Il Ngwesi is a beautiful eco-lodge run by the local Laikipiak Maasai tribe in the breathtaking Savannah north of Mount Kenya. It is very remote. We went for our silver wedding anniversary and flew in over Treetops Lodge in a three-seater plane. We were the only ones staying and were met on the air strip and taken to our accommodation, the Prince William Banda, overlooking a waterhole. It was open plan in every sense, including the toilet and shower! We did sleep under the thatched roof the first night, but after that it was under the stars. We were superbly looked after by the Maasai; the walking safaris, sundowners and bush breakfasts were superb and the horizon pool looking over the savannah and back drop of hills was divine. A truly romantic place as I am sure the previous residents, William Wales and Kate Middleton, would concur.

www.ilngwesi.com
+254 (0) 020 20 33 122
Google map: bit.ly/wFySI6

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It has no roads, no cars. Its virgin rainforests are strictly protected and home to countless mammals from caiman to sloth and colourful birds like the striking blood-red Tanager. Its crystal waters are liberally sprinkled with turtles and offer some of the best diving in the world. You arrive by ferry and drag your suitcase along sandy tracks past quaint boutiques and restaurants or follow meekly as it is trundled on a barrow to your pousada by a burly local carrier. In the evening you will sit at a beach table, capirinha or chilled beer in hand, a bowl of freshly-caught seafood stew on order and your bare toes sifting the still-warm sand while a silent thunderstorm backlights the mountains of the distant Serra do Mar like some vast Hollywood set.

Ilha Grande lies just an hour off Brazil’s Costa Verde, that lush strip of Atlantic coastline stretching from north of Rio all the way down to Santos. It its time, this huge unspoiled tropical paradise, with more than 100 miles of jungle trails, has been a pirates’ lair – and as recently as the early 1990s housed a penal colony on one of its countless remote and isolated coves. Nowadays it still takes prisoners but only those who track down its isolation, sample empty beaches, coral reefs and laid-back Brazilian hospitality. It’s difficult to escape.

www.ilhagrande.com.br/
Google map: bit.ly/zrnHl9

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Peaceful and remote Majuli Island (the largest riverine island in the world) is home to many endangered birds, and an important wetland in Assam. The 'Mising' tribe, a subsistence farming community, lives here in simple bamboo and palm leaf houses built on stilts.
For a tranquil stay away from India's hustle and bustle, rent a room in one of the Assamese neo-Vaisnavite monasteries which dot the island.
(Not to be confused with Ali G's "Me Julie")

Get the ferry from Jorhat. If travelling with a driver and car ensure the driver books the ferry well in advance, it only takes three cars.
Google map: bit.ly/xnLFXy

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With luxurious sandy beaches, archaeological sites, cetacean spotting and shark fishing, the Isles of Scilly are the UK's own tropical paradise. Don't just stay in one place, though, use the excellent boat service to explore all the islands, several of which are uninhabited. You'll find rare birds, seal colonies, pre-historic remains and the UK's most south-westerly lighthouse, Bishop Rock.

Nature walking tours:
www.islandwildlifetours.co.uk
Walks start in late March and finish mid October, numbers and weather permitting.
www.scillywalks.co.uk
Katharine Sawyer leads archaeologial and historic walks round the islands between April and September
www.simplyscilly.co.uk
Google map: bit.ly/AlTA1D

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Tenerife was created a while ago when molten rock squirted out of a rather weak part of the earth's crust, not too far from Africa. The whole island is a complete field trip: a real trip. The result of a sustained bout of volcanic activity, Teide is the highest mountain in Spain. Altitude sickness permitting, a vigorous, somewhat vertical stroll from sunrise to sunset will take you to the peak at 3715 metres and back, past craters and vents, across awesome pahoehoe and to Teide's eggs, surreal volcanic bombs twice the size of your rental car. The view from the peak is as wide as your mind. The little fluffy clouds are under your feet and you can tell that the world is yours. You can just see the beach but it is far, far away.

There's an international airport on one of the lava fields, levelled appropriately.
Google map: bit.ly/AdAQa8

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Who needs Bora-Bora when you have Brittany? I'll wager that when you arrive on the Îles de Glénan, an archipelago off the southern coast of Finistère, you'll consider these desert isles as good as any that you might find in more exotic places. If you're not here for the sailing school, there is little to do except bury your feet in the white sand, kayak across a clear lagoon, or watch the black headed gulls, weave and dip, on their flight out to sea.

