We met a local in the nearby village and had an hour tour of the surroundings. It is nice to be able to talk to the locals in English - this is not always something you can do around the world. The village is very spread out and home to about 500 people. The homes are traditional, mostly stone and mud with thatched roofs collected from wild grasses and reeds that grow nearby. The village is overseen by a chief - he is elected for a lifetime. … [Read more...]
Malealea Lodge, Lesotho
Greetings from Malelea Lodge in the remote hinterlands of the "mountain Kingdom" - the landlocked county of Lesotho (not pronounced how its spelled, rather phonetically you say "Lesootoo"). The country has the highest mountains in Southern Africa and receives significant snowfall at the higher elevations in the winter. There is even a small ski resort in the eastern part of the country! We drove in from South Africa crossing the border at … [Read more...]
Exhausted in South Africa
We arrived in South Africa with no plans. A quick scan of the airport revealed a number of name brand car rental companies - so we bee-lined for the only Internet Cafe we could find and used one of the online car reservation companies. Within 40 minutes of making our reservation we had signed countless forms and were sitting in our almost brand new Nissan Sentra. This was the only "automatic" transmission vehicle we could find at the entire … [Read more...]
The Paris of Edith Piaf
On December 19th 2011 French singer and icon Edith Piaf would have turned 96 years. It goes almost unsaid that the French capital was her stage and her life where she is also put to rest at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Throughout her life she lived in various Paris apartments from shabby to absolutely luxurious. For any visitor of Paris it is interesting to discover the City of Light through the life of this woman with the unmistakable voice. … [Read more...]
Continent Hopping!
We jetted from Bangkok to Addis Ababa yesterday on Ethiopian Airlines. I wasn't too impressed with the two planes we were on - they were just plain old. Both times I used the restroom the broken doors swung in on me even though it said "occupied" on the outside. The video/light control console was broken on both flights and on the second flight my seat had a scant view of the video screens. But, they just joined Star Alliance in late 2011 so more … [Read more...]
Moon Beijing & Shanghai
Moon Beijing & Shanghai by Helena Iveson Two of China's powerhouse cities are covered in this new edition from Moon Handbooks. We are on our way to Beijing soon and will be using this guidebook during our travels. Beijing is the capital city and has long been the source of attractions including Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven - more recently Beijing was in the global spotlight for the 2008 Olympics. This up-to-date book includes … [Read more...]
iSafe Fanny Pack
iSafe (Reviewed: Jan 2012) The iSafe fanny pack is always armed and ready for use. By quickly pulling down on the hidden draw strap you will immediately produce a mind numbing shrieking sound that is sure to draw attention, startle your attacker - gaining precious time to with an advantage over your attacker. iSafe is advertised as being the world's loudest personal alarm system - containing two 125 decibel sirens and a high intensity LED strobe … [Read more...]
Hana, Maui – Hawaii – January 2012
Hana is located on the Eastern side of Maui. The "Drive to Hana" is popularized on t-shirts and is often discussed among tourists. This "drive" usually takes about 2.5 to 3 hours although it can certainly be done in a shorter time if there is little or no traffic. Many tourists make this drive out and back in one day and as a result the morning can see quite a bit of traffic out and in the afternoon much of this traffic returns. If you can swing … [Read more...]
Fishing Time
Every year around this time the villagers drain one of the local ponds into an adjoining rice field. This takes all night - a couple guys stay up all night with the pump. Then in the very early morning about 15 people gather at the banks for a mud infused assault on the fish. This is not clean work - they jump into the mud, sinking up to their waists and crawl around with small nets and buckets collecting all the fish. By mid morning its … [Read more...]
South Pacific Films by David Stanley
Over the past eight decades the paradise isles of the legendary South Seas have provided a backdrop for many Hollywood productions. French Polynesia has been the most popular location by far, followed by Fiji and Samoa. Both Hollywood films set in Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal Diary (1943) starring Anthony Quinn and The Thin Red Line (1999), were about the Pacific War. Easter Island features in Kevin Costner's Rapa Nui (1994) while The Other Side … [Read more...]
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