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From the miniature villages of the typical José Franco village to the historical monumentality of the palace and the hunting lodge, as we wander through the interior of Mafra, we rediscover an inescapable domain of Portuguese identity.

Ericeira has long been a land of fearless seafarers, the site of some of Portugal's most memorable moments in history. When, in 2008, the A21 motorway made it more accessible and, shortly afterwards, it was declared Europe's only World Surfing Reserve, it began to dazzle the world, in addition to the holidaymakers of Lisbon and Torres Vedras.

Ever since it was occupied by Christians and Saracens, Venetians, Ottomans and, later, Cretans and Greeks, between 1903 and 1957, the arid Spinalonga was home to a lazaretto. When we disembarked there, it was uninhabited, but thanks to its dramatic past, it was one of the most visited places in Greece.

Almost 80% of Gabon's territory is made up of dense tropical forest. The Loango National Park is located at the lush confluence of this forest with the Atlantic coast. It is made up of lagoons, wide, dark rivers, and a savannah on sand dotted with pockets of mysterious jungle. Elephants, buffaloes, gorillas, chimpanzees, sitatungas, and wild boars roam it. An endless number of species from a protected and prodigious terrestrial domain.

Almost half a millennium after its founding, Caracas has been on the wrong path. The Bolivarian Revolution led by Hugo Chávez and the solidification of a pseudo-communist ideology isolated Venezuela from the “Western world”. A victim of obvious socioeconomic degradation, even with the paradisiacal scenery of the Caribbean Sea in sight, it has become one of the most dangerous and rejected capitals on the face of the Earth.

In 1730, the Portuguese added Porto Novo to their slave trading posts in the Gulf of Guinea and increased the number of slaves sent to Brazil. After Brazil's independence in 1822 and successive revolts, slaves and even slave traders created a movement to return to their African origins. Today, Porto Novo is the capital of Benin and one of the Beninese cities that has been influenced by these so-called slaves. sharp.

Located in the far east of Uzbekistan, in the Fergana Valley, Margilan was one of the essential stops on the Silk Road. Since the 10th century, the silk products produced there have made it stand out on maps; today, haute couture brands compete for its fabrics. More than just a prodigious center of artisanal creation, Margilan values ​​and cherishes an ancient Uzbek way of life.

Built in 1857 by a king determined to rule from his own capital, Mandalay succumbed to bombs dropped by the Japanese during World War II. After independence from Britain, the young city regained its place at the foot of the hill of the same name and in the soul of the Brahmans.

For an hour, we flew over the immense tropical expanse that separates the capital Brazzaville from the small riverside town of Ouésso. From its banks, we ascended the Sangha River to the Cameroonian national park of Lobéké, in a landscape still very much of “Heart of Darkness".

Discovering the Western Visayas archipelago, we set aside a day to travel from Iloilo along the northwest coast of Guimaras. The beach tour along one of the Philippines’ countless pristine coastlines ends on the stunning Ave Maria Island.

It is near the arch of Cabo San Lucas that the long and eccentric peninsula of Baja California opens out into the Pacific Ocean. In 1535, Cortés explored the region and discovered that it was not an island, as had been indicated by navigators he had sent earlier. From 1920 onwards, American interest and investment made it one of Mexico's most revered beach resorts.

Between 1915 and 24, Oatman became one of the largest gold producers in the American West. During World War II, the US government ordered the mines to close and, until 2, the town profited from the famous Route crossing it. With the local stretch of the road also abandoned, the charm of its history, Western scenery and wandering donkeys gave it a new lease of life.

Camped on an island in the Sangha River, we set out to discover the Lobéké and Wali Bai national parks, Nouabalé-Ndoki, in Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. There we are surprised by stunning but disparate creatures.  

After thirteen days of walking from the distant Chame, we arrive at Marpha. Sheltered at the foot of a hill, on the edge of the Gandaki River, Marpha is the last preserved and charming village on the route. The excessive construction work along the F042 route that would take us back to Pokhara has forced us to shorten the second part of the Annapurna Circuit.

Discovering the westernmost reaches of Vagar, the westernmost of the large Faroese islands, we travel along the SØrvag fjord. Where the road gives way, we are dazzled by the Múlafossur waterfall and, above, the intrepid, almost uninhabited village of Gásadalur.

Located east of the Libombo mountain range, the natural border between eSwatini, Mozambique and South Africa, KaMsholo has 700 hectares of savannah dotted with acacia trees and a lake, habitats for a prolific fauna. Among other explorations and excursions, we interacted with the largest of species there.

Part of its current area was already protected before the turn of the 1926th century. Declared the first national park in the Rainbow Nation in XNUMX, the Kruger National Park has continued to expand. Today, the XNUMXth largest in Africa, it is home to the coveted Big Five and a multitude of other species.

