Parques Nacionales de USA, 21/09/2013

Bryce Canyon National Park
Famoso por su geología única de agujas de roca y arcos de piedra en forma de herradura. Los pináculos rocosos (hoodoos), grotescos, escalofriantes y, en general, enigmáticos, pueden verse aquí.

Bryce National Park

Parques Nacionales de USA, 09/09/2013

El siguiente destino son los parques nacionales de Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, donde estuvimos dos días paseando por sus bosques y visitando lugares de interés.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Estos parques capturan el tamaño, la belleza y la diversidad de la naturaleza: Montañas inmensas, faldas escarpadas, cañones de gran profundidad, cavernas enormes, además, ¡los árboles más grandes del mundo!

Parque Nacional de Kings Canyons

Parques Nacionales de USA, 02/09/2013

Hola a todos. Vamos por Septiembre y es el primer viaje importante del año. Eso es algo raro en mí, pero como sabéis tuve que suspender mi tercer viaje a la India planificado para Febrero/Marzo de 2013 ya que cambié de puesto de trabajo en Diputación en esas fechas y no me pude ir, de modo que como os podéis imaginar este viaje de ahora lo cojo con ganas.

Golden Gate Brigde, San Francisco

Estados Unidos

Five reasons to wake a traveller at dawn

De los lugares señalados abajo, tan sólo me quedan 2 por visitar: Sunrise at Stonehenge, Reino Unido y Sabah en Malasia, en éste país estuve hace varios años pero no fui a Sabah (Borneo), habrá que ir pensando en volver...

You snooze, you lose – if you’re a traveller, that is. Set your alarm clock for one of these unforgettable early-morning experiences.

Morning rush hour at Tsukiji Fish Market, Japan

Tokyo’s most famous market reaches fever pitch in the early morning. You’ll be deafened as buyers holler for the best catches at the tuna auction, and you’ll see frozen fish the size of grown men being hauled around with astonishing ease. If the sight of Nemo on the executioner’s block hasn’t tweaked your conscience, the sushi you’ll enjoy nearby is among the best in Tokyo – queues for breakfast at the famous Daiwa Sushi will be snaking around the corner by 8am so head straight there after your visit to the wholesale market.

Make it happen: Register before 5am to be in with a chance of seeing the auction (check here). Consider staying in the Chuo area, as public transport only begins from 5am. Wear covered shoes, unless you want your exposed toes to be trickled with fish guts. And go easy on the sake the night before: you’ll pass a number of signs warning against tipsy tourists, and you’ll need your wits about you to dodge the transit vehicles on site.

Top 10 sunrises of the world

Kicking back on a beach, cold beer in hand while watching the sun go down is one of travel’s finest pleasures. But there’s something far more rewarding about heaving yourself from bed in the pitch black and blearily traipsing to the top of a mountain or the edge of a cliff to see the sun rise in all its glory. You’ll have the whole day stretching out ahead of you, full of amazing travel adventures to be had. Or, if you’re feeling snoozy, you can always go back to bed afterwards. Head to one of these amazing spots and we promise you’ll be dazzled.

Where to find the world’s most imaginative ice cream

Ice cream. Quite simply, it’s a holiday essential. And if you’re on the lookout for something more inspired than a predictable scoop of vanilla this year, there’s no lack of ice cream hotspots from which to choose – from London to Sydney, and Los Angeles to Tokyo, the world is full of innovators intent on infusing their cups and cones with unusual tastes. Go on, treat yourself!

London

London oozes culinary creativity and it isn’t restricted to formal dining tables. Down a cobblestoned street in Camden, North London, you’ll find Europe’s first liquid nitrogen ice cream bar, Chin Chin Laboratorists (chinchinlabs.com).

Marruecos, 12 de Enero de 2.012

El viaje continua, pero en este caso solo ya que los amigos se fueron el dia de Reyes y a partir de ahi continue yo durante una semana mas. A lo largo de todos estos dias he hechado de menos la compania de los tres, con sus correspondientes bromas y risas.  

Gastronomía en Marruecos

Aqui teneis una pequena seleccion de la comida de estos dias; no esta todo, de hecho faltan algunos platos importantes, no llevo camara de fotos siempre...

Marruecos, dia de Reyes de 2.013

Inauguro este blog con un viaje a Marruecos. En mi caso es el cuarto viaje a este pais. Alguien podría decir que se van acumulando, pero no es el caso cuando hablamos de un pais con 445.000 kms cuadrados, prácticamente lo mismo que España que tiene 505.000 kms. Una extensión suficientemente grande como para dedicarle 1 y muchos viajes más, máxime cuando se trata de un pais musulmán que está tan cerca de Andalucía y que para nosotros tiene cierto grado de exotismo.
 

