La Jolla Cove, San Diego, California
Posted August 7, 2009 , add a commentWho needs Australia, (Hawaii, Belize, Mexico, fill in the blank beautiful beach) when you can have the relative ease of La Jolla Cove? Sandwiched between striking sandstone cliffs, this small cove is one of the most photographed beaches in Southern California.
View from above. http://www.flickr.com/photos/87938933@N00/3542444107/
And it’s no wonder really. La Jolla Cove is stunning: bright blue water set against white cliffs, palm trees, scuba divers (water visibility is known to exceed 30 feet!), swimmers, sunbathers. Pelicans fly overhead while Harbor Seals smile contentedly, fat spotted bellies spread flat against hot sand.
After the fog burns off. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chizhang/3595775317/
It’s the scenery for which postcards are made, engagement photos, Enya songs. On the cliffs overhead ground squirrels fairly scamper about brazenly, much to the amusement of tourists who feed them bits of Starbucks petite vanilla scones.
Nom nom nom. http://www.flickr.com/photos/55963607@N00/468027979/
The official address for La Jolla Cove is 1100 Coast Boulevard, but you can also find it by looking beneath Scripps Park. The cove is within walking distance to the downtown hamlet of La Jolla, a coastal community chock full of swank restaurants, bars, tony stucco houses and seaside shops.
Due to the popularity of La Jolla Cove, lifeguards are stationed year-round. “Swimming devices” (surfboards, boogie boards, even inflatable mattresses) are not permitted at the cove, and this rule is carefully enforced by the lifeguards, specifically the part defined as the Ecological Reserve. There is no disabled access at La Jolla Cove because of the steep incline down to the beach. Additionally, there are no parking lots, and street parking (metered during the week) fills up quickly on summer weekends. It’s best to come early, park downtown in one of the paid lots, or stroll down to the beach from the palm-lined streets above.
TravelStore Features Special Offers On Princess Cruises Tropical Cruise Getaways to Sun-Swept Caribbean, Panama Canal and Mexican Riviera
Posted , add a comment) LOS ANGELES, Calif. (July 31, 2009) ? Whether travelers choose to explore the beaches and colorful islands of the Caribbean, enjoy the warm welcoming culture of the Mexican Riviera, or marvel at the dramatic Panama Canal, TravelStore offers a wide array of options for tropical cruise getaways to some of the most popular warm weather destinations on one its most popular cruise lines, Princess Cruises.
“With the convenience of close-to-home departure points, these itineraries present many inclusively-priced vacation options in the balmy tropics,” said Dan Ilves, TravelStore Vice President. “So many people have delayed taking vacations, a cruise vacation is a more affordable way for many to escape the grind, enjoy the warmth of the tropics and take advantage of the best deals.”
A number of Princess Caribbean cruises, which range from one-week to up to 14 days, feature the private beach of Princess Cays. On Princess Mexican Riviera cruises, passengers can sail from Los Angeles or San Francisco to some of the area’s most popular resorts south of the border. Those wishing to experience one of the world’s greatest engineering marvels on Princess Panama Canal cruises can choose from convenient round-trip voyages or experience the drama of a full canal transit.
“With the pent-up demand for travel, we have released next year’s fall and winter schedules early so travelers can begin to plan and book future vacations early and avoid disappoinment,” said Ilves. “Of course, there are some great opportunities yet this year to getaway to these popular cruise destinations.”
Highlights of next year’s tropical getaway options include:
Caribbean Cruises ?a variety of vacation options exploring the Eastern, Western and Southern Caribbean.
Seven-Day Eastern Caribbean ?Roundtrip cruises from Fort Lauderdale on Sundays. The itinerary features calls at Princess Cays, St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Grand Turk.
Seven-Day Western Caribbean ?Roundtrip cruises from Fort Lauderdale, visiting Grand Cayman, Roatan, Cozumel and Princess Cays.
Seven-Day Southern Caribbean ?Cruises from San Juan on two alternating itineraries. The Classic Southern Caribbean route sails to the ports of St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados, while Southern Caribbean Explorer sailings travel to St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba.
