This Week in Africa…Mozambique (Oct/Nov 2019)

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-At Chimanimani National Park

After visiting Tanzania, again… this time for nearly 3 weeks (see previous post), Mathieu and I crossed the border into Mozambique.

For the first time on our African adventure… we crossed into a country where neither of us spoke the official language. Mozambique was a Portuguese colony until 1975, so the official language is… Portuguese.

While English is spoken in tourist destinations and around the capital city of Maputo, we spent most of our time in non-touristy areas. So, when necessary, we relied on our limited Spanish (not the same as Portuguese but sometimes it helped). With that, Google Translate, if we had network, and lots of gesturing and pointing… we made it work!

And it helped, of course. that the local people were warm and welcoming, and did their best to help us figure things out. Besides friendly people, we got to visit some really beautiful places and have some really great experiences.

Highlights of the trip…

⭐ Meeting Michael and Emzie (Austrailia) and hiking with them through a beautiful tea plantation and lovely waterfall, then caravaning with them for several days, sharing travel stories and making new ones together.

⭐ Camping and hiking in Chimanimani National Park, an off-the-beaten-path, remote mountain sanctuary located in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. We’d visited the portion of the park that lies in Zimbabwe several months before where we hiked up to a high mountain pass and stood with one foot in each country, enjoying the stunning views of the high mountains and valleys around us. So, it was great to now explore the part of the park that’d we’d looked down into.

⭐ Visiting in the small beach towns of Inhassoro and Tofo, where we walked along the long stretches of white, sandy beaches, played in the Indian Ocean and, just relaxed.

⭐ Spending a week with our new friends, Alex, Jasmine and Rob at their family’s beautiful home just outside Maputo. We met these fellow travelers a few months earlier at a campground in Zambia so it was great to reconnect and relax with them and their family, and to be lovingly welcomed by their of furry crew.

We spent nealy one month exploring Mozambique, hiked in some beautiful areas, enjoyed some lovely beaches but the best part was the lasting friendships we made while there. Big thanks to our new friends… y’all made our adventure in Mozambique… extra memorable!

Enjoy!

The Pyrenees by Moto – a week riding & hiking in these majestic mountains (Sept 2025)

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The Pyrenees Mountains… finally!  

Some fun facts:  the Pyrenees is a 267-mi (430-km) long mountain chain that forms a natural border between France and Spain, and spans from the Atlantic Coast to the Mediterranean Sea. 

We’d hoped to zig-zag through the mountains, criss-crossing between France and Spain but… it turns out there aren’t that many roads that cut through this high, snow-capped mountain chain. Ha! 

So for this trip, we decided to explore the French side.

To start our adventure, we drove up the long, winding road to the Col du Tourmalet, one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees at 6,939 ft (2,115 m). This pass is one of the most famous climbs on the of the Tour de France so, we were not surprised to share the road with some pretty darn amazing cyclists… wow!  

From there, we spent the week winding up and down more high-mountain passes (sharing the road with more amazing cyclists), meandering through beautiful quaint villages and hiking in some truly amazing mountain landscapes… alpine lakes, granite peaks and… so many waterfalls! 

Some highlights…

⭐ exploring the Réserve naturelle du Néouviell.

⭐ standing below waterfalls cascading down the glacier-carved granite walls of the Cirque de Troumouse and Cirque to Gavarnie amphitheaters.

⭐ meeting the statuesque Comtois horses at the Col de Pailhères.

⭐ hiking up to the alpine lakes and granite peaks in the stunning Parc National des Pyrenees.

⭐ marveling at the Chateau Carcassonne, the medieval castle said to have inspired the design of the Castle in Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

⭐ And did I mention… amazing mountains and so many waterfalls!

There was so much more to explore but alas… a chain of incoming storms forced us home earlier than planned. Oh well, it was a great introduction to the beauty of the Pyrenees, and we’ll be back for sure.  

But don’t take my word for it… see for yourself!

Enjoy!

A Week in Iconic, Colorful, Vibrant…. New York City! (Aug 2024)

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What a wonderful surprise!!

I don’t know how he did it, but Mathieu planned a trip for us to New York City, and kept it a surprise from me for months. He finally told me where we were going the morning we were heading to the airport. Finally… I was going to NYC!

We spent 8 days day-tripping from our stylish boutique hotel in Midtown. We walked and biked all over Manhattan, visiting the “must see” sights… Times Square, the Empire State Building, Chinatown, Central Park, etc… and the World Trade Center Memorial, where we paid our respects (“gone but not forgotten”). It was definitely a highlight to finally visit the places and landmarks that make NYC so iconic.

