MORE TRAVEL
MORE TRAVEL
CHILE
An adventure in the Chilean desierto de Atacama, a neotropical realm – the driest non-polar desert in the world. 35 million years ago, the collision of two plates caused the rising of the Andes mountains with the surrounding Pacific Ring of Fire still responsible for the greatest seismic and volcanic activity on Earth today.
Beneath mountains, volcanoes and towering dunes, a lunar-like depression swathed in pink light.
We spent five nights here in the arid heat, under the full moon in Leo, observing temperature inversions, discovering moon scapes, endless desert dunes, vast wilderness and surprising lagoons. We mountain biked for an inordinate amount of hours, hiked, climbed and also hired a car for a couple of days to explore further afield. We stayed in rural San Pedro so we could enjoy space, beautiful gardens and a pool.
Some of our highlights of the week include Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley), which we cycled endlessly and couldn’t get over how alien everything felt, and Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache (hidden lagoons of Baltinache), which require some serious off-roading to get to but are totally worth it – salt pools to rival the Dead Sea, and actually more beautiful in my opinion. Our astronomy tour was cancelled twice due to evening clouds but stargazing is free. And spectacular. We visited Parque Laguna Chaxa to see perfectly pink flamingoes against a volcanic backdrop and trekked through Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat). The Magic Bus is also a fun sunset stop-off, surreal in its location.
After so many excursions, the lively, sun-drenched local restaurants are great for ceviche and a pisco sour. There’s even a French bakery in San Pedro that’s become a bit of a digi nomad hangout. And not to be forgotten, as well as very cute guanacos (like a llama) and goats roadside, there are so many doggies big and small to make friends with while shopping in the desert town.
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Antarctica
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And so I made it to my seventh continent, Antarctica. The best white Christmas in the world. Dreadful sea conditions (8m waves and crazy wind) but luckily beautiful weather on arrival to the peninsula, sometimes snow, sometimes sunny blue. Always light because the sun doesn’t set in summer. By the fourth day of our expedition, we officially arrived and visited Peterman Island and then Pleneau lsland – cruising around icebergs and glaciers in zodiac boats. Only one hundred people can step onto Antarctic land at a time so when we finally did it felt so special and mesmerising. We were surrounded by white on white with unbelievable formations of ice in bright blue and turquoise. Then the humpback whales surrounded us in huge numbers and amazed us with their sheer size. The second day’s excursion was to Winter Island to see more penguins, moulting seals and whales. For the afternoon, we headed through the awe-inducing narrow Lemaire Channel. We even jumped into the freezing ocean, an exhilarating experience but one I’m not in a hurry to repeat. We spent Christmas Eve at Neko Harbour on a boat tour (too icy to disembark), followed by Useful Island. The brightest sun illuminated the snowy mountains with stunning cloud scapes above hundreds of penguins protecting their eggs.
We were due to have another evening lecture but it was interrupted by… orcas! A massive pod of killer whales surrounded the ship for hours and we got to witness them hunting. It was so wild, a nature programme in real life. I was ecstatic. Woke to light snow and mimosas on Christmas day. The morning expedition was to Portal Point, covered with weddell seals. Our first time on Antarctic mainland – the best winter walk you can imagine. Huge seabirds flew overhead and at one point I sank knee deep through the snow. We got back and jumped in the hot tub and then enjoyed a sauna to warm up further. The afternoon excursion took us to Two Hummock Island where we again saw whales breaching and feeding all around us. After another winter walk, it was time for mulled wine and a festive feast. Boxing Day meant returning through Drake Passage, cue a mandatory briefing about the treacherous conditions to come…
I love living in a nature documentary. Antarctica highlights included witnessing orcas hunting, seals saying hello, all the thousands of cute penguins, the dazzling snow and the starkly beautiful blue glaciers.
With an expedition of this scale, of course there’s going to be a lowlight too. And as people always ask me for travel tips, I must cover all bases and mention the seasickness. When you’re being thrown out of your bed at night by the waves and can see the sea on top of the boat in the mirror because the ship is rolling so much through Drake Passage, anti-nausea pills just don’t work. Especially if you can’t keep them down anyway because you can’t stop vomiting. This was a real test of endurance with literally nowhere to go and escape it.
What a beautiful, unbelievably special adventure though.
Stepping off onto land back in Patagonia (over ten hours later than scheduled due to wild weather) was glorious too. We continued our trip through Argentina, celebrating a new year in sunny Buenos Aires. May this one be as golden as the last!
ushuaia, nicknamed the end of world
uganda
Animal encounters that were out of this world and yet another travel highlight. Only eight people can visit a family of gorillas per day. I chose the challenging route (overlanding for hours in Africa is no easy feat and I needed to move my body).
