Go Travel with Lindsey Bell

Today is Travel Agent Appreciation Day!! To say the last year has been frustrating would be a huge understatement. I’ve had multiple people ask me if I plan to continue working as a travel agent or if I will be giving it up. I truly love what I do, and helping all of you make your travel dreams come true...so I will stick this out as long as I have to until I can get back to planning your vacations!! I am very lucky to work with an amazing team at Go Travel, and toge...ther we have worked hard enough to be named the 10th best travel agency in all of Canada! We are all busy taking new training courses, staying up to date with the latest info, and coming up with fun new trips and ideas for all of our amazing clients! Thank you for sticking with me during these crazy times! I can’t wait to work with you all again soon! See more

Next stop on our virtual world tour. Stellenbosch, South Africa! South Africa’s second oldest town is famous for its fine wine, however it has so much more to offer! Surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges and nature preserves, Stellenbosch is the perfect addition to any trip to the western cape. The main activity in Stellenbosch is of course, visiting the winery’s and participating in wine tastings, with over 150 wine farms in the area, there is no shortage of tasting...s to be done! Visits to the winery’s can be done as private tours, bus tours, or even as tuk tuk or tuk-bus tours! For any wine lover - Stellenbosch is the perfect destination. The town of Stellenbosch is full of history and culture and offers so many activities to occupy your time there! Take a tour of town, either walking or by bike to learn about the history of this 300+ year old town. Visit a farmers market, the vibrant township theatre, the botanical or sculpture gardens, or one of the many art gallery or museums. Don’t forget to make a stop at Oom Samie se Winkel - a Victorian style general store that’s been around since 1904!! Stellenbosch is full of delicious cafes and coffee shops that are well worth a visit, or two! Outside of time, spend your days having picnics enjoying the incredible scenery, visiting one the strawberry farms or the Babylonstoren fruit gardens, visit Jonkershoek nature reserve for hiking or biking, and to enjoy some incredible mountain views! There is no shortage of things to do in this beautiful area of South Africa! So if you are planning a trip to the western cape region, make sure to add Stellenbosch to your list! Contact me for more info and to start planning! [email protected] See more

Next stop on the virtual world tour... Ometepe island, Nicaragua. Ometepe Island is an hourglass shaped island in Nicaragua made up of two twin volcanos - (Ometepe means two hills in the native náhuatl language). It is located in Lake Nicaragua - the largest freshwater lake in Central America! The two volcanoes can be seen from anywhere on the island. The active volcano, Concepción, can be found on the north of the island, and the dormant volcano, Maderas, on the south. B...oth volcanos can be hiked for incredible views of the island! Concepción being the most popular, but be prepared, it can be a bit of a difficult hike, especially considering the warm temperatures, but it’s totally worth the views! While visiting the island you can also visit the natural springs of La Ojo de Agua for a nice refreshing way of cooling down on this hot island, or visit the 64meter high San Ramon waterfall. Spend your days biking around the island, kayaking the Istian river, or viewing many of the pre-Colombian petroglyphs located around the island! If you are planning to visit Nicaragua, Ometepe is a must see!! Contact me for more info, and to start planning! [email protected]

Disneyland is ready to welcome you back!

Slowly but surely travel is returning! Way to go G Adventures for safely running trips during these crazy times! If you are wanting to sign up for a G Adventures trip (which I HIGHLY recommend) send me a message and I will help you find the best one for you! At no extra cost of course! [email protected]

Next up on our virtual world tour is Chiang Mai, Thailand. The city of Chiang Mai is a very popular stop for most travellers to Thailand. This northern city has so much to offer, and is a favourite city for many expats living in Thailand. While the city is very large, it is split up into different sections, each offering plenty of places to stay. We chose to stay near the popular tourist centre. Accommodation ranges from backpacker hostels to extravagant hotels. Chiang Mai ha...s so much to offer just within the city. You can spend your day visiting as many of the numerous amazing temples as you can, visit local cafes, and dine at some incredible restaurants. Make sure to visit the popular Sunday Night market, or the San Kamphaeng Road - known as the handicraft highway - to fill your shopping urges! And don’t forget to attend one of the very popular Thai cooking classes - so you can make your own delicious Thai food once you return home. There is a lively nightlife in Chiang Mai, with plenty of bars near the city centre. Another popular nighttime attraction is the Night Bazaar, I highly recommend checking out the Chiang Mai Ladyboy Cabaret Show located in the Bazaar as well! It was one of the most fun nights I had during my entire trip!! If you’ve had your fill of city based activities there are plenty of attractions and sights to visit outside Chiang Mai as well! Floating down rivers on bamboo rafts, hiking through the Thai jungle, visiting numerous waterfalls and swimming holes, there is so much to do!! You could spend the day relaxing and having fun at the Chiang Mai Grand Canyon, a former quarry, with beautiful views, the canyon is now filled with water and is a great place to swim, kayak, lounge, or enjoy the floating inflatables at the canyon! Another popular activity is climbing up the sticky waterfall (Bua Thong Waterfall) made spongy and porous from the mineral deposits in the water. You can also spend time visiting Doi Inthanon National Park, home to the highest mountain in Thailand. Or visit Doi Suthep, a popular mountain attraction with an incredible view of Chiang Mai! One extremely popular activity in this area of Thailand, is to visit and interact with elephants. There are so many places that offer this experience, however more often than not, it is done in a harmful or abusive way to the elephants. I urge you to make the responsible choice and chose a sanctuary that is treating the animals with kindness, respect and doing what is in their best interest - it can be very overwhelming to figure out the good from the bad - I can help you with that! A visit to Chiang Mai is a must if you are planning to travel Thailand! Contact me if you are thinking about making Thailand your next travel destination and we can get planning!! [email protected]

There’s some amazing places on this list! I’ve been to a few of them, and many more are on my bucket list! Are any of these places on your bucket list?

