With the variety of options it offers for adrenalin junkies and nature lovers alike, the Potomac Highlands has a wide array of lodging and camping choices whose locations are as varied as these mountains’ terrains. Whether you want to stay near a river, a hill, a gorge or towering rocks, you are bound to find a cabin or camping ground to whichever site you fancy.

You can spend the day downhill skiing in one of its several winter resorts or pedaling along its biking terrain. Nature trekking, birding and wildlife watching are also popular choices among visitors to the highlands. Rock climbing and caving should not be missed and anglers are sure to have a great time fishing in Potomac’s many streams.

For those craving the adrenalin rush of down hill skiing, snow tubing and snowboarding, head to the natural snow belt of the Allegheny front. There’s the Snowshoe Mountain in the east with 56 slopes and trails for professional skiers and beginners alike. Canaan Valley Resort in Tucker County is another ideal choice with its 34 interconnecting slopes.

It is popular among families with its child friendly park facilities and affordable lodging packages. For a panoramic view of the Dolly Sods Wilderness area, set off for Timberline Four Seasons Resort. Its Salamander Run boasts of having the longest ski trail across southern New England and its 200-foot halfpipe is sought for by extreme snow sports enthusiasts.

Seneca Rocks in Pendleton County is a popular destination among rock climbers and spelunkers alike. Jutting from the grounds to the sky, these 1,000 feet rock formations are aptly considered as a climber’s rite of passage. For rock climbing hopefuls, there are several rock climbing schools around the area for professional instructions and lessons.

Just below Seneca Rocks is the world famous Seneca Caverns where its majestic stalagmite and stalactite formations are one of the most elaborate and largest in the world. Guided tours and expeditions of the caves are available from the many adventure outfitters in the area.

If you are up to a long and exhilarating hike, head to the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area of the Monongahela National Forest where you can pick some sweet blueberries along the way and be pleasantly surprised by the assault of color of acres of rhododendron and hemlock groves. If you proceed further, you’ll reach the highest point of Spruce Knob at 4,861 feet where all your exhaustion will be rewarded with an unbelievable 360 degree panorama of the Potomac Highlands.

Inhale the fresh mountain air and marvel at the raw beauty of this rugged landscape while you rest your exhausted feet and rejuvenate your spirit on top of Spruce Knob’s peak.

by Stuart

The history of Adra

Adra has an absorbing history about how it appeared, agnate to the history of so abounding places in Spain, because so abounding civilizations fought for them. After anniversary acculturation larboard the abode it disqualified for hundreds of years, its spirit and affluence of fingerprints were larboard behind, authoritative Spain and all its corners such affable and absorbing anniversary destinations. The history of Adra starts in the 8th aeon BC, if the Phoenicians absitively to begin a city-limits on the acreage they had just discovered. The Phoenicians were followed by the Greeks, who adapted Adra into a actual bread-and-butter centre. The Greeks succeeded to accomplish it curl and fabricated it a actual adorable boondocks due to its economical accent and its cardinal location. This is the acumen why it admiring the absorption of the Carthaginians, as able-bodied as that of the Romans, who won it during the acclaimed Punic Wars. Adra still preserves the actual sites that angle as affidavit of the absorbing contest of its past, sites which now represent above sightseeing credibility for the tourists who appointment the town.

The attractions of Adra

The beaches in Adra are actually amazing and a lot of of them accept been appointed the European Blue Flag. The angle that tourists adore if they go to the bank are cutting and acutely relaxing. The abyssal flora and fauna is actual affluent in the amnion of Adra, authoritative it a destination for those who like scuba diving and snorkelling. The marinas, as able-bodied as the fishing port, represent two capital absorption credibility in Adra. From the port, tourists can commence on one of the boats that action trips forth the bank or they can yield walks forth the promenade, adequate the amazing sunset. The cuisine is actually delicious, so Adra is aswell a absolute destination for gourmets; the beginning angle and the affluence of vegetables able in the breadth are the absolute capacity for appetizing dishes. Enjoy!

by Kwkwills

The first European settlers in the Barossa Valley were predominantly German Lutherans. They came initially to escape the persecution they were receiving for their faith at the time, in the middle of the 19th century. When word got out that the Australian region they settled in was perfect for growing grapes, they came in increasing numbers.

