Pass The Passport

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My 25 best travel photos, and the stories behind them

Twenty-five photos from 122 countries. I'm no photographer. I'd rather be enjoying a place than chasing the perfect picture, but every now and then you point the camera at something and it just works.

Tap through to the story, the goal or the guide behind each one.

  1. Kalandula Falls ✓
  2. The Dallol acid pools ✓
  3. King penguins in a stream ✓
  4. A mountain gorilla ✓
  5. Victoria Falls ✓
  6. The Monastery, Petra ✓
  7. A Serengeti lion ✓
  8. Icebergs in Disko Bay ✓
  9. Balloons over Luxor ✓
  10. San Blas ✓
  11. The Meroë pyramids ✓
  12. Pulpit Rock ✓
  13. A sea turtle ✓
  14. Santorini ✓
  15. Pigeon Rocks ✓
  16. The Taj Mahal ✓
  17. Above the Ilulissat Icefjord ✓
  18. Borobudur ✓
  19. Wildflowers in the Dolomites ✓
  20. A baby elephant ✓
  21. Grytviken ✓
  22. A clifftop beach in Bali ✓
  23. A chiva bus ✓
  24. Amsterdam's canal houses ✓
  25. Sunset on the Scotia Sea ✓
  1. A wide waterfall pouring over a cliff into mist surrounded by green forest.

    1 Kalandula Falls

    Malanje Province, AngolaTaken March 2019

    One of the biggest waterfalls in Africa, with the mist rising out of the forest, and almost nobody else there to see it.

    Country guide

  2. Dan looking out over the luminous green pools of Dallol.

    2 The Dallol acid pools

    Danakil Depression, EthiopiaTaken October 2019

    Green and yellow pools in one of the hottest places on earth. It looks like another planet.

    On my bucket listCountry guide

  3. Group of king penguins standing in a shallow stream with mountains and blue sky behind.

    3 King penguins in a stream

    Whistle Cove, South GeorgiaTaken December 2024

    King penguins standing in a meltwater stream, with the mountains of South Georgia behind them.

    On my bucket list

  4. A mountain gorilla chewing leaves in thick green foliage.

    4 A mountain gorilla

    Southwest UgandaTaken September 2019

    An hour with a gorilla family, and this one just carried on eating.

    On my bucket listCountry guide

  5. Victoria Falls pouring into a deep gorge with spray rising.

    5 Victoria Falls

    Zimbabwe side, Victoria FallsTaken July 2019

    The Zambezi falling into the gorge, with spray rising so high you see it from miles away.

    On my bucket listCountry guide

  6. The huge carved facade of the Monastery set into a rocky sandstone mountainside at Petra.

    6 The Monastery, Petra

    Petra, JordanTaken November 2019

    Most people stop at the Treasury. Keep climbing and you get this, carved into the mountain.

    On my bucket listCountry guide

  7. Close-up of a male lion's head and golden mane against a tree trunk.

    7 A Serengeti lion

    Serengeti, TanzaniaTaken August 2019

    A male lion resting against a tree in the Serengeti.

    On my bucket listCountry guide

  8. Icebergs reflected in still water in Disko Bay.

    8 Icebergs in Disko Bay

    Ilulissat, GreenlandTaken May 2022

    Icebergs the size of buildings, reflected in water so still it looks like glass.

  10. Several colourful hot air balloons being inflated and lit by burners on the ground before dawn.

    9 Balloons over Luxor

    Luxor, EgyptTaken October 2019

    The burners lighting up the balloons before dawn, just before take-off over the Valley of the Kings.

    Country guide

  11. A small palm-fringed island with a white sand beach surrounded by turquoise water.

    10 San Blas

    Guna Yala, PanamaTaken February 2020

    A palm-fringed island with nothing on it but sand. One of hundreds.

    Read my story

  12. A steep pyramid with a temple-like chapel entrance in front, under a blue sky.

    11 The Meroë pyramids

    Meroë, SudanTaken October 2019

    Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt, and hardly anyone goes to see them.

    Country guide

  13. The flat-topped Pulpit Rock cliff above a fjord with a beam of sunlight cutting through cloud.

    12 Pulpit Rock

    Lysefjord, NorwayTaken May 2023

    A beam of sunlight cutting through the cloud onto the Lysefjord, 600 metres below.

  14. A sea turtle seen from above swimming over pale sand in bright turquoise water.

    13 A sea turtle

    Off Caye Caulker, BelizeTaken January 2020

    A turtle gliding over the sand in water this clear, on a snorkelling trip off Caye Caulker.

    Read my story

  15. Whitewashed houses stacked along a cliff edge under a deep blue sky.

    14 Santorini

    Cyclades, GreeceTaken October 2022

    White houses stacked along the rim of a volcano.

    Country guide

  16. Two tall limestone sea stacks, one with a natural arch, in clear turquoise Mediterranean water.

    15 Pigeon Rocks

    Beirut, LebanonTaken October 2019

    Two limestone stacks in turquoise water, right on the edge of the city.

    Country guide

  17. Dan in front of the Taj Mahal.

    16 The Taj Mahal

    Agra, IndiaTaken October 2022

    The classic shot. You can't go to Agra and not take it.

    On my bucket listCountry guide

  18. Dan standing on the rocks above a fjord full of ice in Greenland.

    17 Above the Ilulissat Icefjord

    Ilulissat, GreenlandTaken May 2022

    A fjord jammed with ice from one of the fastest glaciers in the world.

  19. The stepped stone temple of Borobudur under a blue sky in Java

    18 Borobudur

    Java, IndonesiaTaken December 2022

    The biggest Buddhist temple in the world, under a perfect blue sky.

    On my bucket listCountry guide

  20. A meadow of yellow wildflowers beneath the jagged Dolomites

    19 Wildflowers in the Dolomites

    Dolomites, ItalyTaken July 2023

    A meadow of yellow flowers under jagged peaks, on a summer hiking trip.

    Country guide

  21. A young elephant covered in red dust standing on red earth.

    20 A baby elephant

    Nairobi, KenyaTaken August 2019

    An orphan at the Sheldrick Trust, covered in red dust after rolling in it.

    Country guide

  22. Rusted old whaling ship on the shore with a fur seal on the grass in front.

    21 Grytviken

    South GeorgiaTaken December 2024

    A rusting whaling ship at the old station, with a fur seal in front that couldn't care less.

  23. A clifftop view down to a white sand beach with turquoise water and waves breaking on the reef.

    22 A clifftop beach in Bali

    Bukit Peninsula, Bali, IndonesiaTaken December 2022

    White sand and turquoise water at the bottom of the cliffs on Bali's southern tip.

    Country guide

  24. A vividly painted chiva bus with a red front parked on a street.

    23 A chiva bus

    Guatapé, ColombiaTaken March 2020

    Colombia's painted country buses. Every one is different.

    Country guide

  25. A row of tall, narrow, leaning canal houses reflected in the water under a blue sky.

    24 Amsterdam's canal houses

    Amsterdam, NetherlandsTaken October 2022

    Leaning houses reflected in the canal, the weekend I ran the marathon.

    Read my story

  26. Brilliant orange and pink sky over the sea seen from the bow of a ship.

    25 Sunset on the Scotia Sea

    Between South Georgia and AntarcticaTaken December 2024

    The sky on fire from the bow of the ship, somewhere between South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula.

    On my bucket list

Which one's your favourite? Tell me in the comments, then go and take your own.

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