Cute Animals in the Wild!

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love animals, and so I thought it would be a nice idea to write a post with an animal theme this week! And as this is a travel blog, I'll be writing about the different animals I've seen on my adventures around the world. I think seeing animals in the wild really makes a trip special and memorable, especially when they're ones you can't find in your home country.

Here are some of the cutest and most amazing animals I've been lucky enough to meet so far...

Flamingos in the Atacama Desert

The Atacama Desert is an incredible place, both for its beautiful and otherworldly scenery and for its unique wildlife. It was such a great experience to see Chilean flamingos at Laguna Chaxa in the desert's salt flats when I went there with my boyfriend Claudio in 2019.

Vicuñas in the Atacama Desert

During the same trip, we were also lucky enough to spot some vicuñas! They're shy creatures and were quite far away, but it was still incredible to see them.

Penguins and Pelicans in Algarrobo

The beautiful beach town of Algarrobo in central Chile is a fantastic place for wildlife spotting. Not only can you find pelicans there, but you can also see Humboldt penguins on a little island called Isla Pájaros Niños. They can be found between September and April, and the best way to see them is to take a boat trip around the island, which is a lot of fun!

Red Squirrel in Innsbruck

I'd only ever seen grey squirrels before, so it was a nice surprise to see this beautiful red squirrel in the Hofgarten in Innsbruck. And I was lucky enough to be able to get a photo of him or her!

Birds at Highfields Park

Highfields Park was one of my favourite places to walk in while I was living in Nottingham. Not only is it very scenic, but it's also filled with wild birds, such as swans, ducks, geese (including Egyptian geese), and even herons!

Cats at Dyrham Park

Maybe they're not really wild animals, but I had to include cats somewhere in this post! Cats are my favourite animals, and the two that I met at Dyrham Park National Trust property were particularly adorable. ❤

This has been a very fun post to write, and I hope that I will meet more cute animals on my travels in the near future!

London: Part Six

I had my visa interview at the Chilean consulate in London this week, meaning that I had the chance to do my first little bit of travelling of 2022! It was great to have a change of scenery for a day, and it's also nice to get to blog about an actual trip for the first time in over two months. For various reasons, I've barely been on any trips at all, even locally, since August last year, and I've really missed being able to explore new places. Fortunately, this situation is now beginning to change!

When I arrived in London on Thursday morning, first I had to make my way over to the consulate, which is located next to St James's Park and Westminster Abbey. I arrived nearly half an hour early for my appointment, so I had a little walk around the area, which I know very well by now, having been there several times since 2018. As usual, I went to Parliament Square, and was happy to see that Big Ben is now returning to his former glory!

The visa interview took a long time and involved a lot of waiting, but in the end, everything was fine with my documents. Now my application has been passed on to the final stage, where it will be approved by an office over in Santiago. This should take two or three weeks, and after that I'll be back in London to collect my visa, and then I'll finally be off to Chile around the beginning of February! It's hard to believe that it's actually going to happen after so many months of waiting, but I am so ready for it!

After the appointment, I had a few hours to enjoy some sightseeing before going home, and I decided to visit a part of the city I'd never been to before. During my recent trips to London, I've been discovering some of its lesser-known attractions, such as Holland Park and Little Venice, and during this trip, I chose to explore the Battersea area.

Battersea doesn't really feature on most tourists' lists of places to visit, and it hadn't been on mine either until around a year ago, when the Battersea Park Peace Pagoda was mentioned in a radio programme I was listening to. I thought it sounded like an interesting building to see, and so I decided to try to visit it at some point in the future, along with the subtropical garden that is also located in the park.

On my way to the park, I passed a couple of the area's famous landmarks, including the power station and the dogs and cats home. I was very tempted to go inside and find a new kitty, but I managed to resist!

The park was a very nice place to walk in, with various things to see, including a lake, a bandstand, and lots and lots of dogs! It was the first time I'd had a proper long walk in ages, and I really enjoyed the experience.

The subtropical garden was a place that made me feel a little bit like I was on holiday somewhere more exotic, despite the cold, English weather. I've always really liked palm trees, and there were certainly lots of them there!

