Ecuador
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Italy – Baths of Caracalla
Read More: Italy – Baths of CaracallaThis morning we visited the Baths of Caracalla. Built between 212 – 216AD, the baths are now a well preserved ruin. Caracalla fell into disuse in 537 when the aqueducts that supplied water to the city were destroyed by ‘the barbarians’ (Ostrogoths). They were further damaged by an earthquake in 847. The huge bath house…
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Rome
Read More: RomeJet lag is real. We slept though our alarm this morning and barely made it downstairs before breakfast closed. Good thing we didn’t have any timed excursions planned for today! Once we got ourselves going, we did a quick pass-by of the outside of the Colosseum. We did a much longer visit inside the first…
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Italy Day 1
Read More: Italy Day 1We have landed in Rome! Kris bought tickets for the Leonardo Express train into town while Dave waited for the luggage. After a quick train ride into Termini station we had a short walk dragging our suitcases over the ancient cobblestones to our hotel. We are staying at the same hotel we stayed with our…
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We Are (finally!) off to Italy
Read More: We Are (finally!) off to ItalyI think everyone who knows us is aware that our planned trip to Italy in the spring of 2020 was cancelled due to CoVid. It has taken us a few years, but we are finally making up for lost time. We head out today, spend a quick couple of hours in Montreal, and will be…
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Costa Rica – Final Day
Read More: Costa Rica – Final DayOur tentative plans for one last wildlife tour were derailed this morning by the crazy tropical rain that lasted all day. We decided to hightail it back to San Jose, a drive that took about 4 hours with intermittent traffic. We stopped at a roadside restaurant and hotel. Lunch was a very very tasty fried…
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Costa Rica – Cahuita National Park
Read More: Costa Rica – Cahuita National ParkToday we took a lovely (but wet) hike in Cahuita National Park. Ocean on three sides of the forested peninsula creates a unique microclimate favoured by many types of wildlife. In the south end of the park, we meandered through wet swamp on an elevated boardwalk. The trail on the south side of the park…
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Costa Rica – Sloths
Read More: Costa Rica – SlothsThere are two types of sloths in Costa Rica; 2-toed and 3-toed. They are not just different species, but belong to different families – about as genetically similar as dogs and cats, despite their many common traits. The Santuario de Perezosos rehabilitates and releases many sloths who are able to fend for themselves in the…
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Costa Rica – Puerto Viejo
Read More: Costa Rica – Puerto ViejoReversing our adventurous trip to the Selva Reserve, we forded the Bananito River again several times this morning. The most challenging thing was getting the rusty padlock on the reserve gate open! The drive out to the Caribbean Coast was fairly quick and uneventful. We stopped for lunch at another soda where we chose various…
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Costa Rica – Selva Bananito Lodge
Read More: Costa Rica – Selva Bananito LodgeWe got up early this morning to set out on a nature hike, wandering through both old growth primary forest and newer secondary forest. According to our guide, Allen, despite the large amount of rain lately, we are not quite in the rainforest, but more like the humid forest. Later in the day, Allen led…
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Costa Rica – Drive to Selva Bananito
Read More: Costa Rica – Drive to Selva BananitoWe left Los Quetzals park this morning, drove north to Cartago and headed for the province of Limon. Being Valentine’s Day, when we saw a sign at a roadside house offering local chocolate we had to stop to buy some to give each other! The self-described “cacao lady” made amazing truffles which a fellow tourist…
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Marais de Taligny
Having had enough of wineries for this trip, we took a nature walk at the Marais de Taligny just up the road in La Roche Clermault. This is one of the largest wetlands in the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Park. The 4.5 km walk took us beside a pretty stream, through marshland and past the local crop fields.…
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Loire Valley Wineries
The last several days have been a blur of winery visits, cafe lunches and picnics in beautiful locations! We stopped by Chateau du Petit Thouars for a tour, tasting and lunch. The family has owned the chateau and its winery since 1634. We met Sebastian, the multi-grandson, and the chateau cat, Biscuit (although he wasn’t…
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Chinon
Today we visited the town of Chinon on the River Vienne. Chinon was the favourite dwelling place of Henri II Plantagenet and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Joan of Arc arrived in Chinon in 1429 claiming to hear heavenly voices telling her that Charles VII, the French dauphin, would give her an army to neutralize…
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