Those first settlers didn’t have it easy. They slept in tents and their first enterprise was back breaking labor in the limestone quarries. The first permanent buildings in the Barossa Valley were made out of those stones and their early building efforts are a testament to the skill, faith and labor of the early settlers. When you travel through the valley, the spires of many Lutheran churches can be seen against the backdrop of the vineyards.

Many of the vines you see in the Barossa Valley have their origins in Europe, since the settlers brought their roots with them from Germany. In fact, some of the oldest Shiraz vineyards in the world are in the Barossa Valley, their European counterparts having been destroyed by disease not long after they were brought to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century. Other varieties that can be found in the region include both reds and whites, including Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon and Grenache. The white grapes grow predominantly in the hill country around Eden Valley and Menglers Hill, while the reds are grown on the Barossa Valley floor.

Needless to say, a region that is celebrated for its wines holds celebrations in honor of its wines. In the Barossa Valley, the largest and oldest celebration is the Barossa Vintage Festival. This festival has been held every second year over the Easter holidays for over sixty years. The Barossa Festival is a non-stop celebration featuring jazz bands, contemporary music, a ball and an internationally attended wine auction.

While wine and everything associated with wine are the main drawcards to the Barossa Valley, the area offers many other attractions, too. With the prosperity the vineyards brought to the region came fine art galleries, boutiques, restaurants and European style alfresco cafes. The valley’s heritage is preserved in the fascinating museums in the region. One of them, the Barossa Historical Museum in Tanunda, is housed in a post office that was built in 1865, while another, the Herbig Family Tree is literally inside a hollow gum tree.

You won’t want to miss the Herbig Family tree. While you may choose to stay in a more comfortable Barossa Valley accommodation, you will love visiting this unique historical site. The tree itself, a red gum, is estimated to be as old as 500 years. When Friedrich Herbig chose its spacious hollow interior as his home in 1855, he stayed there for many years and the first two of his 18 children were even born there. While Herbig, his wife and children eventually moved to a more comfortable home, the tree remains, alive and well.

by Sidney Morgan

We aren’t sure who the people were who built this ancient megalopolis. Recent evidence suggests the possibility that three different peoples, the Nahuatl, Otomi, and Totonac may have been united in the construction and rule of what would have been the world’s first multiethnic state.

Covering an enormous 32 sq mi, the place the Aztecs named Teotihuacan was also the largest city in the world, with a population upwards of 200,000. Begun around the time of Rome’s ascendancy in Europe, by 250 AD the city was well into its “Golden Age,” four hundred years during which it extended its economic and cultural influence throughout central Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula.

Historians are divided as to whether Teotihuacan was ever, technically, an empire. Though it was by far the most important city in the Americas, evidence that it actually ruled over any of its neighbors is hard to find. Is it possible that we see the remains not only of the world’s first multiethnic state, but of her first (and possibly last) enlightened city-state, less interested in hegemony than in trade? A corporate empire whose motto was “What’s good for Teotihuacan is good for the country.”

Whatever the case, there is little evidence of militarism and its attendant fortifications here, and nearly every archaeological site anywhere in central and eastern Mexico yields up connections with Teotihuacan. The city seems to have had a hand in every pot, and seems to have succeeded mostly without war and destruction, though there is some evidence that it conquered the Mayan capital of Tikal in the 3rd or 4th century AD.

We were on our way to Mexico City and we’d stopped here at Teotihuacan, only 25 miles or so northeast of the capital. Unlike many of the ancient ruins of Mexico, this one was never lost; its ghostly towers were known and regarded with superstitious awe by the central Mexican peoples. Having long ago forgotten the true builders of this metropolis, they believed that it had been home to a race of giants who transformed themselves into gods.

The Aztecs, more than a thousand years later, knew the place well. They held religious festivals here, naming it Teotihuacan, “The Place where Men became Gods,” the name by which it has been known ever since. We also have the Aztecs to thank for spinning yarns about Teotihuacan to the Spanish, creating a mythology which took the first archaeologists on several wild-goose chases before they began to separate fact from fantasy.

The very size and complexity of the Teotihuacan commercial empire obviously required some form of writing, if only to keep records. Still, evidence of such is hard to come by; we have a few, albeit vigorously disputed, examples of what seems to be a script consisting of glyphs, stylized caricatures of animals or objects, which stand either for words or syllables, but none of them sheds any real light. It seems though, that the people of Teotihuacan, however they managed their bureaucracy, preferred to paint their history in colorful murals.

