Arusha – Tanzania’s coffee gateway to the wild
On your way to or from your dream safari in Tanzania why not linger a while longer in Arusha where a couple of lodges we’ve found, in the middle of coffee plantations, could really invigorate your trip? There’s a tendency when going on safari to head straight to the wildlife and miss out on some of the local life. Safari can also be exhausting and we think that a couple of nights either before or after your wildlife adventure can...
Malawi – so much more than lions, lodges and a lake
This self-proclaimed ‘warm heart of Africa’ is a gentle introduction to Africa and safari with plenty of opportunities for understated luxury relaxation in beautiful locations As our modern jetliner touches down in Blantyre, the second city of Malawi and taxis to the small terminal buildings with neatly tended garden in front, it’s easy to believe that you’re back in colonial Nyasaland, as Malawi was once called. The smiles and banter...
Birds in Paradise – Costa Rica
Migrating birds from two hemispheres meet the endemic residents in the middle – in incomparable Costa Rica. Perhaps nowhere else on earth offers you a better opportunity to see birds from both hemispheres in one place. Depending on the time of year that you travel you’ll be immersed in a kaleidoscope of plumage – not only from the colourful endemic species but also by the visitors from each continent – either...
Shades of Shan
This traditional highly colourful and practical rural craft, still practiced in Myanmar today, has its origins steeped in history. In pre-colonial Burma, a white umbrella or ‘hti byu’ was a sign of sovereignty limited exclusively to the Burmese king and his chief queen. It was one of the five articles of coronation regalia and use of a white umbrella by anyone other than the king and his chief queen was seen as a declaration of...
Exploring the mysterious Mekong
The mighty arterial Mekong River in Vietnam provides a fascinating vein through which the lifeblood of Vietnam flows. As we motor along the Mekong, through small villages, between trading barges and floating markets it can only give us a brief insight into the resources concealed within that influence the daily lives and culture of over 60 million people—people who depend on its water for transportation, fishing, trade, manufacture,...
At home in the Muong hills
The Ngoc Son Ngo Luong Nature Reserve in Vietnam not only offers you some of the most stunning scenery you’ll ever see but it also affords some homespun hospitality that’s second to none. We’ve left the lively northern capital of Hanoi and are now driving through lush rice paddy fields on both sides of the road, with coolie hats bobbing up and down as the pickers reap the harvest of this prolific green crop that has now reached...
