Destinations!

[warpus]

My 8 day safari is scheduled for July 10. It begins and ends at Kilo airport. Nothing else is set. My current thinking is 3 days in Zanzibar prior to settle into the time change and a maybe on days aft4e4r to explore around Nairobi. I have a "maybe" companion who has not yet decided if they can afford the safari plus travel. So I'm somewhat flexible. I planned the July date to take in the anticipated river crossings of the herds.

Nice, so you are basically scouting ahead for me. Let me know.. the lay of the land, etc.

As for Egypt, yeah, the political situation there is also a big reason for not going right now.. it's basically a whole bunch of things rolled into one. I could also very well have a great time travelling through there, but compared to everything else already on my list, a lot of other destinations just win out due to containing a lot less cons and a lot more pros

 

[Birdjaguar]

Nice, so you are basically scouting ahead for me. Let me know.. the lay of the land, etc.

Some of what I've learned so far:

• Safaris are not simple
• Crossing borders (Kenya & Tanzania) may be involved
• The herds move and follow the rain (see map above)
• National parks and other set aside lands are involved (fees and permits required)
• Finding animals to see (Big 5+) requires guides
• Distances between the best places can involve lots of driving/riding. No single "home base" works well.
• Camps (where you stay, fancy and not so) can be permanent or mobile and you need to reserve your places ahead of time because space is limited
• My safari includes a flight from the last camp back to Kilo airport
• Many camps offer their own guided day trips to nearby animals
• Safaris game drives come as larger group trips (your group plus others) or your group alone (private)
• I do not expect language to be problem
• I'm pretty sure most safari outfitters utilize the local (on site) contractors who run the camps, do the guiding etc.

I assume it is similar for climbing Kilimanjaro in that you have to contract with some company to arrange the climb and supply equipment and guiding. I choose not to try and put all the pieces together myself and used Discover Africa to put together my trip. They were excellent. I went through four different safari itineraries and choose one that I then tweaked to suit my goals: less driving, more animals, fancy and not so fancy camps, private guide. Most of it was done through email, but I did have a zoom call to work out the final details. They are based in Capetown.

Ask away!

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Ask away!

Can I come?

 

[warpus]

Some of what I've learned so far:

Ahh that's some good intel, thanks! I've done some preliminary research and settled on safari options that stay in Tanzania at all times.. we'd stay in tents, so it's cheaper.. maybe 2-3 nights. Still fairly expensive, but we're probably only going to be there once, ever, so.. why not go for it

I assume it is similar for climbing Kilimanjaro in that you have to contract with some company to arrange the climb and supply equipment and guiding.

I read that there is a law in Tanzania that anyone climbing Kilimanjaro has to be accompanied by local guides, porters, and other support staff. It's meant to help the local tourist industry and create jobs for locals. It's something I read a couple of years ago so DYOR but all the companies I found seem to include the same number of support workers for your hike - up to 4 staff per hiker! So if I go with 2 friends, that's 12-15 people total already. That's one of the reasons why it gets relatively expensive (compared to for example the Everest Basecamp Trek)..

I like to find properly accredited local companies instead of western firms for adventures like these.. It's usually cheaper and you *probably* help out the local economy out a bit more.. The problem is finding such companies, since in a lot of cases their websites & email support is not the greatest due the language barrier & socioeconomic/accessibility issues. But yeah, I did have a company picked out.. Their rates were relatively low, *but not too low*, they were accredited, well reviewed, etc..

But since then I've talked to a couple of people who have advised me to fly in without booking anything.. and shopping around once you're there. That feels more risky to me, but it's basically the road we're probably going down.. I will do research, find a list of local companies, and start with that.. Then we can shop around and see what we find. It means we'll have to pad our trip with a couple extra emergency days just in case.. but I don't mind doing that. It might however make it harder to book a safari in advance (or anything in zanzibar).. so.. we'll see how this all plays out. Ideally I'd want to book a semi-swanky hut on the beach @ zanzibar right at the end. But if we don't know when exactly the hike takes place, then i would be unable to book accommodations ahead of time.. or go ahead and book them and hope for the best.

We'll see what happens. I will probably have more questions for you the closer I get to next summer.. if that's alright

edit: fun coincidence - I JUST started a new game of civ.. right after I wrote this post. My home city is right near Kilimanjaro.

