This salt flat at the Atacama Desert in Chile is found just an hour outside of San Pedro de Atacama.  One of the things that I always like to do is rent a car and start driving to see what I find, I was even able to drive in Chile across the Alto Plano in the Andes Mountains.  For those of you that don’t know the Alto Plano is the massive flat part on top of the Andes Mountains.  Chile is known for being the most efficient country in South America, the nickname Switzerland of South America isn’t just about the mountains, and one funny situation was how all the roads were paved until you got to the small towns.  The roads then turned into a dust filled mess.  Message to Chile, pave those roads!  It was a great experience none the less.

Click here to see more pictures of Chile & check out the top 5 section for more things to do in Chile & around the world.

The Andes Mountains from 20,000 feet, I still remember this flight like it was yesterday due to a huge amount of turbulence for one part of the flight.  The Andes Mountains create a tunnel of air and when the airplanes hit that tunnel of air you have a rough jolt to your system.  Make sure you don’t make the mistake that I did, having a nice warm cup of coffee that was just served seconds before the roller coaster 5 second jolt.  The flight is usually between Argentina & Chile and sometimes it doesn’t always happen but be prepared!

Check out the top 5 section for more things to do in Argentina & Chile more things to do around the world.

The Penguins in Argentina amazed me every single time that I saw them, they are so cute and interesting at the same time.  I was able to interact with a group of penguins and get inches with the feisty chin strap penguins (click here to read post).  This specific picture was taken at Cuverville Island which has one of the largest Gentoo penguin colonies in the world.  When in Antarctica, I was even able to see penguin chicks being fed by their mother.  Incredible experience and would definitely recommend it to anyone!

Click here to see more pictures of Antarctic & check out the top 5 section for more things to do in Antarctica & around the world.

This little guy was found on our canoe trip when we were sailing down a river in the southwest part of Madagascar.  I joined a tour in order to see the Avenue of the Baobabs and Tsingy Stone Forrest.  We stopped to relax at a water fall and when we sat down to eat we not only found this little guy climbing on our food, we also found a family of Lemurs playing in the trees.  The amount of diversity that can be found in Madagascar is just amazing and the up to 80% of species that can only be found there is a reason to visit on its own.  If your thinking about visiting Madagascar make sure you set aside at least 3 weeks!

Click here to see more pictures of Madagascar & check out the top 5 section for more things to do in Madagascar & around the world.

I have had an aggressive travel schedule in 2011.  Something along the lines of 30 something countries across 5 continents.  I have traveled to almost every country in the western hemisphere minus most countries in Central America and have officially been the first day trader and blogger to South Sudan!  I did get arrested and detained in South Sudan but the point is I made it! There are a few things that I need to change to both enjoy my travels more and also get some business done.  This travel blog  has simply blown up way bigger than I thought it would so I have to focus on both travel and business.

New Cell Phone

It’s time to upgrade and its going to be tough this time to choose between what’s out there.  When I purchased my first smart phone it was nothing but blackberry.  Now the Iphone cult has been released and the family friendly Android is out as well. I have resisted getting a new phone simply because I like to have backups and moving everything over to a new phone and getting backups of everything would be a mess.  Going to put out a post to talk about the positives and negatives to try and decide between the two!

Traveling in Two’s

Many people have commented on how I always travels with two of everything; two cell phones, two cameras, two cables of everything, pretty much everything that’s important and expensive I carry two of.  Things can get expensive with this strategy but traveling through Eastern Africa it really paid off.  I broke one cell phone and a camera as well and having two of everything saved me big time.  I plan on staying with this strategy because its bound to happen again.

Scottevest

New Gear

My luggage has completely fallen apart because Africa has chewed it to pieces.  Not only has my luggage fell apart but almost every shirt that I own has holes in it.  Africa was definitely tough including Madagascar being one of the toughest places I have ever traveled to.  I need to purchase a bigger book bag (not backpack, book bag) to fit my growing list of goodies that I carry with me on small trips.  One of the things that I plan on purchasing is a Scottevest so I can travel through the airport easier.