Blogs

If you visited the beautiful property of Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge four decades ago, instead of a high-end Costa Rica eco-lodge, you would have found only “chocolate trees.”

Cacao tree plantations were once plentiful in Costa Rica’s southernmost region of the Golfo Dulce and Osa Peninsula. Cacao was an important export market for Costa Rica until the fungus blight called Monilia destroyed 95% of production in 1979.

On the Chocolate Tour at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge, you will learn abo

There are various good reasons to consider a visit to the tiny country of Honduras in Central America, especially if you’re a fan of diving, adventure, ecotourism, and castaway beaches. But if like me you’re fascinated by the Mayans and the magnificent archaeological sites they left behind, a visit is not simply worth considering but at some point almost obligatory, and mostly because of this: glorious Copán.

In the west of the country some three hours by road from San Pedro Sula (six or so fr

by Rusty Rae and Sheila Hunter

There is another “Greatest Generation,” although mostly long forgotten — the 300,000 men, women, and children who made the 2,200 mile trek from Independence, MO to Oregon’s Willamette Valley and beyond between 1846 to 1869. You can experience the trials and tribulations of these Americans by visiting the Oregon Trail Interpretative Center five miles east of Baker City, Oregon, off I-84 in the state's northeast corner.

Located in the middle of scrub desert on a hill j

Hearing the words of a man that travelled around the world Saba and her servant went to see the wise king and his amazing deeds. After the visit from Israel and the wise king of the land – Solomon both conceived a child and gave birth back in Ethiopia.

•       They are back – the Queen and her servant, carrying brother babies in their wombs. Two decades passed since the brothers were born of their mothers. And now, as it should have been, they wanted to know who their father was.

•       The Queen of

You must have heard of the obelisk of Axum which has come back to Ethiopia in 2002 after decades of stay in Italy. It was taken by Italians during the Ethio-Italy war in 1927. Its height is 26 meters. The other 23m obelisk is still standing in there witnessing our greatness in the past and foretelling our greatness in the future. There are many of its type in Axum but most of them has fallen down and broken. You must be very sad if you have never been to Axum and visit these incredible obelisks

Lesson First

There is no crystal clear thing as this: that history of every part of the world begins with legends. Some we can find written in books and some came down to our generation by oral. The history of this nation – Ethiopia starts with a legend that we would not have the nerve to say ‘you shall know what we speak is true’.  Later, in the history, however, all we speak we know, are true for we have brought them from nowhere but credible sources.

In the beginning was such a legend

•       Aks

Among the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, Bete Giorgis (the house of Saint George) is found southwest of the village on a rocky ground. The temple is cross-shaped, perhaps the most attractive structure of Lalibela’s rock-hewn churches. When Lalibela had finished constructing the churches, Saint George riding on his white horse revealed himself to Lalibela to tell him that there was no temple in his name. Taking George’s word, Lalibela went to this rocky field and constructed this amazing temple.

 Who "invented" music   St. Yared or Mozart? 

Born and raised in Ethiopia, Saint Yared is the foremost composer of Ethiopian Orthodox Church song melodies. Yared was born on April 25, 505 A.D. in the city of Aksum (Axum). His father was named Adam and his mother Tauklia.Qine. A very high, elaborate, cryptic, complex form of Ge’ez poetry is credited to Saint Yared of Ethiopia.  It is usually rich in religious,historical and legendary allusions. Nevertheless, Yared’s place in Ethiopian culture is

Costa Rica is making news in 2014 – from the thrilling World Cup 2014 playoffs in Brazil to the United Nations recognizing several historic sites in southern Costa Rica for World Heritage status.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added four pre-Colombian sites located in the southern region of Costa Rica to its list of World Heritage locations at the end of June 2014.

The archeological sites of Finca 6, Batambal, El Silencio, and Grijalba-2 in the Diquís

by Wendie Hansen with Kaleel Sakakeeny

Ralph Waldo Emerson had this to say about the Old North Bridge in Concord, MA, a suburb of Boston:

“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.”

But what does the bridge in Concord,  the home of the American revolution for independence, have to do with revolutions in Tahrir Square, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and all places where the struggle for fre

Some of my deepest understandings of place, my most intense sense of "being" somewhere come neither from actually being there, nor from reading a travel book about the destination.

They come from a novel or short story which, because they set out to tell a story and not to describe a location, actually create a powerful sense of time and place. 

At many  points in my life I was moved, touched by these non-travel travel books. Here are just four of them:

Travels with a Tangerine

In Travels with a Ta

Not much is known about the first native peoples to live near the massive Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province. A new archaeology tour at the area’s eco-lodge Hacienda Guachipelin will help shed some light on the mysteries of these indigenous ancestors of Costa Rica.

“We’re rescuing the cultural traditions of Guanacaste,” said Fernando Camacho Mora, archaeologist in charge of the project.

What we know, Camacho explained, is that a tribe known as the Chorotegas migrated

India is a country of rich historical heritage with different customs and colorful cultures. India is famous all over the world for its majestic gallant beauty and many architectural religious and historical monuments. It has its exotic beaches, impressive natural landscape and unrivaled beauty of its wild life of plant and animals. There are temples and monument thousands of years old from different civilizations all over India

You can visit India and relish its great heritage tours with your fa

Some Greek islands suffer from the effects of ‘kalimari and chips’ mass tourism. But, sometimes, you only need to take a short trip in a ferry or a kaiki to enter a different world altogether.

Let’s look at one of the lesser-known islands, Leros. There are jails and mental institutions here, and the name is similar to the Greek word for a rogue or a rascal. This put a lot of people off visiting, for all the wrong reasons, because really, it’s quite a laid-back, pleasant place.

I suspect the averag

The capital of the island of Crete during the Neolithic era was Phaestos. But the small settlement of Gortyn grew and grew, until it eventually became a city that eclipsed Phaestos.  During the Roman era, in the first century, it became capital of Crete.  The remains of this time, the city’s apogee, can be seen and studied today in archaeological excavations that have led to some of the most important discoveries in Europe.

The excavations began in 1884, leaving the workers themselves amazed.

Due at least in part, no doubt, to the modest size of most Caribbean islands, “mega” structures are fairly few and far between. But one of them is here on the eastern outskirts of the Dominican Republic's capital: the massive (if not downright bombastic) Faro a Colón (Columbus Lighthouse), finished in 1992 for the 500th anniversary of the voyage that, by stumbling onto this island, launched the exploration and colonization of the Western Hemisphere.

Six-hundred eighty feet long and ten stories

San Jose downtown is a city full of contrasts, with the regular hustle of a capital city, it stills keeping a unique essence on its surroundings. The top attractions within the area are mainly based in cultural activities, like museums, theatres and historical architecture. And is actually the historical and cultural richness what brings visitors to the must see in San Jose: ¨The National Theatre¨.

This historical jewel was inaugurated in October of 1897, after seven years of construction, it s