Rain. When I first arrived on Desroches Island, the rain stalked and prowled and lurked around like the relentless soundtrack from a gothic horror film. Yet all the malevolence and theatre of the sky couldn’t detract from what’s here on the ground. Speckled white coral washed up on the shore, scarlet birds flaming among raindrop-christened flowers, and the mottled grey-green-blue of the Indian Ocean splashing against the sand.

In time, the sun reappeared and I managed to get those postcard shots: those blue skies, white sands and turquoise waters that signal the Seychelles when they hit the headlines.

Yet I quite like my small collection here. They’re the hushed beauty I might easily have overlooked had the sun been with us all the time. So, to give you a taste of my first impression of the Seychelles, I thought I’d share them here with you.

Desroches Island in photos, in the rain. Enjoy.

Disclosure: I travelled to Desroches Island as a guest of SeyExclusive. As usual, editorial control remains mine, all mine…

Has the rain ever made you look at a place in a different way?

Desroches Island – Raindrops in the Seychelles first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

The Okavango Delta – On Video, In Africa

In the world’s largest delta, transport takes place on water. While a few motorised boats cruise along the main waterway, to travel through the reeds you still need a traditional mokoro.

When I look back over my last year, no make that decade of travel, the dip of the pole in the delta and the whispers of the reeds on my face still make me shiver – and then relax.

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I enjoyed the experience. It’s a quiet one – but I think that’s how it should be for an unusual journey like this.

I’m still honing my skills (ahem) with video – to find out more about the Okavango, read the posts below:

The Safari Symphony – The Okavango Delta

Arranging a safari in Botswana’s Okavango Delta

Elephants in the Okavango Delta

The Okavango Delta – On Video first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

Bringing you Elephants from the Air for this week’s #FriFotos

Simply one of the most amazing moments in my life.

Elephants in the Okavango Delta first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

The Sahara, Morocco

The Sahara

The Sahara Desert has a name that lives up to its reputation. Not simply because it sounds rippled and mysterious, but because the very word Sahara derives from the Arabic for…wait for it…desert. My first encounter with the almighty sands came in the form of particles scattered across the windscreens of windswept Britain in the aftermath of the 1987 hurricane.

My second experience, however, took the more traditional route: along the dunes in Morocco.

The Sahara: My Second Encounter

Borne along by a scratchy, lurching, cantankerous camel, I rose and fell with a rhythm more suited to a choppy night on the ocean than a daylight trek across ever-so-dry land.

The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world (with Antarctica qualifying, rather bizarrely, as the largest desert in the world with its lowest annual levels of precipitation.)

The Sahara spans 3.6 million square miles and scorches across North Africa from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east.

There was no way my camel was going to be able to manage that. Nor my pelvis and sandblasted face. Instead, we trekked for a few days, tried our luck at sand-boarding and took photographs that I hope you’ll enjoy.

Travel by Camel: Slow Progress

Travel by Camel: Uncomfortable Progress

Shadows in the Sand

Sandboarding - A Little More Speed Required

Shadows in the Sahara first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

Finding Inspiration in Swakopmund

Alright, I admit it. I did agree with the description of Namibia’s adventure playground, Swakopmund, as “unimaginably dreary.”

I still do. Yet as I was leaving town, I drove along this street of, well, street art that lifted my spirits. From Gandhi’s “You must be the change you wish to see in the world,” to a rather wonky Bob Marley (or was it supposed to be Che Guevara?) Either way, these images showed me that hope, colour and inspiration can exist beneath the mist. Enjoy!

Read these posts for more about Namibia.

Street Art in Swakopmund first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

The Namib Desert

The Namib Desert runs for over a thousand miles in southern Africa, and at 55 million years of age, geologists feel confident that it’s the oldest desert in the world.

Even the word “Namib” means vast place.

Careful. There's sometimes sand in a desert...

Yet on the road between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, the authorities feel we may not have noticed…

The road between Swakopmund & Walvis Bay

Read more travel stories about Namibia.

Warning: Sand in the Desert first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

The violence of the wind whips me with my own hair and spills tears down my frozen cheek. Somewhere in the greyness, the wind howls, screams and groans, ripping up canvases and kicking over dustbins like the soundtrack to a teen horror film.

In fact, the whole place looks like the set from a horror film. Empty chairs, deserted walkways. Paint peeling from the walls and palm tree signposts creaking in the wind.

This is Swakopmund in Namibia, a town that squats south of the legendary Skeleton Coast. It’s billed as Namibia’s adrenaline, adventure town but from where I’m standing, everyone’s shut up shop and gone home.

Swakopmund: A Teen Horror Film

I can hardly blame them in weather like this. No-one wants to hurl themselves down a sand dune when the wind would probably push you straight back up.

“I wonder if you can help me find the flamingos?” I ask the woman behind the counter.

