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Oktoberfest, Leavenworth

I couldn’t afford the flight to Munich this year so I decided on the next best thing, Leavenworth! The drive to Leavenworth was amazing as you come down from Stevens Pass and start to follow the Wenatchee River. Fall was in full effect with stunning pockets of yellow and red amongst the evergreens. We eventually arrived in the Bavarian themed town and checked in to our hotel for the weekend. It took us all of a few minutes to get into our Lederhosen, fill our steins and start the festivities. As the rest of the team showed up we went on a big pub crawl and showed that town how to party!

The next day we all woke up feeling a little slow but slipped right back into our Lederhosen which smelled a little more of mustard and beer than the previous night. After a good breakfast we headed into the festival and got our steins filled for round 2. The festival works on a ticket system with each ticket costing you 1 USD. A beer will run you 7 tickets and a bratwurst costing 5 tickets. Tickets are non-refundable so make sure you do the math before you start tying one on!

With all the admin out of the way we posted up at a table and began what we came there to do, drink beer! We danced to the Oom-Pah-Pah bands and chugged back our steins while meeting some great people along the way.

It may not have been the same as Munich but Leavenworth sure kicked some ass and definitely won this round…

Until next time my friends,

Foggy

Photo cred: @drubu

Tags: Beer, Leavenworth, Oktoberfest, USA, Washington State

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Categories Travel Tips

Elfin Lakes

30 Sep

Itching to get out of the city again the boys decided to take a Friday night off drinking to get an early start Saturday. With coffees in hand Alex, Cormac, Mike and I were on our way to Elfin Lakes in Garibaldi Provincial Park. Just over an hour later we were at the trail head with back packs on ready to roll. There wasn’t much to look at the first half of the hike but it soon opened up to great views of Mt. Garibaldi.

We eventually got to Elfin Lakes and set up camp on one of the wooden platforms.

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With some extra gas in the tank we continued on to Opal Cone to get a great view of the glaciers.

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After the long hike back it was time to dip into the beer rations for the night and enjoy a swim in the lake.

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The next day we woke up and enjoyed breakfast with one of the best views nature has to offer.

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After breakfast we hiked up to The Gargoyles these great lava formations above Elfin Lakes.

On our way down we shared the trail with a black bear but luckily it was more interested in the foliage than 4 handsome young men.

We packed up our gear and it was time to say goodbye to another great weekend spent in the British Columbia back-country.

Until next time!

Foggy

Tags: Beer, British Columbia, Camping, Canada, Elfin Lakes, Garibaldi, Hiking, Man Time, Opal Cone, Swimming, Wildlife

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Categories Travel Tips

Nairobi Nights

5 Dec

Nairobi gets a bad rap as a dangerous city that you don’t want to spend a lot of time in but if you know the right people and places you can have a pretty wild time. I was lucky to make friends with a great local that loved to party so we naturally got along like a house on fire. Nairobi has something for everyone from cheap local shot bars to glow stick trance parties. Westlands is a great area to go out in as you can hit up a lot of bars all in one strip. All that being said Nairobi is still dubbed Nairobery so always have your wits about you as you can still get yourself into unsafe situations. Always take a taxi after dark no matter how short the distance as I learned from experience even the police can be out for the money in your wallet. Guys, also remember no matter how into you the girl seems to be make sure to ask if she’s a hired lady as it can make for an awkward night.

Foggy

Tags: Africa, Beer, Bribes, Crime, Drinking, Friends, Kenya, Money, Nairobi, Party, Theft, Women

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Categories Hospitality, Travel Tips

The Iron Snake

3 Dec

The train from Mombasa to Nairobi costs more than a bus, takes more time and is frequently delayed. One might ask why anyone would take it but it’s all about the experience. Make sure to not have a tight connection on the other side as the train can take an extra 8 hours on some trips. Once on board head to the dinner car and enjoy some ice cold Tusker beers. The stops will be frequent and long and you will never know when the train will start up again but it’s all apart of the fun. Also remember to bring toilet paper as 18 hours on a train without any can get interesting very fast.

Foggy

Photo Credit: Jonathan Fontaine

Tags: Africa, Beer, Drinking, Friends, Iron Snake, Kenya, Mombasa, Nairobi, Train

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Categories Travel Sites, Travel Tips

Buy me a soda

22 Nov

In East Africa you will come upon the phrase “buy me a soda” a few times (if me quite a lot). Africans love their soda but at this point they don’t actually want you to buy them one. This is a code word for a little bribe to either get things going quicker or to get yourself out of some trouble you may have gotten into. With all bargaining try to start low but when it comes to border patrol or people in government roles soda prices are generally fixed. Good luck with your soda purchases and even though everyone knows what is going on always be discreet.

Foggy

Tags: Africa, Bribes, Burundi, Kenya, Money, Tanzania, Tips, Uganda

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Categories Travel Tips

Generator Please

19 Nov

I spent the night in Dar es Salaam and was slammed by the heat. When finding a hotel room for the night I made sure my shoebox of a room at least had a fan in it. What I did not know was that the city suffers from multiple power outages making my fan useless throughout the night. I slowly melted into my bed as it felt more like sleeping in a swimming pool of my own perspiration. So when traveling to Dar es Salaam make sure your hotel has a generator unless you want to drop down to the next weight class overnight.

Foggy

Tags: Africa, Dar es Salaam, Sweating, Tanzania, Tips

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Categories Travel Tips

The Black Market

12 Nov

Have you ever wondered where your nice camera or laptop goes after you’re robbed? In East Africa the black market trade is actually pretty sophisticated. Anything stolen in Kampala will immediately get sent to another major city like Bujumbura or Kigali so there is no way of tracing it. From there the goods are sold and whatever extra the seller gets for the product he keeps and then sends the rest to where the good came from. You can get almost anything for very cheap if you know the ‘right’ people but this traveler decided to keep Karma on his side and turned down the temptation.

Foggy

Tags: Africa, Black Market, Bujumbura, Burundi, Kampala, Kigali, Rwanda, Uganda

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Categories Travel Tips

Rwanda Border

4 Nov

I was told that for Canadians you had to obtain your visa online before you got to the border. The form is very simple to fill out and can be found at the following address https://www.migration.gov.rw/singleform.php. It tells you that it will get back to you within three days with your visa in an attachment you will print out and take to the border. Three turned into five and I still had not received anything, so I said screw it and headed to the border. We got there early in the morning and they certainly were not happy about me not having a visa but American dollars always seem to smooth things over in Africa and I got my stamp and entry into the country. Another thing to remember at the border is that plastic bags are illegal in Rwanda so leave them at home as your bag gets thoroughly searched for the contraband and you can be subsequently fined.

Foggy

Tags: Africa, Border, Money, Passport, Rwanda, Tips, Visa

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Categories Story Time, Travel Tips

Mzungu the Local Celebrity

3 Nov

While wandering through East Africa you will begin to wonder who is this Mzungu you keep hearing about. You always seem to just miss him as people always start yelling his name while you are around. Mzungu is obviously the word for a foreigner and as a white man in Africa you kind of stick out a little… Children run to the road side to shout out your Mzungu name and wave at you. It’s definitely fun but after a while this travel bum realized this is the closest he’s ever getting to celebrity status. Until next time my Mzungu’s.

Foggy