10-Day Eastern and Southern Caribbean ? For a more in-depth island vacation with the convenience of roundtrip travel from Fort Lauderdale. The Southern Caribbean Medley itinerary calls at Princess Cays, St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba. The Eastern Caribbean Voyager itinerary offers calls at Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and Princess Cays.
14-Day Caribbean Collection ? Cruises roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale. The ship sails to Aruba, Curaçao, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and Grand Turk.
14-Day Sailings from Barbados ?A series of alternating 14-day Caribbean voyages from Barbados. The Grand Caribbean Islander route feature calls at Tobago, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios, Tortola, Antigua, St. Kitts and Dominica. The Grand Caribbean Adventurer itinerary features stops at Grenada, Bonaire, Curaçao, Grand Turk, Tortola, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Trinidad.
Mexican Riviera Cruises ?Cruisers can choose from departures from either Los Angeles or San Francisco.
Seven-Day Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles?This popular seven-day roundtrip route takes in favorite Mexico ports with calls in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas.
10-Day Mexican Riviera?One roundtrip sailing from San Francisco to Catalina, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, Cabo San Lucas and San Diego, departing on September 29, 2010.
11-Day Mexican Riviera?From San Francisco featuring calls at Acapulco, Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. Three departures on April 8, 19 and 30, 2011.
Panama Canal Cruises ? A “must see” feat of engineering. On an extended 15-day cruise features the line’s Two-Day Canal Experience ? a full Canal transit plus a day with the ship anchored at Fuerte Amador, on the Canal’s Pacific side. Passengers can take advantage of this extra day in Panama to enjoy a variety of shore excursion options including the Panama Canal Railway, Panama City, Soberania National Park Rainforest or a visit to an authentic Embera Indian Village.
15-Day Panama Canal with Two-Day Experience ?Sailings between Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles or San Francisco. In addition to the Canal transit and additional Panama call at Fuerte Amador, the cruise visit Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Huatulco, Puntarenas (Costa Rica), Cartagena and Aruba. Departures are offered between September 21, 2010 and May 4, 2011.
10-Day Panama Canal Full Transit Sailings ? The 10-day Panama Canal Adventurer route between Fort Lauderdale and Acapulco offers a full Canal transit plus visits to Ocho Rios, Fuerte Amador or Cristobal, Costa Rica (Puntarenas), Nicaragua (San Juan del Sur) and Huatulco. Departures between October 6, 2010 and April 24, 2011.
10-Day Roundtrip Panama Canal? Roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, with a partial Panama Canal transit to Gatun Lake followed by a call in Cristobal, plus calls in the Caribbean ports of Aruba, Cartagena, Limon (Costa Rica) and Ocho Rios.
Current as well as these tropical sailings are currently available for booking. Early reservations are encouraged to secure the best stateroom selection. Fares for seven-day Caribbean and Mexican Riviera sailings start at $569 per person, and 10-day Panama Canal cruise fares begin at $1,199 per person, based on double occupancy.
TravelStore is one of the nation’s top award-winning travel agencies, and a Princess Cruise specialist. Additional information is available calling 1-800-821-4271, or by visiting the company’s cruise website.
First All-Inclusive Staycation Package in Atlantic Canada
Posted July 30, 2009 , add a comment) July 10, 2009 - West Bay, Nova Scotia. As many Maritimers are facing tight travel budgets this summer, they are seeking vacations close to home. Dundee Resort is making it easier for vacationers to get the most out of their hard-earned dollars by introducing the first all Inclusive Staycation Package in Atlantic Canada.
Florida, Cuba, Mexico and other sunshine destinations are popular for their all-inclusive packages, which you do not generally see in Atlantic Canada. However, Dundee Resort on Cape Breton Island has just introduced an all-inclusive package to give tourists an easy economical staycation in Nova Scotia.
