Have you ever thought about snorkeling Silfra Rift in winter? Grey rain lashed against the windows as our little minibus pulled into a car park in the middle of the Icelandic countryside in mid November. Just the right setting for some snorkeling. Louis, our driver, pointed to a little hut in front of us: the only sign of life in the immediate vicinity. “Ok,” he said, “Time for you guys to change into your Silfra snorkeling gear!” At Louis’s instruction,…
Photo of the Week: A Storm Above the Harbour
Posted on November 30, 2012Northern Lights on Cloudy Nights: Spotting the Aurora in Iceland
Posted on November 29, 2012“Oh my goodness!” The breath had been knocked out of my lungs. Or rather, not knocked so much as shoved. The shover in question was a middle aged American woman who lay heavily across my knees, neck straining against the cold interior plastic of the minibus door. “I can’t see anything!” she cried, her voice adding to the chorus of female chatter that filled our vehicle. It wasn’t exactly a surprise, I thought to myself. The lights of Reykjavik still…
Photo of the Week: the Watermelon Man of Mamallapuram
Posted on November 23, 2012Walking through the baking streets of this little Southern Indian town, I stopped for a slice of watermelon. I’m pretty sure the salesman was expecting quite a large amount of business that day.…
I’ve been ‘back from Asia’ for three months now. Which also means it’s approximately three months more until I head out to Ecuador and discover whether teaching English to a group of children for a five month semester is something I’m actually able to do. There’s also been a lot happening in the world of Flora The Explorer, so I thought I should probably divulge some of it now before I’m overcome with too many overdue posts. Although at the moment, it…
Photo of the Week: Maasai and Mzungu
Posted on November 16, 2012Walking behind a group of Maasai warriors in Kenya, as they prepare to demonstrate their renowned Adumu, or “warrior”, jumping dance.…
This morning, I’m making my way to Gatwick, an airport I’ve frequented many times. I’m off to catch a flight to Morocco, on what will be my twentieth airborne journey this year alone. But I’ve got a confession to make. Every time I board a plane, I make my peace with dying. Like most people who are a bit obsessed with travelling, I’ve been flying for a long time. My first ever flight? I went to France with my family at five years…
Photo of the Week: A Hill Filled with Crosses
Posted on November 2, 2012Just outside Šiauliai, the wind moves between a thousand crosses made from wood and metal, plastic and string. The air is never quiet here.…
What It’s Like to Volunteer at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival
Posted on October 31, 2012I’m a first-time volunteer at Iceland Airwaves. Standing in a sweaty store cupboard, mere inches away from the main stage at Reykjavik’s Harpa concert hall, I hold up a green tee shirt against my bare chest with a certain amount of scepticism. I’ve been promised untold amounts of ‘female, size medium’ by the grumpy bouncer out front. Clearly, these are all masquerading as men’s larges. Lost in a tee-shirt-sizing reverie, I fail to hear the turn of the doorknob as it…
I wandered down the catwalk-worthy thoroughfare of my airy London office. All around me, hard working fingers typed confidently onto shiny keyboards. The smell of coffee and Pret A Manger sandwiches filled the air. Sidling up to my team’s manager’s desk, I opened my mouth. A little timidly, perhaps, but resolute. “Hi, Sam! So… I know my internship finishes on Friday but I wondered if I possibly could leave on Wednesday instead? The thing is, I’m kind of going to…