Bogota is really nice, older city. It is the capital of Columbia. This city is situated 8,660 ft above sea level, so even though we didn’t get sick roaming around town, we definitely had to take breaks walking around to catch our breath. Despite what you might have heard about Columbia, Bogota is fairly safe for tourist. That may not be the case females traveling solo, but I felt pretty safe touring through the city as long as Dan was around, during the day of course. It is quite a beautiful city with so much history and is super affordable. We were only here for 3 days, but did quite a bit during that time.
We stayed at the Hilton Resort. Being Hilton members, they always treat us so well when we stay with them. We figured we would stay here since we were in a foreign country where they speak very little English. FYI very few people here speak English, so it’ll be best to either learn Spanish or download the google translator app. The google translator app helps get things flowing much easier.
Places to see in Bogota…
1. Mount Monserrate
Monserrate is a hill right in the city of Bogota. It is 10, 341 ft above sea level. The best way to get here is through the funicular or cable car. Just for the view and the experience going up and down the mountain in a funicular was worth the visit. They keep up the gardens beautifully here . There is a small church on the top of the mountain, where you can attend mass. There is a flea-market in the back with arts and crafts and lots of small restaurants. There is a main restaurant there, Restaurants Casa Santa Clara, which was a really nice dining spot. You get a really nice view of the city from here and the food was pretty good. Definitely try their empanadas!
2. Museo Botero
If you like art, this is the place to go! Fernando Botero is such an amazing artist. This museum has such a huge section of art work to roam through. Of the 208 art pieces on display here, 123 were of his own and 85 were of other international artists. It was definitely worth the trip.
3. Museo del Oro
This is the Museum of Gold. It’s a really big museum that has a wide display gold and other metal alloys. It’s pretty neat seeing the different artifacts and learning the history of gold and how it could be molded into different designs. This museum is in the downtown area, so you can walk around town here and see really cool building and do a little shopping.
4. Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira
This is a must do! Although it’s not exactly in Bogota, it is definitely worth the trip. We had to take an uber here which was about an 1 and a half hour here, but the uber here is cheap. I think it was around $30 each way.
The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira is an underground Roman Catholic church built within the tunnels of a salt mine approximately 200 meters underground in a mountain near the town of Zipaquirá. The audio tour takes you through the birth, life and death of Jesus in full details. Each cross were hand carved in the halite rock in great details.
5. Jardin Botanico De Bogota
This was nice botanical garden. Its pretty big here so you can get in a nice walk. There were different plants and flowers and many ponds with little waterfalls to check out. It’s a nice place to visit if you have the time.
Places to Eat…
Unfortunately, Yelp doesn’t work here so we were not able to log on to see recommended restaurants close by to us. However we were able to use Google. One of the places that came highly recommended to us by other tourists was Andres Carne. The place was quite interesting. They have a large menu, but their food was ok. I think you come here more for the experience. It’s like a restaurant/bar thats pretty hip. You also have to try the tapas here. It’s pretty good. We went to Tapas Macarena. I really enjoyed it here. They had a nice selection of tapas and I thought it was good.
Other than that, I was really surprised how unimpressive with the food was here. They were mostly ok, but nothing spectacular and Dan felt the same. The only thing we both really enjoyed were the empanadas. Columbia really doesn’t have the recipe down for the empanadas so definitely get you filling in here with them.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” – Augustine of Hippo
Costa Rica is absolutely gorgeous! There is so much to do and see here in this beautiful country. From the city life, to the mountains and rain forest, to the beaches, Costa Rica has so much to offer. I would definitely recommend spending a good amount of time here, if you want to see all Costa Rica has to offer. We were here for a week and got a lot accomplished but there’s still a lot we haven’t seen this whole country. We rented a car and drove to different parts of the country. If you’re brave enough to do this, then try it out. If not, you can get a shuttle from the airport to your resort. Some of the road were a little scary to drive on, but we still managed to get through it.
Just a little tip for the rental car… If you book it through a third party site, the rental cars may seem extremely cheap, and it is. However, they get you by having the mandatory insurance. You have to purchase their insurance, which is not cheap. So make sure you do not pay for insurance in the third party site, cause it really won’t count, and you will have to buy it again at the car rental agency office. The only way you can get out of this is if you have a letter from your insurance company or credit card company, stating that you are insured to drive in Costa Rica. It kind of felt like a scam, because we thought we were getting a great deal when we booked the car online for $35 US dollars for a week, but then got slammed with a $500 US dollar charge for insurance. Either way, we did not let that ruin our trip!
Places to go
The Beaches
When in Costa Rica, you have to check out the beaches. The beaches here are beautiful. You could try Jaco, Hermosa or Quepos. You could try other ones as well, which is a little out of the way. Jaco is the main beach with lots to do in town, which was where we stayed. There are some nice waves out here so it’s a good spot to surf or learn how to surf. Either way, you have to get into the water. Other than relaxing on the beach, the town has a lot to offer. There are tons of restaurants, shopping stores and massage parlors to try out. Every day after an excursion, Dan and I would get a massage that would help our tensed muscles!