It had been a conviction of Mexican archaeologists that Teotihuacan was mainly a religious center. In this, they were following one of the blind alleys laid out by the Aztecs. Because, a millennium later, the city was a center of religious pilgrimage, they assumed that it always had been, and many of the mural paintings were, almost automatically, assigned religious or mythological significance.

Lately, more skeptical scholars have begun to question this assumption, claiming that maybe a butterfly is just a butterfly, and a jaguar is just a jaguar after all. Still, without written records, and dependent upon questionable cultural comparisons, we know almost nothing at all about what this incredible place was really like at the height of its power.

One thing about it though seems indisputable. Teotihuacan was laid out on a grid system, oriented according to astronomical considerations; offset exactly 15.5 degrees east of true north. This slightly cockeyed layout has given rise to many different interpretations, all having something to do with the rising and setting of the sun on certain dates, or the setting of the Pleiades, or the rising of Sirius, or some astronomical alignment or other, all of which have serious flaws.

The latest explanation is based on the Mayan calendar, the astronomical system most commonly in use in Mesoamerica and probably based on calculations first worked out by the Olmecs. According to this cosmology, the world began on August 13 by our calendar, and, on August 13, the sun sets directly west of the face of the Pyramid of the Sun.

Conclusive proof? Who knows?

The knowledge and sophistication of the astronomers and engineers of Teotihuacan didn’t end there, however. Science trumped religion in the placement of the nearby Pyramid of the Moon, so accurate, that a line drawn from its center through the center of the Sun Pyramid marks the line of the meridian, allowing the exact times of noon and sunset to be determined, as well as the dates of festivals.

Arrow straight streets lead off on either side of the equally unswerving main road named The Avenue of the Dead by the Aztecs, who believed that the gigantic platforms which line it were tombs. This monumental highway runs for several miles, eventually disappearing beneath the farmland which still covers most of the ancient city and the buried treasures lying hidden below. Averaging 150 ft wide along most of its length, at one point it is crossed perpendicularly by another broad avenue, dividing the city into four quadrants.

The builders had more up their sleeves, however, and they took the nearby San Juan River, diverted and canalized it, and made it cross the Avenue at right angles so that refuse and rainwater, draining from the road, could be carried hygienically and safely away.

The size of this city and its huge buildings is difficult to grasp. Probably the best idea is to be had from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, 200 feet above the Avenue of the Dead. Climbing the 248 difficult steps to the top brings you right up close and personal with this 3 million ton pile of mud, rock and stone, only about 3 feet smaller, in total circumference, than the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt.

It’s tough going, dragging yourself up the high steps – especially when you’re a geezer. Younger climbers did it free style – without support; we clung tenaciously to the rope banisters strung loosely down the center of each flight, trying not to look down while our intrepid mutts leaped them with the fearlessness of mountain goats.

Built at an angle of about 32 degrees, the pyramid was constructed by stacking atop each other five successively smaller levels of mud faced with giant cut stones which were, in their turn, faced with a thick layer of lime plaster. Apparently, the top level also enclosed a foot thick sheet of mica which has now disappeared, plundered by the first archaeologists who worked here. One would hope, at least, that it was to raise money to continue funding the excavations. The significance of the mica is as unknown as everything else, but it was found in several other places, usually underlying adobe floors. Interestingly, geologists identify it as a type found only in Brazil, two thousand miles away. It seems Teotihuacan cast a wide net indeed.

Stopping for a while at each of the succeeding levels to catch our breath, we got an ever-expanding view of the surrounding landscape and the city spread out below. Finally, from the top, we saw the Avenue of the Dead stretching away to the left past the ruins of temple platforms and residential structures, past the huge plaza of the Ciudadela, the Citadel, Teotihuacan’s administrative center, and continuing on until it starts to look like the cornfields. To the right, the monumental avenue continues for only a short distance until it opens into a huge square, 300 ft on each side with a large, raised platform in the center strewn with the ruined foundations of other structures. On either side of this square, standing like Brobdingnagian sentinels, are twelve stepped half-pyramids once crowned by wooden temples. The Avenue finally comes to its end (or beginning) at the northern end of the square, where the Pyramid of the Moon rises in 5 levels to a total height of 140 feet, but because it sits on higher ground, its top is nearly level with that of the Pyramid of the Sun. The twelve temples of the square and the Moon Pyramid, an obviously related grouping, add up to thirteen.

