As my next safari in Tanzania is approaching I though it would be a good time to summarize the things I think anyone planning a safari in Africa should be aware of. I went on my first safari already in 2000 in Masai Mara & Lake Nakuru in Kenya, and since have visited also Kruger... Continue Reading →
Food in Tangier is cheap and tasty. The touristic restaurants obviously have higher prices in general, but we actually paid the total of 5€ for our lunch. The tiny local restaurant didn't even really seem have a name and had only 2 tables - but it was a way of trying the truly authentic local... Continue Reading →
Tangier has a very interesting history which I highly recommend you familiarize yourself with if travelling there - we used Rick Steve's audio guides to do this (available from Amazon). From 1920s to 1950s, Tangiers was an international town governed by 9 different countries due to its strategic position. It became eventually part of Morocco,... Continue Reading →
Tangier is a very short ride ferry trip away from Southern Spain, and more specifically, Tarifa, a small coastal town between Gibraltar and the Portuguese border. In terms of the ferry, I strongly recommend taking the fast ferry which gets you in bit more than an hour directly into the old town of Tangier whereas... Continue Reading →
Alhambra castle is the main reason for most people to visit Granada. It's an Unesco World heritage site and the biggest and best preserved Moorish castle in Europe, and that alone is indeed a very good reason to visit Granada. Even for a traveler like myself who has been to tens and tens of castles around... Continue Reading →
Our last hike on our 8 day trip to Andalusia started just 20 min outside Granada from the small town of Monachill. This is also where Sierra Nevada mountains begin, but we only hiked in the lower parts of it. Actually, since it was may, the top parts were still covered in snow! Our hiking... Continue Reading →
Right behind Estepona is Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja which offers amazing views to the entire Andalusian coastline, and you can even see all the way to Gibraltar and Morocco. And what is best, you can get to the viewing platform by car, so no need to hike unless you want like we did. We ended... Continue Reading →
Ronda is an old town some 1h drive from Malaga to northwest, and it's famous for its huge old bridge, the Puente Nuevo built in the 18th century. Given how famous it is (for a reason since it is very beautiful and quite unique) the place is always packed with tourists. Ronda has always appealed... Continue Reading →
The beach in Estepona is really long and perfect for sunbathing. There are plenty of restaurants along the beach (especially in the middle), as well as in the harbour which starts where the beach ends in the west. This is where we also had some great paella, but I have to say the harbour was... Continue Reading →
When booking our vacation in Andalusia, our plan had been to rent bicycles atleast for some part of our holiday. Given we spent the first part of the holiday at the mountains and neither of us is really a mountain cyclist, when we arrived in Estepona it was clear we wanted to go cycling. So,... Continue Reading →
We spent the last 4 nights of our 8 day holiday in Andalusia in Estepona. Estepone is an old touristic town some 80km west of Malaga and offers a very nice alternative to Torremolinos and Furteventura with its beautiful old town. Our Airbnb apartment in Estepona was located on the outskirts of the town, but... Continue Reading →
Nerja is a small coastal town some 30min east from Malaga. Nerja is known for some of the best beaches in Andalusia. Our first stop was a little cove called Nerja Maro on the east side of Nerja. The bech had hardly any people since it was outside the touristic season and because we were... Continue Reading →
The surroundings of the village of Competa has plenty of hiking opportunities routes which are mostly well marked. The hike we took was some 10km and started on the hill behind Competa (you can see our route here). The first half was mainly uphill, with amazing views from the top over the valleys on the other... Continue Reading →
Competa is a slightly bigger mountain village compared to Canillas de Albaida and was located some 7 km from our house near Canillas de Albaida. It also has a bigger supermarket and more restaurants, and thus is a perfect place to restock on groceries or have some lunch, which we did at Taberna Hierbabuena. By... Continue Reading →
Our first longer hike started just 1km from our house (our route in wikiloc). The entire hike was some 10km, and lasted some 3-4h, including a break for light lunch which we had packed with us. We found the hike with Wikiloc hiking tracking app which is great for discovering hikes, I just wish tracking... Continue Reading →
Canillas de Albaida is a picturesque tiny mountain village an hour away from Malaga in the southern edge of the Parque Natural Sierras De Tejeda, Almijara y Almiha. The town has couple of small grocery stores for getting your basic supplies along with some lovely cafes and squares for relaxing. The village could be reached... Continue Reading →
We stayed the first 4 nights of our 8 day holiday in Andalusia (or Andalucia as they call it in Spanish) at an amazing mountain villa with a view just outside of Canillas de Albaida. A perfect place to relax, use as a basis to go hiking, relax by the pool (or in the hot... Continue Reading →
Cheung Chau is a perfect half-day trip destination from Hong Kong offering culture, beach and some great seafood. You can reach Cheung Chau from pier 5 in Central, with boats going almost every half an hour. The journey takes roughly 35min on the fast ferry (schedules). The ferries from Central arrive right to the center... Continue Reading →
I still cannot get over how Hong Kong is able to so easily hide huge gardens right in the city center - so well that you might even totally miss those if not specifically going there. The Hong Kong botanical gardens and the small zoo next to it are such places and free to visit... Continue Reading →
Sai Kung is a huge national park in the eastern part of New Territories in Hong Kong and it’s a very popular destination for both locals and expats during the weekends. To get there you can either take the combination of metro and bus, depending where you are coming from, or taxi. Given it’s a... Continue Reading →
Travel the World with Taru 