Cat Ekkelboom-WhiteExplorer

Madagascar is made up of some incredibly dry and some very wet areas. Ranomafana National Park is an area of rainforest in the southwest of the country, off the highway RN7. This particular area is extremely special as it is the only place where the rare bamboo lemur can be found. To visit the National Park, you must hire a local guide. We met our local guide at the entrance to the park. We w...

The Gschnitz valley is one of my favourite places to hike in Tirol. Not only does it have some absolutely stunning scenery, but I've never experienced crowded trails whenever I've been there. This hike is an extension of another hike I've shared on here, to the Tribulaunhütte. Whilst we did take a short detour and stop at the Austrian Tribulaun hut for a quick lunch on this hike, our goal was t...

Schlick 2000 is hands down my favourite ski resort in the Innsbruck region. This small and modest resort is often overlooked by many tourists who head straight to the larger nearby Stubai Glacier at the end of the valley. But while Schlick 2000 might be small, not only is it usually quieter than many other resorts, but in my opinion, it's one of the most beautiful resorts in Tirol. With the b...

Nosy Be is the largest & busiest tourist resort, an island on the north west coast of mainland Madagascar. We spend the final few days of our trip here, and on our last night our guide recommended taking a taxi up to the highest point, called Mont Passot, where there is a viewpoint, where you can watch the sunset. We just told the taxi driver "Mont Passot" and they knew where to take us. ...

Take the Patscherkofelbahn cable car up to the top station to start this hike. From the top station of the lift you'll see a trail sign for the "Zirbenweg". For the first part of this hike you're going to follow this almost completely flat trail that hugs the side of the mountain.  Stay on this trail until you come to a mountain hut called Boscheben, which is just 100m from the trail. At this p...

The Martinswand is Innsbruck's legendary multi-pitch sport climbing wall. The route "Emmentaler" is the easiest of the multi-pitch routes on the Martinswand in the area called the "vorbau". The route is named after the cheese most likely due to the multi holes in the rock.  The Approach: The approach is super short and easy. The closest parking for this route is the P3 area. Make sure to get th...

Getting to Lokobe Nature Reserve is an adventure in itself. The road comes to an end where the mangroves begin. As soon as you reach the water level, you'll jump into a pirogue (a type of canoe) where you'll have to paddle your way across to the village at the entrance of the reserve. As with most nature reserves and parks across Madagascar, you'll be accompanied by a local guide and a spotter...

In the west of Madagascar, just a couple of hours drive from the capital Antananarivo, is a very special place. The home of Madagascar's largest species of lemur, the Indri Indri. There is an area of national park here, however on our visit, our guide recommended a smaller locally run nature reserve where the entry fees directly benefited the local community, and the lemur population in the ar...

A short walk from the top lift station of Schlick 2000 in the Stubai valley is the "Alpin Erlebnispark". This area is an amazing spot to train your mountain stills in some of the most beautiful scenery in the Stubai valley. Reaching the area is easy. From the lift exit, keep walking straight and follow the small hikers path up towards the Kreuzjoch summit cross. You'll see yellow signs towards ...

Goldbichl is a small sport climbing area close to the Patscherkofel in Igls that's perfect for beginner climbers, with bolted routes ranging from grade 3 to 6a. The area is extremely easy to find. From the village of Igls, drive towards the village of Patsch (postcode 6082). At the T-junction, you'll see the Grunwalderhof guesthouse on the right (which is a great place to walk over to for a spo...

The Patscherkofel in Igls near Innsbruck is the perfect ski area to try ski touring for the first time in a completely safe environment. This ski area offers beginner ski tourers the opportunity to give the sport a try without having to venture out into the backcountry or tour up the crowded pistes. You can rent ski touring equipment from the InterSport rental directly at the bottom station of ...

The stunning tour in the Dolomites can be done in the winter as a ski/splitboard tour or as a snowshoe tour. It's also possible to hike the same route in the summer. The tour starts next to the Hotel Dolomitenhof, just across from the main parking area. Stating at 1450m, the first section of the tour is almost completely flat, as you head along the valley floor as far as the Talschlusshütte. A...

