I’m tired this morning. It feels like the end of a very long journey. I sleep in, listening to the sounds of Parisian life outside my hotel. While it will be the end of this journey around the world with the last leg from Paris back to Frankfurt tomorrow, perhaps it’s the start of something else. I want to believe that my days of living and working with people who do not share my values are over (or at least I will be conscious of the … [Read more...]
About Pete Martin
Traveller. Author. Transformational journeys.
“Advancing in a different direction.” The lows and highs of an Indian Ayurveda Retreat
There is a slither of daylight creeping through the windows that are covered by heavy red drapes. I stay in bed to keep warm. My room is just as bad this morning as it was in the dark on arrival last night. There’s a draught from the chimney, so I adjust the wood cover to prevent cold air from entering. The hard floor is ice cold when I put my feet down. From my window, the sky is misty over the hills outside. The window is slightly open and I … [Read more...]
Shamanic Shenanigans in São Tomé
As we grind up the mountainside, a makeshift road block has been left meaning we have to halt. It looks like our journey is done. Three women and a small child arrive and laugh. They put down their huge buckets of bananas from their heads and inform us that local kids have created the temporary barrier to be able to charge a toll to use the road. They remove the obstruction so we can continue. The road is black volcanic rock, no more tarmac, and … [Read more...]
Slave Trade Sites Part 2: Gorée Island, Senegal.
It’s a short ferry ride to Île de Gorée (Gorée Island) from Senegal’s capital, Dakar. I wonder if I can take another day of slave museums in my worn-out state after a severely delayed flight. I quickly regret this stupid thought. Of course I can; it’s only a lack of sleep. It bears absolutely no comparison with what these people went through, so I’m sure that I can find the energy to pay my respects. Everything is calm belying the awful … [Read more...]
Slave Trade Sites, Part 1: Cape Coast Castle, Ghana
Four hours after leaving Accra, through insane traffic jams, I reach Cape Coast. I am not sure this was the right thing to do today but I am here now. On the concrete expanse of the town square black and red canvas tents have been erected. The locals are dressed in their traditional clothes for a funeral day. Around the corner from this is Cape Coast Castle. With a warning from my driver to avoid the hawkers, I pay my entrance fee and join a tour … [Read more...]
The Mists of Time: Table Mountain to Myself
This morning from my balcony, way out in the bay I spot a container ship blazoned with the logo of the company I used for my trip across the Pacific Ocean a few years ago. It sparks some wonderful memories. Whilst the bus is here, our guide is not so my fellow cyclist and I wait around. It’s the story of my time here. I have decided not to do the four hour hike up Table Mountain. I originally did not want to walk it because of my knee pain but … [Read more...]
At the Edge of Africa : Cape Agulhas.
I have hired a car for the day. Early on a Sunday morning it’s quiet and once out of Cape Town the roads are emptier still. I take the main road, the R316, in a south-east direction. The countryside is deserted apart from the odd group of cattle or sheep out on the rolling yellow fields. The terrain becomes mountainous as I pass Napier and strangely in Bredasdorp I am welcomed to Agulhas, even though it’s another thirty-five kilometres … [Read more...]
The Moroccan Sahara. A Sunset Camel Ride in Erg Chebbi.
It has been a long day, yet one that has been extremely enjoyable. Two days in a car would not have been a preferred choice after my disastrous week of cycling in the Atlas Mountains but Mousa, my guide, has made the right calls with stops for both the sights on the way and for breaks, as well as sensing when to chat and when to leave me to doze. The further we drive - the further into the desert we go - the better the scenery. We are roughly … [Read more...]
Sweet dreams are made of this: From Russia (with love) to South Korea by ferry
Sweet dreams are made of this. From Russia (with love) to South Korea by Ferry I get a good night's sleep after the wonderful exploration of Vladivostok yesterday. I think about taking a bus to the funicular railway, one of only two in Russia. The second one has just been built in Sochi for the recent Winter Olympics. However, I choose a lie-in and a good breakfast instead. The warmth of the hotel compared to the freezing temperatures outside … [Read more...]
“At the water hole.” Addo National Elephant Park
It’s a bumpy one hour drive on a sandy road to Addo Elephant National Park. Due to hunting, disease and colonisation, by 1931 only eleven elephants remained in this area. Although local farmers wanted to exterminate them, the South African government established the park at Addo to protect these endangered animals. Conflicts between the farmers and the park continued until finally the park was fenced. Now the park keeps around six hundred … [Read more...]