Expert Insights

October 03, 2013 Burma: Out of the shadows

I am reading the last few pages of an epic adventure with tears rolling down my cheeks. Epic – a heavily overused word these days but totally appropriate in the context of From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe. Burma has been in the press more in the last five months...

October 02, 2013 Winter in Kvitavatn

Read time – 2 minutes Cross-country skiing in Kvitavatn is an idyllic winter holiday. Located in Telemark in Norway, a three-hour drive west of Oslo and south of the Hardangervidda plateau, this picture-postcard resort sits beside a frozen lake at the foot of Gaustatoppen (1,882m), the highest mountain in southern Norway. Founded in the 1970s...

October 02, 2013 Conquering the Aconcagua Climb

Read time – 3 minutes Having successfully completed a number of high altitude peaks over 5,000 metres, Aconcagua in the Andes has always been my ultimate trekking goal. So when the opportunity to attempt the highest ‘trek-able’ summit outside of the Himalaya presented itself, I snapped it up. Comprising nine males and three females aged...

October 02, 2013 For the Love of Safari Adventure

Read time – 2 minutes For me it was Kipling, for my boy Madagascar, for others it could be a postcard or a billboard. Many will be seduced this autumn by Disney’s new feature African Cats, but for any safari fan (and few only do it once) there is always something that ignites their African evolutionary touch...

October 02, 2013 Inca Trail Alternative – Moonstone Route

Read time – 3 minutes Trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is rightly considered to be the most iconic walk in Latin America and many of you will have completed the four-day, 35km hike. However, there is another (and in my opinion, better) way to reach the fabled ruins: the Moonstone Route. Views on the Moonstone trek Reasons to...

October 02, 2013 In Search of the Snow Leopard

Read time – 2 minutes Ladakh in winter? With sub-zero temperatures and cut off from the rest of the world by the snow?! Yes – the Hemis National Park is as pretty in winter under snow as it is in summer and is home to one of the most elusive cats on the planet –...

October 02, 2013 Penguins, Penguins, Penguins!

Heading south for the winter would normally mean lots of sun, a nice sandy beach and a chance to get a tan in January. But that depends on how far south you go. When I left a very cold and rainy London last December I had packed my thermals and woolly hat. There’s no chance...

October 02, 2013 An Iceland Adventure

Read time – 2 minutes After travelling across the moon-like landscape of the Rekjanes Peninsula we headed to the south coast. As the dark Icelandic landscape of lava gave way to green pastures we spotted some Icelandic horses, unique for their five gaits. A word of warning though: don’t refer to them as ‘ponies’ or...

October 02, 2013 Leader profile: Ana Kunstek in Croatia

Read time – 1 minute Born in Croatia’s capital city of Zagreb in 1973, Ana was always a keen sportswoman, playing handball, skiing, synchronised swimming and of course cycling. Introducing Ana Ana has been leading groups for Exodus since 2007 and sees the role as much more than simply a job. She always has everything...

October 01, 2013 Darwin’s Galapagos

Read time – 3 minutes I spent my first night on the islands with an American who sailed our main Galapagos boat, the Cachalote, from Florida across the Caribbean and the Panama Canal to its new home. He talked about pirate attacks off Haiti and other exciting tales en route, but I only had one...