The country for travel and trips

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

MARCAIS ISLANDS

sergiy January 30, 2019

Marquis Islands - the main resorts and areas, excursions and attractions, museums, reviews of tourists about the Marquis Islands.
The Marquesan archipelago is six inhabited and six uninhabited islands. The most popular among tourists are the islands of Nuku Hiva and Hiva’s, very attractive by their nature and with large mountains. On the islands of the Marquesas Archipelago for a long time lived the famous artist Paul Gauguin. Here you can visit the museum of the artist, which presents his work and personal belongings.

Where to stay: On the six inhabited islands of the archipelago, including in the hotels of the fabulously beautiful Nuku-Khiva or “next door” to Gogen - on the exotic picturesque Hiva-Oa.

What to see: The house-museum of Gauguin on the island of Hiva-Oa, the mysterious caves of the Marquis mountains and the magnificent hilly landscapes of Nuku Hiva. You should also go on a jeep safari, take a walk on the tropical mountains, go for a swim with an aqualung or go on a peaceful cruise on the endless azure smooth surface of the Silent. Those who are not afraid of the road, we can recommend to fly to Tahiti and see the sights of the colorful capital of Papeete.

The west coast of Nuku Hiva is characterized by a steep ascent, and the coastline is indented by bays. The east coast of the island takes the brunt of the sea: the elements are raging. The northern part is indented with deeper bays, the most famous of which are Anaho and Hatiheu.
The south coast is also indented by bays, but to a lesser extent.

The cultural center of Paul Gauguin, opened in 2003, is located on the island of Hiva Oa. Safari trips to the caves of the Marquesas Mountains, a sacred place where stone temples and statues are preserved, are organized. Jeep safari, horseback riding, walks on mountain trails, picnics on the beach or in the mountains, deep-sea fishing, motorboat rides, visiting archaeological sites, visiting craft workshops.

Wood carving is considered a national local craft. Rosewood and sandstone crafts such as plates and figurines. You can purchase them directly from the manufacturers on all islands.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Madagascar

sergiy January 29, 2019

Madagascar, like a mosaic, is made up of many reserves, which you can travel around for weeks. There are volcanic massifs and baobab forests, impassable mangroves and many kilometers of beaches. In the park Ranomafana you can swim in the hot springs, and in the nature reserve Tsinzhi du Bemaraha - climb on the ancient limestone rocks. The archipelago of Nosy Be is a glorious place for good fishing, and the pirate island, Il Sainte-Marie, is an observation point for migrating whales.
Millions of years ago, Madagascar broke away first from Africa, and then from India, and turned into a unique island reserve, on which, like in Noah's Ark, the most amazing species of animals fit. Have you ever heard of foss, agile and powerful tropical cats? Or brookesia - tiny chameleons that can fit on your fingertip? These animals live only in Madagascar.

The country was ruled by kings, the colonialists seized it, but the lemurs always remained the rulers of the jungle. The national parks are inhabited by hordes of these animals, many of which can be held in their hands and fed with bananas. The inhabitants of Madagascar, the Malagasy, believe that the souls of hermit who have fled to the jungle are moving to Lemurs.

Traveling around the island is better with local guides, so as not to get lost in the rainforest, like the heroes of the famous cartoon "Madagascar". Malagasy people are slow, but very friendly, and in nature reserves, filled to capacity with uncharted living creatures, their help is invaluable.

Madagascar is the main supplier of vanilla in the world. Huge vanilla plantations, which employ thousands of women and children, stretch to the northeast of the country - in the area of the towns of Antalaha, Andapa and Vogemar. It was Madagascar vanilla that Coco Chanel made the part of the famous perfume "Chanel No. 5".

St. Mary's Island

Once upon a time, pirates lived on the Il-Sainte-Marie (as the island is called in French), but now it was chosen by expatriates - foreigners who came to relocate to Madagascar. The west coast of the island is built up with hotels and restaurants, and the cleanest beaches leave for 60 km. Together with the resort of Nosy Be, St. Mary’s Island is a tandem of the best places for swimming in all of Madagascar. The coast here does not cling to the mud, and the tides do not bring to the beaches anything but brilliant shells and sea stars.

