The Central Amazon Conservation Complex is a mostly contiguous area of parks and reserves in the northwest of Brazil, approximately in the center of the Amazon biome and the Amazon basin. You can dip your toe in with a one-day tour to Anavilhanas from the state capital of Manaus, but I opted for a more substantial visit to the sublocation ‘Marimaua Reserve’. Situated over 500km west of Manaus, I first had to fly to Tefé. This is a bustling river port of 60,000 inhabitants with no road access. I was picked up for another 1.5 hours of travel by boat to the Uakari Lodge , where I stayed for 3 nights inside the Reserve.

The OUV of Marimaua lies mainly in conserving a varzea forest, seasonally flooded by fertile “whitewater” rivers flowing from the Andes region. On our first day, we got to see which effect the floodings have on the local flora and fauna. We visited an island where the difference in water level can be up to 12 meters. The habitat is only suited to animals that can fly, swim or live in trees. You won’t find any tapirs or capybaras here…. Even the …

Philipp visited me in the Netherlands last month, and we went to the Rietveld Schröderhuis – a revisit for both of us. It was a much-improved visit: he needed to enter and wanted photos, I had entered before but had lousy photos of the exterior on a rainy day. The second visits became a success, especially as the policy had also changed to allow indoor photography. Furthermore, Philipp told me that with his checklist of visited WHS, he also marks those that need a revisit for some reason (e.g. "needs photos"). I thought that was such a great idea, so I went through my own visits again and marked those that I need to visit again.

The Statistics

Out of my 810 visited WHS, I feel that I need to revisit 32. That’s 4%, less than I feared. By the way, I saw 69 of the 810 WHS (8.5%) more than once so those in fact are already upgraded visits.

Keep in mind that these do not include the Angkor's and Machu Picchu’s of the List, which I would happily visit again. But only those where there is a NEED to revisit, because …

Chad is a vast, landlocked country in northern Central Africa. I just toured it for 2 weeks, being driven around for 3,300 km as part of a convoy of 4 tourist jeeps. The focus of the tour was on the 2 WHS ( Ennedi and Ounianga ), but we also witnessed more sedentary life in the Sahel, the sand dunes of the Mourdi Depression and the fossil-rich Djourab desert. Its strength lies in the natural landscape and the nomadic life; it will appeal especially to those who like Mongolia and Namibia. Please find below my Top Tips for Travelling to Chad as a WH Traveller.

1. Give it a chance

The few people that I found online testifying about visits to Chad didn’t give it much time. It is one of those countries the country tickers move through fast – 5 or 8 Central African capitals in 10 days, flying between them. Africa Overlanders are a different category, but these generally are only interested in driving and their cars – and driving through Chad as fast as possible. Both groups produced a lot of “haters” while they never really made an effort. In fact, it’s a rather gentle country where …

The Lakes of Ounianga are Chad's 'other' World Heritage Site. They lie another day's drive north of the Ennedi Massif , across the pure desert of the Mourdi Depression and not far from the border with Libya. This freshwater lake system is the largest among the hyper-arid desert areas in the world such as the Sahara. Water is supplied from fossil groundwater. It used to be one big lake, but now there are a group of 14 and a group of 4 smaller permanent lakes that are all interconnected. The core zone comprises both groups and the 40km of desert between them.

The first group (Ounianga Serir) has a very peculiar jagged shape, clearly seen on the official map . These lakes include characteristic strips of floating (green) reeds that reduce evaporation. Unfortunately, we were limited to views from a distance after having been chased out of the town by local women waving sticks at us. They may have been angry due to an earlier tourist bathing 'naked' in their lake, or because they don't get a cut from the tourist tax that has to be paid to the often absent local chief. This group has …

The undisputed highlight of any trip to Chad is the Ennedi Massif . This huge sandstone formation has ancient rock art, pre-Islamic burial mounds, contemporary nomadic life, weirdly eroded landforms such as pinnacles, arches and mushrooms, and the iconic canyon Guelta d'Archei. In October 2022 we experienced the area greener than our guide had ever seen it before, thanks to the generous rainy season of this year. Situated deep in the Sahara, it takes 3.5 days of solid driving on mostly unpaved roads to get there from the capital N'Djamena. We stayed for 4 days, wild camping in a different lovely location every night and driving & hiking all day between the sights.

