Sossusvlei and the Namib Desert

August 22nd, 2011 | By Lee | 10 Comments »

Namibia is essentially the Africa you dream about. Vast open spaces; wild animals walking around; unreal vistas; and towering desert sand dunes going all the way out to the icy Atlantic Ocean. Amongst all these attractions is the top destination for tourists in Namibia; Sossusvlei. It is everything you could ask for and more in a destination. You can hike up to the top of the worlds highest sand dune and gaze out over the whole Namib Desert, as you ponder the steep sprint down into Deadvlei for some of the most unforgettable scenery on Earth. This is where I found myself the other day on day two of my three day camping trip into the Namib Desert and Sossusvlei.
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Angola and Cabinda

August 21st, 2011 | By Lee | 4 Comments »

Angola is one of those places in the world that brings with it a sense of mystery, a sense of curiosity and a sense of fear of the unknown. To most people, little is known about Angola. You may know they recently came out of a decades long civil war. If you’re a sports fan, you may remember Angola for the being the first country the original Dream Team played at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics where they lost by some 60 points to Michael Jordan and company. Or perhaps you may know that Angola hosted last year’s Africa Cup of Nations and it was marred by the shooting of the Togo National Team bus in the exclave province of Cabinda. You may know they are the largest producer in all of Africa; even bigger than Nigeria. You may know they have one of the most corrupt governments on Earth. You may know that Angola is considered the worlds most expensive country and Luanda the worlds most expensive city. You may know one or two of these things but likely, you’ve never even heard of Angola, Cabinda or at least have never paid any attention. That appears to be just how the government wants it though.
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My Favorite City…Sydney

June 9th, 2011 | By Lee | 2 Comments »

I must admit that I have a love affair with Sydney. It may well be the best city on Earth. For me, it symbolizes everything I love in a city. It’s big, has a lot of people, a lot of things to do. It has great beaches. It has good nightlife, restaurants, symbolic landmarks, and a real vibe and energy about it that only the best of the best cities around the world have. I am big on top five lists and Sydney is always in them if not at number one. I first went to Sydney in early 2003 and that is where my Australian odyssey began and I fell in love with a city and a country that I would love to live in some day. The infectious attitude and healthy lifestyles of the people who are warm, caring and fun to be around is what makes Australia great. Those same qualities plus the beauty, glitz and glam of Sydney make it the best city in the world and a true pleasure to visit.
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Rarotonga & Aitutaki, Cook Islands

June 7th, 2011 | By Lee | 4 Comments »

The Cook Islands, founded by Captain Cook of course, get lost in the South Pacific shuffle. You never hear too much about them because they are overshadowed by neighbors with more marketable sounding names like Tahiti and Fiji. The only things that I really knew about the Cook Islands before I got there were that my Grandparents went there in the 1980’s on a cruise and loved it; people launder money there; and the guy who tried to con everyone on my crappy Tokelau boat lives there too. That aside, the islands were sort of a mystery to me. But as always, upon closer inspection and some unreal scenery and great times, the Cooks are one of my favorite destinations and right there with Fiji for all around fun and beauty in the South Pacific.
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Norfolk Island

May 23rd, 2011 | By Lee | 3 Comments »

Norfolk Island is an interesting place. I don’t know exactly what to write about it because it is kind of baffling to me. I had always heard that it was essentially a vacation place for old people, mainly Aussies and Kiwis, who could catch direct flights and enjoy a low key beach vacation while still keeping the country feel. I have to say that’s pretty accurate. On my flight to Norfolk Island, I was easily the youngest person on the plane and I’d say the next youngest was about 65-no joke. My plane home had some grandchildren to mix it up a bit but 90% were still retirees. That aside, on the island there are some young people, the natives, if you will. It seems like a very incestuous island as you might imagine and hanging out at the local watering hole, I met many of them who were fascinated by me and why I was there. However, it was them who fascinated me.

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Lord Howe Island

May 23rd, 2011 | By Lee | 2 Comments »

Lord Howe Island (LHI) is simply put, a paradise. I had heard for years how wonderful a place it was and I was always a little skeptical because I usually don’t trust people’s opinions; I like to find out for myself, so that’s exactly what I did. Flying non-stop from Sydney on Qantaslink for the bargain basement price of $900 (that’s a joke, but it really does cost that much to fly round trip to LHI), you arrive into a veritable paradise. LHI has redefined the word paradise for me in two days and has shown me what the actual definition of an island paradise is.
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Tasmanian Devil

May 10th, 2011 | By Lee | 3 Comments »

Tasmania to me evokes images of the unknown; of the Wild West; of that crazy cartoon Tasmanian devil from Bugs Bunny cartoons that terrorized everything that moved. To be honest, I didn’t know too much about it either aside from the bad stereotypes placed on it by other Aussies. Basically, of it being the red headed stepchild of Australia or the inbred West Virginia, if you will (no offense to WV), of Oz. However, after spending a few days on Tasmania and literally covering half of the massive island, I can tell you otherwise. It is a pretty awesome place and nothing like you’d expect.
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Merry Christmas & Coco Puffs

May 8th, 2011 | By Lee | 5 Comments »

Where do I begin about Christmas Island (CI)? What a place! It is one of those destinations that you’ve heard a lot about (if you’ve heard of it at all) and you’ve always wanted to see but it’s so far away and such a pain to get there, you just kind of wrote it off. I am here to tell you to go there, it’s awesome! They call it a natural wonder for a reason. The expense and hardship of actually getting there is well worth it to get to see somewhere that so few people have ever been. An Indian Ocean territory of Australia that 99% of Aussie’s have never been to; and a very high percentage haven’t even heard of it. It is truly a world away but has so much to offer an intrepid traveler.
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Perth, Western Australia

May 7th, 2011 | By Lee | 2 Comments »

I am back in Australia! It’s quite possibly my favorite country to visit and besides Spain, the only other country that I would live in without a second thought. I am starting out in Perth, Western Australia which is the most isolated city on the planet and one of my favorite cities in Oz. In 2003, I spent some 6 months traveling all around Oz, New Zealand and Fiji and even made it out for a week in Perth and I am so happy to be back. Although much has changed, mainly economically in Western Australia, Perth is still a hidden gem of a city, even in its own country as most Aussies haven’t even been.
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Much Ado About Algeria

March 19th, 2011 | By Lee | 14 Comments »

Algeria is one of those places that you really don’t know much about. It kind of has a mystery to it. You know it’s one of those big North African countries but you never hear much about it and certainly if you hear anything at all; it’s probably negative. Algeria was the last stop on my current African adventure and a country that had been elusive to me in the past. Not even two years ago I dealt with a complete fiasco with the Algerian Embassy in Washington and was in fact denied a visa for no reason. So going in, that was really all I had to go on and that was a terrible experience. Luckily for me, I did go and discovered that Algeria has a ton to offer and while I may not be moving there, it surely was a nice and as it turned out, exciting place to spend a few days.
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