Category archive: Talks

Centred at Cusco in Peru, the Incas created the most powerful civilization of pre-Columbian America between the early C15th and the mid C16th. This vast empire, stretching from northern Ecuador to central Chile, fell to the Spanish Conquistadors between 1532 and 1572. In this presentation I discuss the history, geography and uniqueness of the Inca…

Originating in 1162, the Venice Carnevale has always been a time of excitement and merriment, the last fling before Ash Wednesday and the rigours of Lent. Usually over 11 days in February or March each year, adults don sumptuous masks and costumes and go out on the town to celebrate in style. This talk reveals…

When Marco Polo visited India in the C13th, he described the country as “the richest province in the world … a land of wonders”. His observation is no less true today as everything about India is older, bigger, more colourful, more diverse and more intriguing than anywhere else. India is often mistaken as a continent…

Al-Andalus, Arabic name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Arab Muslims between 711 – 1492. The vast Caliphate of Córdoba included the cities of Seville, Toledo, Lisbon, Zaragossa and Cordoba. Al-Andalus was a beacon of learning, and the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centres in…

Recollections from my four trips on three different Russian icebreakers to the coldest, windiest, driest and most remote continent. Breathtaking scenery and rich wildlife is revealed through my images, and those taken by other Scottish adventurers, from the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula, the last true wilderness on earth.

Protagoras, the C5th Greek philosopher, who believed ‘Man is the measure of all things’, was the inspiration for the Renaissance humanists who blended art and science, exemplified in Leonardo de Vinci’s drawing of ‘Vitruvian Man’. The Renaissance began in Tuscany in the early C15th centred in the cities of Florence and Siena. It developed and…

In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer, became the first European to navigate a wild and remote channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Sailing for the Spanish crown in search of a westward route to the Spice Islands, Magellan sighted many fires along the coastline. His sailors christened this uncharted area “Tierra Del Fuego”,…

Join me to view penguin images from my three expeditions to the Falklands, South Georgia, the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. Focusing on eight penguin species, this talk focuses on the natural adaptations which enable them to breed and survive in the peninsula and the outlying antarctic and sub-antarctic islands. My images feature…