Travelwr¡ters UK 

  

   

Ron Toft
TRAVEL JOURNALIST AND PHOTOGRAPHER






GEOGRAPHICAL
SPECIALITIES


RECENT
ARTICLES


PICTURES

BEST TRAVEL
EXPERIENCES




 





Not many people are lucky enough to make a living out of doing what they enjoy most.

I consider myself to be one of the fortunate few, for I am a freelance journalist and photographer specialising mainly in wildlife and nature-oriented travel features for magazines all over the world.

. . . . .
 

I have been interested in all things natural since I was 11, my main schoolboy passion being astronomy. I also collected rocks, minerals and fossils. I wanted to be an astronomer when I left school, but I was utterly useless at maths. Being reasonably good at English, I took up journalism instead, serving a three-year apprenticeship on a weekly newspaper.

As the years passed, so my interests broadened. Enthralled by the BBC’s natural history programmes, I became hooked on wildlife. Photography - merely a hobby initially - later became an invaluable additional skill.

During my journalistic career, which has now spanned more than 40 years, I’ve turned my hand to all manner of things, from editing newspapers and producing guidebooks to planning PR campaigns.

. . . . .
 

After my leisure and tourism PR consultancy went bust during the economic slump of the early 90s, I began forging a new career as a travel writer. Now I start each day with a zest I never experienced in my early professional life.

I meet genuinely interesting and extremely knowledgeable people in a wide range of fields and get paid to write articles on subjects as diverse as kayaking through the coastal creeks of Gulf Coast Florida, exploring the Avenue of Volcanoes in Ecuador, learning traditional skills from South African bushmen and watching all manner of wild birds along the Rio Grande in southern Texas.

The future once looked as bleak as a grouse moor in the depths of winter. Slowly but surely, however, I’ve managed to turn things around. Today, 18 years after my PR business folded, I’ve got plenty of work, although I always welcome more. They say every cloud has a silver lining, and that’s certainly proved to be true as far as I am concerned.

 


 

GEOGRAPHICAL SPECIALITIES

The world is my oyster. I am prepared to go anywhere at any time (within reason!), although I tend to gravitate towards Africa, North America and Europe.

I have visited many contrasting countries during the past couple of years, including Zambia, Ecuador, Cyprus, South Africa, France, Malta, Greece (Kalymnos and Telendos), the USA (Florida), Cape Verde Islands, Poland, The Gambia and Egypt.

Within the UK, I have roamed from Devon, the Forest of Dean and Pembrokeshire to Northumberland, York, Glasgow and the Orkney Islands.

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RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES

I had dozens of articles published in magazines all over the world in 2007, including:

Open Skies
(Emirates’ economy class inflight magazine)
  Stones of Mystery
(Avebury Circle).
  Born to be Wild
(50th anniversary of the BBC’s Natural History Unit).
  City of all Ages
(York).
  Denizens of the Deep
(exotic creatures from the depths of the oceans).
  Monkey Business
(Trentham Monkey Forest near Stoke-on-Trent).
  On the Roman Front
(Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend).
  Rivers in Peril
(threats facing the world’s mightiest rivers).

Portfolio (Emirates’ first and business class inflight magazine)
  Ostrich Farming Takes Flight
(ostrich farming in South Africa).
  For Your Driving Pleasure
(bespoke Italian sports cars).

Canals and Rivers
 
Down Your Way
(profiles of Southampton, Dartmouth, Glasgow,
  Bristol, Keswick, Gloucester and Newcastle upon Tyne).

The Lady
  
Cornucopia of Curiosities (the £30 million Wellcome Collection in
   London).

  Trek Record
(camel riding in the Forest of Dean).
  Wildlife Wonders (the Isle of Wight’s green attractions).
  Out of This World
(space travel for everyone).
  People Need Plants
(Botanic Gardens Conservation International).
  This Restless Earth
(natural disasters).
  March of the Marionettes
(Charleville-Mezieres’ puppet festival).
  Storm Snapper
(profile of a storm-chasing photographer).
  A Walk on the Wild Side
(Yasuni National Park, Ecuador).

