Travel Blog Posts
May 14th 2012
Alex had a work visit to Recife, on the northeast coast of Brazil, and Jenn tagged along. We stayed at a hotel right along the area’s nicest beach, Boa Viagem (Good Trip), but there isn’t any swimming allowed due to shark attacks. We went to a popular square, which turned out to be a bit shady, but we got to see some old churches and the farmer’s market. From there, we tried to take a taxi to an Italian restaurant, but had to take three taxis before a driver knew where it was. For the weekend, we headed north to an island “resort.” The first bad sign was when the taxi driver pointed out the nearby prison. Nevertheless, we continued on to the hotel with a room straight out of the 70s, including the linens. We’ve ... read more
February 29th 2012
We headed off to the coast for Carnival in a town called Paraty. After flying to Sao Paulo, we were chauffeured on a three hour drive through Atlantic rainforest. We checked into our pousada (small hotel), which was in the historical center of the city. Jenn wanted to test out the pool, but we went for a walk around the harbor and through the cobbled streets. The next day, we began our tour of the area, including hiking up to the old Portuguese fort when it was used in the early 1700s to ship gold from Minas Gerais to Rio (and eventually on to Europe). Although we were warned of a “high index of accdents with oystrs,” we followed a bedrock trail to the ocean, known as the “Praia do Forte” which was not really a ... read more
January 15th 2012
We began our first Brazilian fishing trip by driving further into Central Brazil to a place called Lago Verde with a group of Embassy coworkers. With a quick stop at a roadside stand, we made the journey in about 3 and a half hours. After checking in and renting some fishing gear, we had our poles in the artificial lake and caught (and released) several small fish. Following a dinner break, we tried nightfishing for catfish for the first time. We didn't catch any catfish, but at midnight, Alex hooked a 26 pound tambaqui that took 30 minutes to reel in. The next day, we were back at it, and caught a few more small fish. In the late afternoon, a huge rainstorm hit, driving us to return home.... read more
Iguassu Falls
Published: December 7th 2011South America » Brazil » Paraná » Foz do Iguaçu » Iguaçu National Park
December 7th 2011
We recently moved to Brasilia, Brasil and took our first trip to Iguassu Falls over the Thanksgiving weekend. On Thursday morning, we boarded an economy flight to Curitiba and then on to Foz do Iguaçu. From our downtown hotel that evening, we walked to a choperia (bar) and watched the beginnings of the city’s nightly Christmas festival. The next morning, we took a taxi across the border into Argentina to view the falls. We boarded a jet boat and zipped up the river almost into the falls, getting completely drenched by the end. Dripping dry in the afternoon sun, we followed a series of walkways right up to the edge of the falls. We stopped for lunch, narrowly thwarting quati (anteater/raccoon) raids on our food. Our journey continued on a small train to the Garganta del ... read more
Gorilla Trekking
Published: September 16th 2011Africa » Rwanda » Province du Nord » Parc National des Volcans
May 16th 2011
With only one month left in Rwanda, we finally went to see the gorillas. Our trip began with a three hour drive to Volcanoes National Park. Along the way, Alex had a speaking engagement on behalf of the US Embassy, recognizing a local NGO for their conservation efforts and education awareness programs in the area. Courtesy of Jenn’s mother, Dorothy, we stayed at a very nice lodge with individual cabins and excellent meals. The following morning, we got up super early to head to the park headquarters where we were assigned to trek the Hirwa group (meaning “lucky” in Kinyarwanda due to the birth of twins). Unfortunately for us, the group was very active in the morning, resulting in a three hour hike up, down, and around the mountain in very slippery and humid conditions. With ... read more
May 5th 2011
Jenn flew to Kenya for a week to help Manna Energy Limited with a consulting project to distribute 1 million water filters to families without access to clean drinking water. Inside the Nairobi airport, there was a man waiting at the bottom of the escalator, and Jenn asked, “First time?” He nodded, they linked arms, and on the count of three stepped on. At the top, he burst out laughing with relief. Next, Jenn climbed aboard a small plane to Kisumu, in western Kenya. The runway in Kisumu was pretty rough and the baggage claim consisted of standing next to the plane until the suitcases were unloaded. From there, Jenn rode in a pickup truck for an hour until reaching Kakamega, seeing a beautiful orange sunset along the way. Manna designed a program for use on ... read more
April 6th 2011
Our planned trip to Italy was diverted to London after Jenn had to be hospitalized for meningitis. Following the hospital stay, we checked into a hotel near Westminster. We started small with short shopping trips and nights out to eat, as Jenn was still recovering. Towards the end of our trip, we took a tour of the city on a big red double-decker. Highlights including riding the London Eye (a gigantic ferris wheel with enclosed 20 person capsules) and the Tower of London. Alex enjoyed seafood every day and countless pints of beer and cider, taking a break to check out the British Museum to see the rosetta stone.... read more
February 28th 2011
Zanzibar consists of three islands off the coast of Tanzania. We stayed at the Serena Hotel in Stonetown, on the main island. Across the street from our hotel was the old slave market, and we also toured a former Portuguese fort and cultural museum in building constructed by slaves. Two nights in a row, we ate a seafood smorgasbord on the hotel rooftop overlooking the Indian Ocean. We spent the rest of our trip at a resort on the northeastern coast. The hotel had two big swimming pools and an excellent white sand beach. The hotel is on a bay, so when the tide went out, we walked out to sandbars and laid around in the tide pools. Swimming in this ocean was a strange sensation because the water was warmer than the air temperature (around ... read more
February 24th 2011
We flew from Kigali to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania with another couple and were picked up by our guide. He drove us to Gibbs Farm where we had an entire guesthouse to ourselves with gourmet meals. We had our first encounter with wildlife when there was a giant spider in the bathroom. Jenn killed it by throwing a mini soap in a direct hit. In the morning, we hiked into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where we saw baboons, elephant caves (where elephants use their tusks to dig into the mountainside in search of minerals), hyena scat, and a waterfall. We continued driving into the bottom of Ngorongoro Crater where we saw zebras, elephants, rhinos, lions, ostrich, wildebeest, baboons, DLAs (deer like animals), jackals, hippos, and crested cranes. We saw a confused baby wildebeest chasing an ostrich for over ... read more
February 18th 2011
After spending a month in Kigali, we drove south to the rainforest with friends to a five star lodge. Six hours later, we arrived at the lodge set in the midst of a tea plantation bordering the rainforest. The main building incorporated the best of Rwandan art with modern design. Our room was part of a cabin with a balcony overlooking the forest and a giant bathtub. We spent the weekend dining on excellent food, hiking, playing cards, and getting massages at the spa. The hike included the new canopy walk, over 200 feet off the ground giving us an amazing view. ... read more
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