There’s a long silence, except for the clattering of debris outside, and for a moment I wonder whether I said the words out loud.

With a forced sigh, she heaves herself up and waddles towards me. She shoves a leaflet about seals into my hand and turns to waddle back.

A few questions later, I’m still none the wiser.

We set off down the street just as the flatulent clouds spit rain down on Swakopmund. The roads are wide and gridlike, with plenty of opportunities to feel the malice of the clouds.

Swakopmund, Namibia – South of the Skeleton Coast

Swakopmund’s one of those odd outposts of colonialism, established when the powers of Europe used southern Africa as their venue for playground spats. The mouth of the Swakop River gave Germany the chance to establish a harbour – and a base to compete with nearby British Walvis Bay.

Someone's watching me...

Amid electric fences and security guards, German houses still stand with lemon and blue walls, upright pillars and angular balconies: fighting the good fight against the salty assault from the sky.

From somewhere high above, someone watches me. A pelican, unblinking and still, feathers outlined by the rain, beak poised like a scythe. It’s the most outstanding thing I’ve seen here.

I blink first, as the lashing from the rain lures me back inside the car. With a glint of satisfaction, he watches for a few more minutes before turning to look away.

I scramble through the pages of the guide book, searching for a clue about those flamingos. My eyes rest on words that I can’t believe are true:

“Thanks to the mild temperatures and negligible rainfall, Swakopmund enjoys a statistically superb climate.”

A spark of outrage overwhelms me until I read the phrase where it all makes sense:

“When an easterly wind blows…sea fogs create an incessant drizzle and an unimaginably dreary atmosphere.”

That’s Swakopmund, alright.

Unimaginably dreary.

Unimaginably Dreary: Namibia’s Adrenaline Capital first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

As we arrived, our footsteps crunching in the dessicated soil and a fine dust swirling through the air, the true identity of Solitaire was revealed….It’s a petrol station with a café.

I suppose that in a desert, a supply of water, petrol and hot coffee becomes an oasis in its own right and at least the owners have jazzed up the experience by sinking cars into the sand. Perhaps they wish to remind travellers that without mundane yet vital institutions like petrol stations, this fate awaits us all…

Try Photo Friday over on Delicious Baby for some more pictures from around the world.

Solitaire – An Unlikely Oasis in Namibia first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

For those of you who don’t know her work, Anja Mutic writes for The Washington Post, Lonely Planet and many more, as well as keeping up with her own travel blog, Ever the Nomad. That’s probably about enough from me…Over to Anja

The Markets of Angola

Inside Angola's Markets

I’ve wandered through many markets across the world – strolled through the souks of Morocco, roamed the rickety stalls of Phnom Penh’s Russian Market and shopped for talismans at the Witches’ Market in Bolivia’s La Paz. Each one has its own personality, its style and charisma, its particular way of being. Each reflects the living culture and gives a sense of place better than any city tour ever could.

So when I visited Tunga N’go market on my first morning in Luanda, I knew that I was seeing Angola. This run-down but real-life market in the neighborhood of Rangel offered a glimpse into another world.

I’d tasted funge, Angola’s typical dish, many times in Portugal yet I had never seen how this manioc pudding is actually made. To watch women at the market grinding the manioc into the flour was fascinating, as was learning about the process of creating the staple that accompanies every traditional meal in Angola.

Inside Angola's Markets

Then there was the outing to the legendary Roque Santeiro, an experience I will always hold in a special compartment of my travel memories. Claiming to be the largest open-air market in Africa, even if the superlative doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, this giant remains one of the continent’s largest. Sprawling endlessly amidst Luanda’s slums, this city within a city is a sight to behold. I consider myself a pretty intrepid traveler, yet the wander around Roque Santeiro with three Angolan men, one of them a police escort in uniform (don’t ask me why and how but, in short, I’ve got connections), definitely put me on edge

Even though the local police gave me permission to film, I got into trouble

Exercise Caution in Angola's Markets

Even though the local police gave me permission to film, I got into trouble with a group of hefty-looking guys the minute I took out my video camera. After what could have led to an incident and a confiscated camera, were it not for my diplomatic partner in crime, I was very careful with recording anything. I so wish I could have. This bewildering market is a mini-universe where just about anything can be found and bought – from bizarre-looking roots and vegetables to pirate CDs, high-tech TVs, stereos, clothing, and hair extensions. Just think of anything at all, Angolans say, and you can find it at this mammoth market, at the best price. The only thing is, you must be brave enough to get in there and look for it.

Inside Angola’s Markets first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

A Zebra in the Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana

Happy “Photo Friday” everyone. What the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana lacks in fame, it makes up for in undisturbed viewing opportunities. Here’s one of my favourite shots of a zebra.

Zebras in the Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...