The Amber-Eyed Prince

In the Kalahari our eyes met and I melted. My knees would buckle if I wasn’t already sitting. For a second there, I thought he was about to jump into the car through the open window and tear me apart, but I didn’t care - he was just that beautiful. Young, three-four month, maybe less, but by his amber eyes you could clearly see why he is up for the throne of the king in this desert.

... [Read more]

The Great Kalahari Desert

I’d walk the Kalahari Desert if they’d let me. Herds of springbok would race by, pronking in the insane and magnificent way they do, showing me how strong and healthy they are so I wouldn’t even attempt to catch and eat them. Oryx would watch me carefully, then run off, and turn back to see what I’m up to again and again. Hartebeest and wilderbeest would lie on the blonde grass in the shade of trees,... [Read more]

In the Eye of the Beholder, part 2

For part one of In the Eye of the Beholder

I woke up in our tent wearing nothing but my underwear. A villager told me that I got out of the tent at night and ran around the jungle in a stupor until other villagers caught up with me as I was standing on an edge of a cliff gazing into the muddy water below. When I spoke to Alex, he had terrifying news. He... [Read more]

Red Sands of Sossusvlei

Sossusvlei has waited for me long enough. Seeing it in the first light of dawn made me want to run along the crest of the nearest dune and not stop until I reach the sun. However, scaling the sand dunes is hard work. Eventually, I took off my shoes and, packing more and more red grains of sand into the thick woven fabric of my hiking socks, dug my feet into the dunes, crest after crest. Breaking the facets of sand mountains,... [Read more]

In the Eye of the Beholder, part 1

It is two days later and I still don’t have all my memory back. I remember arriving at the village where the Shaman’s house was and being a bit nervous. I tried to do some research and asked people I had met and the guides how they felt about such an experience, and all I got was that it’s something I should do. I remembered Ramiro, our English speaking guide, who left me with a Spanish guide in Pantoja,... [Read more]

Camping in Tanzania and Kenya

A typical day on our camping safari was a wake-up call at 5am - not that we really needed the cheery “Good morning, Africa’s calling” from our leader, as the sounds of Africa rang all around us in squawking harmony and heralded the exciting day ahead.

Within no time we had packed our tents and eaten breakfast, and then the flapping would begin! You learn quickly that as much as putting up your... [Read more]

Rough Guides Announces $6,000 Trip Giveaway

Big news: Rough Guides is giving away a two-week trip for two to Thailand (airfare included) worth $6,000 to help ring in the publication of our big Fall ‘08 book, Ultimate Adventures: A Rough Guide to Adventure Travel. The trip has been put together by one of the world’s coolest, most attentive travel agencies, Imaginative Traveler.

Packed with variety and activities, the lucky twosome chosen will go elephant... [Read more]

From Jarira to Hendrix in Morocco

In Morocco you can enjoy a good scrubbing local hammam style, sip on a hearty harira soup after sunset and discover the fishing town and windswept beaches that inspired the guitar legend himself, Jimi Hendrix…

In Morocco you can enjoy a good scrubbing local hammam style, sip on a hearty harira soup after sunset and discover the fishing town and windswept beaches that inspired the guitar legend himself, Jimi Hendrix.... [Read more]

Dune Bashing in Dubai

Dune Bashing in Dubai – adventure for the spirited

It looked, for a moment, like a mirage gone mad. There on the rolling sand dunes were scores of misshapen four-wheelers racing up and down, kicking up clouds of sand as they went. The first thought that leapt to my mind was that a pack of daredevil circus stuntmen had been let loose in the desert. Nope. This wasn’t a mirage. I was 30 minutes out of Dubai and... [Read more]

Go Walkabout Africa

The first one to discourage me from going to Africa was Korney Chukovsky. His quirky Soviet whimsy warned little children, by way of a nursery rhyme, about its mean sharks, gorillas, and crocs whose main objective was to beat and bite them. Only Barmaley, a fat, bloodthirsty bandit was worse, and he too was roaming the treacherous continent, ready to catch, fry, and eat any stray toddlers.

Fear is a simple and efficient... [Read more]

I’m in Africa!

Flat-top mountains, red with rocky Mohawks. Hills with boulder rims just below round bold tops that remind me of Catholic monks’ heads. Blond grass on burnt-sienna fields rich with iron. Brilliant blue skies with pinches of stark-white clouds. I am in Africa.

You’d think a twenty seven-hour flight, with a layover in Abu Dhabi, would suck me dry of excitement, but no. Falling asleep was made extremely... [Read more]

A Whiskey in Svalbard

It felt kind of weird fleeing a hot Swedish summer and going up north to the cold regions of the North Pole. Nevertheless, going to Svalbard during the sunny period, where temperatures are only a few minus degrees below-zero Celsius instead of the usual minus 30 degrees during the dark period, seemed like a much better option.