The Vedettes de l"Odet, based in Bènodet will get you there.
+33 (0) 2 98 57 00 58
www.vedettes-odet.com/
Google map: bit.ly/wtpoEz

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Found near St Pauls, Postman's Park is a quiet retreat that will keep you captivated for hours. A former burial ground, it has since 1900 served as a Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice. Dozens of memorial tablets line the walls in poignant memorial of ordinary and otherwise forgotten people, who died saving the lives of others.

King Edward Street, London EC1
Google map: bit.ly/ykjudK

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Widely considered the toughest trek in Europe the GR20 follows the spine of the Corsican mountains from the north west to south east of the island. The trek, mountains and views are spectacular. The hut infrastructure is good and the people are very friendly.
Some people go out and do as much as they can of the route in a week. It can be completed in less than 2 weeks but give yourself 1 week more and you can take the 'alpine variations' and a few side trips. Treat yourself to some time in Corsica at the end of trek to enjoy beaches, good food and powerful cheese.

www.le-gr20.com/gb/

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Starting the new year like no other, I spent this new year's eve in Buenos Aires. Expecting a casual night on my terrace with a barbeque, this turned into an unforgettable party experience.
After doing the ritual midnight celebration, we then ate dinner and drank fernet (a herbal Italian spirit which has been adopted by Argentines) until around 3am. At this point we decided to head to the planetarium which lies in the Bosques de Palero (the Palermo forest). Here there was an enormous crowd of all ages, dancing with their fernet by the beautifully lit planetarium. I was unsure as to why everybody had sunglasses at the ready. When it got to around 7am it hit me, the blinding sun rose from above the trees and the crowd went wild! Slowly the crowds headed towards shade as the night turned into a hot summer's day, and at 9am we went home on the bus with the commuters. During this journey we narrowly avoided being struck by a flying bin which had been loaded with dynamite, but explosions aside it was an amazing experience and a brilliant start to 2012.

www.planetario.gov.ar/
Av. Sarmiento y Figueroa Alcorta- Palermo - Buenos Aires, Argentina
+54 11 4771-9393
Google map: bit.ly/wAQCsd

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Found 15kms outside Munnar, Eravikulam was declared a sanctuary in 1975 and upgraded in 1978 to a national park, in part due to its unique flora and fauna. We went at the wrong time to see the enigmatic Neelakurunji, a plant which produces its carpet of blue flowers every 12 years (go there in 2014 for the next viewing) but we did see the fabulously rare Nilgiri Tahr, the only species of Caprine ungulate (look that up in your Funk and Wagnall’s) found south of the Himalayas. There are around 2,500 left of this friendly wild mountain goat in the world, ensuring its place among the status of ‘endangered’ in the WWF list of rare animals.
We arrived at the park excited at the prospect of seeing rare goats. In addition to nature’s gifts, it is home to Anamudi (2690m), the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas. We were not allowed to walk up the mountain path, so along with everyone else ascended the foothills aboard the park bus. We jumped off with about 40 domestic tourists at the high entrance point. We were not allowed to deviate from the path. We were told to keep quiet so as not to upset the wildlife. We could not pass go. Fair enough.
Accompanied by families of screaming children scrambling in the undergrowth, shouting groups of men and chattering women in bejewelled thong sandles and saris, we tried to pretend we were at one with nature. A Nilgiri Tahr crossed the carefully designated pathway in front of us ignoring the noise: the 25 species of other mammals, 132 species of birds, 101 species of butterflies and 19 species of amphibians recorded in the Park kept their distance. An abrupt end to the path made it clear we would not be allowed any further, ending our dream of a decent shot at climbing the highest peak in southern India.
A little disappointedly we returned down the hill-path, trying to find a moment of tranquility among the tourist madness. Anyone who has visited India will know this is never an easy task. We gave up at the bus drop-off point, and, in a last ditch effort to find some serenity in the beautiful surroundings, decided to walk back to the bottom. Fat chance. A guard shooed us back up the hill and we joined a heaving bus of tourists back to the park entrance.
Oh well, we saw the goats.

