vickygoestravelling

my journey to health and well being via exotic destinations


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Lamu – returning to my spiritual home

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I first visited Lamu when I was eight years old. My mother was excavating the Pate and Manda ruins with Neville Chittick, the director of the British Institute in East Africa and the love of her life. They camped on Manda Toto, a small island of Lamu whose significance will be clear later. ‘Mama Sheila’ was the doyenne of Lamu society – beloved by all. Chronicler of the old oral tradition, culture and friend and patron of many. She bought  a house there in about 1970 which she owned until the 1980s. I spent many happy holidays there, and our honeymoon. Continue reading →


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Farm Africa in action: meeting farmers & donors in Kenya

 

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Juliet with Patrick, the Farm Africa Project Manager, showing us a recently mulched field

After Zimbabwe, we travel to Kenya. Here I am to visit some Farm Africa projects and to host a donor cultivation event, whose purpose is to introduce private equity, corporate investors and potential new partners to our work in East Africa, but specifically in Kenya where we have regional headquarters. With a team of 200 staff operating across Eastern Africa, Farm Africa is a unique NGO with over 35 years of experience working with small scale farmers in agriculture, market engagement and natural resource management. We work collaboratively with communities and business to build resilient and sustainable livelihoods so that people and the planet can thrive together. I only recently joined the Board so am anxious to leverage my contacts and see the work that we do in person. Continue reading →


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Heaven is a place called Mana

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Getting ready to hunt

This must be my 9th visit to Mana and I never tire of it. Growing up in Tanganyika (yes, that’s what it was called when I was little!), one of my happiest memories is going to Mikumi game park with my Dad, and camping in ancient tents on rickety old canvas beds, with a long drop, canvas basin and no shower! Dad and I would drive around the park, getting up at the crack of dawn and he would make a fire and cook eggs, bacon and fried bread. Heaven. Continue reading →


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A long post-Covid weekend in Champery

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The Dents glowing in the evening sunshine

Still exhausted from Covid and lying on the sofa watching Wimbledon, I haul myself off to meet Ross in Champery after his long walk. Heathrow is busy and security has long queues and we are late taking off as there not enough staff to load the plane. This is only the beginning of broken Britain – the worst is yet to come I fear. I go to Switzerland to try and forget about the state we are in….and to admire the Swiss attention to detail as below! Continue reading →


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Covid tours to Sicily: Part 2

Still feeling a bit rough, after a couple of nights at the Agrotourismo Trigona in Piazza Armerina,  we head off for Ragusa via the Casa Romana,  a villa housing 4th century AD mosaics. This extensive villa was excavated and restored only quite recently and the mosaics are largely intact and quite astonishing in their detail and long-preserved information on life all those centuries ago. The best ones represent the capturing and loading of wild animals for show in Roman games in Carthage – rhino, elephant, ostriches, camels – but also pastimes such as fishing and domestic scenes. And no – those are not bikinis but competitors in the heptathlon! Plus an erotic image – look closely! It is very hot.

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Covid tours to Sicily: Part 1


A long-booked holiday with our Swiss family & friends (Diego, Christine, Tim, Annie & Janet) became a parental honeymoon following the marriage of our beloved Tommy to his gorgeous Anna. Can’t start this blog without reference to the great day – and of course some pics. The humanist ceremony took place in a woodland glade at High Billinghurst farm in Surrey; the sun shone and the cotton wool clouds scudded across the sky in a light breeze.

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The highs and lows of 2021

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In a year where there has been little travel and many health issues I am challenged where best to post and how to write this blog! For most of us it has been a year of great uncertainties and lows, with a few highs. On the whole we don’t share our lows as we maintain our oh-so-very-British stiff upper lip. So here goes – my year in review. Continue reading →


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Gorgeous Grenada – isle of spices and smiles

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Grande Anse Beach

The first time I was in Grenada was shortly after the US invasion, when the lush island was littered with burned-out tanks, bullet-ridden and shelled-out buildings, and people were wary of strangers. Now the murdered premier Maurice Bishop has achieved hero status with the airport named after him, though the reason for his execution was his link with Castro. I have been back several times in between and seen the island in its various stages of development – from only a couple of beach front hotels to some spanking new developments…and more to come. Continue reading →


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Climbing Les Gorges du Dailley – not for the faint-hearted

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Somehow managing a grimacing smile

After a gruelling day walking to the Col de Cou – 12.6 kms and 4 hr 20 – I decide an easier stroll is required. Ross, basing his choice on Tommy’s recommendation of last year, picks on the scenic Gorges du Dailley which looks fine according to the website. I’ll have words with him when I get home! Continue reading →


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Les Crosets to Village des Chèvres for lunch and back – on foot (mostly)

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Looking down from Les Mosettes beyond the Lac Vert towards Morgins. The GR 5 hut hut is in the foreground, just in front of the Lac Vert

The weather has turned glorious at last. We have been making the most of it and going on various favourite walks (more of those on another blog), but we decide to meet up with some old friends from Heinemann days (yes – that old) and to meet in our favourite ski rdv in France, Le Cremailleure. Continue reading →