There are tons of hotels and resorts located right on the beach. Depending on your budget, you could stay at a really nice one, or budget friendly one or an Airbnb. We stayed Jaco Laguana Resort, which was more budget friendly one. The resort was nice, but the customer service can use quite a bit of improvement, which is a little shocking cause most people in Costa Rica are friendly and accommodating.
When you’re staying on the beach, you should definitely go to the Manuel Antonio Nation Park. It’s a huge park with cool little insect creatures, sloths, bats and spider monkeys. There are tons of spider monkeys roaming around the park. The sloths and bats were a little harder to find. The beach here is really nice as well. The water is much calmer at the beaches here so, so if you want a spot to lay out and/or go for a dip without having to worry about the waves washing you away, then plan on spending some time here. We drove here from Jaco, which was a little over an hour of a drive, but the scenery was just amazing.
Where to eat in Jaco…
You MUST try this place if you like seafood. There weren’t too many restaurants here that I was impressed with, but this place was delicious! I enjoyed every dish they had there. We went there 2 days in a row because it was that good! You must try their award-winning ceviche! This is probably the best ceviche I have ever had. I also had their clam appetizer, escargot appetizer, grilled lobster salad, lobster tail with risotto, grilled octopus and mahi-mahi and they were all outstanding!
2. La Ostra
This place was pretty good. It was recommended to us by one of our tour guides. I tried their whole snapper, which was flavored very well and the skin had a really nice crisp to it. Dan had their veggie pasta and was impressed with his meal.
3. El Avion
We found this place on the way to Manual Antonio National Park. It’s like a 6-minute car drive before the entrance of the park. The food here was decent but the view was spectacular. You’re sitting at the top of the mountain looking down on the tropical trees and seeing the beautiful beach from afar. Definitely go during the day time!
The Volcanoes
There are many volcanoes in this country, however, Arenal came highly recommended to us from many different people, both tourist and the locals. Arenal Volcano is a dormant volcano located a few hours north west of San Jose. Arenal is considered to be a young volcano and estimated to be less than 7,500 years old. It has been dormant since 2010.
We stayed at Los Lagos which was amazing! This resort is just beautiful and their website does not do justice. This resort has so much to offer to their guest. The rooms were big and spacious with upgraded furnishings. We get free breakfast with our stay. They have a really nice pool area with water slides. You have both regular pools and hot spring pools with hydro massages. There’s an observatory point on site of the resort for you to check out the volcano. They offer tours to hike the volcano, horseback riding around the volcano and ziplining.
There are other resorts around the here that are nice as well, that is much costlier. The price we paid for this was definitely reasonable and we got so much more out of it.
One of the things you must do here is check out the hot springs. I know a lot of resorts have a hot spring at their resort, but you must try a real one that isn’t man made. There’s a real natural hot spring river that’s right by the entrance of Tabacon Resort and Spa. And this is completely free, other than tipping the parking guy. The entrance may look a little sketch going down. It almost look like a sewage wasteland going down, but if you look past that, you’ll see the stream of water coming down is from the hot spring river. Be careful when you’re walking on this. This isn’t man made so there are lots of different size/shape rocks when you are walking through. It would be good to bring some water shoes if you have them.
Where to eat…
Los Lagos actually had good breakfast and it’s complimentary for guest. Their lunch and dinner were really good as well, so if you don’t’ want to leave the resort, their restaurant can definitely satisfy you food cravings.
However, if you do want to get out and explore, the town does have a lot of good restaurants to choose from.
La Paz Waterfall
La Paz is a really nice resting spot to check out the waterfalls. It’s a little north of San Jose, so you can check it out if you’re in San Jose or en route to Arenal/visa versa. We stopped be here on the way back to San Jose from Arenal. The waterfall here is just beautiful. There is a La Paz Waterfall Garden park you can go to that is a little pricey if you’re interested. We decided not to do it since we already saw the waterfall up close at the resting spot, and it was free.
Hacienda Alsacia -Starbucks Coffee Farm-
This was a neat little spot to check out the Starbucks coffee plantation. We actually stumble across this on our way back to San Jose from Arenal. It was just a little bit past the La Paz Waterfalls. They had a nice little restaurant here as well and a nice big sitting area to look out at the plantation and also enjoy their waterfall view while sipping our their coffee. They do have tours here as well but we just wanted to relax here and enjoy the scenery.
San Jose
Of course if you’re going to Costa Rica, you have to check out the city. San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica. This place is really packed with people, so be extra, extra careful and cautious if you are driving in the city. They are museums and lots of restaurants to check out in San Jose. We only stayed here for like a day, so we didn’t get to do too much here, other than checking out the Jade Museum and trying different restaurants.
What to do
1. ATVs
2. Zip lining
3. White Water Rafting
4. Surfing
5. Horse-back riding
6. Fishing
7. Snorkeling
These were pretty most of the excursions that were offered almost everywhere we went. However, we didn’t do all of these. We did the top 3 which were amazing!
We did ride some ATVs through the mountains, to the waterfalls, and on the beach. The excursion was about 3 hours longs, but that went by really quick. It was an a blast getting to do this. Our tour guide stopped somewhere on the mountains and we hiked a little distance to get to the waterfall. The waterfall was about 14ft deep and felt amazing to swim in. Afterwards we drove around town to the beach and drove it around the beach and back. Their were many different ATV tours offered in town, but we decided to go with Riders Adventure. We did this in Jaco. It was amazing! They pick us up at the resort and dropped us off afterwards. We had Chris as our tour guide and he was great!.
