beaches

Beyond the Beach in Florida, Egypt and Turkey

April 10, 2013 By Jillian

I don’t know about you, but for me a beach vacation conjures up images of the Beach Boy’s mythical Kokomo. “Bodies in the sand, Tropical drink melting in your hand…” Sun, sand, the warm tropical breeze, it always sounds perfect for me until I get there. And then, within 48 hours of sunning, sanding and reading on the beach – I am itching to do more than just relax. Blame it on the itchy traveler’s wanderlust that lingers in my heart.

Although we live near the beach, our family always seems to want to go to the beach for vacation. It’s ironic really. This Christmas we’re looking to take another multi-generational beach excursion so I’ve been scouring my brain for places that offer more than just sand, surf and tropical drinks. Here are my top three picks:

Florida. Ok, so our family is based in Florida, but there is A LOT more do to here than relax on the beach. From the history of places like St. Augustine and the Ford Estate to shelling on the islands of Sanibel or diving in the Keys before visiting the old stomping ground of Ernest Hemingway, there is something to keep everyone busy beyond the white sands and beach chair.

Egypt. Egypt is high on my list of places to return to. Beach resorts along the Red Sea are popular with families, couples and those looking for undersea adventures, but inland the Sinai Peninsula is not something to be missed. From hiking Mt. Sinai to desert adventures on a camel with the Bedoin, to the Colored Canyon and National Park of Ras Abu Galoum Egypt’s Sinai has more than just incredible diving and beaches.

Turkey. The blue coast of Turkey is undeniably gorgeous and it seems to invite you to a vacation of beach lounging and sun bathing, but the area is literally an adventurers paradise. From the amazing ruins if Ephesus to the cloud like pools in Pamukkale, or hiking along the ancient Lycean way to the village of Olympos to visit the chimera, the area is steeped in mythological history.

Let’s hope I can be persuasive enough that this year we’ll be celebrating the winter holidays in a place that has much more than just a beach!

Photo: Green Sand Beach

June 14, 2011 By Jillian

I’d heard of black sand beaches, but never a green sand beach. We drove to the tip of Hawaii (the big island) early in the morning to catch a swim at the green sand beach. We parked our car when we could go no further and walked along the rocky shoreline for about 3 miles. Eventually we came to this cove. To this day I think there’s no better place in the world for a swim. The protected cove had beautiful blue-green water and indeed green sand.

Papak?lea Beach, as it’s also called, is actually inside a volcanic cinder cone. The cone, last active more than 10,000 years ago is rich in olivine or peridot, which as it’s eroded and pounded down by the waves mixes with the sand to give it that green color. It’s not really visible in the picture, but the actual beach is green, I kid you not!

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Hawa’ii is full of beautiful beaches, not that it comes as a surprise to you. The big island has not only this green sand beach, but also a black sand beach (made from lava) which is equally neat to visit, if not as pleasant to lounge at. If you can, snag budget last minute holiday deals to Oahu. From there it’s an inexpensive and short flight to the other islands.

Business is Business…

January 6, 2010 By Jillian

There’s always someone with something to sell. No matter where we are, on a bus, on a beach or at a famous historical site, there are vendors, both young and old hoping to make a buck. Snacks, cold drinks, knick-nacks, entire chicken meals, random bathroom tools to super glue and even a kids picture dictionary its a veritable shopping mall of goods on the go. While it can be annoying, in the case of a cold beverage on a hot bus, its often exactly what you want at the moment. Given that we’re traveling with small backpacks I often don’t even look at the handi-crafts that amble by for fear that I’ll want it and won’t have a place to put it. So when laying out on the beach in Tofo, Mozambique the kids came by with string bracelets, necklaces and their smiles pitch, I always replied “No, thanks.” in Portuguese. This had little effect, and hour after hour the same entrepreneurial children came by again… and again. Finally I gave up and just greeted and shooed them away in Spanish.

One boy, age 13, came by probably half a dozen times one afternoon. After declining his sales pitch, in Portuguese, English and Spanish he came by late in the afternoon, this time with a new offer. “Can I look at the pictures while you read?” he asked me in beginner’s English. Enthusiastically we went through the National Geographic magazine I was reading, him asking lots of questions and me explaining the pictures, ads, and articles in English or Spanish. As we went through the magazine more and more kids came over to look at the pictures. By the time we were half way through the magazine three or four young entrepreneurs crowded around the magazine some trying to listen to my explanations others just staring blankly at the pictures. The kids were amazed at the pictures of Angkor Wat, and if anyone from National Geographic is reading this please insert more maps! They had no sense of where Cambodia was in relation to Mozambique, so eventually we drew a crude map in the sand. Finally my friend asked if he could have the magazine when I was done reading it. “I will learn English in school next year,” he told me as he explained that he wanted to show the pictures to his siblings.

