fer de lance

After a couple of days in Chichen Itza region, it was time to move up North. Road East to Valladolid is forested and little villages are seen here and there. Moving up North after Valladolid, the vegetation gets scarce and especially after Tizimin, vegetation is of type of tropical savanna and ranches are abundant. We arrived at Rio Lagartos. It's a small fishing village at the end of the road, on the side of a lagoon. It's part of the Ria Lagartos natural reserve: A mix of lagoons, shrub forests, beaches and mangroves. The day after we took a boat tour to explore mangroves. It's a renowned place to see flamingos...but season was not perfect and we saw only a handful from afar. 13 years ago, we were in Celestun on the West coast of Yucatan, ... read more

We all have different points of interests and tastes in travels. Some prefer to see different cultures and meet people, others are foodies, others like architecture and others are more nature oriented. I am of the latter type. But with some attractions, interests might converge. Even If I prefer nature, I don't want to miss big impressive monuments. I wouldn't do a detour for door handles or balconies, but for very large structures, yes. :-) I have been to Mexico a couple of times, and have then visited a couple of archaeological sites: Teotihuacan , (huge and impressive), Palenque and Calakmul ,(mayan sites in middle of the tropical forest that make you feel like an explorator, especially Calakmul), Tulum, (not big but really beautiful because of the proximity of the turquoise Caribbean sea. Then there's Chichen ... read more

It's one of the classics of Costa Rica tourism: along with la Fortuna/Arenal and Monteverde, there's Manuel Antonio. It's the smallest national park, and it's very beautiful with forest, mangroves, beaches, islets and fauna. The road from Quepos (5km as crows fly), is filled with hotels, restaurants, and all sorts of activities, (zip lining, atv locations, horse riding, etc...). On the way, many wonderful views of little bays surrounded by greenery. Our hotel, was the last one before the park. We arrived on a Saturday, so the beach in front, (Espadilla), was full of tourist and locals. The day after, we visited the park. You need to reserve your ticket in advance online, to make sure you can enter as there's a maximum number of persons allowed per day. The park, is very well maintained. If ... read more

The boat arrive to Drake Bay. No dock, so you need to walk barefoot in the sea to reach the coast. This adds to the experience. :-) Drake Bay village is not compact as many little hills and ravines are interspersed all over the place. Our transport brought us inland in Los Planes little village, close to one of corcovado's entrance. We rented a small hut, directly beside the forest. Gardens are splendid and full of birds!! I also saw tapir's tracks near my hut. They sometimes come in the night to graze on some of the plants garden's. One thing I noticed is the abundance of big birds like toucans and macaws which you can see and hear all day. I got good shots of toucans. For the macaws, it's a bit different: they are ... read more

What classic? I'll come back to that... We left the Forillon park, and headed South. At Pointe-St-Pierre, there's a small peninsula that you can stop at. There, a view point allows you to look for sea birds on closed by rocks and whales. Further South-West, reached Belle-Anse. It's located in a bay. Across the bay, about 10km away, you can see the classic from afar.... The Quebec's classic tourist spot is the Rocher Percé, (litt. pierced rock). It's described as a massive siliceous limestone stack formation, with sandstone and siltstone veins, with steep rock faces on all sides. It is 433 metres (1,421 ft) long, 90 metres (300 ft) wide, and 88 metres (289 ft) high at its highest point. It is described as a narrow bluff emerging out of the sea, "resembling a beached supertanker ... read more