La Quebrada Cliff Divers in Acapulco, Mexico

On February 3, 2022February 3, 2022 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Mexico2 Comments

One of the highlights of visiting Acapulco is going to see the famous La Quebrada Cliff Divers. La Quebrada is the name of the cliffs where the divers climb to perform the death-defying dives into the narrow water below. The divers are all professionals of various ages that perform daily for the crowds that come to cheer them on. We chose to watch them from the La Perla restaurant in the El Mirador Resort that made them famous, but there is an observation deck where you can see them even closer without the expense of a meal.

La Quebrada Cliff Lit Up for the Performance

The divers perform one show during the day at 1pm and then they do four performances in the evening at 7:30, 8:30, 9:30, and 10:30. While the afternoon performance might be best from a photographic perspective, seeing them in the evening is quite impressive. We chose to go to the 7:30 show as we were able to watch a beautiful sunset around 6:30 as we enjoyed our meal and waited for the divers to start their performance. Just sitting and enjoying the beautiful views of the La Quebrada cliffs and the water crashing into the “Gulch” is a worthwhile experience.

Prior to the start of the performance, some of the younger divers came out to dive from the smaller cliffs below the observation deck. In addition to practicing the diving skills and warming up, it was also their responsibility to clear away any seaweed that had been brought in by the tide. It was surprising to see how young some of the divers actually were, but they made sure to dive from the lower cliffs. Once the main divers arrived, also working they way down through the crowds on the observation deck, they also dove into the water and swam around in order to loosen up for the performance.

Lobby of the Resort with Famous Tarzan Actor Photograph

Once it was time for the performance to begin, the first of the divers began the climb up the steep cliff wall using only his hands and his bare feet to scale to the top of the cliff. Then other divers started to climb the cliff with several of them going to a perch just below the summit. Each diver then patiently eyed the water below before leaping from the cliff and soaring through the air and into the water below. It is quite a fascinating show and certainly worth seeing when visiting Acapulco.

Why a Costa Rica Adventure is What We All Need Post-Pandemic?

On February 22, 2021February 22, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Central America10 Comments

Today we are featuring a post from our friends at POC (Pacuare Outdoor Center) who provide guided adventures in the amazing country of Costa Rica.

With a year of being locked up and spending more time on our couches and opening our refrigerators than any other time in our lives, the one thing we all want to do is travel! Costa Rica is a close and comfortable destination to get us back into our groove. Costa Rica is a country that has grown over the last 30 years with a model of ecotourism and adventure for all levels.

Location

First, Costa Rica is far enough away but at the same time close enough to be a big trip but nothing too crazy. In most hub airports, you will get direct flights into San Jose (SJO) or Liberia Airport (LIR). The flight times from NY are slightly under 5 hours, and the best part is if you are flying from North America, you will not have a drastic time-zone change. Even those who have traveled a lot need to get back into our rhythm at the right place, and taking our first trip in a similar time-zone will have its benefits.

The People

The second is the people. There are fewer countries on the planet that you will find to be as friendly and inviting as the Costa Ricans. While some of us might be experts on cultures and immersing ourselves in other countries, we have to remember we have been sitting on our couches for a year. As mentioned above, we want to make things easy for us, and traveling around Costa Rica is like being in a country that everyone is your friend. It’s a great place to get our international social skills back in tune.

Adventure

Finally, this is probably the most important reason why we think Costa Rica is what everyone needs post-pandemic. Costa Rica is pretty much all open-air, no matter where you go. Visiting Costa Rica is about getting outside and enjoying the natural wonders it has to offer. Along with its natural beauties, Costa Rica is a top adventure destination for many different sports like rafting, SUP, canyoneering, MTB, hiking to volcanoes, and the list goes on.

We lost a year of jolting our mind into the “awe-moments” we refer to when traveling. We need a few good awe-moments on our first trip back, and adding some adventure to the itinerary is a great way to make it happen. Costa Rica offers adventures for all different levels, from those looking for a high adventure to a more relaxed birding tour and everything in between.

Your local adventure experts in Costa Rica are Pacuare Outdoor Center. This is a team of adventure and nature-loving guides that operate set date adventure for small groups throughout the year. You can also customize your own tours, and they will design a package tailored to you and the type of adventure you are looking for.

So there you have it. Your post-pandemic cure for 12 months of not traveling. If you are looking to not change time-zones but still want a big trip then Costa Rica is not too far but located just far enough. Also, we have never been locked up for 12 months before so our social skills might be slightly out of tune in which case the easy option is to travel to the overly-friendly country of Costa Rica, and finally, it’s probably time to get active and involve some adventure in your itineraries and Costa Rica is filled with options for everyone.

Seeing Beautiful Sunsets in Exotic Locations

On January 12, 2021January 12, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Blogging, Travel Tips4 Comments

It doesn’t matter where we travel to, but we always like taking photographs of sunsets. As beautiful as they are wherever you may be, there is something extra special when you are in an exotic location. We don’t always take photographs of them and sometimes just sit and relax while watching the sun descend to the horizon. Also, sometimes we don’t have our camera with us, so we take them with our phones, but that doesn’t diminish the beauty of the image. We have put several of our favorite sunset photographs from some of our more unique travels here.

When we were in Ecuador, we stayed at an ecolodge that was located deep in the Amazon Rainforest. On our first night there, we climbed up to the observation deck and had the opportunity to see this wonderful sunset. You’ll have to use your imagination to hear the monkeys and birds that were all around us in the treetops.

During our three day cruise in Halong Bay in Vietnam, we saw several amazing sunsets. We even saw a few sunrises as well, but the sunsets were much more vivid. It really didn’t matter what time of day it was to enjoy the scenery, but watching the sunset from the deck of the boat was certainly a highlight.

While we were in Bolivia, we visited Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The following day we took a boat out to see Sun Island and Moon Island and our day started with rain showers. The gathering clouds during the evening before added to the sunset.

Sailing down the Nile River in Egypt from Luxor to Aswan provided some absolutely stunning sunsets. Something about the sand being blown into the air adds to the way that the sun reflects as it descends. It also signaled that the temperatures were about to drop, which was a massive relief considering how hot it was in Egypt.

View of the Sunset Over the Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos

Sunset from the Rooftop Restaurant in Laos

While in Vientiane, we spent the evening walking along the Mekong River that separates Laos from Thailand. There is a large park along the river and at night people from throughout the city gather to enjoy food and carnival rides.

Beautiful Colors as Sunset Ended in Acapulco, Mexico

Peak of a Sunset on a Twilight Cruise in Acapulco

We saw several wonderful sunsets while we were in Acapulco. We took a twilight cruise where we enjoyed drinks on the ship while we cruised along the coast. We also went to see the cliff divers, who perform shortly after the sun goes down, so we ate dinner prior to the show and watched the sunset. It made for a very relaxing evening.

It could be us, but there is something magical about sunsets with palm trees in the foreground. And any time you can capture the sun’s reflection on the water, it makes for a wonderful photograph. Looking back at some of these photographs makes us long to get to someplace exotic once again in the near future.