When confronted with a child in the developing world who asks for something educational like a National Geographic magazine what can you do but hand over the magazine? Handing it to him I made him promise to continue to work on reading English before school started. He promised me he’d read every night and in a gesture of friendship and thanks gave me one of his little string bracelets. As he carefully wrapped the magazine in a newspaper and put it in his backpack he thanked me and walked away with the other kids.

Of course everyone likes to think they have an impact, and perhaps no one more so than travelers. I was completely aglow as the kids walked away, thinking I had really made an impact on this boy’s life. Over the course of the hour he was so genuinely enthusiastic about the magazine’s contents and the pictures that I had the impression he found it to be a “treasure.” Walking through the market on the way back to our lodging we were again accosted by entrepreneurs big and small. With his same old sales pitch my friend tried to sell me a matching friendship bracelet to the one he gave me. As one little girl infamously said in Guatemala, “Business is business.”

La Paz Part I

March 20, 2009 By Jillian

We came to Baja California for the gray whales and expected to leave for mainland Mexico almost immediately. Unfortunately for our budget we couldn’t help but stay in Baja California Sur just a bit longer.

The drive to La Paz from Guerrero Negro was about 10 hours and again we took a night bus (saving time and money!). Pulling into town earlier than expected we didn’t want to call our host in La Paz at 7am so we killed some time tossing a Frisbee at the malecon (boardwalk)on the beach before finding food. Around 8am the streets started to open up and we ate our first street food breakfast, some sort of shredded beef stew with tortillas which was DELICIOUS. There is nothing quite like hot and spicy mexican food in the morning! Laura, our couchsurfing host and an amateur photographer picked us up at the bus station and plied us with another delicious breakfast of eggs and tortilla. She introduced us to La Paz with a walking and photo tour of the city before setting us free to explore on our own. Walking the malecon, we found a number of shops, overpriced restaurants and several adventure outfitters. With a healthy tourist population from all over the world, La Paz is filled with different activities, people and things to do.

On our way back to Laura we found ourselves in the middle of a political rally. Coming from DC, we know a political rally when we see one. Since my Spanish is very limited, Danny got the scoop on the situation and we found that it was a sort of State of the Union for Baja California Sur. We hung around for a while taking the scene in, but ultimately my slim grasp of the language got the best of me and we wandered away. A lovely sunset over the bay and we were home to our first shower since leaving the USA!

Laura recommended several places outside the city to visit, but virtually non were accessible by bus. Such is the story of the entire Baja Peninsula; most of the cool stuff is not accessible by bus. Sighing to defeat we planned to leave La Paz on Tuesday, however luck was on our side. On our gray whale tour we meet a lovely Canadian couple, Margaret and David, who were heading to a relatives vacation home in La Paz. They offered to let us crash with them in La Paz and luckily we were able to meet up. Besides being incredibly generous and warm people, Margaret and David were adventurous. Seemingly without limit, the four of us headed to the playas (beaches) north of La Paz on Monday and Cabo Pulmo on Tuesday, an amazing national marine park about two hours south of La Paz. Lulled into watching the desert scenery go by, we suddenly found ourselves at the point where the sidewalk ends. A bumpy gravel road (perhaps that is an understatement – we were so concerned about the undercarriage of the car that we checked it when we got out!) lead to a small cluster of homes and tiki huts (population 58) where a coral reef hugged the shoreline. This was Cabo Pulmo. We dropped out bags, grabbed our snorkels and hit the water to find….. disappointment. I don’t know if we were in the wrong spot or if it was just a bad day, but Cabo Pulmo was not the blooming coral reef I was expecting. Don’t get me wrong, the sea was a gorgeous shade of blue and green, and the beach was incredible and not very crowded, but the marine life hardly compared to what we had expected from a national marine park. We ended the day with a hot shower and a delicious meal.

Beyond the Beach in Florida, Egypt and Turkey

Photo: Green Sand Beach

Business is Business…

La Paz Part I

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