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Stage Three: Lake Nakuru to Amboseli
Early starts are par for the course when you’re on safari, so by the time we hit Saturday the alarm is going off at 5:15am for the fourth morning in a row and is going to carry on doing so for a few days yet. A dense mist lies over the lake, obscuring most of it from view, and a heavy dew hangs in liquid baubles from plants bent over by the weight. Birds sing and baboons talk: wildlife doesn’t need an alarm clock. When we chose the itinerary for our safari week, we opted for the one which would take us to five of Kenya’s great safari regions, an…
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Stage Two: Maasai Mara To Lake Nakuru
We’re not always one hundred per cent certain about visits to tribal villages, it’s sometimes a thin line between an authentic experience and something touristy and exploitative, and it’s hard to tell the difference beforehand. Whichever, the bottom line is that the time honoured customs of the local people will be being impacted one way or another by the influx of tourist money, there’s no getting away from that. But here, in a new country and deep into the Maasai Mara, our desire to learn more of their culture outweighs the doubts and we commit to an early morning sortie. As it turns out, it’s not touristy, it’s definitely not…
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Safari Stage One: Into The Maasai Mara
Our base for the first two nights of the safari adventure is Jambo Mara Lodge, where we are greeted by staff bearing those heartwarming smiles which are already becoming very familiar since our arrival in Kenya, and then by baboons swinging from the trees immediately outside our window. Every now and again a playful one leaps from the tree and pitter patters across our tin roof as if to warn us that this is the territory of the animals and not of mankind. The approach through the Maasai Mara to Jambo has brought us through tiny villages which bear ever more recognisable features of the Maasai people, until in the…
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Iguazu Wildlife
Our week or so on the Brazil-Argentina border may not have been our most spectacular ever in terms of spotting wildlife, but it had its moments – moments dominated by butterflies. Here’s some nature shots to wind up that part of this trip….
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Michaela’s Favourite Photographs: #7 Fishing Grounds
Puerto Escondido, Mexico 2018. There has to be at least one wildlife shot in a collection such as this. Each of the seven beaches of Puerto Escondido has a character all of its own, ranging from gentle family friendly waters to the giant rollers of the Mexican Pipeline surfing beaches. The pelicans, perhaps counter intuitively, gather on the town beach closest to civilisation – but then, this is also where the fishermen are, fish must be at their most plentiful right here. This shot combining the majesty of a big bird with the power of the waves perfectly captures part of the essence of the town beach.
- Central America, History, Independent travel, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife
Tortuguero: Beyond Roads
Two of Cahuita’s most colourful characters are downtown on our last night in the village, firstly the “Latin Hendrix” who is again strumming his guitar and wisecracking in Luisa restaurant, seemingly amusing himself as much as anyone else, like all good performers. Our other new friend Boa, meanwhile, is in Coco’s Bar and has obviously had more than enough booze already, his normally darting eyes unfocussed and his walk decidedly unsteady. We chat for a while, kind of, until a waiter tells Boa that it’s time for him to go home, and by his actions it’s clear that Boa is intending to ride his motor bike home despite being too…
- Central America, History, Independent travel, Photography, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife, World food
Spiders, Snakes & Reggae: Tales Of The Caribbean
Cahuita village sits neatly on a small rounded headland jutting out into the Caribbean from the lush green jungle, with two very different beaches either side of its centre, Playa Negra and Playa Blanca. As the names would suggest, one consists of black volcanic sand, the other the pristine white sand of tropical paradise, the latter inside the national park. In between the two, rocky deposits of dead coral form a natural barrier. After a couple of false starts we find some properly tasty Caribbean food, our enjoyment of which is enhanced by the live music of a local character nicknamed the “Latin Hendrix”. We’d actually read about this guy…
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Eastwards To The Caribbean
The time has come to move on and bid farewell to La Fortuna and its imposing, looming volcano, and farewell to all of the great things that the Arenal area has to offer. Our week in La Fortuna has been so full of experiences and activity that we’ve barely mentioned how settled we’ve felt here. This town may be a popular destination for visitors to Costa Rica, but for us it’s been just the right blend of plenty of options without being over cooked. Recommendation wise, our favourite restaurants have been Snapper’s House with its fabulous seafood, a sumptuous family run Peruvian restaurant named Chifa La Familia Feliz, and a…
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La Fortuna: Lava Flows And Laughter
With mountains and volcanoes meaning a lack of decent roads, transport options from Monteverde to the Arenal region are limited, with the road option being long and laborious. Most travellers therefore take the route known locally as “jeep boat jeep”, although these days due to its popularity the “jeep” bits are by minibus. A 90-minute ride along unmade roads which are really nothing more than farm tracks brings us to a muddy slope at the edge of Lake Arenal, where large white egrets hunt for fish and swallows swoop overhead. There is a regular stream of minibuses depositing travellers here, bringing enough people to fill several of the little boats,…
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Into The Cloud Forest: From The Sea To The Sky
Bidding farewell to Reymar is like saying goodbye to a friend, he has been one of the most helpful and sociable hosts we have ever had on our travels. As we pull out of Quepos bus station, we are very conscious of leaving the lovely high temperatures behind as we head towards the colder air of the mountains and cloud forests. The bus journey from Quepos to Monteverde is a bit less comfortable than the earlier journey from San Jose, in fact it borders on gruelling by the end of the long day. First it’s three and a half hours along the Pacific coast to Puntarenas where, after a bit…