There’s that number again.

The sight of ant-sized tourists creeping along the Avenue below and dwarfed by the enormous structures they pass slowly by emphasizes, like nothing else can, the truly monumental proportions of this city. It’s easy to understand why the local villagers believed that giants had lived here; who but giants could have transformed unimaginable tons of rock into these huge, looming platforms, decorated with giant murals dissolving under the assault of the centuries.

Back on terra firma, safe and sound, we can marvel at these giant platforms from the ground up, as elegant as they are huge, built in a style called talud-tablero, consisting of successive horizontal levels, tableros, set upon a sloped talud, a wall angled at 45 degrees, thereby rising in steps, as each level is smaller than the one below. Talud-tablero was not invented here, though its adoption as the dominant architectural style of Teotihuacan, insured its dissemination throughout Mesoamerica, and such construction is to be found wherever the remains of its settlements have been discovered.

This cultural diffusion worked both ways though, and large neighborhoods have been excavated, occupied by communities of Mayans, Zapotecs, Mixtecs, and numerous other groups who lived and worked here, but built their homes in their own traditional styles. From the numbers of such places, it’s clear that, in addition to everything else, Teotihuacan was probably the most cosmopolitan city ever to be established in ancient Mesoamerica.

Walking past the foundations of just such a complex of apartment dwellings, we can see the wide gutters, cut into the underlying stone of the ancient street, which carried waste water from the indoor plumbing of the residential blocks to the sewers running beneath the Avenue of the Dead and into the river. This was a civilization as technologically advanced as any in the world of its time and for many centuries afterwards.

Occupying a huge square 1300 ft on each side, the Ciudadela, Teotihuacan’s administrative center, now consists of a large lawn surrounded by a raised terrace upon which are to be found fifteen large talud-tablero platforms. Once they would have held offices, customs houses, and all the other edifices necessary for the running of a commercial empire, today, they march around the emerald plaza like so many bare stages, crawling with tourists, devoid of the commercial enterprises which once gave them life.

That we know next to nothing certain about this place is doubly frustrating because of a great mystery uncovered here. Excavating a large pyramid in the Ciudadela, archaeologists discovered the hidden remains of an ancient temple, one of the most beautiful and mysterious in all of Mexico. What political or religious upheaval led to burying this sacred building, we’ll probably never know, but what was hidden is spectacular – and chilling.

As the soil and debris were painstakingly dug away from the face of the buried temple, the remnants of a huge, seven-storied pyramid slowly re-awoke to the sunlight after a night of almost two thousand years. The original structure measured 215 ft on each side along its base and was almost 100 ft high, the third largest structure in Teotihuacan. What remains represents but a fraction of its original splendor.

Only one face of the pyramid still exists, consisting of most of its first four levels split by a monumental staircase, but the magnificence of the mysterious sculptures covering its walls takes the breath away like few other places in Mesoamerica.

Known as the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, its main motif consists of numerous large three to four-foot-long serpent heads, no two alike, which protrude from the facade through collars made of exactly eleven flower petals or feathers. Their bodies snake along the walls in bas-relief, ending in an unmistakable rattle. Is this “feathered serpent” an earlier representation of what later came to be known as Quetzalcoatl, one of the most important of Mexican deities?

Between the serpent’s heads are squarish designs with large circles like slapstick vaudeville spectacles which also protrude from within the walls. Are these the eyes of a deity later called Tlaloc, the rain god, one of the most bloodthirsty in the entire Mesoamerican pantheon? Was this his progenitor? If so, this is the first temple in Mexico to house the worship of more than one deity. To further complicate the matter, some scholars now believe these to represent the “war serpent,” the same as the others but embellished with a ceremonial war headdress.

The people who built this pyramid were well aware of drama, for the serpent’s eyes were designed to contain large orbs of obsidian which would have gleamed brilliantly in sunlight, and eerily by torchlight and remarkably, traces of the original paint still remain, indicating that the background color of the pyramid was dark blue. Judging by what we know of Mesoamerican decoration, it’s more than likely that the heads and bodies would have been painted in various bright colors.

