Newfoundland: The Rock

I’ve spent the past decade traveling all over the world and I am only now experiencing the beauty of my own country.  This summer’s travels took me to Newfoundland, the most easterly province.  Here we learned about geology, saw marine life, did coastal walks and engaged with Canada’s friendliest people.

Throughout our travels, we loved the colourful homes especially in St John’s.  I think I would like to live in a pink house!

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We enjoyed the stunning scenery of the province especially in Gros Morne National Park.  It included stunning lakes, mountains, waterfalls and fjords.

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Gros Morne National Park also included the Tablelands which is where there is exposed tectonic plate.  We learned how when the world was one mega continent with Newfoundland in the centre and therefore has geology matching different parts of the world.

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For all of those who enjoy hiking, each national park and coastal town had plenty of walks to go on.

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The coastal towns of Trinity, Bonavista and Twillingate were picturesque as well.

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Being coastal, lighthouses were abundant.  Being cold, so were woollen socks and mitts.  For the musical, unique instruments were to be found…I’se the b’y!

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We went in late August which meant that we missed the icebergs and lobster season.  We were at the very end of whale season and just barely saw a fin.  But we saw lots of puffins.

Ethiopia: Culture, History, & Nature

My recent trip to Ethiopia offered so many varied experiences.  Ethiopia offeres cultural, historical, and natural experiences to the traveller.  Unfortunately, in our limited time, we were unable to do everything, which may mean that we will one day return.  Here’s a taste of what we did experience while there.

Ethiopia is known for their rock hewn churches.  Our itinerary did not highlight these churches, so therefore we missed out the famous one, Lalibela,  but we managed to see a few. Abraha we Atsbeha has beautiful paintings inside unlike other churches in the area which were burned.  It was so interesting to see stories of the bible depicted with African figures.

 

Abraha We Atsbeha

Abraha We Atsbeha

Abraha We Atsbeha

Abraha We Atsbeha

At Wukro Cherkos, the paintings were less and you could see the burn marks.  We happened to be visiting at a time of pilgrimage and we were able to witness the priest giving holy water

 

Wukro Cherkos

Wukro Cherkos

Medhane Alem Kesho was my favourite church.  You can really see how they built it out of the rock.  This church has carvings instead of paintings.  The bottom right hand photo is where milk and honey flow from this rock once a year on March 19th.

 

Medhane Alem Kesho

Medhane Alem Kesho

Medhane Alem Kesho

Medhane Alem Kesho

Medhane Alem Kesho

Although not known for its animals like its neighbouring country, Kenya, to the south, we did get to see some animals while we were there.

 

Lake Abiata- Flamingos

Highlights of our trip were being able to visit with the tribes of Omo Valley.

 

 

Observing Ethiopians in the everyday life was interesting.  How hard they work.  The food they eat.  The way they make their bee hives.

 

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Bee hives

Traditional dinner in Addis

Our other highlight was the Danakil depression

 

 

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Ethiopia is also known as the cradle of civilization.  Lucy was found here, so of course we went to visit her

We will one day return to explore more of the churches, historical cities and to do hiking in the different mountains.

Only In Madagascar

Lured by the how exotic Madagascar seemed, this was my next destination.  I came here because of the unique flora and fauna of the island.  Little did I know that I would be intrigued just as equally by its people, culture and way of life.

When you typically visit Africa, you do a lot of driving.  But you find yourself seeing so much more than scenery while on the road, because the main arteries take you through villages where we were a witness to the daily lives of the Malagasy which were an interesting people with a mixture of African, South East Asian and Arabic taking on different aspects of each culture.

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How to move a ferry that is stuck in the mud

The town of Anstirabe

There were many handicrafts that the Malagasy were very proud of to display

Paper Making Factory

Paper Making Factory

Making vehicles from recycled material

Zebu horn crafts factory

Silk Worm Factory

Embroidery

Silk Worm Factory

Madagascar is a very large island with vast different landscapes throughout

Blue Pool

There are a lot of flora and fauna in Madagascar that is unique to just this island

Elephant Foot Plant

travellers tree

Of course one of the main reasons to go is to see the ever loved lemurs that were much easier to spot and see than I had ever imagined.

Verreaux Sifika

Brown Lemur

Ring Tailed Lemurs

Golden Bamboo Lemur

Ring Tailed Lemurs

Common Brown Lemurs

Verreaux’s Sifikas

Common Brown Lemurs

Tobermory: Exploring the Great Lakes

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After traveling around the world extensively, I find myself wanting to explore my own country more and more.  This next set of travels within Canada has taken me in a north westerly direction from Toronto to the Bruce Peninsula to explore Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.  What brought me to this region were photos of […]

Colombia

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2016 saw my return to South America.  I hadn’t been here since 2009 and it was great to be back.  Unfortunately, I only got out to the Caribbean coast of Colombia, leaving much of the country to still be explored.  I enjoyed my time on the coast as you’ll see it is quite beautiful.  With […]

The Canadian East Coast

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It’s been awhile since I’ve posted here.  My travels over these past year or so have been short and sweet travels mainly to warm destinations with lots of beaches.  However, I did have a road trip this year to a destination that over recent years I have been neglecting very much.  My own wonderful country.  […]

Laos, the Land of Waterfalls

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My final stop on my travels ended up being Laos.  I really wanted to return to Laos because I hadn’t spent much time here before.  This trip was concentrated on visiting the south of Laos.  I had heard great things about the south, especially about 4000 Islands and I couldn’t wait to get there.  But […]

Vietnam: Discovering the Caves and Tunnels

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Although we were specializing in doing nothing, we picked up the pace in Vietnam.  It was a whirlwind adventure as we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City via the Mekong Delta.  We were going to spend a couple of days here and figure out how to get north quickly to check out the Phong Nha […]

Cambodia: Pure Relaxation

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I found myself back in Cambodia 2 years later.  This country had not been on the original itinerary as by this time I was supposed to be finishing my travels.  But instead of heading home, I met up with my Russian friend who I’d met in the Philippines.  She was located in Cambodia and I […]

The Beauty of Auckland

New Zealand took on a different feel.  I had travelled through here a couple of years ago and the purpose of this visit was not to see places of the country that I had missed the first time around but to visit friends of mine that I had met in London and had moved home. […]