Bottlenosed dolphins were riding our bow wave at dawn. The sun was still below the horizon and the mountains of the distant Baja peninsula were etched in salmon pink. The light and the water were a soft grey as we gathered on deck to watch the shadowy figures, chasing us, surfing in front of us, arching gracefully out of the water, calling to one another.
Sunset in Bagan, a seat of Burmese royalty from the ninth to the 13th centuries. I’ve scrambled up to the top of the Shwesandaw Pagoda, one of 2,000 ancient monuments scattered across the plain on the bank of the Irrawaddy, and am perched on a ledge, next to a crowd of monks with iPads. The river glints in the distance as the sun begins its descent towards a row of
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Singing echoed across the water as we puttered over the Chobe river in the shimmering afternoon sun. A beautiful African melody, becoming clearer as we neared our new home, the Zambezi Queen riverboat. The Namibian crewmembers were lined up to greet us with beaming smiles, swaying and clapping. Crocodiles basked lazily on nearby sandbanks. Huge dragonflies in iridescent colours buzzed the boat. On the opposite bank, we could see hundreds
There’s a full moon rising over the sleepy Ionian island of Kythira, throwing silvery light over the clifftop castle, Chora Kythira. My partner, David, and I are sitting in a beachfront taverna, toes in the sand, tucking into fresh sea bream, Greek salad and a carafe of chilled rose, gazing out at the dark sea. All around us, the lively chatter is in Greek. This is an island the locals
