Wonder – Traveling Epic!

Tracking THE Migration: Wildebeest Worlds Largest Migration in the World!

November 10, 2018November 10, 2018Posted in Africa, Animals, National Park, UNESCO, WonderTagged Crater, Manyara, Ngorongo, Serengeti, Tanzania, Zanzibar2 Comments

When I told my guide I wanted to see the the wildebeest migration he told me I’d see so many wildebeest I’d cry. I was up for the challenge. This wasn’t my first African Safari, so I knew I wasn’t going to be satisfied with a herd of a few hundred wildebeest. The family I was with was up for everything. The Serengeti and the Crater is clearly the best places in the world to see the diversity of the world’s last greatest animals like the lion, cheetah, elephant, hippo, rhino and so much more.

Spoiler. I got my moment. I was completely surrounded by a herd of migrating wildebeest who were climbing all over each other falling into ravines and it took me to a moment when I was in southern Utah and saw billions of crickets crawling and consuming everything in their path a mile wide. These wildebeests for a moment were the crickets and I was in that moment looking at them in god mode like they were a swarm of crickets. Incredible life experience.

What many don’t realize is it’s possible to see the Migration all year round. The river crossings are from July to November, the huge herds in Serengeti in April to June and calving season with babies and predators from December to March.

I was looking for moments where all I could see was wildebeest everywhere I looked.

It’s sad how after a couple of days you start rooting for the predators and are hoping a crocodile is in the water.

One major myth is it being hot. We went in July and needed jackets some nights. It was NOT hot, the weather was hotter at home. If you were hoping to go before it became a major tourist destination, with major international tour companies, and fees like you were in a top park. Too late. The fees were quite disappointing. Tanzania knows that the Serengeti is a major international destination and getting accommodations in the park for less than $200 per night are nearly impossible. Just pulling up a random date the cheapest per night is $500 for the 28 properties near Serengeti. Go check booking.com… I’m serious! There are primitive camping options at around $150, but for the most part I found most accommodations are only accessible at reasonable rates only through tour companies. These companies seem to have a monopoly on the prices. If you’re thinking you’ll skip the tour and do the drive yourself after 5 days in the park I can tell you they’ve tightened it up so it’s next to impossible to do yourself. The park fees are $50 per person per day, but included in trip costs if you go through a company. The crater entrance fees $200 per vehicle. Let me get off the topic of fees. It’s not cheap, but please do your research. This can be an epic trip, and very worthwhile. It was two days into the trip that I found out from my driver if I went direct I would have had a better price, and here I thought I had the direct price. We must have priced out 30 or more different outfitters. I’ve seen prices commonly between 5K to 30K for a week for a comprehensive inclusive package.

Ultimately there were 9 of us with my wife and our 9 year old, my brother in law and his son, and my other brother in law his wife and 2 kids. We elected to do 2 different big safari vehicles.

My African Safari family – In the back is our guide.

Yes those are hungry hippos in the background. No they don’t have access to us there’s a 30 ft cliff behind us.

06 Days/5 nights Tanzania Serengeti & Ngorongo Crater Safari

Day 1: Arusha – Lake Manyara National Park Pick up from Arusha
Drive to Lake Manyara with picnic lunch .Arrive and start game
viewing later check out of the park and drive to Karatu .
Dinner and overnight at Country lodge/Eileen tree in/Crater rim
lodge.

You never know when a young elephant might jump out of the forest and be a little upset that you cut her off from her mommy. Let me tell you… they aren’t afraid of cars.

Day 2- Karatu- Serengeti
Depart for Serengeti after breakfast, with picnic lunches, you
will drive via Ngorongoro conservation area. Arrive at the park and
start your game viewing. Later drive to Ikoma/katikati for dinner and
overnight.

Of course you start tracking the big 5. The Leopards are beautiful.

Driving nearly all day tracking animals went by quickly, and the sunsets were spectacular!

Even better when a giraffe would pose.

Day 3- Serengeti – Full day
Spend this day with game drives within the Great Serengeti.
Serengeti is the home to Africa’s Big Five. There will be picnic lunch.
Dinner and overnight at the ikoma Camp

This is Disney in REAL LIFE! Simba headed out on the edge of the rock. Circle of life! Hakuna Matata

(Contact me joel.oleson@gmail.com for use of any of the photos. A couple of them are my nephews.)

Day 4: Serengeti – Transfer to Ngorongoro After breakfast, depart
for Ngorongoro Crater passing through Olduvai Gorge. Enjoy an
introductory game drive as you arrive at the crater as you head to the lodge.
There will be no other game drive so spend the remaining hours at
leisure enjoying walking around the surrounding areas and exploring the
lodge’s facilities. Dinner and overnight at the Rhino
lodge/Country Lodge

Ngorongoro is quiet unique as its physical protection from man
natural beauty ranks it among the most pristine wilderness on the earth.
It has been also declared the world heritage and is the largest
intact crater in the world.

The crater didn’t disappoint on providing the illusive black rhino as well.

Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater – Full day
After breakfast, check out of the lodge with packed picnic lunch
and depart for a tour of the crater floor, which is home to numerous
plains game and the big five. Spend the day within the crater and
have lunch at one of the famous picnic spots in the park. In the
evening you will return to the lodge which is strategically perched on the
rim of the collapsed volcano, with the most magnificent views of the
crater floor.Dinner and overnight at the Eileen trees camp/Crate rim

For the most part by day 5 we were already saying we’ve seen enough of the antelope, elephants, and we’ve clearly found the big 5. Let’s track leopards, lions or cheetahs and see them land a kill. We weren’t disappointed, we caught a very interesting hunt of a four male lions tracking a female lioness who was hunting a water buffalo.

Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha.
After breakfast at the hotel depart and drive to Arusha. Drop off.

No one told this young one she was in the wrong place.

