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As I expressed to some of my friends on Facebook when asked where our next trip would be, I’d been feeling like visiting the desert lately; specifically sand dunes.  It may be because I’d found a new appreciation for beautiful photos I’d seen recently of cascading sand dunes vanishing into the horizon.  Or the fact that most of our recent trips had been to tropical beaches and I was ready for something completely the opposite.  But with tumultuous times in northern Africa, visiting the Sahara was out of the question.  Also, I wondered if there was something closer to home so that we wouldn’t have to take such a long flight or much more time off work.

The alien, post-apocalyptic landscape of the Bisti Badlands

So after doing a little research I discovered that we have desert sand dunes right here in the US, the tallest in North America being the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  Seeing photos of other desert natural wonders I decided to plan a six day drive through New Mexico and Colorado.  Using Denise’s Marriott points and Airline miles we were able to get free hotel stays and flight.

We flew into Albuquerque, New Mexico and drove a few hours north to Farmington.  On our way, we drove through an almost zero visibility sand storm possibly created by the recent wildfires in New Mexico.  Spending two days in Farmington and armed with a GPS including coordinates for all the natural formations we planned to see, we explored the alien, post-apocalyptic landscape of the Bisti Badlands in addition to going on a hunt for arches.   During our search for Anasazi Arch, we had to do a little rock climbing, which was a bit scary for Denise and me.  But with teamwork and mutual support we got through it unscathed.  Standing at the top of the mesa looking down into the canyon with desert breezes whisking over us, we felt a sense of accomplishment and closeness.

The Great Sand Dunes

On the third day, we drove further north and crossed over into Colorado on our way to the Great Sand Dunes.   Halfway through our Alpine mountain, 4 hour drive we stopped in Pagosa Springs where we took a short hike to a 100 foot high waterfall called Treasure Falls.  Also, while in the little resort town of Pagosa Springs, Denise enjoyed some of the best pizza and ice cream she’d ever had at a family owned Pizzeria.

We arrived at our secluded lodge near the dunes at dusk.  The nearest town was 35 miles away.  So there was only the lodge and a small restaurant flanked by an endless expanse of desert wilderness on one side and rising mountains on the other.   Denise felt a little uneasy thinking that coyotes, bears and other wildlife could be lurking outside our room at night.

The next day after sleeping in and lounging around the lodge to wait out the blazing mid-day sun, we decided to tackle the dunes.  We knew it would be difficult to reach the top of the tallest dune, which was about 750 feet high.  It’s hard enough to walk a long distance in soft sand, let alone climb up a small mountain of it.   After dredging through sand for almost an hour we got about halfway to the top of the dune.  Peering up at the summit we saw a sand storm rolling over the peak rushing towards us.  We quickly turned around and raced down the mountain only to be caught in a barrage of whipping granules of sand and small, stinging pebbles.  Engulfed in dust and torrential rain on our heels, we made it back to the car before the full force of the thunderstorm hit.

We waited a little while for the transient storm to pass and black clouds gave way to powder blue skies.  Knowing that we were leaving the next day, I decided to make one more attempt for the summit that afternoon.  We were exhausted and hungry.  With only a couple hours of sunlight left and a hard trek ahead, I asked Denise to go get dinner before the restaurant closed and return for me at dusk.  After quite a bit of back and forth, she reluctantly agreed and I was off.

Hiking to the summit of the dunes was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life, probably because I was out of shape and the air was thin at 7,000 feet above sea level.  As I got close to the top, the sand sloped at a 45 degree angle.  Every step I took sank and seemed to get me nowhere.  Not to mention looking down and seeing the almost sheer drop hundreds of feet to the dunes below.

About an hour or so after I left Denise, I had reached the top.   I was able to see across the vast dune field and mountain range in the distance.  I sat there on the summit ridge, relaxing with a bottle of water and taking in the view as the sun raced towards the horizon casting deep, picturesque shadows in the infinite sea of rippling sand.

Garden of the Gods

After a short respite, I headed back down, taking photos of the pink dusk sky above the darkening waves of the dune field.  Denise was there waiting for me in the car and we headed back to the lodge.

The next morning we drove 2 hours north to Colorado Springs where we visited the scenic red rocks of The Garden of the Gods.  Staying one night in Colorado Springs, the next day we drove one hour north and flew home out of Denver.

Our six day stint in the US South West went by very fast for me.  But we had a chance to again see the beautiful, diverse landscapes that our country has to offer.

