travel – Page 30 – PalmTreeMusings

Arriving in Angola

November 15, 2007March 20, 2022Posted in AfricaTagged angola, Benguela, best things to do in, Kwanza River, lobito, luanda, Luanda Sul, miramar, travel, travel blogLeave a comment

Dallas to Chicago, Chicago to London, London to Lisbon; after 36 hours I was ready to land in Luanda, Angola. The man next to me on the plane asked me if I had ever been to Angola. “You’re going to hate it”, he said. And that was my introduction to Africa.

SanAir plane on runway — Flying into Angola

Luanda, the capital city of Angola, is a large city with modern skyscrapers, electronic billboards, and an unbelievable amount of traffic. There are very few traffic lights here; they are big on round-abouts, and left turns are illegal. There aren’t taxis here, but there are small mini-buses called “particulars” that swarm over the city, taking people from one neighborhood- barrio- to another. The city is covered with this red dirt, which immediately turns to red mud during the rainy season. A formerly communist country, Luanda has streets named “Rua Ho Chi Minh”, “Avenida Lenine”, and “Avenida Comandante Che Guevara”. Luanda is not the worst capital city in the world, but it isn’t the best either.

Shortly after arriving here, we had a midnight (okay, 8 pm) hash “pub crawl” from our house and discovered 6 or 7 small bars right in our neighborhood, which is called Miramar. Good to know that we can walk to several small places, given the traffic here. The Marine House is two blocks away, the US Embassy is three blocks away, and the school where I am working part-time at is 4 blocks from here. Chris and I both walk to work most days.

There are few roads in and out of the city, and the traffic makes it really hard to get out of Luanda. You have to be prepared to sit for long periods of time in traffic jams, due to police checks, broken-down vehicles, and sometimes just completely unexplainable delays. Luanda Sul, where the international school is, is only 15 kilometers outside the city but it takes at least an hour to get there. Even people who live inside Luanda, if they leave work between 5 and 7 pm, can take up to an hour to get home (or longer on really bad days). Chris is very lucky to live so close to his work.

We leave Luanda as often as we can- we went to Luanda Sul and visited an artisan market there- selling all kinds of crafts ranging from cheetah skins to tribal masks to carved ivory. We bought some hand-painted cloth (tablecloth and placemats) that are very pretty, and a necklace and earring set made of cow bone. Also, we took the road going north to visit some beaches, including one that has the skeletal remains of several old ships, mostly Russian ones. One weekend we went south, and wound up at a fishing lodge on the River Kwanza. It was quite nice.

girl playing in surf beach angola — Deah, playing at the beach

man walking on beach in Angola — Deah, playing at the beach

This weekend Chris had to be in Lobito, a town several hours south of here, to do some work thing and I went with him. It’s a pretty long drive- as Angola is the size of Texas and California put together, you can drive for several days and still be in Angola. If we drove for like a million hours east, we’d eventually hit Zambia, and to the north is Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo (used to be Zaire). Anyway, Lobito is fun, a little colonial city and a taste of small-town Africa.

Group eating at restaurant on beach in benguela angola — Douglas, Deah, Chris stop for lunch at Benguela

four boys on a float in ocean in Angola — Douglas, Deah, Chris stop for lunch at Benguela

All in all, it’s an interesting and sometimes challenging place to live. It’s super expensive. It’s very crowded. The best thing about it is that it has Chris in it. I enjoyed going to the Marine Ball with him this year. We’re enjoying our time together and planning lots of fun adventures.

couple at marine ball in Luanda Angola — Chris and Deah, Marine Ball 2007

England, Ireland, and Scotland

August 30, 2007March 20, 2022Posted in EuropeTagged belfast, best things to do in, blarney stone, book of kells, british museum, caernarfon, cork, dublin, edinbourough, england, giants causeway, glasgow, guinness brewery, ireland, jameson distillery, london, scotland, stirling castle, travel, travel blog, walesLeave a comment

Chris had a conference outside of London and then some time off, so I flew to London to meet him there and travel a bit. We spent the first two days in London, and did a little sightseeing: the British Museum (home of the Rosetta Stone, how cool to see that!), the London Eye, and some fun side trips around Piccadilly Circus, Covent Gardens, Trafalgar Square, and Waterloo. We spent one really great evening with our friend Jonathan, who took us to a wonderful dinner and some fun bars. It was nice seeing him; we hadn’t seen him since he left Haiti two years ago.

view from the Eye of London — View from the Eye of London

standing in front of Big Ben clock England London — View from the Eye of London

couple in front of lion at British Museum at night — Chris and Deah, about town

We left London and took a train to Wales. We stayed in a quaint little city and visited the castle at Caernarfon, which hosted the investitures of two Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969 (Prince Charles). It was really interesting being in Wales and hearing Welsh spoken everywhere. We went to a small museum that detailed the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, a fascinating part of the British Army.

