Aiming for a strike

Last Friday night the Audley offices at the New Mill became the setting for a mini beer festival to raise money for charity.

Luckily it was a nice sunny evening for the event, if a little chilly, but when the sun went down a bonfire was lit to keep everyone warm. And with lots of different local beers to try from Wychwood’s Brewery, a skittle alley and a bumpy castle and barbecue to keep everyone entertained, the evening was a great success.

Over £300 was raised for the children’s charity Barnardo’s, with staff dressing down during the day to raise even more money. £240 pays for a year’s worth of support sessions for young people who’s parents misuse drugs or alcohol through the charity.

Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge the images.

Audley Travel supports a wide range of charities as part of its commitment to responsible tourism. To find out more visit our website.

If you travel to Vietnam you really will see people wearing conical hats or “Non La”. In fact they have now become a sort of informal Vietnamese national symbol that is recognized worldwide.

Made out of straw, it is kept on the head by a silk cloth chinstrap that keeps it from slipping off of the wearer’s head. This simple design is thought to date back around 3,000 years.

It is particularly suitable for farmers who have to cope with both fierce sunshine and heavy rain but other practical uses include being used as a bowl to contain water, carrying assorted vegetables, it can even be used as a makeshift fan.

It’s also highly prized by tourists looking for a souvenir!

To book a tailor-made trip to Vietnam, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 140 or contact us online.

Breaching humpback whale

Later this year a new marine park will be created off the coast of Western Australia to protect one of the biggest calving areas for humpback whales in the southern hemisphere, where more than 1,000 humpbacks can be found during the calving season.
 
The new park announced by Ministers from the State Government of Western Australia will be called ‘Camden Sound Marine Park’ and will cover nearly 7,000 square kilometres off the coast of Kimberley.
 
A ‘special purpose zone’ will be created, which will cover around 1,670 square kilometres and prevent vessels from coming within 500 metres of the humpback mothers and their calves.
 
The park will be the first of four new marine parks to be created under a $63million Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy. Other parks will be created at Eighty Mile Beach, Roebuck Bay and the North Kimberley.
 
In addition to protecting the humpback whales the park will also protect seagrass and macroalgal communities, extensive mangrove forests, tidal flats, and the habitats for dugong, sawfish and dolphins, plus the tidal waterfalls around Champagny Islands and Montgomery Reef. 

To book a tailor-made trip to Australia, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 810 or contact us online.

Well, I saw the first episode Sunday evening and thought it was pretty good overall. I also see it has had some criticism in the press because too much of it was pre-recorded… but what’s the alternative… looking at a couple of grazing buffalo in dark through thermal imaging cameras. 

Incidentally, the part which is broadcast live from the Masai Mara is coming from Governor’s Camp, one of our favourites for sending clients to. In fact one of our specialists, Kate, is currently in the area and met the film crew there including the presenter, Richard Hammond.

About Governor’s Camp

Governor's Camp in Kenya's Masai Mara

The camp is right in the heart of the Musiara area, home to the legendary Marsh Pride of lions. To take advantage of this, Governors’ offer three game drives per day, although it’s not unusual to find the game coming to you. Governors’ has 38 tents, half of which overlook the Mara River and the other half the plains. With long-standing staff and a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, this camp will Masai Mara National Reserve suit couples and families alike.

To find out more visit the BBC’s Planet Earth live website. There will also be live tweets from the field @bbcplanetearthlive.

To book a tailor-made trip to Kenya, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 510 or contact us online.

David Plumb's winning photo of a leopard taken at Nxabega Camp, Botswana

Audley client, David Plumb, visited Botswana with us last November, staying at Nxabega Camp in the Okavango Delta. During his visit he took a photograph of a leopard which subsequently won first prize in Canon EOS Magazine. His prize was a very nice, and very expensive, Canon lens.