The local town called Ambodifotatra hid such famous pirates as William Kidd, Robert Calliford and Olivier Le Vasseur. According to one of the legends, sea robbers hid 200 million pounds sterling on the island, but they still haven’t found the stolen treasures. In Forbans bay, parts of sunken pirate ships sticking out of the water are still visible, and tombstones have remained on the island itself.
Another entertainment on the island is watching humpback whales that appear from July to September in the waters of the strait between Madagascar and Ile Sainte-Marie.

Getting there: you can get to the island by air (the flight from Antanarivo takes about an hour, from the Toamasins - 15 minutes), and by water (from the Toamasins you need to get to the town of Soanierana Ivongo, from where you can go to Il Sainte-Marie). Tsinzhi du Bemaraha

The huge reserve consists of limestone cliffs that go up to 30 meters in the sky. The views from the summit are fantastic: it seems that all the space around is covered with dark and sharp, like the huge needles of a sea urchin, the tops of the stone jungle. At the bottom of the gorge between the rocks grow palm groves, in which sifaks live - similar to teddy bears lemurs with white and very soft fur.

The main attraction in the reserve - the rise of the cliffs, which looks like a training in mountaineering. The guides issue a safety belt with carbines. Clutching at the sharp teeth of the hands, you need to climb up the limestone to the observation deck.

The reserve is divided into two parts - Grands Tsingy (large rocks) and Petits Tsingy (small rocks). It is better to choose large ones, they are more interesting, but the path to them from the entrance to the reserve will take about 3 hours, so stock up on water. Going on a tour, take care of good shoes with a durable sole that does not slip and adheres well to the surface. Those who are afraid of heights and do not want to turn into a mountaineer, guides arrange trips to the deciduous forests hidden in the lowlands, where you can watch lemurs and chameleons, the smallest of which - brookesia - fits on your fingertip.
How to get there: an excursion to Tsinji du Bemaraha can be bought in the town of Morondava, which is located 200 km from the reserve. The long and bumpy road - the last 80 km is especially heavy - can ruin the whole mood, but for the sake of the panorama from the top of the rocks it is worth suffering any shaking. Near the reserve there are several hotels where you can stay overnight.

Ethiopia

sergiy January 29, 2019

Now before us was Ethiopia - the coldest country in Africa. Unlike the hot desert of Sudan, where the day was +45 GD. C in the shade, it turned out to be green, humid, windy and cool, and even cold at night (+10 GD. C). Ethiopia is a very poor country. The poverty of the locals comes from their laziness. “It’s better to die of hunger than of work,” says an Ethiopian saying.

Especially a lot of beggars in large cities, so even India compared to Ethiopia seems civilized and rich country. Ethiopians, unlike Sudanese, do not call wanderers to visit and spend the night, very rarely treat them. Two exceptions: drivers and Muslims. A rare car driver who picks you up on the road usually doesn’t want money and will be happy to feed fellow travelers; and Muslims representing a religious minority here can shelter you in a mosque, if, of course, you know Muslim traditions and know a little Arabic or Amharic language, since, of course, they don’t know English or Russian.

We spent about two weeks in Ethiopia; made just in case a Yemeni visa and headed to the north-east of the country, to the cities of Harar, Jijigou, and further, to the border with Somalia. In Zhizhiga, 70 km from the border, we have already been given exit stamps, since there are no longer any immigration authorities of Ethiopia on the border itself. But in Somalia we were not allowed. During its civil war, several no-recognized sovereign states were formed on its territory: Somaliland, Puntaland, Jubbaland, and a dozen more. The representatives of the Somaliland authorities were not affected by the papers from the Somali Embassy in Moscow: they are another sovereign state!

