Category

The Americas

4 Jan

Ilies du Salut (Devils Island), French Guiana

When I was about 7 or 8, I watched the movie Papillon with my parents at the local drive-in theatre in North Ryde. The Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman classic greatly impacted me as a young boy, so almost 50 years later, I was excited to visit the islands off the coast of French Guiana, where the movie […]

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28 Oct

Georgetown, Guyana

I arrived with Kate into cricket-mad Guyana from Panama City. The airport at Georgetown (named after King George III) is about an hour’s drive from the city. Our driver, Patrick, talks the entire journey so we feel like we know a lot by the time we arrive in town.   We’re booked into Cara Lodge, a famous colonial-style building not far […]

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14 Oct

What to do in NYC … with teenage girls

I still have my “L” plates on when it comes to parenting my teenage daughters.  At 13 and 15 they are into stuff that, well, I simply will never understand. Thankfully, my wife Kate, “gets” them but even so, we still had to work out what to do with teenagers in the Big Apple. The […]

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7 Oct

Cuba – a little piece of socialism in the Caribbean

Many tourists come to Cuba to seek out the gorgeous beaches on the north coast but for me, it was the unique vibrancy of the people that drew me to this little piece of socialism in the Caribbean. Cubans have a real sense of pride in their country’s defiance of the American capitalists who sit […]

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19 Aug

Danpaati River Lodge, Suriname

In Surinamese (a combination of Dutch and local language), danpaati means “dam on the parting waters”. The eco-resort is in the middle of the Suriname River, surrounded by thick jungle and small villages mainly inhabited by descendants of African slaves who fled from their captors in the mid-1800s when slave labour was abolished.    From Paramaribo, it’s a two-hour drive to the […]

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15 Jul

24 Hours in Bogota

After three days enjoying Colombia tourism, I expected more tropical weather in Bogota but the first thing I notice on arrival is the temperature. No … it’s not blistering hot … it’s a cool 15 degrees and I need a jacket! How can this be when I’m not that far from the equator? Well … […]

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8 Jul

The Galapagos Islands – one of the foremost wildlife experiences on the planet

All the documentaries I’d seen on the Galapagos Islands inferred that it’s one of the foremost wildlife experiences on the planet. Friends and family members who had travelled there only reinforced this. It was time to experience these famous islands for myself so, along with my family and some friends, we took at Galapagos cruise,  […]

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1 Jul

Cartagena’s Old City – an up and coming destination

I’d heard and read a lot about Cartagena, Colombia’s UNESCO-listed old capital on the Caribbean coast. My travel friends kept telling me I had to travel to Columbia and when I finally got there, I was not disappointed and now understand why Cartagena’s popularity as a destination is on the rapid rise. It certainly offers […]

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6 May

The Panama Canal

Since I was a small kid, I’d always wanted to visit Panama and see the Panama Canal.  The notion of watching huge cargo ships glide through the nearly 80km of a man-made waterway in between the two Americas and linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans had always fascinated me.  I thought it was perhaps a […]

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28 Jan

Guatemala – A lesser travelled gem of Central America

We all travel for different kinds of reasons. Some people like ancient history, others prefer more recent colonial history. Some folks love to photograph wildlife, while some would rather eat their way around a country.  You can do all of this in Guatemala, and more. Not many Australians travel to Guatemala. Rather, if they head […]

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20 Aug

Panama City – a cultural cocktail of contrasts

After a three-day visit to Panama City, I can confirm that Panama is not just about the Canal!  Panama City is the most cosmopolitan capital in Central America where many worlds co-exist and create a dynamic anything goes attitude.  While the city itself is unflinchingly urban with its gleaming Miami-esque skyline, escape is never far […]

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14 Apr

Paramaribo, Suriname

I’m on a research trip with my wife Kate, doing our homework for a tour to what is collectively knows as The Guianas. We travel from Guyana to Suriname, flying into the capital city on a small “caravan” flight, arriving at a small airstrip in the middle of town. Originally we thought we had landed at the world’s […]

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