We had three armed rangers for protection… they’re not armed to kill any animals of course but sometimes they need to shoot into the air to prevent mountain elephants charging. Trackers stay close to the gorillas until 6pm every evening and go back at sunrise to find them again and help lead tourists there; these gorilla families have been habituated for a period of three or four years to tolerate human contact. This is necessary so local Ugandans and wild animals can live together in harmony. It was a hot, sweaty day but, once we entered the forest, we had to cover up to avoid bites and stings – including trousers tucked into socks to ward off biting ants. We even had gardening gloves to protect against all the thorns and nettles. Hiking through an undisturbed rainforest was thrilling… the guides were scything our route as we went and at many points it was so steep we were sliding down vines like a forest slide because there was no path. Very fun. And wild.
When we found the gorillas, there’s a strict 1h window you can spend with them but we were lucky enough to see so many during that time. The alpha silverback, plenty of females and small playful babies. I’ve never been so muddy in all my life and my Salomon sneakers definitely didn’t survive but it was the most wonderful day. The scenery in Uganda is so beautiful – dense, green, moody. Racing through clouds atop the mountains was just magical. I left Africa with great sadness but a full heart.
rio carnival 2024
Nicknamed Princesa Maravilhosa (marvellous princess), Rio is a place you don’t want to leave! Sun-drenched, overwhelming, bursting with colour and teeming with life – chaotic crowds downtown, marmosets in the trees at Parque Lage. You can trek through a beautiful, waterfall-strewn forest to see Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) probably the most famous statue in the world and, yes, tremendously huge. Admire Sugarloaf Mountain, which spectacularly rises from the water’s edge alongside other mountain islands that create beautiful landscapes from the beach and vistas from above.
Since performing “Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl, with yellow feathers in her hair…” as a pre-teen in my musical theatre days, I was obviously obsessed with visiting Copacabana. The balneário did not disappoint, one of the most fun beaches I’ve visited, along with Ipanema and Barra da Tijuca (where we stayed). The waves are crazy, the Brazilian cult of beauty is unnerving and omnipresent, the cariocas (Rio locals) are loud and fun-loving, there are raucous food vendors and bikini sellers everywhere. And everyone has dogs too big or too small.
On top of all this, we visited for the carnival, the greatest show on Earth and biggest party in the world. Blocco celebrations that make Notting Hill look tame, endless parades of costumes, feathers and glitter, and samba rhythms wherever you go. On Saturday night, we got tickets to the Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí – a 700m long permanent parade ground with a 90,000-strong capacity. Opening in the evening and continuing until five am, we saw the most insane ‘escola de samba’ shows, with floats 10m high. It’s like Disney on acid with a never-ending stream of dancers, drummers and flag-bearers. Each school has 3000 or more members, rehearsing for the carnival all year long, with a show of special effects, fireworks and the best fantasias (costumes) – all judged by a panel sat directly opposite us.
And a first timer's manual Contrary to popular belief, you can travel here last-minute. Everyone put so much emphasis on sky-high prices and unavailability. Yes, the hotel we booked was not cheap but we monitored the prices and there were last-minute drops and a selection of options still available in February.
The sambadrome shows are definitely worth it. Buy tickets in-person at the Hotel Atlântico Copacabana (or check other official vendors). We got our tickets without wait and even free metro passes. People who had bought in advance online were queuing for hours around the block to pick up theirs.
You can do Rio on the cheap. Street food, supermarket drinks… even sambadrome tickets start at $30, which surprised me. The view is still great.
It can be confusing where to go for the parades and street parties. There are posters everywhere but you need to be in that particular place to see the details. Loads of tourists flock to Copacabana and Ipanema, which was very fun. I was advised by Brazilians to stay away from Lapa and Santa Teresa (they get extremely hectic). We also experienced the carnival at Barra da Tijuca, our local beach, and it was full of cariocas and costumes.
For me, despite all the warnings, Rio (and indeed Brazil at large) didn’t feel unsafe and luckily we didn’t encounter any issues or unwanted attention. If you come from somewhere like London (and already know what to be cautious of), it’s totally doable but of course if you hate crowds or too much noise you’re probably not going to love the chaos. We found we could experience some action from the fringes as well though.
For travellers, fun-lovers, culture-vultures, anyone spiritual and everyone young at heart, it’s an absolute must to experience Rio Carnival in your lifetime.