David said:

This was my fourth safari in Africa – previous safaris had only given me one leopard sighting, resulting in a grab shot of a leopard crossing our path. Nxabega was the second camp on our safari in the Okavango Delta – the previous camp provided three excellent leopard sightings, but what I really wanted was a classic shot of a leopard in a tree observing potential prey. I live close to Marwell Wildlife, a zoological park which specialises in endangered species and I have spent many years photographing animals in the collection there. However, nothing beats the real thing of photographing animals in the wild, particularly big cats at close range.

Well done David!

Don’t forget, you can still enter our photography competition and the overall winner will win a safari for two in Botswana. There are already lots of great photos in the current theme, landscapes, but other upcoming subjects include people and travel icons.

See David’s winning photograph at www.eos-magazine.com/competition.html

To book a tailor-made trip to Botswana, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 530 or contact us online.

Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre in Borneo

Few people ever manage to run one marathon let alone six on consecutive days but that’s exactly what David Faulkner plans to do. After a visit to Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre in Borneo a few years ago he felt he had to do something about the plight of these creatures and the destruction of their habitats.

David’s route will take him through several counties including Worcester, Hampshire and Dorset:

2nd May: Worcester to Cheltenham (26 miles)
3rd May: Cheltenham to Swindon (26 miles)
4th May: Swindon to Charlton St Peter (26 miles)
5th May: Charlton St Peter to Salisbury (26 miles)
6th May: Salisbury to Brockenhurst (26 miles)
7th May: Brockenhurst to Poole (26 miles)
8th May: Poole to Jersey (ferry) Jersey Port to Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (6 miles)

David, who has already raised more than £500 for Orangutan Appeal UK after completing the Nottingham marathon, said:

“Anything you can do to help is massively appreciated by us all. Just £1 – which might not seem much – is a big step towards the £2,012 target.”

Further information

For updates on David’s progress:
‘Like’ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Davids-6in6-orangutans-2012
Follow him on twitter @orangutans2012

To donate visit:
www.justgiving.co.uk/6in6-orangutans2012
Text ORAN12 followed by your donation to 70070

For more information on the work of Orangutan Appeal UK, visit:
http://www.orangutan-appeal.org.uk/

To book a tailor-made trip to Borneo, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 120 or contact us online.

Zhuang girl in Longji

Combine the Great Wall with lively festivals in the south

Our new 17 day China: Dynasties, Festivals and Folklore tour takes in some of China’s greatest contrasts, allowing you to get a sense of the sheer variety of this vast country. It is perfect for those who don’t want to miss out on the iconic sights but who also want to delve deeper into China’s historic culture, and spend some time in the rural regions of the south.

Guizhou is China’s least developed province, in part due to its steep, craggy limestone karsts and mountains that can’t be used for agricultural land. Yet Guizhou is also one of the country’s most diverse regions, home to several culturally distinct ethnic minorities whose colourful traditional costumes and numerous festivals go back centuries.

The tour’s two departure dates are timed specifically to take in one of the Miao ethnic minority’s key festivals: the Sisters’ Meal Festival in April and October’s Lusheng Festival. The festivals are vibrant affairs lasting several days, occasions that attract villagers from the surrounding mountains to walk for days to attend, and include displays of singing, dancing, horseracing and firecracker explosions.

This 17 day tour costs £3,995pp.

Tour departure dates:

• Thursday 18th April 2013.
• Thursday 24th October 2013.

For more information about this new tour, or to find out about other tailor-made trips to China with Audley, contact our China specialists on 01993 838 220 or contact us online.

To find out more about Audley group tours, visit our Group Tours page.

Final stage: Tango Dance World

If you’re planning a trip to Buenos Aires in Argentina this year you may like to coincide it with the ‘Tango Festival y Mundial’ or ‘Tango world Festival’.

Held from 14th to the 28th August activities include a concert on Saturday 18th August, a ‘Grand Milonga’ on Sunday 19th, and a night at the Colon theatre on Monday the 20th August. The festival is an expression of passion, a commitment to heritage and the growth of the Tango.

Thousands of dancers and audiences around the world come to the city to participate and experience the various activities and dance competitions. The festival is a celebration of the diverse culture that makes Buenos Aires unique.