Eager to see Ireland, we took a ferry from Holyhead (Wales) to Dublin. Unfortunately, we arrived on the evening of a giant soccer game, so the entire city was booked as far as hotel rooms went. So, we decided to just lock our stuff in the bus station and pull an all-nighter. We headed down to the Temple Bar area, a part of Dublin akin to Sixth Street in Austin, where the streets are blocked to cars and there are probably 50 or more bars to go haunt. We enjoyed the pubs and bars until dawn, when we caught an early bus out of town to go to Cork.

guinnesse beer and irish coffee — A Guiness and an Irish Coffee, sláinte!

Sleeping on the bus, we arrived in Cork by noon and got a room. Cork is a small city with a very friendly walkable city center. They have a museum there on the history of Irish butter, which I hadn’t known was once internationally renowned- the major papers of the world quoted the price of Cork butter daily all through the 1800’s and early 1900’s. The things you learn when on vacation….

From Cork we took a short day trip to the Blarney Castle. And yes, we kissed the Blarney Stone! I guess we both have the gift of eloquence now. Blarney is a great little village that is exactly what you would expect to see in Ireland.

leaning out to kiss the Blarney Stone Ireland — Kissing the Blarney Stone

After Cork, we cruised through Waterford, staying the night in a crazy 1970’s-style bed and breakfast, and we visited the Waterford Crystal factory. We took a tour and were able to see workmen actually blowing the glass and making the etchings. Very cool.

We returned to Dublin to see the city by day, and spent a couple of nights there. We visited the Jameson Distillery, where we learned the difference between Scotch Whiskey, Irish Whiskey, and American Bourbon. We got to sample 5 kinds of whiskey and do a taste test, which was fun. We headed over to the Guinness Brewery the same day, and did a tour of their seven-story building. Two really great museums, if you’re ever in Dublin; completely worth doing. Maybe don’t do them on the same day, though.

Guinness St James Gate Brewery Dublin Ireland — At the Guiness Brewery

At the Jameson Distillery in Dublin Ireland — At the Guiness Brewery

On our last day in Dublin, we visted Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, an ancient 5th century, hand illustrated text of the Gospels. Trinity College has an amazing library and it was quite an experience getting to walk through it.

We headed to Northern Ireland, and stayed in Belfast. We did a bus tour of the city, which helped us get oriented. You can definitely still see the effects of decades of bombings and paramilitary activity between the Nationalists and the Unionists- those who want Northern Ireland to be a part of the (Catholic) Republic of Ireland and the (Protestant) United Kingdom. I found all of that history and information to be very interesting; I would love to take a class on that.

We took a bus trip up farther north to the Giant’s Causeway, a unique geological land formation- and a great hike. It was typically northern Irish weather that day, cold and rainy, and it felt great to put on my hiking shoes and my rain jacket and go for a long walk up the cliffs- I listened to U2 on my iPod for the occasion.

Carick a Rede rope bridge, northern ireland — Carick A Rede, Northern Ireland

After that, we ferried from Belfast to Scotland, landing in Stranraer, where we stayed the night in a tiny village- tiny as in one pub, one bed and breakfast, and a bus stop. We actually had a really great dinner there that night- the cool weather was perfect for a beef-and-guinness pie. The following day we took the train into Glasgow, and got a room at a hostel. We did a bus tour of Glasgow, to get a feel for the city.

