Cape town is one of the most diverse and vibrant cities anywhere and certainly one of the most beautiful places I have had the pleasure to visit. Certainly, photographs don’t do this place justice (and trust me I tried…a lot). There’s a lot to do and see in this town and I worked through my travels to bring you the best things do to in … [Read more...]
Category: Africa
Photo Essay: Thornybush Game Reserve
One of the most incredible parts of visiting the South Africa was getting the opportunity to do a African Safari. It has been something I had dreamed of for a long time. So I will have to say that I was very privileged to have been able to go on game drives here in the Thornybush Game Reserve on the outskirts of the larger Kruger National … [Read more...]
Two Nights in Tangala Safari Camp – South Africa
Safari It’s one of those trips everyone dreams about. And for many, no trip to Africa would be complete without one. So when I decided to head to South Africa with members of my running group in NYC, we knew that a Safari would be the top of everyone’s list. We ended up through an exhausted search (which I’ll talk more about in another … [Read more...]
Why you Should Hike Lion’s Head Mountain – Cape Town
Cape town It is one of the most beautiful cities…no places I have visited. It is stunning. If you’ve been you know. If you haven’t well, even though the photos are stunning it doesn’t do the place justice. So when we asked people what is one thing we need to do while in town, nearly everyone said to hike Lion’s head. The … [Read more...]
Best Places to Stay in Cape Town for Any Budget
Cape town is one of the absolutely most beautiful cities I have yet to visit in the world. There is something about this place with the beach, the mountains, oceans, colorful buildings that just make it a perfect spot to stay for a few days, weeks, or more. And Finding the Best Places to Stay in Cape Town shouldn't bust one's Budget. I sometimes … [Read more...]
8 Great Places to Visit in Axum Ethiopia
Axum (or Aksum) is one of the most historical places in Ethopia. Axum was a great kingdom and it left behind sound absolutely incredible relics and history. Several of the sites here also pre-date the Axumite kingdom but are certainly important to the history of both the Kingdom and Ethiopia as a whole. The city itself is really not that big and … [Read more...]
Blue Nile Falls & Monasteries: Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Bahir Dar…the cute little town on the southern shores of Lake Tana. It was meant to be my first real destination in Ethiopia after having spent but only a few hours running errands in Addis Ababa Like most people I came here mostly to see the Blue Nile Falls and the Monasteries on/around the lake. Ok actually I didn’t know why I really came here, … [Read more...]
Standing on the Roof of Africa – Simien Mountains – Ethiopia
I really did not even know such a place existed in Ethiopia. It was hard for me to realize how little I actually knew about Ethiopia prior to actually visiting there. Well basically nothing other than those news stories about the droughts and famines decades ago. So when I heard about the Simiens I really did not know what to expect. Nicknamed … [Read more...]
Traveling to Ethiopia during the State of Emergency
I’ve been getting a lot of questions related to the State of Emergency and travel to Ethiopia. What’s it like? Is it safe? What’s tourism like? Now for many of you whether you know or not there has been a state of Emergency in Ethiopia for the last few months. In October of this year (2016) Ethiopia declared a state of emergency following … [Read more...]
Tips for visiting the Simien Mountains, Ethiopia
Tips for being prepared for your trek through the Simien Mountains. Really a lot of these tips were garnered from the experience of doing it with little or no preparation. Sure it was possible, but honestly there were moments were I regretted being there because of the lack of preparation. Perhaps you can learn from some of my experience, … [Read more...]
Egypt: Saint Catherine’s Monastery et al.
The way down was fairly uneventful for us. Whiskey seemed to reprise his role in our group or perhaps his uncanny body double. But the benefit of morning hiking is that you can actually see where you go. The clot of hikers slowly flowed down the mountain steps onto the trail below and Whiskey bounded along laden with our friend upon … [Read more...]
Egypt: In the Steps of Moses
“Wow that was scary” – C said as we got out of the van into the darkness. I looked around and thought about the hike ahead, and strangely had no recollection of the journey to get here. For better or worse over years I’ve developed the ability to sleep almost anywhere. A sort of parlor trick to perhaps amuse my row mates on those cramped … [Read more...]