PRICE BASED ON USE 4X4 SAFARI LAND CRUISERS.
Price per vehicle @ $ 2,150 x 2 vehicles = $ 4,300
Per per adult @ $ 950 x 6 adults = $5700
Per per child 16 yrs. old @ $ 780
Per per child 7, 9 yrs. old @ $ 595 x 2children= 1190
TOTAL $ 11,970

So for my share it was around $3,785 for the 3 of us for 6 nights and 5 days all inclusive.

SAFARI QUOTATION INCLUDES:
Accommodation on Full board basis on safari.
Ground transportation in a private 7-seater Safari 4×4 safari Land
cruiser in Tanzania driven by a professional driver/guide Game drives
and park entry fees.
Mineral water during game drives only – 1 litre bottle per person per day

EXCLUDES:
x Arrival Airport Transfer
× Visas (currently US$ 50 per person)
× Cost of international and Local Flights
× Inoculations and personal insurance
× Beverages unless stated otherwise

× Gratuities/guide tips to Hotel/Lodge staff
× Laundry and other personal expenses

Of course the animals don’t know where the wild ends and the homes are. In fact most of the lodges we stayed at warned us not to wander at night. There were no fences around the camps. In most camps we had armed guards who stayed up late chasing off animals or potential predators that wandered into camp, but the monkeys didn’t care.

Our vehicles do have the pop top which was extremely handy and we ended up using it A LOT!

Make sure you bring a good camera. The photos you see in my blog here are all from an iphone. Imagine what they’d be with an SLR.

You do get quite close to the wild life and the exhilaration you experience when you see a lion chasing it’s game is incredible!

Africa has some incredible animals and to imagine them all in such a short distance is pretty mind blowing.

Don’t let the animals be the only reason you want to visit Africa. As a traveler the cultures of the tribes are easily what keeps me coming back for more. There’s so much we can learn, and increase in our perspectives by learning from each other. The Masai tribes were extremely welcoming. They had a very formal way of receiving us into their village, with traditional greetings, jumping and dancing, and showing us their arts and crafts and then taking us into their homes.

It’s not without a price these days, but if you get past that part, it’s a fascinating journey and your funds are shared among the whole tribe. We were told our money was going to go for medicine for the cows. Having visited the school of the village, I was happy to share that and more. We left books and school supplies that we had purposely brought with us in extra bags.

If you end up planning a trip something like this. I highly recommend what I call a detox in Zanzibar. Go relax in Zanzibar, go to the night markets and relax on the beach. There’s the best food of Tanzania is in Zanzibar. Very easy to find great food on the island, and the pace is perfect for relaxing as well stone town has some fantastic culture, history, and feels a little less like that extremes of tons of tourists or primitive… lots of great deals to be had on Zanzibar. I really enjoyed taking in the culture and spices of the island.

Thanks for sharing my journey!

I’m not selling anything. If you are curious who I used reach out to Edward Massawe I asked Edward how people can reach out. He says “Hello Joel! Jambo? Hope all is good with you my friend!! Here is my email address edwardtz@ymail.com, or WhatsApp me at +255 763 122 626.” He was our driver who said he could even do better direct. He recently posted on Facebook how he saved the life of a baby rhino with some other drivers. He’s got some fascinating tales from Leopards inside the vehicle… stories you’d never believe!

(Note the photo above is from Edward’s friend posted to his Facebook page.)

Natural Wonders of the World – Underground River of Puerto Princesa

May 7, 2018Posted in Adventure, Asia, Bucket List, Favorite, Island, Oceania, Photography, Tourism, Travel, UNESCO, WonderTagged National Park, New7Wonders, palawan, Philippines, ramsar wetland, Unesco, Wonders of the WorldLeave a comment

Philippines is hidding a real gem. In fact, scratch that, they are hiding some of the most amazing islands for vacation in the world. I’ve been to the main island a couple of times, but it was this intentional visit to go see the 7 natural wonders of the world that brought me to the little gem of an island of Palawan. Puerto Princesa Underground River started with a motor boat ride to the nearby beach to an outfitter to provide us with smaller boats bright mandatory big orange life jackets and shiny hard hat helmets.

The puerto princesa national park is a limestone karst mountain landscape. The actual St. Pauls Underground River Cave is more than 24 km (15 mi) long and contains an 8.2 km (5.1 mi) long underground section of the Cabayugan River. The river system of the cave flows into the West Philippine Sea and is navigable by boat up to 4.3 km (2.7 mi) in from the entrance. The cave includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers, including the 360-meter-long Italian’s Chamber with approximate 2.5 million square meters of volume making it one of the largest cave rooms in the world.

Tourists getting ready to enter the cave

Just inside the cave system

On the first boat headed to the beach with the smaller boats

The island of Palawan has many uniquely styled canoe boats designed to move quickly over the water

The boat captains love and live on the water. It is life.

Bats, snakes, birds, there’s a lot of life going in and out of the caves.

Chili crab. Some of the best food on a banana leaf.

The boats are a very important part of life on Palawan island

I stand back to back with our guide and she’s next to one of the indigenous oldest elders. They are known as pygmy people due to their height.

Palawan not only has an underground river cave system, but also native tribes! This friendly looking tribe recently emerged from the forest. They danced with us and taught us about their mythologies and shared traditions. A young guide who is from another nearby tribe can speak their language and helped us communicate with them. The young ones are now attending a school built right next to the huts, the teacher resides nearby.