The next day, we took a short train- one hour- to Edinbourough, which was an amazing city. The castle! The university! The kilts! We ate haggis there! I love this site here because the picture at the top, I stood there! Both the Fringe festival and the Royal Military Tattoo were going on in August, so there was plenty to do in the city, plus they have an amazing array of museums- including the Royal Museum and the Dynamic Earth Museum. You could spend an entire day at either one of these museums. We stayed in the city of Edinburgh until late that evening, drinking Guinness in a pub, to catch the beginning of the Edinhburgh Military Tattoo– sort of a giant drumfest, but including horses! Really beautiful.

horse and rider at scottish military tattoo edinburgh — Scottish Military Tattoo

Our trip was coming to an end, so we took one last day trip out to some of the highlands of Scotland. We visited Loch Lomond, a magnificent lake, and then Stirling Castle (of Braveheart fame). We had a great tour guide that day- said “wee” all the time, as in “I have a wee tale to tell you….”. He was like a little leprechaun. He did a great Sean Connery impression. The fifteenth-century castle was really interesting to walk through and see.

viking graves in scotland — Viking graves, Scotland

With that, it was time to go back to London. We had a fabulous steak dinner in Glasgow, then caught an overnight train to London and flew out the next morning. Overall, I would say it was one of the greatest trips I’ve ever taken and I enjoyed all of it. I would love to go back, but there are so many other places I want to see…..

Backpacking Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize

June 30, 2007March 20, 2022Posted in Central AmericaTagged atm cave, bay islands, best things to do in, copan, flores, jungle river lodge, mayan ruins, pico bonito national park, roatan, san pedro sula, tegucigalpa, tikal, travel, travel blog, utilaLeave a comment

School finally ended and it’s time for summer vacation! I hopped on a bus with Sierra to Tegucigalpa, then met up with Hunter in San Pedro Sula later that night- I had talked him into coming down and going backpacking with me for a week. We stayed at the Tamarindo hostel in San Pedro Sula, and then took a bus to the the ancient Mayan ruins in Copan. It is in the highlands so the weather was beautiful. It was a challenge getting around and understanding everyone with our limited Spanish, but not too bad. We spent a lovely couple of days at Copan and learned a lot, and got to climb all over the Mayan temples. It was really cool to be in the midst of these ruins, reading the hieroglyphic writing, thinking about people who lived there hundreds of years earlier. We stayed in the lovely Iguana Azul, a bargain at just $15 a night for the two of us.

two friends at a bar in Honduras — First night of vacation, Honduras

hieroglyphic stairway copan honduras — First night of vacation, Honduras

We took the bus back to the north of Honduras, and went to Pico Bonito National Park, where we went white-water rafting. A great time! Scary at times, but so lovely. Our guide was fantastic and the water was awesome. We stayed at a little “jungle river” lodge. Wonderful food, good weather, and an amazing vista to look at each day- green trees, blue skies, mountains in the background, and a river running right next to our lodge, complete with a “swimming pool” and a “hot tub” area. The second day we went back on the river, and went “canyoning”- where you put on a life vest and helmet, and do the same route as in a raft or kayak but you just float yourself down! A few bumps and scrapes- not sure I would recommend that one again, but we both survived.

man jumping off rock on pico bonito river honduras — Rafting the Pico Bonito River, Honduras

girl relaxing in pico bonito hot tub — Rafting the Pico Bonito River, Honduras

After a couple of days in the jungle, we were ready for some beach action. We took a ferry to the little island of Utila, home of 15 dive shops and a million (somewhat ragged) backpackers. We got the world’s crappiest room (hey, it was $8 a night for the two of us!) and prepared to drink ourselves silly and snorkel for three days. Mmm, mmm. We rented a scooter and explored the island, we snorkeled, we went diving, we went to bars, went to an all you can eat barbecue, and watched fire dancers. At last it was time to leave Utila and head to another island, Roatan. We didn’t want to have to take two ferries again, so we hired a sailboat and had the captain sail us over to Roatan! It was a rough crossing, as there was very little wind, and we both had terrible hangovers, but we did make it across. We both got a bit sunburned on the way, though.

girl in scuba gear underwater — Going scuba diving, Roatan

cold beer barena sign honduras bay islands — Going scuba diving, Roatan

Finally we were in Roatan, one of Honduras’ famed Bay Islands. The scenery was astounding and the white sand beaches were great- marred only by the sand flies. Clear blue water, blue skies, but hot hot hot. We spent our time snorkeling some more, walking the beaches, and exploring various beach bars. Had some great Argentinian food (yum, they had chimichurri sauce for our steaks!) and had a lovely little cabin to stay in at the Posada Arco Iris.

hammock and deck in bay islands honduras — Relaxing in the islands….

