Ben and Alonna

Author: Alonna

  • A little more on South Africa

    We only spent about half of our time in South Africa on safari. The rest of the time was spent with our couchsurfing hosts in Johannesburg, driving, and relaxing in the Blyde River Canyon area near Kruger. Here’s a few things about our time in South Africa that I didn’t want to leave out…
     

    Blyde River Canyon

    Just west of Kruger park is Blyde River Canyon, a beautiful mountain range with cute towns and amazing viewpoints. After driving through the area, we booked last-minute reservations for two nights at a guesthouse out in the country. It was probably the most comfortable and beautiful room we’ve ever stayed in, with an enormous bed, jacuzzi, gorgeous view, and friendly host. Originally we were hoping to stay in town and spend our time hiking and sightseeing, but we took this opportunity to relax for a couple days instead. It was absolutely lovely.

    Enjoying the view at Blyde River Canyon
    Alonna
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  • Our Safari in South Africa

    When we added South Africa to our RTW itinerary, I imagined going on a safari in an open jeep on rough dirt roads, with lions and tigers roaming around the car and the guide holding a riffle, just in case. But it turns out that in South Africa, going on Safari is like spending the weekend at Yellowstone, just with different animals and scenery.

    Self-drive Safari
    Self-drive Safari

    How it works

    Animal viewing from the car
    Animal viewing from the car

    We visited Kruger National Park, a huge game reserve east of Johannesburg. You could call this a “self-drive safari” because visitors simply drive their own cars around all day looking for animals. The animals are anywhere and everywhere, and most of the time we spotted them crossing the road, or near a river or water hole. You’re not allowed to get out of your car except in a few designated areas, but with all the animals around you wouldn’t want to anyway.

    So Ben and I rented a car and stayed 3 nights inside of the park in a private bungalow with a small kitchen and grill. Each day we would head out, armed with cameras and binoculars, in search of wild animals…
     

    Animals!

    During four days of driving around Kruger, we saw almost every animal imaginable. (more…)

  • Egypt: Temples

    The ancient sights in Egypt are amazing, and for being 3,000+ years old many of the temples are very well preserved.There are enormous temples all over southern Egypt along the Nile River, built over thousands of years for ceremonies and burials. Almost every square inch is covered in hieroglyphs, and some walls and ceilings still have the original paint used to decorate the carvings.  We absolutely loved wandering through these sights and marveling at the scale and beauty of this ancient world. Here’s some of our photos showing various temples throughout the southern Nile River Valley (Aswan, Abu Simbel, and Luxor). (more…)

  • Egypt: Sailing the Nile River

    Felucca sail boat
    Felucca sail boat

    A Night on the Nile River, Why not?

    Upon arrival to Egypt, our Cairo hotel owner helped us book the rest of our trip. He encouraged us to include a relaxing 2-night felucca ride on the Nile River. Initially we resisted; it just didn’t seem like something we’d enjoy. We only had 8 days in Egypt, and we wanted to pack in as many ancient sights as possible. We compromised on just one night, but he insisted that we’d love it and call him begging for a second night.
     

    What is a Felucca?

    A “felucca” is just a type of sail boat. There’s basically two ways to enjoy the Nile river – felucca or gigantic cruise ship. Typically the felucca boat has room for about 8 budget (aka hippie-types) passengers. There’s a large platform in the middle with cushions, and you cozy up with your neighbors and enjoy the ride together. However, we were booked on a private boat; just the two of us plus the captain (Ali) and his crew mate. (more…)

  • Egypt: Pyramids

    It’s hard to believe that Ben and I are in Egypt and saw the famous pyramids yesterday. I never imagined that I’d make it here… and now that I have, it reminds me once again how amazing this year-off adventure is: Ben and I are truly having the experience of a lifetime.

