We've seen so many ruins over the past few weeks it's been amazing and kinda of mind boggling. The mediterranian is such a beautiful place. The turquoise waters mixed with beautiful hotels, boat trips and ancient sunken and lost cities have been incredible. We're just about to head home now but we've downloaded some pictures of a little of what we saw. Our trip started on the eastern coast of Anatalya. We travelled along the south coast through Kas, Olympus, Fethiye and up the Agean coast to Ephesus, Kusadasi, Izmir, Troy and Gallipoli. We then headed to Greece took a side [View Full Entry]

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We left Istanbul and headed inland to Cappadocia. It's incredible here, the landscape is like something from a different planet. There are solid towering cones all over the landscape that were formed from ancient volcanic erosion. The locals call the cone- like formations "fairy Chimney's". Apparently because they couldn't imagine humans building them, so they figured fairies did (?). The history in this region is quite overwhelming and we hardly managed to get it all. But, it's mentioned in the bible and has been inhabited since the 6th century BC! Many of the caves were transformed into func [View Full Entry]

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Our ultimate goal was to make it to Turkey by the end of the trip. We had both heard so many stories about how wonderful Istanbul was and it didn't dissappoint us. The city seemed to go on forever and was so full of smells and sounds. On one corner you could find the black sea and then just a short drive and you could be on the Sea of Marmara, leading into the Aegean. There were whirling dervishes (can't get enough of those guys...wish you were here Mandy), Sultan palaces with harem rooms, ancient mosques/churches and ruins galore. The highlight [View Full Entry]

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We kind of left Africa with a little pang. As frusturating as it was from time to time, it was always exciting, new and somewhat challenging. It was never for a second dull. When we arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, everything felt so sterile and easy. The interesting part was that we could just sit and relax, take a breath and not really worry about anything. Nobody stared, nobody called us 'tubop' (Sengalese for white), nobody badgered us for anything and, because Peter arranged for a rented car during our time here, we didn't even have to bother with a taxis! We [View Full Entry]

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Ils Du Goree ıs located just off the coast of Dakar, though ıt feels lıke a mıllıon miles away from the cıty. It´s peaceful and quıte, fresh and surrounded by clean crystal water. The colonıal strustures that have been destroyed around the maınland stıll stand on Goree and make for beautıful scenery. The ısland ıs unfortuntaly famous for ıt´s connectıon wıth the slave trade. It´s true hıstory ıs a lıttle merky, and the actual extent of the the ıslands ınvolvment ıs unclear, but ın [View Full Entry]

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Travel is so easy in South East Asia. Generally, you arrive at the bus station, buy a ticket and have a cushy, air conditioned drive to where ever. Not in Africa. There is little to no public transport in many African countries, so most travel is done using 4WD vehicles or "sept-place" taxis, French for "7 seats". That's 7 people crowd into a little wagon that seats 7 (5.5) people. On first glance the whole ordeal just appears very haphazard and confusing, but once you get the hang of it, there's quite a rhythm to the madness. I've met my fair [View Full Entry]

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We're quite far behind on our blog entries. If we have had internet, it's been painfully slow, so pictures have been pretty much out of the question until now. It's hard to know where to begin describing Senegal. I regret not taking a tape recorder and as much as I don't want to smell many of the scents of Dakar ever again, it would be an effective way to convey some of the chaos that is Senegal. An English traveller referred to Tanzania as "proper Africa", which it was, but I guess then that Senegal is just a poorer version of [View Full Entry]

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Who would have thought that it'd be hot in Africa's Sahara Desert in the summer?? Somewhere, somehow, Peter and I neglected that minor detail when we set off with our little, rented Renault. Holding tight to our budget, we also neglected to investigate the car rental personnel's look of curiosity when we said 'no' to the more expensive car, with A/C. It's difficult to explain how hot +50 is, but the best way, is to sit in your oven right before you put in the Turkey... a convection oven would be perfect...the ones that blow the hot air around. As a [View Full Entry]

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Our blog entries are a little out of sequence, this is mainly due to internet connections and general frustration. In between Marrakesh and the Sahara, we toured to the coast, Essaouaria and then inland to Ait Benhaddou and the Todre and Dades Gorges before reaching the desert. We rented a car and as it turned out, it was a good idea, A/C or not, mainly because we got to see a little of everything and in a shorter time than if by bus. After leaving the sweltering Marakesh, we arrived in Essaouaria. It was a beautiful little town on the coast [View Full Entry]

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Well about 30 hours out of Zanzibar via Nairobi via Amsterdam via Heathrow via Gatwick we arrive in Marrakesh. All this instead of flying direct from Tanzania to Marrakesh to save a mere $2000.00! Thanks to Ben for providing us with comfort, a much needed shower and a great meal at a Thai restaurant during our brief stay in London. We didn't get the heat in "Africa Proper" re Tanzania/Kenya, as one of our fellow English travellers said, but we sure got it now! 45 degrees was waiting for us at Marrakesh airport. Off we went to try our bargaining skills [View Full Entry]

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