Dede Sophie

Even if you choose to kayak through a portion of the river near your home that you have traveled through on regular ferries multiple times, it will feel like a whole new experience altogether. Unbelievable as it may seem to those who do not have much experience with kayaking, that’s exactly how it feels. The difference between kayaking and being on a regular motorized boat or ferry is the distance between you and the water. To be so low and close to the water in a manual boat presents kayakers with a thrilling perspective that’s unique only to kayaking. If you truly want to enjoy that surreal perspective from the most adventurous and beautiful lakes or rivers across Asia, here’s the list you need to follow. Raja Ampat, Indonesia Raja Ampat is a conservation area for marine life and it’s a gorgeous one at that. Each time you visit Raja Ampat and decide to go on a kayaking tour with the local guides, you are helping the local population and the conservation efforts simultaneously, in add...

Volvo’s XC40 is a deceptive car, writes Brian Byrne. The styling suggests it is smaller than it actually is, but its dimensions are similar to Nissan’s Qashqai and it is larger in most measurements than the Range Rover Evoque, which appears bigger. My neighbour has an Evoque and that visual comparison was easy when I had the electric version of the XC40, the Recharge, outside my house last week. I have liked the styling of the XC40 since it first arrived here in early 2018. There’s something about the angular details, almost boxy, that sets it away from the usually curvier competition in the compact SUV space. It kind of radiates ‘no nonsense’. As you’d expect from the Swedish brand. With a bit of swish added in the form of the diamond cut and black alloys. The vehicle was good enough to win Car of the Year accolades in both Europe and Japan as well as the Women’s World COTY in 2018, and the Continental Irish Car of the Year for 2019. The no nonsense ethos is also largely true for the ...

You tend to see the same ten ornamental trees wherever you go in the UK. This is because they are tried, tested, have an element of ornamental value and generally easy to grow. However if you are seeing the same trees time and time again then eventually they end up fading into the background, no longer drawing your attention. This doesn’t need to be the case as they can be adorned and upgraded simply by mimicking the tree environments found in the tropics where a single tree can be home to a dozen other plant species, greatly enhancing the look of a tree and adding multiple layers of ornamental interest! There are a range of hardy plants that can be employed to give you this look that is created by tropical epiphytic plants such as bromeliads and orchids and even Spanish moss! So with English Horticulturists Lorna and Simon first attempt at upgrading their boring trees how did they get on? And what do they have in store for next season?