Travel Journals

Travel  Journals

Harry and I have been so blessed to have had the opportunity to travel all over the world and see places we never dreamed of and meet people who we will never forget. Here is a sampling of some of the places we have been.    

Door County


Door County, Wisconsin occupies most of the peninsula surrounded by Lake Michigan and Green Bay. It is a magical place; the pace is slow and the people are friendly. Spectacular views of beaches, rocky shorelines and magnificent forests fill your senses and draw visitors back year after year. There are wineries, cheese shops and fabulous restaurants. You will not find many chain fast food outlets here except at Sturgeon Bay, which is the largest of the towns in Door County. There is great fishing year-round and small quaint shops can be found in every town. 

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Graeffe


Komatipoort, South Africa is a quaint little town on the edge of South Africa within a stones throw of Mozambique. Komatipoort was born of the railroad in 1890, when the Dutch Railroad Company laid tracks between Mozambique and Pretoria, South Africa. Like most boomtowns of that era, Komatipoort was filled with liquor drinking construction workers and was also plagued with outbreaks of malaria. Today, it is a tranquil and peaceful town, known for its tiger fishing and its close proximity to Kruger National Park. 

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shepherds

Kingdom of the Zulu-KwaZulu-Natal: Sunshine and evening afternoon thunderstorms, high mountains and vast plains, first class restaurants and quaint self-service shops, large towns and small bergs, beautiful houses and one-room huts--this is KwaZulu-Natal, where we spent four days experiencing its beauty and wondering if we would ever have a dull moment again. We drove from East London on the coast inland through the Transkei into KwaZulu- Natal. Our destination was the quaint town of Underberg. We marveled as the landscape changed from arid plains to fertile fields. Beautiful blue lakes started appearing and we knew we were near our destination.   

The Sani Pass tour was much more than we had expected. Entering the land-locked country of Lesotho, then up a narrow mountain road to the Roof of Africa. We were invited into a stone hut belonging to a friend of our guide, Matthew Wiggill, and we were given a glimpse of life there. We visited Reichenau Mission, a Roman Catholic Church built in 1905 to serve the Zulu community nearby. We were serenaded by our guide, who sang a Zulu hymn for us. The condition of the buildings at the mission is so run down, but the spirit of the people so up lifting. (We will be modifying this link):  Read Journal

Falls   Rainbow

 


Victoria Falls is known as the land of thundering smoke. The City of Victoria Falls exists for the tourists who come to see the falls. The tourists these days are few but those who come are welcomed and appreciated. It is a place of great extremes-from majestic beauty to unbelievable poverty. The people we encountered were happy and appreciated us being there, since their only industry is tourism. (We will be modifying this link): Read Journal



LEI-18 prefRes

Lady Elliott Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. You cannot truly appreciate the Great Barrier Reef until you have “lived on it”. Lady Elliot Island is a coral cay (made entirely of coral). The resort is simple and basic with comfortable facilities. Snorkeling, diving, reef walking, fish feeding, bird watching and relaxing are the main activities. Starting at the south, Lady Elliot Island is the first island on the Great Barrier Reef, situated 50 miles northeast of Bundaberg, and is the only island on the Barrier Reef with its own airstrip.

It is the home for some fifty thousand sea birds and an important location for both the green and loggerhead turtles. Humpback whales pass the island on their migration to and from their mating grounds. The magnificent Manta Ray can be seen nearly all year round and has been adopted as the resort’s logo. In this place where time stands still, you can spend all day watching the ocean waves break over the coral reef and totally indulge yourself with the beauty of nature. (We will be modifying this link):  Read Journal


Uluru

Uluru, Australia. Our three days in the Uluru area were educational, fun, and awe inspiring. There were sights that no one could anticipate and describing them is difficult. The magnitude of the nothingness of the "Red Center" is mind-boggling. In the span of these few days, we learned about the Aboriginal people-their culture and beliefs, we dined in the middle of the dessert and saw the Southern Cross directly above us with other constellations we had never seen before in the night sky. 

We rode on camels, flew in a small Cessna over the area and drove in the outback, from the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, on highways that have no speed limits. Nothing had prepared us for our first site of Uluru, as it rose from the dessert floor or the sense of overwhelming spiritual power of the Rock. Nothing had prepared us for Uluru.  

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Greece-Following in Aristotle's Foot Steps:  Archaeological sites, mythology, seaside towns, marble beaches, narrow mountain roads, magnificent ancient temples, mountaintop monasteries, ouzo, moussaka & souvlaki, picnic in an olive grove, friendly people, wonderful weather - Greece is a treasure. Our trip to Greece enlightened us, widened our horizons and genuinely expanded our appreciation for the marvels of the world. It helped make Greek Mythology come to life with names like Apollo, Zeus, Aristotle, and Hermes. We drove from Athens, through Corinth, Mycenae, Nafplion, Leonidion, Epidaurus, Mistras, Sparta and Olympia.  

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NiagaraFalls



Niagara Falls: Before you see it, you hear it, the roar of water, endless and seemingly unstoppable. You will find the deafening noise giving way to sensations of wonder that has taken hold of millions of people who have visited this spectacle that is Niagara Falls. The best way to view the falls is on the Maid of the Mist, a double-decker boat that takes you up close and personal to the Niagara Falls.  (We will be modifying this link):   Read Journal

shuttle



Houston, We Have a Problem. This phrase has become a cliché; but for many of us who heard these words from the Apollo 13 crew, it brings back vivid memories. At the Space Center, we revisited this historic mission as well as looking forward to a Martian Landing. We visited the Space Center just days after President Bush announced the goal of a Mars Mission. We decided that if we were going to spend the time there, we wanted to get the most of it. We elected the VIP Level 9 Tour, a four to five hour tour getting a behind the scenes look at NASA with access to the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, Mission Control for the Space Station and the Shuttle Mission, and the Historic Mission Control.  

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Catus



Discovering El Paso.  El Paso-the name conjures up the old Marty Robbins’ song lyrics, "Out in the West Texas Town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican girl-Night time would find me in Rosa’s Cantina"- (Well, you probably know the rest of the song). El Paso is no longer a "town" but a large metroplex with a population of approximately 700,000. We visited Indian Cliff Ranch and the Cattlemen’s Steak House, McKelligon Canyon Amphitheatre, and took the beautiful Scenic Drive high above the city. 

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   © Harry Perez 2012