 

[Birdjaguar]

@warpus Here is a map of my trip. As the flamingo flies from Kilo to point D it is about 200 miles (hence the green line flight back). I have 3 primary animal drive locations after the arrival night. Booking the camps would be easy and if you booked places with guides, then easier. Getting from camp to camp I see as a challenge. I'm not sure if you can rent a vehicle and just drive. Each of those camps offers a different selection of what you will experience. The last two are focused on river crossings and the second is a Ngorongoro crater visit. Not all critters can be seen everywhere. My two river camps have 20 and 12 tents respectively and the crater one has 30. So it is easy for them in a high demand season to fill up. Not having any reservations could certainly limit your choices in both where you stay and what you see. My location C is a mobile camp that follows the animals.

Also a "safari tent" can meant very different things. Some are 5 star with fancy meals and cost $1000 per day. Others are less. Some may even be very rough. If you are paying the high cost of getting there, you don't want to be disappointed by the adventure. In addition, not all game drive vehicles are the same. You need to know what kind of vehicle your guide will use.

Spoiler :

 

[Quintillus]

As it happens, one of my good friends is in Tanzania now. He's originally from Tanzania, has lived in the States for years, so he's visiting family, but he might be traveling some too. At any rate, he will know the basics of being in Tanzania, if not necessarily all the Western-tourist answers. I can ask him some questions if that would be helpful. He's getting back some time next week.

---------------------

I'm currently a bit over halfway through my Canada trip (I tend to book right before I travel unless it's overseas, or there are other reasons that won't work). Thanks for all the tips! Today was Point Pelee day, and it was awesome. I'm staying in Leamington, and biked to the park, and all throughout the park, except for a couple areas where it's walking only. So many cool sites. The point itself with waves on both sides. The Cactus Trail - I'd never seen a wild cactus before, and never would have guessed I'd find them by going north. The bike trails within the park were also quite scenic, and I saw a turkey, which isn't a first but was cool. I think I might go back Friday to see a few more parts of it, notably the marsh boardwalk, and renting a canoe to go out into the marsh.

The food recs have been helpful too! I had perch for dinner tonight, and am currently snacking on some ketchup chips. The word that came to mind when I first tried them was "piquant". It's not a boring sweet ketchup like is common in the U.S., but has some real flavor to it. So did the actual ketchup I had with fries. I got to try a butter tart yesterday, which was tasty, would order again. Could've had a Caesar with dinner tonight, but after spending all day on the Point, I just wanted ice water. Also had one of the best fish and chips I've ever had on the shore of Lake Huron. The place I got it was flying seven Canadian flags, and was right by the harbor, so I figured it had to be good.

I didn't wind up going to Guelph, I started the first section in Goderich and spent too much time there to make it all the way south to Guelph; the beach was nice, as was the Maitland River. Plus the weather was so-so the second day. I stopped by the Cowbell Brewery for a late lunch that day and decided more cowbell sounded better than more destinations, given the weather. Day three was in what seems to be the heart of Ontario Amish country. I actually drove through St. Jacobs, but spent most of the day biking between small Amish towns. It turns out it's more likely that the Amish will strike up a conversation with you if you're also traveling by non-motorized transportation.

I didn't make it to Stratford, but it definitely looks like a place that's going on the list for next time. Which is one of the cool things - like most places, there's enough for a next time. I've already got a bit of a list - Stratford, the Elora Gorge and Cataract trail, possibly St. Mary's which a local recommended.

I probably should have stayed somewhere north of Waterloo as it turns out, but the late night food options by the university proved handy. I also want to go back just to ride their tram.

I also wasn't prepared for just how ubiquitous Tim's is. It makes McDonald's in the U.S. look almost rare. Unfortunately, I did wind up going there, as the services on the way in from Detroit only had two options, the other being Burger King, generally the lowest on the totem pole in the U.S., and I needed some food to finish the drive. Tried a chicken sandwich, it was edible, but Wendy's has much better chicken sandwiches.

I did notice a lot more A&Ws than in the U.S. too. I haven't actually been to one yet (in any country), but it's good to know they're a decent option.

 

[Birdjaguar]

As it happens, one of my good friends is in Tanzania now. He's originally from Tanzania, has lived in the States for years, so he's visiting family, but he might be traveling some too. At any rate, he will know the basics of being in Tanzania, if not necessarily all the Western-tourist answers. I can ask him some questions if that would be helpful. He's getting back some time next week.

Excellent!

