On Saturday I flew from Réunion to Madagascar, arriving in the afternoon at Ivato International Airport. After spending the night there, we got an early start for the drive to Andasibe. We had three separate visits to Analamazaotra National Park to get a look at lemurs and other endemic species, both plant and animal. Here’s…
I had no idea what to expect on the island of Réunion. I don’t know anyone who’s ever been here, and I didn’t really do a lot of advance research. But what I’ve discovered is that this is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Or at least it’s one of the most…
My last two days in Mauritius included a day of rest, a speedboat tour of neaerby islands, and a visit to Aapravasi Ghat. I sorely needed the day of rest. Seeing Mauritius by boat was definitely worth doing. Aapravasi Ghat gave me a welcome dose of history.
Mauritius is small enough that you can drive from one side or one end to the other in about an hour. And based on the road signs I’ve seen, it is divided into two zones: “The North” and “The South.” On Friday I had a tour of “The North.” (The hotel where I’m staying is also…
It took from early afternoon Monday to early afternoon Thursday (albeit with a ten-hour time change), but I finally made it to Mauritius. I want to share a little about the journey and how I’ve settled in, and I want to take this opportunity to write just a little about Mauritius history.
Turkish Airlines offers a free hotel if you have a long layover at IST. I took advantage and I’m now at the Renaissance Polat Hotel enjoying a stopover in Istanbul.
Two of my favorite trips have been adventures where animal encounters were the point. I love observing wild animals, whether on land, in the air, on the water, or under the water. So it should be no surprise that Madagascar has been a place I’ve been eager to visit for a long time. Over 90%…
The final stop on my tour of Central Asia was Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. And after the chilly days in Issyk Kul, it was pleasant and warm for our last days before heading home.
Issyk Kul is the second largest high-altitude lake in the world (after Lake Titicaca). It is also the eighth-deepest lake in the world, the eleventh-largest lake by volume, and the second-largest saline lake. Since it’s at an altitude of just about one mile above sea level, it tends to be chilly here, though the lake…
I’m now in a place with very slow wifi, so I will not say much about the day and a half I spent in Almaty. Which is okay, since there’s not much to say about a place when there’s so little time to explore it.
Visiting the State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan named after I.V. Savitsky (aka the Nukus Museum of Art) was a highlight of my time in Uzbekistan. To my thinking, there’s really no other reason to go to Nukus. It’s a very ordinary, borderline-ugly city in the middle of the desert. It took…
My OAT trip leader said that the real beauty of Khiva can be found inside the buildings. But I can’t agree. It’s true that entering many of the monuments reveals glorious, colorful tile work. And most of the exteriors are dull, monochromatic, adobe-like, and mud-colored. But for me, I’m not sure I didn’t appreciate the cityscape…
