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Author Archives: Thea Stainsby
Tikal – a lesson in climate change
The ancient archaeological site of Tikal is in the north of Guatemala, not far from the Mexican border. There are a lot of ancient Mayan sites in this area, but most of them are still engulfed in jungle. In fact … Continue reading
Should you pay to visit a zoo?
On our last day in Mexico City we visited Chapultepec Zoo. It is free. And it is tired. The big cats had nice enclosures but many other animals appeared to be living in a cement cell. Big, but without greenery, … Continue reading
How to be ripped off by a Mexican taxi driver
Take a taxi – 40 pesos. A little more than expected but OK. Take a taxi back. The fare jumped to 120 pesos, a 200% increase. Hand over two 50 peso notes and some coins. Driver looks back at us … Continue reading
You can’t explain Cuba
We arrived in Havana and after exploring the big city started an eastward journey. First stop was Cienfuegos, a city colonised by the French. From there we took a road trip to Santa Clara, which is all about Che Guevara … Continue reading
Dominican Republic
Our introduction to the Carribbean was in the Dominican Republic. After a long day including a 12 hour stopover in Frankfurt, we arrived here at 03:00 hour – 3am in the morning. By the time we exchanged money and found … Continue reading
Faster than…
One of the frustrations on our recent travels has been the slow response of my website, not only for you the readers, but also for me the writer. I couldn’t create a new page or upload photos in Firefox. Internet … Continue reading
That was very nice
For Christmas Hayden & Andrea treated us to an Arabian massage and bath in Barcelona. Today we used our treat. Down under the beautiful colonnaded buildings on Passeig de Picasso was a luxurious suite of hot, warm and cool ponds … Continue reading
What happened to postcards?
I have always loved receiving postcards and even relish the opportunity to sit and rest weary feet and write postcards. You just don’t see postcards for sale in great numbers any more. Rather than have them “in your face”, I … Continue reading
The Statistics of Travel
I know that some people like to know how many, how far, how much, etc. And as a mother of a PhD graduate of mathematics, it really is my duty to publish such information, so here goes. We left home … Continue reading
Iceland – ticking all the boxes
Following the success of Hayden’s PhD defence, we decided to have a family Christmas “somewhere exotic”. Think warm weather, tropical beaches and swaying palms. No, that is not exotic enough for this bunch. After much communication and research, the family … Continue reading