Portugal and Spain

We have recently returned from a two week trip to the Iberian Peninsula. The trip was arranged by Trips for You of Lisbon; the key organizer was Joana Sousa. This was a driving trip set up by one of Wendy Perrin’s country based WOW agents. We flew into Porto and departed from Madrid after spending time in the Duoro Valley the traversing northern Spain from west to east. This post will cover the key elements of the trip, taken by driver and van plus guides as appropriate. Later posts will provide more detail on key activities along the way. First stop was the city of Porto, Portugal.

Porto

We flew into Porto via Frankfurt on Lufthansa. and stayed three nights at the Pousada do Porto on Rua das Flores. This charming little hotel was on a very busy pedestrian street just down the road from the train station. The first evening we had snacks (tapas) at a small nearby cafe. The next day our guide Sofia walked us down the street to a building known as the Stock Exchange. This building was the basic place of financial transaction in the past, and serves now as a center of cultural life in the city.

After touring this beautiful building, we drove out to the “foz”, or mouth of the river where it flows into the Atlantic.

And then around town a little.

After a rest, we enjoyed a dinner at a little cafe called Ostras and Coisas, where we were served a delicious variety of fresh seafood.

On our second day we drove to a nearby town called Matsosinhos, where we met our guide for the day, a sweet gal named Maria. She was actually a marine biologist by training and experience who has started a guiding service with her husband. She accompanied us on a tour of a sardine canning factory named Conservas Pinhais. We had the pleasure of seeing the sardine cleaning, packing and canning, all done by women. At the end we were able to taste the different sardine offerings, which were excellent given the top quality and freshness of the fish.

Maria then took us to a local market focused on fresh seafood and vegetables.

This was followed up with lunch at one of Maria’s favorites, O Valentim. This restaurant entrance was dominated by a huge grill, apparently utilized for virtually all served within. The dining was superb. A sampling:

Eventually we departed, returned to the hotel and rested. We knew the evening would be long as we had reserved a 7:30 pm seating at Villa Foz for a tasting menu. This is a one star Michelin restaurant housed in an old mansion situated downstream from Porto alongside the Atlantic Ocean. The menu shows 11 entries, but the meal had several additional amuse bouches! The service and food was exceptional. We left the table at 11:30 pm after a four hour experience.

The next morning we checked out, and headed with our driver to the Duoro Valley for our next stop. Here is an image of the iron bridge built in 1887 and called the Ponte Maria Pia.; it was designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Rapid City Adventures

We recently spent a week in the Rapid City, SD area with our National Park Group. From a rented house situated on Rapid Creek about ten miles west of the city, we visited most of the well known attractions in the area. The terrain shifts from desert-like in the east, to rolling hills covered with evergreen trees, and encasing lovely meadows and massive outcrops of granite, in the west. Yes you can easily spend a week here and have a great time. Here is a summary of our activities, each of which will be subjects on my ongoing blog.

Day 1: Mt. Rushmore

There are three beautiful drives within Custer State Park. We drove up the Iron Mountain Drive, some 20 miles of curves, switchbacks, bridges, tunnels and forests to reach Mt. Rushmore National Monument. Several times along this road, one is able to glimpse the four faces of our famous presidents. We then spent two hours at the Monument, which is very impressive. The video is very good. Following that we headed to Hill City for a German lunch at the Alpine Inn.

Day 2: Mammoth Site and Wildlife Drive (Custer State Park)

We drove down to Hot Springs, SD to visit an unusual attraction called the mammoth Site. This site has excavated a very old pit containing the remains of a significant number of mammoth bones. We worth the visit. Next we drove through a meadowy area of Wind Cave NP, and then picked up the Wildlife Loop Drive, contained within Custer State Park. This is a paved road through 18 miles of open grasslands and speckled hills. The park’s resident herd of bison were seen, as were numerous pronghorn antelope, multitudes of prairie dogs and cute and carrot hungry wild burros.

