Kruger National Park is South Africa’s largest and most famous wild animal park. There are many rest camps to choose from during your stay. Here is our experience at Tamboti Tented Camp. About Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is home to the Big Five (elephant, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros, and lion) as well as other popular animals such as cheetah, …
The Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) is a very small country located entirely within South Africa. Eswatini is a monarchy, ruled by King Mswati III. Sadly, this country has the highest HIV infection rate in the world, with 27% of adults infected with HIV. It is a poor country, with many people living in one room cinder block …
While visiting Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, we walked across the Victoria Falls Bridge into Zambia. This sounds easy enough to do, but while planning our trip there was a lot of conflicting information about what visas and vaccinations are necessary in order to do this. If you have the same questions, here is some information to help you plan your …
Chobe National Park in Botswana is the place to go to see African elephants. We spent the most amazing three days here on safari. During the day we took boat trips on the Chobe River and went on game drives in the park, searching for elephants, lions, giraffe, and numerous other African animals. At night we slept in tents around …
The city of Johannesburg was our arrival point in South Africa. We had one day to spend here before traveling on to other places. Now we were a party of six, as Kathy and Valerie, our Moms, arrived in Johannesburg on the same day as us. They will be traveling with us for over two weeks as we tour Botswana, …
Dachau Concentration Camp was the first of the Nazi concentration camps. It is located near Munich, Germany. A visit here is an incredibly moving experience and a valuable history lesson. Here are some things you should know while planning your visit. History of Dachau Concentration Camp Dachau was the Nazi’s first concentration camp and was the only concentration camp to …
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a wonderful small town located in Bavaria, Germany, was our home base for one solid week. From Garmisch-Partenkirchen, we frequently day tripped to Austria, Liechtenstein, and other destinations in Bavaria. Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a great place from which to explore southern Germany. It is located in the German Alps, just a few miles from the border with Austria, which we …
Berchtesgaden, Germany…a small corner in southern Germany, tucked away in the Alps, is surrounded on three sides by Austria. This is the land of wiener schnitzel, lederhosen, and beer. We spent three wonderful days here touring all of the big sites and taking a day trip just over the border to Salzburg, Austria. We traveled by train from Bolzano, Italy …
So, we have made it through our first month. How are we doing? Note: This post was originally written July 2014, one month into our around the world trip. We are all still happy, healthy, and having a good time. Tyler and Kara haven’t killed each other yet, and they actually have grown a little closer already. So far we …
The Puez-Odle Altopiano is a spectacular hike from start to finish. With jaw-dropping views of the Dolomites, fields of wildflowers, and endless alpine views, this is our favorite hike in the Dolomites. The Puez-Odle hike is a 9 mile hike along some of the highest mountain peaks in the Dolomites. The hike involves 500 meters of climbing (a chairlift shaves …
The Dolomites, a commonly overlooked region of Italy for Americans when it comes to planning a vacation, is by far our favorite place in this amazing country. We spent four days driving incredibly winding roads, up and down through mountainous territory, enjoying some of Italy’s best views. Our first hike, the Lagazuoi Tunnels, really showed us just how beautiful this …
We spent five days in Tuscany, staying in the town of Siena. We picked Siena as our home base because it is well connected by bus to the other hill towns in Tuscany and easy to get to from Florence. It was a good pick because we loved it here. We stayed in an apartment in the heart of Siena, …
The Cinque Terre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a group of five towns perched on the dramatic coastline of Italy, just north of Pisa. The towns are easily recognizable, with their pastel buildings stacked on top of one another, overlooking the harbors below. Each town offers something a little bit different than the others, and part of the fun …
Tuscany, Italy is known for its wine and splendid scenery, and we loved the time we spent here. The hill towns of Tuscany are small, walled, medieval towns perched on hilltops overlooking the countryside. Their views are stunning, their streets are a joy to stroll through, and the wine tastings are phenomenal. We visited several hill towns, and the very …
One of the “must do” activities while visiting southern Italy is to visit the Amalfi Coast. This was something we were all looking forward to, a winding, white-knuckle ride along one of the most beautiful stretches of road in the world. Positano, as would turn out, would be our favorite town on the Amalfi Coast. We toured the Amalfi Coast …
During our tour of Italy we had three days to spend in Sorrento. Sorrento is a great home base for exploring this part of Italy, as it is well connected to the island of Capri, the Amalfi Coast, and the historic ruins of Pompeii. Day 1: Pompeii We spent our first day visiting Pompeii. We had a late start to the …
While in Italy, we spent three days in Sorrento and devoted one of these days to visiting the island of Capri. Tim and I couldn’t help but wonder is the Blue Grotto worth seeing? The Blue Grotto is the island of Capri’s biggest tourist attraction. It is not a cheap excursion and just paying for transportation from Sorrento to Capri …
Napoli, Italy is world famous for its pizza. And yes, we traveled to Napoli just to sample what some people claim to be the best pizza in the world. About Our Experience Our around the world trip began in Rome. On the day that we traveled from Rome to Sorrento, we made a brief pitstop in Napoli (Naples). Making the …
Our one year around the world trip began in Rome on June 30. We had three days to spend here, just enough time to see all of the major sites. Rome is packed with history, many of it centuries, even millennia, older than what we have in the US. Since we were visiting during the summertime, we knew to expect …
After spending two solid days touring Rome’s must see sights, we chose to go off the beaten path and bike the Appian Way. The Appian Way is one of Rome’s ancient roads, connecting Rome to the Adriatic Port of Brindisi. This road was a marvel of Roman engineering at the time it was constructed, 2000 years ago. Today it is …
