We arrived in Barreal late at night. The next day was for adventure – but first a tour of some  wineries and inns, so we could see where adventurers might spend comfortable evenings enjoying gourmet food and wine.

Piedras Bayas , in operation for about 5 years, creates excellent boutique Malbecs and Shiraz.

Only about 25,000 bottles a  year are produced and unfortunately not available outside Argentina at this time.

A rich Malbec reflected in the warm desert sunshine.

We went on to a delightful desert inn – Posada Don Ramon.

The adobe hallway.

Satellite internet is available at 256 k .

Posada Los Patos is an excellent getaway.

In winter  the entire inn is heated b y fire. In the day it is 15 C , about 59 F , but at night the temperature drops to -15 C or about 8 F.

Incredible views from bed !

FOR ADVENTURES IN ARGENTINA, CLICK HERE

San Juan is a great little city located about 160 km north of Mendoza. ArcticTropic was in town for morning meetings before heading to Calingasta, in the western part of the province. Having a few hours left before departure to the deserts , I decided to explore the city. THe first stop was Casa Sarmiento – the birthplace of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento who was President of Argentina from 1868 to 1874 and is credited with Argentina’s many modern advancements of the era.

Afterwards, a somber stop to memorialize the young soldiers who died fighting the British in the brief but bitter war in the Malvinas during the winter of 1982. Perhaps the antiaircraft gun above shot down a few Harriers.

A memorial plaque.

The Syrian-Lebanese Club . The Lebanese have always been one of the more successful groups in Argentina – including President Menem.

A view from  the 35 meter bell tower of the local cathedral.

Aguma – one of Argentina’s best wines. San Juan Province is rapidly gaining recognition as a new,exciting wine producing region. Aguma is not yet available in the USA.

This past June ArcticTropic and family took an extended Western journey covering California,Arizona and Nevada. One of our stops was Death Valley, the second hottest place on Earth – with an all time high of 134 degrees. In Libya 136 has been recorded, but Death valley has 130 + temperatures more often.

In general there is almost no vegetation. Years can go by without any significant rainfall. Water can arrive in the form of floods from far away cloudbursts or snow melt.

As it was only June the temperature was just 110 in the shade, 130 in the sun. This picture was taken at 8:30 in the morning.

The lowest place in North America, 282 ( 87 m) feet below Sea Level.

Dried up sea bed – all salt.

Those who don’t plan in advance will pay through the nose at the only gas station.

Skateboarding though Death Valley.

Onwards to the snowy Sierras !

FOR ADVENTURES IN THE UNITED STATES, CLICK HERE

On Sunday morning , May 8th. I flew from Miami to Newark to board Continental Flight 99 – a 16 hour, 8450 mile flight to Hong Kong. The flight took off at 3:25 PM . Five minutes later we were over Lower Manhattan.

Less than two hours and and a thousand miles later we were over Northern Quebec – still frozen in May.

After cloudy Baffin Land ( Nunavut ) we cross Greenland.

Northern Greenland – only a few hundred miles from the North Pole.

A Frozen fjord. Note last year’s icebergs trapped below. The local time is close to Midnight.

We cross the Arctic Ocean and fly over the North Pole. Sunday becomes Monday. Above shot is Northern Siberia on Monday afternoon.

Over the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

Final approach to Chek Lap Kok.

Beautiful Tropical Monday evening landing.

After check- in to the hotel, off to explore the busting streets of Kowloon.

Kowloon Dance Hall.

Delicious Spicy Crab Dinner ! ArcticTropic is back on the ground in Asia !

Another traveling ArcticTropic friend, Bill Tubbs, of Bay Head NJ is currently in Morocco. He has taken some great pictures and we’re posting a few of them here. Above are the Medina walls in Essaouira. Essaouira is a fishing port few hundred klicks west of Marrakesh,where the desert meets the cold Atlantic Ocean. In summer it’s a great place to take a break from the 115 degree heat inland. Often the temperature doesn’t go above 70 !

Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah,Ouarzazate.

Driving up the Atlas Mountains.

In the Sahara near the Algerian Border

The German cites of Swapkomund and Windhoek seem out of place in the stark deserts and freezing coasts of Namibia. Namibia is unlimited adventure –safari, mountain climbing, desert treks, four wheeling, surfing and even exploring for diamonds on the Skeleton Coast.

Your native guides will enable you to enter this world for a few precious days. Spend a night in a nomadic encampment and share this ancient way of life – you may drink camel’s milk, hear traditional music, and meet lovely people happy to welcome you to their home.

Mali is the true West African Adventure. The ancient cities of Timbuktu and Mopti are early African civilization centers. The Dogon and Tuareg tribes are fascinating to travel with.

Mauritania is mostly flat desert with some mountains in Adrar. The Atlantic beaches are completely undeveloped, except for a few fishing villages.

ArcticTropic currently features 3 Mauritanian destinations, with room for many more. Click HERE to visit the 3 Mauritania page directly.

The Gobi Desert and grassy steppes cover most of the vast nation – one of the coldest and driest in the world. The Gurvansaikhan Mountains are best for hunting and the lakes and rivers have some of the best fresh water fishing in the world.

FOR ADVENTURES IN MONGOLIA, CLICK HERE