TravelStream™ news feed for member aksheehan on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/aksheehan en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:09:49 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aksheehan/2/1180486980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aksheehan/2/1180486980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aksheehan/2/1180486980/tpod.html Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:09:49 -0400 Central America-Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras-Summer 2007

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Antigua, Guatemala

I arrived in Antigua, Guatemala on May 29 and planned to stay a week. I found a great little place to stay and explored the City. Antigua was a great little Mayan town. The streets are all cobblestone and the homes are stone and very colorful. The streets are so quaint and there are shops and restaurants that line the streets. Mixed in are a number of ruins - probably from one of the many earthquakes that have hit the area. But it was very interesting to be walking down the street and all of a sudden see an old church in rubble with only a few walls still standing.  I scheduled a number of little day trips to keep me busy.  The most exciting of which was a climb up Pacaya volcano.  It was an active volcano and I actually walked on rocks with lava running under my feet.  I also went to Honduras and saw the ruins.  The final day was spent Panajachel, Guatemala.  I loved Guatemala and hope to return one day.  I was surprised by all the poverty but the people seemed extremely happy.  It was a beautiful place. 
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La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Our week was spent doing as many adventures as possible.  We spent the first few days in La Fortuna at a nice resort. I went white water rafting and canyoning for the first time.  We went to Playa Samara and Playa Tamarindo the rest of the week. It rained a lot but that didn't get us down.  We met some great people and had a great time. Enjoy the pictures. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aksheehan/1/1214703660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aksheehan/1/1214703660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aksheehan/1/1214703660/tpod.html Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:23:10 -0400 South Africa-June 2008

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Cape Town, South Africa

Day 13 and my last day:(.  I fly to Johannesburg this afternoon and then back to NYC. Yesterday we went to Franschoek to check it out.  It was another nasty, rainy day but we got out of the car and explored the little town a bit.  It was another cute town - reminded me again of the Hamptons. The drive was nice as we passed wineries it seemed every few hundred feet. There were a lot of people around. It was Friday and clearly a payday as people lined up outside the town's bank.  After a little while we headed back to Cape Town. Since it was my last night we wanted to make sure to do things we hadn't yet.  We had dinner at Mama Africa's. It was a cute little pub/restaurant on Long Street in Cape Town. They had some entertainment - percussionists and marimba players from somewhere in Africa.  They were very good.  For dinner we tried crocodile - it was interesting.  A white meat that had a strange consistency. It was ok - but I probably wouldn't order it again. It was nice to be out and see all the people. It was clearly a mix of travelers and locals. I was a little sad to be going home the next day, but enjoyed hanging out.  So my final impressions of South Africa --- One of the most beautiful places I've been, even in the winter. I've seen some beautiful places, but never beaches like these surrounded by mountains.  I  think what made this experience different was the development that surrounded these beautiful places.  The beautiful beaches I've been to in Portugal, Malaysia and the Caribbean all were located in an underdeveloped area. The same with the mountains I've seen in Central America. Part of me disliked the "touristy" feel but also enjoyed the convenience it brought.  South Africa is a great place and one I am very glad I had the opportunity to visit.
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Stellenbosch, South Africa

Yesterday we spent the day on a wine tour in Stellenbosch.  Stellenbosch is near Cape Town and is said to have over 160 wineries.  We decided to join a tour leaving our hostel - which was a brilliant idea so we could enjoy without having to worry about driving.  The tour included 4 wineries in Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschoek with 5-6 tastings per winery. Because it was our guide's last day he even added a fifth winery.  Our group had a total of nine people - a mother/daughter from North Carolina, newlyweds from Ireland and a trio from the UK.  They were a fun group - especially after a day of wine tasting.  Five wineries was a lot in one day and even though I used the spittoon I was feeling the effects of the wine by mid-afternoon - Jamie even more so:)  It was the first time I had even been on a wine tour and I really enjoyed it.  Reading and learning about the wines and then tasting them was very enjoyable. I never really understood the wine making process or what made one wine "oaky" and another one sweet. I learned that to make red wine the skins are kept with the red grapes during the fermenting process.  I also learned that red wine (and sometimes white) is placed in oak barrels, made in France or the US, which gives it is woody flavor.  Some wines spend up to 26 months in the barrel. The wine makers determine how long wine stays in the barrel and the good ones have a knack for developing the best combination.  Overall it was a great day and a lot of fun.  After the tour, the guide joined us for dinner and Jamie and I both had Ostrich. It was really good. It's a red meat, very tender and delicious ordered medium rare.  After dinner, the guide took us to one of his local spots where we had a few beers and then called it a night.  I only have 2 days left and have had an amazing experience so far.  Everyone we've met has been so nice and everywhere we've gone has been a great time.  I'd like to stay a few weeks longer!!
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Muizenberg, South Africa

