Traveloscopy

Cuba: Into the ancient Valley of Tobacco

rodeime — Sun, 7 Jan 2018 18:39:00 GMT

Benito Camejo Nodarse is a local legend in Cuba's western Pinar del Rio province, the UNESCO World Heritage region renowned as the supposed birthplace of modern tobacco cultivation.

"Date un toque," says Benito in typically charismatic style as he pours us both a shot of local rum, "kill the rat!" - which I take to mean 'hair of the dog' or similar.

I take mine neat like Benito and the clear liquid is surprisingly smooth and soothing, while others prefer a shot of the farm's other product, coffee. Mix the two and you have a 'carajillo' (goddam!)

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A hippy love story that's still going strong

rodeime — Sun, 7 Jan 2018 18:31:00 GMT

It's a beautiful hippy love story that began in Germany in 1969. Trudy and Ron were footloose and fancy-free when they met in Cold War Hamburg and fell in love. They hooked up and travelled to Australia where they were married before heading back home to the US.

With the Vietnam War going sour for the US, the pair decided to head to South America but only got as far as Costa Rica before their old van broke down and the money ran out. Long story short, they bought some beachfront land on the Golfo Dulce in 1974, set up a cocoa and banana farm, built a new house, had two children and stayed in Costa Rica ever since.

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The Miracle of Macca

rodeime — Mon, 4 May 2015 23:20:00 GMT

SMASH! The first wave breaks over the bow of our Zodiac like the hammer of Thor, throwing a deluge of angry water over us. We clutch our daypacks, already wrapped tight in plastic, as if our lives depend on it. We pull away quickly from Silver Discoverer’s transom and head for the rocky shore where we are certain a rough landing awaits us.

“Sorry ’bout that,” murmurs Luke, our two-metre Irish skipper at the helm of the little boat. Six of us look back at him in trepidation, but that boyish grin is unflinching.

“Just slide towards me a bit if you don’t mind,” he gestures with his gloved hand and we shuffle our bottoms awkwardly along the edge of the rubber boat like wounded penguins.

With droplets of frigid seawater still clinging to his full beard, Luke fixes his gaze on the landing site, opens the throttle on the outboard motor and steers us in.

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Photos: Macquarie Island and NZ Sub-Antarctics

rodeime — Wed, 4 Feb 2015 23:42:00 GMT

an expedition cruise aboard Silver Discoverer

Photos: Louisiade Archipelago - Dec 2014

rodeime — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 23:45:00 GMT

An expedition cruise aboard True North

Cruising the coast of West Africa

rodeime — Sat, 4 May 2013 23:31:00 GMT

"WHAT was that?" gasped Beatrix, grabbing my forearm tightly. We all heard it. Was it the sound of waves from the Atlantic Ocean crashing on the rocks outside or, as many of us thought, the ghostly whispers of long-departed slaves who once huddled in these squalid, pitch-black dungeons awaiting an uncertain fate?

Here in the underground holding cells at the now UNESCO World Heritage listed Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, we stand transfixed, listening to a kind of supernatural white noise that waxes and wanes in our subconscious. Our heartbeats quicken and our skin tingles at the realisation that, over the centuries, thousands of miserable souls shuffled through these rank corridors through the infamous "door of no return" on an endless journey of horror.

Africa has long been seen as a land of mystery by Westerners. A continent full of mind-boggling rites and rituals but, at the same time, holding a perverse attraction for all who visit. Even a short stopover on the so-called "dark continent" can leave powerful impressions.

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Photos: North West Passage

rodeime — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 15:09:00 GMT

with One Ocean Expeditions aboard Akademik Ioffe

Photos: Vanuatu May 2012

rodeime — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:34:00 GMT

Get wrecked in Port Vila

rodeime — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:28:00 GMT

While Vanuatu may not have the range of wartime wrecks like some other Pacific island countries, the idyllic island destination can offer plenty of deliberately sunken vessels to explore and enjoy.

Of course, the SS President Coolidge on Santo is one of the most famous wartime wrecks anywhere in the world, but how do you “warm up” to a deep penetration dive like the Coolidge?

In Port Vila, where international arrivals begin their Vanuatu explorations, you can acclimatise with any of these exciting wreck dives.

To the home of the iceberg

rodeime — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 13:39:00 GMT

"ICEBERG dead ahead." Once a feared encounter on the high seas, tourists now clamber to see these mighty menaces.

With that alert from the bridge, passengers abandon their champagne and hors d'oeuvres and scramble like startled children from the dining room, nearly knocking our waistcoated stewards over in the rush.

Their unseemly haste is not, however, to grab lifejackets and run to the muster stations, but to fetch binoculars and cameras to observe our first sighting of a massive iceberg as we approach the southern tip of the huge island of Greenland from the east aboard the modern French-flagged expedition cruiser Le Boreal.

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Photos: Iceland

rodeime — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:08:00 GMT

Iceland

Photos: Greenland with Ponant

rodeime — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:06:00 GMT

Greenland