Day 3: Badlands National Park

About 50 miles east of Rapid City, we toured Badlands National Park for several hours. The badlands are special for their striking eroded landscape of buttes, pinnacles and spires, a rich fossil record, and one of the largest protected mixed grass prairie lands where bison and prairie dogs thrive. The unique geology offers incredible views, hiking op[opportunities, and wildlife viewing. We finished the day with a brief stop in Wall, SD, home of the old and spread out Wall Drugs.

Day 4: Bear Country

Local Rapid City attraction, Bear Country is 200 acres of a variety of wildlife contained in subtle fenced areas that one can drive through at one’s own pace. Very well done and a recommended visit.

Day 5: Deadwood

No this is not Deadwood. It is Bridal Falls along the Spearfish Canyon Road, a recommended prelude to visiting the old western town of Deadwood. That town is famous among other things for the killing of Wild Bill Hickock, and the burial location of other western characters including Calamity Jane.

Day 6: Crazy Horse Monument and Needles Highway

One must visit the Crazy Horse Monument. Unfinished by awesome. Excellent museum of Indian history. Good entertainment. And the statue in the mountain will be stupendous if ever completed.

We followed this up with lunch in Custer (Custer Wolf 4.5), and an awesome drive on the Needles Highway. Pictures are impressive but the reality is incredible.

A Trip to Botswana

Karen and I have just returned from our ninth safari sojourn to Botswana, a “habit” we began back in 2013. We found back then that we both had a yen to go on safari in Africa. I had a taste of this back in 1995 when I spent a weekend at Mala Mala Camp in Kruger National Park. Karen’s aunt and uncle had many mementos from their time in Africa which gave her the bug.

So where should we go, we asked. Karen’s friend Dick had been on Safari six times, visiting Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. He told her to go to Botswana because “that’s where the animals are!”. So we planned our first trip with the help of a young Englishman named Mark Hathaway, who lived in Maun at that time. Maun is the jumping off place for many of the numerous safari camps in Botswana, especially for the world-famous Okavango Delta.

Mark set us up with three night camp visits to Meno a Kwena in the Kalahari, Xakanaka (in Moremi) and Kwara (near Moremi) in the Delta, Lagoon in the Linyanti area and finally a two day stay on a small boat ion the Chobe River. Thia itinerary gave us a taste of the different area and we – over time – fine tuned the agenda with camps that offered a value stay in places that offered comfort but most importantly had excellent wildlife viewing.

So how does one get to Maun? A warning – the trip is long, but well worth the effort. All “roads” lead to Johannesburg (JNB). We have traveled with Delta (AUS to ATL to JNB), on British Air (AUS to LHR to JNB), and Qatar (DFW to Doha to JNB). One can also fly United direct from Newark, and various airlines via Europe. Even Turkish Air via Istanbul! So how do we decide? Simple answer – who has the cheapest business class fare at the time. Personally we like Qatar. Normally leave one day, get to JNB two days later.

Then one has to get to Maun. That is typically on Airlink, who flies larger jets twice per day from JNB to Maun. Returns are from Maun or Kasane.

So now you are actually in Botswana, in fact in Maun. What next? Of course you have one more flight today, to your first safari camp.

Once you arrive on a dirt runway, you are greeted by your safari guide and driven to the first camp. You are likely taken an an afternoon safari that day. Camp routines ar usually up at 6, quick breakfast around a campfire, off in the vehicle by 7, back at 11-12, brunch rest, off again at 4, back by 8, dinner then bed.

So let me show you where we went this year – and will again next June. Our first camp was Four Rivers in the Kwando Reserve adjacent to the north side of Moremi NP. This is a private reserve, allowing off road and night time driving. We love this reserve and have stayed in one of these three camps every year.

Our next stop, after a 30 minute flight, was Lagoon Camp, located in the Linyanti area, situated between the Delta and the Chobe in the Kwando Concession. This camp is a little older, situated on the Kwando River, and has wonderful game viewing.

Our last stop was at Muchenje Lodge, located on the west side of Chobe National Park. We love this lodge and really enjoy a more relaxing time. We rise later, go on a long boat trip on the Chobe River and see a wide variety of game including elephants, hippos, cape buffalo, crocs, lizards and much bird life.

This is just an overview of this year’s trip. Subsequent blog posts will focus on specific wildlife species, with and overview of each and lots of images.