They say that fact is often stranger than fiction and this was certainly the case with ‘Catatumbo’ – a mind blowing phenomenon found nowhere else in the world apart from the shores of Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. It’s here where lightning strikes, almost nightly in season, but in complete silence, without any thunder. During intense periods, clouds can reach more than five kilometres in height and flashes are so bright and consistent (up to the 280 times per hour) it’s possible to write your travel journal by! We’d been reliably informed that mother nature puts on an unforgettable show that had to be seen with our own eyes to be believed.
Tag Archives: Adventure
The ride of your life – Paragliding in Merida
18 Aug
“Enjoy the ride of your life” advertised a large poster depicting an athletic young couple paragliding high above the Andean mountain city of Merida. We stopped in our tracks and stared at the image of them soaring gracefully in the sky, the wind in their hair whilst their tanned and toned bodies effortlessly manoeuvred the wing above their heads and before we could stop ourselves we were booking our own paragliding (tandem) flight. The reality, as we stood on the precipice with harnesses squeezing us in places not designed to be squeezed while strapped to the front of our instructor like baby kangaroos, was quite different. Red faces, sweaty palms and a total lack of co-ordination as our legs turned to jelly. “Are you ready?” yelled the instructor in our ears and just as we were about to shake our heads, we felt a force from behind and we were running down a mountain before launching ourselves off its steep side.
The trouble with stuff
1 Jun
We all like to nest. To call somewhere home. To shut the doors, draw the blinds and retreat into our own world. We fill our homes with things we love – sofas, toasters, fluffy cushions, shelves of well read books, fancy cooking knives, vases filled with flowers, bedspreads – and it makes us happy. Over time, the amount of stuff we own increases. We hoard. We become sentimental. The things that once gave us pleasure, start to clutter our lives and make us feel trapped but we can’t bring ourselves to part with them.
So when the urge arises to quit your job to follow your dreams of long-term travel or working overseas, the big question is what to do with all your stuff?
Palomino – beach combing & river tubing
24 May
Sometimes the best kept secrets were made to be broken. Those who were already familiar with Palomino would regularly tell others it wasn’t worth visiting or deny all knowledge of its existence, just to keep its beauty and peacefulness all to themselves. But now the word is out and curious travellers are starting to arrive. This simple hideaway has some of the best beaches in Colombia, pristine jungle to explore, good accommodation and tasty food. And to top it off, it’s completely crowd free – but be quick – it can’t stay like this forever. As if Colombia’s Caribbean coast hadn’t already made us chilled enough, we headed to Palomino for a few days to unwind and let time pass.
Wake up and smell the coffee – Colombia’s Zona Cafetera
3 Mar
Growing truly exceptional coffee is one of the things Colombians do best. In fact their coffee is considered to be amongst the greatest in the world so we fully expected to be left wide-eyed and shaky with the amount we intended to drink in the country’s renowned bean growing region, aptly named Zona Cafetera.
Selling onions at market won’t make you cry
21 Feb
Life can seem hard when you’ve been selling onions every Tuesday for forty years at Silvia market. The old couple with weather-beaten faces sat silently together staring in different directions into the distance. They were traditional countryfolk whose survival hinged on the cultivation of fruit and vegetables on their small farm for personal consumption and to sell here at Silvia’s bustling weekly market. They were Guambiano people from one of the small mountain villages of Pueblito, Guambia, La Campana and Caciques and are considered to be one of the most traditional indigenous groups in all of Colombia.
Finding refuge on Volcano Cotopaxi
11 Feb
National Park Cotopaxi is a paradise for people who love nature and have a spirit for adventure. The 33,393 hectare park is Ecuador´s largest protected area and offers a mixture of woods, lake-land and high Andean Altiplano which is home to an abundance of animals and plant life. The highlight of the park is the perfectly conical and snow-covered volcano Cotopaxi which is Ecuador’s second highest peak at 5,897 metres. Cotopaxi is the world´s fifth highest active volcano and whilst its last major eruption took place in 1904, scientists and seismologists now monitor activity very closely, just waiting for the next big one. The scenery rendered us speechless…for once! Cotopaxi had turned her headlights on and we were caught staring into the full beam feeling like we had the whole park to ourselves. Continue reading
The Incredible Galapagos Islands
4 Jan
Imagine waking up in a parallel universe where animals rule the planet fearlessly and humans are consigned to the sidelines – gawping speechlessly with open mouths, only capable of pointing and clicking a camera over and over again. Where animals work in harmony allocating selected beaches for frolicking lava lizards, watery depths for giant manta rays and green highlands for wise, ancient tortoises, whilst humans push and shove over the same small patch of scrub land. Where hungry sparrows dine out on the same plates of food bought by humans, and sealions sprawl on promenade benches enjoying the sunshine. Imagine no further – this is the Galapagos – and these islands are like few other places to be found on Earth.
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Torres del Paine – the ‘W’ trek
Visitors from all walks of life converge on the small hamlet of Puerto Natales to visit Chile’s and perhaps the Continent’s number one national park – Torres del Paine. Located in the Southern Patagonian ice fields at the end of the Andes, the park offers diverse wildlife and incredible mountain scenery, glaciers, lakes, rivers and […]
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