High in the Venezuelan Andes, crammed into the Chama River Valley, there’s a small city with a growing reputation. Home to colonial buildings, shady plazas, and leafy parks, Mérida has become increasingly popular with travelers looking for a South American experience. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains, it’s a major center for adventure sports.
When you first move abroad almost everything you see is a wonderful surprise. And if you’re lucky, as I was in Ecuador, the wonder can last for years.
The best part of travel isn’t hitting every spot in your guidebook. It’s discovering the “hidden gems” off the tourist trail. Our editors in the field find worth-stopping-for spots every time they’re on the road. Below are a few recent recommendations worth going out of your way for… Places like the colonial city of Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico which has one of the prettiest main squares in Mexico.
Forget the trek to Machu Picchu, Peru. While the pre-Columbian city is truly a work of art, it is difficult not to feel disappointed after hiking for four days only to find a hoard of tourists who got to the top in an hour by train. Instead of following the masses, why not venture off the beaten path and hike Bolivia’s El Choro Trail?
This is Nadaam or the “Three Manly Games,” Mongolia’s most important annual festival held during the national holiday from July 11 to 13. Its roots lie in Mongolian warrior traditions and include fierce competitions in three disciplines: Male only wrestling, all gender archery and gritty horse races out on the open steppe with fearless child jockeys.
I’m often asked the best thing I’ve ever experienced on assignment as a travel writer. There have been so many incredible experiences, but visiting Kabini River Lodge in early 2006 is definitely near the top.
Safari, Swahili for “journey,” brings to mind images of dry African plains, charging herds of antelope and majestic lions resting in the shade. And rightfully so: Many of the world’s top safaris are found on the African continent.
Yoga classes in India, tango-dancing in Buenos Aires…cooking, archeology or art appreciation…traveling with a purpose, integrating an interest of yours into your vacation is a great way to enrich to your travel experience. And it can be a lot easier (and more affordable) to arrange than you might think. Even with only a day or two to spare, you can fit in a class or a course—and you don’t have to look far to find them.
“That’s not a branch. It’s a boa constrictor.” Our long boat idled in the swift, muddy current as we scanned the trees on the riverbank.
You want to leave it all behind for that one idyllic Caribbean island…a place surrounded by incredibly vibrant and colorful seascapes…your very own hard-to-reach haven….
At the end of the month, Lop Buri, 71 miles north of Bangkok, throws a giant banquet. The guests of honor? The 3,000 long-tailed macaques that roam the small town.
Close your eyes and visualize Tanzania. Maybe you think of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, with its ice-capped peak floating thousands of feet above the savannah.
Towering mountains sweep down to the sea. High on the steep, green slopes, chalet-style houses keep watch over tea and hazelnut plantations.
After we fell 7,000 feet my instructor casually pointed out his new house on the lakeshore below.
Europe’s cycle paths are an appealing way to navigate the continent—whizzing past fields of daffodils, ancient castles and Mediterranean beaches.
We hear it breathing first, somewhere in the deep. Then, with a deep sigh, an enormous black head breaks the surface. As it draws closer to the boat, we collectively hold our breath and ready our cameras.
I admit it: I have a shark complex. Maybe it’s due to watching Jaws at an impressionable age. At any rate, I dislike swimming in deep open water, even though I love to swim.
Day two took us to about 13,000 feet above sea level, and the fi rst of many plateaus. The vastness and strangeness of the panoramas is difficult to capture.
My wife and I took our first “self-fly” safari in 1997, to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. In one of my flying magazines, I had seen an ad stating that you could travel to Africa and rent an airplane to see the animals.
Visits to the Antarctic are limited to heroes, fools, scientists and tourists. There are no permanent residents in this frigid, otherworldly land.
If you asked a fisherman where you’d find the best fishing in North America, you would probably receive a different answer from every angler you asked.
It’s a jungle out there. A jungle of macaques, proboscis monkeys, pygmy elephants, and the mouse deer, which is a little bigger than a rabbit. Pythons, hornbills, bee-eaters, carnivorous pitcher plants. Lazy brown rivers and crocodiles. Hundreds of orchid species. And the “People of the Forest.”
Thinking about moving overseas and worried about how your kids or grandkids will take to it? Don’t be. Children are adaptable and can soak up new experiences (and languages) like big porous sponges.
Since my husband Billy and I left the working world behind at the age of 38 in 1991, we’ve been traveling the globe and have lived in dozens of countries.
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