As with everything in Madagascar, the best places are found after the hardest drives. And this was no exception. Tsarasoa Camp is an eco-camp located towards the south of Madagascar. As you start to get this far south, you quickly notice that things are hotter and a lot drier. After you leave the relative comfort of the tarmac road, you turn onto a dirt road where the rest of your journey conti...

This hike, while quite long, is a fairly easy & flat hike and can be done in a day with no problem. We hiked out and back in 5.5 hours with a moderate pace, including a lot of photo stops along the way. The route starts close to the start of El Chalten, and you'll cover the around 200 of the 250 altitude meters within the first 3km of the hike. When you reach the Mirador Cerro Torre you've ...

Visiting Lofoten during the polar winter, the sun doesn't rise, so you'll want to make the most of the short hours of daylight if you want to visit the best spots. We only had a long weekend for our trip, so we spent most of our time exploring the area between Leknes and Å. Even though we are experienced hikers and ski tourers, we had read that conditions could change rapidly due to being on ...

Take the bus from Innsbruck to Grinzens or if you have a car, park in the village of Grinzens at the Sportplatz. From here already you can see signs to the Kemater Alm.  The route is really simple. Just follow the dirt road straight through the forest and deeper in to the valley. For the first half of the trail the route is a gradual incline. After about 3km you pass a sign on your right to Sal...

Once you pass the toll station for the Kauntertal Glacier Road, you keep following the road past the reservoir and up to the waterfall and climbing garden. This is where you park the car and start the hike, following the signs for route 902 to the Rauhekopfhütte.For the first hour, your are mostly ascending, with a trail that zig-zags up the mountainside. You'll need to cross the odd stream her...

In this circular hike starts at the Kreuzjoch top station of the Schlick 2000 gondola and finishes back at the bottom station, meaning that the elevation gain you're hiking is about half of the amount that you'll descend if you follow this particular route. As you exit the lift station, you'll take the panoramic trail to the Niederen Burgstall and continue upwards to the Schlicker Schartl.  The...

The trail begins next to the Sportplatz in the village of Grinzens, just outside of Innsbruck. The trail begins as a gravel road, but within a few meters it splits. You can either take route 51 which follows the gravel road or route 52 which cuts through the forest. We chose to follow route 52 on the way up, as although much steeper, it is shorter in distance than following the gravel road. The...

The hike from Passo San Pellegrino to Rifugio Mulaz is stage seven of the incredible Alta Via 2 multi-day hut-to-hut trek in the Dolomites, which starts in Brixen/Bressanone and ends in Croce d’Aune north of Venice. This challenging but stunning hike is full of incredible scenery, where lush green alpine pasture turn into rugged rocky spires. We started this stage of the hike on San Pellegrino,...

When you drive from Torshavn, follow the signs to the airport. On the island of Vagar, just after the village of Miðvágur the road bends to the right, with the lake on your right-hand side. On this bend there's a small exit where you can park the car to start your hike.  Once you've parked, walk back to the village of Miðvágur. Take the road on the right just before the Church and follow it uph...

If you want to add a via ferrata on to your itinerary for the Dolomites, then the Pisciadù Via Ferrata (also known as Brigata Tridentina Klettersteig) is one of the best. A Dolomites classic! This VF is easily accessible from the village of Colfosco, on the Passo Gardena mountain pass, with a small parking area close to the start. Because this VF is easy to reach and not too technically challen...

If you're planning a trip to the Dolomites, you simply must plan a hut-to-hut hike.Last year I did a number of multi-day hikes from hut to hut, and this one definitely has to be one of the most dramatic.I've already shared the first day of the adventure in this post, so today I'm going to share the next stage of the adventure.After spending the night in Rifugio Pisciadu, we got up for sunrise a...

Whistman's Wood is an old oak woodland in Dartmoor National Park in England. This small wood feels like stepping into a fairytale novel. The ancient oak trees grow amongst moss-covered, twisted tree trunks and branches and granite boulders, giving the place an other-worldly vibe. Reaching Whistman's Wood is an easy walk, suitable for all the family. We did the walk as a simple out-and-back walk...