Welcome to Stone Town, the unique old section of Zanzibar City.  Stone Town was the primary link to Africa for the spice trade and slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Stone Town has an interesting food market that operates every night, with a dizzying array of local seafood, baked goods, and sugar cane juices. While the architecture is interesting, and the food delicious, it’s really the people that make for the most interesting viewing.  You can easily spend an afternoon with a coffee people watching!

Our entry permit for the Serengeti was only 24 hours – an impossible timetable to see the massive 30,000 square kilometre park often described as one of seven wonders of the African continent.  Unlike other parks, due to the massive size of the park, the game is much more spread out, which lends itself to lots of “what if I don’t see…” type thoughts, but then you turn a corner and you stumble across the next amazing image…

The Ngorongoro Crater is the result of a massive volcano explosion 2-3 million years ago.  At 610 metres deep and over 260 square kilometres in area, the crater boasts some of the most beautiful and unspoiled terrain in Tanzania.  While an incredibly busy site for visitors, cooperative agreements with conservation agencies and the local Maasai tribes have left the area reasonably unscathed and the crater is home to an astonishing number of types of plants and animals. The animals are incredible here, but the backgrounds are sometimes ignored in favour of spotting the biggest lions or the most brightly coloured birds, and in truth, the backgrounds are what makes this place...

Driving through Nairobi is a sobering experience for those of us fortunate enough to spend our time in the splendor of the western world.  The poverty, the dismal conditions for those who [are fortunate enough to] live in the projects, the battered vehicles, and the overwhelming decay of public structures such as bridges and roads is extremely hard to look at – and then you realize that Nairobi is one of Africa’s most industrialized cities and that conditions must be even worse elsewhere.  You wont find any photos of Nairobi here – my guides recommended to me that most places it is not advisable to take pictures and many other...

Besides physically joining Europe and Asia, Istanbul also serves as a bridge between western and middle eastern ways of life.  Though never the same, one could describe most western metropolitan European cities as feeling “similar” with clear links in cuisine, architecture, and culture.  From the first half hour in Istanbul, you know immediately that this city is “different.” The first thing that hits you is the frantic pace with which the city moves.  While fast moving cities in Europe are not in short supply, most move with a sense of design; Frankfurt feels like things move precisely as quickly as a team of German engineers have deemed possible after a...

The city of Kaş is nestled about halfway between Fethiye and Antalya.  A popular vacation spot, it boasts a fantastic boardwalk of restaurants featuring authentic Turkish cuisine set against a stunning backdrop of the working harbour blending into the endless aqua ocean.  While certainly a tourist town, Kaş is typically visited by more Turkish vacationers than most of the traditional hotspots which ensures that it feels less changed to meet the perceived tastes of international visitors.  The prices are reasonable, the variety fantastic, and the scenery to die for – a truly spectacular spot to spend some time. The whole town is filled with cues that this is a place...

The Turkish coastline doesn’t get the same press as the beaches of Croatia or islands of Greece, but it should.  The marriage of the crystal clear aqua colored water with the dramatic cliffs and numerous islands dotting the horizon ensures that around every corner is a vista worthy of a postcard. I arrived into my first stop on the coast, Fethiye, fresh off a 13 hour bus ride from Göreme, and settled into my new home, the justifiably revered V-Go hostel.  I didn’t spend a lot of time documenting the city, which to my eyes, had a nice harbour but otherwise was somewhat unremarkable.  However, the real value to staying...

Göreme, one of the cities in Turkey’s Capadocia region is best described as what I expect the moon might look like.  The region is known for its distinct rock structures and more importantly, the incredible underground cities that existed within these rocks.  The other unique thing is the dozens of hot-air balloons that rise before 5:00am to float over the valley and watch the beautiful sunrise.  These are some of my most favourite photos I have ever taken and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Default Gallery Type Template This is the default gallery type template, located in: /home1/uhlmannc/public_html/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/nextgen_gallery_display/templates/index.php. If you're seeing this, it's because the...

Turkish Airlines is one of Staralliance’s golden children, offering some of the most comprehensive options for travel throughout Europe and Africa without charging fuel surcharges for most award redemptions and maintaining excellence in service while boasting one of the best business class lounges in the world. Flight: Turkish Flight 018 (YYZ-IST) Class: Business Seats: 2J & 2K Date: June 23, 2014 The cabin is laid out in 2-3-2 configuration which packs a LOT of business seats into a small area.  Unfortunately this means no matter what seat you choose, you are either going to be stuck (window seats), or risk having someone wake you up to get out of their...

Lufthansa’s first class service has been a permanent fixture in the list of aviation’s most exceptional flying experiences alongside other heavy hitters such as Singapore, Emirates, and more recently Qantas’ A380.  While first class in any of these airlines is a crash course in indulgence, Lufthansa is known for excellence and restraint, rather than opulence and spectacle (Emirates, I’m looking at you!)  Like sex, or perhaps pizza, there are no truly bad first class flights, there just happen to be some that have more goodness than others.  And a flight onboard Lufthansa’s first class has no shortage of goodness. Flight: Lufthansa Flight 492 (FRA-YVR) Class: First Aircraft: Boeing 747-400 (mostly)...