Nepal, what a magical country- With delight my thoughts go back to my recent trip to this wonderful country. In April this year I found myself in the Khumbu valley (the area in northern Nepal which encompasses Mt Everest). The goal: To hike to Everest Base Camp...
This morning the post brought an unexpected surprise: Two certificates acknowledging Esther and myself as new Guinness World Record (GWR) holders. A little summer project – visiting the major touristic sites of Belgium and the Netherlands in a day has been awarded the...
Wadi Rum, a mythical area of sandstone mountain in midst the Arabian desert have fascinated me for years. I ended up there on a trip through Jordan and Syria back in 2005 with my good friend Armin. Sadly we had no time to climb any of the impressive rock towers This...
It was on my Dive Wish List for a long time - to see a hammerhead shark - this truly spectacular fish, in its natural habitat. These sharks with their very distinctive heads prefer strong current and can only reliable seen in a few places around the planet. Two...
Its August - and with horror I realize that this forum has not seen a message by myself since almost three months. My sincere apologies! I (or better Esther and me) have however not been quiet- we have been travelling the world, meditated in...
In the early morning of 8 August 1786 two tired Frenchmen ventured onto the summit of Mont Blanc – with 4810m the highest Mountain in Western Europe right on the border of Italy and France. Its white top, endless glaciers and rocky spires dominate the western end of...
Last weekend the Post Magazine of the South China Morning Post, brought a feature about our India trip - I posted already some of the stories previously but hope its still a good read:...
Checking my Facebook Update the last few days I realised a lot of friends are posting their year… in photos. Now here is my opportunity to give a quick review for Tim. Tim arrived in my postbox exactly 365 days ago - to clarify: Tim is my...
One year ago, I was in the midst of the Atlantic ocean, sitting on the deck of “Switzerland” (bettern known as Heidi) – our entry into the Clipper all around the World Sailing Race. Twenty one strangers and a skipper grew over the length of a long, hot and thirsty...
Its been a while since i last posted a few words... You might have already started wondering whether i have given up adventuring- rest assured, the opposite is true! Indeed so much has been happening in the last six weeks, where shall i begin? - I have visited seven...
On 26 October 1942 the steamship SS Coolidge- the largest merchant ship ever built in the US up to that date - fully loaded with troops and supplies, was taking course on the island of Espiritu Santu in the South Pacific, where a large supply base for the American...
Vanuatu? Not sure what or where it is? Your ignorance may be forgiven – its really not the most obvious place I had chosen for a short last minute trip. Located a thousand kilometers east of Australia in the midst of the South Pacific, Vanuatu is a tiny (but...
“Ah, Kosciusko its easy – you can drive to the top!" That should have sent my alarm bells ringing - no mountain, rock or hill is ever easy – its always a function of conditions. And well, the ones that look soo simple are the easiest to underestimate. The pile of...
Snow, Hail, Mud, apes and big cats.... my trip to East Africa had it all and still, my final day managed to top the previous experiences!I had the pleasure to visit “Flying Kites”, an orphanage in Njabini, around 100km outside Nairobi. Its run by the charity if my...
I was twelve when I saw for the first time the movie “Gorillas in the Mist” - I remember very clearly how fascinated I was, not by Sigurney Weaver, but by the amazing mammals, and in particular the Silverbacks - the king of the jungle. 24 years later I realized a...
I remember very clearly getting an toy medic helicopter as a present…. for hours I was playing rescue missions on the steep pile of sand in front of hour house, as I was "rescueing" climbers from the treacherous North Face! The helicopter was from Playmobil - famous...
...can there be too much snow? YES (well, almost YES)!! While the days I spent over christmas and New Year in Austria were mostly in green surrounding – (no snow at all this year 🙁 , it was a total different ball game here in Japan... a heaven for powder junkies! In...
I had the pleasure to visit Harbin, China's most northern town - its name is deviated from the Manchu word for "a place for drying fishing nets". Well they definitely freeze there! Its just 200km from the Russian border, and the 48 hours I spent...
Anybody familiar with the following situation: You have a really important appointment and just minutes before it is due you realize you are in the wrong location? So it happened Tuesday night as I was underway to my first live radio interview – Too bad that I...
On shore again – after only four days on sea, I have firm ground again after my feet after anchoring in Brest – an important harbour town in Brittany. We arrived here Thursday afternoon after motoring the last 100 miles into harbour (see last post). Fresh on the dock...
..visit and support our boat in St. Katherines Dock. Our beautiful 70ft yacht Heidi (aka as "Switzerland") is moored the whole week in St. Katherine Docks. Come by and visit it. Procedure is as follows: Just pop by the dock, search for the RED boat with big...
The final tour in the mountains before it is off to the ocean - Take a wonderful mountain range with epic views, add some challenging scrambles and throw in a sumner summer day - you get a great day out! So we did, when Dad and me headed out to...