ORYX MAGAZINE IT’S HARD NOT TO FEEL OVERWHELMED WHEN FIRST ENTERING THE RAINFOREST. This secretive, primeval world, with its dark, brooding vegetation wreathed in tendrils of mist, is alive with incessant insect chatter and shrill birdsong. Continue reading
GUARDIAN In the oppressive, dead-weight heat of midday, an improbably polite man ushered me through security at Georgetown’s dusty domestic airport. Behind him I could hear the gurgling of a Dam-Busterish, chocks-away type plane waiting for me on the tarmac – I was euphoric. Old-time civility – a rarity almost everywhere these days – is a quality you’ll find by the trunk-load in Guyana. It’s very old school: a bit knackered, louche and shambolic – traits that I love. Continue reading
GUARDIAN A Fairtrade holiday sounds as if it might be just a little too worthy and smug for its own good. Two weeks of unbleached cotton and a diet of organic lentils followed by the inevitable, if constipated, self-righteous after-glow doesn’t, frankly, tick any of my boxes. I actually like to enjoy my hols. Continue reading
DAILY MAIL The walkie-talkie spluttered into life: “Darts in – top of the rump – a mother and subby, COME DOWN HERE NOW!” As we scrambled to obey our orders, I guessed that this meant that a mother and calf rhino had been spotted, and that we were giving chase. Continue reading
GUARDIAN Uganda has had a bad press for too long – reaction to my recent visit was predictably cliched, homing in on guerrillas and gorillas. I guess this is the only place on Earth where a country’s reputation is held to ransom by terrorists and primates – Joseph Kony (of The Lord’s Resistance Army) and Dian Fossey’s charges have a lot to answer for. It’s time to set the record straight, as there’s much, much more to the very heart of Africa. Continue reading
Nick Maes 