Up next on the virtual world tour! San Ignacio, Belize! I thought that if the last post interested you, I’d give you a bit more info on what else there is to do around San Ignacio, besides the ATM cave! When most people think of Belize they think of beaches, islands, and barrier reefs, however the mainland has so much to offer too! San Ignacio is a town in western Belize, located along the Macal River and serves as an eco-tourism hub! The town itself offers plenty of sm...all hotels and guest houses, with some quaint coffee shops, superb dining options, good nightlife, farmers markets, a museum and more - and you might even be lucky enough to visit a local carnival as it passes through town like I was! Located just on the outside town are a variety of eco lodges if staying downtown isn’t for you! There are plenty of activities around San Ignacio to keep you busy, including the Cahal Pech and Xunantunich Mayan sites, both located near town. The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve where you can bird watch, go hiking, swimming, and explore caves and Mayan ruins! Wildlife lovers can visit the Green Iguana conservation project or the Butterfly ranch (home to over 30 species of butterfly’s) For a relaxing day you could spent an afternoon canoeing down the Macal River, and if you are looking for a bit more adrenaline there are plenty of tours offering cave tubing and zip lining! San Ignacio has so much to offer! And would make a perfect addition to your trip to Belize! I highly recommend adding it to your bucket list! Contact me for more information and to start booking! [email protected] See more

Anyone else feel this way?

The virtual world tour is back! Today I thought I’d share one of my favourite tours I’ve ever done! The ATM caves! The Actun Tunichil Muknal cave is located just outside of the city of San Ignacio, Belize, in the Tapir Mountain Nature reserve, where you will start your tour walking through the Belizian rainforest before reaching the entrance to the cave. This tour isn’t for the faint hearted, or those who struggle with claustrophobia.... but, if you’ve ever wanted to feel... like Indiana Jones.... this is the perfect tour. You will enter the cave by getting right into the water and swimming in, during the rest of the tour you will find yourself wading through water, swimming completely submerged to get past some low areas, squeezing through tight areas between the cave walls, climbing over boulders, some as tall as 7ft, all with just the light from your headlamp!! The cave is full of the most amazing crystalline stalactites and stalagmites, most of which are meters high! Finally you will reach the grand chamber, known as The Cathedral, it’s here that the rich history of the ancient Mayan civilization truly comes to life! All over the chamber are artifacts left by the Mayans. Ceramics, stoneware and urns scatter the ground, some broken over time, but many left fully intact and preserved, left here by the Mayan people as an offering to the gods. In addition to the pottery there are other offerings left here by the Mayans, the bones of human sacrifices made over a 1000 years ago. While walking through the chamber there are many times I would look down at the ground, and just inches from the path where my feet were, were the bones of a Mayan sacrifice. The most famous is the intact skeleton known as the Crystal Maiden, who’s remains have been completely calcified, giving the bones a sparkly look. While human sacrifice is something totally foreign to us in our modern world, I think it is both important and fascinating to learn about the beliefs and rituals of these ancient civilizations, and exploring this cave gives you a fantastic history lesson! This tour is considered the best tour in Belize, and is definitely worth checking out! It combines a thrill seeking adventure with a phenomenal glimpse into the history of the Mayan civilization. There aren’t many tours that allow you to be fully immersed in history and get within an arms each of so many important historical artifacts! If you are in Belize you NEED to check out the ATM cave! Contact me for more info [email protected] See more

Next stop on the virtual world tour....Tikal!! Located in northern Guatemala, are the ruins the ancient city of Tikal! Which was one of the largest pre-Colombian Maya civilizations, and became the greatest city in the Mayan world! Now situated in Tikal National Park, the ruins encompass 575 square kms of jungle, with thousands of ruined buildings. While first rediscovered in 1848 by the Spanish, the ruins weren’t restored until the 1950s and 60s. In 1979 Tikal was named ...a UNESCO world heritage site. The grand plaza is an impressive site, where you will find The Temple of the Grand Jaguar also known as temple I, which rises 50 meters high! As well as the Temple of the Masks (temple II). However there is so much more to see in addition to the grand plaza, including Temple IV - the Temple of the Two-Headed Snake - which is the tallest structure in Tikal, reaching up to 70m high! Thanks to a set of rickety stairs and scaffolding, you can climb right to the top of Temple IV - a heart pounding experience - but the views make it totally worth the climb! It’s the perfect spot to watch the sunrise! Temple IV is a very popular location for Star Wars fans, as it was made famous when the Millenium Falcon could be seen shooting out of the temple peaks! Due to the ruins being located in a jungle, visiting Tikal is a bit different than visiting other popular Mayan ruins. While walking through the ancient city you will be able to stroll through the jungle, a great opportunity for wildlife viewing! The park is home to 54 species of mammals, and 333 species of birds! Keep your eyes open for howler moneys, toucans, aracaris, parrots, spider money’s, Coatis, Pacas and more! During my visit to Tikal we chose to spend the night camping in the park, and believe me, waking up surrounded by the ruins of an ancient Mayan city, by the sounds of howler monkeys, is truly an unforgettable experience!! Tikal is a must see if you are planning to visit Guatemala! I highly recommend it! To start planning your next trip, contact me! [email protected] See more