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Making use of our Presidents’ Day extended weekend, we added a couple days of leave and headed down to the sunny island of Cozumel, Mexico to escape the February cold at home in DC.  It was a pleasant getaway to a nice all-inclusive resort.  We lounged around on the beach, ate great food, swam with dolphins, snorkeled on coral reefs, visited Mayan ruins, and explored some less traveled parts of the island.

I felt like I could have spent a couple of weeks there and sitting here in my office on a still cold March weekday, wouldn’t mind going back soon for round two.

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>>> Click here to see the photo gallery

Denise had to go to Honolulu, Hawaii for a 2 week conference for her job.  So I decided to tag along for one week. I was able to use my miles on American Airlines, so the airfare was negligible. We found an inexpensive hotel to stay in the few days before her conference started and transferred to the Sheraton thereafter.

The first day we just lounged around Waikiki Beach, which is the biggest tourist area in all of the Hawaiian islands.  The strip in Waikiki Beach is filled with high-end name brand boutiques and restaurants, nestled a block from the beach and not so distant green mountain peaks.  Japanese tourists outnumbered all other visitors.

The next day we took a scenic drive to the east coast of the island and did some snorkeling on the coral reefs.  That evening we went to a Luau, ate some great food and enjoyed a show.

The third day, we took a 45 minute drive to the north side of the island to go swimming with sharks.  I had planned that activity for almost a month before we went and as the time grew closer, became a little scared.  The day before, Denise said she wanted to cancel.  But we both sucked it up and went for it.  After taking a 30 minute boat ride out into the ocean, we arrived at the floating cage surrounded by Galapagos sharks.  The sharks had been coming to that location for for about 40 years because fishing boats would pull up their crab traps and throw the leftover bait, small crabs, and crab parts overboard.  Even though my heart was beating fast looking down at the sharks swarming around the cage, once I got in, put my face under, and saw the sharks right in front of me, the fear evaporated.  Seeing the sharks smoothly glide through the azure depths was beautiful and interesting.  Denise and I both got lost in the experience.  (see the video at the bottom of the page)

After spending a couple hours at sea, we came back to shore, got a bite to eat and took a short drive to Waimea Falls Park.  I took a dip in the cool jungle pool below the cascading water of the falls.

Over the next few days, Denise started going to her conference during the day while I hung at the beach and took more scenic drives.  I had a chance to catch up with an old college friend of mine, David Goldberg, who moved to Honolulu several years ago.  Another night, Denise and I went to dinner with Dave, his wife and 7 year old precocious son.

Although everything was way overpriced and the plane ride was over 12 hours, Oahu, Hawaii was a nice getaway.  Maybe we’ll return in the future, even for next year’s conference, to visit some of the other Hawaiian islands.

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I visited Denise for her birthday while she was doing a 3 month rotation in Stuttgart, Germany for her job.  I spent a week there and to my surprise, Germany was a lot more beautiful and interesting than what I expected.

She took a couple of days off work and we spent an extended weekend visiting different parts of southern Germany; including a famous white castle near the Alps, wine country on the border of France, and a waterfall in the Black Forest.

I’m not going to write a lot for this BLOG post.  I’ll let the photos and the captions tell the story.

Hope you enjoy.

>>> Click here to see the photo gallery

>>> Click here to see the photo gallery

Having a little time before starting my new consulting assignment, I took the opportunity for another quick vacation.  The weather here in DC still hadn’t completely warmed up yet.  So I was fiending for the tropics and the beach.  Still wanting to explore more of Colombia and finding another really cheap plane ticket, I decided to head back down to South America for one week.

I had done a lot of research to find out where some of the best beaches in Colombia were and finally settled on Santa Marta.  Unlike Cartagena, which was my initial choice, Santa Marta was not a popular North American or European tourist destination and I wanted to go somewhere that did not have many foreign vacationers.  Also, I liked the diversity of what Santa Marta had to offer; beautiful secluded beaches in the shadows of snow capped mountains, separated by lush forests all ripe for exploration.

From DC, I flew into Cali, Colombia again and spent a few days there eating great Latin food surrounded by Salsa music day and night coming from open-air bars around my hotel.  I went Salsa dancing in the evening and reconnecting with acquaintances introduced to me by fellow Howard University alumni the first time I visited Cali.