To find out more visit the festival website: www.festivales.gob.ar (use Google Translator to view the page in English) or to plan a trip to Argentina with Audley contact our specialists on 01993 838 630.

Ringtailed lemurs

Dangerous wildlife encounters, heart-breaking tales of survival and clever camerawork come together once again for the BBC’s latest daring adventure, Planet Earth Live.

Separated by some 13,144kms and six time zones, co-hosts Richard Hammond and Julia Bradbury present six live episodes tracking real-life dramas of animals in the wild. Hammond is in Kenya’s Masai Mara following the Marsh Pride lions in a battle of wills, while Bradbury’s team comes face to face with black bears in Minnesota. Add in little titbits from polar bears in Svalbard, giant otters in Peru and birthing meerkats in the Kalahari, and you’ve got this season’s warm and fuzzy Frozen Planet.

Three hours of footage a week will be screened for three weeks on BBC1 from 6th May.

If this series has inspired you to plan your own wildlife holiday visit our website for more information, or plan a wildlife trip with our destination finder.

The Okavango Delta is a labyrinth of waterways linking hidden lagoons and marshlands: it’s one of Africa’s premier wildlife destinations. As well as big cats there are thriving populations of elephant, hippo, giraffe, buffalo and even the endangered wild dog. In fact it’s one of the few places left where you can still see, if you’re lucky, the big five.

Roz, one of our Botswana specialists narrates the short video above in which, amongst other things, she nominates her favourite camp and explains the best time to visit.

To book a tailor-made trip to Botswana, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 530 or contact us online.

Young Blue whale breaching off Sri Lanka's southern beaches

Since it became known that Sri Lanka was a great destination for whale and dolphin watching we have included it in our programme. In fact we were probably one of the first UK tour operators to offer this great opportunity.

When we went out to experience the trip in Sri Lanka two boats operated in the area and both were responsible, taking into consideration animal welfare and client safety.

However whale watching has soared in popularity and many boats have since started to offer whale and dolphin watching trips. Most of this is unfortunately unregulated and in a bid to offer their clients the best possible sighting some boat operators ignore the wellbeing of the animals and some may disregard the safety of those on board.

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has launched an appeal for the Sri Lankan government to put clear and strict guidelines in place to ensure that the whale and dolphin watching industry operates in a safe and responsible manner. This will not only allow the many whales to traverse the Sri Lankan waters with minimal disturbance but it also means that the whale watching industry is protected and can continue to operate so that all visitors to the area can enjoy the unique encounters that Sri Lanka has to offer.

Audley Travel warmheartedly supports this great initiative by the WDCS and has written to the Sri Lankan government in an effort to get the necessary legislation in place.

To date, a remarkable 27 species have been recorded in Sri Lankan waters, including the blue whale, sperm whale, Bryde’s whale and Cuvier’s beaked whale, plus numerous dolphin species including spinner, spotted, common, Risso’s and Fraser’s dolphins. Largest, and arguably the most impressive, of these is the blue whale. Decimated by whaling last century, as few as 10,000 blue whales remain worldwide and the species is classified as endangered.

To find out more visit the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society website or to plan a visit to Sri Lanka call our specialists on 01993 838 335 or visit our website.

Simon Reeve

Due to be broadcast this Sunday 22nd April on BBC2 at 8pm, this brand new, six part series follows Simon Reeve as he travels around one of the most fascinating and beautiful regions of the world.

Starting his journey in South Africa, Simon travels around the coast of the Indian Ocean, heading up the east coast of Africa, around India and back down the western coast of Indonesia to Australia. This extraordinary adventure takes Simon to 16 countries, including the beautiful Maldives, Mauritius and the Seychelles.

On his journey he encounters pirates, dives with sharks, patrols with Dutch Special Forces, goes underwater spear-fishing, dines in an underwater restaurant, stumbles into a seedy drugs-den, visits a 5-star seaside palace housing thousands of refugees, meets a Yorkshireman on his Seychelles island paradise, and has close encounters with the amazing wildlife of the Indian Ocean, including lemurs, penguins, dolphins, elephants and dozens of manta rays.