Holiday Cottages
 
Wild About Scotland
(Scotland’s varied wildlife).

Holiday Villas
 
Wildlife Wonderland
(Everglades).
  Sun-baked and Booming
(Cape Verde Islands).
  Key Attractions
(Florida Keys).
  See Naples and Chill Out!
(Naples in SW Florida).

Altitude (inflight magazine of Nationwide Airlines)
  A Gem Of A Place (Birmingham).
  Bloomin’ Marvellous
(Chelsea Flower Show).
  On The Crest Of A Wave
(Cowes Week).
  King Tut’s Treasures
(Tutankhamun exhibition).

Travel Africa
  Ace of Antiquities
(profile of Egypt’s top archaeologist, Dr Zahi
   Hawass).

Heritage
 
A Verdant Metropolis
(London’s royal parks).

Gulf Life (inflight magazine of Gulf Air)
  Jet Set (buying your own aircraft).

Continental (inflight magazine of Continental Airlines)
  Vaults of Mystery (Edinburgh Vaults).

Tengri
(inflight magazine of Air Astana)
  Great British Eccentrics
(wacky British events).

yeahbaby (inflight magazine of bmibaby)
  Green Cuisine
(Café Paradiso, Cork).

Skyhost (inflight magazine of Air Zimbabwe)
  City of Charm (Newcastle upon Tyne).

Ahlan Wasahlan (inflight magazine of Saudi Arabian Airlines)
  Out of Africa (Tribal Textiles business in rural Zambia).
  Delightful Dolphins
(Dolphin Research Centre, Florida Keys).
  Record Breakers
(Guinness World of Records).

Paradise (inflight magazine of Air Niugini)
  Floral Delight (orchids).

Indwe (inflight magazine of South African Express Airways)
  Gold Wonder (Gold Museum in Cape Town).

Humsafar (inflight magazine of Pakistan International Airlines)
  Lifeblood of Glasgow (Glasgow’s changing fortunes).

EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHED WORK

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PICTURES

I can provide complete packages of words and high resolution digital images. My photos have not only been used to illustrate my own articles but have also appeared in a wide range of magazines and books.

PHOTOGRAPHY SELECTION

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BEST TRAVEL EXPERIENCES

Getting up-close-and-personal with southern right whales off Cape Town, watching manatees doing belly-flops alongside my boat in Florida, encountering a large black bear in Ramsey Canyon, near Tucson, Arizona, and seeing the Old Faithful geyser spectacularly blowing her top in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

^

 

TO CONTACT ME

I can be reached by email or by phoning +44 (0)1962 761206.

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. . . . .

 

BY RON TOFT -
EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHED WORK

Paradise on Earth - Ecuador
From moisture-laden rainforests pulsating with wildlife to mighty, ice-capped volcanic peaks set like jewels in a cobalt blue sky, there’s something for everyone in tropical Ecuador.
 Rainforests are the greatest of all Mother Nature’s pharmacies. For every human ailment, there is almost certainly a natural remedy waiting to be discovered somewhere within these vast, lush cathedrals of trees.
Read full article ...

Secrets of the Sands - Egypt
M
illions of tourists flock to Egypt every year to gaze in open-jawed wonder at the seemingly timeless Pyramids of Giza, the enigmatic Great Sphinx, the elaborate tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the extraordinarily well preserved royal mummies and golden grave goods of Tutankhamun in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum and all manner of other ancient wonders.
  Many, if not most, visitors probably think that modern archaeology has uncovered most of what is left of Ancient Egypt. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.
Read full article ...

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Ron Toft

CONTACT ME
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EXAMPLES OF
PUBLISHED WORK

 
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 PHOTOGRAPHY
 SELECTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 
       
       

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