Overlanding: Meal Preparation Food and meal times are a big part of any overland trip; and when it’s done right, it becomes one of the highlights! It’s not just about eating, it’s one of the few times in the day where everyone comes together, slows down, and chats about the day’s adventures before another wonderful evening around the fire. With a cold beer or glass of wine, mealtimes become a really enjoyable part of the experience. Over the years, I’ve seen what works, what

Is there Symbolism in Nature, or is it just Coincidence? Spending a lot of time in nature can change how you see things. It happens slowly, quietly, almost without you noticing. Every now and then in the early days of my adventures in Africa I would occasionally hear people talk about nature presenting things to them that somehow lined up with what was going on in their lives. To be honest, I thought it was a load of rubbish. However over the years I spent more and more time

Over many years of taking groups to wild places in Africa, I’ve found that the simple concept of being aware of animal comfort zones and pressure zones is one of the most import things for people to understand before they depart on one of my adventures, and it's VERY relatable to us as we have all met people who get into our pressure zone! If we imagine that every wild animal has an invisible space around it. When we stay outside that space, the animal feels relaxed and comfo

The Thinking Behind Every Overland Route This blog comes directly from conversations at the recent Adventure Travel Show in London, and from meetings with travel professionals in the Netherlands, and others. A number of people asked thoughtful, detailed questions about how and why we choose our routes. I thought it worth noting this for others to read... When people look at a map of Africa, it’s easy to circle the famous names. The big parks, the iconic reserves and the headl

When we talk about carbon offsetting, we usually picture something tangible, a tree planted in the ground, a hectare restored, a number added to a spreadsheet. Those things matter. But over the last 20 years, I’ve come to believe there is another kind of offsetting that is harder to measure and perhaps far more powerful: Planting the seed of nature conservation in a person. On our ventures in Africa, people don’t just see wildlife and take photographs, they immerse themselves

For a short period of my life I was lucky to know the great man Dr Ian Player who dedicated his life to the wild, wilderness and nature. Since those days I have always looked for the symbolism in nature he talked so much about. Every time I see a hyena they symbolise for me the importance of balance, community, communication and cooperation. My spotted hyena sightings have been few and far between over the last 20 odd years of travelling to Africa, but this is one of the ani