 

[Valka D'Ur]

- What are the Canadian cuisines that I have to try in that part of Canada? My knowledge of Canadian cuisine is roughly butter tarts, which I hope to find, poutine, which I'd expect to find in Quebec, and nanaimo bars, which I'd expect to find in BC but not sure about Ontario. Beyond that, I'm less sure what's more uniquely Canadian/unlikely to be found south of the border.

Did you try Nanaimo bars? I have no idea if they're commonly available outside of Western Canada. They're a staple in any bakery here. There are various varieties of them, so if you have any issues with nuts, be careful as some do contain nuts.

Personally I found them insanely sweet and had to eliminate them from any consideration. Anyone who is diabetic should not even consider them.

- How important is brushing up on my French before a Quebec trip? At one point I was fully conversational in French, but that is no longer the case. I'd also like to do a Quebec trip some day, but the longer distance and uncertainty about how much I'll be judged for my now rather poor French are somewhat of a concern.

The only thing I will add to what others have said about Quebec is that there's yet another new language law that was put in to "protect" the French language. It doesn't apply to tourists, fortunately, though if you should need any government services you should make it clear that you're a tourist so they don't insist on speaking French to you.

Try some ketchup chips. The redder the better. Not sure which brand I'd recommend. All dressed chips are really good too.

There are four main brands of chips I'm familiar with that have ketchup chips. Old Dutch is the best, by far. It's not as sweet and vinegary as Lay's, not as vinegary as Pringles, and not as hot as Doritos (though sometimes I am in the mood for really spicy/hot Doritos).

That said, I currently have two bags of Lay's ketchup chips (they were a better deal last week than Old Dutch).

The most important food tip of all: AVOID TIM HORTON'S, unless you are there to poop. They have horrible coffee and stale donuts. Some of the sandwiches might be ok. This is also a good source of bottled water, if you're in a pinch. Tims' are everywhere and will usually be priced a bit cheaper than convenience store bottled water.. who will sometimes charge you an extra % if you're paying w/ a cc. So if it's a hot day and you just want some cold water and a poop, Tim Horton's can be a great safehaven. But for anything else, stay away..

Here's my take on Tim Hortons. I don't drink coffee, so I have no opinion about it (the hot chocolate is good, though, as is the tea). I'm not into donuts, but I do like their honey-glazed Timbits and the honey crullers. I have a pantry shelf full of Tim Hortons tomato/parmesan soup. It's really good, as is their cream of broccoli soup.

Wow, thanks for all the great info! Those add a lot of options, most of which I hadn't heard about. For some reason I thought most of our Canadian posters lived in the Prairie Provinces and spent their free time wandering around Peru or Mt. Everest or Thailand, but that's a wealth of information about Ontario!

Sorry, only three of us live in the Prairie provinces: myself, Patine, and Zelig (all in Alberta). Ontario is not even close to being a prairie province, nor is British Columbia. Aimee is from Nova Scotia, and I think there's someone from the Yukon (I'm blanking on who, though).

BC is a fascinating province. It has temperate examples of just about every kind of climate/ecological zone you can imagine, with an inland desert, temperate rainforest, the western side of the Rockies, and it can get massive amounts of snow in the northern region.

I live in Vancouver now, and the fireworks here were canceled by COVID, so it seems plausible they were canceled there too).

I should think the fires would be reason enough to cancel the fireworks. After all, it only took one stray spark to burn Lytton to the ground (though that wasn't from fireworks).

This is a general food recommendation for Americans: If you eat fast food and enjoy it, you will be doing yourself a favour if you eat Dairy Queen and A&W while in Canada. They are different from their American counterparts, and pretty much everyone I know, including myself, finds the Canadian versions VERY superior over the American. I normally don't recommend fast food as a food recommendation for tourists, but I find that one is usually a hit for Americans.

Dairy Queen has THE best ice cream! And A&W has THE best root beer.

I also today realized I have almost $1,000 in points to use on a flight.. any flight.. or any sort of touristy activity. I'm considering flying somewhere this year, just to get away. maybe Portugal? I'm only starting to look at flights now, to see if there's anything for $1k or so from Toronto. Willing to go anywhere on the planet (except Russia or Egypt)

Hint, nudge... I seem to recall something about hiking in Banff/Jasper/Yoho...

I also wasn't prepared for just how ubiquitous Tim's is.

It is actually not unusual to have two or three within a 3-block radius. There are at least two of these setups in my city (though one of them is in a mall so it has a more basic menu).