The Peace Pagoda also gave me the feeling of being somewhere else, more specifically somewhere in Asia. It's one of only 80 Peace Pagodas in the world, and features four intricate, golden statues of the Buddha. It's also one of the rare places I've visited that is actually much bigger in real life than it looks in photos, so I'm really glad I went to see it.

The pagoda is right next to the river, and from there you have some great views, including a view of a row of Dutch-style buildings on the opposite site, which are very reminiscent of Amsterdam.

I walked a little further along to get a closer look at Albert Bridge, yet another place that reminded me of a different part of the world. It made me think instantly of Brooklyn Bridge in New York, and my boyfriend Claudio said the same thing when I showed him the photo later!

Eventually, it was time for me to make my way back through the park and onwards to the tube station. En route, I came across this group of three adorable squirrels, all of whom jumped up on to the fence to say hello to me. I love squirrels, and these three were especially cute!

The end of the day was a little dramatic, as tube delays meant I missed my train home, and had to spend nearly two hours in Paddington Station waiting for the next one I could catch. But overall, my day out had been a lot of fun, and a real escape from what has been quite a monotonous routine recently. I was a little sad when leaving, as I always am when leaving London.

But the good news is that I'll be going back again shortly! I hope to have a little longer there next time, and visit a couple more places that are new to me, as well as a few old favourites, if possible. 

And of course, after that I'll be moving on to some bigger adventures! ✈

Read about London: Part One here!

Read about London: Part Two here!

Read about me and Claudio's trip to London here!

Read about London: Part Four here!

Read about London: Part Five here!

Read about London: Part Seven here!

Read about London: Part Eight here!

Travel Tips: My Top Five Mountain Destinations

In this Travel Tips series, I've already written about my favourite cities, nature destinations and beaches, among other topics. And today I'm going to be writing about another of my favourite types of travel destinations: mountains. I really enjoy trekking in the mountains and enjoying dramatic panoramic views - perhaps that comes from having previously lived in both the Alps and the Andes. In any case, spending time in mountainous places definitely makes a nice change from my current, relatively-flat base in the south of England.

Here are five of my favourite mountain ranges I've been to so far!

The Andes

The Andes are a vast mountain range that cover the entire length of the western side of South America, passing through Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. I spent several months surrounded by these amazing peaks when I lived in Chile in 2018, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again when I move back there in the coming weeks! The most memorable Andean destinations that I've visited so far in Chile include Cerro Manquehue, Cajón del Maipo, the Maule region (pictured above), and the Altiplano. I also saw some incredible views in the Mendoza province of Argentina.

Read more here and here!

The Alps

The Alps are the most famous mountain range in Europe, and can be found in eight countries: France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Monaco. Many tourists visit the region every year to hike, ski and relax next to its many picturesque lakes, such as the Wolfgangsee (pictured above). I lived in the Alps from 2017-2018, when I worked at two schools in the south of Austria, and I really enjoyed seeing different Alpine towns, cities and villages around the local area and beyond.

Read more here and here!

The Dinaric Alps

Image by Luciann Photography from pexels.com

One of my favourite family holidays was when we stayed in Slano in Croatia in 2012, and visited Dubrovnik (pictured above), and also Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. All three of these destinations are located in the Dinaric Alps, or Dinarides, a mountain range that spreads across southeastern Europe. It's a very beautiful part of the world, and I have great memories of swimming at the beach next to the hotel, which was located in a bay surrounded by mountains.

The Tatra Mountains

I had a very memorable time teaching English at a hotel in Poland in the summer of 2019, when I participated in the Angloville volunteer programme. The hotel wasn't exactly the four-star luxury that had been promised to us volunteers, but the surrounding scenery of the Tatra Mountains (part of the Carpathian mountain range of Eastern Europe) was stunning to look at. It's an area I'd be interested in exploring more of in the future.

Read more here!

The Cumbrian Mountains

The mountains found in the Lake District are the highest in England, and while they're small compared to the other mountains in this list, they're a great place to enjoy amazing natural landscapes, especially at times like this when it's difficult to travel abroad. I visited the area with my parents in 2020, and was surprised to find that it was a little reminiscent of the south of Chile, with lots of mountains, forests, lakes and waterfalls to discover.

