Progresso It was exciting to see the sublime azure ocean come into view as you drive in to Progresso on the North coast of the Yucatan. We were here is 2008 and it was just a small fishing village with a beautiful miles-long sandy beach and clear aquamarine water. As we drove… Continue reading
Everyone knows Venice, but who knew that there were over 100 other islands all around Venice? These little-known islands of the Venetian Lagoon are fabulously interesting, and kind of kept a secret by the locals. Some of the islands are uninhabited, some have only a few dozen people. … Continue reading
The Blue Mansion We took the free shuttle, another nice touch from Le Dream Boutique Hotel, to the famed Blue Mansion. The Blue Mansion was carefully planned and designed by the owner, Cheong Fatt Tze. Some of the original rickshaws and carriages were outside the building. … Continue reading
You could go to New Orleans just to experience New Orleans food, never mind the world-famous musicians and bands, the friendly people, the wild parades, and the unique culture. The food is that good! It is “fun food” too. You cannot help but have a good time in… Continue reading
Half-asleep, half-awake, over-stimulated in airports, under-stimulated on long flights, out-of-sorts, out-of-routine, off-keel, and off-base, much like when you wake up after surgery with the effects of heavy-duty drugs. In short, jet lag. And in this condition, you are expected to navigate new airports… And take off your jacket, sweater,… Continue reading
The Lake It was the most mesmerizing lake we had ever seen. Set in the Borneo rain forest like a jewel of peace among wild thorns. (Double-click on any photo to see it full size) Reflections so perfect and so still, you’d swear there were two lakes. … Continue reading
Walking around Old Havana is like being in a toy shop. The sounds, the colours, the smells whirl around you in every direction. There are things tinkling, and rumbling, and whizzing. Brilliant colours fly past, beside, and in front of you. Along with the luscious smells of food, there… Continue reading
While I screamed and hollered and swore at my computer with the new hard drive that would not load emails from the external drive back-up, T went merrily off to the Merida Zoo. He has been into long walks lately, so he walked. It was a long walk on… Continue reading
First of all, there is something I need to explain. What you are about to discover is that in this country…. … the bigger and the broader you are, the more prestige you have! Quite a reversal from the cultural expectations in North America! Every time I tell someone… Continue reading
Internet Hut: After receiving 3 or 4 completely different directions for getting to the only Internet access on Little Corn Island, we traipsed through the jungle to the East side of the island and after ten minutes came to a tiny Gilligan Island style hut with two old computers. We… Continue reading
Cheap Food in Old Havana Cuban food is good. No matter what you’ve heard, it is good basic food. The cheapest and best Cuban food is found in Paladares, the locally-owned and run restaurants, the smaller Mom and Pop Restaurants. Rice and beans are served with every meat or… Continue reading
It wasn’t the yodeling through the Austrian Alps that was impressive, no, – though I’m sure yodeling would be equally amazing – but it was the music! We can understand much better now, how incredible it is to experience sound resonating across the giant alps and how dramatically it floats… Continue reading
Of course we had to go see the magnificent Panama Canal while we were in Panama. Maybe I expected too much or maybe I didn’t really understand its purpose or maybe, dare I say it – it’s something more appreciated by men, but for me it was quite plain… Continue reading
Borneo Jungle Walk It was time for the Borneo Jungle Walk in Sabah, Borneo. As we entered the jungle, the first thing to walk across was a swinging rope bridge, which David managed with ease. [spacer height=”20px”] I won’t say how T managed on the rope bridge,… Continue reading
As people kept referring to farms in the Azores – often right in the centre of towns and villages, we would look around expecting to see an expanse of field, and never find it! All we could see were houses, and trying to be polite (and not wanting to… Continue reading
Birds are not a big attraction for us, but we were a little curious about the Yucatan flamingos. We thought $100 was a little steep for the Flamingo Boat Tour out of Celestun, so we declined several offers from local tour operators. Since there was a large… Continue reading
At Orange Walk, in Belize, we stayed at the Orchid Palm Inn, a lovely inn filled with – you’ll never guess – orchid plants. Reasonable rates and very nice rooms: Orchid Palm Inn. The owners of the Orchid Palm told us about the Lamanai Jungle River Boat, so the… Continue reading
It was only by accident that we heard about the Mangrove Tour. We were swimming in a cenote at some Mayan Ruins in the Yucatan, Mexico, when a woman was telling other people about this amazing tour that no one knows about because it originates in a little village… Continue reading
[spacer height=”20px”] Tonga: Going to Ouleva Island We were flying from the Vava’u Group in Tonga to the Haap’ai Group, where we had arrangements to take a boat to an uninhabited island, Ouleva. At the airport, as we walked out to our small 8-seater plane, I noticed the pilot was… Continue reading
Louisiana and the Canada Connection Louisiana: there is a strong connection between Louisiana and Canada. A good number of people in the Louisiana area came from Canada! We recalled learning this in history at school, but had completely forgotten about it, or at least I did. French-speakers… Continue reading