New Mexico is a great destination for people who look for nature and historic monuments on their travels, and most importantly who love it. Like I wrote in my last post on Santa Fe art scene, NM is filled with traditional culture and a wide variety of art, but their breathtaking views also deserved acknowledgment.
This state located in the southwestern region of the United States its landscape ranges from a wide variety of different deserts, broken mesas, heavily forested mountains and snow covered peaks. Today I’m going to be highlighting the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Although, New Mexico is filled with immense breathtaking landscape, I will focus on Kasha-Katuwe through pictures, because like state of Arizona’s Grand Canyon, this national monument emphasizes our smallness in this world.
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is located 40 miles southwest of the city of Santa Fe, near Cochiti Pueblo. This national parks covers a one-way trail covering 1.5 miles through a slot canyon and up a climb of 630 feet, to a lookout point where the tent rocks may be viewed from above.
Enjoy a few pictures I took while I was visiting. This is definitely an activity to keep in mind when visiting this state.
View from of Tent Rocks from above.One of the narrow passages on the trail.
The city of Santa Fe in New Mexico, was a very charming city. That possessed incredible nature landscapes, is filled with legendary history and culture, and with an incredible art scene that spans from the traditional to the contemporary. So, I’m going to be highlighting my favorite art related places that this city had to offer.
Any art enthusiast should pay a visit to this city, starting with visiting the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. This museum preserves and presents the incredible work of O’Keeffe.
Georgia O’Keeffe was one of the most significant artists of the 20th century (1887-1986), she dedicated her art to creating imagery that expressed “the wideness and wonder of the world as I live in it.”
She was mostly known for her paintings of large scale flowers that gave a magnifying effect to certain flowers
, while also being known by her colorful interpretations of New Mexico landscapes. She was recognized as “The Mother of American Modernism”. Her work can be said that it made commentary on the female sexuality, although that is my personal interpretation. I encourage everyone to go a look for her art… Nevertheless, these are some of my favorite pieces by her.
Blue Line (1919) Grey Lines with Black, Blue and Yellow, 1923.
Meow Wolf
At the other end of the spectrum, Meow Wolf is an interactive art experience currently located only in Santa Fe, but will be expanding to the cities of Las Vegas and Denver in 2020/2021.
They create an immersive and interactive experience that transport you into fantastic realms and perception of realities. That includes art installations, video and music production, and extended reality content.
It’s an incredible place that everyone should be able to experience, this place takes the spectator on a trip. With a multidimensional mystery house with secret passages, portals to magical worlds (with some portals being the refrigerator and washing machine). They have created a narrative filled with surreal, maximalist, mesmerizing art exhibits.
An incredible, incredible place that will transport you to a different world and most certainly make any art student/lover be filled with excitement and inspiration.
I can never share ALL of my favorite pictures from the places I visit. So here are another few of my favorites photos from Spain and Portugal. Accompany me while I reminisced through pictures from my time there last February.
The view I had one afternoon from my hotel room in Alvalade, Lisboa.“Torre de Belem”Another view from Cascais, Portugal.One of the amazing “Vitrales” (Stained glass) from the Fátima Sanctuary in Fátima, Portugal.Sinagoga Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo, Spain.Trujillo, Spain.Trujillo.Another view of Trujillo, Spain.Trujillo was definitely one of my favorite places of Spain (so far!)And of course, another picture of the MAAT in Lisboa.
This is the first collection of a few of my favorites pictures from my trips to Bogotá and Medellín.
Bogotá’s cityscape view from above
Up in El Cerro Monserrate, Bogotá.
Another view from Cerro Monserrate, Bogotá.Cerro MonserrateOutside Basilica Santuario del Señor de Monserrate, Bogotá.Getting ready to enter into the underground chapel – Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá.Inside the incredible Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá, (Salt Cathedral) in Bogotá.Up close to one of the many religious figures inside the chapel.View of Medellín from the Museum of Contemporary Art.Comuna 13, Medellín.Far away view of el Peñol de Guatapé, which is a 220 meter high monolith located in Guatapé, Antioquia.