Although zip lining was offered everywhere, we decided to try it out in Arenal. It was pretty amazing being so high up and getting to look down on the town and zip line through the rain forest. We did this through our resort at Los Lagos. There were 13 different lines that we explored, beginners then fast ones then long ones. It was pretty fun. We got up pretty early to do this excursion, so we ended up being the only ones on the tour. Because of that, our tour guide had a little bonus for us at the end which included a Tarzan jump. It’s optionally of course, but we decided to try it and still made it out alive! Definitely an adrenaline rush!
Our most physical excursion, we saved til the end which was the white water rafting and I’m glad I did. It was pretty physical. Based our some recommendations, we decided to do the Pacuare River Rafting which is about 2 hours from San Jose. The river is beautiful here and was voted as one of the best by National Geographic. The excursion was about 3 and a half hours on the river. We chose Rio Tropicales to tour with. They picked us up at our resort and dropped us off which was about a 2 hour drive each way. They provided breakfast and lunch for you and the tour guide we had, Albert, was very good. There were many class 2 & 3 rapids and 5 class 4 rapids. Three of the class 4 were back to back which was a little rough, but we managed to paddle through. However, most of time there were rapids, so there were very few times we able to just take a break and relax except for towards the end. However, it can change any time of the year. Since the weather changes, the the rapids are unpredictable. We went during the rainy season, in May, which means higher waters and rapids. It was definitely worth it to do because the scenery was just beautiful. You are paddling through some rain forest and can see many amazing waterfalls here. This is a pretty strenuous excursion so make sure you have a light day after this.
This pretty much wraps up our trip to Costa Rica. This was one of the most beautiful and adventurous trip I’ve been on. Expect to get dirty and have a stinky suitcase. We had to leave to clothes and our shoes behind since they were soaked from our the excursions. One other tip, is that Costa Rica can be a little pricey from a third world country. Expect to spend money if you trip on doing all these excursions!
“Adventure is a path. Real adventure -self- determined, self – motivated, often risky- forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever be black-and-white.” -Mark Jenkins
Our trip was a real quick 4-day weekend getaway, but we were still able to accomplish a lot during that short time. I know one of the common things you hear about Jamaica is how unsafe it is there and how you just want to stay the resort. Just keep in mind that their are plenty of places in the world that aren’t safe, you just gotta be smart about your surroundings and not be to flashy. We had an amazing time here and we did not stay at the resort the whole time, although we could have. We definitely explore outside of the resort and it was fairly safe and everyone there was really nice to us.
If you’re planning a trip to Montego Bay, you have to stay at Half Moon! This resort is just gorgeous and it gives you the Jamaican vibe. I would say this resort compare other ones we drove thru as well as one we attempted to stay at but had to leave, was the least commercialized resort. This resort was beautiful, peaceful and all the staff was so nice. Each room was it’s own villa that’s right by the beach. You can see the beach from your room and walk right out to it without having to go thru any elevators and/or front desk/ lounge area just to get to the water.
You get complimentary breakfast with your stay which includes a huge breakfast buffet. What I was really impressed with was that they had many vegan options, for those health nuts. They had many restaurants on site, including a vegan restaurant! The food there was really good. Ever evening they have a band playing by the bar, singing Bob Marley’s song so that you can take in as much of Jamaica as you can. When you’re dining here, you must try their jerk chicken and jerk pork. It is so good. I would say it’s even better than the famous Scotchies, but that’s for you to decide. Their spicy chicken wing was really good as well. And of course, if you’re in Jamaica, you have to try the famous Bob Marley drink. It’s really good and I didn’t even know there was alcohol in mine until it hit me a lil later.
Through the resort, you can book all sorts of excursions. Of course, the only one I cared to do was see Dunns river falls. Other than the falls, we were able to get out to do some snorkeling and the luminous boat tour which was amazing and definitely a must do!
Dunns River Falls
Although Dunns River Falls is a really touristy area, this was probably one of my favorite experience at a waterfall and a must do! This can being pretty physical cause you are climbing up the rocks through the falls as a group. And you definitely want to have a tour guide for this cause they know their way up the falls with least chance for an injury to occur. The whole climb took about an hour to complete. This was an amazing experience, seeing the falls and swimming in it. They even have a videographer following the group around to capture the highlighted moments. It’s definitely worth it to buy the dvd.
Climbing and swimming the falls can definitely work up and appetite. We were really hungry after finishing the climb. Our driver took us to Scotchies which wasn’t too far from the falls. Scotchies is the most popular jerk restaurant in Jamaica, so it was a must do on our list. The food was really good, however, really spicy. The jerk chicken wings was really good though, definite get a lot of that. The jerk chicken and jerk pork was good, however, I enjoyed the ones at the Half Moon Resort much more. But if you are in Jamaica, it is worth a trip to try out Scotchies.