“Times are tough but everyone needs a getaway. For a very affordable price, this package gives visitors access to all resort amenities-it’s everything you need to have a great time, said Scott MacAulay, Owner of Dundee Resort. “By getting creative and developing an all-inclusive package, we are introducing an ideal spot for a staycation. This is the first of its kind, that I am aware of, in Atlantic Canada”, he added. Dundee Resort is located 20 minutes from Port Hawkesbury on the Bras d’Or Lakes. With an 18-hole championship golf course and a supervised children’s program, Dundee is the perfect place to getaway on Cape Breton Island. Dundee also has an indoor and outdoor pool, hot tub, spa and a fully equipped water adventure centre where kids of all ages can have fun on the lake. Dundee offers spacious hotel rooms and one and two bedroom efficiency cottages.
A Scatological Comparison of Selected Latin American Nations
Posted , add a commentA Scatological Comparison of Selected Latin American Nations
A Google search for websites containing both the words “travel” and “diarrhea” results in 1,860,000 links, and that only includes the small subset of pages in which “diarrhea” is spelled correctly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that there are 50,000 new cases of traveler’s diarrhea every day (CDC 2008). One might expect, therefore, that a wealth of information must be available to help the cautious traveler assess risk levels of potential trips. After all, a careful consideration of the risk of traveler’s diarrhea is at least as important as a consideration of the number of national parks or pristine beaches a travel destination offers, because the traveler’s intestinal state is likely to determine whether those parks or beaches will even been seen by the traveler.
However, most travelers just go to one country for a week or two, and although many return with a disgusting story, virtually none have actual data to go along with it. As a result, little objective data is available for use in risk assessment. The few previous studies have identified travel destination as the most important risk factor (Steffen et al. 1983; von Sonnenburg et al. 2000). The CDC has therefore divided the world into three categories with regard to risk for developing traveler’s diarrhea - high, intermediate, and low (CDC 2008). High-risk areas include Mexico, all of Central America, all of South America (except Argentina and Chile), all of Africa (except South Africa and Lesotho), and all of Asia (except Japan and Russia). In other words, 78,846,672 square kilometers of the Earth’s land surface, or 58.2% of the total land surface (excluding Antarctica, which CDC does not categorize), are classified as high-risk areas.
This qualitative, broad-brush approach to risk assessment is unfortunately not very useful to the traveler. Diarrhea can range from the merely annoying to the completely incapacitating, yet CDC makes no attempt to classify severity. As a result, there is little information that would help you plan a trip unless you automatically exclude a visit to 58.2% of the world. There is an urgent need for a universal, quantitative, objective methodology for rating countries so that travelers can accurately assess the likelihood of developing an urgent need at each potential destination.
During a recent trip to Latin America, I had quite a lot of time to sit and think about this issue on the very first day due to a bad tamale I ate at a bus station, and I realized I had an opportunity to begin solving this problem by determining which is the crappiest country in Latin America.
Methods
I traveled from Tucson, Arizona, USA to Buenos Aires, Argentina, mostly by bus, between November 28, 2001 and March 3, 2003. I rated every bowel movement I had during that 15 month period according to the scale displayed in Table 1.
I did not visit every Latin American country, so several countries are excluded from the analysis. Furthermore, due to an imminent mortar attack on the capital city, I remained in Colombia for just three days and excluded it from the analysis due to the low sample size. The countries included in this study are Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela.
The rating scale was initially designed as a negative logarithmic scale in terms of looseness, much like a pH scale is a negative logarithmic scale in terms of acidity, with 1 being the most loose and 10 being the least loose. However, when I devised the scale I did not realize it was possible to crap straight liquid blood, so during the course of the study I had to add a zero rating. While this does mean that the scale can no longer be considered truly logarithmic, the change does not affect the analysis or results.
The advantage of the non-linear scale is that it allows us to focus more closely on the looser end of things. Therefore, the “one-wiper,” the Holy Grail of crapping, is not a 5, but an 8. Generally speaking, the further from 8 you are, the less comfortable you are likely to be. The ratings are designed to be self-explanatory and objective. Fractional ratings, such as 4.5, were permitted when necessary. When there were multiple bowel movements in the same day, I rated each separately.
