Traveling with the Jones

Fuerte Amador, situated at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, is a man-made peninsula extending out into the Pacific Ocean near Panama City. Fuerte Amador consists of a one-mile causeway that connects four small islands.

Named after the first Panamanian President, Manuel Amador Guerrero, Fuerte Armador was the site of several former United States Army bases used to protect Americans during the development of the Panama Canal.

In 1999, when the United States handed over control of the Panama Canal to the Republic of Panama, the army bases became a part of Panama. Today Fuerte Amador area is a major tourist attraction with a large marina that serves as a tender dock for cruise ships.

7 Fun Facts About Fuerte Armador, Panama

1. Linking four small islands together, the Fuerte Armador is a short causeway of only six kilometers. The area was once used as a harbor for the city, but was destroyed in 1671.

2.Today Fuerte Amador is used for marine and biological research, as a port destination for cruise lines, as a recreational area for local residents, and, as a reminder of the significance of the world’s shipping trade.

3. The Causeway is a popular place during the early mornings for a jog or a bike ride.

4. Fuerte Armador contains approximately 24,000 residents. While the official currency is the Panamanian Balboa the official paper currency is the U.S. dollar. Currently, the Balboa is exchanged equally to the U.S. Dollar.

5. The official language is Spanish, but it is very common for residents to be bilingual in Spanish and English.

6. One of the biggest attractions in Fuerte Armador is the ferry trip to Tobago Island. Tobago Island is the place to go for an afternoon on the beach.

7. There are many bike rental shops throughout the city where one can ride on the causeway enjoying the sea breeze and the views of the Panama City skyline.

Have you visited Fuerte Armador, Panama? What was your favorite fun thing?

This post is written by Megan Bryde, a forever student of the world while also finishing up her bachelors in English at Truman State University this semester.

Involved in too many activities, she sings as loud as she can, writes, cooks, bakes, and drinks a lot of coffee. Check out her blog and LinkedIn page to see more about what she does.

Megan is currently completing an internship with VentureTime Travel and aspires to be teaching English someday.

Enjoy learning about far away destinations? Here are some other destinations to consider:

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• Riding the Smolderroldelbahn Through Germany’s Black Forest
• 10 Spectacular Views from the South Island of New Zealand
• Destination Discovery: Bioluminescent Bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico
• A Spring Walk Through Bruges, Belgium

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We’ve always wanted to visit Nosy Be, an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar.

Madagascar is an island-country in the Indian Ocean located off of the southeastern coast of Africa.

Nosy Be is a popular port on World Cruises, and is one of our “bucket list” destinations.  We are thrilled to share this guest post by Italo Rizzo, a blogger who visited Madagascar.

Why is the number of people who choose to visit Madagascar increasing?

This is the question I asked to myself before leaving for the magical island.

My answer is that there is always something true in a legend.

Marco Polo, in his travelogue Il Milione, describes Madagascar (reporting others sources) as an extraordinary place populated by fantastic creatures.

While I didn’t find anything  scary in Madagascar, the presence of uncommon animals and plants contributes to attract curious travelers.

Since this is a very big area (think of Spain and Portugal together and you have an idea of the extent), I preferred to follow the advice of others travelers and I opted for Nosy Be, a 120 square mile island about 5 miles from the main island of Madagascar.

Nosy Be offers nice tourist accommodations, while at the same time being preserved from pollution and crowding. Nosy Be is ideal for leisure holidays and active vacations (is possible to do hiking, snorkeling and excursions by dugout).

While in Nosy Be, I stayed at the Andilana Beach Resort which overlooks the Andilana white beach. The Andilana Beach Resort team helped me arrange guided tours around Madagascar.

My first memory of my vacation is the emotional impact of the landscape: here the horizon looks like a painting on a canvas made by a whimsical painter and the colors are too deep to be real.

