One of our favorite places in the world to go is Monterey and Carmel.  I could go on for pages about this area and we have lots of favorite places here.  In Monterey, our favorite place to stay is the Spindrift Inn (pay for the upgrade to get the Sea View).  It is right on the famous (for Steinbeck fans) Cannery Row.  Cannery Row is a great place to walk around, see the shops (great ice cream at Ghiradeli) and end up at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  This is probably the best aquarium we have ever been to, and is great with our without kids.  The Monterey Bay has abundant sea life, and the aquarium is a good starting spot to learn about what they are doing to protect this area, and about the local bay inhabitants.  From the main street and park adjacent to it you have great coastal views and plenty of opportunity to observe lots of sea life.  For even closer views, we always take at least one day to go sea kayaking in the bay.  Each time we have gone we have seen plenty of sea lions (even been followed by a few curious ones) and otters, and make sure we do this every time.  It is always a highlight of our trip (bring at least a disposable waterproof camera for up close shots).  After kayaking, go to pier and walk around seeing again more sea lions and shops/restaurants right on the water.  It is a great area.  For a great activity, I would highly recommend going to one of the restaurants and getting some Dungeness crab sandwiches, rent some bikes and head out for a picnic along the coastal parks.  You can find a spot without others, sit back, enjoy lunch and often catch a glimpse of sea otters, sea lions, and even the occasional dolphins or whale from the shore.  For a good casual dinner, try Cibo on the main street, and make sure you order the roasted artichoke starter, as you are in the artichoke capital of the world.  I am hungry so I have to go eat lunch now.

CHOICE HOTEL:  Spindrift Inn ($$)
CHOICE FOOD SPOT:  The Sardine Factory

Here is a great article I found on CNN about visiting Mont Saint Michel in France, a couple of hours from Paris.  Rick Steves describes the best way to visit Mont Saint Michel, the isolated monastery-on-the-rock in France. We went there a few years ago, and it was one of the more memorable trips we have ever taken (from the dramatic castle and rock landscapes to the creperies hidden inside).

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CNN has been denied permission to cover this week’s parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe, an official at the Zimbabwean Ministry of Information and Publicity said Tuesday.

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Finding a reasonably priced hotel in this city can seem impossible (especially now with the exchange rate to the Euro). If you don’t mind paying $$$$$$ per night, some great options exist, such as the Hilton (on avenue Sufren), the Westin (on rue de Rivoli), The Mariott on the Champs deElysees ($$$$). You can’t go wrong with any of these, but my favorite is the Hilton on avenue Sufren. You have a great view of the Eifel Tower from many of the rooms (even with a small balcony), it is a 5 minute walk to the metro (Bir Hakeim) and it is usually a little less expensive than some of the others due to the older style and need for renovation. Don’t expect super luxury, but the location is great.

For less expensive options we found some great (and many not so great choices). There is a Hotel Mercure next door to the Hilton mentioned above, and you can usually get a rate that is about 40% less expensive. Mercure is in the same great location, but it can seem a little corporate. Finding a quaint boutique style hotel can be tough, and we have tried several with little success. We have had a range of problems from noisy rooms, rooms the size of a broom closet, poor insulation, no insulation, no hot water, no cold water, literally above a noisy metro that shakes when a train goes by (I am not kidding) doesn’t get quite until after 1:00am, unaccommodating staff (even rude – not entirely uncommon in Paris), no wireless internet, blah, blah, blah. In fact, if you find a great quaint hotel, please post it here. I am not convinced that these actually exist, and I believe that this is only propaganda being spread by the French Tourism Board. We have given up looking. Our favorite reasonably priced hotel is actually a Best Western (not a big fan of this chain) on Avenue Foch. This was a true surprise and was an extremely pleasant surprise. WE LOVED IT! The staff was great, the rooms were
French Quaint, beautifully decorated (from four post beds to antique furniture) and it is a short walk to the Arc de Triumphe. Trust us, you will not be disappointed if you stay here!

Here is a picture from our room at the Hilton (5 minute walk to Eifel Tower)

Here is a great night landscape shot of Paris (the original city of lights)!

Click ‘read more’ to see it:

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Dubai is said to currently have 15-25% of all the world’s cranes.  There are more construction workers in Dubai than there are actual citizens, and the tallest building in the world is currently under construction and will be 40% larger than the current tallest building in Asia.  WHAT IS GOING ON OVER THERE?

Click read more below to see interesting pictures of what Dubai will look like in only three to four years.

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Here is a video that I found that is truly inspirational.  It is from ONE.  How can anyone watch this and not want to help?

I can’t think of any greater sadness in the world today, than what is currently going on in Zimbabwe. I pray for the day the rest of the world will do something to help the needless suffering of the people in this beautiful country under Mugabe. I am amazed at the courage these people show everyday to endure the life that is being delivered by their current leader. In fact when I was there last, the village I visited is now gone. Many in this village voted for change in this country, and the bulldozers came through after the election (four months after I left) and removed their homes.

The official rate of annual inflation in Zimbabwe tripled in the space of one month to 66,212 percent in December, by far the highest in the world but less than half the rate calculated by independent analysts.  It is such a shame to see the people in Zimbabwe continue to struggle through life, with so little being done to change and improve this.  To read the full story, click ‘read more’.

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African Safari in Chobe Game Park, Botswana (cont.) - After lunch at the Chobe Lodge (which I already wrote about how awesome the food and atmosphere was) we headed out by land rover to see what we could find with our driver and tracker. We were of course in search of the Big 5, but sadly learned that there were no rhino in Chobe. There are basically two types of African rhino, black (which are very rare) and white (which are more common). The problem with the rhino is that Chobe borders Namibia on the other side of the river that I mentioned earlier, and there have been problems with poachers coming from the Namibian side stemming from their belief in medicinal purposes in the horns of the rhino. This is very disheartening and saddening to lean of the constant struggle with the game reserves in keeping poachers away. I am not sure if you read my article on eco travel, but without tourism dollars coming into many of these game reserves, the animals have no chance of survival.

So without the hope of finding rhino, we are off in search of the rest of the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant and water buffalo). We drove for about two hours seeing only one elephant sighting, when we discovered in the distance a full grown male lion laying in the grass. What a tremendous site! I have been on several safaris in my life, but this is the first time I have been this close to a full male lion. It was awesome, but a little scary! We got some great pictures of the lion when we saw in the distance the rest of the pride. The male was lazy and laying in the grass, but in the distance we saw the lioness with about four or five cubs playing around her. We got as close as we could and watched them for about an hour. We inched closer and closer, but the mom started getting a bit nervous with our presence. She came over between the land rover and the cubs and sat at attention, so she could move quickly if needed. Obviously this was all we needed to decide to continue our adventure in another direction.

We eventually ran into more elephant, which was great. Chobe has the largest elephant population in Afrcia, which is now estimated to be at around 120,000. They are mirgatory, and travel up to 200 kilometers per year. I didn’t put any more elephant pictures here, but you can see a great photo on Botswana (part I) blog.

It was a great day in Chobe, and after several hours in the land rover, we had to make our way back to where we were staying in Zimbabwe (but that is a story for another day).