Abrams Family World Travel

World Travel: Our Favourites - Three Years On

AT the end of our first year of travel, we posted a blog about our favourite spots - places, restaurants, beaches, parks and hotels, locations we’ve travelled to (including before our journey began) and have no trouble recommending. Now that over three years have passed since we started our adventure, we thought it would be a good time for an update.

Places

1. Vancouver, Canada: This city on North America's west coast offers a bit of everything. It ticked a lot of boxes for us. Nearby there's snow and beach for starters. There's an excellent public transport system, a fantastic range of organic/healthy produce, lots to do and see socially, the people are friendly, there's a large alternative schooling community, it's relatively safe and, for Canada, the weather is on the mild side. The only downside was the cost of property and renting. Otherwise, we really loved it - a lot!

2. Napier, New Zealand: Known as the 'Art Deco Capital of the World', this town on the north island is incredibly pretty. There's ocean, stunning surrounding mountains, hiking trails, wonderful rivers, clean parks, loads to do and see, little, if any, traffic, clean air and not lacking anything that we'd want in a big city.

3. Kukljica, Croatia: This little village on the island of Ugljan, across the water by ferry from Zadar, is a magical place for us. It's where I spent much of my childhood during the hot summer months. The Adriatic Sea is gorgeously salty and blue. The village has charm and lots of beautiful, though mostly rocky, bathing spots. It's wonderful during the hot season, but can be harshly cold in the winter.

4. Edinburgh, Scotland: Nice for walking, plenty to see, close to the coast, variety of restaurants, compact.

5. Lisbon, Portugal: Amazing architecture, lovely climate, great squares, economical and efficient public transport.

 

Beaches

1. Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica: Long stretches of sand without a person in sight or litter, stunning sunsets and perfect sea temperatures

2. Whale’s Tail, Costa Rica: Set in a National Park, with impressive caves you can walk through, great sand and warm seas

3. Los Frailes, Ecuador: Clear water, secluded, perfect waves, clean sand, sea temperature consistently good. All it’s missing is some shelter from the scorching sun and somewhere for refreshments (make sure you bring your own!)

4. Englishman’s Bay, Tobago: Long, intimate stretch of beautiful sandy beach with palm trees and clear green water, just where you’d imagine Robinson Crusoe making his base. There’s a shop and café on site also (not built by Crusoe, by the way).

5. Piracanga, Bahia, Brazil: We stayed here for more than 10 months in 2011. We lived practically on the doorstep of miles of vacant sandy beach. The ocean here, while often quite strong, was nearly always the perfect temperature and the sand ideal although we did have to lookout for troublesome little flees. www.piracanga.com

 

Restaurants

1. Napfenyes Etterem, Budapest: So good we ate there every day on our short stay, sometimes twice in a day. Great menu, nice staff. Almost too many delightful dishes, making our choice so much tougher (hence the reason we kept coming back) Rózsa u 39, District VII, Budapest 1077 +36-1-3135555. http://www.napfenyesetterem.hu/

2. Pure Food & Wine, Manhattan, New York: Somewhat pricey, but worth it, if only for the scrumptious desserts. Formal vegan restaurant with raw options. Jamie can't wait to get back there. www.oneluckyduck.com 54 Irving Place New York, NY 10003-2314 Tel: (212) 477-1010

3. Terra, Lisbon, Portugal: Fabulous buffet spread when we visited over seven years ago. Food is fresh and the ginger juice, though laced with sugar, so refreshing. www.restauranteterra.pt Príncipe Real, Rua da Palmeira 15, 1200-311 LISBOA, Portugal Tel: 213 421 407

4. Tiestos, Cuenca, Ecuador: Delicious food delivered in a large tagine (tiesto). The chef can make almost whatever you like and uses his ingredients so perfectly. A hit every time. Juan Jaramillo 7-34, City Centre, Cuenca, Ecuador

5. Buenos Aires Verde, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Outstanding organic vegetarian nosh, always beautifully presented, fresh and nutritious. Plenty of vegan and raw vegan options. Lovely setting, relaxed atmosphere and genuine staff. There is a menu in English. Try the salads, pizza, deserts and smoothies. Reasonably priced as well, especially when compared to most organic raw food/vegetarian restaurants. Gorriti 5657, Buenos Aires. http://www.bsasverde.com/index_en.html. Open Monday-Saturday 9am-0.30am.

 

Parks

1. KL City Park, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Bang on the doorstep of the Petronas Towers and an enormous shopping centre is a large fountain which backs on to a great park. Whether it's jogging, walking, kids play or splashing in water, this park has it all. It's where I infamously smashed up my shins doing box jumps on marble columns (I slipped!) We spent countless hours there with our kids in the second-to-none children's play area. 