Idukki, Forest Information Centre, Wildlife Warden's Office, Munnar PO, Kerala 685 612, India
+91 4865 231 587
Google map: bit.ly/xjyUeq

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In Summer 2008 I joined a conservation project in the Peruvian Amazon. I was based in the Manu Biosphere Reserve, said to be one of the most bio-diverse places on the planet. It was.
Strangely, for me, the jungle itself wasn’t the best bit. I loved the people who lived there. While I helped them to reforest instead of deforest, they taught me how big life can be even with very little.
On my last day I scaled a waterfall, avoiding bullet ants, poisonous spiders and deadly snakes, to visit a natural oil spring. Daniel, our jungle guide, told me that in 50 years time an oil company would be drilling where I stood, exploiting both the oil and the people who live there. Afterward I travelled up the Madre De Dios river to the Shintuya community. There I saw a hand painted Makaw on the side of a Peki-Peki boat. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.
In that moment I realised there are all kinds of marks we can make on the world and I knew there and then I wanted to leave a brightly coloured one.

www.crees-expeditions.com/
Google map: bit.ly/yYlMAi

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The most incredible geological formations, colours, caves, waterfalls and dinosaur foot prints
Hardly discovered by tourists - off the beaten track but well worth the effort.

Google map: bit.ly/yQB1em

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I think everyone in the world should visit the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, and specifically the volcanic craters in the middle of the island. Most tourism seems to have been attracted to Réunion's more beachy neighbour, Maruitius, so the island is largely unspoiled and, thanks to the fact that the entire island was recently named a UNESCO World Heritage site, likely to stay that way. Geologically very young and hosting two volcanoes (one live and one dormant) it's full not only of idyllic beaches but also of fairytale craggy peaks and deep valleys. Piton de la Neige, the dormant volcano, is surrounded by three craters (called cirques) that are all big enough to house several villages and each breath-taking in their own way. The Crique de Cilaos is accessible by bus from the town of St Louis, which climbs over the edge of the crater and down inside. The road includes over 250 hairpin bends, so just making it to the town is life-affirming. Being surrounded by the walls of the crater induces a realisation of the small and transitory nature of human existence that is calming and refreshing. The local residents help this along - what's important here is enjoying nature, whether it's through canyoning through rivers and waterfalls, hiking to high peaks, or just sitting back and taking in the view. We stayed in the family-run 'Claire de Lune' guest house, which has a dormitory for large groups and offers fabulous traditional Creole meals cooked by the owner's mother. I came back refreshed and with a renewed sense of both the awesomeness of the natural world and the important role each of us plays in it.

Catch the bus from the St Louis bus station on the south side of the island, which take about an hour and a half.
Clair de la Lune:
10, rue Winceslas Rivière 97413 Cilaos
+33(0)262 31 88 03

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Forget about spa and yoga retreats, the best way to get rid of a festive flunk is to head into the woods with an axe. There's something surprisingly therapeutic about handling a tool used for millennia and on an axe workshop you'll spend a long weekend doing just that. You'll learn how to care for your axe, sharpen it, cross cut and limb a tree with it, split logs, and even how to carve with it. When you finally turn a mossy log into a kind of seat with it, you'll be radiating an inner joy greater than any that you might find on a holistic retreat. (Plus, the glow on your face from wielding the thing for 48 hours and camping out in those numbingly-cold woods beats any fifty quid facial.)

There is an axe course in Devon run by the Survival School.
www.survivalschool.co.uk/
+44(0)1453 752220

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Actually named Cayo Macho but renamed for the tourist trade, this is a iguana reserve on a desert island - basically Galapagos on a budget. The iguanas are completely unafraid of people and just hang around waiting for your meal leftovers like a bunch of scaly pigeons. There's also some extremely cute giant tree rats (they are cute, honestly) and the biggest hermit crabs I've ever seen. Well worth the two hour boat trip from Trinidad.