 

[warpus]

Hint, nudge... I seem to recall something about hiking in Banff/Jasper/Yoho...

See, this is the thing.. I have $1k to travel somewhere. I look at all the whole globe of destinations that I can get a return flight for that amount.. I see $650 for Portugal.. $750 for Santiago, Chile.. $800 for Berlin.. $700 for London.. $1,150 for some east Asian destination.. Then I look at Calgary.. $600? Vancouver $800?

Checking prices now, it seems that there are now some low-cost options! With one checked bag it seems I can fly to Calgary for $250.. but it has to be in October, and there might be taxes on top of that, I didn't make it to the last booking page.. Most flights to Calgary seem to cost at least $350 (usually $500+ but you can find $350 options here and there for some parts of the year).. so that's an improvement.. I think back about 15 years ago the cheapest I could find was more like $600.. but if I can get to Portugal for $650? I think I'd much rather dive into a foreign culture & cuisine options than something already familiar to me for only $300 cheaper. That's just the way I feel about all this inside and can't really change. If I could get to Calgary or Vancouver for $200 without having to sacrifice the time of year I fly.. and without all the low-budget operator gotchas like $100 for each checked bag, no food, less leg room, and who knows what else. or if flying to the rest of the planet was like $3,000.. then I'd probably travel in Canada more

There are also my knee issues to consider though. If I end up flying somewhere this year, I wouldn't mind a place where I can just chillax and use public transit to get from restaurant to restaurant.. and bar to bar.. maybe taking in some sights along the way. I have no idea if something like Lisbon or Porto would be good for that.. but I've been considering maybe spending a week in Barcelona or Berlin or something like that.. Maybe starting out there and then taking trains to visit other cities, and travelling across europe a bit.. I guess I'd probably want to go for 2 weeks..

I have vague ideas for semi-relaxed trips, but for now not really sure if I'm going to go anywhere. I have a week long excursion to a cottage in a couple weeks, a week and a half long camping trip in august, and a family resort vacation at some point early next year. I can probably squeeze in a 2 week long culinary tour of (parts of) Europe in there, but I'm not sure when .. and I also wanna wait a bit to see what happens w/ my knee before I book anything. I assume whatever happens I will prob want to take it easy and not do any hikes.. so my destination has to be somewhere w/ good & interesting culinary & drinking options.

Western Canada will prob have to wait unfortunately. Maybe one day I can hire somebody to carry me around all the best trails

Getting from camp to camp I see as a challenge.

I found one company that drives you from park to park, and you end up staying in a diff place every night. The distances don't seem that close though, so I did not consider them as a realistic option.. as it seems you'd end up a lot on a bus/van for a lot of your stay, which would just tire me out.. I think this company does it like this so they can cover the 3 most popular parks in the country, or something.. and maybe cover more types of animals you see

I saw the cheapest tents for $250-$300 a night I think, and cheapest huts at $500+ a night (USD).. but this was a couple years ago now. Kind of steep if you're tacking it on to an already pricy vacation.. but enough of us are interested for 2-3 nights

 

[Birdjaguar]

I found one company that drives you from park to park, and you end up staying in a diff place every night. The distances don't seem that close though, so I did not consider them as a realistic option.. as it seems you'd end up a lot on a bus/van for a lot of your stay, which would just tire me out.. I think this company does it like this so they can cover the 3 most popular parks in the country, or something.. and maybe cover more types of animals you see

I saw the cheapest tents for $250-$300 a night I think, and cheapest huts at $500+ a night (USD).. but this was a couple years ago now. Kind of steep if you're tacking it on to an already pricy vacation.. but enough of us are interested for 2-3 nights

I think it is important for you and your group to decide what is that you want to see first. If your time is limited (2-3 days) then do you want to see the big five? Do you want to see 1.5 million wildebeests? Do you want to see the river crossings? Those could easily be three different places. Once you know what experiences you want, then everything else will fall into place more easily. Since climbing Kilimanjaro is your main focus, it is unlikely that whatever you choose as a safari add on or to do in Zanzibar will diminish that.

 

[warpus]

@Quintillus Sounds like a you ended up covering a lot! Pretty fun trip. The late night eateries by the University were my old stomping grounds.. The University Ave plazas.. So many times I'd be @ the math building working on some CS project, and would duck out for a burger or whatever. The mongolian grill was also always a classic, although I'm not sure if it's still there.

