Native Eye

This exciting two week tour will take you across Ghana, Togo and Benin, where you’ll get the chance to witness Ouidah’s incredible voodoo festival. You’ll travel with a small group of likeminded travelers and experienced local guides on an adventure that will please Africa newbies and old hands alike. In Benin you’ll spend time in Ouidah, exploring the city and visiting both a traditional healer and a fetish market, where you’ll see many animal parts for sale for use in traditional medicine. You’ll also experience the colourful annual voodoo festival, when worshippers from across Benin come to take part in a variety of ceremonies celebrating gods and spirits. Other highlights of your ...Read more >

Embark on an epic journey through Egypt’s remote Western Desert, exploring with 4wd vehicles and camping under the stars, in some of the most beautiful areas of the Sahara. Starting in Cairo, we quickly leave the city behind, heading towards the Crystal Mountain and its golden dunes, where we spend our first night wild camping under the desert sky. Traveling along ancient Bedouin caravan routes, we explore ancient caves, see prehistoric rock art, and find small signs of ancient travelers who used the Sahara to reach the far east of Africa. We explore the remarkable White Desert and spend two days crossing the Darb Karafish route, with its incredible natural geology. Here we find ...Read more >

This two week Georgia and Armenia small group tour has an itinerary that is bursting with expert knowledge of two countries that have been beyond the reaches of tourism for many years. Traveling with a local guide who knows and understands not only their recent history as former Soviet states, but also their ancient history that includes Persian, Central Asian and Ottoman influences. Also known as the Caucasus region, they are home to the Caucasus Mountains and sandwiched between the Black and Caspian Seas, meaning that geographically and historically they offer dramatic land and culturescapes. With equal time spent in both countries, this trip starts in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, ...Read more >

The Horn of Africa is a fascinating mélange of cultures, from nomadic herders to Arabian traders and influences from across the Indian Ocean. It is also home to some of the continent’s most remote and breathtaking landscapes, a land where the taste of the wild is in the air, simply begging the intrepid traveler to explore. After arriving in Djibouti, you'll travel to two of Africa's most eye-catching lakes. Lac Assal crater lake is the lowest point in Africa (-150 m), as well as the most saline body of water in the world – and one of the most colourful thanks to unusual crystalline formations. Lac Abbe is even more spectacularly strange - a vast salt lake with tall limestone chimneys ...Read more >

This Northern Pakistan vacation takes you on a small group adventure to one of Asia’s most fascinating regions, home to jaw dropping landscapes and diverse ethnic groups whose traditions have remained unchanged for centuries. The tour kicks off with a tour of the lively, modern capital Islamabad before heading northwest to Chitral, a wild, remote and beautiful region next to the Afghanistan border, home to the unique Kalash people, who are sometimes described as pagans thanks to their cultural beliefs. On this trip you’ll be able to see their ancient ways in action at the vibrant annual Uchal Festival. Next, you’ll head overland through the Hindu Kush to Gilgit, a truly memorable journey ...Read more >

Ever since Stanley emerged from the jungle on his epic trek across the continent, the Congo has held a place in western imaginations as Africa’s ‘dark heart’, a land of thick rainforest, surging rivers and isolated hostile tribes. The undisputed giant of Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo is undoubtedly one of the most challenging countries to travel through, yet those that make the step will be rewarded with some of the most incredible experiences the continent can offer. We combine the DRC with its tiny neighbours Rwanda and Burundi, for a comprehensive trip through the region. Starting in the Rwandan capital Kigali, we head first to the little visited Akagera National Park, home ...Read more >

An exploratory journey taking you south east from the former Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau to the voodoo heartlands of Benin. Starting in Bissau we immediately descend into traditional West African culture, heading first to the idyllic Bijagos Islands, where local customs are at their strongest and unusual wildlife dwells. Back on the mainland we continue by visiting a community of ‘griots’ – traditional storytellers – where we learn about a custom that is unique to this part of the world, then travel through the lands of the Fulani, stopping in small villages and exploring the stunning highlands of the Fouta Djalon range. In Guinea we see mask dances of ancient secret societies, the ...Read more >

Discover the wild and untamed lands of southern Morocco and the Western Sahara, where nomadic traditions, picturesque kasbahs and the raw beauty of the desert combine. We start in the coastal town of Agadir and from here begin our journey south, heading first to the former Spanish enclave of Sidi Ifni and the magical landscapes of the Draa Valley, encountering huge dunes and semi-nomadic people living in the desert. Traveling south through endless horizons and stopping at small desert settlements along the way, the romance of the Sahara is ever closer. Our journey takes us to the remote town of Smara, once a center of resistance against colonial occupation and fading gracefully into the ...Read more >

