Inspiring Travel Writing from Rupert Isaacson
Rupert Isaacson is a Londoner of Southern African parentage, who divides his time between the UK, the USA (he currently lives near Austin, Texas) and Africa - where most of his work is. Confusingly, he spends most of his work time with the Bushmen of the Kalahari, and has written a book on the subject, The Healing Land.
He is the author of six guidebooks: the Cadogan guides to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana & Namibia, South India and Goa. He also produced two guides to adventure sports - one on Southern Africa (Southern Africa on the Wild Side, Cadogan), and one on the UK (Action Guide to Britain, Harvill Press). He writes regularly for Conde Nast Traveller, Food & Travel, the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Independent on Sunday and Esquire - as well as American publications such as National Geographic Traveller and Outside.
He is the author of six guidebooks: the Cadogan guides to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana & Namibia, South India and Goa. He also produced two guides to adventure sports - one on Southern Africa (Southern Africa on the Wild Side, Cadogan), and one on the UK (Action Guide to Britain, Harvill Press). He writes regularly for Conde Nast Traveller, Food & Travel, the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Independent on Sunday and Esquire - as well as American publications such as National Geographic Traveller and Outside.
Articles by Rupert Isaacson
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Black Mountains - Canoeing the River Wye
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Rupert Isaacson
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United Kingdom
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Wales
Kayaking - the art of using one’s bum to balance a plastic egg cup that has a mind of its own, in turbulent, dangerous water. “Roll those wrists as you paddle and you’ll keep a straight line,” the instructor had said. No...
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California
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Rupert Isaacson
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United States
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California
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Rubicon Springs
Call them what you like - four-by-fours, jeeps, off-roaders, sports utility vehicles; it seems one can't throw a brick in London these days without hitting a land rover, land cruiser, or one of those Suzukis with humping rhinos on the spare wheel....
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Cairngorms
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Rupert Isaacson
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United Kingdom
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Scottish Highlands
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Aviemore
“Stef!” I wheezed. “Can’t you slow down a second?” Stef stopped and turned dexterously round on his long skis, glowingly fit against the bright snow. “Och, it’s only another hundred yards to the top.”...
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Liberia
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Rupert Isaacson
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Liberia
Liberia is one of those African countries the name of which, for most of us, is synonymous with violence and atrocity. During that country’s long civil war, teenage soldiers took to wearing children’s masks and women’s dresses in a...
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Letter From Mexico
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Rupert Isaacson
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Mexico
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Central Mexico
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Jalisco
Notebook at the ready, I bent over the sleeping form of the tranquilized skunk (or more accurately, a Mexican pygmy skunk) and, gagging at nauseating stench emanating from the scent glands of its anus, I noted the measurements of its teeth, paws,...
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Camel Trekking in Somerset
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Rupert Isaacson
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United Kingdom
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South West England
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Somerset
The fire, laboriously built, is now crackling nicely. The tents are pitched and dinner is not far off. The camels lie around, relaxed and contented after their day’s trek. One sits a little stiffly, contented after the long day astride the...
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Before You Die: Make Love in an Abandoned Palace
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Rupert Isaacson
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India
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Karnataka
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Hampi
Make love in one of the abandoned palaces of the ruined desert city of Hampi, India. Ecstasy under the stone eyes of gods and demons, the midday heat slamming down on the rock outside. Vast, empty halls and palaces standing still and sentient in the...
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Before You Die: Join a Wildlife Study
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Rupert Isaacson
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United States
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Idaho
Join a wildlife study: Earthwatch's Mountain Lion project in southern Idaho, where you help live-capture the beasts in the snow, is one of the most intense 10 days you'll ever have. Sweating through the thigh-deep drifts after a pack of hounds as...
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Before You Die: Attend an All-Night Trance
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Rupert Isaacson
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Botswana
Attend an all-night trance, or healing, dance of the Kalahari Bushmen in Botswana. You join a chorus circle of women, clapping along with them as they chant to make the harmony and rhythm within which the healer dances with the spirits. When he...
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Trekking in Coorg
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Rupert Isaacson
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India
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Karnataka
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Coorg
"I have become rice", said Kristin, holding her bloated stomach and grimacing through the sweat. It's true - in South India, where the cuisine is almost exclusively vegetarian - everything comes with rice. And when you're trekking, as we were, in...