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...
Earlier this year I spent a wonderful weekend in Mallorca, an island that I love. My visit this time may have only been brief but it was a real treat staying at what I now consider to be the best spa hotel in Mallorca, if not the whole of Spain, Hotel BonSol. A gem of...
Daffodils, blossoms and magnolia trees greet me as I pass through the gates into Kew Gardens. It's a little early for bluebells but soon the woodlands here will be carpeted with them too, a favourite subject of many a photographer. At last the sun is shinning. Spring...
The salty smell of fish fills my nostrils and the hubbub from the traders and buyers invade my ears. Outside the latest catch is being auctioned. It's so fresh that the fish are still wriggling. Your senses come alive at Dubai's fish market, the colourful and hectic...
With Christmas come and gone and the new year under way, now is the time that many people start thinking about their holidays and travel plans for the coming year, even writing a wish list of things they'd like to do and places they'd love to visit. Perhaps you have...
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...
One of my favourite animals to watch in The Gambia has to be the baboons and the best place to see them is in Makasutu Forest, about an hour and a half's drive inland from the coastal resorts. Here I'd like to share some of my photographs and a few baboon facts to...
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...
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...
When I heard that a kumpo, a mythical character of the West African Jola tribe, had been spotted near the village of Kanuma, just a few hours drive from where we were staying in The Gambia, there was only one thing for it; I was determined to arrange an expedition f...
Red cliffs tower above us, plunging steeply down into the bluest of seas. Surely, the best way to experience the Scandola Nature Reserve is from the water. The views of the coastline are dramatic, and a boat is the most practical way to visit the lovely hamlet of...
