joan, who had been coming to Ethiopia for the last 14 years. Recently, they had been sponsoring a student through university and subsequently helping him to start an internet cafe. Such businesses were… Continue reading Ethiopia Travel Notes Part I: Addis to Bahir Dar

It was our last day in the Cairngorms. The mountain weather report looked bleak: frequent showers and the chances of a cloud free Munro below 20%. We woke in our wild camping spot by Loch Morlich, had breakfast then went for a swim, following the 1.5km route suggested by some swimmers we met the evening… Continue reading Meall a’ Bhuachaille

I’m hoping for a light breeze to clear away the midges. That’s all it takes yet the air remains still and they hover in their millions outside our camper van at the Glen Brittle Campsite. There’s a sadistic type of pleasure in satisfying the itches but I try not to indulge. I feel sorry for… Continue reading Hiking Sgurr nan Gillean

Beautiful hillsides and mountains towered over the lightly misted loch as we pulled on our neoprene wetsuits. We were here for the five kilometre Glencoe swim. Due to patchy weather conditions on the days leading up to the event, the swim route had been simplified. Rather than looping around an island on Loch Leven, we… Continue reading Glencoe Open Water Swim

An account of my Wine Rides holiday. Most photos courtesy of Tom Chance, to whom I’m grateful. Wine Rides Day I I start the morning with a cycle from Sutton to Orpington which involves pedalling along A-roads and navigating around Croydon. This isn’t a relaxing start to a holiday but I am glad to be… Continue reading Wine Rides: a cycle tour of English vineyards

Travelling towards the Dead Sea from Bethlehem, we are dropping in altitude. We stop at Sea Level point along the Judean River. The landscape has slowly shifted from green to an arid, dry desert landscape with very few trees. Some shrubs exist and you can see how grass grows in the areas that receive more… Continue reading Sketches of Israel & Palestine: Bethlehem to Nablus via The Dead Sea

It’s 4.30am and I’m in a car park next to checkpoint 300. The wall that overshadows us was erected in 2004 and is considered illegal under international law. It sits 2km within Palestinian territories, as marked by the green line. This checkpoint is the gateway that Palestinians living in Bethlehem must pass through each morning… Continue reading Sketches of Israel & Palestine: Checkpoint 300

One of the first meetings on my trip to Israel and Palestine was with Ardie Geldman, an Israeli settler that lives on the Efrat settlement, south of Jerusalem. Ardie is originally from Chicago, Illinois and made aliyah to Jerusalem with his wife in 1982. He has six children and works as a fundraiser. Searching for… Continue reading Sketches of Israel & Palestine Part I: Settlers

For my last day in Kenya I headed to Kitengela glass, a quirky art site in the middle of some dusty open plains south of Nairobi. Dotted along the driveway are statues popping over the stone walls, a few camels and some gloriously fat pigs. We walked into the main glass blowing house, a sort… Continue reading Kitengela glass

Soon Rwanda may be a country with no orphans. A claim the government will make once it has completed a programme that will close all the orphanages and relocate the children into the homes of relatives. In theory, having children living with families rather than in institutions seems a good move but in practice, is… Continue reading L’Esparance, Rwanda

Notes from a weekend trip to Hell’s Gate, Lake Naivasha, November 2011.  On Saturday we awoke at sunrise and cycled from Fisherman’s Camp to the park, through rolling hills past the enormous, intensive, under-cover, flower farms. It was roughly 12km to the park and we entered through the Ol Karia gate where there lies an expansive network… Continue reading Hell’s Gate, Lake Naivasha

Sharing a few photos from a road trip from Nairobi to my new home in Kisumu, West Kenya. We bumped through the beautiful Rift Valley visiting various places along the way. First stop was a gentleman named Robert who had invited us for lunch. He kindly served me my first Kenyan meal consisting of kuku… Continue reading Roses, DIY turbines and bumpy roads