The Blue Lagoon is Iceland's most visited attraction, located in Grindavik, it attracts thousands upon thousands of tourists to Iceland each year. The meet-up was scheduled to take place at ten past ten past ten. But after a long Saturday night, the group was unable to get together until after 12:00 noon. Hrafn the Icelander was kind enough to pick us from our hotel (the Radisson Blu Saga) for the half hour drive to the Blue Lagoon. I must commend him because, he had stayed up till 5:00 am from the night before. We were 5 altogether, including my husband Mark, myself, Sarah, Julie and Hrafn. Now this was not part of our Golden Circle Tour, we did this independently as it was convenient to do so in preparation for the Arctic Travbuddy Meet-up. The Blue ... read more

In 2009, I decided to go on the famed tour of Alcatraz. Prior to that time, I had only heard of the many attractions that existed in San Francisco. Among the attractions I heard about, was the Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. When I finally made it there, I was amazed at what I saw; the crowds, the activities, museums, art galleries, restaurants and shopping centers. There is an interesting history behind the name of the attraction; Fisherman’s Wharf. During the Gold Rush, Italian fishermen settled in the area around the bay and fished for dungeness crabs. Because the activity around, the area around Pier 39 is now called the fisherman’s Wharf. The main fishing fleet of San Francisco call this home even to present day. The wharf was created by Henry Meiggs as "Meiggs Wharf" ... read more

I visited Los Angeles with a friend of mine from Simi Valley. This was actually my first time to the big city and a first to Hollywood Boulevard. Hollywood is a magical world of movies, a place where dreams come true and dreams die (double edged sword). For a layman like me, a visit to Hollywood was like taking a child to a candy store, I was very excited going in, but by the time I left I was wondering what the fuss was all about. But I got my Hollywood, and LA fix. Of course I did not know what to expect except for what I had seen in the movies or heard from people had visited there. The fact is, not all movies are made/ filmed in Hollywood, better yet on the famous Hollywood ... read more

For about 3 consecutive years, I visited South Africa and only stopped in Johannesburg, however my luck changed when my boyfriend of 3 years Don, decided we needed some quality time and booked a 10 days trip to Cape Town in 2002. We began preparing for our trip three weeks ahead. Since I worked for a travel agency, I booked our trip through my company and had Don take care of the visa processing with the embassy. Being a diplomat and all, getting our visas was a breeze once the embassy had the tickets, hotel reservation and the bank statements needed to prove we were returning back to the country of origination. It never ceases to amaze me the requirements for visas in my country (well foreign embassies in my country especially). By the time we ... read more

Climbing the tallest mountain in Africa is no piece of cake, but it has been done by thousands if not millions of people. In my review on the Marangu Route, I did mention that it is not a climb that should be attempted without a guide. This review is about the toughest and most difficult route to Uhuru peak (the summit of Kilimanjaro). Mountain Kilimanjaro towers over 19,300 feet above sea level (19,340 to be exact), making it the tallest free standing mountain in the world. By the time I attempted climbing to Uhuru peak using the Machame Route, I had climbed the Marangu 4 times. The Machame route has incredible scenery, with amazing backdrops the higher in altitude one gets. The different vegetation is what makes it the most scenic of the two popular routes: ... read more