Adventures of Avila

Avila

Adventures of Avila

Hi! My name is Brendan and thanks for visiting my blog page! Let me just start off saying that I love to travel (duh I joined a travel blog website right???).

I think traveling the world and meeting new people, cultures and languages helps shape me as a person. (Hopefully I can earn a living doing this!). Each journey I make and step I take into the unknown makes my world larger - and yours too with the help of this blog. This will actually be my first ever blog and I will try and keep it up to date as possible. The trip to Africa triggered me to start this blog, and I plan on doing a good job writing about my adventures, so I hope you will like it! I'm not sure how often I will be able to get online over on the African continent, probably 2-3 times a week I imagine. If you'd like to be included in a mailing list for when I post entries just email me or find me on Facebook. Again, I hope you enjoy the pictures and videos. Feel free to leave comments and sign the guest book down below!

If any of the photos or videos don't work for you or if there are spelling errors let me know and I'll get it fixed up! 😉

Also below is a map of my intended journey, up until Israel, after that I haven't decided what to do yet..We'll see what happens though!

Pura Vida!
-Brendan 'Avila' Mahoney

Alexandria, a City with a History

Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Alexandria August 8th 2010

1-Qaitbay Citadel

Avila

August 8th I had decided that I would need to replace my phone and camera as soon as possible, if only to continue taking pictures for the blog. I did the most logical thing and bought a camera phone in the morning. Aanas had headed out early in the morning to meet another CouchSurfer and see as much of Alexandria as he could before heading back to Cairo to catch a plane. After getting a phone and camera I was able to get in contact with Maha, she had offered to show me more of the city. We went to all sorts of places, first we headed to the Qaitbay Citadel, built on the same site that once stood the Alexandrian Lighthouse, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was used ... read more

4-Alexandria from inside the Qaitbay Citadel

Yaalla Eskandria! (Let's go to Alexandria!)

Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Alexandria August 6th 2010

1-Sunsetting near Montazah

Avila

August 6th I was still half asleep when I said my good bye to my CouchSurfer host Samer, he had to wake up early to go to work. After he left I got ready and having packed my bags the night before, I headed to the train station to meet up with Aanas. After the Thai CouchSurfer and I finally linked up at the train station we began our first journey in Egypt. The trains in Egypt are pretty nice, nothing as nice as the Euro trains I’ve been on, but the seats are comfortable and the cars air conditioned as well. Unfortunately I didn’t have a seat next to my new friend, but it actually worked out because I was able to get some writing done for the blog. Three hours later we were in ... read more

Al Ahram, The Pyramids of Giza

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Giza August 5th 2010

1-Mohamed Omar, Alex and I on the way to the Pyramids

Avila

August 5th It’s incredibly hard to wake up in Egypt, knowing the temperature outside is nearly unbearable is what I think makes it so difficult. Alex and I took our time to get out of the house, probably had something to do with not getting to sleep until 2am. We took the metro again, this time all the way to Giza on the other side of the Nile. We were in contact with Mohamed Omar, a CouchSurfer we had met the night before. He offered to take us to the Pyramids and we graciously accepted. He met us with his car at the metro stop near the Pyramids, and headed down the avenue named after the 2000+ year old monuments. Before long they were there in front of us and I almost couldn’t believe it. Tour ... read more

First full day in Cairo, Egypt

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo August 4th 2010

1-Building in Maadi

Avila

August 4th The next day my new friend, Alex, and I got a late start after Samer had left his home early in the morning to get to work. After having a quick breakfast Alex and I headed to the Ma’adi metro station to catch the train into town, all the while trying to make plans with another local CouchSurfer named Shady. We ended up at Midan Sadat square, a very popular and well known place in Cairo. We though we would meet Shady there but ended up making plans to meet him at the Citadel. The heat that day was excruciating, I can remember spending 15 minutes debating with Alex if we should take a taxi or bus to the Citadel. Good thing we had it my way and paid $2 to go to the ... read more

Salam alekum Masri (Egypt)