Sounds like you did your trip right though, glad you enjoyed the 519

I think it is important for you and your group to decide what is that you want to see first. If your time is limited (2-3 days) then do you want to see the big five? Do you want to see 1.5 million wildebeests? Do you want to see the river crossings? Those could easily be three different places. Once you know what experiences you want, then everything else will fall into place more easily. Since climbing Kilimanjaro is your main focus, it is unlikely that whatever you choose as a safari add on or to do in Zanzibar will diminish that.

Honestly, these sorts of details are not so important to us. The ascent/hike is the main part of the trip, this is more like a secondary add-on that nobody's really given a ton of thought. We also assume that we can't get too picky with what we see, because that will mean a higher cost.. The hike being as expensive as it is, the safari part of the trip can't get too expensive either. Even the cheapest options seem expensive, so it seems we're not really going to be in a position to be picky. We also want to head out to Zanzibar, which is probably in some ways touristy and not so cheap either

The one thing that some of us sort of seem to care about, is the safari taking us to one of the 3 main safari areas of the country, or whatever. Like, we wouldn't just want to end up in somebody's backyard w/ their housecats

 

[Quintillus]

I'm on the last day in Canada (I intentionally planned it so I'd be in Canada for Canada Day), and I'm pretty tired, which means it's a good trip, and that the 8-day option was right. Would've had to tone things down by 10-20% to not get too worn out on the 11-day option.

I haven't seen a Nanaimo bar, although I did find a good bakery yesterday. The ketchup chips are Lay's, the only one I've seen (but I haven't been in a grocery store). Would've preferred a Canadian brand, but it prominently displays that it's made in Canada, so I figured that's local enough. If I wind up at Tim's again on the way out tomorrow, I'll try the soup. I learned about a prairie preserve in Windsor that's supposed to be pretty good, and unique for the area, so I might hit that up on the way out... otherwise I'll probably get lunch at the halfway point in northern Ohio, where I want to check out a cycling trail that gets unusually good reviews. Always nice to divide up the drive back, too.

I was talking with a couple from Waterloo on the ferry last night, and they were saying I need to check out the west coast some day. Of either the U.S. or Canada. They approved of the idea my friend had to drive the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway in California), but said if you have time for the whole coast, even better. That'll probably have to be a future year, though.

I definitely believe that A&W has the best root beer, that's what they're known for south of the border, too (where it's much more common to see their root beer in grocery stores, or even other restaurants, than their own restaurants). Dairy Queen must be better in Canada. It's not bad in the U.S., and is often the only option for soft serve (unless you count the Frosty at Wendy's), but local options that are encountered are generally considered to be better.

@warpus I went to Berlin in 2019, as part of a Berlin-Dresden-Prague-Nuremburg itinerary, with the base in a small town south of Stuttgart. Berlin was my least-favorite of the cities in German/Czechia. In cities, I tend to like history and architecture, and a lot of Berlin got destroyed in the war, and it really shows. It's all sorts of different architectural styles - a few actual old buildings, but mostly a mix of Eastern Bloc Brutalism, modern glass buildings, all sorts of styles. The point being that as a North American, it kind of feels like any new city in North America, with a bit more Soviet influence.

Dresden, by comparison, was fantastic. They've restored many of the historic buildings, and as the seat of the Kingdom of Saxony, it really shines. I don't think we went indoors at all the day we were there, there were so many fantastic buildings to see. I definitely would've spent a few more days there.

Prague was great as well. The Old City is wonderful architecturally, very walkable, I think there are trolley tours as well. Its reputation has spread and it's becoming touristy, but not yet to the degree of Paris (or from what I hear, Rome). If you find a place that sells the trdelnik, try one, they're amazing.

Nuremburg was also pretty cool, we spent most of the day at the Imperial Castle, which gives a great view of the city. And the part of the city right by the train station literally looks like it's a movie set of a German city - but it's not!

