Wild dogs are one of the rarest mammals in Africa: there are only about 5000 left. They were never plentiful to start with, but recently their numbers have collapsed due to habitat loss, vermin extermination campaigns and canine distemper. If you have never seen one, imagine a German shepherd body set on spindly supermodel legs and a funky-colored pelt in blacks, brown and ocher, earning them the alternative name “painted wolf”.

When resting, they radiate a seemingly sweet disposition which says: “Take me home, I will make a perfect pet” but this illusion disappears when they yawn. Then you see a mouthful of vicious canine teeth, and these are meant for use, not ornamentation: Wild dogs are the most successful hunters on the African savanna. They run their prey (usually impala) to ground to exhaustion with a combination of speed, stamina, and well-orchestrated teamwork. Everything is over within minutes and it is impossible to follow a hunt on land from beginning to end. In fact, the first film of a complete hunt was taken by the Planet Earth team from the air in a microlight. Where? In Botswana, of course.

The wilderness lodge Kwando Lagoon in northern Botswana practically guarantees wild dog sightings, which is a big deal because these canines move frequently and fast: Here today, gone thirty miles tomorrow! In late May 2010, we followed a pack of 17 for three days. One day we surprised them resting (they do that a lot), the next day setting out for the hunt, as some command–inaudible to us, meant for dog ears–set them in quick motion and all sprinted in the direction of the kill made by the ace hunters in the pack. The victim was a warthog which was fractions of a second too late disappearing into its burrow and was dragged out and devoured right there and then in a confusion of muzzles, tails and legs. It was over very quickly because dogs don’t bother chewing their food–rather, they swallow it whole and carry it back to their den to regurgitate for the stay-at-home dogs and pups.

Next day we came across them again–and once more we had missed their killing of an impala bull. This time we watched the younger members of the pack play with the leftovers: The hide, the head, the legs.

     After a convoluted journey taking the Upgrade Me for Free travel staff to Tokyo, Seoul and then to Bali, we were relieved to check into the Legian Hotel. This hotel is located on the beach in Seminyak and truly is a 5 star. After 2 solid days of traveling, what a pleasure to find a chilled bottle of chanpagne and Indonesian snacks waiting for you on a late arrival. Indonesia is known for excellence in service and this was apparent from check-in to check-out. The food was great but usually did not involve the local fare. Seminyak is a tourist destination and it catered to a foreign palate with Japanese, Italian, Thai and even burgers and fries. Don’t think that you can escape McDonald’s even in this remote land. A highlight of the trip was a meal at the Chenai hotel, located in Ubud. This hotel is affiliated with the Legian and had created a magical open air dining room in the middle of a rice field. Who knows from where it came, possibly underage children with palm frond fans, from but a breeze crossed through the hall maintaining a suprisingly perfect temperature for lunch in the heat of the day. It certainly felt decadent to sip on cool margaritas while watching field workers harvesting rice.

    When planning a trip to Indonesia, it’s important to think about what you want from your vacation because it can be as relaxing or as busy as you want. This is truly the land of temples as every house, business and community has a temple in the yard. Eventually, you suffer temple fatigue but many standouts keep your interest peaked.

On a more serious note, Cumberland Island is magical. The twisting branches of the oak trees bring to mind Tolkien’s woods. The forest is so quiet, you can hear yourself breathe. The sunlight is filtered and diffused through overarching vines and branches (making photography very difficult). Armadillos, raccoons and other creatures rustle in the palmetto underbrush. You hear the gentle splashing of water moving through the salt marsh and view crumbling mansions from bygone eras. You are blinded by sunlight reflecting off water and expansive sandy beach as you emerge from the live oak forest. Cumberland Island, Georgia’s largest and Southernmost barrier island is protected as a National seashore.

We only saw the southern tip of the island, because it is the most accessible by ferry from St. Mary’s on the mainland. There are only a limited number of spaces available for camping so prepare early. Spots are given out on a “first booked” basis at Sea camp. You can also choose to do the “back country” camping which seemed a bit too extreme for the June heat. You can also come for a day trip but you’ll be rushed. Seen from the beach, the live oak forest canopy is so tangled and dense that one is astonished to feel any sea breeze at all. But, thankfully, a little breeze did reach the tents. That being said, a portable, rechargeable air conditioner was my first search after getting back to my computer.

The Dungeness ruins (the former Carnagie mansion) give fascinating insights into the recent human footprint on the island, which came from a very expensive shoe! The island was first cleared for cotton and indigo plantations. Today’s forests and marshes testify to the forces of nature reasserting itself over human development.

“The West Indian is not exactly hostile to change, but he is not much inclined to believe in it. This comes from a piece of wisdom that his climate of eternal summer teaches him. It is that, under all the parade of human effort and noise, today is like yesterday, and tomorrow will be like today; that existance is a wheel of recurring patterns from which no one escapes; that all anybody does in this life is live for a while and then die for good, without finding out much; and that therefore the idea is to take things easy and enjoy the passing time under the sun. The white people charging hopefully around the island these days in the noon glare, making deals, bulldozing airstrips, hammering up hotels, laying out marinas, opening new banks, nightclubs, and giftshops, are to him merely a passing plague. The have come before and gone before.
Long ago, they came in their white-winged ships, swarmed over the islands, slaughtered the innocent cannibals, chopped down magnificent groves of mahogany that had stood since the Flood, and planted sugar cane. Sugar was money then, and it grew only in warm places. Those were the days of the great stone plantation houses and sugar mills; of seasick slaves hauled in from Africa, the ancesters of the Kinjans; of wealthy land owners with pink cool wives back in England, and warm black concubines on the premises. Then the sugar beet, which can grow in the north, came in and black slavery went out. Bankruptcy and insurrection exploded along the island chain. The boom collapsed. The planters left. The plantation houses fell in. Today the natives put tin roofs over one nook or another in the massive broken walls and live there.
The West Indians do not know what will cause the frantic whites to leave next time. Perhaps a bad earthquake: the entire chain of drowned mountains rests on a shaky spot in the Earth’s crust. Or a tidal wave; or a very bad hurricane; or an outbreak of some dormant tropical disease; or the final accidental blow up of the white man’s grumbling cauldron in the North, which will send the Carribean white remnant scurrying to-where next? Tasmania? Tierra del Fuego? Unlike the natives, they cannot subsist if the ships and planes stop coming, on crayfish, mangos, coconuts, and iguanas.”

Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa Kemal. Kemal was later honored with the title Ataturk, or “Father of the Turks.” Under his authoritarian leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. His reforms were undertaken in order to catapult the new Turkish state into the modern world. These included the separation of mosque and state, banning the fez, allowing women to go without cover and changing the alphabet from Arabic script to Latin lettering.

Istanbul is vast and you could stay for weeks exploring museums, awe inspiring modern and ancient structures and seeing both Islamic and Christian art that has lasted for centuries. Since not everyone has unlimited time, here is a suggested list of highlights from a frequent traveler to Istanbul. Some people have accomplished this in 3 days (though were tired afterwards!).

2 recommendations from the Upgrade Me For Free Travel staff: Stay at Costa Verde and eat at Kapi Kapi.

From Quepos, it is a fairly easy drive to Carara National Park. This is far off the beaten tourist path and you can literally walk for hours before seeing another human. This reserve is at a crucial meeting point between the dry tropical forest to the north and the wet rain forest to the south. This park is famous for pretty much guaranteed sightings of Scarlet Macaws. We entered the park without a guide and only the vaguest of directions to Scarlet Macaw nests. We wandered in their general direction until we heard the characteristic sound of a scream combined with a rusty door hinge overhead. Seriously, you’ll know them when you hear them. We saw a pair of macaws circling their nest site (a dead tree with many holes in it). While this is not their breeding season, they were preparing their nest for young ones. We waited for more than an hour before getting hungry. We then went to Steve and Lisa’s #1 restaurant for lunch and 9 pair of macaws made their way overhead while we ate. Apparently, Steve and Lisa’s restaurant is on the flight path for the macaws as they make their way from the mangrove swamp to the forest. The flash of color is truly a site to behold. These birds are the movie stars of the animal world, all color, screaming and drama!

We did have a special travel companion on a sailing trip while there. It was a woman from another hotel. The only problem is she did not know what the name of her hotel when it was time to return. But, it is even more bizarre than that. A taxi driver had picked her up from her hotel and dropped her at the sailing ship without even saying hola to her. She paid at the dock and commenced to tell us her life story while sailing in the Pacific. A 50 year old, retired biology teacher, living in Colorado but enjoying a vacation traveling from motel to motel in Costa Rica. Apparently, she was moving frequently enough to forget the name of her motel. It was only later deciphered when she remembered that her motel was near loud noise (that’s an airport) and had zip-lines coming out of it. Oh yes, and a yellow wall!! It says a lot for a country and its mini-van drivers when a person such as this can be safely delivered to her motel in the evening. Tourism is an important industry in Costa Rica and everyone is bending over backwards to make this a special destination.

There are retirement community and real estate ads everywhere. The good news is no civil strife, no army and 12% of the country is devoted to National Parks; not ones typical image of Central America. Judging by the radio programs in Costa Rica, the ex-pat population is caught in a 1980′s time warp. Apparently, their best memories involve a Quiet Riot concert. Where else can you hear John Denver and Twisted Sister on the same radio station. But, just as they came looking for the next Berkley, it’s apparently past time to start looking for the next Costa Rica. Costa Rica has had more than 20 charmed years, but now with so much over-development, it seems to be going the way of so many hidden treasures. High rises sprouting from the dirt like mushrooms after a rain signal the end of an era.

Panama anyone??

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While Holbox is located near Cancun, northwest about 1.5 hours by bus and short boat ride, you are miles and miles away from the Disnesy-esque, package tour group, aseptic Mexico so popular with underage fraternity boys and middle America. Holbox Island is just 26 miles long, separated from the mainland coast of Mexico by a shallow lagoon which gives sanctuary to thousands of flamingos, pelicans and other exotic birds and creatures.

The streets of Holbox Island are made of white sand, common of Caribbean islands, and there are very few cars. Your primary mode of transportation is golf carts or scooters. Holbox is considered a virgin tourist destination because very few outsiders visit the island. The majority of tourists appeared to be Mexican nationals visiting out of the way spots in their own country. In spite of Holbox’ natural beauty, inaccessibility has left it unspoiled by mass tourism- just like the Upgrade Me For Free travel staff likes it!

According to the loud English tourist from the hotel, Holbox is known for 3 things. The water which is amazing shades of green and blue and will vary in different times of the day and with different sun conditions, the mosquitoes which were kept at bay with the “deep woods” variety of repellent and Lobster pizza from Edelin Pizzaria. That being said, the most incredible attraction in Holbox from June to August are the whale sharks. Whale sharks are the worlds largest shark and fish reaching up to 40 feet long and 15 tons. The whale sharks are as docile as cows, allowing you to snorkel along side them in the open water. They come near Holbox Island to spend the summer season. The gathering is due to nutrient rich waters from the deep Caribbean meeting the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and creating a plentiful buffet for these plankton eating creatures.

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St. Augustine