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We visited the Selous Game Reserve last February. There were heavy rainfalls the week before our visit so we have been stuck with our landrovers regularly, even worse we got stuck in the mud with our small airplane as well when we went from Mtemere airstrip to Zanzibar. Luckily we travelled in a group of 3 landrovers, so there was always someone to help.

Selous Game Reserve is huge. Being a tourist you can only see a small part of it, another big part is reserved for hunting. We stayed at a bush camp at Lake Mwanze. From there we did a walking safari with a ranger on which we encountered girafes, elephants, monkeys and hippos. Really impressing, especially when you are on foot. Although it was early in the morning the temparatures were already quite high, about 30 degrees at 8 o'clock already. By the way: the hippos also visited our bush camp at night when they came out of the water for grazing, they just walked over the campsite and went their own way.

Our second place to stay was the Selous Mbega Camp on the banks of the Rufiji River where it is possible to do a boat safari to see hippos again, crocs and lots of birds.

Selous Game Reserve is a great place to see with lots and lots of game and beautiful diverse landscapes and not many tourists at all. If you ever get the chance to visit it, do so, it's really worth …

I have visited the Peak wilderness, Horton Plains alias Maha Eliya and Knuckles range many a time. Horton Plains or Maha Eliya is now being a National Park, much attention is paid to protect it. But the other areas are open for anyone who want to enter is open for threat. Knuckles and Peak Wilderness areas have more diversity in Fauna as well as flora, and has to be protected at any cost.

My opinion is that these areas must be named as World Heritage Sites and may be special laws and methods of protection must be adopted. Especially in Knuckles Range, there are many remote villages that special attention must be put.

Despite its remote location Guadalupe is regularly though infrequently connected by a bus service to Caceres. I recall the journey being slightly scary as the bus swerved around bends across a mountain pass.

On the day of my visit I was charged a minimal 3 Euros for a guided tour at 5pm.

From opposite Caceres station I took bus # L1 to the Plaza Major and entered the compact old town through the Arch of the Stars. While this entrance and the old walls and towers are in a good state of repair the buildings are really nothing special compared to Salamanca or Segovia.

Fiestas must be a regular feature here because one was in progress in the Plaza Las Valetas during my visit.

There were a lot of sites to visit within a small area in Merida. The outstanding features for me were the pristine mosaic floors of ancient houses near the amphitheatre and the necropolis in the crypt beneath the floor of the church of Santa Eulailia, which contained more mosaics.

Besides containing interesting exhibits, the Museo Iberico also provided a selection of tasty meals in its restaurant at lunchtime.

The most exciting feature of visiting Belem for me is travelling there from Baixa on the old wooden trams that creak and groan their way to the site. I don't know how much longer these trams will be operating as they are gradually being replaced by sleek, modern trams that travel faster and quieter.

Reaching Sintra from Lisbon by train is easy, and reaching Penha Hill from Sintra Station by bus (#434) is just as simple. Then after paying the entrance fee, there is yet another conveyance that takes you to the palace at the very top. I think Walt Disney must have modelled his castle at Disneyland on this building, the difference being that this is made of real stone. But the pastel colours of the decorations rival those of Gaudi. Being at such an altitude the 360 degree views from the palace of the coast and surrounds are amazing.

Descending towards the town it is easy to divert to the Moorish castle and admire the views from there too.

Having visited the Penha Palace first I found the Royal Palace in the town rather bland.

The most noticable feature that all the towers have in common that I have visited (in Calatayud, Zaragoza and Teruel) is the skill displayed by the bricklayers in creating the varied and ornate patterns. In Calatayud, I found Santa Maria's church only a short distance from the station, past the Plaza del Fuerte.

In Zaragoza, bus #51 took me from the station to the Aljafeira, a minature version of the Alhambra at Granada without the fountains. From here I walked to the cathedral via the church of San Pablo, and then returned to the station by bus #52.

Exiting the station at Teruel I was greeted by a long ornamental brick staircase (escalinata) which leads up to the town. But hidden behind the staircase are two lifts that take you up much more speedily. Once in the town the damage caused during the Civil War is immediately apparent. The four towers here differ in that they incorporate bricks of different colours.

Eivissa town is very compact which made reaching the castle and cathedral atop D'Alt Vila easy despite the steep hill upon which it is situated. The necropolises and one remaining windmill of the Puig des Molins are similarly situated.

I took bus #11 out past the airport to visit the salt lakes of Ses Salines as well as the nearby sandy but shadeless beach.

Afterwards I took a #26 bus around the coast to Sa Caleta where I walked out to the cliff edge to visit the excavated Phoenecian village.