www.netssa.com/iguana_island_cuba.html
Google map: bit.ly/wSb4By

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Great Bear Lodge is the perfect base for watching wild grizzly bears on British Columbia's Rain Coast.
Trips are based at a remote floating lodge on the largely uninhabited Smith Inlet, but you fly in by float plane from Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, so the adventure starts even before you arrive. The Great Bear team can advise you on arranging travel to Port Hardy.
Each day you will be taken out by expert guides to view grizzly bears, either in a small boat during the spring and early summer, or to secure raised hides overlooking the river during the salmon run, when the bears are feeding in the river. Great efforts are taken to minimise disruption to the bears and indeed any other impact on the local environment, with the result that you can safely observe these beautiful animals behaving naturally in their native environment.
In addition to the twice-daily grizzly-watching trips, there are other optional activities such as boat trips, forest hikes and kayaking, as well as a host of other wildlife to watch even from the comfort of the lodge's outdoor deck.
The full board accommodation in the lodge is very comfortable, with delicious meals provided, and your hosts (Tom Rivest and Marg Leehane) provide a great welcome and expert information on all aspects of the local ecology, wildlife and the adventures of living in a breathtakingly beautiful wilderness location accessible only by boat or float plane.
This is a great "soft adventure" opportunity, accessible to anybody of reasonable health and basic fitness i.e. you do not need to be any kind of outdoor sports enthusiast to enjoy a trip to Great Bear Lodge, just somebody who appreciates the Canadian wilderness and the creatures who live there.

www.greatbeartours.com/
+1 888 221 8212

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It might just be me, but I felt like Kings Canyon was the best place for me to get in shape. It's away from the crowds of Yosemite and empty enough that no one will watch you sweating and panting as you hike through the beautiful redwoods. It's a beautiful place, and the weather in the summer is always fantastic. I'd combine a trip here with a tour around northern California. I spent three weeks hiking, shopping and relaxing and I lost two dress sizes without altering my diet! Finally, the best point about the national parks is that they're very family orientated so there will be something for everyone.

www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm
83918 Grant Grove Dr, Kings Cyn Nat Pk, CA, United States
+1 559-335-2856
Google map: bit.ly/sk8E7C

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This small gem of a beach is much loved by locals, both human and penguin. Situated within a sanctuary for 3000 African Jackass penguins, the crescent of white sand is backed by dense vegetation in which the penguins nest. The sheltered bay is surrounded by huge boulders on which children love to climb and leap into the sea. Penguin couples waddle down the beach to cool off in the water and seem happy to swim among excited children, posing for photographs or playing Pied Piper as they lead curious kids into the rock crevices to explore. A fantastic family day out is on offer including a visit to the penguin breeding sanctuary or a delicious lunch at the restaurant adjacent to the free parking area where local traders sell African artifacts. An entrance fee to the beach is charged (about 50p) which helps fund the penguin conservation.

Boulders Beach, about 45 minutes drive from Cape Town, close to Simonstown.
Google map: bit.ly/ubjLTM

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Shabby Vilanculos has silted up creeks and dirty beaches but a short and picturesque dhow ride (or a speed boat if the wind’s wrong) will take you to the heart of the Bazaruto Archipelago nature reserve. This series of platinum sand mounds rising out of the Indian Ocean are dotted with silvery driftwood trees - like sculptures sunk into the sand. £20 gets you your own personal skipper (we got two), and a day to wander aimlessly, cartwheeling along endless deserted beaches, sliding down sand dunes and snorkelling with tiny tropical fish. When we returned to our boat our two Mozambican guides had cooked up an amazing three course meal on an open fire - we sat on the beach as the rain came down, gorging ourselves tomatoey fresh squid stew and mountains of fresh fruit.

Sailaway Dhow Safaris
Rua Marginal, Bairro Central, Vilanculos, Mozambique, Mozambique
+258 29 382 385
Google map: bit.ly/w1Kckm

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I recommend the beach on the Indian Ocean side of the coral-ringed Chumbe Island, located off the coast of Zanzibar. Chumbe combines sustainable ecological living with luxury; an affordable, private haven with a conscience. As a guest on this island paradise (and there are never more than 14 people at any one time), you have your very own beach, steps away from the front door of your beautiful palm thatched eco-bungalow. The beaches surround a marine protected coral park with world-class snorkelling, as well as being home to a historic lighthouse and the protected (and nocturnal) coconut crabs. The beaches are perfect for relaxation, nature spotting and romance, far removed from those of a typical holiday resort. On our first night, we were the only guests on the island. On our final night, the staff (always attentive without being intrusive) arranged a private, secluded candlelit dinner for two on the beach as a surprise. Bliss.

www.chumbeisland.com
+255 (0) 242 231 040
Chumbe Island Coral Park is a short boat ride away from Stone Town, Zanzibar
Google map: bit.ly/tEMflQ

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