Glistening Waters
This is another must do in Montego Bay, Jamaica. This was an excursion offered through our resort, but even if it wasn’t we still would have done it, due to many suggestions from the locals. It was quite an amazing experience. A bus picked us up from the resort and took us to the Glistening Waters, which was where the luminous lagoon tour is. From the resort it’s about a 30-minutes car ride. You then get on a boat, where the captain takes you out to the luminous water. It’s pretty neat to see the change in the water as soon as you the disturb it. The eerie glow comes from small micro-organisms that emit a flash of light when disturbed. So although the water is completely dark when you get in, as soon as you start moving your hands and feet to swim you can see the water glowing, which is really cool!
Christopher Columbus Siting at Discovery Bay
Christopher Columbus had discovered Jamaica on May 5, 1494, during his second voyage. There’s quite a bit of history here, but in general, it was a neat site to check out and get a feel of.
This place was actually on the way to Dunns River Fall, so we decided to take a quick stop just to check out the scenery and get a bit of the history from the local tour guides.
Unlike most trips we do, this one was more a relaxing trip. The only thing we planned on doing outside of the resort was Dunns River Falls, but we only planned on relaxing at the resort. Although we did more then that, it was till quite peaceful during the four days there. The snorkeling wasn’t as good as I would hope for it to be, but we did see some cool jellyfishes. Other than that, everything was great and we definitely will come back and stay at Half Moon again.
“The travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries” -Aldous Huxley
New Zealand is such a beautiful country! There are two parts to it: the North Island and the South Island. We were only in the North Island, more so around Auckland area. Our trip to New Zealand was really short. We were only there for 4 days, so we didn’t have too much tie to explore around. I have heard many times that the South Island (Queenstown) is really beautiful. Although we didn’t get to visit it, We do plan on going back to check it out. However, I must say that the North Island was quite breath taking itself. We did so much there in the short amount of time and had so much fun. We stayed at the Hilton down by the harbor. It was a really hotel in the heart of the town. The water view from the balcony was amazing. Of course, they are many different hotels there, but Hilton has always treated us very well so we continue to be loyal members.
Things to do…
1. Hobitton
This place was just amazing. I would say this was my favorite place visiting the north island. Whether you’ve watched The Lord of the Ring or The Hobbit or not, this is a must see. It’s just beautiful here. I’m a huge fan of the two trilogy’s but Dan have not seen even one. So of course it was my idea to come here, but he even said that this was one of his favorite places in New Zealand. The drive here from Auckland was about 1.5 hours, but it was well worth it.
It took them 3 years to build this town for the movie only to film on site for 12 days. That’s crazy! However is it still well maintained here. There tons of tourist visiting this place, but it wasn’t dragging but most tourist attraction. There were 39 hobbit holes, each unique in it’s own way. Each home had it’s own design. Some hobbit holes were ‘big’ and some were extremely tiny! On the route here, you pass a sheep farm, tons of sheep everywhere.
Of the 39 hobbit holes, we got to see the biggest, richest home- Bilbo’s home (The first picture below). We also got to see Frodo and Sam’s home which was shown in the movie. Towards the end of the tour, they served us with a beer of our choice out of four different types. We choose the non-alcoholic one which was the ginger beer and it was really good.
2. Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island is home to 30 vineyards. Dan and I are not big drinkers. Although he does enjoy a nice glass of wine, he probably only drinks once or twice a year. However, we did enjoy our time here. This island was amazing. To get here you have to take a ferry from the harbor, which takes about 30 minutes. There are trails that you can hike on, which was what we did when we first got there while waiting for the hop-on hop-off bus to start. It was such a beautiful hike because your hiking along the edge of the mountain observing the beautiful beach. The hop-on hop-off bus takes you to all the different vineyards, which is really nice cause you don’t have to drink and drive! There are so many vineyards there so we did not get to go to all off them. That’s probably was a good thing, consider how tipsy I was after the first wine tasting! We visited the Batch Winery before they even opened, but the view there was amazing. The second vineyard we visited, Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant, was my favorite. We did the wine tasting and had some lunch there. The wine was great and so was the food. To top it off, the view was just breath taking. We sat outside on the top of the mountain looking over the vineyard onto the beach. The last vineyard we visited, Stonyridge Vineyard, was really good but the scenery wasn’t quite as nice.
3. Waitomo Glowworm Caves
The cave was about a 1.5 hour drive from Hobbiton, so we decided to check it out since it seem pretty cool. The tour consisted of a walking tour to give you the history of the caves and the glowworm followed be a short, quiet boat tour through the caves. It was really cool to see these glowworm glow in the dark caves. Unfortunately, they did not permit and camera usage, so we were not able to capture any pictures until we got out of the caves. Anyhow, I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.
4. Auckland Zoo
Auckland Zoo is a huge zoo. Plan on being here for a while if you plan on visiting. You can get lost in this zoo and see lots of animals here. My favorite part of this was seeing the wallabies. They are so cute and one of them actually approach me and allowed me pet him from awhile. Now that was an experience!
Like most zoos, there were lots of different animals but much much more to offer. They able to set it up as different countries, such as Australia, South America, South East Asia, New Zealand and Africa. Don’t forget to visit the Kiwis, their native birds!
5. Sky Tower
The Sky Tower is New Zealand’s tallest man-made structure. At the top of this tower is three observation decks with a stunning 360º views over the city. You can watch the sunset from here which is amazing. This was neat experience and I would say a must do if you are in Auckland. Try the restaurant at the top as well. The food is actually really good.
