Posts

Gran Canaria: A European Winter Escape

Image
Playa Anfi del Mar Winter blues are very real in the northern hemisphere. From my past experiences, January and February are always the toughest months. The lights and festive energy of Christmas are long gone, and we are deep back into routine - grey skies, cold mornings, and very little to look forward to. After the smashing success of our Mallorca trip , we decided to visit the next popular winter destination: the Canary Islands. We had heard of Gran Canaria from neighbours and colleagues who travelled there to get some sun and escape the bitter cold in Germany. It is the third-largest of Spain’s Canary Islands - a European tourist hotspot welcoming over 14 million annual visitors across the archipelago. When it is 0°C in Germany, it is a pleasant 20+°C in Gran Canaria. Geographically, it lies less than 100 km from the African coast and about 1,363 km from mainland Spain. So why is it a Spanish island, you may ask? Here’s a small historical nugget. The island’s colonisation began i...

Kenya Chronicles: Part 2 – Maasai Mara Magic

Image
King of the jungle Journey from Nairobi to Masai Mara Our ride from Nairobi to the Masai mara and back. It had a  pop-up roof  for game drives Great Rift Valley On the way to masai mara our first stop was a viewpoint to see the Great Rift Valley. The Great Rift Valley stretches through Kenya and lies between Nairobi and the Maasai Mara, offering breathtaking scenery along the journey. Traveling from Nairobi toward the Mara, you descend from the city’s highlands into the valley, passing viewpoints that overlook vast rolling savannahs. This section of the Rift Valley is part of a massive geological trench that runs from Lebanon to Mozambique, formed millions of years ago by tectonic forces, and is rich in wildlife, birdlife, and cultural history. Masai mara national park We stayed at Jumbo Mara Safari Logde Our room Resident wildebeest - these look and act different than the wildebeest which migrate from Tanzania Our days in the Mara unfolded in a rhythm of safaris: an...