After exiting the Elx Parc station and visiting the Tourist Office, I followed the walking tour described in their pamphlet, around the Parc del Filet de Fora. Here I found trees and aflaj (irrigation channels) similar to those in Oman and Al Ain (UAE). About two thirds of the way around the tour I stopped for an excellent salad lunch at the Santa Fe cafe.

On my last trip to Turin, I visited Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Madama, Venaria Reale and Castello di Rivoli with its Museum of Contemporary Art. I don’t love particularly Contemporary Art but the Castello is very pleasant, also thanks to the sunny spring weather on that day. You can eat outside the cafeteria enjoying the panorama but there’s also a very famous, elegant and expensive restaurant there (Sunday closed) if you can afford the price.

With a car, on the same day you can visit both Venaria (12€) and Rivoli (6.5€) since they are on the same direction. Venaria is one of the biggest Savoy residences but one part of the palace (the Scuderie Juvarriane) can be visited only on the occasion of big art expositions. Plants in the Gardens are still very young and the long Vasca (2.5km fountains) is under restoration but there you can get acquainted with the long history of the Savoy family. Rooms in Palazzo Reale are similar to many other royal palaces but there’s not much original furniture, in any case it still worth a visit. Go early in the morning when visiting this Palazzo since tours varies according to days and hours, so it can be difficult to visit all the apartments on the first and second floor and the kitchens (6.50/10€) on the same day. Don’t miss to take a look at the San Lorenzo Church outside and the cafeteria inside. Worth a visit Palazzo Madama with its Museum created after the visit …

Other architectural gems in Salamanca that I visited are the Archbishop's (Irish)Palace (reached by bus #11 from the station), and the several Romanesque churches on the north and east sides of town. Especially interesting were the Sancti Spiritus church and the circular church of San Marco.

To save the long climb from the station to the Old Town, I took a bus from the station (#1 or #2) to the castle area. From here there is a panoramic view of the Huecar Valley, the hanging houses and the Tiradores district. From the castle it is a pleasant stroll down to the Plaza Major with its handsome town hall and ugly cathedral. Crossing to the west side of the plaza there is an interesting view down the Jucar Valley to the San Anton district. Passing the excavations of an old mosque, I continued downhill to visit the San Anton and Tiradores districts on my way back to the station.

The city centre of Seville is quite compact and full of pedestrian only areas, so walking is really the only option. Having taken a #32 bus from Santa Justa station to Encarnacion, I made this my base for further explorations. Besides visiting the WHS I enjoyed an early morning stroll through Barrio Santa Cruz while waiting for the Archivo to open at 10am.

An outstanding feature of Seville were the generous discounts offered to seniors at the cathedral and the Alcazar.

As reported elsewhere, this is a difficult site to access. I reached the entry point at La Rocina by bus from Seville via the sand dunes of Matalascanes. From this entry I follwed the boardwalks to hides along the Madre de las Marismas.

I returned from El Rocio to Seville via Almonte, but another time I would avoid the summer weekends when the buses are full of people going to the beach.

Having visited the Alhambra and the Genaralife previously (50 years earlier), this time I spent more time in the Albayzin. I took one of the little buses (#31 & 34) that wind through the narrow streets from the Plaza Nuevo take you to delightful little squares and streets beside the Darro river. Stopped in the Plaza San Nicolas for al freso lunch while listeneng to a live concert and overlooking the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada.

Visiting in early June I was fortunate to get access to the Palacios Nazarias within two hours of buying my Alhambra ticket at 08.30, so had the rest of the day to wander through the gardens afterwards.

My memory of this picturesque town is of sitting in the Plaza de Cervantes having a picnic lunch watched by a dozen or so storks. These ungainly birds seem to have taken up residence of the roofs of many of the surrounding buildings.

Besides the aqueduct, the Alcazar and the cathedral, the churches of San Andres and San Martin are worthy of a visit for their architectural features.

Travelling by train I found that there are two stations in Segovia, both quite far from the centre. The high-speed trains arrive at the Guiomar station (bus #11 to the aqueduct) while the slower, cheaper trains arrive at the old Segovia station (bus #8 to the Calle Colon).

The walls, towers and elaborately carved stone gateways to the city of Avila are indeed majestic. And while others have commented on the churches outside the walls, my favourite is the Hermitage of San Segundo, a small building nestled beside the Adaja river. From here I crossed the river and walked up to the Four Posts monument, from where there is a panoramic view of the city walls from the west. From the lookout bus #7 goes back to the station.

The main features of these two towns is that they are easily toured on foot, and there are frequent buses connecting them together, and to Linares-Baeza station.

In Baeza I visited the cathedral and the monumental buildings and fountains in the Plaza del Populo and the Plaza de la Constitucion.

In Ubeda I visited several palaces, the churches of Santa Maria and the Saviour of the World as well as the archbishop's prison, and these were just a sample of what was on offer.