Mexico - i should log off

Photo: Soupa Azteca

March 5, 2012 By Danny

It was one of the first days of our two year trip around the world when I first tasted Sopa Azteca (or Tortilla Soup) at a restaurant in Chihuahua, in Mexico’s north. I’d never tasted soup so good and after leaving Mexico I never would again….until just a few weeks ago when we went back to Mexico!

This was literally the first meal we ate in Mexico and it was something I’d been craving for two years. This bowl of Mexican spicy goodness did not disappoint as I finished it and found myself looking for more! Here in the states, I’ve tried it in a few restaurants, but nothing ever comes close.

IF YOU GO: Having an authentic bowl of Mexican tortilla soup is an excellent reason to head for some relaxing holidays to Mexico! Anywhere in Mexico you should be able to find it but having said that, one night we had another bowl which wasn’t so great. Still, anytime you’re in Mexico this meal is an absolute must!

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.

Photo: Grasshopper Sex

November 22, 2011 By Danny

Yes. You read that right. There really is nothing else to say about this photo except that we took it in Mexico when we were supposed to be touring some Aztec Pyramids.

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.

Photo of the Day: Hands of Xilitla

April 6, 2011 By Jillian

Xilitla seems randomly out of place in the middle of the Huasteca region of Mexico. Tucked amid the jungle an eccentric Englishman, Edward James, decided to build his abstract paradise “Las Pozas”. Now a tourist attraction, his surrealist concrete sculptures tucked among the lush trees and vines almost feels a bit like being in the book, Alice and Wonderland. These hands were sticking out of the ground near the entrance. What struck me the most is the detailed veins and knuckles.

To see a few of our favorite photos from Mexico click here.

Our PHOTO PAGE has links to all of our collections on Flickr. Be sure to mark some of your own favorites so that we can include them on this column. We’ll be highlighting a different photo every day.

Good Animal, Bad Animal & Ugly Animal

February 25, 2011 By Danny

There are a lot of animals in the world and we aimed to see all of them. Of course we didn’t but, we seem to have had a lot of animal experiences over our travels. Here are just a few:

The Good

Our first week on the road was an amazing one. Waking up the first morning in Guerro Negro, Mexico, jumping on a boat, and having what is probably the most amazing experience possible with a wild animal was fantastic. The boat tour that we took brought us out into the harbor where the gray whales literally just swam right up to our boat to play with us and allow us to pet them. The newborn calf led his mother and when a second boat stole his attention his mom swam right up so we could continue rubbing her skin. These were wild animals and we never gave them any food. The next few days, further south in La Paz, we took a boat ride around Espiritu Santo where we were visited by (not so nice) pilot whales, a humpback whale, jumping rays and for a finale we snorkeled with some very friendly and playful sea lions.

The Bad

Our trip to the Pantanal saw some practices that we find particularly upsetting. We went fishing for piranhas in the river, a perfectly OK activity and one we’d done just weeks earlier in the Bolivian Amazon, and then returned to the lodge with our catch. Upon our arrival we found the beach littered with caiman (the South American version of the alligator) who were just waiting to eat those fresh piranha…and they were fed, right there on that sandy beach. We consider it a bad practice whenever animals are given the opportunity to link humans with food, the reason we did not go diving with the great white sharks in South Africa. We were also annoyed when bait was tossed into the river for a hawk to come and catch…creating a nice, fake photo opportunity each time that hawk came down to eat.

The Ugly

The whales of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula were wonderful, many of the mammals we encountered in Africa were not quite so accommodating. After spending gobs of money to see the rare mountain gorillas of Uganda, we were more than a bit surprised when our welcoming by these animals was one of dominance by one of the group’s males. The gorilla charged us, actually knocking one of the guides to the ground; it was an authentic experience but more than a touch scary. Runner Up: Also in Africa, one elephant in Kruger National Park just didn’t want us get past him. This elephant just stood in the road, blocking our passing, and when we finally were able to make a run for it, he turned and reared his head….VERY unhappy at our having passed by. Jill wasn’t able to enjoy elephants again, which was problematic because we saw lots more.

This column of ishouldlogoff.com aims to answer those questions that we always get asked. What was your favorite this, or your worst that. Every week we aim to highlight a new topic and will do so until we run out of ideas. If you have an idea for a Good-Bad-Ugly post, feel free to tell us in the comment section below or send us an email. To read all of them, click here.

Photo Tuesday: Grey Whales

July 13, 2010 By Jillian

Starting something new on the blog today, a Photo Tuesday feature. Each Tuesday we’ll highlight an amazing photo from our adventure. As always, our entire photo collection is visible on flickr and our most recent photos are presented on the photo tab.

This photo was taken day 2 of our trip, less than 24 hours after crossing the border into Mexico. Half way down the Baja penninsula, we stopped at a small town called Guerrero Negro to “visit” with the grey whales. After a choppy ride out in miserable weather, we waited in the lagoon for what seemed like forever before the whales approached us. This mother and calf stayed near our boat for several minutes, playfully swimming from side to side and nudging the boat. It was an amazing way to start our journey south.