There are 70 indigenous peoples and the Bataks are thought to come from Asia 50,000 years ago. The island of Palawan, the largest province in the Philippines, is home to several indigenous ethnolinguistic groups namely, the Kagayanen, Tagbanwa, Palawano, Taaw’t Bato, Molbog and the Batak tribes. They live in remote villages in the mountains and coastal areas. We drove as far as we could and then walked across 6 streams to this remote village. We visited this small tribe of about 17 individuals, some of the last of the Batak tribe. The Batak tribe is a group of indigenous people who reside in the rugged interiors of the northeast portion of the province of Palawan. These group of people lives close to nature and are extremely peaceful and shy, traditionally they believe in nature spirits with whom they communicate with through the aid of a shaman. At present, there are only about 500, or less, Batak people remaining in the Philippines. This group is now Christian and preferred not to talk about the old beliefs, but did tell us how much their lives changed when they found rice. It was rice ultimately that drove them from hiding in the forest to coming out and coexisting with the other people.

Colosseum Ampitheatre of the Roman Empire – 7 New Wonders

October 29, 2013April 10, 2014Posted in Bucket List, Culture, Europe, Religion, Tourism, Travel, UNESCO, WonderTagged coliseum, colloseum, coloseo, italy, roman, rome, sisteen chapel, things to do, toursm, travel tips, Wonders of the World1 Comment

The Colosseum or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Definitely growing up you hear all about the colleseum. You hear about the stories of the gladiators the Ben Hur, the Christians and lions. Colosseum could hold, it is estimated, between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators, and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas. It is a UNESCO heritage site and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

This post is in a series of 7 posts on the 7 Wonders of the New World

Great Wall of China – Sacrifice of a Nation
Christ the Redeemer Statue – Religious Icon of Rio Brazil
Taj Mahal – Sacred Mausoleum of Agra India
Petra Jordan – Nabataean Cave City of the Desert
Machu Picchu – Lost Sacred City of the Incas
Chichen Itza – Ancient Mayan Temple Pyramid
Colosseum Amphitheatre of the Ancient Roman Empire
Emperor Vespasian had it built in around 70–72 AD, funded by the spoils taken from the Jewish Temple after the Siege of Jerusalem, but since then it has been robbed itself of blocks to build other things.
You do have to pay to go into the colloseum. Despite the fact that huge parts of it are now decrepid and missing, it’s handled time quite well. It really is huge and impressive… Definitely worth seeing. People dress up in Roman costumes. There’s a lot to see nearby as well with the arch, great restaurants, and museums… it really does feel like the center of town and hey, there are more things close to this tube station than most others. Getting around this was one of the easiest ancient things to find.

Great Italian food nearby!!

As they say… When in Rome!

I’ve been to Rome a few times and it’s a city that’s a great city filled with tons of things to see and do. Very easy to spend a week in. In fact we did that a few years ago as a family. While driving was a challenge, after a couple of days I was getting around pretty well. Driving in Rome has gotten a lot easier than it was a few years ago with tons more scooters. I do have to warn you that if you have your own rental car make sure you understand there are areas you can’t park without a permit. As well, certain lanes you can’t drive in (bus/taxi lanes). I’ve gotten towed in Rome once, and a ticket in the mail once. So let’s just say, I’ve had some experience in this area.

Rome is filled with tons to do. There have to be more nuns and priests in Rome/ Vatican city than anywhere else in the world!

Here are a few ideas…

5 Additional Places to go when visiting Rome (or Italy) when visiting the Coliseum

1) St Peters Basilica, PLUS Vatican Musuem, and the MUST SEE! Sisteen Chapel… Shhhh! No Photos!

2. The Spanish Steps…

Great social place to meet the locals and throngs of tourists as well

2. Trevi Fountain

4. Day trip to Florence to see Michelangelo’s David

Track down the Catacombs. There are a few different ones. We absolutely loved them as well. Depends on your interests…

5. Day trip to Pompeii and YOU MUST GO TO POMPEII! It’s one of the most amazing places on the planet. There is another amphitheatre there, but you’ll see ruins like no other on the planet… KM or miles of them.

There really area ton of things to see in Rome, pace yourself so you don’t get “ruin”-ed out or museum’ed out. The Blocks and Columns start looking the same and religious paintings as well start blending together.

Angel Falls Venezuela – World’s Tallest Waterfall

September 25, 2013December 13, 2013Posted in Bucket List, Extreme, Falls, Favorite, History, Nature, Photography, Road Trip, South America, Tourism, Travel, Unique, WonderTagged Angel Falls, Auyantepui, featured, Mirador, Natural Wonders of the World, Salto Angel, Tallest Waterfall7 Comments

One of the biggest adventures in my life included a recent trip to Angel Falls. Angel Falls is very deep in Venezuela. First there was getting to Venezuela. The cheapest way we found was to go through Curacao. With a friend we arranged an overnight van transport from Caracas to Ciudad Bolivar airport, and from there we flew on a small plane to Canaima, the absolute edge of any sort of civilization. The area we flew into is a crossways of a number of Amerindian tribes where the river is the road. From that point we met up with our native guides. At the local market, call it arrivals and departures where I saw a native wearing a loin cloth. We were really out there. After jumping on an army transport vehicle we went up stream past a big waterfall to get in our hollowed out canoe.

I had heard we were up for a four hour canoe ride, what I didn’t know was that it was going to be four hours of white water on a hollowed out canoe with a motor! This wasn’t a motor boat. This was a native boat turned into a motor boat. We stuffed all of our stuff for 2 days plus our group of 10 and our two native guides. The first wave, I thought we were going over. I think the canoe was even more rocky than you’re average canoe. We were literally in a log that as hollowed out. It didn’t feel very steady. Our guides knew it. If we put our hands on the side of the canoe it was enough to throw off the equilibrium. Ask anyone who rode in our canoe, during the first couple of hours they had to yell at us every few minutes to make sure we kept a low center of gravity. Getting bashed by cold waves over and over did much to make us listen to every warning from our guides.

Land of the lost… A view of Angel Falls from the other side of the river where we were camping… we woke up to this.