Yet it’s all true, the sky changes its shade just before it gets dark, it becomes pink, red, orange, and even blue, a wonderful prism that I recommend to admire from the summit of Mont Passot, the highest viewpoint of Nosy Be.

Around Mont Passot there are seven sacred volcanic lakes, according to the legend the crocodiles that inhabit these lakes would be the reincarnations of the Malagasy ancestors; I was struck by the intense blue of the lakes, a view that I’ve never seen anywhere else in the world.

One of the features of the island is the fauna.

I knew that I would meet many rare animals, but watching them closely is really an ineffable feeling.

Pictures don’t convey the beauty of the lemur (which is the symbol of Madagascar, due to the famous series of animated movies by DreamWorks).

There are 30 different species but the ring-tailed lemur the most widespread in Nosy Be. These lemurs are very sociable and they are used to interaction with tourists.  On this island I realized how is important to respect the environment and take care of all its inhabitants, the nature always returns beauty and exclusiveness to the mankind.

In my journey I have learned that this island is perfumed by the Ylang-ylang tree with its greenish-yellow flowers. Ylang-ylang extract is a highly-valued essence that is refreshing, antiseptic and offers many health-enhancing properties.

You can buy Ylang-ylang oil in the local shops of the island; it is used in the production of famous perfumes such as Chanel No. 5.

Excursion to Lokobe

With the expert guides of Andilana Beach Resort, I booked an excursion to Lokobe, the nature reserve in the heart of Madagascar.

The tour begins with a trip by dugout towards the village of Ampasipohy, inhabited by fishermen: here I had the opportunity to speak with Malagasy people and discover their way of life. Ampasipohy is one of the main entrances of Lokobe.

In the forest I saw many kinds of lemurs, colorful birds and chameleons.  While at Lokobe I realized how much happiness one can get from being in nature; during my holiday in Madagascar I forgot the stress of living in the city and the hectic rhythm of my life.

I suggest a Madagascar travel experience to who wishes an escape from the everyday life and wants to enjoy an adventure holiday.

What is your favorite getaway destination? Are you thinking about an exotic place? Please share it in comments!

Italo Rizzo is a blogger who helps businesses to improve their relationships with customers through social media and digital marketing strategies. He likes travel, listening to music, reading books and comics. He also collaborated with Andilana Beach Resort in Madagascar.

If you are interesting in sharing a travel discovery on this blog read our Guest Post Guidelines.

Check out these Destination Discoveries Above the Arctic Circle:

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I have lived in Kansas City for the majority of my life – 18 years to say the least.

During the past four years I have been away at Truman State University, but that does not mean that I don’t have a plethora of memories from growing up there.

Since I turned 16 and was let loose on the city scene, I have gotten lost in northern Kansas City trying to see a community theater production; gotten my car stuck in the snow outside of a bar; sat in parking lot at one of the nation’s busiest Quicktrips at midnight eating taquitos with a friend to see if anything would happen there. I’ve been to the majority of the Target stores and locally-owned coffee shops, but have only brushed the siding of the new Kaufman Center for the Performing Arts. I’ve been to a few Royals Games, walked by a few urban gardens in the city, have bought pounds of rice at the Chinatown market, and of course have experienced the street art.

But, really, the most appealing aspect about Kansas City to me is it’s aptitude and the potential for change and the progression for well-being for others. It is also incredibly diverse, affordable, and emulsified with great people everywhere.

10 Amazing Things about Kansas City, Missouri

1. There are in fact two cities named Kansas City. There is Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas.

The majority of Kansas City is in the state of Missouri. Now you understand.

2. Kansas City, Missouri is home to America’s National World War I Museum, at Liberty Memorial.

Soon after World War I ended, Kansas City leaders formed the Liberty Memorial Association (LMA) to create a lasting monument to the men and women who had served in the war. The LMA and citizens of Kansas City raised more than $2.5 million in just 10 days in 1919 ($34 million in today’s dollars).