The greatest wildlife spectacles

It’s animal magic: find out where to go to witness dazzling visions as creatures of all colours, shapes and sizes feed, court, fight and migrate.

1. Látrabjarg bird cliffs, Iceland.

The famed white cliff s of Dover get their hue from the chalk stratum. At Látrabjarg, the very far western extremity of Iceland (and Europe), the rock faces – some over 400m high, and about 12km along – aren’t naturally white. When you hear that these cliff s host the summer roosts of millions of seabirds, you’ll guess what those stains are: an unbelievable quantity of guano. The swirling, squawking cacophony of puffins, razorbills, guillemots, fulmars, cormorants and kittiwakes is extraordinary; even if you’re not into birdwatching, the comic antics of the puffins and the sheer scale of the mob are mesmerising.

Access is easiest with a car, though a bus runs three times weekly from June to August from Isafjordur, the Westfjords region’s main town.

Lugares para ver animales en libertad

En esta lista podríamos poner decenas de lugares a donde ir, pero que sirvan de muestra esta docena.

1. Islas Galápagos (Ecuador).

Aislamiento, en biología, es casi siempre sinónimo de especies únicas, extrañas y maravillosas. Así ocurre con las Galápagos, un archipiélago volcánico a  unos 1.000 kilómetros de las costas de Ecuador donde unas pocas especies procedentes del continente se quedaron aisladas del resto y evolucionaron de forma independiente, adaptándose a las condiciones especiales de cada isla.

Herman Melville, el autor de Moby Dick, se refirió a ellas como 'las estériles encantadas', pero hay pocos lugares en el planeta donde la vida palpite como en este archipiélago de 13 islas volcánicas y  más de 110 islotes y  rocas pobladas por pingüinos, iguanas terrestres y marinas, leones de mar, ballenas y miles de pájaros.

Sin olvidar las tortugas gigantes –galápagos– que dan nombre al archipiélago y son los seres más longevos que existen (su edad sobrepasa los 150 años), si exceptuamos los árboles y algunas bacterias. Charles Darwin lo visitó en 1831, durante su célebre viaje a bordo del Beagle, y allí encontró las bases de su teoría de la evolución. La ausencia de depredadores en las Galápagos hace que la fauna del archipiélago se muestre sumamente confiada con los visitantes, que pueden acercarse a un palmo de los animales, aunque sin salirse de los senderos marcados. 

Ciudades que nunca duermen

La fiesta nocturna en Riga, Letonia, pega fuerte desde hace unos años, tanto que ya muchos conocen a esta ciudad como la Bangkok europea. La mayor parte de la diversión se concentra en la zona de la ciudad vieja, donde puedes encontrar desde grandes discotecas a pubs más pequeños y mucho más económicos, pasando por clubes de streptease, que en los últimos años están aflorando como setas por toda la ciudad. De ahí que Riga se haya convertido en la ciudad ideal de los británicos para celebrar sus despedidas de soltero.

Otra de las ciudades que nunca duerme es Berlín. Pero la vida nocturna de la capital alemana no es algo nuevo, sino que lleva décadas en activo. Berlín ofrece infinidad de opciones, desde grandes discotecas a antiguas fábricas hoy reconvertidas en puntos neurálgicos de la noche berlinesa, convirtiendo esa variedad en su principal reclamo. Si te gusta el techno, Berlín es tu ciudad.

La oferta cultural y de ocio nocturno es tan extensa que algunos se refieren a Tel Aviv como la "ciudad sin pausas". Su ambiente es de lo más cosmopolita, recibe turistas de todo el mundo y, aunque Israel es un país demasiado influenciado por las cuestiones religiosas, la ciudad se ha convertido en un destino cada vez más potente para el turismo homosexual.

Auckland, Nueva Zelanda. Aunque la edad mínima para servir alcohol es de 18 años, los que han participado en la vida nocturna de esta ciudad coinciden en que la legislación que regula el alcohol es bastante limitada y algunos bares pueden venderlo las 24 horas del día sin ningún tipo de restricción.

En cualquier 'ranking' de las ciudades que nunca duermen no podrían faltar muchas ciudades españolas, entre ellas Ibiza, cuyas discotecas y fiestas son conocidas en todo el mundo y que cada temporada reciben millares de jóvenes y no tan jóvenes deseosos de exprimir su tiempo y vivir a tope hasta el último minuto de la noche. Si hace unas décadas Ibiza era un imán para el movimiento hippy, hoy es la meca de los amantes de la música dance y house.

