Page 2 of Firefly Travel Blog Posts


Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney August 25th 2009

Now where did i leave off? Day 2 - Monday Aug 24 Bridge Climb!!! Day 2 started with a bit of a scavenger hunt to find my way to the famous harbor bridge. I had a bit of trouble sorting out the buses. The drivers apparently don't accept cash between 7 am and 7 pm. So I had to figure out where to buy a ticket, then figure out which bus would get me to where I want to go. I finally made it there with just enough time. We were greeted with a video, put into a gray suit with a belt, radio, headset and ball and chain to shackle us to the bridge. There was a girl from the US, traveling with 2 friends, who was quite freaked out to be climbing. I was ... read more
My Bridge Climb Group at the summit
the Rocks
the Rocks

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney August 23rd 2009

Sydney I'm happy to report, i'm reporting from the other side of the world! I've only been here the better part of 2 days, but as usual, i'll report my completely subjective reflections on the city. Sydney is in a word, "surprising" on several accounts. First off, it's SOOOOOO unbelievably expensive. The conversion rate is roughly $1 US to $1.1 AUD, but with credit card fees, I think it's closer to 1:1. I don't know how people survive here. Here are some prices: Snickers bar- $2.40, small bottle of coke: $3.00, 1 liter bottle of water- $3.00, ice cream cone- $5.00. It's shocking. So much so, that i already found my way to the cheapest grocery store i could find and bought some spaghetti and sauce to cook in my hostel. I took $60 out of ... read more
LAX
Dawn
Dijeridoo Demonstration

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito April 4th 2007

Well, here we are, wrapping up almost 10 months of the most amazing trip of my life. Thanks so much for sharing it with me & for coming along on all my adventures. I am so sad to be at the end of this wonderful journey, but thankful for the experiences. Here's a tally of it all, and a final parting note at the end. Tallyin' It Up Months On the Road - 10 Countries visited - 10 Number of Food Poisonings - 2 Number of long haul (2 hours or more) buses - 52 Overnight buses taken - 14 Longest bus ride - 31 hours in Brazil Worst bus experience - 18 hours on a broken down, smelly bus in the middle of a polluted beach in Peru Favorite Country - ECUADOR, for its unimaginable ... read more
Iguanazu Hostal, Ecuador
Oops i did it again
Reunion

South America » Colombia » Cartagena March 7th 2007

Sorry folks, a little behind here on the blog. But many of you were bad little subscribers and didnt leave me comments on my last blog anyway. Shame on you. Cartagena, what can i say. Sun, beaches, relaxation, bliss....... This was the R and R i was looking for. As soon as i arrived, aside from the rather militant security at the airport, it was clear how lovely the people were. Friendly, kind, went out of their way to help you. What a relief from the struggle of Brasil. And it was WARM and humid at night and hot during the day. Just how i like it!!! And i was beachside. Need i say more..... Aside from the insanity of the street vendors, who were like locusts, Cartagena is a completely wonderful place. But the street ... read more
Panama City Coastline
Panama City
Hard Rock Cafe Panama

South America » Brazil » Amazonas » Manaus February 22nd 2007

So when we left our gypsy nomad, she was in search of R and R in the form of gorgeous white sand beaches and cocunut drinks, up the coast of Brazil. Truth is, the majority of the time has been spent in transition. Grrr. my unfavoritist part of traveling. Monster, is that a word? It is now. From Salvador I ventured to Olinda, a recommended stop. There were a few cute happy colored buildings, but a faint copy at best of Salvador, minus the cool vibe. But my hostel had a hammock lounge and a pool, so it was a nice stop for a day. Next day i headed towards Praia do Pipa, a beach town several travelers had raved about. Kindof a hassle getting there- 2 buses and a mini van. Turns out i found ... read more
Salvador
Salvador
My Capoeira teacher

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro February 6th 2007

Hey folks, looks like the subscriber alerts have been suspended from this site for a while. I hope that explains the lack of comments i got on my last blog. If you didn´t see it, go back one blog. Please drop me a comment so I know people are still interested!!! thanks So my plan was to head up the coast of Uruguay to Salto and then cross back over into Argentina on the way to Iguazzu Falls. Plan foiled on the day of travel when i found that hostel availability and bus connections were iffy. So re-grouping on the fly, I backtracked to Buenos Aires via boat and bus and caught the 18 hour bus out to Puerto Iguazzu the next day. Ended up splurging on the "bus cama", which was sooo worth it- 2 ... read more
Butterfly-Iguazzu Falls
Iguazzu Falls
Favela Tour


Greetings from Uruguay! Tour is over and i am once again wondering the globe solo. Once we left Ushuaia, we only stopped once on the way back up to Buenos Aires. Our driver was in a rush to get home early to a friends wedding, so unfortunately for us, that meant waking us up at 5 am for 15 hour drive days and camping by the side of the road. But by the middle of the first drive day, it warmed up enough in the truck to layer down to short sleeves. And by the second day, we were able to walk around outside in short sleeves. It was a bloody miracle. (And now i am SO curious to know why the Pacific side was so cold but as soon as we started up the Atlantic, ... read more
Puerto Madryn
Armadillo, Valdez Penninsula
penguin colony, Valdez Penninsula

South America » Argentina » Tierra del Fuego » Ushuaia January 1st 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM USHUAIA, THE SOUTHERNMOST CITY IN THE WORLD!!!! Hope you all had a very happy holiday season. Let's see, how to catch you up on my adventures.... First, I spent a few days in Santiago. a city i LOVED. They have a great subway system- clean and efficient. I found it to be such a sweet sleepy little city with great weather. The first night I met a guy from Colorado who I got along splendidly with. We ended up scouring Santiago, end to end, to find an iPod for me for my long travel days. We found the American style mall, complete with you know what (starbucks-yipppeeeeee!), I sat on Santa´s lap, had lunch and finally bought an ipod. Then got back to the hostal to realize i couldn´t load any ... read more
Santiago
Starbucks
Santiago

South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Santiago December 13th 2006

Happy Holidays from South America! As many of you know, I have been traveling through South America for 6 months now. If you've been following my blog, you have been sharing in all my experiences and following along on my adventures vicariously. Thank you for your readership and wonderful comments. They help me feel connected back home, and I have cherished each and every one. For those of you who wonder, hey, what the heck has Tana been up to this year?, I am including the highlights here. To my blog fan base, enjoy the recap. (Ps, if you are not subscribed to my blog, you can subscribe at the bottom and will get an email everytime i post- no spam, i promise). On December 14th, I will be joining a month long tour through Patagonia. ... read more
Dolphin Swim, Florida Keys
Sealion, Galapagos, Ecuador
Straddling The Equator, Ecuador

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni December 10th 2006

Great News from Bolivia- MY CAMERA LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got to Sucre, a wonderful civilized, cultured, landscaped city for a bit of a break, signed up for another week of Spanish lessons, and went about asking around for a camera repair man. You would´ve thought i was asking for something that hadn´t been invented yet. But after about 10 shops, I found a young guy who agreed to look at it. $50 lighter, my camera was fixed, sans a few original pieces!!!!! Great news considering my only other lead was a restaurant owner who used to own a camera repair shop but went out of business for lack of customers! Found absolutely nothing even close to my camera around there, so I will hang on extra tight to it now! Sucre was a great time. Took myself ... read more
Sucre, Bolivia
Sucre, Bolivia
Sucre, Bolivia




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