Walking with Tarantulas in La Campana

January 7, 2024 | Chile

Before my first trip to La Campana National Park I turned to Google for what we needed to know. My research yielded the terrifying news that the park is crawling with araña pollitos (Chilean Rose tarantula) and that they are frequently encountered by hikers (and even...

Adventures in the Atacama Desert

December 27, 2023 | Chile

To say there’s nothing to see for miles in the Atacama Desert is an insult to one of the world’s most geologically phenomenal regions. This high-altitude plateau once lay at the bottom of the ocean. Its maritime legacy lingers in the the Moon Valley’s abandoned...

Up the Andes: Los Libertadores to Mendoza

September 30, 2023 | Chile

Chile is often likened to an island, bordered as it is by glaciers in the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west, desert to the north, and the impenetrable Andes to the east. Well, almost impenetrable. The Paso Internacional Los Libertadores (Cristo Redentor) cuts right...

Solo Travel, it’s Good for the Soul

September 23, 2023 | Confessions, Location Independence

After a couple of years of lockdowns, much of which time was spent living in Georgia, 2022 has been the year of getting back into travel and solo travel. I’m drafting this post from Mendoza where it’s pushing 40°C (too hot even to sip Malbec or nibble an alfajor)....

All you need to know about the Mount Ijen sunrise hike

September 12, 2022 | Indonesia

When I heard about a volcano in East Java where blue fires flicker in the twilight, I didn’t hesitate to add it to my Indonesia wish list. Second thoughts rolled in when my alarm woke me up at 12.30 am and marked the start of my Mount Ijen sunrise hike and I wondered...