Koh Pha Ngan, Tailandia. Su tamaño no tiene nada que ver con la de turistas que esta pequeña isla congrega, sobre todo, con motivo de la Fiesta de la Luna Llena y otras muchas celebraciones relacionadas con el ciclo lunar -que duran toda la noche- y que tienen lugar en la playa de Haad Rin.

Miami. Los bares suelen cerrar pronto, en torno a las 10 de la noche, pero las discotecas mantienen abiertas sus puertas hasta bien entrada la mañana. En la zona de South Beach uno puede encontrar de todo: desde bares de jazz, a discotecas de salsa, pasando por fiestas al aire libre donde es habitual a algún famoso de Hollywood.

Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica. Otra ciudad cuya vida nocturna comienza a traspasar fronteras es la de Ciudad del Cabo. Los bares abren todos los días de la semana y, aunque las discotecas cierran relativamente pronto, la fiesta continúa en los numerosos clubes que salpican los diferentes distritos de la ciudad.

Manchester se ha convertido en el destino de moda en Inglaterra para los estudiantes de Erasmus. ¿Por qué? Porque no cuenta con el estrés o los altos precios de la capital inglesa, pero sí con una agitada y completa vida nocturna que incluye bares, discotecas, pubs y conciertos donde la música indie, el jazz o los mejores DJ's del país muestran al mundo su arte. Además cuenta con numerosos bares de ambiente en el Gay Village.

Diez sitios para hacer submarinismo

1. Great Blue Hole, Belize.

When seen from above, the Great Blue Hole looks like the pupil of an eye. Seen from within, this Unesco World Heritage-listed ocean sinkhole is a visual treat for divers. Ringed by fringing reef, and approximately 400m in diameter, the Great Blue Hole drops away to around 145m. About 40m down are the formations that lure divers from around the world: marine stalactites up to 15m in length.

Marine life is noticeable only in its absence - you might not see a single fish - but when you're swimming among stalactites, who gives a Nemo? Day trips depart at 6am and return at 5.30pm, or you can spend the night aboard the boat. Watch out for the sea serpent, sighted in the 1960s.

2. Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia.

Micronesia's Chuuk Lagoon is rich in colourful coral and tropical fish, but for divers these are almost peripheral to the main attraction. What draws 56 divers to this 70km-wide lagoon are the wrecks - Chuuk may hold the greatest proliferation of shipwrecks in the world. A Japanese naval base in WWII, here dozens of ships were sunk and many planes downed during US attacks in 1944. Dives include the Fujikawa Maru, complete with intact fighter planes in its holds, and the Shinkoku Maru, decorated by nature with soft corals and sponges. Only permit holders can dive; arrangements can be made at the Blue Lagoon Dive Shop on the island. Visit www.bluelagoondiveresort.com.

3. Manta Ray Village, Hawaii.

No prizes for guessing the star attraction at this dive site off the Kona coast of Hawai'i (the Big Island), though half the fun is that dives here are conducted at night. Dive operators shine powerful lights into the water to attract plankton, which in turn attract manta rays (which then attract divers). Manta-ray sightings are unreliable - you might see up to 10 rays and their magnificent 'wings', or you might see none. Dives during the new moon seem to be the best bet for manta encounters. You can opt for the three-hour round-trip snorkel or do a certified one-tank manta-ray night dive. Book through www.hawaiiactivities.com.

4. Samarai Island, Papua New Guinea.

Get down and dirty in the world's muck-diving capital as you swim through Samarai's silty waters to appreciate the finer things of the sea. You won't encounter whale sharks, manta rays or moray eels on this island off Papua New Guinea's southeastern tip; Samarai is about the little critters, such as nudibranches. Shallow waters make Samarai's tiny ocean goodies accessible even to novices, and you'll find exuberant corals and tropical fish, as well as remnants of the island's turbulent history. Check online or with operators at Milne Bay; www.telitadive.com has a good reputation. Luxury full-berth cabins are US$300-340 per person, per night.

5. Pulau Sipadan, Malaysia.

Slow things down to turtle pace as you take to the seas off the Malaysian island that invariably figures in all lists of the world's top dive sites, Pulau Sipadan. Green and hawksbill turtles abound; there's even a so-called turtle tomb, 22m underwater, containing the skeletal remains of vast numbers of turtles. For a marine adrenalin rush, try Barracuda Point, where the eponymous barracuda often gather in swirling, tornado-like formations. No diver will want to leave without witnessing the famous Drop Off where, just a stroll from the shore, the ocean floor drops away 600m. Night diving typically costs around MYR150 per dive for one to three divers, or MYR50 if there are four or more. Book early as permits are restricted to 120 per day.