They didn’t want to give out a visa at the border either (they called their capital, Hargeisa, to clarify this; Ethiopians are allowed free, and the “white Mr.” is a rare unexplored phenomenon!) And was sent back to the Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa. Allegedly, there is an embassy of Somaliland (address unknown), get a visa and come again. We returned to Ethiopia, already having an exit stamp of this country; we were easily missed. We went to Dire Dawa, but the embassy of the unrecognized republic was not found. Perhaps it was not. But they found the embassy of Djibouti and quickly made a visa to Djibouti, decided to go there. From Addis Ababa in Dire Dawu and Djibouti is the railway, the most broken-down in the world.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Kyrenia fortress

sergiy January 22, 2019

People lived near the harbor of Kyrenia from time immemorial. It is very convenient for the port. That is why, near the bay, a place was chosen for the construction of a defense structure. When the power of the kings from the Lusignan dynasty was established on the island, construction work began, significantly strengthening the walls of the previously built fortress, which is gaining a reputation as “impregnable”. Here notable prisoners were kept under arrest. For example, knights of the once powerful Order of the Templars were executed. During the invasions of the island, the royal family was often sheltered in the fortress and the state treasury was kept. The fortress withstood a long siege.

For almost four years, Queen Charlotte, besieged by the army of her illegitimate brother James, lasted in her during the war for power in Cyprus in the first third of the 15th century. James tried to take Kyrenia by storm, hoping to starve his sister from the island. When the cook began to feed Queen Charlotte with omelet from passerine eggs, she fled to Rhodes, and the starving garrison capitulated.

During the reign of the Republic of Venice in Cyprus, the new rulers greatly strengthened the fortress, placing powerful artillery in it. These works were carried out under the supervision of the Venetian architect Savorniani. The defense of Cyprus was built by Venetian military experts on the "three whales" - the fortresses of Kyrenia, Nicosia and Famagusta. During the Venetian-Turkish war of 1570-1573. The fortress was handed over by the commandant of its garrison, Gian-Mario Murazo, to the commander-in-chief of the forces, Mustafa Pasha, without a single shot on honorable conditions.

The Venetian Senate found out about this and sentenced Gian-Mario Murazo to life imprisonment. As a result of the surrender of the fortress, it is well preserved to our time and represents an excellent example of the fortification art of the medieval period.

The main attraction of Girne is still the old Kyrenia fortress. It has survived to the present day almost the same as it was in the Venetian period, with the exception of internal buildings.

Passing through the gates of the fortress along a beautiful stone bridge (once lifting) and a long gallery, which was modernized by the Venetians, you can go inside. The Venetians have built into the walls of the Byzantine chapel of St. George. Above the entrance to the inner gates of the fortress, one can see the heraldic signs of the kings of medieval Cyprus from the Lusignan dynasty - the rooted lion and the "five-cross" (Jerusalem Cross).

The gallery contains the grave of the Turkish admiral Algerian Sadiq Pasha, who died in Girne from wounds received during the assault on Famagusta. You can climb the stairs to the very top of the old powerful tower of the times of King Henry (1208-1211). Along the wall you can go to a new tower of Venetian buildings, where the main artillery positions of the fortress were located. The defenders of the three old towers relied on the catapult and boiling tar, which they poured onto the heads of the assault. In total, the fortress could accommodate about 50 large-caliber guns. The old cast-iron cannonballs and stone catapult cores still lie in the courtyard of the fortress.

Cyprus

sergiy January 22, 2019

The feeling of Cyprus is like a sunstroke - generously, dazzling, hot, but sooner or later dizzy. Especially if day and night to smack "Commandaria" (the oldest Cypriot wine), eating a Turkish Delight, and dance with a glass on the head on Ayia Napa beach, and then lower the entire family budget in Kyrenia casino.

In general, here you can waste time and money in the most senseless way - no one will judge you. For Cypriots, easily carrying 330 sunny days a year, nothing is “too”. They do not understand how you can quit smoking and wine, follow a diet or rules of the road.

