After my brief stay in Peterborough over the July long weekend I decided to head back there to explore this travel region in greater detail. I have always liked the Kawartha Region, with its beautiful lakes and rolling hills, and equally importantly, I always appreciate its easy reachability and proximity to Toronto. It takes just about an hour and half to leave the Big Smoke behind and reach the serene countryside and jewel-blue lakes of the Kawartha Region.

So on August 4, 2010 I set off on a 3-day adventure to explore more of this popular vacation region. I arrived mid-morning at my home for the next two days: the Golden Pathways Bed and Breakfast where dynamic owner Cora Whittington welcomed me like an old friend. We had already met earlier in July of this year when I had spent two nights at her relaxing country retreat.


Rate and Review : Ontario Travel - Peterborough: The Peterborough Farmers Market, Lunch on Hunter Street and a Cruise

Hierve el Agua is one of the least visited attractions along Oaxaca's central valley touring routes. Yet for naturalists, photographers, hikers and those with an interest in ecotourism, it holds much more allure than most of the traditional sights.

What is Oaxaca's Hierve el Agua?

Translated "the water boils," Hierve el Agua is actually a misnomer. At two locations about 40 meters apart, water does indeed "boil" up from the ground; not hot, but rather forced to the surface by the earth's interior pressure, arriving at roughly atmospheric temperature.

It rises to the surface, then channels into two man-made pools of fresh, mineral-rich water, suitable for swimming since the pools gradually reach depths upwards of seven feet. Taste the water before it reaches the lower pool, as it flows along a narrow canal from the puncture in the earth; it's crystal clear and pure, of course aside from natural mineral compounds.
Rate and Review : Hierve el Agua in Oaxaca, Mexico: Oaxaca's Bubbling Springs and Petrified Waterfalls

In this age of high tech entertainment and digital extravaganzas, can carousels compete for your kids' attention? They absolutely can. I would characterize it as guaranteed fun. We proved it ourselves last week when we visited the Santa Monica Carousel with our two and a half year old daughter. Located at the foot of the Santa Monica Pier, the impressive carousel captures the imagination of young and old. We did not know much about it prior to the visit, apart from that "it's there". We did engage in some pre visit buildup making our daughter extremely eager to finally experience it.

Rate and Review : Take Your Kids to the Carousel in Santa Monica. They'll Love You For It!

Parents with small children are always on the lookout to find interesting places for visiting with their little ones. If there is an element of fun, learning, exploration or physical activity all the better. Southern California is blessed with amazing weather enabling kids to spend a lot of time outdoors. Perhaps due to that fact kids' indoor play areas on a large scale are not that common. That's where Pretend City Children's Museum comes into play. We just recently learned about it and decided to take our two and half year old to test it out. It is a relatively new venture, opened only in August of 2009. As the web site states in their mission : Pretend City is a community which builds better brains through fun, whole body learning experiences and empowers children and their grown-ups to meaningfully connect with and expand their world.

Rate and Review : Weekend Visit to the Pretend City Children's Museum in Irvine, CA

The Sunday open air antiques stalls at Lagunilla in Mexico City, the expansive roadside collectibles shops just north of San Miguel de Allende, the stores and weekend marketplace at Los Sapos in Puebla, and good old fashioned picking in the state of Oaxaca. Each provides a fruitful avenue for acquiring antiques and collectibles in central and southern Mexico. Of course there are many more, but over the past two decades this transplanted Canadian has found success pounding the pavement (often in the case of Oaxaca barely passable dirt roads and pathways) in these four venues.

Rate and Review : Antiques and Collectibles in Mexico: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico City (Lagunilla), Puebla (Los Sapos)

There are very few places in the country that can boast such a diversity of natural places of beauty as the Western Cape. The Garden Route follows the coastline of the Indian Ocean on the Eastern Cape Coast, between a belt of mountain ranges, the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains inland. The Garden Route enjoys one of the mildest and most equable climates, with unspoiled golden beaches, beautiful lagoons and estuaries and boasts in excess of 250 species of birds.

Rate and Review : Budget Travel in the Western Cape South Africa

Leaving the temple precinct of Nanzen-ji in central Kyoto, I headed north on foot along the pretty canal-side path that is now more famously known as the Philosopher's Walk. Come springtime, this delightful walkway is one of the city's most popular venues for hanami, or cherry blossom viewing parties. This early in the morning the path was eerily quiet, though pleasantly so, allowing me ample time to reflect on my memorable visit the previous day to Kinkaku-ji and its fabulous "Golden Pavilion". My plan was to arrive at Ginkaku-ji, the "Temple of the Silver Pavilion", in plenty of time to beat the crowds and to absorb the beauty of its gardens in peaceful solitude.

Rate and Review : Ginkaku-ji in Kyoto, Japan - The Shogun's Silver Pavilion Paradise

What better way to begin offering children's cooking classes than with pizza and mango smoothies. The inaugural children's cooking lesson at Chef Pilar Cabrera's Casa de los Sabores, in Oaxaca, Mexico, imparted the basics of kitchen safety and hygiene, composting and recycling, and nutrition, all within a three-hour session. And at the same time, lead instructor Ninfa Raigosa infused the morning with helpful food preparation tips that even as adults we don't always learn early enough in our culinary lives. But best of all, it took place within the context of preparing recipes which are fun for children to make --- with the dreaded green salad snuck in at the end.