6. Cocos Island, Costa Rica.

On Cocos Island, 600km off Costa Rica's Pacific coast, it's hammer time. Some of Jurassic Park's most evocative scenes were filmed on this island, but it's under the sea that things are truly wild. Here, hammerhead sharks shoal in enormous numbers, off ering divers a jittery look at their fantastic features. The largest shoals are found around the submerged mountain at Alcyone, where you will also see white-tip reef sharks and possibly whale sharks. Divers will need to visit on liveaboard boats as nobody is allowed to stay on the island. November to May (dry season) means calmer seas, silky sharks and large schools of mobula rays. Rainy season (June to November) equals large schools of hammerheads but rougher seas.

7. Gansbaai, South Africa.

Move up the food chain, from hammerheads to great white sharks, as you climb inside a metal cage and come nose to snout with the ocean's most fearsome predator. Watch in awe, even as you wonder about the cage's strength, while the 6m-long great whites circle. Dive operators off this Western Cape town use bait to attract the sharks to the cage, virtually guaranteeing sightings (and controversy). You'll find operators based in Hermanus, though the boats leave from Gansbaai, 35km away. Cage diving costs around ZAR1100 per person. Transport from Cape Town is offered by most operators and personalised DVDs/videos are usually available too.

8. Ras Mohammed National Park, Egypt.

Covering the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, this national park is the final landfall before the underwater wonders of the Red Sea. The park itself contains 20 dive sites, many of them among the Red Sea's finest. Two submerged peaks, Yolanda Reef and Shark Reef, are the park's diving centrepieces, and both are rich in marine life. At Yolanda you can look forward to diving among the wreckage of the Yolanda, including its cargo of hundreds of toilet bowls (and a BMW). The vertical wall at Shark Reef is prized for its concentration of fish and, unsurprisingly, sharks. All visitors must leave the park by sunset. Snorkellers and divers standing on the corals devastate the reefs so please be careful.

9. Cocklebiddy Cave, Australia.

Australia's Nullarbor Plain may appear waterless, but beneath this enormous limestone block there's a series of caves, including Cocklebiddy Cave. This 6.7km-long, arrow-straight tunnel is almost entirely flooded, making for one of the world's premier cave dives. It was here in 1983 that French cavers racked up the world's longest cave dive by exploring to Cocklebiddy's end. The cave is situated 10km north of remote Cocklebiddy Roadhouse; divers must obtain permits from Western Australia's Conservation and Land Management (CALM) department. Experienced cave divers only; no tours are offered. Cocklebiddy's Wedgetail Inn, a caravan or rooms for AU$50-150 a night, is about your only accommodation option.

10. Rainbow Warrior, New Zealand.

Bombed by French government saboteurs in Auckland harbour in July 1985, the Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior was later refloated and scuttled off beautiful Matauri Bay in New Zealand's Northland. Coated in colourful corals and populated by goatfish, moray eels and other fish, the Rainbow Warrior sits upright in 25m of water, wedged into the sandy ocean floor. Anemones, sponges and algae of all colours cling to the wreck; in its grave the Rainbow Warrior is far more rainbow than warrior. Book a day tour through www.divehqboi.co.nz or visit www.divetours.co.nz to book a seven- or 15-day tour that includes a number of dive sites.

The best treks and hikes in Africa

The best treks and hikes in Africa are listed below. Challenging peaks can be found from Morocco's Atlas Mountains all the way down to South Africa's Drakensberg.

Africa's most popular trekking destination is Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the continent. Lesser known ranges like Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains offer an incredible array of snow-capped peaks right next to the equator.

Other fantastic hikes in Africa that don't necessarily involve great heights include the Wild Coast (South Africa) and the Fish River Canyon (Namibia).

1.- Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa's most popular trekking destination, and at 19,336 feet it's Africa's highest peak. The trek to the summit takes you through 5 different climatic zones. More than 20,000 people attempt the climb every year.

Routes vary in degree of difficulty, traffic and scenic beauty. The least difficult routes are Marangu and Rongai; the more difficult routes are Machame, Shira and Limosho. The longer routes have more difficult hiking but you'll be more acclimatized and your chances of reaching the summit are therefore higher. An average trek will cost from $2500-$5000 per person.