After our exciting day in Cape Town and our experience with Table Mountain, we spent the morning at Robben Island. Robben Island served as a prison for South Africa's political prisoners during apartheid. Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in captivity in this prison. A ferry took us from the Waterfront to the island where we departed the boat in the same manner as prisoners had for so many years - minus the chains and the dire fate.  We were lucky to be assigned to the only remaining bus actually used to transport prisoners  - and we started the tour. The tour guide told us a story about how other buses were purchased when the island first became a museum, but only this original bus was still working.  The bus took us around the island and we learned a bit about it's history.  It had first served as an institution for the mentally ill and diseased.  Lepers were sent there (and buried there) to keep them away from the general population.  The island was also used for military purposes.  During World War II, the British had posts on the Island although it they never saw any combat. The island is mostly known as a prison and became notorious as the place Nelson Mandela, and other prominent apartheid opposition leaders, were held. During apartheid, political prisoners were sent to the Island, many facing a life sentence for treason or attempts to overthrow the government.  We saw the lime quarry where Mandela had worked and were told a story about how he and his fellow prisoners used the time they spent in that quarry to educate each other.  The tour guide also told us how the prison administrators decided to keep the political leaders isolated from the general population.  Their logic was to prevent the leaders from influencing other prisoners. Seems like a questionable decision - putting the most intelligent and talented prisoners together to discuss future plans.  Hard to believe such a place existed less than 20 years ago.  A former political prisoner led the second half of the tour.  He was imprisoned 6 years (released in 1991) after being convicted for treason in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison.  He described life in the prison, including 3 months in isolation where he said he counted ants as they made their way across his cell floor to pass the time.  Jamie and I noted how lucky we were to take the tour while men like him were still around and willing to share their experience. Future tourists won't have that opportunity as the years pass. Hopefully their stories won't be lost.   After our tour of Robben Island, we then rented a car with a plan to explore the Cape Peninsula.  We had a rough plan to take Chapman's Peak down to the Cape of Good Hope and back up the eastern peninsula. We picked up the car around 2 PM. As we headed out of Cape Town we started to realize how beautiful a place it really was.  The mountain side had homes built right into it that lead down to the long golden beaches and crashing waves. I couldn't help imagining myself waking up in one of those homes every day - what a life that would be. We made our way to the Chapman's Peak only to discover the road was closed for fallen rocks. We were disappointed; other travelers had told us it was beautiful and not to be missed.  With our plans changed, we decided to drive straight to Muizenberg. It was a nice drive through the mountains. We ended up in Kalk Bay - a little harbor town - and stopped for some coffee at a gorgeous restaurant right on the water.  We sat there for awhile just taking in the view. Next we headed to Muizenberg where we planned to stay the night.  I was surprised how close these little towns were to eachother. The map gave the impression that these little beach towns were far apart, but in fact they ran into each other one after the other.  Reminded me somewhat of the Hamptons. The night ended well with a great dinner at a seafood restaurant on the water. We stayed at a backpackers lodge in Muizenberg that was more like staying in someone's home. It was nice but the owner was more interested in charging us for every little thing than ensuring a good stay. She made a point to tell us that coffee was free of charge but not the milk for the coffee!!  We were happy to leave there and in the morning made our way to the Cape of Good Hope. 
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Cape Town, South Africa