In 1921, more than 100,000 people gathered to see the five supreme Allied commanders dedicate the site of the Liberty Memorial.  The classical Egyptian Revival-style Liberty Memorial monument was completed in 1926 and dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge in front of more than 150,000 people.

3. The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is dedicated to holding concerts for music, opera, theater, and dance.

Kauffman Center photo by Burdettekevin.

Inside the Kauffman Center there are two performance venues were build specifically for their own acoustic envelope. The Muriel Kauffman (1,800 seats) venue holds a variety of dance and theatrical performances around the world while the Helzberg Hall (1,600 seats) hosts various music performances ranging from full orchestra to jazz concerts, pop concerts to lectures and recitals. More than 55,000 people attended the community open house during its September, 2011 grand opening. By the end of the Kauffmann Center’s first year, more than 475,000 people attended an event at the Center.

3. Sprint Center, the city’s premier entertainment arena, is located in downtown Kansas City.

Sprint Center opened in 2007 with an Elton John Concert,with concert tickets selling out in less than 90 minutes.

4. Kansas City is thought of as one of the city’s of  “cradle of jazz”.

In the 1920’s and the 1930’s the jazz scene was created through nightly competitions throughout the clubs in the city, especially what is now the crossroads district (19th Street and Baltimore Ave). Which, until this day still hosts live music.

5. If you don’t know about First Friday’s in Kansas City, then you are missing out on something.

First Friday’s is the event in which thousands of people throughout the city gather to see the art gallery’s host their “open houses” on the first Friday of every Month.There are more than 60 galleries in the district, and often in the summer you will see live music, indie movies played on the side of buildings, and street performers.

6. With it’s European style, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranked Kansas City #6 in its list of 50 Smart Places to Live.

With more than 200 fountains, only Rome has more fountains than Kansas City. Paris is the only place that has more boulevards than the Kansas City.

7. There are nine featured farmer’s markets throughout Kansas City along with multiple programs that are working to revitalize the health local-food system.

The historic City Market  has been one of the largest and most enduring public farmers’ markets in the Midwest, since its inception in 1857.  Rain or shine,the City Market offers a farmers market every Saturday and Sunday year-round.

8. It wouldn’t be fair not to mention Kansas City without talking about Barbecue.

Yes, we have a Kansas City Barbecue Society, at least 100 Barbecue restaurants in the city, and some of the largest competitions for barbecue throughout the country.

9. Kansas City is a sports-loving city.

The city is home to the Kansas City Chiefs, a professional NFL football team, as well as the Kansas City Royals professional base ball team. The Wizards are Kansas City’s professional soccer team. The area also boasts a NASCAR stadium.

10. Union Station: The train station not only is a place of departure or arrival for the city and surrounding areas, but it also contains museum exhibits such as Science City, Irish Museum and Cultural Center, and the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity.

Union Station is huge, and probably one of my favorite sites in Kansas City, because I get to ride on the train to and from Truman State University.

What’s your favorite cool thing in Kansas City? Please share in comments below. 

 

This post is written by Megan Bryde, a forever student of the world while also finishing up her bachelors in English at Truman State University this semester.

Involved in too many activities, she sings as loud as she can, writes, cooks, bakes, and drinks a lot of coffee. Check out her blog and linkedin page to see more about what she does.

Megan is currently completing an internship with VentureTime Travel and aspires to be teaching English someday.

Check out these links for more fun in KC:

• 9 Kansas City Coffee Shops That Will Cure Your Daylight Savings Stupor
• Enjoying Modern German Food at Affäre in Kansas City’s Crossroads
• Five Things You Can’t Miss In Kansas City in the Fall
• Exploring the Kansas City Zoo With a 6 Year Old
• Photo Friday: Day’s End in Kansas City, Missouri
• A 10-Year-Old Rates the Rides at Worlds of Fun
• 10 Best Museums in Kansas City, Missouri

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