Of all the activities that I love to do when I’m traveling, hiking has to be near the top of the list. Getting to walk through the nature and natural beauty a destination has to offer can be a really special way to connect with a place. I try to incorporate hiking into all my travels.
When it comes to São Tomé and hiking, Obo National Park is the place to go. There are lot of different trails, all with varying degrees of difficulties and even an option for a multi-day trip.
When people think of Africa, big animals are usually what comes to mind. Think the Lion King. Being able to see those kinds of animals are typically associated with East Africa. While West Africa has significantly lower populations of those big animals, and some are extinct in the region, there is still a great place in Ghana for a wildlife experience.
Mole National Park is the largest national park in Ghana and one of your best chances to experience wildlife in Ghana.
Listed by National Geographic as one of the world’s most thrilling hikes, Kakum National Park is truly a delight and worth a visit if you’re in Ghana.
The sun shone down on my face from the peak of its daily ascent. I lay there, on some of the oldest rocks in the world with my feet dangling over the edge of the ridge, dozing in the mid-day heat and taking a break from my ritual of the day.
The ritual of meticulously placing my hiking pole in a spot that would support and balance me as I swung my foot up onto the rocky ridge in front of me, pushing myself forward on the stretch of trail that is routinely referred to as “the hardest trail in Michigan” only to catch myself as I picked my way down the rocks back into the boreal forest. The process would repeat itself less than a quarter mile later.
I lay there, along with the lichen, soaking up the late September sun and allowing it to turn the sweat on my brow into salt lines, giving me a faux aged look, until the call of a bull moose rang out from the wilderness below my feet spurred me up and onto my destination for the day, still a few hard miles on down the trail.
It’s no secret that Michigan is full of natural beauty. One of the places in Michigan that definitely a natural wonder is the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
My friends, and fellow Blog It Home winners, Keith and Heather over at Sponge and Slate are back in the U.S. for a month before embarking on their third year extension adventure in China, and invited me to join them relaxing at a family cabin on the gorgeous shores of Lake Michigan. Of course I jumped at the opportunity.
I’ve been back Stateside for a week now and I’m still getting used to life here. (There’s so much space everywhere! Tap water is OK to drink! Toilet paper exists and is so thick!) But, in addition to getting my bearings here (I’m constantly reminding myself to stay to the right when I’m driving), I’ve also been answering the question, “So what’s next?” about once an hour. There are a lot of things that are next but this is a list of things that I know I will do next.
Michigan is a beautiful state, with the most coastline of any state in the continental U.S., wonderful National Forests, great engineering feats, a booming food and beer scene and a lot more. I’ve been away from my home state for just shy of a decade and I’m looking forward to reacquainting myself with the bounties that are here, and these are the things that are at the top of my list.
Say Nepal and what comes to mind for most people are the High Himalayas. Those iconic peaks of Everest and Lhotse, the Annapurna massif and Kangchenjunga, are just a couple of the more popular mountains found in the borders of this small country, which boasts seven of the 10 tallest mountains in the world.
But, when you arrive in Nepal and get your hands on some Nepali rupees, you notice that they are emblazoned with a variety of animals that are not found in the mountains: deer, crocodiles, rhinos, elephants. These animals aren’t on the money just because they are cool animals, but because they are actually found in Nepal, in the jungle-y southern border with India.
There are a couple of national parks along the southern border, but the most easily accessible and most visited is Chitwan National Park, near Sauraha, about six hours by bus from Kathmandu.
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
As my time in Thailand winds down, I figured I’d get in one last bpai tiao. I was able to connect with some Peace Corps folks who had been evacuated from Liberia and Guinea because of the Ebola epidemic and we went to Khao Sam Roi Yot, a few hours south of Bangkok.
One of my closest volunteer friends, Brandon, lives in a village that is a pretty well-known Thai tourist destination in Khao Koh, Petchabun. Last year, some of the teachers at my school were talking about taking a trip there at the end of bpit term, but it never happened for whatever number of reasons. However, I did get to make my way there this bpit term since Brandon invited to his house.
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
At the beginning of the month there were two Thai National Holidays, Father’s Day and Constitution Day, which fell on a Thursday and Tuesday respectively. Seeing as how we get Thai holidays off and are free to travel as we please on the weekends, a friend and I made plans to put our SCUBA certifications and living near some of the best diving to use and hit up a raved about national park.