Tag Archives: Ecotourism

We’re quite fond of Copenhagen and want to see more of it but we’re finding it rather expensive. Given that we’re going to be here for a couple of weeks to make my doctor’s appointment, we decide to leg it to the countryside where Mike’s found a slightly cheaper (though still expensive) caravan park. The drive through the Danish countryside … Continue reading

Puffins are the cutest birds On. The. Planet. It is undeniable. Nobody who would disagree. And we are going to see hoards of them today! At least we better. I’ve got no idea what to expect, but from what I’ve experienced of these types of wild-life spotting tours in the past, I’m not getting my hopes up (except that I … Continue reading

Here’s what the Lonely Planet has to say about the hike up to the peak of Helvellyn: …the ridge narrows to about 2m in width and you’re on the jagged teeth of Striding Edge, with precipitous slopes on either side. You’ll need to use your hands in places and less experienced walkers may feel decidedly vulnerable. Our actual experience of … Continue reading

An early start (well, for us), and we drive into the little village of Ambleside, all cute slate cottages and outdoor gear shops. We park in the overnight motorhome parking area, whip up some sandwiches, dutifully put our wet weather gear in the pack despite the summery day unfolding outside, put our hiking boots on, and set out for the … Continue reading

When we got up the next morning, it was drizzling and windy outside — hardly auspicious cycling weather, so our hopes of going on a ride around the nearby parts of the national park were dashed. We dithered around for the rest of the morning, had lunch, then decided to head out on foot instead, and do a small circuit … Continue reading

It was a freezing morning, and thankfully we’d decided to start today’s activities around noon, because it took about that long to muster up the motivation to drag ourselves out into the cold (and rush to the heater!). We are soft. Half a cup of tea later, we ventured out into the fitful sunlight to catch a bus from the … Continue reading

For the final time, we met Nuccio and Graziella in Linguaglossa in the morning — Our plans for the day were to visit the Roveto wetland reserve way down to the south, a spot Nuccio was fond of. It’s quite near the south-east tip of Sicily, and just a short hop over the ocean was Africa (!), and many migratory … Continue reading

After a day of downtime, we drove up from the caravan park on the coast to Linguaglossa, north-east of Mount Etna, where we were to meet up with Nuccio and Carmelo. We parked Nettle by a park in the town, and were shortly joined by Nuccio, with warm greetings all round. Nuccio drove us around the corner to pick up … Continue reading

We awoke on the mountain, breakfasted, and drove down the road a little to the start of a walking track we had planned. We were met with quite open, grassy terrain, dotted with autumnal birch trees, and the bald grey hills of ex-craters poking out. And the faint smell of sulphur (not, as it turned out, Nettle’s grey water tank). … Continue reading

We woke to the tantalising vision of that beautiful red, orange and yellow hillside out the window, and lay for a time just soaking it in — it’s pretty amazing that we can wake up in a place like this (and still get up to a hot shower!). Man, getting a motorhome was the best idea ever. Newly enthused by … Continue reading

After exploring the extreme heights of Mount Etna briefly, we wanted to spend some time at slightly lower altitudes and see what else this fascinating area had to offer. Armed with our inscrutable German map, we made a vague plan to spend the next week or so driving around Etna’s flanks, doing some walks along the way. We left the … Continue reading