The only way to get to the top of el Peñol de Guatapé is to go up the 740 steps…The views are worth it, this is one of the amazing views from the top of el peñol.Incredible landscape…In the center of the colorful little town of Guatapé.Guatapé’s own tuk-tuk…A glance of the daily lives of the citizens of Guatapé…
For the longest time, one of the most popular destinations in the Dominican Republic has been Punta Cana. Known for their repertoire of all-inclusive hotels, great service, great beaches but also competitive prices. And thanks to destinations like Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic has been at the top of the list of competitors for the top places to visit in the Caribbean.
Not that I have something against Punta Cana, on the contrary I love it. But is nice to sometimes look away and explore different options. Which is why I want to highlight a great place, that isn’t on most people interest or radar when it comes to the Dominican Republic. This is Puerto Plata, a province located on the north coast of the Atlantic, on car five hours away from Punta Cana.
This province is a great place to experience first hand the Dominican culture and hospitality of the people, while also enjoying natures greatest attractions.
Teleférico to the top of Isabel de Torres
This aerial tramway takes you up to 800 meters up to the top of Isabel de Torres, where you can find local shops, restaurants and a great view of the coastline of the city.
They also have a scale down replica of el Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro. This tour is a must in my list of top places to visit here.
The 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua
This is an incredible (and very physically demanding) excursion, where they take you on a journey through a rain forest near Puerto Plata, where the visitor can explore a series of cascading waterfalls, canyons, and bright crystal blue pools. You can either jump, swim or slide your way down the waterfalls. This place is really a must! I recommend you look up videos and more pictures of this tour because is truly incredible. Here’s more information about on it.
Fortaleza San Felipe
San Felipe’s Fortress also know as El Morro de San Felipe was the used in order to protect the city from pirates or other atackers in the 16th century. This fortification provides a great look on the history of the Dominican Republic. Now serves as a museum that’s available to the public and its located at the Puntilla del Malecón that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.
The reason I recommend this location is due to its similarities in context to other fortresses located in San Juan, PR (my home) and also because of the amazing view and pathway along the coast that it has. It makes for a great relaxing day, enjoying the breeze, with the possibility of also taking a dip in the ocean if you wanted to.
Puerto Plata is a great destination for travelers looking for a calmer and less crowed place than Punta Cana. It has great hotels and resorts, that measure up to the quality of the other provinces. It also offers a great nightlife environment with a lot of options to chose from when it comes to dancing merengue or perico ripiao‘ or salsa. I absolutely recommend this destination for anyone that has the option and the desire to get out of the norm. I also mention that the price in comparison to vacations based in Punta Cana, is substantially lower.
Somewhere outside of Havana…A man with a very nice camera in the center of Havana.Soy un guajiro de costa…Learning to make artisan tabacco in Viñales.Prehistoric Mural, Viñales.A beautiful sky in Trinidad.Grocery unit La Moderna in Trinidad.Trinidad.The easiest mode of transportation in Trinidad.The cutest couple I have ever seen. I really wanted to be their wedding photographer, but sadly couldn’t understand each other. I hope somehow they find this picture…
La propagación del virus COVID-19 a nivel mundial ha sido una situación sumamente dificíl que nos ha afectado a todos como individuos, como también a nuestra economia. No hay duda que esta situcación ha afectado a la gran mayoria de los trabajadores en todos los sectores de nuestra sociedad, pero hoy mi enfoque estará en el sector turístico.