And as we ferried past the Statue of Liberty, I must admit I got a little choked up. Seeing her there, standing strong and glistening in the sun, a beacon of hope for us all. [Of course, Mathieu made sure to remind me she was a gift from the French.. ha!]

Other highlights for me? Celebrating my 54th birthday with a picnic in Bryant Park… sipping tequila and munching on tortilla chips while enjoying a free concert with the locals, Perfect!

The street art! We spent hours wandering through various neighborhoods of Manhattan and Brooklyn, hunting for colorful, provocative pop art in public squares, on street corners, along alleyways, sides of buildings, rooftops, and bridges. Such a great way to discover the lesser-visited parts of the city.

And… I LOVED being in the birthplace of… hip hop.., imagining the music scene as Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC and the other founders were coming up. And yes, I sang lots of Beastie Boys, especially “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” as we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.

There’s a reason NYC is such an iconic city… the architecture, the culture, the art, the vibe, the people… amazing. But don’t take my word for it… see for yourself!

Enjoy!

Trekking the Stunning Tour du Mont Blanc (Sept 2024)

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Imagine hiking through the beautiful mountains of the Alps, crossing through France, Italy and Switzerland, to circumnavigate around Western Europe’s highest mountain… this is the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB).

This iconic, multi-day trek has been on my bucket list for some years, and finally in September, I did it!

Trekkers seek out this iconic 110-mi (177-km) loop trail for the amazing scenery…. the picturesque valleys, lush forests, crystal-clear rivers, and charming villages. And of course, to be in the presence of giant mountains, and NOT just the towering Mont Blanc, rising 15,766 ft (4,805 m) above sea level, but all the adjacent mountains as well!

I would have liked to do this trek with Mathieu or my brother or a friend but no one was available, and I didn’t want to wait any longer, so I decided to do it solo. Given the trail’s popularity, with an estimated 20,000 people completing it each year, I was sure I wouldn’t be alone… something I found comforting and… a bit worrying.

Like many trekkers, I LOVE immersing myself in the natural beauty around me and find it distracting when I’m surrounded by TOO many other people. But… I also LOVE sharing the experience, the wonderment, the joy, and the challenge of trekking with others.

Lucky for me, mid-September was the perfect time to do it. The weather was good, the “trekker traffic” was fairly light, and I got to hike with some really great people. [*Special shout-out to Nathalie, Sebastian, David, Malgorzata & Piotr!] So, I got to immerse myself in stunning natural beauty AND… share the experience… perfect!

There’s a reason the Tour du Mont Blanc is such an iconic trek… both the views and the vibe are… epic. But don’t take my word for it… see for yourself!

Enjoy!

Morocco by Moto (Part 4): “The Cathedral”, More Waterfalls, Gorges and Beautiful Forests, the “Blue City” of Chefchaouen & Spending Time in the Seaside City of Al- Hoceima (May 2024)

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In May 2024, Mathieu and I packed up the motorcycle and spent nearly four weeks touring around the beautiful country of Morocco (Maroc in French). Here are some of our favorite pictures and videos from our nearly 3,450 mi (7,000km) road trip.

Part 4…

For our fourth and final week of the trip, we started out by winding through the beautiful Aleppo pine forests of the Atlas Mountains to visit “The Cathedral”, a monolithic rock that rises to 6,142 ft (1872 m) high. Stunning! We then traveled north, visiting the waterfall and gorges of Ouzoud and passing through the lovely forests of the National Parks Ifrane and Tazekka, before arriving to “the Blue City”, a true highlight for us! The beautifully colorful, charming city of Chefchaouen absolutely stole our hearts (and once you see the pics, you’ll know why!)

After basking in a ridiculously fabulous amount of blue, we headed north where the beauty continued as we passed through the high mountains of the Talassemtane National Park, and onward to reach the stunning blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. We spent our last several days in a traditionally-decorated Moroccan apartment in the quiet coastal city of Al-Hoceima where we caught up on some work, relaxed, started the process of sifting through the 700+ photos we took, and reflected on the amazing landscapes we saw and the lovely people we met during our 25-day, nearly 3,450-mi (7,000-km) road trip through Morocco by Moto.

We hope you’ve enjoy traveling with us and that you’re inspired to visit this beautiful country!

Click here to see Part 1.