There wasn’t anything on our cold soaked bodies that was dry. I had prune hands and feet by the time we reached our destination 4 hours up the river. I later learned the conditions were right for us to make such good time. The river was high due to lots of rain. What I missed out on mentioning was the fact that as we sped up the river getting drenched with whitewater, we saw some of the most incredible views of waterfalls coming down from high plateaus rising up from the plains. The terrain changed from sparse forest to thick dense jungle.

Our guides informed us that the peninsula we saw was over 700 Sq Km at the top and rises over 3000 meters from the ground to the top. The terrain itself is a thing of stories. From the stories of a land where dinosaurs still live to a place where an old man flies his house on balloons. It was also part of the stories of El Dorado in search of the cities of gold. This place is so inaccessible, it is the place of stories.

Angel Falls Venezuela Mirador Salto Angel

The reveal of the world’s tallest waterfall was scintillating. When I realized what it was and had it confirmed by our guides, our boat was a flutter with video, cameras and phones clicking snapping as we all hoped the waves would stay at bay while we got shots of a lifetime. Within minutes the boat stopped, and we started a hike across streams and small rivers up the mountain toward a vantage point to see the best of Angel Falls. A five mile hike with wet feet and wet clothes. My friend Michael did the hike barefoot as his flip flops broke early on. I was wearing knock off crocks that I bought for about the equivalent of $5 back in the camp. It worked out for me. The hike was pretty wild. I was looking for jaguars and monkeys, but ultimately I missed seeing any significant wild life. On the way down, the trail got darker and darker. Most of the group had head lamps. Despite the new batteries I put in it, they were dead when I found it at the bottom of my bag and the light was switched to on. I wouldn’t find out until our guide brought down the last group that he saw a 3 meter (10 feet) long boa constrictor!

That night we slept on a dozen hammocks slung up next to each other displayed in what looked like a wedding chapel. Swinging just a little, you’d bump into you’re neighbor and we were a cozy bunch… That is until the next morning when I found out that I slept like a log when I laid down. Apparently I was snoring (I hadn’t really slept in two days) and made it a bit of a challenge for a few of my new friends… which made it a bit uncomfortable over the next couple of days. I guess the snoring was a bit of a joke in camp. It kind of felt like a summer camp after 3 days with these folks.

I’d like to share more of our experience on this trip, but I don’t want to detract from the falls… What an amazing falls. After we got back down closer to canaima we had the opportunity to do some smaller hikes including one behind a HUGE waterfall. That as well was truly incredible. Another night on hammocks with the option of a room or bed… I think I got bit by something even though I was sleeping in a mosquito net. Strange.

The final day we had the option of taking a little flight up around the falls. Doing the fuzzy math with the cheaper exchange rate, it came to around $50 to go fly in a 6 seat plane around Angel Falls. I convinced my friends we should do it. Another amazing add-on and this was the best $50 spent in a really long time. It was incredible.

After we got up we had some amazing views of the falls. With four passes, twice each window and a rainbow, and a different view each time… we got some amazing shots!

Flying over Auyantepui and the great Cataract – Angel Falls, named for a pilot from Missouri who crash landed his plane on top of Auyantepui

Overall I really loved the little plane flight. It gave me a real appreciation for how high up we were and provided the chance to really gain another vantage point otherwise impossible. It made me think about the history and discovery of this area of the world from the European perspective. There is some fascinating stories about the history and discovery with Jimmy Angel and his search for Gold and Diamonds… Can you believe that they didn’t believe him when he told the stories of a fall that fell 1KM

More stories to tell… but I really want to get these amazing pictures shared… We walked behind this falls!

More later…

Taj Mahal of Agra India – New 7 Wonders of the World

July 31, 2013December 14, 2013Posted in Asia, Bucket List, Photography, Road Trip, Tourism, Travel, UNESCO, WonderTagged Bikaner, Bikiner, Blue City, Dehli, featured, India, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Pink City, Rajasthan, Rat Temple, Taj Mahal3 Comments

My trek through India was truly EPIC. One of the most interesting and amazing trips. The assault on the senses was so intense fascinating world of spice. Some of the oldest cities on the earth are in India. India is the second most populated country in the world, but driving across the country you wouldn’t know it. The Indus of 3000 BC had a written language, a complex society. In a country with 1.2 Billion people with one of the richest cultural destinations in the world, I highly recommend India for the adventure seeker, the world traveler, and for those looking to find themselves. The eat pray love movie suggested that Bali and India are great destinations for getting at your soul. Trying to find your inner being. I agree. India is fantastic, and the wonder the Taj Mahal is the most impressive display of love in the world. You haven’t seen India, until you’ve seen it the way I have.

This post is in an Adventure Travel Series on the “New 7 Wonders of the World”

I wrote about my experiences with the holy rats of Bikiner. That one incident was culture shock like no other. I definitely dove head first and loved it. I throw out everything I have ever known about rats, and listen to the kids and humble followers that told me to remove my shoes and walk among the rats barefoot. They say no one has ever even gotten sick from these special rats. Hundreds, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of rats in the temple. That was my real introduction to India and while an extreme it prepared me for what I would experience through the nearly 5000KM trip across India and ultimately to Kathmandu, Nepal and up into the Himalayas and up around Mt Everest.

The Gates of Jodhpur, the Pink City

Three dips in the Ganges the dirtiest but holiest river in the world as well, was a fascinating experience that made me really consider the healing effects of water and help me appreciate and respect the faith of all people.

The Gattes… steps to the Holy Ganges river

As these men hosed down the steps into the water, not far pilgrims were drinking the holy water

Dipping in the Silty powerful Holy Ganges River

We drove nearly straight for 3 days across the Rajasthan province of north western India through the the most amazing cities of Jaipur (The Pink City) and Jodhpur (The Blue City) [map].

Mehrangarh Fort high on the high on the hill in Jodhpur

Above Jodhpur the Blue City!