(Relevante a este blog, menciono que Cuba el país del cual hable en mi último post, recientemente acaba de cerrar sus entradas al turismo como medida preventiva en contra al Corona Virus…)
Al turismo ser una actividad económica, que representa un gran porciento de las entradas de capital en muchos países, era inevitable que esta actividad no se viera afectada. Con todas las restricciones de viajes y cancelaciones en las salidas de cruceros que han sido implementadas en muchos paises, el turismo a nivel global ha sido afectado en gran escala. Culture Trip, es una página de artículos de viajes, que se ha mantenido actualizada con todas las noticias que han surgido (y siguen surgiendo) en los distintos paises con respecto al COVID-19, por lo que recomiendo su pagina.
En el contexto de Puerto Rico, en donde el turismo emplea a aproximadamente 80,000 personas, la orden ejecutiva 2020-23 que se decreto en la isla por dos semanas, ordenó el cierre del sector público y privado, para contener la propagación del virus. Lo cual ha significado grandes pérdidas para compañias y personas dentro de esta industria.
Líneas aereas han proyectado grandes recortes entre los meses de mayo y junio, mientras que compañias de cruceros como Carnival Cruise, Costa Cruises, Norweigan Cruise Line, Princess Cruise y la cadena de Royal Caribbean que incluye los cruceros Celebrity y Azamara han parado sus operaciones en las regiones del Caribe, Europa y Asia hasta mediados de abril.
Estas medidas se han tomado como un metodo de prevención, para disminiur el contacto de las personas; lo cual es lo correcto en estas circumstancias.
Pero ademas de la entrada de turistas a la isla, otros sectores de la industria se han visto afectados como los son: las agencias de viajes, mayoristas, operadores de viajes, taxistas, trabajadores de hoteles, paradores, centro de atracciones (como Toro Verde y el Yunque), guías turísticos y los negocios locales que se nutren del movimineto de visitantes.
Toro Verde, Orocovis PR.
La reducción de demanda aerea y cancelaciones de reservas por el temor al virus + las estrictas restricciones estipuladas por los distintos gobiernos, han sido factores que han afectado al turismo en Puerto Rico, como al igual que en muchas otras partes del mundo. Y las indicaciones de expertos sobre los efectos del COVID-19, dicen que se podrian asimiliar a la crisis causada por la recesición del 2008!
La directora de la Compañía de Turismo de de Puerto Rico (CTPR), Carla Campos ha mencionado: “Estamos hablando de muchas empresas y empleos que están en la línea. En la medida que el sector turístico a nivel global se recupere, nosotros estaremos en posición de hacer lo propio”…
Esta situación ha afectado a la industria de tal manera, que era imposible para mí, el no mencionarla. Sin duda, hay que tener en cuenta lo que esta pasando con el turismo a nivel mundial, pero también es importante saber lo que esta pasando en nuestros propios paises, para así poder tomar las mejores medidas con respecto a futuros viajes. Por lo que los invito ha informarse más sobre el tema, con estos artíclos por El Nuevo Dia y NotiCel, que nos ayuda a poner en perspectiva el gran alcance que tiene esta crísis en el sector turístico de la isla.
Cuba as a travel destination has been in it’s peek for some years now. And for good reason. People are enamored with the nostalgia, with having a look into a country that seems like it has been frozen in time (for very serious political history that we won’t talk about here).
The must knows of Cuba
Every visitor should download before arriving the ConoceCuba App, it’s an offline map that has all the important information. But since the internet access it’s not the best there, it’s important to downloaded before hand.
What I learned from my time there, is that internet access is very limited in the country. International cellular carriers don’t really work there either. So, the visitor has to connect to the public wifi that is available in a few parks or hotels. This is possible through an internet card, which are like scratch off cards that provide you 5hrs of internet access. I recommend buying the 10$ packet that gives you twenty 5hrs cards, than buying one by one.
Also is good to know, that the way they handle their currency it’s a little strange. The have a separate type of peso (dollar), just for the tourist, the CUC. The locals have a different kind of currency, the CUP. When the tourist exchanges their currency from the U.S. Dollar or Euro to the Cuban Peso, it usually worths more that what the average folk have there. This is a complicated topic in itself, if your interested, this site really explains it in detail.
existenti.art 