Staff Blogs

Explore’s Adventure Travel Consultant Cat Morrissey returned from an adventure in Cuba earlier this week and couldn’t wait to share her tales of walks, salsa dancing and meeting the locals…

I travelled on Cuba Libre, a packed tour of Cuba, covering practically the entire island. I tried to pick out a few highlights of the trip, but that proved difficult as there were so many! Here’s what I managed to narrow it down to:

1) The day in Trinidad – a perfect mix of sight-seeing in the morning, an optional visit to the beach in the afternoon, followed up with dinner in a restaurant In one of the locals’ homes – it was, without doubt, the most amazing food l had in the whole tour.
2) An impromptu salsa lesson at one of the haciendas we stayed at. It was given by the tour leader and the local guide – very funny and totally unplanned
3) Visiting the house of music at Santiago de Cuba with cocktail in hand, watching the dancing and listening to the live music, an unforgettable night!
4) A day at the beach on Cayo Levisa – perfect weather for a swim in the Gulf of Mexico where it was great to just relax and take in our surroundings.
5) We stayed in several haciendas during the tour but the first was a revelation – it felt like our very own beautiful little piece of heaven in the middle of nowhere!

Aside from these highlights (I really couldn’t stop at just those!) I also really enjoyed the walks too. The scenery was lovely and even with the hot weather, the walking was at a nice pace so the whole group got to look at the flora and the wildlife and look for the Trodogan – Cuba’s national bird.

The Cuba Libre tour was everything I hoped for - an excellent chance to visit Cuba and experience the lives and loves of the locals. From the cities to the woods of Topes De Collantes I felt and saw the vibrant colours and festivities of the real Cuba. It was also great to see the tobacco farmers hand rolling cigars and getting to eat in the ‘home’ style restaurants and meet the families who lived there.

My top tip for this tour (or any visit to Cuba!) – try a new cocktail at every place you stop and don’t hesitate to dance with a local when they ask you at one of the many houses’ of music. They will whirl you around and show you how to salsa the night away! Great fun!

Manuela De Fazio (Tailormade Regional Specialist for Latin America)  recently took a dream trip to The Galapagos Islands and mainland Ecuador. Join her as she uncovers Ecuador and reveals its biggest secret!

"I was so excited - I was on a plane to the Galapagos Islands!

Even before boarding the vessel that would be my home for the next five days and starting my adventure, I fell in love with the rocky shores and sandy bays of San Cristobal Island, where sea lions playfully swim and Sally lightfoot crabs crawl around.

The truth is, there is no real destination to reach – all around there are unusual, fascinating animal species wandering freely and living their lives alongside Galapageños (the local people) and tourists alike.

Manuela amongst the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands

Cruising the archipelago proved a fantastic experience as we could reach many different sites every day, while enjoying the passing landscapes from the comfort of a sun lounger! I loved listening to our naturalist guides’ lectures and, at the same time, see the animals so close around me – land and marine iguanas lazing on rocks in the sun, frigate birds and blue footed boobies happily inflating their pouches and wiggling their blue feet a few metres away and giant tortoises slowly eating grass and fruit to everybody’s delight. I almost forgot snorkelling with sea turtles – now that was amazing! And even if just the thought of swimming with hammerhead sharks made my palms sweat, my fellow cruise friends Lily and Ralph swore it had made their day!

Getting Close to the Wildlife

It was time to move on, I felt so sad, the best part of my trip was surely over…

It didn’t take me long to realise how wrong I was. When I thought nothing could ever match the beauty of the Galapagos, I still knew nothing about Quito and the majestic volcanoes dotting the Andes and Cuenca.

Ecuador is a dream destination, it has it all! As well as the Galapagos Islands – the world’s wildlife Mecca – few people actually know the real secret: Ecuador is a compact, easy-to-visit, incredibly diverse and stunning country with volcanoes, wild and rugged national parks, a cloud and an Amazon forest, plus historic cities.

Quito is quite literally breathtaking. Lying at a mighty 2,800 metres above sea level it immediately made my head spin. The secret is keeping hydrated and do very little or nothing at all, which is hard when you are surrounded by charming squares, churches and views of volcanoes and hills. This was not the first UNESCO site in the world without a reason!

Quito Panorama

Leaving the city behind wasn’t as difficult as I imagined, I was going to Mindo Cloud Forest and then on to Cotopaxi National Park, two diametrically different ecosystems, both undoubtedly fascinating.

Mindo greeted me with an eerie mist that is typical to this type of forest and made the area magical and mysterious. Hundreds of orchids grow here and great populations of colourful birds call Mindo home.

But it was my journey along the Avenue of the Volcanoes that surprised and enchanted me the most – I could not believe how many volcanoes existed in that tiny portion of the Andes. Cotopaxi is the iconic cone-shaped, snow-capped volcano and it beautifully towers the national park. A walk in the paramo (typical Andean vegetation) was the best way to admire it but I thought the views were at their best when the sky cleared while I was having my lunch at a local hacienda. The views and my plate of traditional potato and avocado soup, locro, made my day.

Cotopaxi Volcano

My favourite, however, was Chimborazo Volcano. I forgot I was on the Equator when I looked up and saw the copious amount of perennial snow with llamas and vicuñas peacefully roaming in the icy wind. The journey from Ambato to Riobamba, following the mountain road that wraps around the volcano, was one of the favourite drives of my life.

I was then heading south to lower altitude and I could feel the temperature rising; when I reached Cuenca my being on the Equator sprung back to mind as the air was mild and sweet and I could not believe my eyes when I toured my second UNESCO listed city. It was so beautiful with its rivers and bridges, its manicured parks, the houses and buildings bursting with character – I realised I loved Cuenca! I bought some local ceramics, which are very famous, and watched how Panama hats are really made (Panama hats are from Ecuador, not Panama, as many people think)."