    Abu Sir pyramids near Cairo, Egypt and the Giza Pyramids very faint in the distance
    Abu Sir pyramids near Cairo, Egypt and the Giza Pyramids very faint in the distance

    We arrived to Cairo in the evening and booked a private tour for the next morning to the pyramids of Giza, Saqqara and Dahshur. At 6am I woke up to this beautiful hazy sunrise over Cairo:

    Sunrise in Cairo

    The pyramids were huge, impressive, and a bit underwhelming all at the same time. It rarely happens this way, but they were exactly what I expected; enormous pyramids made out of limestone sitting out in the desert and surrounded by tourists. Besides the Sphinx (located down below from the Giza pyramids to guard them), there were really no sculptures or statues or any ornamentation at all. Most of the tombs were robbed hundreds or thousands of years go, and anything remaining was moved to the Egyptian museum in Cairo.

    Besides the famous pyramids at Giza, (more…)

  • Istanbul, Turkey

    Hagia Sophia
    Blue Mosque with 6 minarets

    Istanbul exceeded our expectations; it’s a beautiful city with a lot to see, is surprisingly easy to get around, and it gave us a glimpse into Muslim culture. Ben and I stayed for 5 nights in the Old Town area of Istanbul, within short walking distance to all of the famous sights like the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. The food was great – we mostly stuck to kebab and baklava, delicious! – and we enjoyed browsing the local shopping markets – even if we weren’t shopping for a Turkish carpet. All in all, I absolutely loved Istanbul, and after touring a lot of European cities last fall, I’d put it near the top of the list. Here’s some of the things we explored… (more…)

  • Patagonia Lake District

    Beautiful views in Bariloche

    Our last weeks in South America were spent in the northern part of Patagonia, called the lake district. This area is mountainous, dotted with cone-shaped volcanoes, and as the name suggests, contains many lakes. Our first stop was Pucon in Chile, where we were shook by the 8.8 earthquake our first night. Unfortunately this meant that during our 3 days there, we didn’t get a chance to hike up the active volcano, peer into the crater, and slide back down on a sled. We’ll have to come back.

    Pucon, Chile
    Active volcano outside Pucon, Chile
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  • Penguins in Punta Arenas, Chile

    Ben and I detoured to the extreme south of Chile for two reasons: to catch a flight north, and to see the penguins.  Isla Magdalena, an island off the coast of Punta Arenas, is the breeding grounds for over 200,000 penguins.  We took a boat ride to the island and had an hour to walk around on a roped off path.  In every direction there were hundreds of penguins and holes in the ground where they nest.  The penguins were fun to watch and photograph; most of them just stood around, while a few waddled towards the ocean for breakfast, a few couples cleaned each others coats, and one pair got into a fight.  Sometimes when we were nearby, they would look at us curiously, even if it involved stretching their neck all the way around to avoid turning to face us.


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  • Torres del Paine, Chile

    After the glacier hike in El Calafate, Ben and I crossed over to Chile to visit the famous park Torres del Paine. This place is a backpackers mecca; everyone goes there to hike the “W”, “O” or if you’re really cool, the “Q” circuit. These are multi-day backpacking & camping treks. Ben and I decided to take a shorter route  – that we like to call the “J” – which included 2 days of hiking with an overnight in a nice warm Refugio (lodge) with a bed and sheets and bathrooms and showers. For anyone interested, here’s our route:

    Our route - the "J" circuit
    Our route – the "J" circuit

    Note: Map taken and edited from http://www.torres-del-paine.org/map-tdp.html

    For everyone else, here’s our photos… (more…)

  • Galapagos Islands – Hanging out on land

    Here’s a few things Ben and I did while hanging out in the Galapagos Islands after our cruise…
     

    Volcano Tour – By Horse

    I’m no fan of horses. I guess it’s because I had a bad experience as a kid, but still I just don’t see the point. I’d rather walk than put my life in the hands of a strong-minded animal. So naturally I was disappointed when I learned that the only way to see the huge active volcano on Isabela Island was on horseback. But I really wanted to see the volcano, so I convinced myself that I could do it.

    Long story short, we both survived and it was worth it. The horses were very tame and we didn’t have any problems, although I was completely terrified the entire time.
     

    Ben riding a horse
    Horseback riding in Isabela
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