To find out more about the Indian Ocean or to plan a trip speak to our specialists on 01993 838 500.

I blogged about this film back in March of last year, expecting it to open in UK cinemas but for some unknown reason it only opened in the US. The good news is that it’s finally opening here on the 27th April.

It’s a documentary telling the true story of two cat families: one a lion the other a cheetah (see video preview above). As far as I can gather most of the filming took place in Kenya’s famous Masai Mara National Reserve.

Whether you have children or not this film is bound to whet your appetite for a safari, especially as we currently have a great Kenya offer on our website at the moment.

To book a tailor-made trip to Kenya, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 510 or contact us online.

Leopard in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Our Africa Safari team here at Audley would like to draw your attention to a number of great offers which are already proving very popular in 2012.

In addition, we also have a number of great value African itinerary ideas to destinations like South Africa, Malawi and Mauritius – the first two of which include spending time on safari.

Finally, don’t forget, all of our itineraries can be tailored to suit your individual requirements, so tell us what you’d like and we’ll build it for you!

+++++ AUDLEY SPECIAL OFFERS +++++

Luxury Botswana Safari & Victoria Falls (Botswana)
Six nights at luxurious &Beyond camps in the Okavango Delta, combined with three nights at a lovely lodge on the Zambezi River near Vic Falls.
Price from £4,300 per person – saving up to £1,200 per person
Valid for travel untill 20th June 2012.

Luxury Masai Mara & Funzi Keys Special (Kenya)
Combine three nights at a new luxury camp, Asilia Naibosho in the Masai Mara, with five nights relaxing on the Kenyan coast at Funzi Keys.
Price from £3,415 per person – saving up to £1,000 per person
Valid for travel untill 30th November 2012

To find out more visit our Africa Safari offers page

+++++ AUDLEY ITINERARY IDEAS +++++

Wild Bush & Beach Adventure (Malawi)
This itinerary combines a new safari camp, Tongole Wilderness Lodge, with Danforth Lodge on the shores of Lake Malawi. Tongole offers guests the opportunity to explore the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, a wild reserve previously inaccessible to visitors. Elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo are found here and you can explore on foot, by 4×4 and by boat.
Price from £3,380 per person

To find out more visit our Malawi itineraries page

Classic South Africa for Families (South Africa)
An 18 day self-drive itinerary especially put together for a family of four, combining Cape Town, the Garden Route and an exciting safari in the Kruger National Park.
Price from £2,665 per person

To find out more visit our South Africa itineraries page

Boutique Mauritius (Mauritius)
A fantastic value trip to Mauritius which includes seven nights relaxing in a boutique property with beautiful beach just a step away from your room.  With just 16 rooms this property is the perfect relaxing beach hideaway.
Price from £1,750 per person

To find out more visit our Mauritius itineraries page

Note, prices are subject to change and offers are only available for a limited time.

The endangered Tasmanian devil

Last Christmas is now just a faint memory and the idea of starting to plan this year’s festivities with Spring, Summer and Autumn still to come seems unthinkable. But If you’re looking at planning a trip to Tasmania/Australia then this could be of interest to you.

This December marks the 30th anniversary of the inscription of Tasmania’s Western Wilderness as a UNESCO World Heritage area. Tasmania’s western wilderness is one of the world’s most mesmerising landscapes and one of the largest tracts of temperate rainforest in the world. This 60 million year old wilderness covers an area roughly the size of Yorkshire and is home to huge numbers of endemic flora and fauna including the tallest flowering trees in the world and the endangered Tasmanian devil and critically endangered Orange Bellied Parrot, as well as being the southern-most home to the aborigines.

The Western Wilderness gained UNESCO World Heritage status in 1982 after a long battle to stop the majestic Gordon/Franklin Rivers being dammed and was ultimately the birth of the green movement in Australia, having toppled the local government and paved the way for the world’s first Green Party. Today, it is one of the last true wildernesses on earth and the tiny town of Strahan acts as a hub for anyone wanting to explore the region.