Satiate your Palate in Auckland…
New Zealand has a lot of ‘known for’ as far as food. Most of their land is occupied by cattle farms and vineyards. So of course you must try their wine when visiting here and also try their steak.
1. Wine and Cheese
As mentioned earlier, Waiheke island is a great place to go for wine tasting, but it is not the only place. There are vineyards throughout Auckland. The cheese here is amazing as well. It pairs up really well with the wine but still taste great on its own.
2. Steak
The steak here is really good. We tried it and different restaurants and they were all pretty good. My favorite was on the Sky Tower restaurant. I’m not sure if it was the food itself, or the food with the amazing scenery that made it so good, but I ate every last bit. the dessert was really good well with great presentation.
3. Seafood
The seafood here is great! They were so fresh and tasty! Oysters are a big deal in New Zealand and I can understand why. They were really good. Oysters were serve at many restaurants there. Another one of my favorite dishes in Auckland was this clam dish in pasta. This was sooo good. It was served at The Depot Eatery. This restaurant was really packed so make sure you make reservations.
4. Gelato
Of course you must try the gelato here. It is sooo good! There’s quite a few gelato stand around the city. There’s also some places that offers a macaroon ice cream sandwich, which was quite unique but really good.
Well this wraps up our amazing trip to Auckland. In just 4 days, we were able to see so much. I hope you find this helpful!
“Better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times.”
Next stop, not to far from the canyon is the mud volcano. The mud volcano is an area of muddy hot springs and fumaroles located near one of the Yellowstone Volcano’s vents. It was pretty neat to check out and we got to see a bunch of buffalos just relaxing near by.
You end the lower circle of Yellowstone with the beautiful Yellowstone Lake.
2. Grand Teton
The Grand Teton is a huge park with lots of things to do. We spent most of our trip here. Whether you are observing from a far or near, the Grand Teton is a beautiful sight to be seen. There are many different trails you can hike on. We did the Taggart Lake Trail as well as Jenny Lake Trail. They were both beautiful and worth the trip. .
At the start of the Taggart Trail, there is a beautiful waterfall to observe. The trail was not too long to get to the lake. It was about 3 miles to hike to. The lake view was amazing. Although there were many tourist around , the lake is so big you can just hike around the lake to find an isolated quiet spot to be by yourself.
Jenny Lake is actually a huge lake with many ways to get to and many entrance. There are lots of trails here to hike on and also a camp ground, depending on how much you want to do here. Since we were only here for a few days, we just did a short hike. We were able to take the ferry from South Jenny Lake across the water to the Cascade Canyon trailhead, which was about a 15 minute boat ride. The hike on the trail here was beautiful. We hiked over to the Hidden Falls and was able to relax and enjoy the refreshing scenery. If you choose not to take to ferry, you can and should still do the hike. From South Jenny Lake, the hike is amazing. The walkway was paved up to a certain point but it was nice to walk along the shore of the lake.
3. Grand Teton Village
The Teton Village was a really neat town to check out. There are tons of restaurants and stores around here. However, this is the place to go if you are interested in doing some sport activities. People usually go here for skiing and/or lodging/vacation rentals. We went here to paraglide. I had never paraglide before, so I was not sure what to expect. It was actually a cool experience to jump off one of the mountains in the Grand Teton. It was really scary to think about (for me), but you pretty much start walking/running down the mountain and the chute goes up, then you are off in the air.
4. Fly Fishing
One of the things most tourist do while visiting Jacksonhole is fly fishing. We did an all day event fly fishing with Reel Deal Anglers. I had a really good time, considering that it was my first time fly fishing. I was able to catch four cutthroat trout with quite a few biting on. They took us out on Snake River. The water here was nice and clear. We were able to seeing a brown bear roaming around while we were on the river. You also can see some nice mansions on the mountaintop.
5. White Water Rafting
This was quite a trip, white water rafting down snake river. It was pretty exciting and scary (for me), considering that it was my first time. It was such a fun experience though. We booked our trip through Teton Whitewater, booking the small boat slam. Since it was a smaller boat, it was a bigger hit with the waves. The rafting trip on the water was about 1.5 hours which was just enough time, since the water was really cold. Overall it was a fun experience and a highly recommended excursion on this trip!
6. Moose Browsing
Finding Moose is quite in activity at the Grand Tetons. It’s not as easy as you may think (at least not for us). A lot of people said if you drive down Moose Rd. you would definitely see some, hence the name, but it was a lot harder than we thought. We drove there every evening and even enter the park but still no luck. We decided to try a different spot that I read about, which was the Lower Gros Ventre Rd. That was where we came across three moose just hanging around our car. It was amazing just watching them roam around watching us watching them.
Well that wraps up our trip at the Grand Teton. I hope this helps with planning your next trip there!
“If you think adventures are dangerous, try routineL It’s Lethal.” -Paul Coelho
In less than two years, I was able to travel to many different parts of the world. I have visited 6 continents, 11 different countries which includes Spain, Gibraltar, Frances, Italy, China, Japan, Iceland, Peru, Kenya, New Zealand , Australia and the Bahamas as well as many other places in the United States. It may not sound that impressive, especially to those who travel and blog about it for a living. However, I was able to do all this while maintaining a full time career.
