miami_al

Came back recently from a 1-year tour of duty in Iraq. Beautiful Scenery and I’m sure it would make for a WONDERFUL destination if it weren’t so unsafe. Hopefully in the near future it will have stabilized…

Spain is an absolutely great place to visit. Myself and my 2 brothers started in Barcelona in a place called ‘Sitges’. Now, unbeknownst to us this turned out to be the gay capital of the world. We came to this place because we knew, through our travels, some people that lived here and they gracefully allowed us to stay at their home. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery, but the place was just too gay for us (we’re not homophobic, but when you’re straight you just don’t feel ‘at home’ in a place like that). So we rented a small minivan and headed north. We passed through Zaragoza, Logrono, San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander and stopped at a small city by the name of Llanes… every city was magical to us considering that it was a whole new experience. We stayed a few days in Llanes, using it as a “base camp” to check-out the ‘Picos de Europa’. The first day, we tried to hike a trail, but were absolutely unprepared to make the trip so we decided to concentrate that day to exploring the ‘Picos’ and finding a good starting point for a nice, overnight climb. After asking the locals we were told that at the top of a certain peak, there was a refugio (a hostel) where we could spend the night and come back down the next day or continue on the trail and pop-up at the other side of the mountain range after a few days. Considering we didn’t have overnight gear, we decided for the overnight trip, but would’ve crossed the ‘Picos’, had we brought proper equipment. Due to the fact that this was just a spontaneous trip we didn’t know what to expect and prepare for beforehand therefore leaving us unprepared for a lot of adventures we craved to do (not to self: PREPARE FOR THE UNEXPECTED). We ended up en Oviedo where we were able to trace our ancestors’ to a mountain town called Tineo and actually saw the small church where my great, great, great, great, great, grandfather had been baptised and married. Afterwards we made our way back down to Barcelon, since our flight left from there. We went through Leon, and decided we’d stay at Madrid, however it was too crowded and buisy for our laid-back mood so we decided to go back to a city we’d passed on our way called ‘Avila’. Avila was an ancient city with friendly locals and a vibrant nightlife (keep in mind that Spanish locals don’t eat dinner until about 10 pm or later so night life for them starts a little later than Americans are used to). We used Avila as a ‘Base Camp’ for a couple days while we explored the historic city of ‘Toledo’. Toledo is actually a city WITHIN an enormouse castle. Just driving up to ‘Toledo’ was a very exciting experience in itself. It was pretty touristy (everything was basically shops selling swords (including the ‘Lord of the Rings collection and sword replicas of the one used in ‘Blade’), rugs, tapestries, and other souveneirs. This was probably the place where we saw the most INTERNATIONAL tourists, but just the scenerey itself was worth it. We continued on down past Madrid after our last day at Avila and made an important decision to not take the same road we’d taken on our trip North (which meant going back through Zaragoza and then Barcelona). Instead we decided to continue on the same road we’d been on and continue on the Valencia and then through Taragona and finally arriving at Barcelona. We drove all through the night, stopping in random mountain towns where surprisingly (and I say surprisingly because it must’ve been 4 or 5 in the morning) the whole town was partying almost like a festival (we’d found out eventually that everybody was celebrating ‘the day of the Virgin Mary’. The road was absolutely HAIR RAISING due to the fact that it was very narrow, about 400-500 meters high on the side of a mountain range, and there were an infinite amount of VERY sharp turns). After what seemed like a never-ending zigzag, we reached Barcelona and upon arriving at our friends’ house fell asleep for what seemed all eternity. I’d say one of the most amazing parts of road-tripping through Spain is how sudden the scenery changes. One minute you’re travelling on a road through luscious, green landscap, and all of a sudden it turns to desert, Arizona/Nevada-type landscap, and then you run into miles and miles of vineyards… TRULY amazing. I can’t wait to go back and explor more of the Southern part, which we didn’t have enough time to do.

I went to Africa in the summer of ‘99. It was my very first encounter with the continent and I must say, looking back, that it’s a place I hold VERY dear to my heart. South Africa was a most interesting country. A mix of Afrikaan and English, I ended up in Johannesburgh at an AWESOME hotel called the ‘Michaelangelo’. The hotel itself was amazing and was actually ‘linked’ to a whole shopping mall. The food was amazing, the people were kind and hospitable (contrary to what I had believed beforehand, due to the very high crime rate). As long as you use common sense when you’re travelling you’re MOST LIKELY to not have an unpleasant encounter with a local criminal. I then boarded a small plane from the Airport in Johannesburgh and flew to Kruger Nat’l Park. I had reserved a spot at a safari (Idube- afrikaan for ‘zebra) The trip to the Idube Private Game Reserve was absolutely textbook National Geographic. We passed small villages, local schools, etc. I spent a total of 5 days (if I remember correctly) at the game reserve (I visited Africa during the Norther Hemisphere Summer, which meant it was Winter in the Southern Hemisphere so the vegetation wasn’t so lush, which meant that ‘game spotting’ was MUCH easier). Probably THE MOST memorable trip of my life as of yet. There’s nothing like going to sleep to the powerful roar of Lions right outside your Chalet. I don’t want to scare people away from safaris, if you have a chance to go to one TAKE IT!!! It an absolutely eye-opening experience into the animal kingdom and you will defenitely leave with a new respect for the wild. At the same time it is absolutely safe and as long as you listen to the Park Rangers there is virtually no danger. Like I said, South Africa is one of my TOP destinations and I can’t wait to go back.