To compare countries, I used multiple regression to determine whether there were rating differences between them after accounting for differences in the number of days spent in each country and in the number of months I had been traveling when I visited each country.
One potentially confounding factor is that I occasionally used ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic, to combat various illnesses during my trip. I typically took antibiotics for three days each time, and started treatments on December 29, 2001 (Mexico); May 15, 2002 (Honduras); December 19, 2002 (Brazil); and January 26, 2003 (Argentina). However, given that the effective period of the antibiotics was short compared to the length of time spent in any country, I have disregarded this factor in the analyses.
Results
In total, I produced 406 craps during my 490-day trip. Table 2 lists the countries visited in order of visitation, days spent there, and craps taken in each.
During the course of my trip, I produced craps that spanned the entire rating scale, from 0 to 10 (Figure 1).
Countries differed significantly in terms of level of crappiness (F = 18.20, df = 7, 396, P < 0.0001), even after taking number of days in country and number of months on the road into account.
The country with the lowest rating (i.e., the crappiest) was Guatemala, scoring a craptacular 3.3, which is just barely more solid than vegetable soup in beef broth (Table 3). Argentina was the second crappiest country I visited, where the mean looseness of my craps was the same as hearty sirloin and vegetable soup. Argentina was closely followed by Honduras. Argentina was the only country in which I produced craps with a zero rating (blood). Argentina and Guatemala were the only countries in which I achieved ratings of 1 (clear water), although there was one 1.5-rated crap in Nicaragua.
The least crappy country I visited was Panama, which scored well ahead of all other countries at a breathtakingly pleasant 7.6 (between meatloaf and one-wiper). Following Panama was Mexico, with a 6.7 rating, and Costa Rica, with a 6.3. Venezuela was the only country in which I produced craps with a 10 rating (diamond), but I achieved at least one 9 rating (charcoal) in Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Discussion
Keeping in mind that I only sampled nine Latin American countries, the data indicate that Guatemala is by far the crappiest country in Latin America. Interestingly, Argentina is the only country I sampled that is considered by CDC to be an intermediate risk rather than high-risk country for traveler’s diarrhea, yet Argentina is the second worst country for diarrhea according to my study.
Mexico has long been feared by American travelers as a place of intestinal unpleasantness. Hence one often hears of Montezuma’s Revenge, which attributes the experience of pissing out of your rectum to a curse the last Aztec emperor placed on foreign visitors. Nonetheless, this study indicates that Mexico is in fact among the least crappy countries in Latin America.
Although 406 craps were analyzed for this study, all were produced by the same person, which technically means that the results of this study can only be directly applied to me. However, the data are likely to be generally applicable to other people as well. As such, I recommend Panama as the Latin American destination of choice to those travelers who wish to tour more than just a country’s toilets, and I submit that spending a week in your own bathroom will provide a similar experience to a week in Guatemala at a much lower price.
Most importantly, this study proves that it is possible to differentiate between countries with a simple, objective rating system. Please note that Table 1 can be easily printed out, laminated, and carried in the field. If this rating system is used by other researchers in the future and the results published, we will be able to someday determine which is the crappiest country in the world.
Sources cited:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2008. CDC Health Information for International Travel 2008. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
Steffen R., F. van der Linde, K. Gyr and M. Schar. 1983. Epidemiology of diarrhea in travelers. Journal of the American Medical Association 249(9): 1176-1180.
von Sonnenburg, F., N. Tornieporth, P. Waiyaki, B. Lowe, L.F. Peruski Jr., H.L. DuPont, J.J. Mathewson, R. Steffen. 2000. Risk and aetiology of diarrhoea at various tourist destinations. Lancet 356: 133-134.
photo by nicolasnova on Flickr
Cuba: My Top 5 Travel Picks
Posted , add a commentWhy am I fascinated with Cuba? Well there are two Cuba’s as far as tourism goes, and they are quite different. One is the string of beach resorts strung (along Cuba’s best beaches) on the north coast – with direct charter flights from Europe or Canada and all-inclusive resorts. It can probably be compared to the next Cancun or Costa Del Sol – great if that’s what you are looking for.
