The map...
The aim is to cover this with flags :)
The post-2014 travel-bug-still-to-do list...
Just some things I've added to my ever-evolving 'things to do in the world' list:
Email me with any ideas you have, that I could add to this list! Always open to inspiration :)
- See jaguars in the Pantanel, Brazil
- Visit the Northern Brazil beaches around Jericoacoara, and the Lencois Maranhenses sand dunes
- See Olodum samba band Tuesday night street rehearsals in Salvador, Brazil
- See penguins in Antarctica
- Travel Iran
- Travel Uzbekistan
- Feed the stingrays in Gisborne
- Pirate Week at Grand Cayman! (sadly, didn't make it to the Cayman Islands - but happily, zagged to Guatemala and volunteered with turtles instead!)
- Swim with stingrays at Stingray City, Grand Cayman
- Improve my Spanish language skills (done over 2014, but always ongoing!)
Email me with any ideas you have, that I could add to this list! Always open to inspiration :)
The 2014 backpacking 'things completed' list!
Hmm actually, I'm also going to create a second list (because I love lists!) of all the things that were on the first list, that I have completed! Plus any other opportunities that have come my way!
- Galapagos Islands trip with Intrepid Travel: http://www.intrepidtravel.com/ecuador/active-galapagos-71115 - can't rate this trip highly enough, book it and make sure you ask for Zambo as your tour guide!
- Swim with sea lions AND TURTLES in the Galapagos Islands - lifetime goal finally achieved!
- Hang out in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest: http://happygringo.com/ecuador-travel-tours/amazon-jungle-trips/lodges/samona.html - I had the best time here and would highly recommend it to anyone!
- Learn to surf - well I did have some lessons, but feel boogie boarding is more the sport for me... I enjoy the laying on my tummy part on the waves, but a bit terrified when I (often!) lost the board and do not know where it is... my dentists warning of having a thin jawbone that could shatter with a hard knock keep haunting me! (Note - I later found out Ecuador coastline has particularly rough surf. Probably not deal trying to learn in the same waves that host international surf competitions! So maybe I could try learning again somewhere with gentler waves...)
- Turtle volunteer work with Equilibrio Azul: http://www.equilibrioazul.org/english/homepage_eng.html - such a great month, also what turns out to be a rare organisation that I get to see both turtle sea research AND turtle nesting - apparently most organisations only research one or the other. I will be returning to both Puerto Lopez and Portete for more volunteer work with Equilibrio Azul before I leave Ecuador.
- Swimming with turtles near Mancora, Peru - unplanned, but too good an opportunity to pass up!
- White water rafting, $25 booked through Hotel D'Mathias in Banos. Such a great day... and the price includes lunch and photos too! Deal!
- University degree finally completed! AND I got my first ever A! (Well A- but close enough!). Maybe I should have been doing my degree in Ecuador the whole time if those are the grades I can get here...
- Jungle research station volunteer at Timburi Cocha www.timburi.org - due to the vast amount of mud I do not see rainforest research in my future, but it is a month I wouldn´t have missed for all the world and lab assistant may be the way to go! Amazing month with amazing people. And I now love frogs. Well, tiny ones anyway!
- Sail from Colombia to Panama via the San Blas Islands - fabulous! Rough and ready for sure, but if you don't mind a little bit of discomfort, you will be rewarded with some spectacular scenery! Trip was $375 with San Blas Adventures. Make sure you have around $50 extra in hand for incidentals... and more if you are planning a few beers along the way.
- Snorkeling at Bocas del Toro - such beautiful clear water!
- More turtle Volunteer work with Arcas in Guatemala https://arcasguatemala.org/volunteering/