APO Travels

02/12/2020

12/07/2020

This seagull and its friends got used in getting feed from my hands for many years now. As long as I can remember I was asking my parents being a young boy to give me money so I can buy food and get a close encounter with my flying friends.
In 2020 someone could argue that Covid 19 gave us all the opportunity to come closer to nature than ever before. The entire world got a lot cleaner from CO2 emissions, the flora and fauna found peace and our world became a better place. Now that we seem to get back to normal, let's all not forget the good happened out of the misfortune of many human deaths. We need to learn from the planet that gave us a lesson on how it was able to heal it self. Let's not repeat the same mistakes because we will always know that more misfortunes may follow if we continue to ignore and disrespect the very world that gives us life!

21/06/2020

Awesome sailing say trip with the gang! Great to enjoy the Greek sea and sun.

18/05/2020

Bolivia’s DEATH ROAD: Would You Risk it?

This was one of the most exhilarating and fun experiences ever.

"Yungas Road, grimly known as ‘Death Road’ due to its notoriously high death rate, was cut into the side of the Cordillera Oriental Mountain chain in the 1930s by Paraguayan prisoners during the Chaco War.Surrounded by mountainous terrain and terrifying precipices, the winding road stretches 69kms from La Paz to Coroico, connecting the Amazonian rain-forest to the capital city.From La Paz, Yungas Road road climbs to around 4,650 meters (15,260 ft) at La Cumbre pass, before gradually descending to 1,200 meters (3,900 ft) at the town of Coroico. The drop in altitude means travelers experience both chilly conditions in the Altiplano highlands and hot humid conditions in the rain-forests below.

Since the 1950s, Death Road was the only link between La Paz and the Yungas region of Bolivia. It was not uncommon for crowded buses and trucks overloaded with people, wood and crops to overtake each other on the 3 meter hairpin turns, even at night. These perilous conditions meant many of the buses and trucks went down the side of the cliffs taking with them men, women and children, as well as a lot of people’s livelihoods.

A combination of single track roads, 900m high cliffs, rainy weather, limited visibility, rockfalls, and lack of guardrails, has resulted in many motorists plummeting to their death.It is estimated that 200 to 300 drivers were killed yearly along Yungas Road and as late as 1994 there were cars falling over the edge at a rate of one every two weeks.One of Bolivia’s most tragic road accidents happened on July 24th 1983 when an overcrowded bus veered off the side of the road and into a canyon killing more than 100 passengers.Lining the side of Death Road, you will find an unsettling number of crosses and altars marking some of the many spots where people lost their lives. It is no shock to learn that in 1995, the Inter-American Development Bank dubbed Yungus Road “The World’s Most Dangerous Road”.

17/05/2020

This magical place gives you a kick in the back to remember!

"Salar De Uyuni is the world's second largest salt flat, at 10582 𝐬𝐪 𝐤𝐦." It is that large that can be seen with naked eye from the International Space Station, 480km above Earth's surface. "It is in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosí in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes at an elevation of 3,656 meters above sea level.

The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness with the average elevation variations within one meter over the entire area of the Salar. The crust serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of brine, which is exceptionally rich in lithium. It contains 50% to 70% of the world's known lithium reserves according to a 2009 Foreign Policy article by Joshua Keating. The large area, clear skies, and exceptional flatness of the surface make the Salar ideal for calibrating the altimeters of Earth observation satellites.

Following rain, a thin layer of dead calm water transforms the flat into the world's largest mirror, 129 kilometres across."


@ Salar de Uyuni

16/05/2020

You know in life there are moments that are stuck in our memory forever......this was one of mines. You can find this amazing lake somewhere deep in the desert heading towards the Chilean borders from Uyuni, Bolivia.

The many beautiful flamingos add up to the crazily surreal colorful ground formations finishing up to the snow mountain peaks and blue sky. I was so stunned that literally I couldn't quite grasp whether I was witnessing reality or I was in a dream. Such moments that truly make you "rich" and take your breath away are the moments worth living for.

Our travel lives has been deeply affected with this world pandemic, but these places are not......so when you get the chance again, go out there and search for your moments!

15/05/2020

I took this trip to perhaps the most beautiful vistas I ever witnessed in my life back in November 2012. Back then I had only a digital camera and what you see makes no justice.

The jaw-dropping Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) has been placed alongside the Salar de Uyuni salt flats as ‘Bolivia’s most incredible natural wonder.’ It’s not hard to understand why when you see its beauty, peculiarity and spectacular setting. The water of the lake is only one meter deep and magnificently shifts between deep blue and dark red. Despite folklore suggesting that the water is the blood of Gods, the bloody red color is in fact caused by red sediments and algae in the water.

Laguna Colorada is located close to the Chilean border and stretches across 6000 hectares. Dotted across the lagoon are white borax island, whose color contrasts with that of the water. The various colours across the lake combine with the clear blue sky and distant snow-capped Andes mountains to create a setting that photographers all around the world are desperate to capture.

One of Laguna Colorada’s biggest attractions is spotting the flocks of flamingos that settle here. Three of the world’s six species of flamingo are found here because of the abundance of plankton in the lake. The largest population of the incredibly rare James’ Flamingo can be found here. Amazingly, the James’ Flamingo was even thought to be extinct until a small population was rediscovered in 1956. Although they are plentiful here, they remain a continually threatened specie and are still classified as endangered. The other two species of flamingo that you will come across here are the Chilean and Andean.

Those who want to see the flamingos should come during the summer as the lake is packed with them at this time of year. Whereas, the handful that remain during the Winter are the ones who don’t have the strength to migrate from the bitter cold season.

Interesting fact: Flamingos are born with white and grey feathers, which gradually turn pink because of a natural pink dye called canthaxanthin which comes from the food they eat. The red algae in Laguna Colorada stains their feathers to a beautiful vibrant pink.

11/10/2019

my ! 😭

13/07/2019

The ruins of Ta Prohm are one of the most intriguing sights in . Built by the empire, they are thought to be around 1000 years old and were abandoned in the 17th century with the fall of the Empire.

The temple became famous after the release of the film Tomb Raider and whilst the movie took artistic liberties with Angkor Wat, it keeps quite true to the appearance of Ta Prohm.

Keep your eye out for the mysterious stegosaurus carving in the stone of this temple! It's not sure whether the stonemason based the design on this dinosaur or just a rhino or chameleon - search it out and come to your own decision.

09/12/2018

When you are looking for the perfect you.........find it!

10/11/2018

On of the wonders in the world during a majestic moment! It was worth the wakey wakey at 4am!