Moved!

As wonderful as Blogger is, Safaris + Sunsets has moved to its very own domain. It can now be found at http://safarisandsunsets.com

Thanks for reading, friends!

Post-Memorial Day

As the tweets and facebook status updates rolled in this morning about how awesome everyone's long Memorial Day weekend was, I decided to look forward to this beautiful Tuesday rather than dread another week. After all, it is already Tuesday, and we all have an amazing weekend to be thankful for.

Like my friends in the social media world, my weekend was full of fun, too. The weather here in Connecticut was questionable on Saturday, but apparently many people had the same idea with the rain pouring down outside and January temperatures causing thermostats to be cranked up. I heard on the radio on my drive to work this morning that us Americans broke the record for movie ticket sales this weekend! Well, I was right alongside my fellow Americans at my local movie theater seeing The Hangover 3. What did you all think of it? I've heard mixed reviews, but my opinion stands that the first movie in a series is always the best. Don't you agree?

 

Sunday and Monday consisted of sunnier weather and party hopping. My highlight was seeing my favorite little toddler turn two! He loves all things Elmo and all things fruit, so I made an Elmo fruit platter. Needless to say, there was a strawberry in his mouth within seconds of me setting foot into his adorable Elmo party. Today was his real birthday, and so we spent the morning at the playground and got lunch, complete with milkshakes, at Bilda Burger in Woodbury, CT. Such a neat place. Hope you enjoyed your birthday, little man. Thanks for brightening my day, everyday.

One last thing. Hope you all smiled today at how lucky we are. Nothing like Memorial Day to put our lives back into perspective. We have many courageous men and women to thank for that. happy memorial day america

 

 

 

Elmo platter fruit dip recipe: mix 1 package of cream cheese (softened), 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla

[discovered this great recipe from a fellow blogger! check out her blog here: http://lifeaslyndsey.blogspot.com]

Little Explorations

Hello readers! So... after a long break from blogging, I have made the decision to come back to this exciting world of sharing ideas with people from the North Pole to the South and back again. That, I think, is what I find so invigorating about this whole idea of blogging. The connections that have the potential to be made. I saw this quote the other day about human beings craving connections, and after some thought, I realized just how true it was.

After a long and warm food-filled day of cookouts, my boyfriend and I ventured out on a bike ride through our neighborhood. At about 6pm on a late May evening, the weather was beautiful - sun still shining and a light breeze keeping temperatures just right. As we rode, the smell of grills and the sound of laughter were clearly evident. Cars were piled in driveway after driveway. It is hard to imagine what the day would have been like if human connections weren't as much a part of life as they are. There would not have been Memorial Day parties yard after yard on my bike ride tonight without these connections because the vital factor to this annual tradition for many people is family and friends to enjoy the day with.

So that is one reason why I am looking forward to re-entering the blogging world. The title of this post may seem broad, but no other words could better describe my writing. The two words are almost contradictory when thought about. "Little" of course means small, minute, etc. "Exploration" is sometimes a large, daunting adventure. Life is full of these little explorations and that is what this blog will be about. The globetrotter in me will most definitely lead to the creation of many travel posts, whether it be my own travels, places I dream to go or hidden destinations. But the smaller adventures and creations in everyday life are just as important as a dream expedition to the Galapagos Islands. If you read my short bio, I am a lover of writing, travel, reading, culture, nature, but I have a newfound passion for little explorations of everyday life, too. Safaris and sunsets. The big adventures are the safaris and the everyday occurrances are the sunsets. The sun has to set everyday, yet every one is unique.

Whether I'm the sole reader of this or one day have hundreds, I thank you and hope you are as excited as I am about this new adventure. (I greatly hope it's the latter... human connections...)

Throw A Dart: Where In the World To Go?

This past week, I was looking at the globe sitting atop my bureau and this thought came to mind: just pick a place and explore.  I can go anywhere in the world I want to, so what am I waiting for?  On a “why not” sort of whim, I spun the globe, shut my eyes, and placed my finger back on the globe.  Where did my finger land?  On the southern-most tip of South America.  Now I had pictured myself in Chile one day, but venturing down to the southern tip was not something I had specifically forseen.  But why not?  I spun the globe again, closed my eyes, and repeated the process.  This time, my finger told me I should get on a plane and head to Romania.  Chile and Romania.  Two places worlds apart, geographically, culturally, historically, but it looks like my future sees me there one day.

Now we all have our bucket lists that we want to check off before our time here expires, but sometimes it is the spur of the moment trips that we will remember.  So forget the logic and go off the beaten path for a while. 

Spin the globe, throw a dart at a map, and just go.

Machu Picchu: Just Go

When people hear the phrase “travel destinations,” many times a visual of transparent blue water, sandy beaches, and palm trees comes to mind.  For the more upscale destination, maybe the picture looks something more like the Eiffel Tower paired with a fancy French cuisine and a glass of wine.  For a girl like myself, sure, these are vacations I would love to take part in; however, my dream travel destinations are a bit off the beaten path.  What better way to begin this blog than with the location that sits highest on my travel list: Machu Picchu.

Now I’m sure a few questions are racing through your mind right now.  Where on Earth is Machu Picchu, if it’s even on Earth?  What kind of a name is that?  Why would I ever want to go there for a vacation?  Well, don’t worry or fret if you have never heard of Machu Picchu.  Many haven’t, but it’s about time.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.  Located in the country of Peru on the western side of South America, Machu Picchu is a 15^th-century Inca site.  Now why would one want to choose Machu Picchu as their vacation destination?  For the people who do not consider “why not” a legitimate reason, I’ll throw out another: the beauty of this place.  The site sits on the peak of the mountain Machu Picchu (aptly named) in the Peruvian Andes Mountains.  The Urubamba River surrounds the site on three sides, leading to typical morning mist.  The location among extremely steep mountains and deep valleys provides a truly gorgeous spectrum to feed the human eye.  If nothing else, head to Machu Picchu to take in the beauty of the Peruvian mountains.  For all those that need another good reason to desire to explore Machu Picchu, the history is mind-boggling.  Maybe it’s just the anthropologist or historian buff in me, but the true uniqueness of this place lies in the fact that it had never been known of by the Spanish during their conquests of the South American lands.  The sacred rocks that were defaced in other territories of Spanish invasion are completely untouched at Machu Picchu.  Therefore, Machu Picchu is an extremely intact cultural site, displaying much of the original architecture in the way it was constructed by the Incan people.  The typical Inca style of architecture consisted of polished dry-stone walls, present at Machu Picchu.  1450 is the approximate year of construction of Machu Picchu, but experts believe construction on the site began as early as 1400.  It is believed that Machu Picchu was built as the estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti.

The profound history of this archaeological gem is something I could write on and on about, but this is a travel blog.  I do not want to give all the secrets away.  Part of traveling is discovering, and part of discovering is understanding the history of a place.  So, enough said.  Go to Machu Picchu, learn about the people who inhabited the American continents long before the famous Christopher Columbus, and get a visual into their life before European conquistadors brought an end to their glory days.  If I haven’t given you reason enough or piqued your curiosity in the slightest, go to Machu Picchu for no reason at all because traveling doesn’t require one.

For those that are interested in other Incan sites that may be less publicized than Machu Picchu, here are a few names to research: Choquequirao, Llactapata, Vitcos.

Travel Deals:

Everyone knows of the typical travel sites: Expedia, TripAdvisor, Orbitz, HotWire, etc.  This section will suggest other deals specific to the destination. 

www.peruforless.com – Abundant travel itineraries on this website that include the Machu Picchu destination, plus others in the same package.

www.bestperutours.com