Dec 19-23, 2020 Australia being as huge as it is, if we don’t want to spend a big chunk of our 6 weeks on the road between visiting our good friends in Sydney and Melbourne (with the bonus of going to the Australian Open thrown in), we finally settle on Uluru as a must-do destination. […]
Author: Shiela
Arriving in the Tuamotus – Tikehau
The Tuamotu archipelago is known in the diving community as one of the most beautiful and adrenaline spiking places to spot abundant sealife and do “current diving“. It is a collection of atolls with very little land, often just strips a couple hundred meters wide, encircling a or several lagoons. The topography is strikingly different from the […]
Splashing in Fakarava’s shark tank
Fakarava, the second largest of the Tuamotu atolls, is basically a very long stretch of land, almost rectangular 60km x 21km with one spectacular pass in the North and one at the most Southern tip. We reach this pretty spot after 41 hours of navigation. At this point I declare mutiny: there is no way […]
Going Robinson Crusoe on a motu in Taha’a
Our first stop post Moorea is Taha’a – or, more accurately, Motu Atger, off the island of Taha’a. Taha’a is a heart shaped island close to Raiatea. Motu Atger is a family owned Motu with a small family pension made up of a few bungalows. We are picked up in Uturoa, Raiatea’s main town and […]
Huahine
Huahine has to be the incarnation of paradise, together with Maupiti the most beautiful of all the islands we visit, in my opinion. Which is a bit outrageous to say given how gorgeous all the islands are. Huahine’s name comes from the shape of its rolling hills, which look like a pregnant woman lying down […]
Moorea – the unexpected highlight
Following our beautiful few days on Easter Island, we head off in the middle of the night to Tahiti. Upon landing at 2am, it will be the twins’ 7th birthday! We have a very short night in a great AirBnB with the friendliest host ever. He not only prepared birthday candles as requested, but threw […]
Gastronomy Inca-style: Maras, Moray & MIL
In Cusco, MIL was one of the restaurants we had to try. It is run by chef Virgilio Martinez, husband to our Lima favourite Kjolle chef Pia Leon and has been featured prominently in the press as an “audacious culinary, biological and socio-cultural experiment”. On the way, we stopped by the Maras salt mines – […]
Following the tracks of Pachacútec to Machu Picchu
Just getting to Machu Picchu is a nearly 3 day affair. Fredy, our driver from Cabanaconde, in his snazzy Suzuki model from the 70s takes us the “short” route, straight up the mountain passes instead of the paved detour. Thus we have a most amazing scenery, sputtering up the steep passes hitting nearly 5000m altitude […]
Down (and up) the world’s 3rd deepest canyon – Cañon del Colca
Home to the largest flying bird in the world, the Condor, and measuring 3,270m or 4,160 m deep depending on who you ask and how you measure, the Colca Canyon is becoming a more and more popular destination in Southern Peru. We read so many raving reviews about it that we decided to scrap some […]
Arequipa: Peru’s beautiful white city
After almost missing our connection in Lima to Arequipa late on Monday, Sept 9th, we arrive around 10pm in our cute little hotel (Casona de Asia) in the heart of the city. We skip dinner and quickly crawl into bed. At 5:30am we suddenly hear – right in front of our window – a loud, […]