The temple may also be the earliest example in Teotihuacan of a modified form of talud-tablero, in which the angle of the talud is somewhat less than 45 degrees and joins the next tablero only about a foot above the first, presenting an angled surface on which to incise wavy lines representing the sea. Fish, shells, and other ocean creatures are represented regularly. Does this merely indicate that the city had trading contacts with the seacoast, or is there more here, a mythology of which we are utterly ignorant?

More of the exquisitely carved serpent heads protrude from the wide skirting on either side of the stairway, and it has been estimated that the original temple would have had upwards of four hundred separate heads, all different, and all superb.

As though the serpents and Tlalocs aren’t strange enough, there’s an even more macabre side to this temple. So far, about 200 human bodies have been discovered in various underground crypts, obviously sacrificial victims, but for whom or for what, we will likely never know.

With its undulating serpents and goggle-eyed gods bursting forth through the walls in glorious Technicolor, this would have been the single most spectacular building in all of ancient Mesoamerica.

Notwithstanding the many theories propounded by scholars, the reason why this magnificence was made to disappear will have to remain one of the premiere mysteries of antiquity, and ultimately, though it took nearly a thousand years more, the people of Teotihuacan also disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Like the conjectures about the temple, many reasons for this have been put forward. Political upheaval, disease, war, destruction of the environment; all have been blamed, but all we know for sure is that sometime around 900 AD, the people left and the city died. The festivals and ceremonies which once marked this place as the center of the world, dissolved into legend.

The Procession

Carried along by the breeze, a faint hum, reminiscent of a distant swarm of insects, fitfully resolves into vague wisps of music, evaporating as quickly as they materialize.

The sound emanates from an undulating, multi-colored mass, about a mile away and moving slowly along a broad, adobe paved avenue, lined on either side with four and five storied apartment buildings, palaces, and temples perched atop huge, stepped, pyramidal platforms. Brightly colored figures, surrealistic effigies of humans, plants, and animals, inhabit the murals painted on the plastered walls, presenting a gigantic canvas of hallucinatory images, shimmering in the brilliant light of the morning.

The sun grows hotter as the day lengthens, and the slowly moving mass draws near, resolving itself into discrete human forms, each dressed in the costume and colors of his rank: men in white loincloths, aprons, and tunics; men in multi-hued skirts and vests; men wearing the heads of animals, or masks of fearsome visage; men with feathered helmets, carrying arrows, spears, and swords of obsidian held closely against leather strips fastened together into armor.

Behind this first rank of the procession, musicians seated on large wooden platforms, decorated with myriads of flowers and borne above the crowd on the shoulders of slaves, make a “joyful noise,” and loin-clothed acrobats weave around and about, leaping, twisting, turning somersaults, and otherwise assaulting gravity.  Drums and rattles beat the time, long bass notes, issuing mournfully from a dozen conch shells levitate above the crowd, and clay whistles provide a high, keening background for melodic clay flutes fashioned in the shapes of animals and birds, joined, antiphonally, by other flutes made of reeds and wood. A continuo of various stringed instruments plays harmony and counter harmony to the flutes, and rasps made of tortoise shell contribute an underlying drone, the insect sound which first hummed along on the wind.

Women, gliding wraith-like in wide rows, make up the final ranks of this parade, stiff, white tent-like tunics reaching down from their necks to swish sibilantly along the adobe beneath their feet. On their heads they carry tall baskets heaped with fruits and vegetables, wide baskets filled with razor-sharp chunks of obsidian, and urns filled with fermented pulque, destined to fuel the drunken revels which will fill the coming night with sexual abandon.

The ranks of women are joined in their center by a large, slave-borne palanquin, profusely decorated with flowers, and holding a raised carriage of brightly painted wood.  Within, a seated figure, magnificently clad in white linen and jaguar fur, looks dispassionately at the panoply whirling about him. From his huge headdress, long feathers stream outward and downward like a multi-colored fountain, and more feathers, flowing from the staffs he holds in his hands, echo the spray of color on his head.