Clouds on the mountain slope on the way to Minca

While in Cali, I purchased a cheap domestic flight to the Atlantic coast and spent 4 days in Santa Marta.  Unlike landlocked Cali, which is at a high elevation and was going through its rainy season while I was there, Santa Marta is in a region that is almost always hot and sunny.   I stayed at a top rated, inexpensive hotel less than a block walk to the beach that I found on Tripadvisor.com.  My hotel was in Rodadero Beach near most of the action.  It seemed that this was a place that Colombian tourists flocked to, which was fine with me.  But as it was in most of the places I’ve been in Colombia, you could see the impoverished sharing the same space with the Colombian bourgeois; which, to me, gave the experience an interesting texture.

The first day I hung out on the beach, took a dip in the extremely salty water, explored a little of the town and ate some great Pargo Rojo (fried Red Snapper) with my feet still in the sand yards from the surf while the sun set over the ocean horizon.

Day two I went on an excursion to Playa Cristal in Parque Nacional Tayrona.  Playa Cristal is a secluded beach located in a National Park; a cove only accessible by boat.  It took almost an hour to drive from Santa Marta city deep into the park.  We drove past lush, unspoiled forests and rocky, cactus filled cliffs overlooking crashing waves to finally arrive at the dock where several small motor boats awaited to take us on the last leg of our journey.  After a 10 minute boat ride, our group arrived at the clear water hideaway of Playa Cristal.  For the next three hours I explored the almost deserted beach, took a swim in the shallows, enjoyed a nap in the shade on a beach chair and, of course, had some fresh, delicious Pargo Rojo at the small open-air eatery on the shore.

Playa Blanca

That evening, back on the mainland, I checked out some of the nightclubs in Rodadero Beach.  I did not like them too much, as they didn’t play much Salsa, but Electronica and Vallenato, which sounded more like Mexican music to me.

My third day in Santa Marta I decided to see what the mountains had to offer.  So I hired a taxi to take me on a scenic tour up to the mountain town of Minca to visit their famous waterfall and escape the blazing heat of the lowlands. As we ascended up winding intermittent paved and dirt roads into the mountains, the temperature became noticeably cooler.  When we climbed past the cloud line, clear, sunny skies were replaced by incessant drizzle, drenched jungle and muddy roadways.  We passed through the small town of Minca on our quest to find the waterfalls further up the mountain.  As I got out of the taxi to take photos of the landscape, I could smell the fertile soil and coffee plantations.  The memory is still strong in my mind, as it was a unique, full and spicy aroma that totally engulfed me as I stood there on the green cliff; rain misting my face and dampening my clothes.  Our search for the waterfalls became futile, though.  The last leg of the road to the falls was a steep hill and driving up the  muddy road in the increasingly heavy rain proved treacherous.  So we turned around and headed back down the mountain, taking a small break in Minca to get a drink and a snack.

My final full day in Santa Marta I bartered with some local boatmen for a ride to Playa Blanca.  This secluded cove was just a 15 minute boat ride from the shores of Rodadero Beach.  So I didn’t have to travel far from my base that day.  Playa Blanca was a beach with bleached, soft sand and clear shallow waters.  I spent a couple hours there before hopping another motor boat back to Rodadero at dusk.  Of course, that evening I dined on my daily staple of Pargo Rojo, tostones (plantains), salad, and coconut rice.

After this trip, Santa Marta is now my favorite city in Colombia.  The diversity of landscape, beautiful beaches, fresh seafood, friendly locals, and perpetual clear, sunny skies have put the town at the top of my list.

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Round-trip airfare from DC to Cali: $450 on American Airlines

Round-trip domestic airfare from Cali to Santa Marta: $120 on Avianca

Cali Plaza Hotel : $70 a night

Hotel Betoma in Santa Marta : $40 a night

Food in Cali: $3 for grilled chicken, rice, plantains, soup and fruit juice

Food in Santa Marta: $9 for fried Red Snapper, coconut rice, salad, plantains, and bottled water.

Transportation: $2 can get you a taxi ride to most places in the city

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>>> Click here to see the photo gallery

>>> Click here to see the photo gallery

After 3 major snow storms here in Washington DC, I was ready for some warm weather.  The first day I arrived in Medellin the weather was in the 90’s.

Colombia is still a country that is not on the radar for tourists.  In the cities I’ve visited, you can’t even find a tee shirt with “Colombia” on it.  But that just makes the experience all the more authentic.