The other Cuba is the one the Cuban’s live in, and it is an intoxicating mix of Caribbean color with Spanish heritage with the uniqueness that the 47 years of blockade and its own unique blend of communism have brought. Cuba is the largest Caribbean island and there is a real diversity of places and people to explore. So here are my top 5 places to visit in Cuba:
#1 - Trinidad
Trinidad is my absolute favorite. A small town of only 60,000 people on Cuba’s southern coast, Trinidad is a picture postcard of what we all expect Cuba to look like. All cobblestones and pastel Spanish architecture, but not flash and renovated like Havana; it has more character, if character is a mix of the renovated, and the well worn, and the completely derelict. A great place for salsa lessons, and there are dozens of places to indulge in dance. There’s the Casa De La Trova for the traditional Buena Vista Social club style, great to practice those salsa steps. There’s afro-caribbean and drumming clubs for a more frenetic pace. There is the free band and dancing in the town square every night, another great place to practice your dance steps with the locals.
An old Cadillac on the streets of Trinidad
There’s even Ayala, the disco in a cave up the hill, yes a real ’80s retro nightclub with lasers and videos projected on the cave walls and Madonna and Latino boy bands on high rotation – it was enough to drive me to drink – another rum and coke thanks.
There’s fascinating museums, old bell towers to climb, and little illegal hole in the wall pizza shops that pop up every lunch time and then close down within an hour when their stock is sold – you don’t know where they are going to open but you’ll recognise them from the queue, delicious and about 50 cents each. There is the classic white sand turquoise water Caribbean beach at Ancon beach, a couple of miles out of town ( the town sits slightly inland these days) Float in the warm water, soak up the sun, watch the sunset, sit under the palm trees or catch a hobicat out to some good snorkeling spots.
#2 - Camaguey
Camaguey, in the centre of the island and the centre of cattle country. Yes this is as close to being in Argentina you are going to get in Cuba. It’s still the most “Spanish” of the Cuban cities, and the locals look more Spanish than afro caribbean here too. It traditionally had been a wealthy centre, and that still shows in the architecture – the houses are bigger (but may have many more families and generations sharing them now), the churches more numerous and impressive, but the limitations on maintenance clearly show.
It’s a very “lived in” city centre compared to Havana, the kids are playing stick ball in the streets, the old men or woman are sitting on the doorsteps watching the world go by. I loved walking every city in Cuba but this was the most walkable and most interesting of all. The streets are a maze designed to confuse the pirates of centuries ago (I never quite understood that given it is about as far from the coast as you can get in cuba but its not too hard to use the church spires to navigate your way around. So many art galleries here too, a thriving artist population, from the traditional to the avant-garde.
My favorite was to visit the house of Ileana Sanchez & Joel Jover, two well known Cuban artists, Their front door opens onto the Plaza de la Independence, and the public are free to visit their two front rooms – absolutely covered from floor to the very high ceilings with a maze of their own art, other artists they have collected around the world, as well as things that inspire them – it is a veritable treasure trove. We were lucky enough to get invited into the rest of the house, their amazing sculpture garden, and met the artists themselves around their kitchen table. I loved their art and left Cuba the proud owner of a Joel Jover original.
There is a process to getting a licence to take art out of cuba, mainly designed to make sure the artist is declaring their sales to the government I think, if you don’t have the requisite licence they will confiscate your art at the airport when you leave as they assume you bought it on the black market. However the artists know this process does put us off buying and so they do it for you – I made my purchase at about 10 pm at night, just after dinner, and they had arranged the licence and had it ready for me before my bus left at 8am the next morning – I have no idea how they managed to get a government office to do that in the middle of the night but they certainly made it easy for me.
Camaguey was one of the places hit hard by the three huge hurricanes in 2008, and many of the shops were still being repaired, but luckily for us at least one of the ice cream parlours’ had reopened – the Copellia’s are not to be missed.
