Once in a very long time you come across a book that is far, far more than the ink, the glue and the paper, a book that seeps into your blood.

I was no longer troubled when he pulled out a machete in a crowded bar, tried to pick up schoolgirls, or threatened to scalp us, then rip off our heads and scoop out our brains.

Most journeys have a clear beginning, but on some the ending is less well-defined. The question is, at what point do you bite your lip and head for home?

Explorers like to pretend that they are a select breed of people with iron nerve and an ability to endure terrible hardship.

The desert was bad, but nothing could compare with the horrors of a tropical rain forest.

Buy a house in a foreign country and, it seems, that anything which can go wrong usually does.

The first rule of an expedition is that everyone should stick together.