Wish You Were Here
Travel is on hold in these strained times, but there’s comfort and delight in sharing our readers’ adventures from just a few months ago.
Castro Valley residents Richard (behind the camera) and Peg Maurer met up with friends, including Santa Rosa’s Susan Hou, at Pinnacles National Park in February to RV camp and hike the Bear Gulch Cave Trail, pictured. “The park trails offer loads of scenic variety and geological interest,” Peg says, “and are of various levels of difficulty.”
TRAVEL TIP: If you’re planning a trip later on, know that the east entrance to the park has “nice camping and RV sites,” Peg says. “Bring a flashlight for the cave trail. Visit during cool seasons for comfortable weather and no crowds.”
SOUTH AFRICA: A 10-day trip to South Africa and Botswana took Clayton resident Denise Vouri to the Lion and Safari Park about an hour from Johannesburg for “an hour-long cheetah interaction with CJ (pictured), a 7-year-old male who is very mellow, hand raised and very comfortable living in this park,” Denise says. “All the animals here have been rescued and will never be sold or put back into the wild.”
TRAVEL TIPS: If you eventually go, book the excursion online and opt for “an early morning tour as the animals are more lively and it is not as hot. The Lion Safari Park has two good restaurants and a snack shop that has soft drinks, water, chips, etc. I arranged for their car to pick me up at my hotel and then deliver me back four hours later.”
MOROCCO: This winter, San Jose’s Ahmed family — from left, Rubina, Farhad, Afra and Tausif — visited Tangier on the Strait of Gibraltar, where you can see the point at which the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea.
TRAVEL TIPS: “Other key cities to visit are Fez, Marrakech and the coastal city of Essaouria. You can visit Ait Ben-had-dou, spend time walking through the souk in Marrakech, and visit the oldest running university, the University of al-karaouine.” The university was founded by a Muslim woman, Fatima al-fihri, in 859in Fez.