With Christmas fast approaching, we are constantly bombarded with festive songs, adverts, cheerful Santas and a bewildering range of gift ideas. Every other travel blog I read at the moment seems to be sharing a gift list for travel addicts. However, at the risk...
The first time I visited Africa, many years ago, I remember waltzing into both a school and then an orphanage, amongst a stream of fellow tourists, on an organised excursion. We all took out our cameras and started clicking away while the children looked back at us....
Speaking to Landing, a former turtle poacher, I began to understand why people hunted the turtles, despite their dwindling numbers and it being illegal.
While on my travels in The Gambia and Senegal I've often heard from the locals of the many uses and benefits of the fruit of the baobab tree, a vitamin, fibre, and antioxidant-rich superfood. Here's my recipe for a delicious and nutritious baobab smoothie. The Baobab...
Earlier today I received a tweet from my friend Sallie, from the award-winning volunteer organisation people and places, asking for my help. She had been in contact with the children's charity, Next Generation Nepal (NGN). Following the recent devastating earthquake...
One of the things I love most about travelling is learning about different cultures and traditions. I try to travel with an open heart and mind, seeking positive, enriching experiences. But every now and again, as is inevitable, I come across...
The dust, the smiles and the rhythm of the drums, West Africa, can really get under your skin; I lost count of the number of times I've visited this corner of the globe a long time ago. As I set out on a journey of a different kind, namely sponsoring a child in...
Under the guise of sharing some cute pictures of a few of the many four-legged friends I recently met on Satorini, I’d like to tell you a little about Santorini Animals Welfare Association, a great organisation caring for the unwanted animals of these beautiful isles.
Becoming a digital ambassador for Plan UK Earlier this year I was delighted to receive an email from Plan UK, a branch of the international children's charity, inviting me to join them for an afternoon of networking (with tea and cake - they know...
When Cindy, from My Diving Holidays, asked me if she could write a guest post for Travel With Kat about shark fin soup and the devastating knock-on effect that it has on eco-systems, I was eager to know more. I hope you find Cindy's post as fascinating as I did and...
In just a few days time I'll be off on the adventure of a lifetime cruising with Hurtigruten in the Arctic circle but I have a confession to make - I don't like cruises! Not that I have ever been on one you understand - I have just never liked the idea of them. When I...
Do you like bananas? Have you noticed that over the last ten years the price of bananas in the UK has halved while the cost of producing those bananas has almost doubled? It just doesn't add up, does it? In fact, bananas are now sold so cheaply that this is...
When we arrived at Mandina Lodges we were given a few words of warning! "Don't leave your toiletries out in your open-air bathroom as the baboons might steal them." Replanting Makasutu Forest and the return of the baboons When the founders of Mandina Lodges, first...
In my last post I shared with you my concerns about irresponsible volunteer organisations and orphanage tourism. Today I’d like to tell you about a great volunteering organisation that take a very responsible approach. Getting to know 'people and places' As my...
There has been a lot of bad press lately about volunteer tourism and I’ve heard a few horror stories myself, such as local teachers being dismissed because the school knew that a volunteer teacher was on there way. Even more disturbing still though are cases involving...
In May, when I left The Gambia, I had a mission to raise enough money to buy at least ten more of the new design of stoves that run on peanut shell briquettes. The Community Stove Initiative If you have been following my blogs from The Gambia you may want to skip the...
“Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for the day. Teach him how to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” Chinese proverb After visiting the girl I sponsor in The Gambia, we set off to visit Lamin's family who live just up the road, in a village on the outskirts of the...
In 2005 I started sponsoring a little girl in The Gambia. She was just 6 years old. A few months later I visited The Gambia for the first time and, of course, I arranged to visit her, her school and her family. Nearly 8 years later I am still sponsoring her and...
I recently shared with you the wonderful welcome we received in the village of Kanuma in my post On the Trail of the mythical Kumpo of Kanuma. This was a great experience for all of us, a real treat, but the main reason we visited this remote West African village...
Last week Malala, a 14-year-old school girl in Pakistan, was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban while coming home from school because she had spoken out about the rights of girls to an education. It was a poignant reminder that the education, that so many of us...