To book a tailor-made trip to Tasmania/Australia, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 800 or contact us online.

Earth Hour will see millions of lights turned off in hundreds of cities in aid of the planet

This Saturday at 8.30pm (GMT) is Earth Hour and millions of people across the globe will be turning off lights for an hour to raise awareness of issues facing the planet.

It all started back in 2007 when some residents of Sydney decided to show their support for climate change by turing off all lights: they called it ‘Earth Hour’. The following year they planned to repeat it but this time across the whole of Australia. However word soon got around and before long 35 countries and almost 400 cities had pledged support.

Audley will be turning off lights here early as well as machinery like ice-making machines. Please encourage anyone who wants to from your household to get involved by switching their lights off for an hour on Saturday night.

To find out more visit www.earthhour.org/

Kam King Island

The high pitched buzz of motorcycles engines and horns eventually gave way to the rhythmic ‘phut, phut’ sound of our boat’s engine as we and our bicycles headed across the Thu Bon River, towards Cam Kim Island. It was my first full day of a ten day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia with a group of other tour operators and I’d just been on a short but pleasant bicycle ride through the busy streets of Hoi An. Now, standing on the deck of this small wooden craft, I was about to head into a fertile countryside dotted with a green patchwork quilt of paddy fields.

A traditional basket boat

Cam Kim Island is a delightful slice of rural Vietnamese life and within five minutes of disembarking I was amongst local artisans engaged in various traditional crafts. My first stop was at a boat-builders yard where two men were heating long wooden planks in front of an open fire so they could bend them to shape over the hull of their sturdy looking vessels. Half an hour later I was observing wood-carvers whittling intricate shapes for the mother of pearl inlay they would add later. Probably the highlight of the day for me though was the opportunity to have a go in a traditional basket boat (we’d know them better as coracles). Trying to master the figure of eight paddling technique certainly provided plenty of amusement for the rest of the watching group. What struck me most about the island was the almost complete absence of other tourists to be seen: it was just our small group mixing with the locals, who were going about their everyday business totally unconcerned by our presence.

A Hoi An street

Returning to Hoi An by ferry a couple of hours later, we cycled through some of the markets and back to the delightful Fusion Lounge, where we had lunch. This restaurant and bar is owned by the Fusion Maia, one of the newest properties on China Beach and where I stayed during the Vietnam leg of my visit. After this we went on a walking tour of Hoi An, strolling through narrow streets of brightly painted houses and seeing famous sights like the Japanese Bridge.

My lasting impressions of Hoi An was of a charming, ancient town, admittedly slightly congested in parts by visiting sightseers, but away from its centre in places like Cam Kim Island, just how I imagined Vietnam would be.

To book a tailor-made trip to Vietnam, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 140 or contact us online.

Phil getting the barbie started

The sun is shining and there is a delicious smell of cooking sausages wafting up through the office windows…it must be the first Audley barbeque of the year!

With the temperature in Witney said to peak at a balmy 17c today and the clocks going forward this weekend, it would be a shame not to dust off the ashes, heat up the coals and get some tasty, meaty morsels ready for an alfresco lunch by the river.

The Great Wall at Jinshanling, Beijing

One of the most iconic attractions to visit in the world and one of the two man-made features on earth visible from the moon, the Great Wall of China is a magnificent piece of architecture built over the course of two thousand years to defend against the ‘barbarians’ of the north and west.

So it’s with great excitement that a new section of the wall has been discovered deep in the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia. The 100km stretch of wall was thought to be one of the Walls of Genghis Khan, but British researcher William Lindesay has revealed that it appears to be a missing section of the Han Dynasty Great Wall.

Researchers believe that the wall’s complex route could have contributed to it being mis-named. Also no section of the defensive wall has ever been found outside of China before.

The wall is visible on satellite images and its sections appear to be built from a mixture of wet mud and a woody desert shrub, and in some sections volcanic rock. The wall stands up to 2.5m in places, although it is thought that it could have been up to 2m taller when it was first constructed.