After visiting Cali, Colombia twice, I felt very comfortable traveling to this country.  I was ready to try a different city and after doing my due diligence, I settled on Medellin.  Like Cali, Medellin is located in a valley surrounded by picturesque mountains.  Even though it is located nearly on the equator, because of the elevation, Medellin feels as if it is in a state of perpetual spring with an average yearly temperature in the 80’s.

View from the top of El Penol

Known because of the infamous drug lord, Pablo Escobar, Medellin has left its bloody history behind and gone through a cultural renaissance in recent years.  Medellin is the second largest city in Colombia, with tall buildings, highways and even a metro train system.  The surrounding countryside is beautiful and lush.  But being in a developing country, there is still a large disparity between the haves and have nots; easily seen by the infinite hive of tin roofed slums in the shadows of high rise condominiums.

The first full day I took a little time to look around some parts of the city.  I took the Metro Cable which starts at the city center and goes up towards the mountains, traveling over the poorer neighborhoods of shacks and shanty towns.

Paragliding from the mountain cliffs

Of course, at night I had to go Salsa dancing, which was somewhat uneventful.  Even though Colombia is considered to be the Salsa capitol of South America, the dancing cannot compete with the Puerto Rican, Cuban and New York styles I’ve grown to love.

The following day I went paragliding.  All my instincts were screaming “stop!” as I ran towards the cliff to take off.  But after conquering my fears and the adrenalin rush of 20 minutes gliding almost a mile above the city, I felt like I could do anything.

My third full day I took a day trip to El Penol, located an hour and a half outside of Medellin in the deep countryside.   I hopped on a public bus and rode with the locals… a lone gringo sitting in the back row.  El Penol is an enormous rock the size of a small mountain that overlooks a vast lake.  You must climb a crude winding stairway of over 600 steps to reach top.  But the view is amazing.

My final day, I toured more of the city.  Among other places, I visited Botero Plaza, known for its rotund sculptures.

All in all, my extended weekend in Medellin was dose of warm weather, a little exploration, and great food and provided me the opportunity to experience yet another city in that beautiful, mountainous country.

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Round-trip Airfare: $450 on American Airlines

Hotel (includes breakfast) : $50 a night

Food: $3 for my favorite Latin dish of grilled chicken, black beans, rice, plantains, soup and fruit juice

Transportation: $4 can get you a taxi ride to most places in the city

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Cayman in Tortuguero River

Denise and I decided to extend our 3 day President’s Day weekend to a 5 day mini-vacation in the Central American country of Costa Rica. We found some dirt cheap round trip air tickets and couldn’t resist.  In addition, it was a great way to briefly escape the cold February weather at home in Washington, DC.  On day one, we checked out the capital city of San Jose.  Days two, three and four we took trips to Tortuguero National Park for a river tour through the rainforest, San Lorenzo for a zip line adventure and Tabacon resort near Arenal Volcano.

When planning our trip, we could not find any air and hotel package deals that were priced how we wanted or where the hotel was in the location we wanted.  So I scoured the web (mainly Tripadvisor.com) to find a hotel and settled on the Adventure Inn on the outskirts of San Jose city.

Tabacon Hot Springs and Spa

It was a clean with good customer service and offered free airport pickup, but was nothing fancy.  It was really just a place for us to lay out heads. We had already decided what we wanted to do while in Costa Rica.  The hotel was able to book all of our excursions beforehand, which made that part of our trip easier.

We flew into San Jose.  The first day, we just hung out for a while in downtown San Jose. There was nothing much to see there, but it was cool to get out, mingle with the locals and get a taste of native life.

On the second day we went on an excursion to Tortuguero National Park which is near the Caribbean coast.  It took our tour bus about 3 hours to reach the park.  On the way there we drove through treacherous, winding roads on the edge of cliffs while passing over cloud covered mountains.  Traveling down the opposite side of the mountain, we passed banana and coffee plantations.  We stopped at a small restaurant for a light breakfast of eggs, fruit, toast and strong Costa Rican coffee.

When we finally arrived at the park, we boarded small covered boats to begin our tour by river through the rainforest.  Being almost close enough to touch them, we passed a variety of rainforest fauna including cayman, crocodiles, and sloths.  I tried my best to spot and photograph a Toucan, but they eluded me that day.  We later got dropped off on the shore and preceded to hike through the forest to reach the beach on the Caribbean coast.  Walking through a narrow trail we encountered poisonous vipers, tree snakes and a band of howler monkeys.  We heard the howler monkey alpha male’s loud grunts as we passed below the trees.  After about 30 minutes of hiking, we emerged from the dense forest onto the desolate beach. The surf was rough, which cast a misty haze along the coast where water met sand.