I’m a Chiropractor, so my job requires me to be physically present in order to work. I don’t have one of those work remotely job, cause if I did, I probably would be traveling to different countries all the time. It is hard for me to take time off because I am one, amongst very few that specializes in the Advanced Orthogonal Procedure within the Chiropractic field.
Anyhow, today’s tip is about maximizing your vacations with taking as little time off as possible. A lot of people ask how I’m able to travel the world when I work so much all the time. I work a typical Monday through Friday but with really long hours, with Thursday afternoons off. The advantages to this is that I can just take a Friday off and I can have a 3 and a half day vacation. Now, every person’s work schedule is different from one another, so taking time off may be different for one compared to the other. So plan accordingly.
My suggestion is to figure out what holidays your company close down for. Most places close on the typical holidays, such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. So for some of these, you already have a 3-day weekend getaway. I usually I would tag my vacation time to these days depending on if I want to take a really long or short vacation without having to burn up my vacation days. A lot of these places does not require a long flight to get to, if you plan it out really well.
About 2 years ago, Dan and I toured around different parts of Europe in just 10 days. I had Good Friday off and was able to take the week after off to do a cruise around Europe. We also did short 3-days trip over to the Bahamas a couple times tagging it up to either Memorial Day or Labor Day. The flight from Tampa to the Bahamas was only a few hours, which made it easy to travel. Earlier this year I took a Friday off, flew out to Iceland (7 hours flight) on a Thursday afternoon and flew back on a Sunday. We were able to get a lot done in those 3 days. We also took a trip from Tampa to Machu Picchu in just 4 and a half days. It was on a Good Friday weekend, so we flew out Thursday afternoon, and flew back the following Monday. So in this case, I only had to take 1 day off and was still able to see quite a bit in Machu Picchu, Cusco and Lima.
These are just a few examples of maximizing your vacation time without having to burn through your vacation days. It is possible to travel the world and still maintain a career. Keep in mind, you may get really exhausted on your trips. Usually, we are on a go-go-go on our trips. We get very little sleep and little down time on our trips, but hey you can sleep when your dead. Some of these trips were made possible through different programs that we use such as Go Way, Monograms, and Groupon. These programs were able to accommodate with our tight schedule and made our trips amazing, giving us the best service. Hopefully, this gives you some insights on time management when it comes to traveling! Thanks for reading!
“The Life you have led doesn’t need to be the only Life you have.” –Anna Quindlen
ALOHA!!!
Maui is such a beautiful island of Hawaii. It’s surrounded by beautiful beaches and tons of waterfalls. This was mine and Dan’s first vacation together. Every time we talk about it, it just bring back those magical feelings that is pure nirvana. We stayed there for a week, which I think is plenty of time, if you’re only visiting Maui. We stayed at the Grand Wailea which is a beautiful resort. It’s not the cheapest, but if you can afford it, I would strongly recommend you stay there. The resort is huge with their own private beach. As soon as you arrive, everyone treats you like royalty. They greet you with a lei to get you into the Hawaiian spirit and the hospitality was amazing.
Beach view from the resort
This was one of our more relaxing vacation. We got a rental jeep and drove it around everywhere. The most popular thing to do there is to take the road to Hana. Hana is a small little town. There’s not too much going on in that town. However, the road to get there is unbelievable. It’s about 2 and a half hour of a drive from the start of the drive to Hana, without any stops. But of course, you know you have to make stops. Some of the roads were narrow and curvy, but it was well worth it. You’re pretty much driving through a rain forest. On this road, you see so many beautiful beach and waterfalls. I’m obsessed with waterfalls so of course every time we saw one we had to stop the car and take in as much of the beautiful nature as possible.
Once we got to Hana we were able to rest a little from the long drive. There were a few restaurants to eat at in this town and a local market to buy gifts and souvenirs. There were beaches to rest and relax at there as well.
Most people, after arriving to Hana, would turn back around and drive back into town. However, our curious mind kept us going. We didn’t know what to expect ahead, but we just went for it. The roads were barely roads. They were really narrow and kind of scary at some points. There were not as many traffic on this road past Hana as there were going to Hana. However I must say, the beaches was so much better there. The scenery was just untouched. It’s like just seeing nature at it’s most natural form. If you’re brave and are not afraid to take on some risky adventures, I would recommend to drive this path. It will be well worth it.
Haleakala is a shield volcano that makes up almost 75% of Maui. The tallest peak of the Haleakala is approximately 10,023 ft. Dan and I drove up to the top of this volcano. It was a really good experience. It was actually very chilly going this high up, so I recommend wearing long pants if you plan to visit. But if you plan on hiking the crater of the volcano, then shorts are more appropriate. It was really cool looking down into the crater. We hiked the trail for a couple hours but didn’t get too far before we turned back around.
A Luau is something you must do at least once when you’re in Hawaii. A luau is a tradition Hawaiian party with tons of food, drinks and great entertainment. The Grand Wailea hosted a luau during our stay there. It’s was so nice. The food was amazing. They served a variety of food which included the traditional Kalua pig. The entertainment included a group of guys and gals doing the traditional hula dance and fire show. It was an amazing experience.