2. El Retiro, Madrid, Spain: Outstanding and in the city centre (near Retiro subway). Has many jogging paths and exercise areas as well as a lake with boats, cycle routes and quieter, shaded areas to sit.

3. Munich Olympic Park, Germany: By the former Olympic stadium, these manicured grounds near the centre of the city were used for the 1972 Games. The park has a lake and river and is perfect for running, cycling, rollerblading or just strolling.

4. Central Park, New York: At the tip of Manhattan, the park has something for everyone in any season, Great for walking, running, playing sports, rollerblading or just to pass some time.

5. Bosques de Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina: We stayed just a few blocks from this park. I went running there a lot (it can get busy) and Zenchai and I hired bicycles. We also went there for days out in the sun, just to play about on the grass. It's a huge park with beautiful gardens and monuments as well as a lake in the middle where you can rent paddleboats to calmly take in the scenery and relax. 

 

Sites/Experiences

1. Iguazu Falls, Argentina: Truly breathtaking, immense natural wonder on the Brazilian and Argentine border. Well worth the ridiculously long bus journey from Buenos Aires and wait for the lashing rain to subside.

2. Milford Sounds, New Zealand: Spectacular scenery on the South Island, visions I can't imagine you'd find anywhere else all in one place - mountains, lakes, hills...every corner turned delivered something special.

3. Blue Mountains, Sydney, Australia: Down Under's answer to the Grand Canyon. Impressive views, walks and cable rides.

4. El Zapato/Cajon Dam, Capilla Del Monte, Argentina: This site took us by surprise. We were on a walk, looking for the dam and stumbled upon an immense mountainscape that looked like something from 'The Land Of The Giants'.

5. Superclassico Football - River Plate v Boca Juniors: A truly memorable occasion for any footy fan - the biggest rivalry in the Argentine league. Whether it's at the River Plate Stadium, where the 1978 World Cup final took place, or Boca's smaller, but more cauldron-like ground, this is an unmissable fixture, more so for the bristling atmosphere than the football. 

 

Hotels/Hostals

1. Villa de las Aves, Uvita, Costa Rica: Fabulous two-floor house-type buildings with private jacuzzi, kitchens and a communal pool set in grounds surrounded by trees, animals and birds. With delightful owners, too - from Australia and UK, this is a spectacular place within reach of Costa Rica's great beaches. http://www.villasdelasaves.com/

2. Bahia Principe Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Mexico: All-inclusive resort hotel close to crystal clear sea water and private white sandy beaches.

3. Mandala, Puerto Lopez, Ecuador: Immaculately decorated – has so much to offer, like a library, games room, restaurant, gardens and music room. http://www.hosteriamandala.info/

4. Hip Hotel, Maastricht, Holland: Super sleek, funky one-time apartments converted into themed hotel rooms at affordable prices. There’s secure parking also, but at a fee. http://www.st-martenslane.com/

5. Intercontinental, Chicago airport: Comfortable, tasteful and sheek. 5300 North River Road, Rosemont. Tel: (847) 544-5300

 

Children's Activities

1. Parkour, Vancouver: Of all the activities we have introduced Zenchai to, this was the best. He couldn't get enough. What kid wouldn't want to run, tumble, climb, crash, jump and generally have heaps of fun exploring movement? http://www.originsparkour.com/

2. Wall Climbing, Kuala Lumpur: We took Zenchai along to the largest indoor climbing facility in Asia - and it is huge. It's all supervised and, while a little daunting, children get the chance to scale some enormous walls and grow in confidence. 

3. River Play, Piracanga, Brazil: During our stint at an eco village, we lived close to a river, which was perfect for children. Zenchai learned both to kayak and swim here in addition to spending countless hours just playing.

4. Children's Museum, Buenos Aires: Although the cost of entry wasn't low, it was worth it. Children got to role play and dress up to their heart's content. Zenchai used to beg me to take him here. 

5. Waterfall, Chiang Mai, Thailand: This northern Thai city is surrounded by waterfalls of various sizes. We found one on a Sunday afternoon and the kids loved it so much we couldn't tear them away. 

Our First 12 months On The Road: Natural Travel Remedies

Whenever you travel, you expose yourself to health risks. Each country has its own strand of germs and frequently sitting on aeroplanes alone can make you vulnerable to bugs.

For children the risks are probably higher. Youngsters under five haven’t fully developed their immune systems.

Yet for most of 2010 we, as a family, were relatively illness-free. We picked up parasites while in Ecuador – and got rid of them – and all of us had colds after we arrived in Vilcabamba (Ecuador) last March and Buenos Aires in October.

