http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/cjschw/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from cjschw en-us Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:40:24 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:40:24 +0000 So now that I am back in school MBA I get a Spring Break so this year for spring break Haley and I took a trip down to Trinidad and Tobago TT. TT are a set of Caribbean islands just off the coast of Venezuela. Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the main islands Tobago is much smaller comprising about 6 of the total area and 4 of the population. I was very interested to check http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Trinidad-and-Tobago/Tobago/blog-384158.html We left Luxor on a late night flight out of the local airport and arrived in Sharm El Shek around 1130pm. We had arranged for a driver from our hotel to pick us up but he was no where too be found. So here we are sitting at the local terminal at midnight in Sharm Egypt trying to figure out how the hell we were going to get to Dahab which was over an hour away. Luckily I was able to borrow the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Sinai/Dahab/blog-360323.html Las VegasZion National ParkThe drive to the north rim of the Grand CanyonBryce Canyon National ParkCedar Breaks National ParkHoover Damn http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/Zion-National-Park/blog-251394.html Haley and I had to end our Christmas celebrations with my family in Stanton VA a little early so that we could begin our long trek to Egypt. After a 3 hour drive a 5 hour bus ride and a 10 hour flight we arrive in Cairo. A trip that only took us a day or so but when we stepped out of the airport we both felt a world away. I am continually amazed that I can get into a plane in New York City a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-358738.html We took full advantage of Tims' hospitality and not only showered but washed some of our clothing. Amber was actually ended up doing it and she turned it into a bit of a game who has the dirtiest clothing. The level of dirtiness was measured by how many rinses it took before the water didn't turn black anymore. I am proud to say that the original Schwalm family jeff and I both tied at li http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/blog-292193.html My brother and his wife are both teachers so they are blessed with a summer break. This year for their break they went on a cross country trip I was lucky enough to convince them to let me join the road trip for the Las Vegas Nevada to Portland Oregon leg. It is very much a national parks and camping oriented trip which suited me very well as I have been eager to do some camping.Las VegasLa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-291164.html Imagine that you are on a long road trip and want to get out of the car to stretch your legs or go to the bathroom behind a tree or get a closer angle for a picture of a bird. Then think of the feeling that you get when you realize that if you do get out of the car you could potentially be EATEN by a LION . That is the only way that I can convey the feeling that is ever present while in South A http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Kruger-National-Park/blog-256835.html Against all initial advice well from everyone save Freeman I decided to go cage diving with the GREAT WHITES in a small town not too far from where we were staying in Hermanus. And damn....what an experience. There is actually not that much to talk about just check out the photos. Haley Freeman and I all decided to go Natalie was not feeling so hot. The small fishing village of Gansbaai wh http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Gansbaai/blog-256740.html Haley and I have finally started our South African trip. One that we started planning over a year ago. One that seemed so far away for so long...but has finally come around. After dating a South African for 2 years you can believe that I have heard PLENTY of stories complaints bragging that all started with In South Africa we ltfill in the blankgt so I was excited to finally go to the c http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-253441.html As a memorial to my grandmother who died in the Fall my parents decided to have a family bonding event. That event took 13 of us to Playa del Carmen south of Cancun for 3 night. After countless hours of research trying to find a date that worked for all we settled on January 31 through Feb. 3rd. The trip included my parents of course Lisa and her fiance Nate Jeff and his wife Amber m http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Quintana-Roo/Playa-del-Carmen/blog-251391.html Since this blog is so old I will just add a short description. This was our mine and haley's second trip to Puerto Rico and we really wanted to explore as much as possible. On our first trip we did what everyone seemed to recommend and stayed in the north eastern corner where we took in the rain forests and the white sand islands. This time we wanted to try to see a side of Puerto Rico that mo http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/blog-200794.html On our last day in Yangshuo one of my favorite destinations ever we decided to rent a scooter and check out as much of the countryside as possible. Our butts and legs were still somewhat sore from the mountain biking adventures on the previous day. Finding a scooter that would fit the both of us was somewhat difficult. I had 091something close to093 a handdrawn map a scooter with a ful http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Yangshuo/blog-164465.html The past few days have been extremely busy and eventful I'll try to catch up you all with some of the highlights. The Great Wall of China was quit impressive. We joined a small tour group organized through our hostel to the more remote part of the great wall. We actually passed the most popular refinished section of the great wall and where pretty amazed. Amazed at not only the size of the wal http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Yangshuo/blog-162716.html Hey guys guess what...I'm in China and sooo excited to be here Day 0.5 So the flight over was some what painless. I can normally sleep anywhereanytime and did some of the on the 16 hour flight but I also discovered that it is much easier to sleep when you are not someone Else's pillow Interesting note about the flight we went directly over the north pole on a sunny clear day so H http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-161841.html Puerto RiconbspCentral America Caribbean raquonbspPuerto Rico By cjschwMarch 13th 2007Chris SchwalmPlease seehttpwww.travelblog.orgCentralAmericaCaribbeanPuertoRicoblog137837.htmlfor my entry for Puerto Rico I got lazy on that tripI will add more photo's eventually http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/blog-161840.html I have to admit things are going pretty well. We have been walking probably close to 13 miles a day...we walk from sun up to sun down. and mom's a trooper. Mom has a really detailed description of our day at Chichi so I'll just hit some of the highlights. I was hoping to get mom on a chicken bus....something that everyone especially an exbus driver should experience in Central America. But alas http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Antigua/blog-100864.html My mom and I made a last minute decision to take advantage of her teacher work days and have a short holiday to Guatemala. We have talked about traveling together for years and finally it has happened. We both were extremely excited about this trip for some of the same reasons as well as different reasons. For me I was excited to take mom on her own adventure. She has been living vicariously th http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Antigua/blog-100360.html I thought that I would take this blog and talk all about bargaining and the markets. While traveling one will often spend a good amount of time around the markets buying souvenirs for loved ones at home or just roaming the streets. I know that Haley and I have spent a ton of time in the back streets of Morocco hunting down the most unique gifts at the lowest prices possible. Not only is it r http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/Marrakech/blog-93457.html Haley and I have covered a lot of ground since we arrived last Friday. We have spent time in Marrakesh in the High Atlas mountains a camel trek through the Sahara and now some time on the Moroccan Coast in a really relaxing town called Essaouira or something like that. This place seems to be loaded with tourists maybe even more so then Marrakesh but regardless it has really nice vibe.We lu http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/Essaouira/blog-93047.html We just got back from the most amazing three days in Morocco. Who would have known you could see so much diversity in one place. So as I said at the end of the last update Haley and I met a small group of Australians Chaz Selwyn Travis and Nyree and signed up for a three day tour from Marrakech to the Sahara through this trip we would visit the High Atlas mts. the valley of roses no ros http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Souss-Massa-Dra-/Mount-Toubkal/blog-92779.html