I wanted some good hints on where to go in the world. I came back from LA and San Diego just 1 1/2 month ago, and I feel no urge to go back to the U.S. So i was thinking doing some Africa.


But i thought, why not ask you guys. You know about a place worth going? Where there is some unique culture, or something really really special worth visiting atleast once, or why not before its to late? Give me a hint and i look it up. So far, i have Africa (Specifically S Africa and Morcco) and the Amazons (Going through Peru on one weeks Hike all by myself with nothing more then a backpack).

I would recommend the Duchy of Grand Fenwick; but then you may like it so much that you may never come back.

Most everywhere I'd recommend you've probably been....I've never seen Africa or South America.

We had a similar thread a while back here. There was a lot of good input on that one.

I really want to go to Africa, too. I have been planning a fantasy trip (in my head) in case I get loads of cash. I hear Senegal is awesome, from a few different friends. Also, if I had unlimited supplies of cash, I would hit up The Gambia, Benin, Cote D'ivoire (there's a chimp reserve!), and Sierra Leone. And Rwanda, if you go in the dry season (May-Sept), you can go and look at mountain gorillas.

As for places I've actually been, I would recommend Isla Margarita/ Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela (but not Caracas, because it's yucky) and Salta, Argentina. VZ has some great, isolated island beaches. And Salta has Salt Flats, wineries, indigenous burial sites, etc. Also, I would take the trip up to Jujuy, which is an easy busride away.

Nemo, indeed very funny. I thought i was the only one liking Wibberley's satire.






When it comes to Africa, my "dreams" soon to be realized are quite boring. I just really wanted to see South Africa, Morocco and Egypt. The other ones seemed to me like "yeah sure, maybe, whatever". I dont know why. I heard people telling me about how nce Gambia is, or how they want to see Ethiopia etcetera.


The mountain gorillas, i must admit, would be interesting. I guess you guys remember that movie with the monkeys, and the woman wanting to save them and yadayadayada. ok ok, it seems interesting. *admitting*.


But like Mrs Pigpen said, i feel i´ve been to the obvious places already. I seen Europe, I seen North American, I seen Asia. So now its only Africa and South America left. And it feels like im insulting these two enormously cultural and historical continents. I should feel eager shouldn´t I? The best thing i was thinking of was a LONE hiking trip in the AMAZONS. Strapping on the backpack, and just walk, no aim, no help, just look and see what happens.


Antarctica seems cool to, but THATS where my wallet breaks down, cheeses christ it cost money to go there as a tourist.

I haven't been, but I also hear great things about Bolivia. I really wished I had spent some more time traveling while I was in Argentina. Oh, and it's not Antarctica, but you could go to Patagonia in Argentina. The southern most part is right by Antarctica, and since it's summer around there, the roads and stuff are actually open. You can hang out with penguins and stand on glaciers.

Haha, well, Antarctica is a wee bit further away, but I checked it out, and you could be right, this could be something. And it would fit with my South America trip as well wouldn´t it.

Heres Patagonia.


Scenery dopes not impress to much as it looksquite similar to where im at now (NZ), but the penguins did caught my eye. Mmmm.. Penguin.

I would go with the Amazon basin. Amazing place, and I've heard tales that there are still people there who practice cannibalism. Perhaps you could seek them out and see if that's true. Who knows, maybe they'd even invite you for dinner.


Aquilla

To make you worried, i already thought about that.

But i understood there very few tribes left, and none of them are (oficially) in S America.


I mean, i would take the chance. YES I WOULD. mmmm.. chicken.... Eh? Oh, anyway.


Aquilla, i see your in LA, i just came from there two months ago. Visited Universal Studios, the Hollywood sign and all that junk. I also tried to find a cable for my Ericsson phone, but got told there is only one Ericsson store in LA as generally (apparently) its only 'wealthy' people having does kind of phones in the U.S. I got really angry, a simple calb,e no one had it because it was "to advanced" or to "new" (the phone is like 1 year old). You guys need to keep up with technology.

Whoa!!! Both Universal Studios and the Hollywood sign, all in one trip?! You are quite the cultural warrior my man!

Since you've seen all of LA that you need to see, nevermind the Getty or Norton-Simon museums, just a buncha damn pictures and the like and I have a feeling you're not really interested in either the Reagan or Nixon Libraries so heck, the sign is a good thing. So, I can share a little third world LA secret with you about the Ericsson thing. Don't tell anybody, but that's a joke we play on all the people visiting here from New Zealand. We'd play it on the people from Old Zealand as well except we too stupid to know where that is. Anyway, Sony-Ericsson is located down the road in San Diego, we're kinda having a feud with them folks. See they gots themselves a football team and we don't. We lost both of our teams cause they couldn't find a cable for their Ericsson phones so they moved to Oakland and St. Louis. So now, when a Kiwi asks us about where to get a cable for his fancy phone, we play a trick on them and tell them they can't get one here. Works every time!

Now lest you think we're picking on you, not to worry. You should hear what we tell an Aussie when they ask where to find a Fosters!

Aquilla

I visited Museums, but not the library.



Well, actually thats not it. I went to the one IN San Diego, but LA has one themselves too (wow, all by themselves). Amazing how backwards the U.S is when it comes to cellphone technology, i was really surprised first time i went to the Unitd States years ago seeing (all my american friends are wealhty) their 'mobile phones', big as bricks, and i had my old Nokia, which they looked at in amazement. Damn silly.