That is pretty much the majority of the trip. We did a lot of driving around and exploring on our own. It’s pretty safe there and everyone is so nice. We did a helicopter ride to check out the whole island which was neat experience. WE snorkeled one morning, saw so many colorful fishes and a giant sea turtle. It was amazing. On our drive we stopped by many beaches, checked out some vineyards and botanical gardens. It was just a blast. Dan and I keep talking about going back one day. However, there are so many other places we want to go to, where we never been before, so we may have to hold off for a while. As for those of you who never been, I STRONGLY recommend doing this trip. This island is MAGICAL!
“Be the Aloha you wish to see in the world.”
MAHALO!
What to Expect….
Expect the unexpected!!! In Kenya, you’ll never know what you’re going to come across. Everyday is a new, exciting day on a safari drive. We spent a week in Kenya and I was not ready to leave. The scenery was beautiful and just untouched. Watching the animals in their natural habitat was surreal. They’re very peaceful, for the most part. We went in June 2018, and the weather was nice. It was warm and sunny during the daytime, and cold at night. The people there were just kind and sweet. The hospitality was amazing, much better than what you can get in the states.
Things to Do….
Since we never been to Kenya before and don’t know anyone from Kenya, we booked our trip with a tour guide. We went with Tekko Tours, since their tour package fit more into what we wanted to do and where we wanted to stay. Our tour guide, Oburu, was amazing. We toured around to 4 different towns outside of Nairobi. We spent a couple of days at the Masai Mara game reserve and a day at the Nakuru National park, Aberdare National Park and Mount Kenya each.
The Masai Mara Park was the largest park we visited. There so many animals there. We were able to see three of the Big 5 there. The Big 5 includes lions, cheetahs, elephants, rhinos and buffalos. On the first day we were lucky enough to see the lions, cheetah and elephants.
There were so much to see here. We also came across a field of antelopes, giraffes and some baboons crossing the road in front of us. It was just amazing to watch them in their natural environment.
If you have some time, definitely check out the village. The Masai Mara village is quite unique from what were used to. Polygamy still exist here. The homes are quite small and made mainly using cow maneuver. Females do the majority of the manual labor, while men raise the cows. This gives you quite a different perspective on life. The people are really friendly. They have their own dance to their own song. So if you do come to visit, you should expect to participate in their dancing.
At our second destination at the Nakuru National park, we were able to track down the other two of the Big 5, along other beautiful wildlife.
Our third destination at the Aberdare National Park was quite an experience. At the first two locations, we stayed at a really nice resort. Oburu would pick us up from the resort and take us on the safari drive. At the Aberdare National Park, where we stayed at was the safari. We stayed at the Treetop Lodge. Although the rooms were a little crammed, the view outside our window was amazing. The lodge was pretty much set up like a tree house. Wildlife was just right outside. There were herds of elephants, buffalos and many more. We even got to see an elephant buffalo getting into it. Overall I thought it was a neat experience for one night.
The view from outside
The view from inside our bedroom
We spent our last night at the Fairmount Mount Kenya Safari Club. This resort was just BEAUTIFUL! I could’ve probably spend another full week relaxation at this resort, if I could. It was a great way to end the trip. This resort is so big and so were each rooms.
They offer so many different excursions here. We decided to do some horseback riding. The neat thing about this place is that have their own safari park, so they were able to choose which wildlife are placed here. Therefore, horseback riding was safe. There were a variety of animals here including zebras, albino zebras, buffalos, wildebeast, antelopes, and warthogs. We were able to get really close to the zebras!
If you’re not on a time crunch like I was, I would recommend staying here to relax a little longer than one night.
On our very last day in Nairobi, before hitting the airport, we decided to check out the giraffe center. This was really cool. We got up close to them and got to feed them.
What to Eat….
The food here was pretty good. I ate mainly at the resorts we stayed at. They can be somewhat accommodating with the vegan diet. However, with the language barrier, it was sometimes difficult to explain to them what vegan even means, seeing that they like to put butter on everything. So even though, I was able to enjoy my meals, it was tough for Dan to eat at certain places. Most places served buffet style, so get a good selection in meals. One thing you must try is their watermelon juice. Their fresh watermelon is so sweet and delicious, so the juice will not disappoint you!.
Tips….
The weather here in June was really nice. it was really nice out during the day and can be pretty sunny, but at night time it was really cold and chilly. I would suggest to pack comfortable T-shirts and khakis for during the day and sweat pants for sleeping at night. Also bring a rain jacket, as it could rain a little bit throughout the day. Bring comfortable walk shoes. Even if you’re going to be in a safari van for the most part of the trip, the roads are really rough. So during the times you are standing up capturing pictures, the stability of the tennis shoes keeps you balanced on the rocky road. You definitely want to avoid packing any dark color clothes (black and blue) as those do attract the Tse Tse flies. Also bring sunscreen and mosquito repellent.
That’s the end of this trip. Hopefully one day, we can compare this safari trip to ones in Tanzania and/or South Africa.
What to Expect….