It all seemed rather ironic at the time that we were walking around with noses streaming in the so-called Valley of Longevity like we had opened a mucus factory, yet were breathing in clean mountain air and surrounded by beautiful scenery.

But it’s possible also that whatever bugs got into our systems had done so in Quito, where it is polluted and the traffic heavy. Colds are not a sign of poor health, but an indication your immune system is functioning and eliminating invaders.

For colds we don’t take anything and let it run its course. For anything else we take homoeopathic remedies. We now travel with three kits from Helios: the nursery kit; travellers kit; pregnancy and birth kit. This provides a remedy for almost anything.

But for the parasites Jamie and I took MMS (Miracle Mineral Supplement) and it did the trick. Zenchai took a herbal parasite-cleanser for children. So we’ve been pretty fortunate.

Our first line of defence is always taking good care of ourselves – getting enough exercise, sleep, good food, sunshine and fresh air. We eat what we consider a healthy vegan diet – plenty of fruits, vegetables, greens, nuts and pulses. We try whenever possible to eat organically. Neither of us smokes or drinks alcohol either.

We try to maintain a high level of hygiene. We wash all our food before consuming it and cut the skin off if we know it's not organic. But sometimes it’s not enough and when eating out or, in some cases, from street stalls, you can never be certain how the food has been treated or prepared. For cases of diarrhoea or stomach pain, we always carry with us charcoal tablets. Also in our arsenal we have oil of oregano capsules, which act as natural antibiotics (as does eating garlic), plus probiotics for us and Zenchai (probiotics maintain healthy gut flora).

Possibly the worst health issue we had to deal with was an infection Zenchai had to his penis while in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador. The poor guy’s little Black and Decker was swollen like a balloon and he was in pain.

Naturally worried, we took him to a local doctor (this was the first time he had visited a doctor since his six-week baby check-up) and she prescribed him a steriod cream and antibiotics with the order that he not go into the ocean for a fortnight (which was the entire time we were on the coast).

Without being dismissive of the diagnosis, Jamie and I questioned whether to administer the prescription as we are naturally cautious regarding the over-use of antibiotics and steroids. Instead, we opted first for the natural remedy colloidal silver gel which we applied throughout the day and night. This had immediate results.

The penis episode was worrying and so, too, was a bout of vomiting and diarrhoea he had following a long bus trip from Canoa to Quito at the end of May. For several days he couldn't keep food down (we think it was almost certainly the parasites). But we stuck it out, made sure he was properly hydrated and, sure enough, he got well enough for us to travel back to London. In those moments, though, you do get concerned it could be something more serious.

Of the three of us, Zenchai also suffered most from mosquito attacks, especially in Ecuador. For whatever reason, they loved the taste of his blood and he was covered in bites at one stage even though we applied a citronella-based repellent. To help ease the discomfort, we used lavender essential oil and/or calendula homeopathic cream.

In Croatia, to a lesser degree, they got him again (although his bite count was reduced by the use of Mosquiten patches (a natural German product with the main ingredient being green tomatoes).

As we prepare to head to Brazil, where the climate is tropical, we are not only armed with mosquito nets, but also Neem, an essential oil more powerful than citronella and which works well with the latter for added protection.

Let's hope that does the trick.

World Travel: Our Favourites - Cities, Beaches, Restaurants, Hotels...

These are our favourite places, restaurants, beaches, parks and hotels, locations we’ve travelled to over the years and have no trouble recommending. It’s a list we shall keep updated periodically as we continue our journey and explore.

Cities

1. Edinburgh, Scotland: Nice for walking, plenty to see, close to the coast, variety of restaurants, compact.

2. Lisbon, Portugal: Amazing architecture, lovely climate, great squares, economical and efficient public transport.

3. New York, USA: Bustling, huge, stimulating, never a shortage of places to go, eat and see. Lots of parks and play areas, excellent and affordable metro.

4. Venice, Italy:  Romantic, picturesque, walkable, trafficless and atmospheric.

5. Maastricht, Holland: Charming, tranquil, small, clean and safe with delightful squares and friendly people.

 

Beaches

1. Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica: Long stretches of sand without a person in sight or litter, stunning sunsets and perfect sea temperatures

2. Whale’s Tail, Costa Rica: Set in a National Park, with impressive caves you can walk through, great sand and warm seas

3. Los Frailes, Ecuador: Clear water, secluded, perfect waves, clean sand, sea temperature consistently good. All it’s missing is some shelter from the scorching sun and somewhere for refreshments (make sure you bring your own!)

