Tarangire National Park

Tarangire National Park is famous for elephants – we spot one as soon as we enter the reservation – and Baobab trees. Baobabs are also known as upside-down trees and thats exactly what they look like! Their wide trunk and branches that resemble the roots make...

Escape to the country

Maybe it’s the holidays I used to spend in the UK as a little girl. Maybe it was my room decorated with flower wallpaper and pink striped curtains. Or maybe it’s my mother – a Laura Ashley addict, who infected me with a more than average likeability for...

Ten Square in Belfast

Ten Square Hotel has been our home away from home in Belfast and I’ll give you 3 (not 10) reasons why you should stay here during your city break: The mattress, oh the mattress So soft and so good, you almost want to spend your days in Belfast in bed. Well, not...

Guinness is good for you

What’s a visit to Ireland without a visit to a pub? My thoughts exactly! We ended a stroll through the Cathedral district in Belfast in the The Duke of York to taste the famous dark brown Guinness beer. In the past doctors regularly adviced people with health issues...

Impressive Belfast

I remember Belfast mainly from the news in the nineties. Riots, fights, bombs. And even though it’s been quiet for a while, traces of this past are still visible everywhere you go. Murals cover houses with political messages. A gigantic wall divides two neighborhoods...

Dal Lake Market

When our boat-guide on Dal Lake told us he was going to take us to the biggest floating market of Srinagar, I expected a lake filled with boats selling shawls, saris, herbs and seeds, but instead we ended up on a local farmers market. Even better! A small lake used as a...

Lunar Landscapes In Kashmir

We are on our way to Srinagar. Behind every mountain and after each curve the landscape changes en route between Leh and Kashmir. From an American route 66 feel to old-crinkled-skin mountains (called The Elephant Hide) or sandcoloured mountains with a hidden oasis in...

Picture perfect in Jammu and Kashmir

“I don’t think the farmer likes you to stand in his mustard field!” Our guide warns us several times when we (carefully) walk through a field filled with bright yellow flowers. How could we not? With Lamayuru village in the background this makes a perfect...

Beyond Leh: Following the Indus River

Remember when I was telling you about our road trip from Delhi to Kashmir? We stayed in a tented camp in Sarchu, didn’t get sick at Gata Loops and stayed in Leh before we continued our drive to Kashmir. I can promise you, the closer you get to the confluence of the...

Birds of Tanzania

Let me start with a piece of advice: never travel to Tanzania without a Bird Guide Book. We did and we regretted it. Luckily our guide Peter had a 3 inch thick bird guide with him that showed us every possible species that ever lived or flew over Tanzania. I’m not...

Ice Skating In Haarlem

When it starts freezing in Holland  it seems the whole country goes back a couple of hundred years. The world actuallly looks like the old paintings of winter scenes by the Dutch Masters. It seems the last days of winter are upon us, so we decided to get on the ice as...

The frozen city

I’ve been living in Amsterdam for almost 15 years now and for the first time we could ice skate on the canals! It’s as if everybody leaves the streets and chooses the canals as their favorite route; to walk on in warm winter boots, to cycle on the ice (crazy),...

Vivenda Goa

Three things people usually visit Goa for: To enjoy the hippie lifestyle To indulge in all forms of yoga in an ashram To relax and read up on all the books you couldn’t start in because you were too busy doing your emails at night We did all three of them, but...

My mind is somewhere else

It’s snowing in Amsterdam and I love it! It’s almost like we got a second Christmas, only without the turkey, presents and tree (even though ours is still going strong in our yard where we left it). The thing is, that when it’s warm I think back of icecold...

Delhi markets

I’ve been to Delhi quite a lot and one of my favorite things to do is visit the different markets. Of course there’s Old Delhi with a thousand little streets – each with its own special goods – selling bridal saris, gold jewelry, shoes or books. And...