Read more here!

I'm glad to say that I'll be back in the mountains again soon, as I've got my visa interview for my job in Chile next week, and after that, I'll just have to wait for it to be approved before I can finally go! The interview also means that I'll be spending a day in London, which will be my first little bit of travelling of the year. I plan to explore a new place or two in the city, and I'll be writing about it here next weekend!

Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here!

Country Guide: Slovakia

Name: Slovakia (in Slovak: Slovensko)

Continent: Europe

Capital (and Largest) City: Bratislava

Language: Slovak

Currency: Euro

Drives on the: Right

Time Zone: Central European Time

Adaptor Types: Type C and Type E

Description: Slovakia is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It was formerly part of Czechoslovakia, before splitting from the Czech Republic (now known as Czechia) in 1993. It's not the best-known tourist destination in Europe, but there are plenty of reasons to visit...

Why You Should Visit: The main reasons people visit Slovakia are its mountains, which are great for hiking and skiing, and its castles, which can be found all over the country. Personally, I've only been to Bratislava so far, but I really enjoyed my day exploring the city, and especially loved the castle, which looks straight out of a fairytale.

Fun Fact: Slovakia holds the title of the country with the highest number of castles per capita!

My Blogposts About Slovakia

My Year Abroad Blog 2017-2018

- Vienna and Bratislava

Charlotte's Travel Adventures

- Travel Tips: My Ten Favourite Castles and Palaces (Bratislava Castle)

- Travel Tips: My Top Ten Fairytale Destinations (Bratislava)

Clockwise starting from top left: Capuchin Church, Bratislava Castle, View of St Martin's Cathedral and the city of Bratislava, Slovak National Theatre, Most SNP or UFO Bridge (all located in Bratislava) 

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!

Here's to a More Adventurous 2022

There's no way of denying it; 2021 has been a very disappointing year for me. When I said goodbye to my boyfriend Claudio at Heathrow Airport on the 3rd January, we both thought it would only be a few months before I would be able to get my visa for my job in Santiago, and move out there to be with him. But unfortunately, the Chilean border and consulate didn't open until October, so I couldn't even start my visa application until then, and completing it has been a very long and slow process. Therefore, I'm still living in England with my parents, and I haven't seen Claudio in nearly a whole year.

It's also been a rubbish year in terms of travel, as I haven't been abroad at all (a first for me since 2009). Obviously I love exploring new places (hence why I write this travel blog!), and I try to visit at least one new country every year (something I did from 2014-2020). But of course, now that streak has been broken, and I'm really really missing foreign travel. 

So, all in all, this year has been tough, a lot tougher than 2020. But I want to end it on a positive note, by reflecting on some of the good things that have happened to me over the past twelve months...

1) I built up a more steady base of students in my job as an online English teacher, completing over 1000 teaching hours, and also qualifying as an IELTS teacher. I continue to really enjoy my work, and it's helped keep me sane over the last couple of years!

2) I successfully underwent laser vision correction surgery, which is something I'd wanted to do for a long time. It's great to be free from glasses and contact lenses, and it will definitely make my future travels a lot easier.

3) My parents and I completed the local travel "bucket list" that I'd created in 2020. We visited lots of interesting nearby places between April and August this year, my favourites being Westbury Court Garden (a Dutch water garden), Batsford Arboretum (a Japanese-style arboretum), and Sezincote (an Indian-style palace). These places really gave me the sense of being in a different part of the world for a little while, and they inspired me to write a post about my favourite UK alternatives to foreign destinations. We also managed to squeeze in a short sunny beach break this summer, which I very much appreciated!

4) This year I achieved a flight-free year for the first time since 2009! Obviously this was unintentional, as I'd planned to travel to Chile this year, and my mum and I were also going to take a trip to the south of France, which had to be cancelled. But I still think it's something to celebrate. Between 2017 and 2020, I was taking 6-9 individual flights every year, and I did feel a bit guilty about that, because I care a lot about the environment. So this year was a little way of making up for it. And although I won't be doing a flight-free year in 2022, I'll always try to find alternatives to flying whenever possible.