Floating Palace near Jaipur

It was after seeing these awesome examples of great kingdom with palaces and forts, that I arrived in Agra the home of the Taj Mahal. I had already been in India for about a week by the time I arrived. We parked outside of the site, and walked. It was a pretty good hike. In our visits across Agra and even in the south in Pune and Chennai we hadn’t seen many tourists, but here we weren’t alone. Here we across our trip we saw more tourists than we had seen in total. I try to avoid tourist spots, but I also have to see the wonders of the world. They draw me in.

The Taj Mahal Mosleum – Designed for the Favorite Wife of the Emperor Shah Jahan built in 1632–1648 as a tomb

India has such a rich culture. Amazing people filled with joy, sadness, and a rich history.

Watching sundown from the Taj Mahal

World UNESCO Heritage, Wonder of the World, as a true legend of eternal love of an Emperor for his favorite Queen! It is an amazing story.

Though he spent much of his time subduing Hindu kingdoms to the south, Shah Jahan left behind the colossal monuments of the Mughal empire, including the Taj Mahal (his favorite wife’s tomb), the Pearl Mosque, the Royal Mosque, and the Red Fort. The Taj is an immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife. It is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.

Christ the Redeemer Statue – 7 New Wonders of the World (2 of 7)

July 26, 2013October 29, 2013Posted in Culture, Religion, South America, Tourism, Travel, WonderTagged Christ, photos, Rio, Rio de Janero, the redeemer statue, Wonders of the World3 Comments

This post is in a series of 7 posts on the 7 Wonders of the New World

Rio is one of the coolest cities in the world. The environment that the city is build in, has the best of the water world with amazing beaches. Some of the best in the world, but also some of the best viewpoints in the world with the huge rocks that soar into the sky that have gondolas on them. Corcovado topped by Christ the Redeemer is amazing. First with such strong devotion in the culture of the people and then the iconic and larger than life Jesus with his outstretched arms becomes a very strong symbol of the people and their need to feel guided and comforted.

Corcovado, meaning “hunchback” in Portuguese, is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 710-metre (2,329 ft) granite peak is located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park. It is sometimes confused with nearby Sugarloaf Mountain. Sugar loaf is a tourist attraction in its own right and deserves to be visited. This rock mountain is quite central and shaped in such a way as to escape the city while being in the city. In an effort to help people gain better access you’ll see there’s quality care. This escalator can really reduce to the last bit of stairs.

Corcovado hill lies west of the city center and is within the city limits and visible across great distance. It is known worldwide for the 38-metre (125 ft) statue of Jesus atop its peak, entitled Cristo Redentor or “Christ the Redeemer”.

Great Wall of China – New 7 Wonders of the World (1 of 7)

July 23, 2013October 29, 2013Posted in Asia, Bucket List, History, Photography, Tourism, Travel, Unique, WonderTagged Beijing, china, Great Wall of China, Wonder of the World, Wonders6 Comments

If you ever feel like getting to China is just too impossible. Have Faith. It’s definitely possible. I had seen most of Asia before I made it to China. For some reason I just kept finding other things, and I felt like if I was going to visit China, I wanted to see it all, I wanted to have enough time. I changed my attitude. The forbidden city wasn’t going to remain forbidden any more. I visited the Chinese embassy on a visit to San Francisco and within a couple of hours I had my visa. I was on my way to the Forbidden city with explicit plans to see the Great Wall of China one of the most exclusive travel lists in the world… the New 7 Wonders of the World!

The Forbidden City, in Beijing at night near Tiananmen Square

I decided, I wasn’t going to have time to spend a month or more in China anyway so I should break up my trip to China and plan it like I would Australia and simply break it into regions. Same as seeing Canada, you just can’t see it all at once. I’m sure many people say the same thing about the USA, or they should. Those who go to NYC and Las Vegas and think they’ve seen the US are kidding themselves. Those who rent an RV and Drive along route 66 are still only seeing one piece, but I understand the draw.

This post is in a series of 7 posts on the 7 Wonders of the New World

Gate to the Forbidden City

China is an amazing country. Looking for a culture shock!?? China is awesome at that. I’ll save another post for digging into my travels into China, and share my Wonder Experiences in a series.

We woke up early to head out to the Great Wall of China. It was surreal. Dux one of my techie friend’s from the Philippines who speaks great Chinese was our real connection to the locals. He helped us arrange a van to take us out to the Great Wall. We drove for a good hour from our hotel. The homes were getting more and more spread out. As we drove along it felt like we were entering the country side. I can’t remember if it was 2 hours, but it seemed like when we thought we were there, it was another 20 minutes. Then once we got into the parking lot, we realized it was going to be another 20-30 minutes of hiking up steps. The wall wasn’t designed for accessibility.

Seeing the wall was promising, but we could really see it from the car. We could see it weaving across the mountains for as far as we could see.

At first it just seems a lot like a wall made of bricks, but then as you take it in… in its magnitude, and splendor to realize its age, its role in history and in its preservation of culture and history… and then really start to understand the sacrifice of this man made feat. It brings humility and awe. Lots of sacrifice.

While we all decided we didn’t want to go down the way we came up, Michael and I decided we wanted to go for a walk, and the other guys decided to take the roller coaster. There were some interesting options once on top. You could walk 2 miles to a gondola one way, or another way was the gravity based roller coaster with a metal track, it was next to an impromptu zoo. We all decided we’d meet back at the bottom of the hill near where they were.

(A few of these photos are from Michael at Sharing The Globe a Traveling companion and Great photographer.)

Walking from tower to tower it seems close, but it really isn’t. It might be 1KM or more between towers. The area where we were while there were a number of tourists, we found space to be alone and found it not too challenging to take people-less photos. Yes, that’s me trying to run between the towers. It isn’t the easiest running, but I imagined those working the walls trying to share a message.