To book a tailor-made trip to China, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 220 or contact us online.

 Alternatively, if you would like to book a tailor-made trip to Mongolia, call one of our specialists on 01993 838 225 or you can contact us online.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

This week saw our Indian Subcontinent team take to the local cinema to see the new British film ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ which is set in the vibrant state of Rajasthan in India.

With an exceptionally brilliant British cast at the forefront, including Dame Judi Dench and Bill Nighy, the team had high expectations on the way their favourite country was going to be portrayed on the big screen.

The film introduces you to a number of different characters, all of whom are retired and have circumstances which are driving them to change their lives and perhaps leave little old Blighty! To escape their current circumstances, the characters all decide to venture to the ‘Marigold Hotel’ in India which advertises itself as Luxury Retirement Home for the ‘elderly and beautiful’. 

As you can imagine, with any good comedy, the story does not go the way the characters planned. Online, the Marigold Hotel is shown as a luxurious property which is billed as the perfect place for retired people to enjoy their golden years. However, once in India the characters find themselves in a hotel that does not evoke the ‘the bygone days of the Raj’ but in fact something that is scruffy and barely finished.

This is where the real beauty of India shines through, as the characters make do with their situation, and slowly begin to fall for its charm and culture. With Jaipur being the film’s main backdrop, there really could be no better place for Judi Dench and friends to fall in love with this magnificent country. Jaipur is shown as a chaotic and noisy city, with the characters travelling around in distinctive tuk tuks and whizzing through the crowds on motorbikes. It is this hustle and bustle of the city that gives Jaipur, and many other parts of India its charm and character – it’s not everyday you can see brightly coloured painted elephants walking through the streets next to rickshaws and cars!

However, it is the interaction with the main characters and the locals that really show why India is such a beautiful place. With many scenes depicting the kindness of those who live in India, it is hard not to be drawn in and wishing you were the one playing cricket in the street with the local children or the one being invited for dinner in the home of someone who wants you to meet their whole extended family!

This film is extremely heart warming and shows the audience just how much excitement India has to offer, whether that be the vibrant colours, the magnificent architecture or the warm smiles of the locals. The team were certainly not disappointed as the film highlighted why people should travel to India and why it is somewhere that will open your eyes and show you what life is really about.

To plan a trip to India visit the India section of our website or speak to our country specialists on 01993 838 330.

They always turn up the heat at this point of the series, as four amateur cooks are left to battle it out for the coveted title of MasterChef winner 2012.

In last night’s episode the competitors were flown to Thailand’s gastronomic capital Chiang Mai to the bustling street food markets, where Audley often arranges visits for clients. This is highly recommended as the food is delicious.

Offering guidance was David Thompson, Thai food guru and Executive Chef of Michelin-starred Thai restaurant Nahm in Bangkok, also an Audley favourite.

After running their own market stalls, and producing popular Thai dishes using traditional cooking techniques, the finalists were whisked off to the Northern Mountains where they were expected to create a traditional ceremonial banquet for 50 special guests at the Thai Royal Projects – an initiative set up by the King to encourage the local hill tribes to grow fruit and vegetables instead of opium.

Their final challenge was to cook dinner for one of the most revered Thai princes and his close family at the opulent Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi.

We’re really looking forward to next week’s episode when the four contestants are reduced to three and they’re expected to cook for comedy legends and world famous pâtissières. The next episode will be shown at 9pm on BBC1 on 7th March.

To follow in the footsteps of the MasterChef finalists or to plan a trip to Thailand call our specialists on 01993 838 115.

The Banaue rice terraces, Philippines

David is one of our Audley Southeast Asia specialists and has just returned from a recent visit to the rice terraces of Banaue in the Philippines. Here he describes his account of a region which has been farmed by the local Ifugao tribes for the past 2,000 years.