Jade Seahorse hotel honduras bay islands utila — Relaxing in the islands….

Alas, Hunter had to go back to work, and managed to change his flight as to stay in Roatan an extra day and then fly straight from there to Houston and Dallas. I left the same morning, and after a long bus ride, arrived in Copan again. I stayed the night, enjoying some time with some backpackers there (relishing the cool weather, as it had been terribly hot on the coast) and then crossed over into Guatemala. After a looooong bus ride (definitely the worst day of my trip) I arrived at the little island of Flores and stayed the night. Arriving on this beautiful island in the middle of a lake definitely helped soothe some of my irritations and frustrations from the 8 hour bus ride- during most of which I had stood up- I had had to endure that day.

Early the next morning, I hopped on a shuttle bus to Tikal, another ancient Mayan city, and a place I have dreamed about going to for years. The inspiration of my trip, really. I spent a whole day walking around the city of Tikal, amazed at the heights of the ancient temples, learning the history from our guide, and climbing all around everything. They have these giant, absolutely giant, temples that you climb to the top and see for miles around. It is so strange to see these temples literally just sticking up out of the jungle there. Definitely a sight worth seeing. I was sad to leave, but I had to catch a bus to Belize that evening!

A short two hours later, I arrived in the town of San Ignacio, and found a place to stay. Everyone was super helpful and friendly here, and I got all signed up for the ATM cave, a place Chris had gone to the year before and recommended to me. The next day my small group of 8 hopped in a van and went on an all day excursion to this cave that houses the pottery and skeletons of Mayans, dating back to 800 AD. You feel such a sense of history as you are walking through there, with a head lamp, knowing that this is a place that not many people have been able to see. You even have to swim into the entrance of the cave!

After my day of spelunking, I took a bus to the capital of Belize. It was time for my flight home, and by this time I was ready to get out of my backpacking clothes, take a good bath, and go home to see my friends and family in Arlington. But what a great trip I had- a once in a lifetime experience for sure! Thank you to Hunter, to Sierra, to Alecia, Kathleen, and Kristen, to Chris, and everyone else who made my trip possible.

Leaving Nicaragua

May 30, 2007March 20, 2022Posted in Central AmericaTagged best things to do in, flamenco dancing, leon, managua, transito, travel, travel blog, volcano mombacho, ziplining in nicaraguaLeave a comment

flamenco dancer on stage in Managua Nicaragua

I haven’s been able to leave Managua much in the last month, but have had some good adventures the past few weeks. We went ziplining at Volcano Mombacho; totally scary but definitely worth it. Exhilarating and adventurous. The last weekend of April, we went to the city of Leon for a short trip, to hear our friend John’s band play. We spent the rest of the long weekend at our friend’s beach house in a tiny little fishing village called Transito. Just hammocks and beer, the beach and the waves; exactly what we needed for a long weekend.

ziplining in nicaragua — Deah, ziplining

waterfall at transita posada nicaragua — Deah, ziplining

One night in May we all went to a Spanish restaurant in Managua and watched a flamenco dance show. Wow! The two ladies dancing were excellent and the food was awesome. Later we went out drinking and singing karaoke.

karaoke at the Brass Monkey in Managua Nicaragua — Flamenco dancer

A new restaurant opened up in town; Scampi’s. They have other branches of the restaurant in Dallas, Hollywood, and Tokyo. And now Managua! Somehow we finagled invites to the grand opening, and were treated to a very swanky evening of wine, champagne, sushi, and other delights. We’ve been back twice since then. The food is fabulous.

dressed up for going out in Managua — The pretty ladies of Managua

Last week was a big week; we had the last days of class, final exams, the LOST season finale, a Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing at my house for 20, and a murder mystery dinner party at our friend Thurlow’s house. I turned out to be the murderess! Or, rather, my character, Terra Sunder (married to Castor Sunder). We also hosted a graduation party for our student teacher, Brian. The school gave us $500 to plan a big end of year party, and we all had a blast. I can’t believe my year of teaching in Nicaragua has come to an end- and I can’t wait to see what happens next year. Stay tuned!