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo August 3rd 2010

1-Samer and I on the way to his home

Avila

August 3rd On a flight from Johannesburg to Cairo, wow, if you had told me a year ago that’s where I’d be on August 3rd, 2010, I’d have told you that you’re insane. So as it happens you are insane dear reader! (Haha why else would you be reading this damn travel blog??) Okay joking aside I didn’t imagine that I’d be going to Egypt and before I fell asleep it was surreal that I’d be landing there. I didn’t know quite what to expect, I had heard stories before and was always curious about the country since I was kid and learned about the Pyramids. (I remember when my parents gave me a birthday present stamp book of hieroglyphic symbols!). I obviously knew it was a Muslim country and so that was something big on ... read more

2-Cigarrette pack of Egypt, you can guess what the warning says

Last Days in Southern Africa....waaaaah

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg August 1st 2010

1-Musicians at the flea market

Avila

August 1st Another night’s sleep in the tent and a late rise from it as well. I had breakfast with Brian and we talked about what to do in Jozi before leaving. There was one other flea market we decided to visit, with Jonathan and Aisha also interested in going. We ended up meeting them there after they had gone to the Apartheid Museum in the morning. The flea market wasn’t much different from the one the day before a lot of the same products and souvenirs. Brian and I walked around for a bit, looking at all the souvenirs we couldn’t afford or have enough room to take with us. We did enjoy some good food at the market however, tasting some Thai curries and Chinese stir fry’s! That was a big highlight! We also ... read more

4-Some sort of march in China Town, Johannesburg

Roadtrippin' to Maputo

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Maputo July 30th 2010

1-Roadtrip to Maputo, with Georgina

Avila

July 30th Time had flown by while in Tofo and before I knew it I had to get back to South Africa in time for my flight to Egypt. In hindsight I wish I wouldn’t have booked my exit out of southern Africa, I really enjoy that area of the world. Especially Mozambique, a place that feels like Latin America, that speaks a Latin language, and that has a vibe I really love. The people are great and the country is beautiful, I cant wait to go back, whenever that may be. Just a couple days before the expected date of departure I had met a Portugese couple (Miguel and Georgina) from Porto, if I remember correctly. They had their own car they had been borrowed and were heading back to southern Mozambique around the time ... read more

A Praia de Tipo Tinto...I mean Tofo

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Tofo July 18th 2010

1-The bus ride to Tofo

Avila

July 18th - 30th And so at 6am I was once again crammed into a bus and headed for an unknown place, I knew only that it was a place of nice beaches and scuba diving. At least this time this bus was a bit bigger but luggage was once again on everyone’s laps. The journey was a long one, it took the better part of seven hours to finally reach Praia de Tofu. It was well worth the journey though, once the bus dropped us off at Fatima’s Nest I knew it was just what I was looking for. The beach stretched forever and I knew that relaxation wouldn’t be an issue. After setting up my tent and getting settled in I met some other travelers. A couple English guys named Eddie and Mike, a ... read more

3-Another MacBook photo of the bus ride, we were crammed in there!

Estou indo para Moçambique! A Minha Manera!

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Maputo July 16th 2010

1-Near the border with Mozambique

Avila

July 16th The morning started with a farewell to a great friend of mine, an awesome Brasileiro by the name of Nicio. His travel plans were similar to mine in that he was heading for Egypt, just a few weeks ahead of me. We had some good times together, seeing incredible places and cultures and learning of life outside of our homelands. I am happy to have made such a good friend, and I can’t wait to see him in Brasil in 2014! After saying our goodbyes I got my things packed up because my travel plans were to head east to the sunny and Portuguese speaking country of Mozambique. That afternoon I jumped in the backpackers taxi and headed for the bus station and by 3pm I was at the border paying for my visa ... read more

Jammin' in Johannesburg

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg July 14th 2010

9-Morning view from the tent

Avila

July 14th With a full day in Johannesburg to enjoy, Nicio and I made plans to go head over to the Bruma Flea Market. We had a breakfast at the hostel and even made friends with an English chica named Gemma. She decided she wanted to get some shopping done as well so she joined us on our adventure to the Bruma Flea Market. The three of us made the 30 minute walk down to the market and talked about our travels thus far, Gemma had only just begun her voyage and would be leaving South Africa in a few days, bound for the south Pacific, Australia and New Zealand to be precise. We spent more than a few hours walking around the market, being hounded by vendors trying to sell us the remaining World Cup ... read more

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Adventures of Avila

Avila

Adventures of Avila

Africa!