The procession continues its march, stopping only when the king’s palanquin stands before an enormous red pyramid, ascending in five huge stories to a temple on the summit, luxuriantly decorated with mysterious symbols painted in bright colors on an ochre background. Solemnly and slowly, the various ranks of the procession arrange themselves around the king’s carriage, leaving a wide path between it and the steps, which climb in steep increments to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun.

Several figures detach  themselves from the crowd, identified as priests by their multi-hued clothing, eagle-feathered headdresses, long staffs surmounted by clay images of the sun painted a brilliant yellow, and colorful capes thrown over one shoulder, fastened with huge brooches of jade.

Slowly, these harlequin figures ascend the stairs, accompanied by the relentless tattoo of the drums and the sibilant hiss of the rasps, a sound which won’t end until, grown tiny against the enormity of the pyramid, the men reach the summit and disappear from the sight of the onlookers below.

Above, unseen, the priests enter the temple through a narrow passageway which leads into a dark interior illuminated only by a shaft of light, given form by dust motes swirling in the air, and streaming down at an angle from a circular opening in the heavily beamed wooden roof. Directly below, a basalt altar stands in darkness until the spotlight, whose angle lessens with every passing second, finally pours straight down onto a mirror of obsidian embedded in the rock. This is the second of only two days each year when the sun should be directly overhead at noon, and the fiery reflection of the solar orb is proof that the calendar is correct, the universe is in order, and the precise timing for the celebration of the city’s festivals and thus, the proper worship of the gods, is assured for another year.

Below, the people wait silently, anxiously, until the priests re-appear above and raise their staffs triumphantly to the sky.

A huge cheer shatters the silence.

The Midsummer festival has begun.

by Theodore P. Druch

THE BIG FIVE SPECIES

African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is a very large herbivore having thick, almost hairless skin, a long, flexible, prehensile trunk, upper incisors forming long curved tusks of ivory, and large, fan-shaped ears. There are two distinct species of African elephant : African Forest Elephant(Loxodonta cyclotis) and the African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta
africana). The elephant is difficult because despite its large size, they are able to hide in tall grass and are more likely to charge than the other species.
Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)
The Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is a large, thick-skinned herbivore having one or The African Black Rhinotwo upright horns on the nasal bridge. Rhinoceros may refer to both Black Rhinoceros and White rhinoceros. Among Big Five game hunters, the Black Rhinoceros is preferred.

Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
The African Buffalo or Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large horned bovid. Buffalo are sometimes reported to kill more people in Africa than any other animal, although the same The African Cape Buffaloclaim is also made of hippos and crocodiles. It is considered the most dangerous of the Big Five, reportedly causing the most hunter deaths, with wounded animals reported to ambush and attack pursuers.

Lion (Panthera leo)
The Lion (Panthera leo) is a large carnivorous feline of Africa and northwest India, having a short tawny coat, a tufted tail, and, in the male, a heavy mane around the neck and shoulders. Lions are desirable to hunters because of the very real danger involved. A lion may attack without provocation and is considered by many to be the best of the Big Five.
Lion hunting is challenging because of the habitat and temperament of the lion. Lions habituate the savanna where tall grasses, shrubs and bushes obscure and provide cover and camouflage for lions. This thick undergrowth is commonly referred to as jess. As lions are ambush hunters, they use this natural cover to stalk close as possible before making a final charge to catch their prey. Lions do not generally avoid confrontation but will usually face the challenger. Lions are unpredictable and may charge when sufficiently annoyed or confronted by danger.

Leopard (Panthera pardus)
The Leopard (Panthera pardus) is a large, carnivorous feline having either tawny fur with dark rosette-like markings or black fur. The leopard is sometimes considered the most difficult of the Big Five to hunt because of their nocturnal and secretive nature. They are wary of humans and will take flight in the face of danger. The leopard is solitary by nature. The leopard is most active between sunset and sunrise although it may hunt during the day in some areas. Leopards can be found in the savanna grasslands, brush land and forested areas in Africa.

Dreaming of a big five African Safari, that you will never forget visit us at Visit Magic Mara Safaris , tailor-make your safari and book a lifetime tour of the African jungle and experience the Big Five in their natural habitat, the masaimara, the serengeti will provide you with the best of a real african safari.

by Arnold Wanjau

India is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. No matter where you are in the subcontinent, a different way of life, is literally hours away. It is probably this diversity, the variety of flavours that the country offers, that attracts so many tourist year after year. The ability to experience much in a short space of time, is something most travellers look forward to when visiting the country.