Today was probably one of the most amazing days of the trip, although it didn't start out that way. It was a Sunday so Cape Town was pretty quiet.  The weather wasn't very nice - off and on rain - so we spent the morning walking around to see a bit of the City. We went by City Hall and then to the Castle. We toured the castle, which was pretty interesting, but mostly closed off - again because it was Sunday. The military museum was open so we spent some time there.  I learned about the settlement of Western and South Africa; first the Dutch and then the British.  They fought over land for years, the most famous of which was the Boer War when the British defeated the Dutch. Interestingly, the Apartheid Museum attributed the formation of apartheid to the ancestors of the Dutch settlers wanting power for themselves, something that was an outgrowth of the long struggles against the British.  It was a good way to spend the morning.  After the museum we walked down Government street, which was a lovely tree lined street with the Parliament building and museums on each side (see pics). It was about 2 PM and since the weather was still nasty we hadn't yet seen Table Mountain. Table Mountain is the mountain ubiquitous in pictures of Cape Town. Unfortunately, in the winter clouds keep it covered most of the time. Without a plan to spend the rest of the afternoon, we sat down at a coffee shop contemplating what to do.  As soon as we sat down, the clouds finally started to lift.  We were so excited to see Table Mountain that we quickly finished our coffee and cake and decided to make our way to the Mountain.  We decided to walk - although probably not a great decision because it took over an hour just to get to the cableway that would take us to the top.  By that time it was almost 4 PM, so we were facing the loss of daylight...again.  We decided against a walk to the top, which would have required 2.5 hours, and took the cableway hoping to walk down before it got dark. Surprisingly, the cableway ride to the top made me quite nervous; being suspended in air like that.  The realization that I was dangling from a little cable above a huge mountain set in and freaked me out a bit.  The ride took all of 2 minutes but I was very glad to be at the top.  Once at the top the view was amazing. I wish my pictures did it justice. Everywhere I turned there was another amazing view of the mountain, the City, or of Lion's Head (a sister mountain). I found myself feeling somewhat naive; naive that I never knew such a place existed. I also wondered how all the people we had met in the past week that had been to Cape Town didn't talk about the view from the top of Table Mountain. That experience will be with me forever; and it was just the beginning.  We decided to start the walk down.  We were told that it would take 1 hour and it was 5 PM so we should have been able to make it before dark.  But when we asked some officials for directions to the start of the path, they "strongly discouraged" us from attempting the walk down.  They said it was too dangerous because of the impending darkness and the moisture in the air.  Needless to say I was a little upset with them. I felt like they were trying to scare us so that we would pay the 50 Rands to take the cableway back down. And it worked. We made the decision to take the cableway down. But when we went to buy tickets the woman told us we should be fine - there were people walking down.  That's all we needed to hear so we started our way down - it was 5:15 PM.As soon as we turned the corner to start down the mountain we knew we made the right decision. What I saw walking down that mountain was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The mountainside was steep so the trail was winding back and forth. The trail was made up of large rocks that served as steps and formed a constant decline. I stopped multiple times just to take in the breathtaking views. All around us we could hear water running, either from the small stream running down the river or the rain water from earlier that day dripping off the rocks.  We knew it was getting late because the light was getting lower and lower on the side of the mountain as we walked down. Finally, when the sun started to set the rocks turned an orangish pink color that was even more amazing than the pictures show.  I was very excited walking down - excited that we listened to our gut and took the walk down and excited by what I was seeing.  But then reality set in.  The end of the trail was not in sight and we were losing light fast.  I was pushing us to go faster, afraid we'd lose the trail. A few times I got nervous when I lost the trail, but instinct kept us going.  The anxiety and fear of being lost in the mountain only added to the overall excitement of the hike. And when we finally reached the highway we were greatly relieved because the sky was almost completely black. We walked along the highway for awhile until we finally made it back to the lower cableway. We had had enough excitement for one night so we decided to call a cab to pick us up at the cableway. The obvious danger of walking on a dark highway in the middle of the mountains finally set in.  The cab picked us up and took us to a restaurant on Kloof street. Our entire dinner was spent discussing the day - truly an amazing day.  The pictures below are a mix from the day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aksheehan/1/1214058600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aksheehan/1/1214058600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aksheehan/1/1214058600/tpod.html Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:09:53 -0400 South Africa-June 2008

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Cape Town, South Africa

Well, it's day 6 and we made our way to Cape Town. Jamie drove us from the Sani Lodge to the Durban airport where caught a flight to Cape Town. We arrived mid-afternoon and spent the remainder of the day at the VA Waterfront.  We are staying at Big Blue Backpackers in Green Point, which is within walking distance of the Waterfront. The Waterfront is a very touristy place; built up with restaurants and shops and plenty of tourists even in the off season. We ran a few errands and explored the area a little bit.  We luckily came across the Robben Island tour center and found out that tickets needed to be purchased days in advance.  We were able to get tickets for Monday. We also finally were able to find an authentic South African restaurant for dinner.  After a beer at pub, we went for dinner. We were the only patrons since it was off season.  The server was wonderful and brought us a mix of everything she said she regularly eats.  Finally a taste of what South Africans like to eat. It was a mix of traditional dishes - bobatie was the only dish I knew. Bobatie is a tangy, sweet barbeque-like caserole with an egg custard topping. Very good!  Other dishes were spicy and flavorful. They used spinach and tomato quite a lot. It turned out to be a great 1st day in Cape Town!
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Sani Pass, South Africa

