The hike to Norway's famous Trolltunga Rock is no easy feat. It's 22km of mud, snow and waterfalls - but it's worth it.
Skydive, raft and hike your way around Queenstown
Following a trip to beautiful Costa Rica trying everything from bungy jumping to rappelling down the side of a waterfall, I was looking to go one better and do something even more exciting and adrenaline pumping.
I decided there was only one way to do that. Jump out of a perfectly good plane, of course. And I chose to do it in New Zealand’s adventure capital, Queenstown.
Skydiving had been high on my bucket list for a long time but I wanted to do it somewhere special – somewhere with unparalleled views and where I knew I was in good hands.
What is it like to be an au pair?
If you’re toying with the idea of a gap year, you’ve probably come across the concept of au pairing.
An au pair is a live in position where you look after children in return for board and food. You will also receive a small payment (basically pocket money) of around $100 AUD per week. Reasons people want an au pair is for a variety of reasons, but the most common ones are that they want their kids to learn another language or they would prefer their child be at home with someone rather than going to childcare.
The magical Isle of Skye
If you’re looking for a unique place off the beaten path in the UK, then consider visiting the Isle of Skye.
The Isle of Skye is part of the Inner Hebrides chain of islands off Scotland’s west coast and is only a couple of kilometres from the Scottish mainland. This unique part of the world is full of breathtaking landscapes perfect for hiking or simply a road trip.
How To Get There
The closest major airport to the Isle of Skye is in Glasgow. You can reach the Isle of Skye by flying into Glasgow and hiring a car for the journey, or there’s a CityLink bus that leaves from Glasgow Airport twice a day – once at 10.20am and another at 4.20pm. A bus also leaves three times a day from the Glasgow Bus Station at 7am, 10am and 3pm. Go to www.citylink.co.uk to book online.
Hiking Maderas Volcano, Nicaragua
Here’s the second post from Guest Adventurer Fanni Bartanics from the My Seven Worlds travel blog. Fanni is currently exploring Central and South America and is now in Colombia. Read about one of her recent adventures hiking a volcano on Nicaragua’s Ometepe Island.
Ometepe is the tenth largest lake island in the world and it’s where I spent an incredibly exciting week in March this year. With its two volcanoes, Ometepe Island rises from the water like a camel, providing two great options for adventurers.
After taking a short 90 minute ferry ride for about $1.50 from the Nicaraguan port of San Jorge, I arrived in Ometepe’s port of Moyogalpa. Despite its size, it offers a great selection of hostels not far from the ferry terminal. The longer you are willing to walk, the cheaper the accommodation is likely to be.
I decided not to book anything ahead of time and I’m glad I didn’t because hostel owners were waiting for the new arrivals with good deals. I just followed the guy who offered the best value accommodation.
Moyogalpa itself is not too exciting with its handful of bars, but the street food is excellent and cheap. Plus eating with locals is a great culture immersion.
Climbing Maderas
After a few days in town, I journeyed to the El Zopilote eco-hostel at the base of the Maderas volcano ahead of my hike.
Maderas volcano is only 200 meters smaller than its bigger (and more famous) brother, Concepción – which many people aim to hike during their Ometepe stay. The reason I chose to do Maderas instead was because it’s not quite as steep and is supposed to take less time to climb than Concepcion. The 1394 metre Maderas with its luscious rainforest and crater lake seemed more inviting for me personally.
Together with two other girls, I headed up Maderas. We decided not to pay for a guide, but boy I have to say that was the wrong decision. The lower third of the hike is fairly easy and straight forward, but as I reached the cloud base and I could not rely entirely on sight, it became harder.
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