Last Hours at Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica
More swimming, cartwheels, pina coladas, sunsets. Great place!
La Fortuna Waterfall
After another fantastic breakfast at Hotel Arenal Manoa, we took a cab over to check out the La Fortuna waterfall (approx $15 each way). Apparently I was too excited to read anything about this hike and just jumped straight to the photos, because I didn’t know about the major stairmaster workout ahead of us.
Afternoon at the Hanging Bridges
We arranged for a tour over to the Hanging Bridges in the afternoon & two other couples from our hotel went along with us… we had all been at the pool together all morning so we were fast friends!
Morning by the Pool at Arenal Volcano
We woke up with the sun at 5:30am and promptly jumped out of bed to take thousands of photos of Arenal in all of its morning glory. Waking up with a view of a volcano is pretty surreal, especially with such a crazy hellacious day of travel trying to get there. Where am I?!
Virgin Atlantic Flights First Class
To London & Back – Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic
The only thing I could have wished for on this flight that it was going to South Africa – flying with a bed is the way to travel! I was headed to London to watch a Chelsea vs. Arsenal game and spend a little free time in the city, so I got in touch with a couple people who knew some people and next thing I knew I was checking into the first class cabin on my way to LHR. The food was nice, the drinks were better, but the bed was best!
Eastern Sierras Hot Springs
Next time you’re in Mammoth Lakes, head about 10 miles south of town to Benton Crossing Road, where you can find more hot springs than you’ll know what to do with! Our best bet for finding relatively empty pools was…
White Shark Projects, South Africa
One of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve had to date: shark diving!
I woke up in Hermanus before dawn and drove the long, dark stretch of road over to Kleinbaai to meet up with the White Shark Projects team for a morning dive. Even the drive there seemed a little eerie, with bicyclists and people on foot popping up out of the darkness on the side of the road, making the drive pretty harrowing. I was lost in thought imagining all sorts of scary shark scenarios and they were forcing me to pay attention to the road! Thanks for keeping me present, roadside people.
Rovos Rail – Cape Town to Pretoria, South Africa
Last spring I took the luxurious Rovos Rail from Cape Town to Pretoria, traveling across the Karoo with pitstops in Matjiesfontein and Kimberley. The trip took two days, slowly traversing the vast and varied land that is South Africa. We embarked from the station in Cape Town midday and made it to Matjiesfontein by sunset, which created a pretty stunning backdrop for the train! Matjiesfontein is a random little town without much going on, but it was fun to explore and get a drink at the local pub.
Phantom Forest Eco Reserve, Knysna
On my first visit to Africa, I took a week to tour the Garden Route and was traveling serendipitously without any solid plans… While I was hanging out in Hermanus, I read a magazine that was raving about Phantom Forest, an eco-reserve in Knysna, so I decided to make that my next stop! The trip was a pretty huge whirlwind of awesome, but Phantom Forest stood out among other hotels with its amazing views, hilltop privacy, monkeys!, delicious homemade breakfast, and a cabin that felt like my own personal fort in the Afromontane forest. I even got to see a Knysna Turaco! [/lourie, whatever you guys are calling it!]