One of the primary goals of the country is to bring together the eclectic mixture of beliefs and lifestyles in harmonious fusion. A clear example of this is the Birla Mandir in Central Delhi. Alternatively known as, Lakshmi Narayan Temple, it is built in the Orissan style of architecture. The exterior is made up of red sandstone and white marble. The interior is decorated with religious frescoes and idols. While primarily a Hindu temple, the place is open to people of all faiths. It was one of the conditions stipulated by Mahatma Gandhi when he agreed to inaugurate the temple. While there are several Birla Mandirs around India (so named for the Birla family who financed their construction), the Lakshmi Narayan Temple remains one of the most popular, for both its design as well as its philosophical outlook.

One of the most important cities, in the National Capital Region of Delhi, Gurgaon, proudly offers travellers a colourful assortment of India’s cultures. Restaurants serve everything from South Indian cuisine to Kashmiri delights. And as a testament to the growing number of international companies that open branches here, you will also be able to find many eateries serving international cuisine, ranging from the Far East to the west. Thanks to its rapid urbanization, the city affords many terrific shopping opportunities. It’s no surprise that Gurgaon is fast becoming a tourist hub.

Gurgaon hotels are very good in terms of service. A Gurgaon luxury hotel, like the Leela Kempinski Gurgaon, Delhi (NCR), will pamper its guests and leave them with pleasant memories of their stay. The hotel is located near many tourist attractions, such as Ambi Mall and Leisure Valley. The rooms are both comfortable and elegantly decorated. The hotel is sure to offer you, Gurgaon living at its very best.

by Pushpitha Wijesinghe

Allexpeditions Galapagos Private Travel Experience

There are many cruises that offer multiple alternatives, likewise there are several hotels that can offer a stay in the Galapagos Islands but there are very few options with respect to a private offering travel to the Galapagos Islands where passengers can not only feel comfortable, as at home but may have a unique experience, personal and private.

The importance of knowing the Galapagos Islands, that can be a unique life experience has to be experiential, individual, personal and profound. Not only to raise awareness and maintain a vision of environmental protection of the islands but because perhaps it is an opportunity not to be repeated.

There is an option that offers AllExpeditions is just offering the idea of ??traveling in a private, personal to the Galapagos Islands and tours to choose activities and having to take over the stay. This opportunity can be a single person and also to a maximum of 6 people who want to share this experience.

Puerto Villamil- Isabela Island, is a magical place situated on a camel colored beach and turquoise waters on the West end of the archipelago.
Here you will truly enjoy long walks on the deserted beach while gazing at marine iguanas, sea lions , pelicans, blue-footed boobies and other species of birds.

Casa Baronesa has a marvelous view and is a comfortable and stylish house where you can also just lounge on the beach deck on the hammocks while you read a book, sunbathe or watch the sunset. Each room has it’s own ocean view terrace.Come to Isabela to enjoy true Galapagos Island living. Once you start walking barefoot on the village’s sandy streets you will have become an Islander!

It is certainly something to be done, a Private and Delightful travel trip that will never be forgotten. Visit the Galapagos Islands!

by allexpeditions

The city of Bangalore is of many contrasts. With its modern, global university systems, its Silicon Valley and the chic, trendsetting, younger community; historically valuables still remain. The palace of Tipu Sultan is one such establishment. Built in mid-1700, the palace is a monument to the Sultan’s struggle in maintaining the stronghold as his rule. This palace marries the modernity of the city with historical significance, something most Indians are proud of today.

Situated central of the main city, it is unique for having a structure made of Teak. The columns are made completely of the Teak wood and are of intricate carvings that completely astonish many who visit and see the palace for the first time. The arches of the palace are also beautiful and architecturally a beautiful sight to see. The palace being just over 200 years, has not been able to maintain its complete grandeur as many of its painted walls and ceilings have been destroyed. Yet, the palace is still beautiful to those who can appreciate the historical exquisiteness of the palace.

There are also many tranquil and expansive tropical gardens that visitors can peruse in. In fact, the palace was the Sultan Tipu’s summer retreat and he adoringly called it the “Envy of Heaven”.

