Showing posts with label Latin America. Show all posts

A Guide to Cartagena



Cartagena, Colombia is one of the most beautiful colonial cities in Latin America. It's a colorful, tropical city with so much to do, see and eat. I went for 4 days last November which I thought was plenty of time. I enjoyed Cartagena so much I could see me buying a condo there to retire. Suffice to say, I loved Cartagena! This old, historic city creates a colorful backdrop for vivid photos. The buildings are painted a wide array of colors and had bright bougainvillea vines passing through some of them. The colonial architecture was gorgeous from the ornate churches to the unique door knockers.  I spend my days just walking around aimlessly and went to a few rooftop terraces for a breeze. Cartagena is a walled city because its surrounded by a walled fortification built in the 1600s to protect from pirate attacks. Today the city walls are a UNESCO heritage site. The walls stretch for 6.8 miles around the old city. Cartagena was considered one of the most important ports of America throughout the entire Spanish colonial period. It's definitely a city worth putting on your list to visit!

Oaxaca Food Guide


Oaxaca is considered Mexico’s food capital for it’s complex cuisine full of rich flavor. Oaxacan food is made up of moles, chocolate, quesillo cheese, grasshoppers, tlayundas, tamales, huitlacoche (corn fungus), memelitas, worms & herbs. My meals there did not start with a frozen fruity margarita, guac &chips.  Instead in Oaxaca, it's all about mezcal. Food to me is an integral part of any travel experience and thus when I travel I always research the best places to eat; and go out of my way to find them. I don't want to waste a single meal; and by that I don’t mean expensive or Michelin star restaurants, I just mean unique experiences or typical representations of the country’s cuisine. I spent a week eating my way through Oaxaca with a food bucket list of all the things I wanted to be sure I tried and checked off my list along the way as a vegetarian. 

A Travel Guide to Oaxaca, Mexico


Oaxaca is such a beautiful city with so much to offer.  If you’re looking for a non-beach vacation in a vibrant city full of  rainbow-colored colonial architecture, rich history, and craft markets then Oaxaca is your place. Pronounced "wa-ha-ka", it is the culinary and culture capital of Mexico  and most known for its Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration. One of the safest cities in Mexico, Oaxaca  has a friendly, small-town vibe with a population of just 260K. The city is very walkable and easy to explore on foot. Oaxaca ranks #5 on  Travel and Leisure magazine’s list of top cities of the world! #4 is Mexico City and #2 is San Miguel de Allende, so I definitely want to return to Mexico soon. While I saw lots of hotels, I didn’t pass many tourists on the streets. English isn’t widely spoken, even in restaurants so a little Spanish goes a long way. This makes Oaxaca a very authentic destination to visit.

Postcards from Havana


Cuba is quite the popular destination these days! It's much easier for Americans to travel there (see my Tips for Travel to Cuba), but that may soon change as our President announced a policy change coming soon for Cuba so you should hurry up and go! I spent a week in Cuba in May with two full days in Havana, one day exploring the city for 14 hours straight!The first day started with a walking tour of Old Havana learning about Cuban history. I walked along the narrow cobblestone streets to see the colorful colonial architecture and many dilapidated buildings. I also enjoyed walking off the beaten path down narrow streets to people watch. Did you know that Havana has a population of 2.2 million people? Cubans pronounce their country as "Koo-ba".

Tips for Traveling to Cuba



Cuba has been on my bucket list for a very long time and I finally had the opportunity to visit in May. Being there is like stepping back in time, colorful vintage cars, salsa music, Cuban cigars, Havana Club Rum, colonial architecture, cobble stoned streets and Che Guevara image everywhere. It was everything I imagined. The beautiful island of Cuba area wise it’s roughly similar in size to the state of Virginia, hence it’s the largest island in the Caribbean and its neighbor Jamaica is only 1/10th its size.  I spent one week traveling around Cuba visiting Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba and I felt very safe there.

Vegetarian Mexican Food


I enjoyed tons of authentic vegetarian Mexican food while in Cancun I was worried I would have to eat cheese quesadillas every day but that wasn't the case. The restaurants I went to had entire vegetarian menus! Instead of the traditional hard taco that we have, their tacos were all soft tortillas.

What to do in Cancun


Cancun offers five-star hotels, sparkling sapphire waters, diverse restaurants, and a booming nightlife. Outside of the resort life, you'll find  underground water cenotes, water amusement parks and the spectacular cliff Aztec ruins of Tulum. You can't run out of things to do, just be prepared to spend a lot of money on all the activities as they're not cheap. But it will make your vacation a unique experience versus just spending all your time on the beach.

Christmas in Cancun


After my trip to San Francisco, my travel bug was itching so I booked a trip to Cancun for 10 days at the end of December as I had 3 weeks off from work. I've been to Mexico a few times. I did a summer exchange program in Colima which included trips to Mexico City and Guadalajara. I've taken a Mexican Riveria cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. My very first international vacation as a kid was Christmas in Cozumel.

a History Lesson from Panama


I'm a bit of a history buff and it was my major in college. While in Panama I learned about Captain Morgan and Manuel Noriega.

Panama Rainforest

Panama's lush rainforest is a hidden treasure because tourism hasn't really exploded in the country. A third of the country is set aside as protected areas and national parks, and indigenous groups live on it with pretty much the same as they did hundreds of years ago. I visited an Embra Indian village next to the river which still maintains a traditional lifestyle (with no electricity or phone) and have not assimilated into Panamian society, so it was just like what you would imagine seeing in National Geographic magazine! Survivor filmed three seasons on Panama's Pearl Islands, which by the way have an interesting history. In 1513 the Spaniards discovered the islands inhabited with Indians who presented them with a gift basket of pearls. This only made them want to loot the island more so they killed off all the Indians and imported African slaves to harvest the pearls and their descendants now inhabit the islands. In 1979 the Shah of Iran retreated to the Pearl Islands. Today the islands are known for its beach resort and houses owned by the wealthy.  The Smithsonian operates Barro Colorado Island in Panama because it was untouched by modern civilization and many of the most important groundbreaking scientific and biological discoveries of the tropical animal and plant kingdom have come from their research here.

Panama Canal


The Panama Canal is such an interesting engineering marvel I had to do an entire post on it! They are building a new Canal that will open in 2015. The Canal was built on land slicing through rock, then connected through the largest (at the time) man made lake, Lake Gatun, to connect the two sets of locks. 

Panama: 5 Awesome Facts from my Trip!

This week I'm turning my blog into the Travel Channel and everyday will share something about Panama.
The name Panama means "Abundance of Fishes." I spent one week visiting  Panama City, then cruised the Panama Canal, visited an Embera indigenous village in the rainforest (where I had an encounter with a wild monkey) and stayed at a beach resort. Since it was the start of the rainy season (yet they are in a drought) the beach was empty and I had the pool practically to myself! I also went to a guava plantation, a butterfly and orchid farm, and visited a zoo where I saw the many cats of the jungle.