Cuenca Cathedral

My trip was almost over, so before returning to Quito I spent a few hours hiking in the Cajas National Park, surrounded by lagoons, trees and gentle hills. What a beautiful way to end my trip!

This truly was a journey of discovery - from the Galapagos archipelago, to the many other splendours of this country. Come and see for yourself!

Manuela can help you plan your own tailor made holiday to Ecuador and the Galapgos Islands. Just call our Explore Tailormade team on 0844 875 1890

James Kelly is a Flight Support Specialist at Explore and he recently travelled on Bangkok to Saigon Overland to get a flavour of South East Asia. He shares his thoughts and experiences with us as part of our series of staff travel blogs.

All in all there is something quite exhilarating and very adventurous about speeding down the Mekong river passing old fishing boats and watching the people who live on its banks casting their nets and washing their clothes or kids swimming and playing in the waters We really felt like we were seeing the beating heart and soul of the region. The Mekong River is an amazing source of life and provides many amazing images which I will remember forever.

Anyone who has ever stood in a market in any major Asian city will tell you the amazing sights and smells to be found there – from live unidentifiable fish to fishmongers gutting and scaling a recently caught fish in front of your eyes. It is quite a spectacle. 

The food on the trip was amazing and we got a real treat – Thailand and its amazing chilli dishes like pad thai and red or green curries, Cambodia’s milder dishes with a French twist and then Vietnamese noodle dishes with a little more kick. I loved all the food and tried everything I could (except the fried beetles)!

The moving and quite disturbing images of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia and the Vietnam War are really stirring. Unspeakable horrors occurred and the visits remind us and make sure we never forget what happened. You cannot visit these places unless you see these things and realise the recent history that took place, however sad and upsetting.  

Bangkok to Saigon Overland gives a real flavour of Indochina and is a tour full of contrasts – one day you’re in a bustling noisy city like Bangkok and the next you’re walking around a national park listening to gibbons howling. One day you’re in a Temple in Cambodia and the next you’re on a bus with locals going about their business. There are a lot of contrasts between urban and rural life to discover and the tour was a fantastic opportunity to get a real taste of Cambodia, the Mekong Delta and surrounding countries.

An amazing and memorable trip, highlights for me were the sunrise at the Angkor temples and the exhilarating boat trips along the Mekong River with stays in some of the renowned Asian cities. It’s an all go action packed 2 weeks but it will fill you with a real experience of the ancient and magnificent cultures of South East Asia and a vivid reminder of the more turbulent recent history of the region. There is no better way to get a flavour for this region then by going overland - you really get to soak up the sights, see the smiling faces and watch these resilient people go about their daily life.

The lasting memory I will keep is when we stopped on the way back from Tonle Sap lake to watch how they smoke the fish and instead of watching that we were entertained by the local kids who put on an impromptu Muay Thai Kickboxing Royal Rumble and pretended to kick the living daylights out of each other for 10 minutes. They were just playing around and when we took photos of them and showed them after they howled with laughter. They didn’t have much in the world but they smiled as though they were as happy as anything, they didn’t want anything from us except a giggle and they waved goodbye as we pulled away and we left them to fight in their bare feet outside their wood shacks. I hope Sky Sports does a highlights programme so I can find out who won.

Explore's James Adkin has trekked the Inca Trail over 20 times and in this blog, he shares his experiences and love of Peru.

The Inca Trail

Despite doing the trek countless time I never tired of it and always looked forward to it. There is a special atmosphere and energy about Machu Picchu that you cannot put into words. For me, the highlights are the high passes, superb vistas and enjoying breakfast under the peaks. Sharing the trail with fellow group members is also a great group bonding experience.

There are always remarkably few other people it seems despite the popularity of the trek, especially on our Peru Inca Trail and Heights of Machu Picchu trips where, through using different timings and campsites to traditional Inca Trail walkers we avoid the crowds.

Day 3 of the Inca trail on these trips is one of the finest day walks in the world – you walk over the two high passes of Dead Woman’s Pass and Runkuraqay, past numerous Inca staging posts, control points and temples (it’s not only about Machu Picchu, there are smaller contemporary sites along the way making the sacred trail); before following a gently ascending perfectly contoured and superbly built Inca stone trail up into the clouds to our campsite at Phuyupatamarka  (Cloud-level town), where you gain commanding 360 degree views of the superb mountainous landscape you are traversing, and distant high peaks such as Salkantay as it turns bright pink then iridescent red as it catches the setting sun. A really memorable days trekking with the exciting anticipation that tomorrow you will reach the fabled monkey steps, that climb steeply up to the sun gate culminating in rewarding views of Machu Picchu itself.

The Extended Inca Trail

On our High Trails of the Incas tour, the first 3 days are away from the masses meaning the trail is upgraded in every respect – scenery, effort and reward. The views are spectacular, looking down onto glaciers and up to jagged peaks. Salkantay is an awesome mountain and one of the most sacred mountains in Inca mythology. You sleep at high altitude after passing Salkantay and in the morning you have breakfast under the peak, looking up to the imposing snow peak against the deep blue sky, really memorable, as is the sunrise and sunset here.

Because you are walking part of the trail outside of the protected sanctuary our porters can bring along a goat which is cooked and eaten one night in a traditional way under the earth with hot stones, a pachamanca, really interesting to watch how they prepare it all and delicious to eat along with the roasted potatoes and maize.

Despite the many places I've visited all across the world, I'd always happily head back to South America and trek the trail again.