#3 - Havana
Havana - the original Vegas before there was a Vegas. The old town, all cobbled streets and beautiful Spanish buildings and pastel colors and a wonderful European flavor. Much of the old town has been restored with UNESCO money, the plaza’s have cafes and great coffee and handmade chocolate shops, along with the expected rum, cigars, Hemingway nostalgia and the home of the mojito’s. Walk through the old town, zigzagging around every block, until you hit the Prado, browse the art on display while walking towards the Malecon, the sea wall and walkway around the seafront that runs for miles. Walk it in the evening and see the teenagers hanging out, the families cooling down after the heat of the day, the couples out on a date.
Old Town, Havana
And walk it again in the daytime and see the kids swimming, the families strolling, the jazz musicians (playing for the tourists, but boy it still sounds good), the fishermen, the cyclists, the sheer variety of life. When you get tired of walking catch a coco cab – like a tuk-tuk with a large round plastic shell, looks like a motorized coconut – or hire one of the old Cadillac convertibles that run as taxi’s and get them to take you sightseeing for an hour –the other visitors will be snapping your photo as you go past.
Visit the outdoor book market in treelined square at the northeast of the old town, or the artisan market stalls by the canal at the northern end of the old town, for the best selection of souvenirs you will find in Cuba. When things get too hot or too crowded, there are many rooftop bars where you can retire and relax with a cool drink.
#4 - Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba – the port town with a great old castle. With its location on the southeastern tip of Cuba, Santiago has been a key defense spot for cuba for centuries. Castillo del Morro is a 16th century citadel with turrets and a drawbridge and dungeons and cannons and a maze of stairs and tunnels and everything a great castle should have, high on a promontory at the harbor entrance, with fantastic views up the coastline, so the defenders could see the enemy coming.
Your inner child can play happily here for hours. The castle was last used in the Spanish/US war, the Spanish army were in Cuba and Cuba had sought help from the US to get rid of them and gain independence (yes the US and Cuba were once friends) They say that when the Spanish troops in Castillo del Morro saw the US ships coming, they didn’t stay and fight, they turned tail and ran, so the US didn’t even have to fight to win. Our local guide described the spanish troops as “sissy”.
For a great lunch break, take a 10 minute boat trip from the yacht club to Cayo Granma in the middle of the harbor. Before the revolution the island was being developed as holiday homes for the rich, and after the revolution became the home of local fishing families, it is very run down and charmingly decrepid now.
However a lobster lunch with cold cervesa sitting on a terrace over the harbor is wonderful, followed by a stroll around the island. Santiago de Cuba is also famous for its role in the Cuban revolution, here Fidel Castro lead the failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks, which led to his capture, trial, incarceration and eventual release, followed by his travels to Mexico when he then met up with Che Guevara - and the rest, as they say, is history.
You can visit the Barracks and go through the fascinating museum, the only downside is you have to go around with an assigned guide, and what could be an intriguing one hour tour is, in perhaps the most stereotypically traditionally communist style I met in Cuba, turned into a 3-hour endurance test that completely sucked all interest out of me!
#5 - Baracoa
The hottest and steamiest of them all. Baracoa is about as far away and hard to get to as you can get in Cuba – on the far southeast coast – go through Santiago, keep going past Guantanamo Bay (yes that one) and head over a mountain range of tropical rainforest on a very twisty road, and eventually you will get to Baracoa.
It is noticeably hotter and more humid than the rest of Cuba, which was warm enough anyway. The beaches are black sand, the coastline is jagged black rock, the sea is rougher, the pace of life seems slower and more brooding, it is a dark clouds and thunderstorm type of heat, not a sunshiny heat. It didn’t seem at all surprising that the lovely Casa Particular we stayed at was next door to the Funeral Home, it was just that sort of place!
But out of this seemed to come some very vibrant art and music, great food and drink, and the dancing is a whole lot raunchier down this end of the island too. There is swimming and kayaking and waterfalls and treks to do, or just laze around town and watch the world go by, and understand that this is like no where else in the world.
-Victoria Pottering
Interested in Cuba? Read Victoria’s previous blog post about Cuba.