27th June 2022 We woke to another bright, sunny day, but the sea was rough, with white-topped waves making it difficult to tell whether we were surrounded by the largest pod of whales on the planet, or if it was just wishful thinking. The wind was bitterly cold, making our post-breakfast stroll around the decks… Continue Reading

25th June 2022 The Ambience eased into her berth in the port of Reykjavik a little after 6 a.m. It was a glorious, sunny morning; thin, wispy clouds scudded high above grey mountains still dusted with the remnants of winter. It felt like the promise of a good day. We had breakfast at 7 a.m.… Continue Reading

23rd June 2022 Sea Day We have now left the sheltered waters of the North Sea and are making our way towards Iceland through the more turbulent North Atlantic Ocean. We awoke to a 1.5-metre swell, which set the ship rocking and prompted Sue to acquire a couple of complimentary seasickness tablets from reception. Fortunately,… Continue Reading

21st June 2022 Embarkation Day We had three days to get ourselves sorted for our next adventure, to the largest island in the world and, rather misleadingly, named Greenland. Alongside catching up with a mountain of domestic chores, we had to take and upload an antigen Lateral Flow Test to be granted access to the… Continue Reading

14th June 2020 Our room had a damp, musty smell and, upon investigation by Sue, we discovered that the bungalows had been flooded to a depth of half a metre during the last cyclone. Nonetheless, we slept well, although Sue was still experiencing stomach troubles despite now being on antibiotics. It was raining when, after… Continue Reading

12th June 2020 Sue was still feeling unwell and not at all looking forward to the long drive north when we woke at 5 a.m. Despite this, we weren’t the first to arrive for breakfast at 6 a.m., and it was served in good time for us to board the coach by 7 am. As… Continue Reading

10th June 2022 Today, at around 8:30 a.m., we left Ranohira and set off towards the beautiful coastal town of Ifaty. Unfortunately, Sue had eaten something that disagreed with her and developed a mild case of food poisoning, which began to take effect during the night. However, after a shower in the morning, she felt well… Continue Reading

7th June 2022 “It wasn’t quite such an early start today, we left the hotel at 8 am, heading for Fianarantsoa, one of the island’s largest cities. Although the journey was described as taking four and a half hours, we didn’t arrive at the hotel until 6 pm.” We began our journey with a tour… Continue Reading

6th June 2022 Other than the gentle sound of surf on soft white sand, a good night’s sleep was aided by complete silence. We were among the first to arrive for breakfast at 7:10 am, and the fare was the best we’ve had so far. The only issue was the rectangular slabs of butter, which… Continue Reading

(4th June) A bleary-eyed breakfast at the ungodly hour of 5.45 am was the prelude to a long and arduous journey to Morondava, in the arid southwest of Madagascar. Our marathon trek, lasting 14 hours, began and ended in darkness, leaving us thoroughly exhausted and more than ready for bed. We set off from the… Continue Reading