Another attraction to most visitors would be the temple dedicated to Lord Ganapathi. This too is over 200 years old, yet very well preserved. It is also a fine example of the Sultan’s religious tolerance.

With many historical photographs and manuscripts entailing the Sultan’s reign as well as the British rule who were stationed in the palace in the later years; the palace itself is a true peek into India’s glorious past.

When visiting Bangalore, there are many Bangalore hotels to choose from, many of which are of varying service levels. The Leela Palace Kempinski Bangalore is a unique hotel, set in a lush tranquil atmosphere. Among the finest Bangalore luxury hotels, the hotel channels royalty and is more so exemplified by its gold leafed domes and ceilings. Yet, the hotel caters to the business clientele as well, offering the best in modern amenities. It is truly the place to stay when exploring the beauty of the Bangalore city.

by Pushpitha Wijesinghe

As mentioned in the Buddhist chronicle, the Mahawamsa, Lord Buddha in the 5th century BCE arrived to Sri Lanka at the site of the temple. His arrival was on invitation by the King of Kelaniya at the time, King Maniakkitha. The Buddha was invited to preach the Dhamma and the throne on which he sat is the relic that is now housed in the temple. The town is of significant historical importance, once being the provincial capital of King Kelani Tissa in the 1st century BCE whose daughter Queen Vihara Maha Devi gave birth to the great King Dutugemunu.

In connection with the epic of Ramayana, the story narrates the instance when Prince Vibhishana of Kelaniya builds an alliance with Lord Rama of India during Vibhishana’s battle with his elder brother, King Ravana of Lanka. Some legends state that the town of Kelaniya was also the capital of the Yaksha tribe. The tribe migrated from its former capital and created many settlement throughout the city during the reign of Vibhishana.

The temple holds many arts, paintings and sculptures by a renowned artisan, Solias Mendis. These masterpieces are carefully preserved and depict events that occurred during the many decades of Sri Lankan history. The Duruthu/Navam Maha Perahera of Kelaniya is the second most prestigious pageant and festival held during the months of November, December and January each year.

The town was of significant importance during the historical periods of the fifteenth century and after the rigorous invasions of the Dravidians from South India, it was restored by the Sinhalese kings who ruled the city in the following years. Although it was severely damaged subsequent to the invasion by the Portuguese, successive developments were carried out by King Keerthi Sri Rajasingha during the years 1746 to 1778 under the supervision of the Chief Vihara, Venerable Mapitigama Buddharakkhita.

Travellers visiting the country during the vibrant and festive seasons or even on a holiday may find exceptional Sri Lanka hotels in the vicinity. For warm hospitality and great service, Jetwing Beach would be the ideal solution for the discerning traveller. One of the most popular Negombo hotels, it provides a comfortable stay in a serene setting.

by Pushpitha Wijesinghe

Swiss Gear is one of the more popular brands and they have developed several series or styles that are designed so that everything fits on or in the backpack and have kept the weight down to a minimum. The Swiss gear camping equipment has been designed so that it does not matter if you are going alone or if you are with a large party everything can be carried in and out without a lot of hassle.

These backpacks have been well designed and have several features that were not readily available for most hikers back twenty years ago. The shoulder straps are designed so they will absorb the shock of someone hiking or running and this will keep the weight from shifting around so you do not have to stop and rearrange the load periodically. They also have developed back pads that allow air to flow between your back and the backpack, keeping your back from getting overly sweaty. They have also designed the packs with strategically placed pockets so you can keep the small items (compass, lighters, keys, pocket knife etc…) in convenient places with easy access and you will not have to go digging to the bottom of the backpack to try and find something.

Even with these conveniences and upgrades the overall cost is really very affordable. When you think of how much a trailer or RV would cost, and knowing that the products made by Swiss gear and other top companies are of high quality. So after the initial investment, the cost of going out for the day, weekend or any longer period of time will be very inexpensive. With most top companies having some very good warranties so you can be sure that this equipment (if properly maintained) will last for many years.

So if you really enjoy the outdoors and want to be able to go out and enjoy nature, you should look into getting information on the different packs, tents, sleeping bags, self inflating mats and other accessories that Swiss gear and other companies have to offer so you can get started. You can go on line to look most of the information you may need and you even may find some good sales with the warmer weather fast approaching.

by William Nottoli