The Banaue rice terraces are located in the northern Luzon province of the Philippines. I had the chance to visit this UNESCO World heritage site during my recent trip with Audley. The terraces are located approximately nine hours drive from Manila through some of the most breathtaking mountain scenery I have experienced.

I was to explore the rice terraces as part of a coach trip rather than taking a private tour with my own guide. This worked out well for me as there was just one other person on the tour, but there can be up to ten people travelling with you. My co-traveller, Klaus was Austrian and our guide Sally was all ready to do the tour in both English and German. She was fluent in both and although Klaus spoke no English, I was able to dust off my A-level German and we conducted most of the tour, as well as our social chat over the next five days, in German! Leaving the suburban backdrop of Metro Manila behind, the scenery quickly changed as the skyscrapers of the capital became rice paddies and the chaotic fast paced city life was replaced by a more relaxed agricultural existence.

As we left the city we passed the awe inspiring silhouette of Mt Pinatubo, one of the Philippines tallest active volcanoes. Climbing further into the Cordillera Mountains, the scenery bares the scars of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II and areas of the mountains still remain desolate from the American bombing of the region.

We passed through remote villages and Sally highlighted to us the region’s dependence on and history of rice production. Villagers work the land and lay rice out at the side of the road to dry after harvest, whilst oxen plough new paddies for the next season’s crop. It is a cycle of traditional agricultural farming that the Philippines have embraced for centuries. It was amazing to see how hard these people work to produce the rice that we take so readily from the shelves in our supermarkets.

The Banaue Rice Terraces are estimated to be over 2,000 years old and are one of the main attractions on a visit to the north of the Philippines. Built by the native tribes of the Ifugao Province, it is said that putting the terraces end to end would encircle half of the globe. Travelling in January we saw rice terraces of a lush green that was unlike any colour I have seen before. Different terraces look different depending on the season that you visit. In some areas they have two planting seasons while in others there is only one. At the start of the planting season the terraces retain varying shades of brown. As the cycle progresses bright green shoots burst through the soil becoming part of the landscape, the golden hulls of harvest determine their colour later on. The terraces provide a spectacular landscape whatever time of year they are viewed but I felt lucky to have seen them looking so lush and green - even more lucky because Sally changed the programme for us. Rain and cloud was forecast for one day, so we went to the best viewpoints on the previous day. I was delighted to discover that even the seat in coach programme had that level of flexibility. I must have taken 100 photographs, which on a cloudy day just wouldn’t have been the same.

There are few man made landscapes that can equal the splendour of these awe inspiring terraces, and my visit really helped me to imagine the backbreaking labour that the Ifugao tribe’s ancestors went through constructing and harvesting them. The recent UNESCO acknowledgement and government financial support has helped to maintain the terraces but modern farming techniques have led to the younger Ifugao generation choosing to generate income through tourism rather than mirror the lifestyles of their ancestors. Some of the tribal elders are also now making their money from tourism – posing for photographs like the one below.

Despite the shift to tourism however, the terraces still remain relatively undiscovered on a global scale and are one of Asia’s most stunning landscapes. My visit to them with Audley was a humbling and unforgettable experience and one which I would definitely recommend.

Photos taken by David (click to enlarge):

Every year at Audley we hold a staff photo competition to give everyone a chance to enter their favourite photos from their travels. There are three categories: People, Places and Wildlife.

This year the evening was combined with a quiz to welcome new members of staff who had started at the company in the last four months, with the voting taking place throughout the evening.

After being quizzed on flags, travel industry logos, landmarks around the world and cryptic newbie questions, staff shortlisted their favourite photos and the winners were decided. Photo winners won themselves bottles of wine and Amazon vouchers and the quiz winners won inscribed medals and an hour off work!

Considering our sales bods aren’t professional photographers the quality of the photos was impressive. To ensure this talent isn’t put to waste, the shortlisted images will be used in the Audley image library for marketing purposes including the website.

Winning photos

People: Marrakesh, Morocco
Wildlife: Leguan, South Africa
Places: Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

Click on the thumbnails below to increase the size of the selection of shortlisted photos and winners: