tour tagged posts

In America, Brazil, Nordeste 2003 On  06/11/2003  No comments

I got in Natal late evening and booked a buggy tour for next day. The tour, to the north coast, was arranged with a young couple from Pernambuco (another state in the northeast of Brazil). They, Juliana and Leonardo, had been in honeymoon in Natal for a week.

The guide, Jean, took us to the white sand dunes of Genipabu. It was like a roller coaster; we drove up and down really fast on the walls of sand. It seems that any time we would overturn. Here they always ask if people want the tour with emotion or without. The difference is that, with emotion, they drive faster and higher, activating your adrenaline. The other one is a bit more behaved, but also a little scary.

We stopped on the top of some dunes in Genipabu to enjoy the view of the lagoon and the beach. Leonardo decided to hide a dromedary for some minutes. From there we went north, always driving on the sand. We stopped for a sea bath and continued to Pitangui Lake...

In America, Diving & Snorkeling, Nordeste 2003, Hiking/Trekking On  05/11/2003  2 comments

This was the second time I visited the island. In order to remember everything, I did a buggy tour with Cinara, Carlos Alberto and José Carlos, who I met in the flight from Recife. Our guide, Bruno, showed us the most important tourist attractions of the island. We started on a tip called AirFrance, which, according to Bruno, was the place where an aircraft from that company landed. Nearby we visited “Buraco da Raquel”and “Enseada da Caieira”. Then we went to Baia do Sueste, where we did snorkeling. The place is known for having sea turtles, besides, of course, many small fishes. We saw three turtles. When we were already swimming back to the shore, the guide pinched me to show a small shark beside us. When I turn to look, he was swimming away from us.

After the snorkeling, we walked on the trails of Baia dos Golfinhos, Baia do Sancho and Baia dos Porcos. From up there we can have a great view from the Dois Irmãos islands, a postcard picture from Fernando de Noronha...

In Adventure, Cycling tour, Europe, Cycling & Diving in Catalonia 2003 On  27/04/2003  No comments

Friday we got a train from Barcelona to Nonaspe where a part of the group stayed camping. As i didn’t have a tend I continued with two more friends to sleep in a hostel in Caspe (Aragon). Next morning we got the first train back. We got together with the group at Nonaspe train station to start the tour organized by Abert (Gata and amics de la bici). We biked towards Batea where we stopped to visit the village, the small streets, the church… We had a break, a snack before lunch. From there we continued to Caseres. We stopped a few times. Once to fix the chain of a girl’s bike. Then to look at the map, we were a little lost.  Since we had to go up many times, my knee started hurting. I had already felt some pain on my last bike tour…

When we get to Caseres stated raining so we had a long lunch break.  The way from there was beautiful, many fruit trees. By then, I couldn’t enjoy the tour anymore, my knee was hurting a lot. I couldn’t move it...

In Adventure, Cycling tour, Spain, Europe, Cycling & Diving in Catalonia 2003 On  06/04/2003  No comments

We left Barcelona on a two hour trip to Cervera where we met other people and Lluis, who was organizing the tour. We started visiting the town, its interesting center with some narrow streets. I really liked the street of the
witches where there is a tunnel through the houses.

From Cervera we continued to Bellpuig through a former trail from Sant Jaume de Montserrat to Santiago. It was a pleasant trip because the whole itinerary was flat and we could go relaxed appreciating the landscape. We passed through some small towns and stopped for picnic by some irrigation water canals. They were beautiful because they looked like small rivers.

In Bellpuig we slept in a hostel from the municipal district (it was clean and organized). Dinner time I end up trying the snail, typical food from the region. The feeling was horrible. The idea of getting a stick and digging out the nasty animal from its shell and eating didn’t attract me. I tried one, the taste wasn’t that bad...

In Adventure, Cycling tour, Europe, Cycling & Diving in Catalonia 2003 On  23/03/2003  One comment

I decided to go on a bike tour organized by Carles from amics de la bici. We left Barcelona on a Saturday morning. We took the train to Ripoll where we started the journey. By the arrival at the train station in Ripoll, Albert was waiting for us with some white cloth meant to do flags for peace. We did the flags and placed them on the bikes.
The trail was constructed on some old train tracks. After about 10km we stopped at the old train station from Sant Joan de les Abadesses in order to keep the group together. We went in town to visit the historic center and have some coca (sweet bread typical from the region). A few kilometers later we stopped for lunch. Picnic on the grass. Awesome!

After lunch we continue to Olot stopping a few times in order to keep the group together. There was some way up, way down and flat paths. Sometimes there was no effort, it was only to sit on the bike and observe the landscape. By arrival at Olot we stopped to visit an area of an old volcano...

In America, Bonito and Pantanal 2002 On  19/12/2002  No comments

I did a day tour at Refúgio Ecológico Caiman. We were a small group (a Brazilian girl, her Turkish husband and me), it was great. We started the tour in small canoes. It worked perfectly because we could get close to bird and alligators without disturbing them with a boat engine.

We walked a little in the woods. It must have been lunch time for the mosquitoes because they seamed to be pretty hungry. The place where we left the canoes was crowded with alligator. They didn’t bother about our presence, they should be used to tourists.

After lunch we accompanied the biologists of the Blue Macaw Project. We went to see the nestles on the trees. It was interesting to see their work. They have a chart report and notes to all nestles. Each bird has a private name. The biologists climb up the tree and get the baby macaw to analyze. They wait it and make an estimative of when it is going to fly...

In Asia, Europe, Turquia 2002 On  20/09/2002  One comment

Once again I arrived in a new country with sore throat. Since I was really tired I decided to sleep the whole morning. In the afternoon I left the hostel to see the city. My lunch costed 7 millions, I realized it would be difficult to get used with the amount of zeros on the Turkish lira bills. The waiter told me to be careful in order to not be cheated. He said it is common to trick tourists that aren’t used with the money. I asked if I should be careful with him. He answered: “NO, not me. I’m talking about the others. I’m honest”.

I visited the Aya Sofia, a church constructed in 532 and during years it was the biggest in the world. There were times that its mosaics were covered because the Islamism prohibited the images. Today it works as a museum. The place is impressive…

After I went to see the Blue Mosque, a mosque constructed in the beginning of the seventeenth century. Its towers and domes made it the most famous one in Istanbul. The tourists enter through the side door...

In Europe, Eastern Europe 2002, Traveled places On  06/08/2002  No comments

I decided to go to Vienna to see a cousin, Lucia, who is there doing her post-doc. By my arrival she suggested me the next day program: to bike around the small villages near Vienna. I seams that she had read my thoughts, I was tired of cities, people, museums, monuments… It would be great to spend a day biking near nature.

From Vienna we got a train to Tulln where we met her workmates and got the bikes. We got a train to Melk. From there we biked to Spitz where we stopped to have lunch. Then we continued to Krems, passing through small villages, wineries, apple, plum and apricot trees… On our way we stopped at Dürstein to enjoy the landscape. We end up the tour in Hadersdorf, in a Heuriger, where we had the local wine. It was incredible to see how they are prepared to cycling. There are bike road all over Austria. One can go anywhere by bike, the special bike roads are by the freeway, or train rail, or the Danube, or through the woods… I loved it.

Following day we went back to...