Adventure Travel Photography Blog
Motovun is an Istrian hill town home to just over 500 locals and dramatically located 1,000 feet above vineyards and forest. Parking is located atop the steep, twisty road, though to reach Old Town, visitors must take a steep 10-minute walk uphill. Continue reading “Top Things to Do in Motovun, Croatia”
Our nine-day tour with Mt. Travel Sobek began this morning at 9am. We met our wonderful guides, Stasa who speaks five languages and loves to travel and Domen who holds an MA in Ethnology and Cultural anthropology and is also an adventurer.
Our group included two sets of friends (including me and Page), four couples and representative from Mt. Travel Sobek’s California office. Four of the group were meeting us later due to flight delays and other plans. As such, nine of us loaded into our two vans with our guides who drove us three hours in the rain past agricultural fields and through mountains to Bale in Istria, Croatia. Istria, located in the northwest corner of Croatia is known for its olive oil, wine and truffles. We are looking forward to our hiking and culinary tour! Continue reading “Top Things to Do in Bale, Croatia”
After a nightmare powder test on my Tailwind supplement which tested positive for an explosive, I finally boarded the plane and eventually made it to Zagreb, Croatia via Munich and an Über ride for 110 Kunas (much cheaper than a taxi) uneventfully.
Zagreb is the capital city of Croatia and is home to one out of every six Croatians with a population of 790,000. Zagreb is the result of a merger in 1850 of two medieval towns, Gradec and Kaptol as Croatia struggled under control of several foreign powers including Budapest, Vienna, Berlin and Belgrade. Continue reading “36 Hours in Zagreb, Croatia”
My tennis peeps and I took a weekend getaway from Denver to Buena Vista. We mixed up our time between outdoor activities and relaxation. Here are some top things to do in Buena Vista, Continue reading “Top Things to Do in Buena Vista”
I went to Antigua, Guatemala for a volunteer trip that took place just before Easter. After learning Antigua holds the largest Easter celebration in the world which commemorates the Passion, the Crucifix and the Resurrection of Jesus, I extended my trip five days in order to see the elaborate carpets and processions.
The festivities come from an Andalusian tradition brought over by the Spanish missionaries in the 16th Century. While processions take place every Sunday of lent, the majority of the activities take place from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday during Semana Santa (Holy Week).
HAPPY EASTER!
Our final day at the school was really long, but wonderful. On the second day, not as many people were there and of the kids who were there the girls were more interested in tying bottles while the boys were more interested in kicking the soccer ball.
Continue reading “Building a Bottle School in Los Potrerillos, Guatemala (Day 3)”
We started today by touring the cemetery next door to our hotel in San Martín Jilotepeque. Graves dated back to the 1800’s. I love all the colors of the mausoleums. Mausoleums painted in colors entomb Mayans, while those painted in all white, entomb Catholic. A combination of white and color constitutes a grave for a mixed person. There were quite a few colored graves in this community, home to 87% indigenous people.
Continue reading “Visiting Chwa Nima Ab’aj also known as the Ruins of Mixco Viejo”
We were so busy and had such a long day yesterday that today was the first day we could hardly even check out the hotel or see San Martín Jilotepeque. The Hotel Posada de Don José in San Martín Jilotepeque was suitable for the area. The outside was nicely painted and adorned with flower boxes. The two floors of hotel rooms lined either side of an indoor driveway where the hotel owners parked their cars.
Continue reading “Building a Bottle School in Los Potrerillos (Day 2)”
Today I took a tour to Chichicastenango. It was a bit of a drive from Guatemala City and originally wasn’t in my plan. But it only cost me $15 more to do the whole tour than it did just to get to Antigua which is where I needed to be by dinner time for our volunteer project introductions.
Mario picked me up at 5am. As we exited the city on the four-lane road with a median, traffic was already mounting. One of our two lanes was marked off by cones. It wasn’t long before I saw cars driving on our side of the street toward us. I gathered that this is the way Guatemala creates an HOV lane? I’m not sure.
Continue reading “A Day in Chichicastenango, Guatemala”
I spent my last day in Cartagena fishing with Ecotours Boquilla. Ecotours Boquilla offers a variety of tours, but I thought the fishing tour on a kayak in the mangroves from 7am to 1pm would be the most fun. I have kayaked in the mangroves and I have fished, but I haven’t put the two together. Continue reading “Fishing in Boquilla’s Mangroves”