Denise and Maroa Wading in Tabacon Hot Springs

On the third day we took a 2 hour bus ride to the San Lorenzo region to go on a canopy tour where we flew over the forest from tree to tree on zip lines.   The first few lines were a bit scary, but the more we slid down the steel wires, the easier it got.  One of the most memorable moments of the tour is when we swung on the Tarzan line.  Check out the funny video clip below of Denise.  I have to admit, after doing it myself, the Tarzan line was scarier than it looked.

Our forth day we drove 4 hours west to the Arenal volcano region and Tabacon hot springs and spa.  After a couple of days of forest treks and roadside restaurants, it was time for a few niceties.  Tabacon is a resort that sits beside natural hot springs heated by the Arenal volcano miles upstream.  You can relax in the soothing, warm waters of the springs, visit the spa for a massage, explore the beautiful grounds, and have a delicious meal at the restaurant.  We took a day trip from our hotel in San Jose, but Tabacon is a full service resort for people who want to stay there.

During our extended weekend in Costa Rica we enjoyed great coffee, scenic mountains shrouded in clouds, exotic flora and fauna, and adrenalin surging adventures, finished off by polished tranquility. For those delightful five days we were able to get away from the big city and reconnect with nature in a beautifully lush Latin American country.

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His Story	Her Story
The hot springs and Tabacon were probably my favorite part of the trip. It was the perfect balance of nature and creature comforts.	I’m scared of heights so I was initially terrified to try the zip line. But after conquering my fears, it was a really fun experience. The restaurant and food were excellent at Tabacon.

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How Much We Paid

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Airfare
DC to San Jose, Costa Rica	$280 per person (Orbitz)
Accommodations
Hotel in San Jose:	$90 per night (Adventure Inn)
Excursions
Tortuguero National Park Tour:	$90 each person (your hotel can book it)
San Lorenzo Zip Line Canopy Tour:	$80 per person (your hotel can book it)
Arenal Volcano / Tabacon Hot Springs Tour:	$114 per person (your hotel can book it)
Total approximate cost for 5 day vacation	$780 per person

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- Our story
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Denise and I took a 2 week vacation to Europe and Africa. We spent one week in Italy (Rome, Amalfi Coast and Capri, and Milan) and one week in Egypt (Cairo, Luxor and Sharm El Sheihk). In Italy we enjoyed Ancient Rome, great food (pizza, pasta and gelato) and the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. In Egypt we experienced Ancient ruins, the modern Arab world, the desert and the rocky beaches on the Red Sea.

View from our hotel balcony in Amalfi Coast

Initially, we just wanted to go to Egypt and possibly another country while we were in that part of the world. But we weren’t exactly sure where. When we investigated the airfare, we noticed that there was a 2 hour layover in Rome. That got my wheels turning and I asked the airline to extend our 2 hour layover to 7 days. On the way back from Egypt, we had a layover in Milan, which I asked the airline to extend to one day. I then planned our additional vacation in Italy.

We started out by spending a couple of days in Rome. We visited the Colosseum and a few other ruins. Our hotel, Village Roma, was very small and simple and a bit out of the way. But it was much less expensive than the hotels in the city’s center. I would only recommend staying in that hotel one or two nights.

The next day we started our journey to the Amalfi Coast… and boy, was it a journey. We took a 3 hour train ride south, from Rome to Salerno. The Italian countryside was beautiful and we passed Pompeii and the ancient volcano Mount Vesuvius. From the Salerno train station, we walked several blocks to the docks and caught a ferry to the small town of Positano on the Amalfi Coast. Without very good directions from the hotel receptionist, due to his limited English, we finally figured out that our hotel was in the neighboring town of Praiano. So we loaded our luggage into a small motor boat taxi and took a short ride to the Praiano docks. Once there, we waited a while for a bus, which took us about a mile to our hotel.

We arrived at our hotel only to find that they did not hold our reservation. The receptionist was very helpful though and called a hotel down the block to get us reservations there. We ended up staying at La Perla, which was magnificent. Most hotels in the Amalfi Coast are on the side of a mountain and overlook the Mediterranean Sea. As soon as we checked into our room, we immediately swung open the terrace doors and let the cool breezes and beautiful scenery wash over us.

