http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/jonathanandzara/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from jonathanandzara en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:54:18 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:54:18 +0000 Our next stop was Ranthanbur for a tiger safari which was fun and we were able to see many animals we thought were only in Africa but no tigers. I would write more about it but were arrived in the evening went on the safari in the morning and left by noon. We did hear may people saw tigers but it's rare. Don't be discouraged its still worth a visit. The landscape is amazing and not what I exp http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaipur/blog-463897.html When traveling to India via Qatar we traveled in luxury. Qatar Airways treats it's economy class passengers like first class. We had hundreds of movies to choose from and two full meals. When the drink cart rolled by I noticed liquor wine and beer. What's the price I asked. It's complimentary anything you need just ask. I could have traveled like that for a week strait but alas we were o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/Delhi/blog-463625.html The following blog was written by Angel Beebe Zara's sister. Here and her mom Sigi met us in Egypt and we really enjoyed our company. Thanks for writing this AngelThe beginning of the trip went pretty smooth from Florida to New York. As soon as we got on CairoAir to fly to Cairo Egypt the ambiance immediately changed. There was a very large Muslim church group a few tourists from around the w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/blog-455027.html After Cape Town we continued along the Garden Route to Hermanus. Here we saw Southern Right Wales off the shore along a wildflower dotted path. These gentle giants slapped their tails against the surface barrelrolled beneath the waves and jumped into the air. Not even the thumping carnival music from the whale festival could distract from their beauty. Our next stop was Outdshoorn ostr http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/blog-453038.html Jonathan eyes furrowed glides pen across paper.Chocolate syrup swirled by brownie crumbs coats two plates.A female monk shaved head red robes slurps soup and asks for chilly sauce.A silent couple buried beneath wool scarves eats from Thali bowls.A tourist reading sips his tea eyes never leaving the page.Indian beggar women clinging to children like blankets against the cold work outs http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Mcleod-Ganj/blog-452877.html Before arriving in South Africa SA I was trepidatious to say the least. I had heard from a few South Africans that things had gotten quite bad there. The news had also been reporting strikes by the workers perpairing for the 2010 World Cup. Even a simple news search would easily pull up dozens of murder related stories. So rightly I was nervous when arriving in Cape Town.Cape Town September 18 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-452876.html Our decision to visit Santorini was initiated as follows. Jonathan Where should we go after Mykonos Zara I don't know. What's another really Greek island How about Santorini I've heard of that one. Jonathan Too far. What about Naxos Hang on I have to check my email. Naxos was described in our guidebook as a beautiful island with magnificent beaches. Santorini a magnifi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Santorini/blog-451895.html August 22 August 28To get to Mykonos we took a slow six hour ferry. Booking and getting to the ferry wasn't a problem however getting a seat was. On the boat Zara and I scouted out the most comfy seats available and found a great spot next to a window. Slowly but surly the seats around us were filling up. Then suddenly people were being evicted from their seats. See you needed a reservation. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Mykonos/blog-450106.html Athens Greece August 1921Athens blew away all expectations and myths well except the Greek myths. I had heard Athens was very smoggy and in places dangerous. Since Zara and I have been to Beijing we were expecting the worst in regards to the smog. However when we arrived we really didn't notice it. We were careful in Athens but never felt in danger.The main reason any tourist visits Athens http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-439407.html Gran Canaria Spain August 5 9 2009The second installment of our time in Spain begins in Gran Canaria. Here we visited my dearest childhood friend Bibi. When we were little our mothers were best friends which made us practically inseparable. But then I moved to the U.S. and she moved to a small island off the coast of Morocco. It's been 13 years since our last visit half my life. Time has d http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Canary-Islands/Gran-Canaria/blog-433728.html August 1016Morocco was our first nonEuropean stop on our trip and was a great introduction of what's to come. Honestly I thought we'd be easing into things with Morocco. I was so wrong.To get to the African continent we took a ferry from S. Spain to Tangier crossing the strait of Gibraltar. We opted for the slow 2.5 hours ferry that left from Algeceras. The ferry itself was quite nice and ve http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-431371.html Our week and a half in Germany was mostly about visiting with friends. We started off in Fulda where we visited my childhood friend Isabel and her family Alex and little Charlotte. They picked us up from the airport in Frankfurt and brought us back to Fulda a quaint German town full of rolling hills and historic sites. Here we visited the oldest church in Germany 802 toured a palace and s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/blog-431370.html First and foremost sorry for not updating our travelblog very often. We do owe all our readers our entries on Germany Switzerland Italy and France. Europe is so big and there is so much to see its hard to find time to keep in touch with family let alone update our travel blog. Plus the internet is so darn expensive here. I promise when we get to Africa and beyond our updates will be more fr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/blog-425324.html Iceland is cold and always sunny well at least while we were there. On our first day we arrived at 7am and weren't able to check into our hotel until 1pm. So we were very tired and had some time to kill. Since we were so cold and already wet from the rain we decided to go to the pool. In Iceland all the water is heated by geothermal energy. The pool was no exception. The water in the different p http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-412791.html The New York leg of our trip got off to a rocky start. We waited in the airport for two hours for our college friend to pick us up but she never showed. We still haven't heard from her so we're not sure what happened there. We finally decided to reserve a hostel and found a nice clean boutique hostel off Broadway. After we got settled we figured hey we're on Broadway let's see a show. So we http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-411195.html Well this is it. We only have 7 days before we leave. Friday was our last day of work and next week we move out of our apartment. During my goodbye's many people were curious as to what we are packing. This was also a questions I have been curious about during my planning too. So I'm going to take this time to layout what exactly is in my bag. This is not to say I need everything I'm packing bec http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Jacksonville/blog-408087.html Sorry everybody for not updating our journal lately. And I feel even worse about skipping at least a week but maybe more to tell you about Hong Kong. I have updated some more Thailand Singapore and Bali pictures so be sure to check those out. Well we have not been in Hong Kong very long we just arrived last night but so far the city seems amazing. Right now it is 800 am and Zara is still asl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-12853.html To Our Friends Family Fellow Travelers and The Strangers We MeetThis is the last day of our journey to the East and I would like to take this time to thank all those who have made it possible. To the those reading this journal who do not know me do not be put off by my personal acknowledgements. Just read on and you may find something of interest to you. First to all of our wonderful frie http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-15476.html Beijing a city of legend myth magic confusion and millions of people. We have been here for about a week now and have stayed in two different locations the first of which was horrible. It was four stories under ground similar to a dungeon and the shared bathroom and shower area was well lets say less than clean. Even though the living conditions were not so good we were in a pretty good http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-14913.html Day OneAfter having been disappointed by Sanur's lack of cultural attractions we ventured on to Benoa. With this tiny village we actually discovered a cultural center within Bali's highly touristed Southern sector. When we arrived we were immediately surprised to find a man who wanted to show us hotels in our price range. Naturally after having met so many sales people in Bali we assumed t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-13387.html