EXOTIC ADVENTURES

MALAYSIA Ever since I was a child, entranced by pirate stories, I’ve wanted to explore a tropical island, so when I had an opportunity to visit Langkawi Island, in Malaysia it was a dream come true. Langkawi is the largest in a group of 99 islands nestled off the north-west coast of Malaysia just south of Thailand. full story >>>	MOROCCO Our first trekking destination was the Ourika Valley. We were forced to leave the van and had to teeter across foot-wide Berber bridges fashioned out of sticks, suspended over the rushing white water and squeeze behind houses on uneven slippery pathways meant only for goats. full story >>>
NEPAL It is hard to believe that Nepal only opened its borders to mass tourism in the 1950s. Now it is famous for its trekking and climbing, as it utilises the fact that most of the world’s highest mountains are within its territory. full story >>>	ITALY Few scenes on earth are as spectacular as the Amalfi Coast which stretches from Sorrento to Salerno. Combine sparkling blue-green water, rugged cliffs, a hair-raising bus ride, a leisurely boat ride and stunning little towns and you have one breathtaking sight after another. full story >>>
YUKON Torches are being held high. Banners and tall effigies depicting both Father Winter and the dragon of Spring are flowing into the night’s festivities as if alive. The sun has now settled into an intense cobalt blue creating a backdrop for the stark black trees lining the hills. I am in awe. full story >>>	MEXICO I have recently taken a mistress, a bewitching, beguiling siren. My siren is a small part of the Pacific Ocean that roars eastward onto a long, curving arc of golden beach whose southern end is occupied by the quaint, west coast Mexican town of Barra de Navidad. full story >>>
SLOVENIA Slovenia, located south of Austria, is an alpine country with plenty of mountains and places to hike. Hiking trails in the valleys and in the mountains attract visitors from all over the world. full story >>>	YUKON “Let’s go!” I call out. Five dogs lurch forward with shocking fierceness, without one second of hesitation, throwing my city-soft body into shock. Frantically I grab for the crossbar with my mittened hands, raise one foot off the brake — a small spiked platform of snowmobile track — to a small, icy runner. A 61 year old woman…what was I doing? full story >>>