Rock formations near Capri island

The Amalfi Coast is one of the most romantic places I’ve ever visited. The quaint and intimate towns of Praiano and Positano are lined with small boutiques, narrow winding walkways, and cozy restaurants. Our favorite restaurant was in Hotel Onda Verde. The food and service were amazing and the menu was moderately priced. A couple nights we had our own small table for two on the edge of a cliff, overlooking dimly lit Roman ruins as the moon cast a soft glow over the Mediterranean sea.

Aside from eating great authentic Italian meals, sampling all flavors of creamy gelato and window shopping, we took a day trip to the island of Capri. This small island is surrounded by interesting rock formations and houses many high end boutiques.  At its center stands a tall mountain who’s summit is assessable by moving cable seats similar to ski lifts.  We also had a chance to visit the Emerald Grotto known for its beautiful, luminous waters.

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After spending a few days in the Amalfi Coast, we returned to Rome and caught our flight to Egypt. Being enamored with ancient Egyptian culture for a good part of my life, the first things I wanted to see when we arrived in Cairo were the Pyramids at Giza. Our hotel was not far from the attraction and as our taxi neared our destination, we could see the top of the Pyramids towering over the buildings. We quickly dropped off our luggage at the hotel and took a taxi to find a camel ride

Tomb in the Valley of the Kings

to the Pyramids (which are blocked off by miles of fences). We drove through winding, narrow alleys of beige colored dwellings and arrived at a small camel stable. The owner and I negotiated a price by writing numbers in the sand with our fingers. Then, Denise and I hopped on two camels and with our escort on horseback, headed towards a break in the fence since the entrance was now officially closed at dusk. With the sun racing towards the horizon, we were able to get close enough to clearly see the colossal, stone structures against an infinite expanse of empty desert and a completely cloudless, dusty, blue sky. As the sun set, we saw a caravan on camelback heading out into the cooling Sahara desert, leaving a single trail of hoof prints through a relatively smooth sea of sand.

The next day we spent touring a few sites in Cairo, including going back through the official entrance to the Pyramids and getting close enough to touch the immense building blocks. That evening we went on a dinner cruise on the Nile River.

Whirling dancer in Sharm El Sheikh

The following day we took an hour flight to Luxor, which was suburban and relaxed… a stark contrast to the overcrowded, smoggy, capitol city of Cairo. We spent a couple of days in Luxor, touring ruins like the Valley of the Kings and Karnak.

It was time to satisfy the beach bum in me, so we took a short flight to the resort town of Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea. The next few days we spent snorkeling on the coral reefs, sunbathing, haggling for souvenirs at the old bazaar, and visiting Bedouin desert dweller villages.

Finally, it was time to head home. We flew back through Cairo and then to Milan where we spent one evening. Back in Italy, we enjoyed more great Italian food.

Our two week excursion through Egypt and Italy still conjures sweet memories and has earned it’s place as one of our favorite trips.

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His Story

Her Story

I loved the food, atmosphere and scenery in the Amalfi Coast. It was the ultimate romantic getaway.  Seeing the Pyramids in Egypt was bitter-sweet. We were constantly hounded by men trying to sell us things (more than anywhere else I’ve been).  So it was difficult to relax and take it all in. I would recommend going with a tour group or a guide to ward off the peddlers.  Aside from that, Egypt was awsome.

The food in Italy was amazing! Pizza, pasta dishes and, of course, gelato. It’s much lighter and tastier than the Italian food I’ve had here in the US. It was really cool to be in Egypt and visit all the famous ancient ruins. I wore a lot of conservative clothes that covered up in Egypt based on what we read online about the culture. But we noticed that other women tourists wore anything they wanted.

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How Much We Paid

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Feel free to share any of our postings with friends and family.  To make it even easier, there is a “share” button on all postings that will allow you to easily send a link via email or through popular services like Facebook and Twitter.

We’ll start our travel blog by first posting Maroa’s most recent solo trip which was to Medellin, Colombia.  Then, shortly, we will slowly fill out the blog with all of our past trips as well as new trips as we go.  Even though most of you have already seen our past photos, please feel free to leave us your comments and share them with friends and family as we post them.

We look forward to hearing from new visitors, old acquaintances and anyone else who is inspired.