http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Nomadic-Dreams/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Nomadic Dreams en-us Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:41:45 +0000 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:41:45 +0000 Key West Florida Fantasy Fest So Fantasy Fest... what is it It's a amalgam of Rio's Carnival New Orleans' Mardi Gras and Key West flare There's a lot of exposed flesh David loves the boobies cheap drinks 1 jellow shots 2 beers 4 cocktails and a laidback fun attitude that only Key West can provide. This year's theme was Villains Vixens and Vampires although the highlight http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-450357.html We found Morocco to be not only a photographer's dreamland but an exotic escape the sights and sounds of Arabia legendary souks medieval alleys colorful carpets pungent smells bold spices towering ruins beautiful minarets spectacular rock formations camels wandering into the sunset of the Sahara... But the sparkling allure quickly faded as we grappled with the annoyances Morocco brings http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-402757.html September 8 2005We caught an early morning bus to Manuel Antonio the last destination in our wonderful escapade. Again traveling in Costa Rica provided us quite an adventure in and of itself passing on winding roads which barely fit a single car on them steep dirt roads into cloudy read blind turns sprawling coffee fields dilapidated bridges which were actually missing planks that we http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-409171.html One hundred ten degrees. I summon the strength to walk towards the hole. This hole is surrounded by dried mud walls. The hole is full of animated rice some kind of colony of small white worms. One hundred ten degrees. I squat over the hole with beads of sweat rolling down my face and into my eyes. Red dust brutally swirls in the air and sticks to my face. My throat is sore from breathing http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Mali/blog-433655.html September 6 2005On this morning we awoke packed our belongings and waited for a small bus to pick us up at our hotel. I forgot to mention that yesterday we arranged for a ldquoJEEP boat JEEPrdquo trip to Monteverde. We chuckle just thinking about them pronouncing that jEEP boat jEEP. Anyway they packed us in tight and headed to Lake Arenal a giant manmade lake at the base of th http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-409169.html September 4 2005On this bright and sunny morning we caught a bus to La Fortuna a misty mountain village nestled near the base of the active Arenal Volcano Volcn Arenal. This 4 12 hour trip on the bus was an adventure in itself We were the only English speaking people on the bus which seemed to slowly drift from one remote village to the next picking up passengers at any point along the w http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/La-Fortuna/blog-409168.html Off the Florida Keys there's a place called Kokomo.That's where you wanna go to get away from it all.Bodies in the sand tropical drink melting in your hand.We'll be falling in love to the rhythm of a steel drum band down in Kokomo. Aruba Jamaica oooouh I wanna take you to Bermuda Bahamas come on pretty mama. Key Largo Montego Baby why don't we go Ooouh I wanna take you down to KokomoW http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/blog-431732.html September 2 2005At seven orsquoclock in the morning we busily scurried to the airport and merely two and a half hours later we were landing in the capital of Costa Rica San Jose. Actually the airport is located in Alajuela a short 15 minute bus ride from San Jose. And yes we did fight our way through the hundred taxi cab drivers offering rides to find the bus stop where we took a publi http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-409165.html Once in Fes we jumped in a taxi 8DH1 and went to the entrance of the medina Bab Boujeloud. We took off in search of a place to crash and were immediately and constantly nagged questioned and annoyed by the kids trying to take us to their hotels which would have increased the price no doubt. We searched on our own but everywhere we visited was either full or too expensive 1000DH pe http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-409159.html After an hour train ride we arrived in Meknes home to the impressive monuments of Moulay Ismail Morocco's most ruthless sultan who killed 30000 men himself. After multiple hotels in the Ville Nouvelle new part of the city told us they were full we took a taxi 5DH0.63 to the medina and booked our cheapest hotel in Morocco yet 60DH7.50 Woohoo Our guidebooks described the Hote http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-409161.html David felt ill. Was it heat exhaustion Jet lag Dehydration Something he ate Probably a combination but regardless he was feeling miserable by the time we arrived in Merzouga and even worse when we hit the unpaved road to Erg Chebbi. Eventually our minivan stopped at the only manmade structure in the area where we repacked our bags and mounted camels for a 1 12 hour sunset ride into t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-408557.html We wanted to do a camel trek in the Sahara and were really disappointed that we couldn't book one in advance before our trip. All the travel companies we contacted were either full or wanted more than 400 per person. But in Marrakech we visited Sahara Expedition online at and booked a 3 day2 night trip for the astonishingly low price of 950DH 118.75 per person Woohoo Let the advent http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-407706.html Next destination Marrakech the pulse of Morocco.From Casablanca we purchased two train tickets to Marrakech 168DH21. A few sweaty hours later we arrived and asked a taxi driver to take us to the riad guest house we had booked in advance Riad Abbassia online at . Our taxi driver did not have a meter in his car and thus after negotiating what seemed a good price to us 200DH down t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/Marrakech/blog-402607.html Shopping in Marrakech.We're constantly plagued by thoughts inundating our minds about how we were constantly being ripped off while in Morocco. This is a common theme for us as well as most travelers. And we're not talking about paying more for something compared to a local. We're talking about sellers that start the price off at 10 times a reasonable price then insult you and harshly argue wi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/Marrakech/blog-402625.html Casablanca. The word conjures up images of Humphrey Bogart and romance. But that's not exactly what you'll find here. Instead Casablanca is Morocco's largest city and its commercial and industrial hub. It's also home to the aweinspiring Hassan II mosque. This is to date the most impressive religious structure we have seen even surpassing the Vatican. But we're not there yet in fact http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-402603.html