I picked up the Chinese Police hat. While it didn’t go with my jacket, I did like the fun reactions from the locals.

After walking along the wall for a few miles at a pretty fast pace (Can you believe there is a Great Wall Marathon?), I took a couple of early moments to reflect on this incredible structure. While I know it wasn’t all maintained as well as where we saw it, it was amazing about it. It started as far back as the 7th century BC against intrusions and nomadic groups and incursions and in protecting the spice route. Amazing how these towers were used in defense and in notifying the troops of what was coming.

How long is it actually? Depends on if you count the structures that also help support the defense of the wall. I’m going to say more than 5000 miles! Wikipedia proposes a couple of different estimates:

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi). This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measure out to be 21,196 km (13,171 mi)

This post is designed to be post 1 in a series of 7 of the Wonders of the World. Follow this blog to be notified of the rest of the series.

Cappadocia Turkey Underground Cave Cities

July 21, 2013July 21, 2013Posted in Asia, Tourism, Travel, UNESCO, Unique, WonderTagged cappadocia, Derinkuyu, Goreme, Kaymalki, Ozkonak, Troglodyte, turkey, Underground cities, Yehalti Sehri3 Comments

It was while watching a SCI FI Ancient Aliens show I first heard about the underground cities of Derinkuyu, Kaymakli and Ozkonak. These and the other 200+ Underground Cities are a huge mystery that may never come to full light. Everything we know is just from what has been found in excavating what remained. This could be remnants from those who were last there, as these caves could be much much older. There really are so many cave systems and underground tunnels and essentially full cities underground that it may never be fully excavated. These cities contained wineries, stables, churches, school, cellars, storage rooms. The largest of the underground city of the in the Derinkuyu district in Nevşehir Province, Turkey. It’s only been open to visitors since 1969 and less than half of what has been excavated is accessible to tourists. At peak this city could have supported 20,000 residents and was up to 85 Meters deep!!! According to the Turkish department of culture the cave is 8th to 7th century possibly built by the Phrygians either for religious purposes or refuge.

Now if you’re looking to visit this region, Goreme, Turkey is a great central location and really setup well for tourists where you can sleep in your own cave, but not part of any major tunnel system. Goreme has shuttles to and from the airport. Warning: If you are planning on not renting a car (which you shouldn’t need to do), you need to make sure you arrange ahead of time with one of the shuttle companies, the small airport in Kayceri has no ticket desk for shuttles and the taxi ride is pretty steep comparatively. I was denied entry into a shuttle bus even after offering to pay him his price. The driver won’t take money, it has to be pre-arranged. I ended up catching a ride with an older couple that was headed into the city. Really I got lucky, I didn’t want to pay the high price of the taxi, and there were no bus options that were convenient. It was going to be a long walk and an inconvenient trek to the bus station, and who knows how long I may have had to wait. WIth as many tourist shops and vehicles as there are in Goreme it was amazing to me how there was really NOTHING at the airport.

On the surface you really wouldn’t even know it was down there, save the entrance sign and a few air vents that look like wells.

Based on the size of the 500KG door that’s only able to be opened from the inside, I can definitely imagine it being used for refuge and for hiding from someone or something.

There are some spaces that are very wide open such is just outside the church which makes the shape of a cross, underground, or the very tight spaces that is speculated as being a doorway that forces the person to be penitent. They must go onto their knees to enter. The self inflicted punishment is they would go around and around through the small tunnel to learn humility, kind of like the hail Mary or doing rosary beads.

When inside unless you’re claustrophobic, you feel very safe. The walls seem very solid and there isn’t any crumbling rock. There are some areas where you need to bend over to avoid hitting your head, but the hall near the church has a lot of room, and supports really large gathering of people.

You can take a virtual tour of the caves at http://www.muze.gov.tr/derinkuyu

Look closely at these boards and you have one of the primary tools used to carve the stone with much sharper stones. The would drag the board across the softer stone and it would essentially carve away the stone. In this way they could remove the stone in large swaths. For smaller areas, they would use smaller tools.

Those who speculate that it was designed to be very temporary need to explain the graves in the area called the Morgue. Here the rooms in this section of the cave are designed to handle the dead… Is it possible these graves were temporary holding places for the dead until they could find peace long enough to bury their dead.

Yes, it was very dark 7-8 stories down. The little lights are wired up and brought in through wires attached to the wall.

Nevşehir Province has several other underground cities and Derinkuyu itself connects to Kaymakli via an 8 km tunnel. The deepest cave city is Derinkuyu and the widest is Kaymakli. You can’t travel the tunnel between them. Derinkuyu is about 30 minute drive from Goreme, which is the city where most of the hotel and tourist support is. Access to these cities is no longer open to local residents without going through the main entrance. They remain generally unoccupied. In excess of 200 underground cities containing a minimum of two levels have been discovered in the area between Kayseri and Nevsehir. Some 40 of those contain a minimum of three levels or more. The troglodyte (underground) cities at Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu are two of the best examples of habitable underground structures. Reaching Derinkuyu or Goreme and the underground cities and cave churches, one can purchase a domestic ticket on Turish Airlines to Keyseri or Nevsehir. There are overland bus routes as well from across the country with flying being the shortest and not a bad way to reach the city. Turkey is a big country so plan accordingly.

Why you need to visit Cappadocia the Underground Cities and Cave Churches

There are so many incredible things to see in Cappadocia that you could spend a weeks here and still discover new places. The main ‘must-see’ attractions are the open-air museums which are essentially groupings of caves, cathedrals and homes and the two best underground cities. At the same time it wouldn’t make sense to go this whole way and not see the incredible Rose Valley, the Ihlara valley which has many of its own small cave churches, but even just outside the Goreme Open Air museum is one of my favorite cave churches. What you’ll find when you arrive is there are many tourist companies that have organized the tours into the blue route, and red route, and so on, to group the various activities for those with limited time. As well, don’t forget to get up as high as you can to check out the valley, this may be in a hot air balloon or on a hike to the top of the canyons. One thing you must do is explore. There’s so much to see and not everything is behind closed doors. Even just hiking the valleys, you’ll be amazed to find abandoned caves.

