Do you consider yourself an eco-traveler? Do you love nature? Do animal and bird sightings have you reaching for your camera to capture the perfect shot that isolates a moment in time?Â
I can still remember seeing a Great Horned Owl perched on a low tree branch as I was pulling into my driveway many years [...]
In my last post, I made the scientifically unproven claim that travel is good for our mental acuity. So far no budding Einstein has refuted my claim – a hypothesis based on my own experiences traveling and seeing new sights.  I believe in the importance of learning beyond our traditional schooling and challenging ourselves intellectually. [...]
I am suddenly back in high school listening to my mother expound on the adverse affects of drugs and alcohol. Even the innocent consumption of dark soda elicits the comment that I am killing off valuable brain cells. But do brain cells die and, if so, is there a way to stop their demise?
The perception [...]
Outside Mendoza city, we wind and weave along Los Camino del Vino through vast dry valleys with the beautiful snow-capped Andes dominating the breathtaking views. Fabian tells us that melting snows and glaciers in the Andes Mountains runs into the Mendoza desert through extensive man-made irrigation systems. The question on my mind was how wine production [...]
Debbie and I are repeatedly asked, “Who decides and plans everything we are seeing and doing in South America?” Answer: Allison, Collette’s product manager for South America. The passengers are very intrigued by Allison’s job and we tell them about the product department and what the product manager’s job entails (as best we marketers know!). [...]
I will try my best to convey this evening but may have to rely on photo and video to help as it is quite late (remember what I said about things getting started late in South America?).
Debbie and I along with Kevin, Pat and Bob, Maggie, and Carolyn and Elizabeth from Texas –those from our [...]
Cómo está? How are you? Thanks, for checking back…
An afternoon at leisure was the perfect way to absorb the tranquility of Mendoza. Debbie, Kevin and I had lunch at an outdoor café and with our table situated on the outskirts we were in prime position to people watch. Our positioning, however, also made us the [...]
Loved our morning city tour of Mendoza! We learned so much from our local guide, Diego, about the changes in Mendoza’s city streets since its founding in 1561 by the conquistador Pedro del Castillo. One of the most interesting things about Mendoza is that it is an artificial oasis. Everywhere giant sycamore trees line the [...]
It’s early in the morning but I wanted to get up and check out the fitness facility at the Hotel Huentala Boutique.We arrived here last night, the last leg of our Andes drive reminding me of America’s Grand Canyon National Park—colors seem to shift from reds and oranges to blues and grays. Cutting a ribbon [...]
Our last stop before a late lunch at a road side restaurant frequented by locals was the remarkable bridge, Puente del Inca, a natural stone bridge believed to be used by the Incas to cross the RĂo de las Cuevas.
Ever helpful, Max, relays to our group that the bridge was once made of ice that [...]
© 2009 Collette Vacations. All Rights Reserved.