One of the most interesting entertainments in Cyprus is wreck diving (diving to inspect sunken ships), and its main attraction is the Swedish ferry Zenobia. The ship was wrecked in 1980 in the area of Larnaca Bay and is a habitable artificial reef. As a bonus: 108 submarine trucks (cargo that had vanished together with “Zenobia”) parked at a depth of 40 meters. In addition to the wreck-objects on the seabed, you can "study" and ancient architecture: the ancient harbor in Amathus, museum values in the Gulf of Amphora and the Amphitheater, inaccessible from the coast near Paphos.

In Cyprus, the left-hand traffic, and at first it is confusing. It takes time to get used to the idea that you are not going on an opposite. It takes time to get used to that the turn signals are included on the right, and on the left - the wipers. It takes time to unlearn the search for a safety belt on the left and the gearbox on the right. But you get used to it quickly, turn on the wipers instead of turn signals a couple of times and, consider an already experienced driver.

It also helps that all rented cars in Cyprus have red numbers. Local such label says that you need not only to be ready for anything, but to understand and forgive. There was even a story on one of the forums, as Cypriots knowingly stopped and waited for the tourist to finish circling the ring against the coat.
We, in general, were lucky: we arrived at Easter, and the roads were empty. At the same time, not a single store worked, and there were no people on the streets either. Indescribable feeling of an empty island.

Kyrenia fortress is perfectly preserved and looks like a real fortress to this day. In the halls, which were previously occupied by the soldiers, now the exposition telling about the history of the fortress.

sergiy January 22, 2019

The most distant island in the world is located in the Pacific Ocean, at a distance of almost 4000 km from South America. This Easter Island (Easter island, Isla de Pascua, Rapa Nui) is an amazing place, the birthplace of Moai. Who has ever dreamed of going there? It seems to me that everyone ever thinks about going on a tour on Easter Island and feeling like Tour Heyerdal. At least in dreams. For some reason, this volcanic island in the middle of the ocean has become a symbol of a mysterious place, native to everyone, but equally incomprehensible.

And I do not exaggerate when I say that we can call the distant Rapa Nui to our relatives. But to find out for sure, you need to find out how to get there in the most budgetary way.

Think about this place. A small piece of land formed by three volcanoes somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Its nearest neighbors are at a distance of more than 3,700 km — this is Chile — and 4,000 km if you decide to visit the idols of Easter Island from another beautiful place on Earth, from Tahiti. Although, to be honest, Pitkairn Island is closer, but there is no air communication with it. As you can see, all this way is not close. So the preparation for this journey must begin from afar.

We also wanted to take a closer look at the island, which the language doesn’t turn to call Chilean, and its population. Yes, legally Easter Island is part of Chile, and in fact its residents do not even pay taxes, that's it! And almost all of their income associated with tourists visiting the island in limited groups. Every day they fly and flies as much as the only airline that flies here from the mainland. So let's begin, of course, with the purchase of tickets, to be among the lucky ones who have visited Easter Island and seen stone idols.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Congo

sergiy October 28, 2018

Katanga is a mining region located on the Lund-Katanga uplift in the south of the vast flat hollow of the Congo. Along the southeastern and eastern frontier, the Mitumba mountain range stretches, in the eastern part of the region lies the vast freshwater lake Tanganyika - the natural border with Tanzania, as well as Lake Kivu. Most of the mines and steel mills of the full cycle are concentrated at the border (up to 95% of the Katanga copper concentrate is processed in Zambia), this is a densely populated technogenic zone with ecology disrupted by industrial emissions.

Tanganyika

This is one of the deepest (along with Lake Baikal) lakes of the planet and just as ancient in origin. In terms of volume and depth, Tanganyika ranks second after Lake Baikal among the lakes of the world. The shores of the lake belong to four countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Zambia and Burundi.

Lake Tanganyika is located in the deepest tectonic depression of Africa, at an altitude of 773 meters above sea level and is part of the ancient East African rift system. Underwater threshold of the lake is divided into two deep-water pools. The lake is part of the Congo River basin, one of the largest rivers in the world.

The country for travel and trips

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

MARCAIS ISLANDS

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Madagascar

Ethiopia

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Kyrenia fortress

Cyprus

Easter Island

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Congo

Tanganyika

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