The Washington Slagbaai National Park occupies a rugged, cactus-filled expanse in the northwest corner of Bonaire. During the slave-owning era, the Dutch used it as their main production base, producing salt, goat meat, timber and other commodities. In the late 70s, in order to protect its unique biomes and landscapes, they declared it a nature sanctuary.

We drive from the deep meanders of the Blyde River to the picturesque ex-colonial settlement of Pilgrim's Rest and the Sudwala Caves. Mile after mile, the province of Mpumalanga reveals its grandeur.

Until 2018, much of the slopes of the Tenorio volcano (1916m) remained inaccessible and unknown. That year, the construction of a steep road paved the way to the station creak from El Pilón. From the current entrance, we complete almost 9km of lush vegetation along the Celeste River, its waterfalls, lagoons and thermal springs.

Created in 1979 with the aim of preventing the extinction of precious cattle nguni, Mkhaya has taken on a mission that is just as important, if not more so. It preserves specimens of much of the region's threatened indigenous fauna. Particularly noteworthy are rhinos (white and black) that local rangers are proud to always reveal.

Such was the impetus for Catholic proselytism at the founding of Puebla de Los Angeles in the 5426th century that some chroniclers reported a church there for every day of the year. Puebla has almost two hundred and ninety. In a baroque and majestic ex-colonial domain, the challenge of Popocatépetl (XNUMXm), Mexico's “smoking mountain”.

In the 1966th and 300th centuries, Bridgetown was home to the British Army and Navy Headquarters for the West Indies. In XNUMX, after XNUMX years, Barbados gained its independence. Garrison and, in particular, the racecourse-lawn at its heart exalt the vigor of the young nation.

A French colonist settled on the flooded banks of the Atchafalaya River, when it was still under alternating French and Spanish control. In Franklin, we are impressed by the historical and architectural heritage created by the owners of sugar cane plantations and the slaves who worked them.

The name of the Tortuguero region has an obvious and ancient reason. Turtles from the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea have long flocked to the black sand beaches of its narrow coastline to spawn. On one of the nights we spent in Tortuguero we watched their frenzied births.

Irrigated by clouds arriving from the North Atlantic, the lush, green highlands of Fanal are ideal for cattle grazing. Cattle already seem to be part of the magical landscape and not even human incursions like ours seem to affect their routine.

During our visit to the tabanca, at a glance, the djidius (poet musicians)  mandingas are organized. Two of the village's prodigious balaphonists take the lead, flanked by children who imitate them. Megaphone singers at the ready, sing, dance and play guitar. There is a chora player and several djambes and drums. Its exhibition generates successive shivers.

As the name suggests, the Fogón de Lola de Guapiles serves dishes prepared on the stove and in the oven, according to Costa Rican family tradition. In particular, Tia Lola's.

Karanga natives of the KwaNemamwa village display traditional Bira dances to privileged visitors to the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. the most iconic place in Zimbabwe, the one who, after the decree of colonial Rhodesia's independence, inspired the name of the new and problematic nation.  

Diogo Cão landed in this cape of Africa in 1486, installed a pattern and turned around. The immediate coastline to the north and south was German, South African, and finally Namibian. Indifferent to successive transfers of nationality, one of the largest seal colonies in the world has maintained its hold there and animates it with deafening marine barks and endless tantrums.

Eurides Fátima de Barros was born in the interior of the Miranda region. 38 years ago, he settled in a small business on the side of BR262 that crosses the Pantanal and gained an affinity with the alligators that lived on his doorstep. Disgusted that once upon a time the creatures were being slaughtered there, she began to take care of them. Now known as Maria dos Jacarés, she named each of the animals after a soccer player or coach. It also makes sure they recognize your calls.

It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.

Sheltered from unwanted social pressures, the islanders of Hailuoto they know how to sustain themselves. Under the icy sea of ​​Bothnia they capture precious ingredients for the restaurants of Oulu, in mainland Finland.

Euthymius was a fourteenth-century Russian ascetic who gave himself body and soul to God. His faith inspired Suzdal's religiosity. The city's believers worship him as the saint he has become.

On Friday nights, a group of ladies occupy tables at Independencia Park and bet on trifles. The tiniest prizes come out to them in combinations of cats, hearts, comets, maracas and other icons.

From New Zealand to Easter Island and from here to Hawaii, there are many variations of Polynesian dances. Fia Fia's Samoan nights, in particular, are enlivened by one of the more fast-paced styles.

After a long flight or sequence of flights, he arrives at the hotel on a slop, but has to wait to be admitted to his room. Find out what you can do to prevent or soften this drama.

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When traveling, it happens that we find ourselves confronted with the lack of time to explore a place as unmissable as it is high. Medicine and previous experiences with Altitude Evil dictate that we should not risk ascending in a hurry.