Revisiting an icon – when is the best time to visit Iguazu Falls?

I’ve been lucky enough to visit Iguazu Falls twice now and it’s definitely an amazing place to add to your South American trip. But the two experiences were quite different; one in February (summer) and one in July (winter), when the water reached exceptionally high levels due to floods in Parana state. You can read…

Enchanted Park Lewes brings something different to town

If you’re looking for something different to do this festive season and you live within travelling distance of East Sussex, Enchanted Park Lewes might just be something for you. It caught my eye by chance as I was scrolling through Twitter one morning this week, partly because it’s taking place at Southover Grange in Lewes,…

Adventures in the Bolivian Pantanal

“We usually eat them whole, with our hands.”   She mimed chomping across the bony flesh, then gestured to the knife and fork on the table. “But you can use those.” Piranhas have a fearsome reputation but most of the time they’re harmless enough. Just don’t get into the water with them during mating season….

Magnum: Contact Sheets at Foam photography museum in Amsterdam

Photo credit – Marco Derksen – Creative Commons It’s been a while since I visited Amsterdam. Despite many visits to the Netherlands over the years, most of those are family-based so I don’t get chance. Plus there seems to be some North-South rivalry going on; ‘above the rivers’ is different to the south, or so…

Pope fever in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

  Santa Cruz was just supposed to be a stopover, a brief first glimpse of Bolivia before continuing on to Puerto Quijarro on the Brazilian border, from where we were travelling into the Parque Nacional Otoquis. We arrived early in the evening, the taxi following a twisting route through endless city blocks. Many roads were…

My first travel video, the BBC and World Travel Market

In the spirit of trying new things, I’ve made my first travel video! It’s highlights of my trip to Bolivia and Brazil this summer, set to one of my favourite tracks. Hope you like it, feedback welcome! I made the video with a free video editing app called KineMaster, which I heard about on a…

What’s in your travel bag? My 5 travel essentials

I recently joined Instagram, which is a terrible time-waster   great source of travel inspiration. I love the wanderlust-inducing travel shots, but also the small insights into people’s worlds, halfway around the globe. A morning coffee here, a pet photo there. And I love the little details about travel most of all. I’ve been meaning to…

How to spend a rainy day in Bonito, Brazil

I know you probably have a lovely idea of Brazil, bathed in constant warm sub-tropical sunshine, Well, you know what comes with sun in the tropics? Yes, rainstorms. We planned two days in Bonito, the eco-tourism capital of Mato Grosso do Sul; one to enjoy the town, do a little laundry, check out a bar…

I left my heart in…Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil

    “Ah, my other son. He’s in some tiny town in the far north, in Piaui state. I’ve never heard of it.” Our laid-back guide rolled the window down and shrugged. There’s many unknown places in Brazil. Take Chapada dos Guimaraes. It may be the official geodesic centre of South America, but until we…