I wanted to experience the northern Frontier, the wild untouched areas of the arctic pole,... [Read more]

In The Belum Caves

It isn’t everyone’s idea of a great way to spend the weekend. Definitely not for the city bred, disco and mall addicted youth. A day’s exploration of one of the longest underground cave systems in the sub-continent, can put off even the most adventurous city dweller. Cold, clammy caves, deep under the earth’s surface, infested by bats and other nasty creatures of the night. Yes, all that, but there’s also a touch... [Read more]

Down the Death Road

“Sarit!” my husband turned to me all excited, “Wanna go up to 4700m in a van and then ride a bicycle downhill 64km on the most dangerous road in the world?”

“Ahem… No! Do I look like I have a death wish?” It was an honest response. I haven’t been on a bike since the fifth grade! I thought this was the end of it, but when we got to La Paz in Bolivia there wasn’t... [Read more]

My Hostel is Your Hostel

If you want your mommy, if you can’t sleep anywhere but in your own bed without your blankie or teddy bear – independent travel is not for you. Entirely understandable why one wouldn’t want to give it all up creature comforts. However, those brave ones that do, gain an exciting and colorful world in exchange – the realm of hostel hopping.

Traveling, hostel hopping is inevitable. New place every day,... [Read more]

Sandboarding Epiphany in Chile

Sitting at the top of a sand dune, with board attached to my feet, wind and sand pelting my face, looking out at the alien terrain reminiscent of Star Wars, is when I finally realized how damn lucky I am.  Maybe it was the altitude or maybe it was the exhaustion from trudging up the steep sand, but something finally jostled me and opened my eyes. 

Here I am sand-boarding in the San Pedro de Atacama in the Northern... [Read more]

Down the Nuevo Rocafuerte, Ecuador

The jungle trip began the same way I planned to start my independent journey to Iquitos. Early Friday morning I, along with the guide and five other participants - Alex [the writer's husband], two British girls, a New-Zealander, and an Australian, piled up into a motorized canoe filled with locals and baggage of all kinds. The trip down to Nuevo Rocafuerte is about 12 hours long, so this was an excellent opportunity for... [Read more]

Chasing Galapagos

Luck is often an essential part of a successful trip. If you know were to get some, I’d suggest you pack it in your most accessible backpack pocket – it, plus a bit of experience, and you are guaranteed to have a good time.

Pierre Constant - the adventurer extraordinaire and author of “Marine Life of the Galapagos” wasn’t very lucky, though it worked out just great for me and my husband.... [Read more]

In the Jungle, It’s All About the Monkey

His monkey was of the smallest kind in South America, and that is why I trusted him. In this place, it was as good a reason as any. The place was Coca, Ecuador, a small jungle town that I had big expectations for as a portal to an off-the-beaten-track adventure. This trip along the Rio Napo, which eventually merges with the Amazon, would be my first stab into the jungle. The plan was to make way to the border with Peru... [Read more]

A Global Journeys First Steps

Spotless hiking boots, new backpacks, life couldn’t be more exciting and terrifying at the same time, as we stand in Quito’s airport. Just like new parents read too many baby books, all our knowledge of what a journey of global proportions like this should be, is from numerous paperbacks with pictures of hikers on mountain peeks, shot at an upward angle. I will never forget those first steps out of the airport.... [Read more]

World Travel: It’s All His Fault!

Two and a half years on the road passed by like a freight train without brakes. Many times I was asked who and how came up with the idea to drop everything and exchange a stable home and promising careers for a one way ticket into the world - end destination or return date unknown. Anybody who knows me and my husband probably would not even stop to ponder, but to be completely honest, and as much as I hate to admit it,... [Read more]

Angola, Land of Endless War

At Ondangua, northern Namibia, I met up with the convoy I was travelling with into Angola. We encountered no border controls and continued on past Ruacana Falls to Xangongo, which was once a prosperous Portuguese town, but now most buildings had no roofs and the town was quiet and overgrown. Many of the crumbling buildings’ white-washed facades were riddled with bullet holes. In some places, the road was not clear and... [Read more]

Only in Iceland

The following comes from the Iceland Tourism Office Newsletter and touts some of the more unusual spots to check out while visiting Iceland. I can vouch for Lake Myvatn and for the the island as a whole. I spent six incredible weeks there about ten years ago and I am due back!
Editor ITKT

The favorite word of most tourist boards seems to be unique. You’ll read about places that are most unique, very unique,... [Read more]

Close Encounters with Tanzanian Treasures

It’s midnight. A relatively peaceful night so far. As I turn over sleepily, absent-mindedly rolling out of my safe perimeter of flimsy mosquito net (supposedly protecting me from the dreaded tsi tsi fly), the silence is interrupted by a knock. Someone at the door? Who could possibly need me at this hour? Plus, nobody knows me here at Seronera Wildlife Lodge. I drag myself to the large window and peer out – there he... [Read more]

AMA Ride Guide to America: a Review

One thing I have noticed in America, unlike India [home to this ITKT writer -ed-] where motorcycle is the major mode of transport, here it is a tool of indulgence and entertainment. It is easier to get a license to drive a car than ride a motorcycle. Perils of motorcycle riding are much more on American highways than on Indian roads. Then the extreme weather conditions of this large country make it almost impossible to... [Read more]

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