Goreme Open Air Museum: cave churches with frescoes
Zelve Open Air Museum: an empty cave town with churches
Kaymakli Underground City: the largest underground city
Derinkuyu Underground City: the deepest underground city
Ihlara Valley: the deepest gorge of Anatolia
Uchisar: Roman rock-cut castle. You’ll see it driving back and forth. Very cool looking.
Ortahisar: Roman rock-cut castle.
Pasabag: mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys, monks valley
Devrent: animal-shaped fairy chimneys, imagination valley
Hacibektas: center of Bektasi sect of Islam
Gulsehir: first settlements in Cappadocia

I shared some of my stories on the Open Air Musuem, the Ihlara Valley and Monestary in “Early Cave Churches of Cappadocia Turkey” and more on the “Underground Cities”

Christian Cave Churches and Monasteries in Cappadocia Turkey

July 19, 2013July 21, 2013Posted in Asia, Culture, Favorite, History, Middle East, Photography, Religion, Travel, UNESCO, Unique, WonderTagged art, cappadocia, christian, Goreme, Painting, turkey3 Comments

As a traveler one of the thing that really stands out in digging in to understand a people is how much of culture is influenced by faith and religion. In Europe you must visit the cathedrals because it was the center of the universe for the people. In Istanbul you must visit the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia or you haven’t seen Istanbul. I have found Israel, Jerusalem, Bethehem, and Jordan to be quite amazing. Even Cairo had places that reminded me of Moses and the red sea. I have found the cathedrals across Europe to be quite amazing, even Ireland had some amazing history as it relates to early Christianity. Rome and the catacombs. Early Christians in Ireland, or Monserrat in Spain… incredible. These early Christians driven into caves and into the mountains the hermits of Bulgaria and Macedonia are fascinating and must see. The monasteries in the cliffs of Meteora where they survived from decimation for more than 500 years. I love thinking about Thessaloniki or the Thessalonians. My visit to Armenia and connecting with locals and making friends the thoughts and attitudes of the people cannot be separated from their faith as a people. Mount Arrarat and Noah’s Ark and God’s dealing with the Armenian people is so deeply ingrained in their art, their life and spirit.

A One trying to understand the mind of the pre-Nicean church can do much study the rich art and paintings captured on the walls of the hundreds if not thousands of painted caves now abandoned art work of Cappadocia. The cave paintings while much has been destroyed have preserved a lot of history and messages through the images. I find it quite inspiring and very peaceful. In some of the churches that you pay to see one with no cameras allowed. I could easily spend an hour staring at the ceiling and unweaving the thoughts in the heads of these early christians. Their faith, their perspectivies, their stories. Much of the tradition has been preserved, but a lot has been lost as well. Lots of contemplation are required to understand not just the story, but the perceptions of the artist.

This photo is not a direct photo, but actually a photo of what I saw, but photographed from a book at the gift shop, or a post card. You can see how much color is still in the images. The color alone is quite the story as the paint was made from pigeon poo.

My travels took me to Goreme, in central Turkey. These natural occuring ferry chimneys are amazing. I’ve only been in a few places in the world where they have these, Utah’s Goblin Valley, and Bryce Canyon, but what those places don’t have are the primitive Christian churches and the underground cities. The Tuff left from the volcanic ash turned rock helped provide a substance that was very easy to carve, but also very strong, like a more dense pumice.

There are multiple locations in Cappadocia where you can find these cave churches. First the largest collection in a small area is the Goreme Open Air Museum. There are lots of great cave hotels in Goreme. I recommend staying in a cave at least one night. It’s a unique experience and it’s quite affordable.

Unfortunately nearly all of the churches would not allow photography or video cameras at the Open air musuem. You could take pictures outside, but definitely not as compelling.

There were a few select churches that they allowed photography in. The names of the churches come from the art work inside. Apple church, snake church, etc…

While these may look impressive, the reality is these were pretty bare.

On a walk through the various churches you’d mostly get directed at the various figures and stories from the bible, but it was stories like the animal below that represents paganism that really caught my interest. I was interested in the explanations of what was different and how they lived and what they believed. Like can you believe that most of the well preserved cave paintings have the eyes of the people carved out.

I was told the local muslim people felt threatened and the eyes alone could convert. So you have these scary pictures where the eyes are carved out.

Not only were the churches carved into the stone, the people as well lived in caves in stone where archways could be fancied up. On the left you have the homes of displaced Greeks in Turkey. Most of them moved back to Greece.

Next we travel to the Ihlara Valley were over a dozen caves were turned into churches. One of the most amazing hikes… Combines peaceful walk along a stream with basalt canyon walls like the snake river valley in Idaho or, and pillars of the Giants Causeway in Ireland.

As you can see by the little yellow dots along the slides of the river in the Ihlara valley, for miles along the river, caves were turned into places of worship. If you were simply walking along the river, you would have really No idea this was happening. It’s Fantastic!!

Do these caves above look like they might contain this… image to the right.

Beautiful art still remains on the walls. Much has been destroyed or defaced. Eyes of the saints in the pictures are scratched out. One guide told us that the people were worried about how the beautiful icononic art might convert them. The watching eyes were just too powerful. So much so that for much of what you see there are few eyes you’ll find.

Below the three magi or wisemen and their gifts for the birth of the savior minus their eyes. If you look near the hat you can see names in Greek. It looks like the names of the magi were added afterward. The shape of their hats is interesting. It brings a historical understanding. Studying this brings much more understanding of the early 6th century church.

