The Passionate Traveler

Hagar Sophia Istanbul must be one of the most interesting cities in the world. The old part of city is steeped in history. This is the old city of Constantinople. Much of the ancient city walls of old Constantinople are still in tact.There is just so much to see and do in Istanbul. Yes, there has been some unrest in Turkey and yes, it does share a border with Syria with all of the troubles that go with that. But Istanbul is still a really great place to visit. It is a Muslim country, but the government is trying to remain secular. The ridged rules which apply in so many strict Muslim countries do not apply in Turkey. There are, of course radical groups who would like to change this, but still, it is a great place to visit. Then of course it is the only major city in the work which is on two continents. You cross over a bridge from from Europe and you are in Asia. Not too many other places in the world where you can do that. Where East meets West City of Mosques The old

Blue ice Portage Glacier, Alaska Alaska is a great place to visit. A vast state in the USA. Most of Alaska is pretty much inaccessible, even in the summer months. Even less accessible in the winter. The main reason for me visiting Alaska was to go to Brook Falls in Katmai National Park to look for brown bears. This was really a great experience and there is already a post on that part of the trip. After my bears trip, I took the train from Anchorage to Seward. Another great part of my trip and well worth a separate blog, which I will do in due course. In this post, I will be talking about the glaciers in Alaska. Coming from South Africa, snow and glaciers are something that we just don't get, so the opportunity to see a glacier up close was something I just had to do. So I did two glacier trips during my short stay in Alaska. The first was in Portage Lake to see the Portage Glacier. The second trip was to Northwestern Fjord from Seward. I was in Alaska in their "summe

Young cubs at the waterhole If you have been reading any of my posts, you will know how I feel about the Kgalagadi. I just love it. Water in the Kgalagadi There are a number of wilderness camps in the Kgalagadi. These are small camps, except for the Kalahari tented camp, normally only with 4 units and the ranger. One of the most remote of these camps is Gharagab. This is north of Nossob, which is one of the traditional fenced camp. Gharagab camp is accessible by four wheel drive vehicles  only. It is seriously in the middle of nowhere. So much so, that the parks people asked if we could take the fresh bedding with us for the camps at Grootkolk and also for Gharagab. So off we went - into the wild. First drove north from Nossob towards Unions end along the dirt road. Then, we took the turn off to the right on a wheel track through the long grass. The first bit of excitement. After driving through the long grass for some time, we started smelling something like rusks cooking. Lu

Hyena  a serious predator The Kgalagadi is one of my favourite places in the world. This is a nature reserve in the Northern part of South Africa in the semi desert region of the Kalahari. It is a really wonderful place to visit, particularly to see the predators. Springbok Ground squirrel - Just love them There are three traditional, fenced camps and about 6 wilderness camps, which are not fenced. One of our favourite wilderness camps is the Kalahari Tented camp. This is about 5 or 6 km south of the traditional camp at Mata Mata, which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere! The tented camp is quite big with about 30 units, all built on a dune overlooking a waterhole. This is a tent, but a nice tent. Behind the tent is an on suite bathroom, with hot water (gas). The unit has a sleeping area, with nice wooden floors. In the past, the door was a tent flap, but this was replaced with a proper wooden door . Adjacent to the sleeping area, but not attached, is the kitchen t