We decided to do the Sani Pass day trip on Friday. Our guide, Stephen, was a local and turned out to be a great guide. We started from the lodge and made our way to Lesotho via the pass in Stephen's 4 X 4.  Sani Pass was established as a trader's route from the border of South Africa to Lesotho. Now it is a World Heritage site and a commonly traveled route from Lesotho into South Africa, even though it is a windy, steep and seemingly dangerous mountain road. We saw numerous mini-bus taxi's taking Lesotho citizens to the South African border.  The joke is that the taxi's are called "two more" because the driver's always say there is room for two more.  The views were gorgeous and gave me the feeling of being an intruder in an undisturbed land. The tour included a stop in a temporary sheep herders village across the border into Lesotho. It was a temporary village because at that altitude it was very cold. About 20 people stayed behind during the winter, but in the summer more than 100 lived in the village. We met Mae who stayed behind to sell bread and beer to shepherds caring for their sheep. Mae allowed us into her home made of straw and a cement mixture of cow dung and water. Stephen told us stories about their resourcefulness and it was amazing to see how they lived.  I kept wondering what they must think of these strange people coming to their home everyday, speaking a strange language and taking pictures. In some ways it felt very strange and intrusive, but something I am glad they allowed us to do.  Lesotho and the Sani Pass represented what I had envisioned of Africa - even if I only experienced it through the guise of a tourist.On the way back we stopped at the Sani Pass pub - the highest pub in Africa.  It was fun and had some great views! The pictures below are the beautiful views we saw throughout the tour. 
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Sani Pass, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

We rented a car this morning in an effort to make it to the Drakensberg Mountains.  It was Jamie's first experience driving on the right side of the car and left side of the road.  I had no interest in even trying given my aversion to driving on any side. Jamie did a great job; with her comfort and my anxiety increasing at a regular pace.  We arrived at the Sani Pass lodge mid afternoon. Sani Pass is near Underberg and Himeville and was about 2.5 hours from Durban. Once we arrived we attempted to get a hike in before it got dark. The hike was estimated at 4 hours and we had about 4 hours left of light.  We were overly ambitious and had to turn back around 4:30 PM to ensure we made it back before dark.  But the hike provided some great views of the mountains and provided a good introduction to the area.  The Sani Pass Lodge felt very "backwoods" and turned out to be a great experience, even though it was akin to sleeping outside since there was no heat.  It got down to 50 degree F at night so we definitely felt like we were roughing it.  Below are some great pictures from our hike.
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Hermanus, South Africa

I woke up this morning to the most beautiful sunrise. It was already 7:30 AM by the time the sun came up, but it provided a wonderful view.  We were at Bayside in Betty's Bay and planned to go to Hermanus, famous for whale watching, and then back on R44 for the views on our way to the winelands.  It is day 11 of our trip and it seems like I just arrived. Everyday we do something new and we haven't really stayed in one place for more than 2 days.  On one hand I'd like to experience each place a little more, on the other hand with only 2 weeks I'm glad we have moved around and discovered as many different places as possible.  Hermanus was a little more touristy than Kalk's Bay and Simon's Town. July is peak whale watching season so we thought we were in store from some whales.  Neither Jamie or I knew quite what to expect, so we were up for anything. Hermanus was a cute little town, a little bigger than the other coastal towns we had seen.  There was a cliff walk that we took hoping to see some whales.  The scenes were beautiful, but other than maybe the view of a whale's back, we didn't see much in terms of whales. We even checked out the whale watching tours, but they wanted 500 Rand (almost $70) for a 2 hour boat ride - and there was no guarantee of whales.  We said no thanks!  It was a nice relaxing day. After the cliff walk, we went to the beach. The beach was huge - so long I couldn't see the end in either direction. The sun was nice so we hung out for awhile before getting back on the road.  The drive from Hermanus to Stellenbosch was so beautiful!  Jamie pulled the car over numerous times to get these great shots of the sunset. Jamie had driven the same road the night before, but it was dark so we had no idea we were on the edge of the sea. The road was so windy I give Jamie enormous credit for taking the challenge. It was a great day!
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