Rock art is everywhere. Some are engravings, but mostly there are clear paintings in red and white. You can crawl into rock shelters and caves to come within touching distance of the rock paintings. I even inadvertently put up my tent next to a rock wall and later noticed there were two camel paintings next door. The most characteristic images of this region are the "flying" camels and horses, some mounted by riders. The best ones are at Terkei (flying horses in red) …

My trip mates were surprised to hear that Rome only has one WHS (two if you count the Vatican as well). So many great monuments that could be WHS on their own! However, if all goes to Italy’s plan, the city will have another one in 2024: the Via Appia . This “revolution in road construction” will be a serial nomination of 22 stretches between Rome and Brindisi. It will be interesting to see whether there is a core zone overlap with the Rome WHS, as the Via Appia traditionally started at the Forum Romanum. The road with the name ‘Via Appia Antica’ now starts from the edge of the city at Porta San Sebastiano, a gate passing through the Aurelian Walls.

During my 2022 trip to Rome, I visited just a short section of the Via Appia. It’s not easy to do so on foot, as the road is narrow without room for a pavement and there is constant vehicle traffic. The sights also are spread out miles apart. You’ll encounter many cyclists (often in guided groups and not well-trained in cycling), who seem to have chosen the best way to explore this linear site.

The inclusion of the Transatlantic Cable Ensemble: Valentia-Heart’s Content in Ireland’s updated Tentative List brings a bit more spice for WH travellers to this corner of Ireland, County Kerry. It gives you something to do while waiting for a boat to Skellig Michael . I have been there twice, both for that reason. Valentia Island lies a 2.5h drive from Cork Airport on roads where you always have to be on guard – they are busy and narrow, and there always is some goat fair going on at Killarney or Killorglin; I hated the drive both times.

During my first visit in 2019, there still was very little information about which spots on Valentia the TWHS would cover. The cable station was the best bet, but it wasn’t accessible then as it was in private use and I had to make do with a couple of small memorials across the street. One is a slab of stone displaying the text of a telegram sent via the cable during WWI, another is a black-and-white pole (symbolizing a cable?), and the third is a commemorative stone bollard (its partner stands 3,071 km away at the other end of the ocean).

In June …

The number of transnational WHS – WHS spread over more than 1 country - has risen sharply over the past years, with no less than 4 of them added last year. Currently, there are 43, split between transboundary (contiguous ones: 21) and serial transnational (non-contiguous: 22). Some are even spanning multiple continents such as the Works of Le Corbusier. Can we expect more of them? Which transnational initiatives do we see on the T Lists?

A loophole?

ICOMOS calls it "the essence of the spirit of the World Heritage Convention: the principle of the universal value of heritage for humankind and the role of transnational cooperation". A transnational nomination definitely is more complex than a single country one: evaluations from the Beech Forests nomination for example, as shared in this video , show that it takes more time to prepare and requires long-term political support as there has to be a permanent conservation system in place across the locations.

Still, this becoming a popular path cannot be seen independent of the limit of 1 nomination per year per country, which came into effect in 2019. This limit only applies to the country that …

When my Art History friends decided to have our annual get-together in Rome, I immediately extended the trip with a day to include Civita di Bagnoregio . This was supposed to be Italy’s nomination candidate for 2022 (now postponed to 2023). I stayed overnight in the core zone, a spooky experience as the place gets deserted at night. I arrived at the footbridge only at 7.30 pm; most of the approach was barely lit and neither was the village as only 16 people permanently live there. No restaurants are open in the evenings (at least not in October) and the owners of my B&B had left me the key at a hiding place.

Still, the people at the ticketing kiosk collecting the 5 EUR entrance fee to the village were at their post in the evening. The introduction of this fee for the 1 million yearly tourists has been a blessing for both Civita’s and Bagnoregio’s inhabitants, as communal taxes have been abolished for them since.

I explored Civita the next morning - it takes half an hour at most. There is one main street, which you can follow further down a bit towards a …

Shandos Cleaver and Joel Baldwin are a travelling couple from Sydney, Australia. Among other trips, they have travelled non-stop across Europe for 1.5 years and during Covid did a full circle around their home country. They’ve just returned from a 3-month journey across South America, visiting Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and Ecuador, plus the USA, and 38 WHS. As Shandos is the chief planner of the two, being goal-oriented and very organised in daily life as well, I asked her for her planning tips for WH travellers.

How do you proceed from a general trip idea towards a more detailed itinerary?

This depends on the trip. On about half of our trips we’ve fully planned (and booked) everything before leaving - such as when we visited India, China and Japan. I use an iterative approach, starting with a rough itinerary (which is probably too ambitious), then checking transport connections and opening hours (and usually needing to shuffle something), then starting to book (generally transport first, before hotels), then compiling detailed notes for each day.

On other trips, I’ve had a rough itinerary and notes on what we want to visit, but leave finalising the details and booking …