The Victoria Lines is a 12km long series of fortifications that cuts across the island of Malta from coast to coast, along a steep escarpment called The Great Fault. […the Great Fault was actually no one’s fault… just geology…] They were built by the British between 1870 and 1899, to defend the main part of the island from a landing and invasion in the north. The Grand Harbour became the Royal...
I still remember the moment I knew — really knew — that my dad was dying. I was in a cheap hotel in Bangkok, lying there awake trying to sleep. I’d received an email that day which said my dad had been ill, and they were sending him for some tests. One of the last lines read, “You should probably come home.” There was nothing in the message to cause any more alarm than that. But when night came...
I’ve had a few readers ask me about the prehistoric rock art sites discovered on our recent Chad-Tibesti Expedition. The rock art we found dates back to the Holocene, between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago, when the Sahara was fertile. It was created by the cattle herders and hunter gatherers who inhabited the area during its brief wet interlude. Friends have said how amazing it must be to discover...
I’ve put together some video for you of my recent expedition to one of the Sahara’s most remote corners. Only one previous expedition has reached the Ouri plain in Chad’s Tibesti mountains. That was about 15 years ago, and given the difficulties, I can’t see anyone else trying it anytime soon. I’m no cinematographer by any stretch, so please don’t expect a movie. I simply want to give you a sense...
Thanks for all your great feedback on my recent Tibesti – Chad expedition. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the story, and the outstanding photos by Tomoko Goto. I’m often asked what the food is like on a deep desert expedition. What do we eat? And how do we pack so food stays safe in 36C heat? Well, first of all, unlike the pampered driving trips I’ve done in the southern part of Africa, these Land...
It’s been over a month since I posted a new blog. But hey, I’ve been in one of world’s least visited countries — and in an area that’s considered incredibly remote, even by Sahara standards. I signed on for another expedition organized by my good friend Andras Zboray, who has been patiently searching out and meticulously cataloguing prehistoric rock art in the Sahara for well over a decade. This...
I’ve always gotten a lot of comments about the book cover of Vagabond Dreams. It really jumps off the shelf, and I loved it the first time I saw it. I thought you might like to know some of the symbolism behind it. The first element that jumps out at you is of course the boat. There’s a riverboat journey by dugout canoe near the beginning of the book, but that was really just the first act...
The desert is on my brain these days… I’m gearing up for a big expedition to the Tibesti mountains in northern Chad. And I’ve been going through my library of Sahara books as the anticipation builds. I want to share one of my favourites with you today. It’s called Operation Salam. And one of the coauthors, Andras Zboray, is a good friend. I traveled with Andras to the remote Jebel Uweinat back...
Christmas is just another day for me. I’m not religious, and if forced to choose I would pick the old Greek and Roman pagan gods over any current creed or belief system. We don’t have any family in Malta either. And so, rather than sit around at home working, we decided to take advantage of the silence of the countryside to do a little exploring. It was a nice sunny December day, and the guns of...
This is what it looks like at the end of the world. If you sail past the horizon — right out there — you’ll fall off the edge of the Earth. At least, that’s what the early navigators thought. But the bravest among them proved the theory wrong. Cabo de Sao Vicente is Europe’s most southwestern point. And it was the last place these Portuguese explorers would see when they set out to discover...