4. Englishman’s Bay, Tobago: Long, intimate stretch of beautiful sandy beach with palm trees and clear green water, just where you’d imagine Robinson Crusoe making his base. There’s a shop and café on site also.

5. Playa del Carmen, Mexico: White, cool sand and crystal clear waters.

 

Restaurants

1. Napfenyes Etterem, Budapest: So good we ate there every day on our short stay, sometimes twice in a day. Great menu, nice staff. Almost too many delightful dishes, making our choice so much tougher (hence the reason we kept coming back) Rózsa u 39, District VII, Budapest 1077 +36-1-3135555. http://www.napfenyesetterem.hu/

2. Pure Food & Wine, Manhattan, New York: Somewhat pricey, but worth it, if only for the scrumptious desserts. Formal vegan restaurant with raw options. www.oneluckyduck.com 54 Irving Place New York, NY 10003-2314 Tel: (212) 477-1010

3. Terra, Lisbon, Portugal: Fabulous buffet spread when we visited over five years ago. Food is fresh and the ginger juice, though laced with sugar, so refreshing. www.restauranteterra.pt Príncipe Real, Rua da Palmeira 15, 1200-311 LISBOA, Portugal Tel: 213 421 407

4. Tiestos, Cuenca, Ecuador: Delicious food delivered in a large tagine (tiesto). The chef can make almost whatever you like and uses his ingredients so perfectly. A hit every time. Juan Jaramillo 7-34, City Centre, Cuenca, Ecuador

5. Buenos Aires Verde, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Outstanding organic vegetarian nosh, always beautifully presented, fresh and nutritious. Plenty of vegan and raw vegan options. Lovely setting, relaxed atmosphere and genuine staff. There is a menu in English. Try the salads, pizza, deserts and smoothies. Reasonably priced as well, especially when compared to most organic raw food/vegetarian restaurants. Gorriti 5657, Buenos Aires. http://www.bsasverde.com/index_en.html. Open Monday-Saturday 9am-0.30am.

 

Parks

1. El Retiro, Madrid, Spain: Outstanding and in the city centre (near Retiro subway). Has many jogging paths and exercise areas as well as a lake with boats, cycle routes and quieter, shaded areas to sit.

2. Munich Olympic Park, Germany: By the former Olympic stadium, these manicured grounds near the centre of the city were used for the 1972 Games. The park has a lake and river and is perfect for running, cycling, rollerblading or just strolling.

3. Central Park, New York: At the tip of Manhattan, the park has something for everyone in any season, Great for walking, running, playing sports, rollerblading or just to pass some time.

4. Ruislip Lido, Ruislip, England: Close to where we used to live on the west side of London, there’s a lake, a man-made sandy beach, extensive kids play area and path around the water for walking, cycling or running. Great in the mornings, when no-one is awake, the lido also backs on to Ruislip Woods, an expansive wooded area.

5. Cyber Park, Marrakech, Morocco: Clean, educational and close to the famous Medina. Closes around 5pm. It has a calm feel while also providing a great play area for children.

 

Hotels/hostals

1. Villa de las Aves, Uvita, Costa Rica: Fabulous two-floor house-type buildings with private jacuzzi, kitchens and a communal pool set in grounds surrounded by trees, animals and birds. With delightful owners, too - from Australia and UK, this is a spectacular place within reach of Costa Rica's great beaches. http://www.villasdelasaves.com/

2. Bahia Principe Tulum, Playa del Carmen: Mexico All-inclusive resort hotel close to crystal clear sea water and private white sandy beaches.

3. Mandala, Puerto Lopez, Ecuador: Immaculately decorated – has so much to offer, like a library, games room, restaurant, gardens and music room. http://www.hosteriamandala.info/

4. Hip Hotel, Maastricht, Holland: Super sleek, funky one-time apartments converted into themed hotel rooms at affordable prices. There’s secure parking also, but at a fee. http://www.st-martenslane.com/

5. Intercontinental, Chicago airport: Comfortable, tasteful and sheek. 5300 North River Road, Rosemont. Tel: (847) 544-5300

Ecuador: The Highs and Lows

OUR FIVE HIGHLIGHTS

1.) Los Frailes Beach

Inside a national park a short ride north from Puerto Lopez, this was a hidden treasure. The beach was clean, the water blue and warm, the waves fun and the sand pristine.

It’s a deserted spot away from all the tourists and a fabulous place to spend several hours. Bring your own food (there’s no catering on site) and plenty of sun block. Cost of admission: $12 per adult.

2.) Tiestos restaurant, Cuenca

We loved this place so much we just kept going back. The owner and chef, Juan Carlos, is a warm, charming man who’s attention to detail and desire to please his customers is unmistakable.