Oh, and the bretzels in Germany - pretzels in English - are out of this world. I've only had one pretzel in the U.S. that can hold a candle to any of the ones in Germany. Try a variety. The basic butterbretzel is a classic, and you should try at least one, but I don't think I encountered one I didn't like.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Honestly, these sorts of details are not so important to us. The ascent/hike is the main part of the trip, this is more like a secondary add-on that nobody's really given a ton of thought. We also assume that we can't get too picky with what we see, because that will mean a higher cost.. The hike being as expensive as it is, the safari part of the trip can't get too expensive either. Even the cheapest options seem expensive, so it seems we're not really going to be in a position to be picky. We also want to head out to Zanzibar, which is probably in some ways touristy and not so cheap either

The one thing that some of us sort of seem to care about, is the safari taking us to one of the 3 main safari areas of the country, or whatever. Like, we wouldn't just want to end up in somebody's backyard w/ their housecats

From what I have found about Zanzibar is that the the things to do list includes:

• Diving/snorkeling
• Hanging out on a beach
• Activities like Kite surfing and other water sports
• Explore Stone Town history and markets
• Eating and drinking
• Exploring nature

The island is big enough that there is driving time from Stone Town to the various beaches or other destinations. AirBNBs in Stone Town can be $120+ per night and those out of town can range from $80 or so to well over $200. The best place to stay depends on what you want to do unless you want to stay in a different place each night. The island is 50 miles long and about 15 miles wide. All the best beaches are along the eastern side of the island and it appears that low tide diminishes the beach experience a lot. High and low tide lines can be 1 km apart. There are lots of diving options and no reservations needed. From what I've seen, Zanzibar is pretty cheap. I'm sure your standards are different than mine.

https://zanzibarworld.com/52-things-to-do-in-zanzibar/
https://hippie-inheels.com/things-to-do-in-zanzibar/

Like, we wouldn't just want to end up in somebody's backyard w/ their housecats

For a lot less money you could spend a couple of days visiting three very wild and dangerous cats that hang out in our backyard! Lunch included.

 

[Cutlass]

I'm currently planning my trip abroad for 2022 - to Canada. I don't really want to have to figure out any remaining Covid restrictions overseas, so choosing one country that's close to home seemed like the way to do it. Plus it'll be a bit cooler in the summer, and I've never been farther into Canada than Windsor, so it's time to change that.

Do Nova Scotia in the second half of September. When the leaves are turning. You won't regret.

 

[Quintillus]

Do Nova Scotia in the second half of September. When the leaves are turning. You won't regret.

That sounds great. I really need to make it to that part of North America, my travel in that direction past New York is rather lacking. And I managed to miss peak color almost everywhere I went last fall (too early most places, too late for the last one), so that is appealing...

(the one exception was driving back through Monongahela State Forest in West Virginia, where it was pretty much peak color. Alas, it was on the way back from places that weren't at peak color yet, and I hadn't booked any time there! But that's another place I want to spend some time during peak fall color... I think that was October 13th, and it's earlier than most of the rest of West Virginia due to its elevation)

 

[Cutlass]

That sounds great. I really need to make it to that part of North America, my travel in that direction past New York is rather lacking. And I managed to miss peak color almost everywhere I went last fall (too early most places, too late for the last one), so that is appealing...

(the one exception was driving back through Monongahela State Forest in West Virginia, where it was pretty much peak color. Alas, it was on the way back from places that weren't at peak color yet, and I hadn't booked any time there! But that's another place I want to spend some time during peak fall color... I think that was October 13th, and it's earlier than most of the rest of West Virginia due to its elevation)

Peak color can vary by a couple of weeks, depending on the weather that year. So it's hard to plan for. In the Northeast and Atlantic Canada it happens sooner inland, and later nearer the coasts. I've done well around Columbus Day/1st week of October. But inland a little earlier.

 

[Quintillus]

That variance is part of why I missed peak color last year. Also some variances that aren't intuitive if you aren't from the area, such as that the Finger Lakes have later color than the counties to their south.

On my first full day back from Canada, I'm already thinking about where to go next. Currently I'm curious about eastern Kentucky. Kind of thinking 1-2 days of cycling (there's a new trail by Prestonburg that gets great reviews, and another longer one not far away), and 1-2 days of hiking. So far I've found more horseback riding and ATV riding than hiking, though I've found some hiking-focused trails at a nearby state park. Also found what looks like a pretty cool distillery in Pikeville, but it appears to have closed due to the pandemic. Haven't really dug deep in the research yet though. I do know someone locally who's from that area, so I might be able to garner some good recommendations from him, but I'm also curious if anyone from the area is on the forums and can make some recommendations.

The competitors for next long-weekend-length trip are western/central PA and northern Ohio/what I didn't have time for in southern Ontario, but I already have more activity ideas for those areas.