Mary on the Donkey… Did you know the reference to Mary riding a donkey is actually not found in the bible, but in apocryphal writings in the text the Infancy Gospel of James? This may be one of the earliest paintings that exists showing Mary on a Donkey.

It is very incredible to think of the condition that these paintings were made. These were painted many many years prior to the crusades, and the spread of the ottoman empire. These were made at time when the Christians were hiding in caves. The paint was made from pigeon droppings. To think about that part of it it’s really very remarkable much remains at all.

When in Goreme and surrounding you’ll find that you need at least 2 to 3 days to simply race through everything. 4 days to a week will allow you to take a slower pace to really enjoy the valleys and take more in. The tours are very inexpensive, and they are organized into the blue tour, the red tour and so on, and they really are packed with places to see and visit. One morning you need to do the balloon ride for the adventuresome. If you are thinking about the balloon, don’t wait till the last day because they are frequently cancelled due to weather conditions.

View of Goreme from the top of the hills.

The Fairy chimneys… turned home and now abandoned. A honeycomb of mystery and intrigue.

The Messiah, with a scratched out face…

For more adventure… On one end of the Ihlara valley is the Selime Cathedral. Walking to simply get to this Cathedral makes you feel like you’re rock climbing. It isn’t for little old ladies or old men. This requires a little bit of skill to navigate across the rocks, through tunnels and a bit of scrambling…

But the payoff is big. Huge rooms with archways and columns still remain while much of the artwork is destroyed and soot covers the ceilings.

If you look closely you can still see remains, of what was once majestic.

If there was any doubt that this valley wasn’t backed with mystery, intrigue and wonder… I hope a few of these picture have opened your mind. Goreme and Cappadocia still remains one of my favorite destinations and the my appreciation for the early church and their cave dwelling days has shaped what we think of even as a catheral or church. We have much to share in appreciation for these devoted follower of central Turkey.

Yosemite Valley Natural Wonder

July 16, 2013December 14, 2013Posted in Bucket List, Falls, Nature, North America, Tourism, Travel, Travel Tips, WonderTagged California, featured, Half dome, Natural Wonders of the World, USA, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley1 Comment

I’ve been to California many many times, but it wasn’t until I explicitly planned to go to Yosemite that it happened. I’ve seen pictures, and heard stories about it’s beauty, but it never popped until this summer.

Our family had a family reunion in Lake Tahoe, and with an open weekend, it took a little convincing, but we were all in.

I knew I wanted to have a full day in Yosemite and not just plan to drive through. This was smart. You really do need to plan to spend a full day to take advantage of what is there. Imagine Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon… it’s one of those type of places. You’re essentially 3-4 hours from civilization in any direction. The good news is, there are options, but planning is important. I found that common travel sites would easily put you 2 hours away from the park when booking a hotel, so you have to be careful. The hotels, motels and lodges in the park go quickly and are quite expensive.

We stayed at the West Entrance to the park at Yosemite Riverside Inn. It met our needs, and even included breakfast. We were most happy with the distance to the park and being able to wake up and begin our journey into the park. The first sight of Yosemite valley was incredible.

Half Dome in the Distance… My first view of it. Inspiring!

Personally it only took this one view, to know that I had found what I was looking for. Yosemite was a natural wonder. This was an ancient canyon with God’s fingerprints on it. This place has serious earth history and a magical valley that would attract earths inhabitants all over it. This special valley would awe and inspire and enchant anyone who sets their eyes on it. In many ways simply traveling through this valley can bring one closer to God, because it makes man feel small. In so many ways the pride of man can be stilled by standing on one of these rocks.

El Capitan – What a Serious Megalith

While I didn’t really take the opportunity to climb these mega stones carved out of the valley, I did spend hours driving around them and went on a couple of easy hikes up to the falls, and one to a lake. I spent most of the day in the valley with a bunch of other people I was trying to ignore. You can see a few of these insignificant creatures in my picture. Ignore the crowds, it’s still worth it. There are times of the day when you can get there ahead of the crowds, but still you have to do it anyway… It’s amazing and it does bring one closer to ones creator.

Yosemite Falls is 2,425 ft. The highest waterfall in North America and in the top 10 in the world. I’m going to be visiting the highest in the world, Angel Falls, in Venezuela and planning to spend 3 days to see it. Had I known how amazing this was and how many of the top waterfalls in the world are in this park I would have given it more priority. When I think of falls in the US, I think of Niagra, but that’s a volume thing. Here you can plan to go when the run off is at it’s highest in the spring and get a real show. Remember this park reminds man, that he is insignificant. Some people get hurt or worse, trying to prove they can conquer these things. With over a dozen falls, and hikes to nearly all of them, there are tons of things that people will do. I would have liked to have tubed the river, or rode horses… lots of great activities in the park.

Things to do:

Horseback riding
Rafting
Hiking (Falls, Trails, Loops)
Rock Climbing
Biking
Tours
Loops Drive
Walking

If anything Yosemite reminds us that there are things bigger than us in life. Anytime you want to feel small. Visit the Yosemite Valley and it’s 1000 square miles of National park. While you may feel like you weren’t alone while you were there. You won’t regret it.

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Great Italian food nearby!!

As they say… When in Rome!

5 Additional Places to go when visiting Rome (or Italy) when visiting the Coliseum

1) St Peters Basilica, PLUS Vatican Musuem, and the MUST SEE! Sisteen Chapel… Shhhh! No Photos!

2. The Spanish Steps…

2. Trevi Fountain

4. Day trip to Florence to see Michelangelo’s David

5. Day trip to Pompeii and YOU MUST GO TO POMPEII! It’s one of the most amazing places on the planet. There is another amphitheatre there, but you’ll see ruins like no other on the planet… KM or miles of them.

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Why you need to visit Cappadocia the Underground Cities and Cave Churches

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