Nymfaio is a mountain village in the Florina regional unit of northern Greece, nestled at an altitude of about 1,350 meters on the slopes of Mount Verno. Once a prosperous Vlach settlement known for its silversmithing during the Ottoman era, the village today is noted for its well-preserved stone mansions, cobbled streets, and traditional architecture. It's part of a … [Read more...]
Our Day Trip to Cabo Polonio National Park, Uruguay
Cabo Polonio is a remote coastal settlement and national park located along Uruguay’s eastern shore, within the Rocha Department, about 40 kilometers northeast of La Paloma. It’s known for its off-grid lifestyle—there’s no public electricity or running water in most homes—and for the surreal mix of shifting sand dunes, rocky outcrops, and crashing Atlantic waves that define its … [Read more...]
Ile aux Aigrettes Nature Reserve Eco Tour, Mauritius
Ile aux Aigrettes (French for Egret Island) is a protected islet off the southeastern coast of Mauritius, near the city of Mahebourg. Lying about half a km off the coast at Pointe d’Esny Beach, the island has a round shape with a diameter of 500 meters. Since 1965, Ile aux Aigrettes has been designated a nature reserve to conserve its rare ecosystem. It is covered by what is … [Read more...]
Andasibe & Analamazaotra National Park, Madgascar Hike
Commonly referred to as Andasibe National Park, the area comprises two, once connected but now separated due to deforestation, nature reserves: the Mantadia National Park and the Analamazaotra Special Reserve. The gateway to both is the village of Andasibe, situated 140 km east of Antananarivo. Owing to its astounding biodiversity, which includes eleven lemur species, combined … [Read more...]
Isalo National Park – Madagascar Road Trip #4
The Isalo National Park, established in 1962, two years after the county’s independence, is the second-oldest national park in Madagascar. It covers 815 square kilometers (roughly half the area of greater London), ranging from 500 to 1300 meters of elevation, and is situated in the province of Fianarantsoa in the island’s south. It consists of a 250-million-year-old (five times … [Read more...]
Ranomafana National Park – Madagascar Road Trip #3
Ranomafana National Park is one of Madagascar’s oldest and most visited nature reserves. It covers 161 square miles of pristine tropical rainforest at an average elevation of 1000 meters in Madagascar’s central highlands. It is accessed from the homonymous village of Ranomafana which can be reached within a long day’s drive from Antananarivo. It was established in 1991 … [Read more...]
Kurile Lake, Kamchatka: 30 Humans & 300 Bears at the End of the World
Downhearted, I regarded the scenery behind the drawn-aside curtain. The Orwellian, drab, concrete human containers the Soviets named Khrushchyovkas seemed even drearier behind the veil of the haze. The dense mass of black clouds that covered them did not allow the slightest trace of a sunray to even indicate the location of the sun, which would have just risen beside the … [Read more...]
That Hippo Who Almost Killed Me in the Okavango Delta of Botswana
I don’t usually partake in contests of any kind. Never had that habit. But when I saw the latest writing prompt from the Globetrotters traveling publication on Medium, I couldn’t resist it. Wild: that’s exactly how I’d intuitively describe most of my life experiences. As most of these experiences are, directly or indirectly, related to traveling, I could share a wild travel … [Read more...]
Wat Khao Takiap: the Monkey Mountain of Hua Hin
One of the first things I noticed upon setting foot in Khao Tao, Thailand, was the prominent rock at the beach's northern extremity, which separates the beaches of Khao Tao and Hua Hin. The rock hosts the temple of Wat Khao Takiap on its top, and it is commonly known as the Monkey Mountain of Hua Hin. During the two months we spent in the area, we got to climb the rock on two … [Read more...]
Hin Lek Fai Viewpoint in Hua Hin
During our two-month stay in Hua Hin and Khao Tao in southern Thailand, we enjoyed plenty of time to extensively explore the area. Few better ways could we think of for spending a pleasant afternoon than hunkering down on some prominent rock and quietly attending the darkness gradually veiling the marvelous surroundings. After originally discovering it, Hin Lek Fai Viewpoint … [Read more...]
