The far flung Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat, 1,500 emerald islands scattered off the coast of Western Papua, are home to an incredible two thirds of the world’s coral species, more than 1,600 species of reef fish and 700 varieties of mollusc. It’s also possibly the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. I explored this incredible region on Aqua Blu, a former Royal Navy coastal survey vessel that’s been
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A black-tipped shark, some five feet long, circled the ship as we gathered on deck for lifeboat drill. “Don’t worry, he’s had lunch,” joked one of the officers on Celebrity Cruises‘ Xperience, my floating home for the week. The shark certainly wasn’t interested in a large green turtle that popped its head out of the water, or the snaking form of a marine iguana swimming for shore. I, on the
A small-ship expedition on Silver Explorer is the perfect way to explore the smaller ports along the coastlines of northern California, Washington State and Oregon.
1. There are some places you can only reach by ship Antarctica, for example, or the Chilean fjords. Other places are simply best explored by small ship, like Australia’s wild Kimberley Coast, or Raja Ampat in Indonesia. On a small ship, you can get to otherwise inaccessible places and drop anchor in beautiful bays without another ship or human in sight. There’s no hassle of setting up camp every night
Around Cape Horn on Ventus Australis Nothing had prepared me for the sheer wildness of Patagonia. From the heat and buzz of sophisticated Buenos Aires, where my journey began, we flew south across endless expanses of khaki-coloured steppes to Ushuaia, at the icy tip of South America, swapping flip flops for fleeces on the way. Ushuaia, a cluster of brightly coloured, low-rise buildings, huddles defiantly between snow-capped mountains and the
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.
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