If you haven't spotted it yet, my general pattern is traveling to less popular/well-known locations. Last year's top trip in that "less popular destinations" category was arguably to Muncie, Indiana, a town I only really knew as Jerry Gergich's timeshare location. Turns out they have some great food and breweries, a great cycling route (the longest in Indiana), a nice river through downtown, and a map shop that I didn't make it to but sounds great for geographic nerds like myself.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

a map shop that I didn't make it to but sounds great for geographic nerds like myself.

I don't know if it's still around, but Calgary had a map shop. I remember my friend taking me there because she knew I'm into maps. I recall standing there, staring at a place that could easily have occupied my interest for a whole day, but we didn't have that long and I needed to save some funds for the bookstores (first time I'd ever been in Chapters was in Calgary since that was before we got one in Red Deer). So I bought a small map at the map store and the Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece at Chapters (Xena: Warrior Princess was in its first run on TV back then and I was interested in the real history, not the mangled version on the show).

 

[Quintillus]

I don't know if it's still around, but Calgary had a map shop. I remember my friend taking me there because she knew I'm into maps. I recall standing there, staring at a place that could easily have occupied my interest for a whole day, but we didn't have that long and I needed to save some funds for the bookstores (first time I'd ever been in Chapters was in Calgary since that was before we got one in Red Deer). So I bought a small map at the map store and the Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece at Chapters (Xena: Warrior Princess was in its first run on TV back then and I was interested in the real history, not the mangled version on the show).

Could it be Map Town? The one in Muncie is the Muncie Map Co. I could also probably spend a whole day looking through all the maps, and having my walls covered in maps, accented by a few photos of locations I've traveled to, would be pretty cool. One of my longer-term goals is to have a fancy globe, once I have a larger living space where a floor globe that's significantly larger than a table globe would fit nicely. One with significantly more detail than the 1991 globe, which has remained in service despite getting a newer circa 2006 globe, due to the 1991 globe having a much sturdier base.

Some fancy globes have the ability to display different layers nowadays - political versus satellite views, for instance. A friend had the idea that it would be cool to have a globe that could show political boundaries as they changed over time, and that is kind of my ideal globe now. Set it to 1550 and see the Ottoman Empire near its zenith, fast forward to 1783 and see the newly independent United States, go forward to 1918 and see Czechoslovakia and a free Poland. Maybe set it to 80 million years ago and see what the landmasses looked like in the time of the dinosaurs. All on a fully spinnable, revolveable spherical globe.

I'm sure it would cost a small fortune, but it's pretty much the only fancy item I really want. Some people buy BMWs, others like telescopes or cameras, I want a really nice globe.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Could it be Map Town? The one in Muncie is the Muncie Map Co. I could also probably spend a whole day looking through all the maps, and having my walls covered in maps, accented by a few photos of locations I've traveled to, would be pretty cool. One of my longer-term goals is to have a fancy globe, once I have a larger living space where a floor globe that's significantly larger than a table globe would fit nicely. One with significantly more detail than the 1991 globe, which has remained in service despite getting a newer circa 2006 globe, due to the 1991 globe having a much sturdier base.

It could be the place. This was back in the '90s when I was there, and all I remember is that we were in downtown Calgary, not at one of the malls.

I did have a globe that I kept in the living room, on one of the coffee tables. It impressed the hell out of one of my typing clients once, as he said it was the coolest thing he'd seen. It wasn't any fancy kind of globe, certainly nothing like a floor model and it's decades out of date by now (pre-fall of the USSR). He'd just never seen a real person have a globe in their living room. He said he'd only seen them on TV.

Some fancy globes have the ability to display different layers nowadays - political versus satellite views, for instance. A friend had the idea that it would be cool to have a globe that could show political boundaries as they changed over time, and that is kind of my ideal globe now. Set it to 1550 and see the Ottoman Empire near its zenith, fast forward to 1783 and see the newly independent United States, go forward to 1918 and see Czechoslovakia and a free Poland. Maybe set it to 80 million years ago and see what the landmasses looked like in the time of the dinosaurs. All on a fully spinnable, revolveable spherical globe.

I'm sure it would cost a small fortune, but it's pretty much the only fancy item I really want. Some people buy BMWs, others like telescopes or cameras, I want a really nice globe.

Ah, if only I were the sort of person who played the lottery and had a fantastic amount of luck. We could both have one. Mind you, I'd need a bigger living room to put it in.

It's frustrating how the Roman history forum I belong to keeps advertising a large, beautiful wall map of the Empire. They won't ship to Canada.