5) Blogging here has been a form of escapism during this rather monotonous year. Even though I haven't been able to travel abroad, I've tried to keep this blog as international as possible, through my Travel Tips and Country Guides series. It's been a nice way to reminisce about past travels and also to dream about the amazing places I want to visit in the future.

6) This month I've had a couple of little successes with my travel content. A piece of writing I did about my travel wishes for 2022 was included in an issue of Jack's Flight Club: The Detour, and two of my photos have been featured on the photography website Pexels. 

So it definitely hasn't been all bad! But of course I'm hoping that next year will be much better, and I'm cautiously optimistic that it will be. I was finally able to apply for my visa at the start of December, and I should be offered an appointment to collect it any day now. Which means that I will hopefully be able to go to Santiago in January! 

Once I'm there, Claudio and I plan to travel a lot. I've made a list of places for us to visit all over Chile, and we also want to go to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. So I'll hopefully have lots of exciting things to write about here on this blog!

Finally, I would like to say thank you to everyone who's read Charlotte's Travel Adventures over the last year. I wish you a Happy New Year and many happy travels ahead!

Image by Djordje Vezilic from pexels.com

Pexels

As you may have noticed, I sometimes use photos from the website pexels.com when I want to illustrate posts which are about more general topics rather than specific destinations, and also to depict destinations I haven't been to yet, or that I went to before I had a phone with a camera. It's a really good website for finding stock photos that you can use for free.

You can also upload your own photography onto the website for other users to download, which is something I've been doing over the last few months. Pexels also regularly run challenges based on a particular theme, offering cash prizes for the best photos! Recent challenges that I've entered are the Passport to the United Kingdom challenge and the Year in Review: Your Passport challenge (in fact, I was able to submit some photos in both categories, given that I haven't been able to leave the country this year!). 

Uploading my photography was something I was just doing for fun, but I was very happy to receive an email this week telling me that one of my pictures has been featured on the website! 

By the way, it's this one I took of the Neptune Fountain in Cheltenham.

Photography is a hobby I've grown more and more interested in since I first started travel blogging back in 2017 with very few camera skills whatsoever. I've always just used my smartphone to take my photos for this blog, as it's the easiest option when travelling around, but I'd like to learn how to use a proper camera, and would definitely consider taking some photography lessons in the future.

It was a nice surprise to be featured by Pexels, especially just a week after being featured in Jack's Flight Club: The Detour. This year been quite disappointing for me overall, both in terms of travelling and life in general, but these two little achievements are something positive that I can take away from 2021. ☺

Finally, if you're interested, you can check out my Pexels profile here!

Update: 30/12/2021

I'm very happy to say that I've now had a second picture featured on Pexels! It's this one I took of Parroquia San Francisco de Asís in Montevideo, Uruguay.

I'll continue to update if more of my photos are featured in the future!

Update: 20/01/2022

Now I've had a third photo featured! It's this summery one of a palm tree in Colonia del Sacramento, also in Uruguay.

I hope to update again soon!

Update: 28/01/2022

I've just had a fourth photo featured, and it's this one I took of Laguna Tebinquinche in the Atacama Desert!

I feel like I'm on a bit of a roll with these photos now, and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into some more photography on my travels this year!

Update: 02/04/2022

The fifth photo I've had featured on Pexels is this one that I took in La Laguna, during me and Claudio's recent trip to the beach.

I hope to be featured again soon!

Update: 14/05/2022

Sixth photo featured! It's this one I took in Iquique. 

Iquique was a really great destination for photography. I'm looking forward to visiting some other exciting places soon, and taking more photos!

Update: 17/11/2022

It had been a long time since I'd had a photo featured on Pexels, and I was beginning to wonder if I'd lost my touch! But then today I found out that one of my recent photos has been featured: it's this one of Machu Picchu in Peru.

I'm really happy to have had a photo featured from this trip of a lifetime!

Update: 05/04/2023

My latest featured photo is this one of Paseo La Villa, here in Santiago.

This picturesque little area is a great place for taking photos!

Update: 06/04/2023

I certainly didn't expect to have two photos featured in two days, but that's exactly what's just happened! I'm very happy that this photo from our recent trip to Valparaíso has now been featured too.

 

Let's see how long it takes for me to get another one featured!