The westernmost country of the Sahara Desert, Mauritania is synonymous with the idea of remote, with vast areas that have barely been explored, except by blue robed nomads and their camels. This unique expedition takes you to its wildest and least known regions. After leaving Nouakchott we turn inland and cross a remote part of the desert on our way to the historic cities of Chinguetti and Ouadane, once important on the old trading routes between the Sahara and Morocco, and now gracefully crumbling into the sands. From here we venture into the unknown. At Trig Chauail we see rock art dating back six thousand years, when large wildlife roamed a greener Sahara, and then traverse the sand ...Read more >

A mesmerising adventure, trekking alongside the Ait Atta, Morocco’s last nomadic tribe. We join their annual migration through the striking terrain of the Jebel Saghro, meeting muleteers, camels and nomad families along the way. This isn't just a trek - it's an invitation to become part of the caravan, live the life of a nomad, taking part in daily chores and accepting the chief's decisions about when to rest, set up camp, and continue the journey. Unlike standard tourist experiences, this journey offers a rare glimpse into a lifestyle far removed from the modern world. We will be actively involved in essential daily tasks such as loading pack animals, collecting firewood, and herding ...Read more >

A thrilling adventure to one of the world’s last wild frontiers. The island of New Guinea is one of the richest places on our planet in terms of traditional cultures, and a treasure trove of tribal diversity, and for many groups first contact with the western world was made within living memory. This unique trip explores the western half of the island, visiting distinct cultures in an effort to understand a vanishing way of life. We start in Jakarta and from here take an overnight flight to the paradise island of Biak, with its beautiful landscapes and remnants of the Second World War. After our ‘easy’ introduction to Papua, we continue on to Jayapura on the mainland, taking a boat trip on ...Read more >

This small group expedition to Chad and the Ennedi is an exercise in adventurous travel. Along with a small group of travelers and an expert guide you’ll discover the wild open spaces of this surprising, beautiful and little visited land on a trip that could well be the most memorable you’ll ever take. After time adjusting in N’Djamena you’ll head out of town (and away from tarmac roads) and journey through the rugged landscapes of the Sahel, passing through small settlements, meeting nomad families and drawing our water supplies from local wells. Passing through the Bahr el Ghazal region, there will be opportunities to spot gazelle, fennec fox and a variety of birdlife. The main ...Read more >

This breathtaking journey offers travelers the chance to traverse the diverse natural and cultural landscapes of Africa, on an epic scale from the Maghreb to the dense forests of Guinea-Bissau, allowing you to experience the gentle transition from the Islam of the north to the animism of West Africa. Starting in the city of Marrakech, the end point of the Saharan camel caravans of old, we journey through the lands of the Berbers and across the mighty High Atlas Mountains, to the magical landscapes of the Draa Valley, encountering huge dunes and semi-nomadic people living in the desert. From here our journey into the arid lands south begins, traveling south through endless horizons and ...Read more >

Kenya is renowned for its wealth of wildlife, the sweeping plains of the Masai Mara, and its white sand beaches. But look beyond these stereotypes, glorious though they are, and one can find a diverse kaleidoscope of ethnicities and tribal groups, far removed from the tourist trail and virtually unchanged for generations. On this expedition we head north from the capital to Samburu Game Reserve – no visit to Kenya would be complete without at least a little wildlife, after all. We spend a day here on game drives looking for lion, elephant and some of the species which are seldom found elsewhere, such as gerenuk and beisa oryx. We then drive into the tribal heartlands that stretch towards ...Read more >

The ultimate trip through an untamed land, traveling to what can rightly be called the holy grail of Saharan travel - Chad's mighty Tibesti Mountains. For a long time these jagged volcanic peaks, home to the fiercely independent Tubu people, have been out of bounds, but no longer. We leave N'Djamena to travel through the lands of the Sahel, passing nomads with their camels, to OROA Natural Reserve, and then the north western edge of the Ennedi massif, a land of incredible eroded sandstone. We continue north exploring the palm groves and meeting the Teda clan of the Tubu, then head into the mountains - a series of rocky summits that are almost completely unexplored. We stop first at ...Read more >