The food is outstanding and plentiful. And for a fairly upscale restaurant, the prices were reasonable also. Don’t visit Cuenca without sampling this place.

3.) Thermal Pools of Papallacta

There isn’t a more relaxing way to escape from Quito. The journey by bus from the capital is about an hour and then hop in a taxi to this fantastic, heavenly collection of hot, warm and cold plunge pools.

A great place for families, romantic couples or just to visit by yourself. Price: $7 for adults and $3 for children.

4.) Centre of the earth & museum

You can’t go to Quito without visiting the centre of the earth. The monument, in fact, sits about 100 yards from the exact spot. But given it was discovered by the French many years ago, before Sat Nav, the error was an acceptable one.

There’s a museum inside the monument and a small village selling all sorts of goods, plus restaurants. Less than half a mile away is another museum – outdoors, interactive and more fun. Be sure to visit. Entrance fee $3 for adults at the interactive museum and $2 for the monument museum.

5.) Climbing the Quito Basilica

From the top, which is quite a climb, you get some of the most spectacular views of the city. Quito is many things, but the site of all the buildings surrounded by mountains is quite staggering. It costs $2 for adults to enter, but is worth it.

FIVE LOWLIGHTS

1.) Cuenca air pollution

The wheezing, choking buses of this city spoiled our time there. The city centre wasn’t so big and blue buses were everywhere. Avoiding the choking black puffs of smoke was almost impossible. We’d heard so many good reviews of Cuenca that our expectations were admittedly high. But even in heaven, this level of pollution would make us want to bolt.

2.) Not getting to the Galapagos Islands

Prices for tours to the Galapagos are extraordinarily steep. We couldn’t justify the expense, even if it meant coming all this way and missing some of the most stunning islands in the world.

But nearly everyone we met who had been there had told us the cost was worth it – what you see is truly unique and unforgettable. Maybe next time…

3.) Dirty beaches with stinging jelly fish in Puerto Lopez

We’d hoped to find long stretches of sandy beaches and a beautiful ocean. The beaches are long and sandy, but there was too much litter and the lingering smell of fish in the air was unavoidable along the beachfront.

Watch out in the water for stinging jelly fish. They seem to turn up every other day.

4.) Restaurant at the volcanic crater

The hotel at El Crater, with amazing views from the rooms, was fabulous, if pricey. But in the nearby restaurant the food quality didn’t match the outstanding and immaculate décor. For the price (it wasn’t cheap), we expected better.

5.) El Puente Apartment/hotel, Cuenca

Not somewhere we’d recommend, even if the daily cost of stay was cheaper than any hostals. Rooms are large and you get a kitchen, but the customer service was, for want of a better word, bordering on abysmal.

Puerto Lopez: Jewel and the junk

Larger in size than Montañita, Puerto Lopez is also cleaner – marginally. It’s a fishing village, though, and the pungent aroma of sea creatures fills the air.

Given we don’t eat fish and prefer to self-cater, the food market – lacking in variety, quality average, no coconuts or avocados, both of which have been abundant elsewhere – was somewhat disappointing.

For eating out, the choices seemed fewer than in Montañita. 

However, there is a real jewel in this village: Hosteria Mandála. The accommodation, which has been there about a decade and was started from scratch by its Italian (a real character from Milan) and Swiss (Basel) co-owners who met in the Galapagos Islands, is extensive and tastefully decorated.

There is a library, music room, games room (every board game you can think of) and even a whale museum of sorts. It is child-friendly with many great wooden toys, puzzles, games and even beach playthings, there’s a restaurant, cactus garden, herb garden, hammock areas everywhere and wonderful plants attracting butterflies and humming birds. Also, there’s wifi, but it didn’t extend to the rooms, but Mandála has a wonderfully comfortable lounge where you can relax with your computer if necessary.

The beach, though, was not up to scratch. It extends right in front of and beyond the hotel, but is not as clean as in Montañita (watch out for the small, but stinging jelly fish that sometimes get washed ashore). A short walk along the beach in each direction from Mandala is lots of litter, food, dead birds and even washed-up turtles.

Sadly, it seems as if no one has made it their job to keep the beach anywhere near immaculate. Mandála was beautiful - and the staff very helpful - but the surroundings a let-down. 

By the time our four-day stay was over we were happy to move on. We set off north towards Bahia and then Canoa. It’s an ordeal. We started by bus, then changed buses after 2.5 hours, took a bicycle tuc-tuc ($1) from the bus stop in Bahia to the harbour, a boat across the water to San Vicente and then a taxi (for $5) to Canoa. On the map it didn’t seem like it would take long, but door-to-door the journey required around six hours by public transport.