With an enthusiastic team you can achieve almost anything.

There's nothing like a pack of mules to give one a sense of entourage.

Previous journeys had taught me the danger of taking too much stuff.

These days no one challenges us,' he said. 'And because there is no challenge, there is no reason to work hard. And with no reason to work hard, we have all become lazy.

Lured by the wilderness, and by the chance of spotting rare desert elephants, a few intrepid tourists make their way to the Skeleton Coast each year. It's just about as remote as any tourist destination on earth, but one that pays fabulous dividends.

It is almost impossible to overemphasize the importance with which ancestry is held in the Middle East and North Africa.

There can be few situations more fearful than breaking down in darkness on the highway leading to Casablanca. I have rarely felt quite so vulnerable or alone.