I am not much into football, and thats bold coming from a Kiwi mind you.



AssusieLand is not much different

Maybe I'm missing something, and I don't know how you do things in New Zealand, but when we go to buy a phone(in most cases), we go to a service provider's store, not a phone manufacturer's store. I'm not even sure if I've ever seen, nor heard of a nokia store or a sony ericsson store.

We have hundreds of cingular/AT&T, Sprint PCS, Verizon, Cricket, and Qwest stores here in the Phoenix area alone. They only carry the latest and greatest phones, so if you want a cable for a phone that is a year old, your best bet is going on the internet for it or stop by a Radio Shack, Circuit City, or Best Buy to see if they have a universal or after market cable for your phone.

As for travel recommendations, my stepfather was in Argentina last year for a four day hike and some fly fishing, wish I could remember where exactly it was. Good luck with your trip!

Ataal, you need to go to the specific phone manufacturer's store if you need something the normal "stores" dont have. Verizon, Cricket etcetera did not have my cable because the technology did not exist in the U.S in a commercial way yet (maybe in a year or so it would be available), so they told me to go to Ericsson Store SPECIFICALLY because they did not have this equipment.

And no, I could not find the SonyEricsson P1 when i was there, i checked maybe 15 different stores, they had not even heard of the phone (which was releazed in Europe 3-4 months before i was in the U.S). So no, the U.S does not have the "latest and greatest" when it comes to phones. Its not the first time i experienced it, so no worries.



Argentina is well worth a look. Apparently its very socialistic so its probably a very nice country, safe and worth visiting. Especially the Andes.

I think you've missed my point. We generally do not have phone manufacturer stores here in the U.S.. We have two Nokia stores and I couldn't even find a store locater for Sony Ericsson on their website, although they did have a store locater on their Australia website, for instance. Which may be the reason I have never seen a phone manufacturer store here in the U.S. and I've lived in three different states. If the accessories are not available at your local service provider store or in an electronics store, they're probably not available unless you order from the internet or they just aren't models that were sold in the U.S..

As for the store not having heard of your phone in L.A., it's probably because we'll never have that phone here, not because it just isn't here yet. Different models of phones are sold regionally. I saw several old Ford cars and truck models in Mexico City when I was there for work that have never been sold here in the U.S.....and I don't expect them to be available "in a year or so".

Just finished reading Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, not for pleasure but economic gain. However, that 19th century globe trotter liked Tahiti the best. Chile sounded pretty interesting, but Patagonia hit me as real flat with pretty much the gauchos as being the singularly interesting thing, besides bugs and birds.

Ah well, I'm sure things have modernized.

Let me promote some of the interior of the US. If it ever hits your fancy, Memphis in May (Tennessee) is interesting, along with Beale Street, if you like the blues and a bajillion barbecues going at once. Ride the Blue Ridge Mountains on a motorcycle in June or October. While you're at it, cruise over to Banf, Canada and head onward to Vancouver. Then come back through the US Rockies via Idaho and Montana, check out Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons (yup). If you like absolute silence, the painted desert area gets it, just take a compass. Easy to get disoriented.

In my youth I hiked the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in my home digs of Minnesota and a little part of Canada for a couple weeks. Mosquito dope highly recommended, take a fishing rod/reel with a Dare Devil spoon. That'll land northern pike, walleye pike and small mouth bass. Use hook and worm for crappies. Stay away from moose. Listen to the timber wolves and loons late at night, draw the stars and moon around you and snooze away.

If all you know about this land consists of either coast, you don't know Jack. You've never come across a cattle drive on a US highway way out there and crept among a few hundred thousand tons of burgers on the hoof, a couple of very laid-back guys on horseflesh. You've never been invited to a rich-bitch buffet while on the road for the third week, shown up in your leathers and been insulted by a little brat thinking you're a freeloader, ate another stupid finger sandwich before firing up the old iron and hitting the free and open road with no regrets whatsoever.

Oh, one global thing that I'd love to experience is an atoll, a circular island made of coral with a calm lagoon in the middle, the pitching and rolling ocean outside the ring. Or maybe that should just stay in my imagination. I hate getting wet.

I hear that Brazil is a knockout. I'd go there. Darwin hated the place, but slavery was still going on and I think he was tired.

If you go to Argentina, I can definitely recommend some places. However, I would say its not "really" S. America, but it is nice for traveling because it's probably the most well developed of all the countries. And you don't stick out so much as a foreigner, because Argentina basically decimated their indigenous population.

And I dunno if I'd call Argentina anything like "socialistic," as the government is pretty corrupt and rich people get to buy their way to freedom. But maybe we just have different definitions.

Buy a beach cabana in Acapulco and sell Dos Equis and Sol for $2.... and live off fresh fruit smoothies, tacos al pastor, and college co-eds.

Housing is cheap, the weather is impeccable, sanitation is good (where as some places like Cancun it isn't), the police are "less" corrupt, and there is business to be had year round.

Is there a better life? If I don't ever post again, you'll know I've quit and taken the family south.

Benin. I almost went, but my plans fell through. Origin of voodoo. Whee!

If your up for hikes, I recommend Ireland. I did a nice long walk by myself from Dublin to Glenbeigh... 350 miles a couple of years ago in October. 23 days of glorious solitude. While walking, I saw maybe 5 other people on the trails.