Lion. Leopard. Elephant. Buffalo. Rhinoceros. The Big Five that top every African tourist's been there, seen that list. After yesterday's health scare, I'm feeling slightly more charitable towards Willem. I don't envy his job - he's under constant pressure to seek out the biggies...

I don't know what we were expecting but it certainly wasn't an Afrikaner with a Tom Selleck moustache, a blond ponytail and a tatoo high on his left thigh that doubled up as his visiting card: Master Tracker it read, like the pieces on a scrabble board, one word vertical, one horozontal with...

Considering this is the city where middle aged women zip around in Bajaj autorickshaws labelled The Tigers of San Miguel and curvy bikini-clad women on signboards exhort you to drink Brahma beer, it shouldn´t have surprised us that we bumped into Gandhi ( see the man himself above ) at Lima´s Chinatown...

This is probably how an advertisement for Peru Rail would read: Wanted cabin attendants. Must have experience in service industry. Must be well-groomed. Must know folk dances and have previous ramp experience. Today, on the train back from Machu Picchu, after the three employees of Peru Rail had finished...

I already know the answer to that question. In last year´s frenzied email polling, you voted for the Taj Mahal as the seventh wonder of the world. Why? Well, because it was Indian of course. India is great. The Taj is amazing. India´s best monuments are as good as any other country´s right? So what if...

( Photo: The oasis at Ica. Now they boat on the water but originally it was known for its medicinal powers ) The pace has increased dramatically in Peru. After the Islands we hopped right back on our vintage Landcruiser and sped further south to the natural oasis of Ica for a spot of dune bashing. Like...

Apart from watching the volcano -- in awe and, yes, I admit, in fear -- we had a lot of time to walk and explore the lush meadows and tropical rain forests around us and watch how people go about their lives. The natural wonders of this country are without question its main attraction, but Costa Rica...

( Photo: The husband became a hummingbird stalker in Arenal, but this picture made my day ) We awoke to the sound of birds. Half a dozen hummingbirds were buzzing in the flowering bushes outside our window. A Mumbai taxi-coloured Toucan sat in the tree across ( see photo, below ). I´ve never heard so...

6am, last morning, Puerto Viejo Puerto Viejo was relaxing as can be. We´re happy we discarded our original plan of zipping through the entire country and settled down in this little town on the Caribbean or Talamanca coast. Though we spent a LOT of time doing nothing, we were also more adventurous than...

Today, I had one of my best meals on this holiday. Today, I struggled to have a conversation in English. The meal was two large red snappers in a Caribbean coconut curry, flavoured with rosemary, whole pepper, Jamaican allspice, a light-green local chilly and, I think, some dried sage. We were 14 km...