We have come for the elephants. Deep in Eastern Cambodia, near the border of Vietnam, lies the province of Mondulkiri. We are in the small town of Sen Monorom for our up close opportunity with a handful of Asian elephants at a place called The Mondulkiri Project, a local NGO that rescues elephants formerly used in farming, logging and tourism. It is the rainy season...
We arrived at Angkor Wat in the predawn darkness, looking to get an early start on our day. It was overcast but we did get a chance to see the clouds light up and turn slightly pink over the temple. We got at 4:15 am (Ughh!) so we could experience as much as possible before the sweltering heat and afternoon monsoon rains kicked in. The temple at Angkor Wat is the...
Mom and Dad wish you the happiest 12th birthday wishes and we loved spending the day with you in Chobe, Botswana and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. We love you and are so glad to be going around the world with you this year. You have had an incredible year: – Diving the Rainbow Reef in Fiji – Visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand – Seeing elephants in...
We love elephants. One of our best travel days ever was in Chang Mai, Thailand, caring for some. So when we found out Cambodia has elephant rescue NGO’s helping these gentle giants live in natural forests, we were ready to go to any lengths to see them. Turns out those are pretty long lengths indeed. Welcome to Sean Monourom in Mondulkiri province in Eastern Cambodia...
I’m nervous, I’m conflicted and I’m unable to get more than a brief few minutes of sleep as I sit in seat 42F on our 10 hour flight from New Zealand to Singapore on our way to Thailand for a few days of scuba diving. We have left the natural wonders of New Zealand under our wings. It is now about 9:00 a.m. and we are flying northwest over the Java Sea. I know this...
The procession of peaks are like endless crests of white and green dinosaurs marching into the horizons all around us with some wearing cloudy shawls on their collars under crisp winter blue skies. Heading South into the Fjordlands from Queenstown, you lose all sense of scale. On your right, Lake Wakatipu spreads calmly into the distance, bordered on the opposite...
Walking towards the very heart of the city, Cathedral Square, we don’t know what to expect. A New Zealander questions our desire to see the Cathedral, saying, “It’s a pile of rubble.” We circle the closed off church, finding most of it standing. Sadly the Western wall is gone, replaced by massive iron trusses preventing gravity from completing what a massive...
I’ve always felt lucky if we can find some small experience that gives us a sense of the spirit of the places we visit. Mostly it’s a challenge. When we left Taveuni, we stopped off at Treasure Island in the Mamanuca Islands for a couple days, an overpriced generic island resort overrun by vacationers with small kids, which was a perfect place for Kimberly to...
To our family and friends, Last night we enjoyed our first sunset in yesterday from the patio of our Bure (guest house) in Taveuni, Fiji. The days, weeks, months and even years of planning have come to this, our beginning of Travelers 3. We have built a small blog for our travels, www.travelers3.com, where we will share our voyage. The site is now up, but please...
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trying out the email post
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