I was part of a group that visited Sicily in late spring of 2008 and took lots of pictures of the sites many of which had wild flowers in and around them. John Metcalf

I spent Christmas in Morocco, visiting the imperial cities. It was a relief to see the sun which seemed to be having its own holiday far from Britain. Morocco is a colourful and interesting country with plenty of contrasts.

We had been able to see the lights of the cities as we flew south across Spain and north Africa but fog in Casablanca where we were to change planes delayed our arrival in Fes until next morning. We flew over several lakes and maybe reservoirs in the hills and as we neared Fez the earth became dark red.

Building began in 1684 for Stadtholder William III and his consort, Mary II of England. For over three hundred years, Het Loo was the summer residence of the House of Orange-Nassau, which became the Dutch royal family.

The Dutch Baroque architecture of Het Loo takes pains to minimize the grand stretch of its construction, so emphatic at Versailles, and presents itself as just a fine gentleman's residence. Het Loo is not a palace but, as the title of its engraved portrait states, a "Lust-hof" (a retreat, or "pleasure house"). Nevertheless, it is situated entre cour et jardin ("between court and garden") as Versailles and its imitators, and even as in fine Parisian private houses.

Only the hardy and audacious visit Madagascar in the wet season- the roads are impassable. We went during the dry season, and the roads weren’t wonderful then, vehicles veer from side to side trying to avoid potholes, broken verges and ruts. Like the wealthy Malagasy, we took to the air for any long trip. First stop the capital Antananarivo (Tana). An excellent plant exhibition included Darwin’s orchid Angraecum sesquipidale that has a spur up to 35cm long. Darwin predicted, to considerable scepticism, there’d be a pollinating insect with a tongue long enough to reach the nectar at the base. Twenty years after his death he was vindicated, when a moth with such a tongue was discovered in Madagascar.