Backpacking Travel Blog

Singapore is a popular stop off between Indonesian and Thailand and the UK and Australia, but if your looking for things to do, make sure you visit Singapore Zoo.

The best thing about Singapore Zoo is the lack of cages or fences, the majority of animals are only separated from visitors by deep ditches. As the monkeys and orang utan’s swing freely above you it feels as though fearsome wolves could easily leap out at you and at any moment the rhinos could charge un-expectantly through the the vegetation . The 28 hectare ‘open zoo’ has over 3,200 mammals, birds and reptiles and fishes.

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While camping out in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, our guide woke us all up in the middle of the night, just in time to get a great close up photo of this tree frog, before he grabbed it and carefully chucked it back into the darkness.

Things to do in Merida - Eat strange flavoured ice cream

Merida has an ice cream parlour that boasts the greatest number of different flavours of ice cream in the world. I tried spaghetti n cheese and the salmon ice cream before some strawberry to take the strange taste away.

On the wall there’s a list of all the different flavours that they have offered over the years, unfortunately the world cup 98 flavour wasn’t available, wonder what that tasted of?

The likeness to the flavours is quite amazing, give it a go!

We did enjoyed our visit to Jericoacara in Brasil, however it was maybe a bit to trendy for our liking and the conditions weren’t very good for beach action (the wind was too strong) but we still found plenty to do with our selves.

1. Climb up and then jump down the sand dunes

As the sunsets join the masses and climb to the top of the main sand dune that sits to the left of the main beach. It makes for a dramatic scene as shadows lengthen and the wind sweeps across the rippling sand.

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Reaching an altitude of 4765 m. Merida’s cable car is the highest in the world.

The cable car consists of four sections for a total length of 12.5 km. The altitude at the top is higher than any point in Europe and USA excluding Alaska.

The first section starts at Barinitas station (1577m) the corner of the square with the fountain, it ends up at La Montaña station (2577 m.), go for a walk around and gaze upon the beauty of Merida sat far down below. Hopefully you wont be feeling too light headed at this point.

The next two stages reach La Aguada station (3452 m.) and Loma Redonda station (4045 m.), if your unlucky it may leave you feeling altitude sick, but fingers crossed you’ll be alright and be able to warm yourself with a tasty cup of chocolate.

Have a real good rest at this point, walk very slowly, don’t run around and get used to the altitude as much as you can before taking the final assent.

The final stage takes you to Pico Espejo (Mirror Peak - 4765 m.) where you can walk outside amongst the snow. Cross your fingers again and hope you have a clear day and are able to see all around, we didn’t’ but enjoyed watching the Venezuelans (many of them would never have seen snow before) play in the snow as we slowly walked around.

Not the nicest way to start your day, but a great article on MSN News puts into pictures the devastating effect we are having on our planet.

The images in this gallery are part of a collection by Reuters and have just been published in a book called Our World Now, which you can get from Amazonfor £12.57.

The Moeraki Boulders are huge spherical boulders lying scattered along a stretch of Koekohe Beach between Palmeston and Hampden. They are created from the erosion of mudstone by the waves. There extremely old and look amazing in the swell of incoming tide.

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The Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki, are a unique natural attraction on New Zealand’s South Island West Coast. They are formed from layers of water sculpted limestone. The fasantating rocks are well worth a stop of if you’ve got your own transport, if your there at the right time you can see the tide shoot up into the air through the many blowholes.

There didnt seem to be alot else worth hangining aroud for but a brief walk around and lovely costal views are a welcome break from the roads.

Having just added a post about Lake Tekapo Youth Hostel in New Zealand it got me thinking about places to stay that have awe inspiring views.

In no particular order here’s some I can remember staying in (will ad more as I remember)

1. Lake Tekapo Youth Hostel - one of the best hostels with a view I can think of, a spectacular view of lake and mountains.
2. Bunga Bungalows Gili Ai, Indonesia - Bungalows sitting meters from the beach with a spectacular view across turquoise sea to Bali.

Lake Tekapo Youth Hostel is surprisingly, located right in front of Lake Tekapo in the centre of New Zealand’s South Island. Its main attraction is the huge window with an incredible view of Lake Tekapo and the mountains and has got to be one of the best views I’ve ever had in a Youth Hostel.

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