Rate and Review : Children's Cooking Classes in Oaxaca, Mexico

The accolades tell it all: "I had a terrific and very inspiring time in Oaxaca. Your knowledge of the culture and region introduced us to so many interesting people, all willing to share their passion, whether it was for pottery, wood carving, frothy chocolate, the best moles or natural dyes"[Elizabeth Baird].

Elizabeth Baird, one of the foremost Canadian culinary icons of our time, was a participant in the May, 2010, Oaxaca Culinary Tour. So was prolific cookbook author and columnist Rose Murray, who endorsed a copy of her seminal work, A Taste of Canada, A Culinary Journey, with similar praise: "Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge of Oaxaca with us. We know it through your eyes."

Rate and Review : Oaxaca Culinary Tour Success Suggests More Gastronomic Opportunities for Visitors to Southern Mexico

Namakwa, as part of the Succulent Karoo, is a biodiversity hotspot and as such is the only arid hotspot in the world. It contains more than 6 000 plant species, 250 species of birds, 78 species of mammals, 132 species of reptiles and amphibians and an unknown number of insects, making it the world's most diverse, arid environment. More than 40% of these species are found nowhere else on Earth.
The world's largest forests of quiver trees or kokerbome - Aloe dichotoma - lie outside Loeriesfontein, Kenhardt and Onseepkans. Owing its name to the San, who used the trunk, branches and its bark to make quivers, the aloe grows to four metres, stores water in its trunk, resists drought and lives for up to 400 years.

Rate and Review : Namakwa in South Africa is a Biodiversity Hotspot

My stomach problems of yesterday had disappeared and I felt as good as new on this gorgeous late May morning. An early highlight of the day was the breakfast on our large balcony in the Torrenova Aparthotel complex. Although the hotel itself is somewhat outdated and not particularly fancy, our view over the Mediterranean was simply precious. By 10 am we had driven from the touristy coastal areas into the quiet mountain town of Calvia which stretches along the foothills of the Tramuntana mountain region. In the middle of town we stopped at the local church, Sant Joan Baptista, a late 19th century church that was built on earlier foundations from the 13th century. Calvia itself is not a very large tourist destination, but an authentic Mediterranean town where locals go about their daily business.

Rate and Review : Mallorca Travel – Sant Elm & Sa Dragonera, Galilea and an Evening Stroll in Palma de Mallorca

Arroyo Guacamaya is one of the closest ecotourism sites to the City of Oaxaca, accessible by private vehicle in about an hour, or public transportation. La Guacamaya has most if not all of the features and attractions of the more distant ecotourism locales in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, including mountain biking, nature trails for hiking and climbing, streams and waterfalls, lodging, children’s facilities, and a restaurant featuring fresh fish from the local trout farm – all within a community-managed forest promoting sustainable logging operations.

Rate and Review : Ecotourism in Oaxaca: Arroyo Guacamaya, Ixtlan District, Sierra Norte

A big storm was forecast for our second day in San Francisco, but so far we had been lucky. Our culinary tour through the North Beach area had gone off without a hitch. Even the sun peeked out here and there. Local food and culture expert Tom Medin who runs Local Taste of the City Tours, provided us with a great introduction to San Francisco and its lifestyle as well as a sampling of the culinary treats on offer in this bustling Italian-flavoured neighbourhood in San Francisco.This three and a half hour tour had not only enhanced our knowledge of San Francisco; the various treats we were offered had also stimulated our taste buds.

We said goodbye to Tom on Washington Square and started heading up a steep street called Filbert Street to explore another San Francisco landmark: the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. Walking up the steep incline I was amazed how people are able to park their cars on these streets. As we continued further up the hill, a beautiful view opened up towards downtown San Francisco, crowned by the Transamerica Pyramid. Through the trees we even got glimpses towards the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Rate and Review : Hello from San Francisco - A Bike Ride across the Golden Gate Bridge and Dinner at McCormick & Kulet

After a late night of exotic entertainment at Asia SF, our day got started very early. Although it was raining I decided to capture a few photos of the area surrounding our hotel, The Handlery Union Square Hotel, which is located on downtown Geary Street. I walked just a few steps east to Union Square, the heart of San Francisco's shopping, hotel and theatre district. Big shopping venues such as Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus surround this historic square. Luxury stores such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Chanel, Prada, Armani and Hermes are also represented.

Just west from The Handlery are two historic theatres: the Geary and Curran Theatres. The Moscone Convention Centre and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art are close by as well. Before our excursion to Muir Woods I embarked on an hour long walk to check out some of the streets surrounding Union Square and had a delicious waffle breakfast in a little 24 hour eatery called Pinecrest Diner. I enjoyed looking out the windows, seeing the city awake.

Rate and Review : Hello from San Francisco: An Eco-Friendly Excursion to Muir Woods and a Sonoma Valley Wine-Tasting T

Vibrant coral reefs are scattered all over the sea bottom in the close vicinity of the very protected launching site and varies from only a few meters to over 40 meters deep and therefore cater for the beginner as well as the advanced diver! This is the divers chance to indulge him/herself in coral reef diving "par excellence" and to experience the sight of huge Mata rays, whale sharks, enormous moray eels, vigorous game fish, massive potato basses and more! Nowhere else in Mozambique are Mantas so common and it is no wonder that the Inhambane coast is lately being called, the “Manta Coast”!

Rate and Review : Mozambique, Africa, Scuba Diving Destinations