friends dressed for murder mystery dinner — Deah, Alecia, Brian, Kathleen: Murder Mystery Night

friends celebrating graduation — Deah, Alecia, Brian, Kathleen: Murder Mystery Night

Small Towns in Texas Tour

April 15, 2007May 19, 2023Posted in Central America, TexasTagged best things to do in, Bluebell Ice Cream, Brenham Texas, College Station, Dixie Chicken, Gruene, Messina Hof Winery, New Braunfels, Shiner Texas, Spoetzel Brewery, Texas Ranger Museum, travel, travel blog, Washington-on-the-Brazos, West Texas Czech StopLeave a comment

blue bell creameries black delivery truck

I arrived in Houston and our first stop was a true, Texan dinner of chicken fried chicken, okra, mashed potatoes, and sweet iced tea. They just don’t do it like this anywhere else!The next morning we headed straight to Brenham, home of the Bluebell Ice Creamery. We toured the factory and had a taste of the freshest ice cream I’ve ever had. Nothing beats fresh Bluebell. And, this is their 100th anniversary!

After our tour, we drove through Washington-on-the-Brazos and checked out the heritage museum there. The weather was warm and the bluebonnets were in bloom along the sides of the roads. We stayed off the main highways and took smaller roads our whole trip, which really showcase the beauty of the scenery of our beautiful state. On the way into College Station, we stopped at Messina Hof winery and bought some wine. Once we arrived, we spent the evening at the Dixie Chicken and Fitzwilly’s, eating Tijuana Fries and playing shuffleboard and dominos.

United States Flag and Texas flag flying on two flag poles — Texas bluebonnets

The next morning we continued our journey west (after a brief stop at the original Freebirds), and wound up in Shiner, Texas, home of the Spoetzl brewery. We missed the tour but still got to taste four free samples of different Shiner beers. Definitely worth visiting if you’re in the area. From there we went to New Braunfels for some German weinerschnitzel and sausage and potatoes. We spent the night there.
On Friday we backtracked to the south just a bit to hit the Natural Bridge Caverns, and took our time exploring the cave. Fascinating geology there. I remember going as a child. Leaving the caverns, we took the back route through New Braunfels, San Marcos, and up to Gruene. I really enjoyed walking through the tiny (like, 1 block!) city of Gruene. We got a great picture of the dance hall, and found out our favorite artist, Guy Forsythe, was actually having a cd-release party there the next night. We visited a western outfitter store where Chris picked up a great aussie hat- should come in handy when he’s in Africa. We ate lunch (it was more like breakfast, lunch, and dinner) at Adobe Verde, the best Tex-Mex I’ve had. They should really put a warning on the menu about the size of their burrito.

K Spoetzl Lone Star Brewery Texas — Chris at the Lone Star Brewery

water tower in Gruene Texas — Chris at the Lone Star Brewery

Bypassing Austin for the time being, we drove up to Waco. The next morning, Saturday, we awoke to a surprise: 30 degree weather and rain, which later turned into sleet and then snow! The Texas Ranger Museum was a block from our hotel, so we toured that and spent a couple of hours learning about the Rangers (the law enforcers, not the baseball players). Then it was time to head to West, for our rendezvous with Ken and Misty, who had arranged to meet us for lunch. We met at the Czech stop, picked up some kolaches, and then went down the street for some barbecue. We wound up spending several hours there, eating great barbecue and playing country songs on the juke box, practicing our two-step and drinking beer. We got some cute pictures outside of us in the snow, and Chris, Ken, and Mysti had a snowball fight (I was in the car with the doors locked).

two girls in the snow — Snow! Misty and Deah

Texas Ranger Museum sign — Snow! Misty and Deah

On Sunday we drove to Huntsville, and found Sam Houston’s grave, which was ironic, as I am teaching a chapter on Texas and the West in my history class this week. From there we went back to Houston, as we both had to fly out of town the next morning. Although we had been avoiding chain restaurants all week (Freebird’s doesn’t count), we couldn’t resist a final steak dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse in Houston. And it was totally worth it. Monday came too soon, and it was time for Chris to head to Africa and me to return to Nicaragua. Luckily for him, he had a direct flight from Houston (15 hours) and so did I (only 3 1/2 hours). We both made it back to our respective homes, safe and sound, and started another week at work. For me, I can feel my school year in Nicaragua starting to wrap up.