Most tourists who visit the department of Petén in Guatemala see Tikal and nothing else, missing one of the region’s great attractions: the tropical forest. I was bound and determined to see part of the jungle, so my mother and I decided to visit Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas, a small section of Laguna del Tigre National Park. Visiting the […]
Splendid Nature at Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas Read More »
I’m sure I’m not the first person to arrive in Hawaii stressed and overwhelmed. Even halfway through the trip, after fabulous days out on the water and evenings watching the glow of a volcano, I was still tense. Last minute, we nixed our existing plans and instead headed south to the Puna district, with little
My weekend in Salt Lake City was such a tease. Utah is a state that beckons to outdoors-lovers, urging you to come play under its big, blue skies. I always considered Moab to be the mecca of the state for adventurers, but perhaps I’m wrong. Maybe it’s actually Salt Lake City, where you can go
Nestled in the mountains of Northern Nicaragua near the Honduran border, the Somoto Canyon is an impressive site. The Coco River flows for miles, surrounded by vertical walls of up to 150 meters tall. After the brown and dust of León, Somoto is a verdant oasis, full of fresh and (relatively) cool air. As the canyon
Planning a trip to Iceland in the winter was more of a challenge than I expected. Some outdoor activities close down for the winter when lakes freeze and roads close. Landscapes and beautiful scenery get blanketed by snow, which creates a mystical ambiance but not a lot of variety. Factor in some very short days
Of all the things I did in Nicaragua, seeing lava at Telica Volcano was what I was looking forward to the most. I’m semi-obsessed with volcanoes and in prior years have hiked to inactive craters, climbed through lava tubes, and driven through desolate landscapes. Despite all this, I had never seen red hot glowing lava
Although there were a lot of things about Nicaragua that appealed to me, I’ll be honest: the number one reason I wanted to visit was for the volcanoes. Smoking Masaya was the first of three volcanoes I visited, but Cerro Negro was the most adventurous. After all, it’s the only place in the world where you
Although Granada didn’t fit my personality, it is a good base for a few nearby attractions. Granada is full of tourist agencies happy to arrange transport and guides for you to a dozen different places, but not a single agency combined multiple nearby attraction into a single day of touring and public buses weren’t convenient for
I always imagined that my first trip to the Grand Canyon would be my only trip there. Of course, I had assumed this trip would take advantage of the Grand Canyon to the fullest, exploring the North Rim, South Rim, inner canyon (via a rim-to-rim hike), and Havasu Falls over the course of more than a
After three wonderful days in the Monterey area, we finally “slept in” with a wake-up at 6:30! What a change for us! We started our morning with breakfast at the Wild Plum Café (okay, but nothing special), and then hit up the grocery store for some picnic shopping since we’d be headed off to no-mans land for