I would have to say that Peru has been one of my top favorite places I have visited so far. This country is just so beautiful. I’m sure you realized by now, that the main reason we went to Peru was for Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on mountain ridge that is approximately 8,000 ft above sea level. It was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Of course, getting here was quite a journey. We had to fly into Lima and spent a few hours there touring a around. Then flew to Cusco and took a 2-hour car ride to the train station. Then took another 2-hour ride on the vistadome train to get to Machu Picchu. But it was all worth it. The view was amazing and just breath taking.
Things to Do….
Hike Machu Picchu of course! We didn’t get to do the 3-days/1-week hike up to the top of the mountain. We were only there for 3 days, so each day we just took the 30 minutes bus ride to the top. We got walk around the whole area and hiked to the Sun Gate. The hike was a amazing. It’s about a 2.5 hours hike there and back. It was very rocky and at times the trail was very narrow and you’re at the edge of the mountain. But the view of Machu Picchu from different angles and distance was breath-taking.
Of course, once you’re here, you should relax, catch your breath and take some time to meditate.
There were a lot of alpaca roaming around the area. They’re really cute and friendly. Definitely pet them and take a picture if you can.
Although being on the mountain was a really neat experience, there are lots of cool thing to do in that town. They have a nice market where you can buy neat gifts. If you have time, stop by one of the massage places. The pricing was pretty decent for a deep tissue massage, which you could definitely use that after hiking Machu Picchu.
What to Eat….
The food in Peru was actually amazing. They are best known for their ceviche and Cuy (guinea pig). The ceviche isn’t the prepared the same way as in the states. The fish is sliced up sashimi style, usually serve with corn, sweet potato and onion marinated in this citrus sauce. It’s delicious and definitely worth trying. You can find this at almost any restaurants. This was offered at the hotel we stayed, so we had it every night there for dinner.
Cuy, the guinea pig, definitely does not sound appealing. However, it actually taste really good. I’ll admit I was a little hesitant to try it, but Dan insisted that I should since it was highly recommended to us. After having a bite, I was hooked. It’s seasoned very well with a garlic salt seasoning, then either fried or roasted in a stone oven. The meat was really flavorful and the skin was nice and crispy.
Tips….
The weather can vary each day. It can go from being really cool and chilly to really warm or hot. I suggest layering your clothes. Bring a rain jacket, cause it could get a little misty out. Pack good walking/hiking shoes. Bring a hat and lots of sunscreen. A lot of people asked me about the altitude sickness. I was a little worried about this, since I do tend to get a little sick when riding on helicopters or smaller planes. I brought medicine just in case, but never had to use it. Machu Picchu is about 8,000 ft above sea level, so we did run short on breath quite a few times but never got sick. My recommendation is to take your time when walking and make sure you are taking deep breaths in and out.
If you are planning on staying in Cusco, I do recommend staying in an oxygen-fill hotel. This city is a little over 11,000 ft above sea level. You probably won’t feel too bad during the day time, when touring around. However, at night time, it does hit you when you are sleeping. Dan and I were pretty good the whole trip up until that point. We weren’t throwing up or anything like that. We just had a really bad headache, felt nauseous and congested, which made it difficult to sleep. However, please don’t let this discourage from staying in Cusco, I would just suggest and oxygen filled room. Cusco is a really nice town to check out. There are plenty of things to do in this town, as far as shopping, eating and site seeing.
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”-Helen Keller
What to Expect….
Harbor Island is a small island located just northwest of Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. It is best known as the pink sand beach. Of all beaches I’ve been to, this has to be the best ever. The water is so clear, the sand is so soft and clean. You will not find any hard shell nor seaweed washing up on the shores. And the sand has this pretty light pink color to it.
We were only here for a 3-day weekend getaway. That is plenty of time for this island, but you can definitely stick around longer cause it is sooo relaxing here. The main source of transportation here is using a golf cart. Of course, you will need a car or taxi driver to take you from the Eleuthera airport to the boat taxi, which then takes you to the island. This island is fairly safe. Dan and I took the golf cart out all night, and everyone there were really nice and friendly.
Things to Do….
There’s not a whole lot to do on this island except for eating, relaxing, driving the golf cart around to go site seeing and snorkeling. The water is beautiful here. There are so many coral reefs just right off of the shore of the pink sand. We saw so many beautiful, colorful fishes in the water. Also saw a barracuda, which I stayed away from!
Oh and I forgot to mention, we saw a mermaid! Got to take a picture with her too lol.
We stayed at a beautiful resort, Valentines Resort & Marina. The rooms were just amazing and the view was gorgeous.
What to Eat….
Of course, when in the Bahamas you must have some conch salad, cracked conch, conch chowder and conch fritters. It’s so delicious! There’s on two places you can get conch salad on this island, which is Martin’s conch stand and Queen Conch.
There are lots of restaurants on this island, so there are plenty of other places to eat at. We stumbled upon Sip Sip which was crazy packed, but the food was delicious. Their food was more on the healthier side, but still tasted really good. We also had dinner at the Ruanaway Hill, which was really good. They had a really nice menu, that included crab and mango salad, grouper, Bahamian lobster, etc. They were all really good. I don’t think there were any food on the island that I did not like. Just a reminder though, you are on Bahamian time, so everything is at a slower pace. Be patient when it comes to food.
Well that wraps up this trip. I would love to come back here again one day and to relax and snorkel. Don’t forget to check out the other island of the Bahamas!
Atlas Abroad 