If you’ve ever gazed upon a landscape so rich you’d like to just eat it, you might be interested in Carl Warner‘s Food Landscapes. Warner is a British photographic artist with, you could say, a taste for travel. He’s an architect of edible landscapes. With minimal Photoshop assistance, Warner creates fantastical images of believable landscapes… but there’s a twist: the trees in the image are broccoli. The water in the image is salmon, the rocks are potatoes. He builds his landscapes on tabletops with real food, but he builds these 3D scenes in such a way so that a brilliant landscape can be reflected in a photograph of the tabletop construction. So attention travelers and fans of travel! If you appreciate both scenery and food, this book might be a safe bet for your next coffee table book shopping spree.
New Book celebrates 10 years of the Tour d’Afrique
The Tour d’Afrique is a legendary cycling event that runs from Cairo to Cape Town on an annual basis. Covering more than 7500 miles, and requiring four months to complete, the Tour is a popular “bucket list” item for adventure travelers and cyclists the world over. This year, the Tour d’Afrique commemorates its tenth anniversary, and to celebrate, the company behind the epic event has released a fantastic coffee table book entitled 10: Celebrating Ten Years of the Tour d’Afrique Bicycle Race and Expedition.
The book begins with a forward written by Tour founder Henry Gold. A decade ago, when he first pitched the idea of a bike ride across Africa, Gold was met with skepticism to say the least. Many thought that it simply wasn’t possible for an event like this one to exist and he was regularly told he was crazy for even considering it. Ten year later, Gold has turned his idea into a yearly event, and his adventure travel company produces similar cycling tours in a host of other locations across the globe.
10 is filled with stories from the road, as riders share tales, quotes, and anecdotes of their own experiences from the Tour. For some, it was a life altering experience for others an adventure of a lifetime, but no one who has taken part in the journey has come away unchanged. Their words are likely to inspire readers to want to join Tour as well, and even if you haven’t been on a bike in years, you may find yourself dreaming of pedaling under African skies. The book doesn’t try to hide the challenges of the ride, which range from oppressive heat to unexpected downpours, not to mention ever changing road conditions, but the amazing beauty of Africa and the camaraderie that is formed amongst the riders, will have a universal appeal all the same.
If the words of the riders don’t inspire you than perhaps the amazing photographs contained in this book will. 10 is a visual love letter to cycling, adventure travel, and most importantly, Africa itself. The 252 page volume is packed with breathtaking images that have been compiled over the past decade and capture the spirit of the Tour very well. Not only do those photos show the day-to-day experiences of the ride, but they also manage to convey a sense of wonder at the countries and environments that the riders pass through, as well as the people that live there.
If you have a cyclist or adventure traveler on your holiday shopping list, than this book is sure to be a hit. Just be warned, after reading it, they may feel compelled to join the ride themselves. Africa is most definitely calling.
Mexican food in Mexico: surprisingly different
Before sampling Mexican food on a recent trip to Mazatlan, Mexico, we shared some of the misconceptions commonly held by others who have not been there. Don’t drink the water. Mexican food is not healthy. All Mexican food is spicy and all about tacos, burritos and enchiladas. What we found blew away pretty much all of that.
Mazatlan sits on the west coast of Mexico and boasts an abundance of seafood. Running the largest fleet of shrimp boats in the world, shrimp is on nearly every menu, prepared a number of ways. We ranked local eatery Al Agua as tops for shrimp and especially for it’s Coconut Shrimp. There’s really something to be said for sitting at the shoreside restaurant and watching as shrimpers off the coast catch what you are about to eat. It does not get any fresher than that.
Shrimp is a big export here too but not the only game in town. Marlin, Grouper, Octopus and clams are also used extensively on restaurant menus and “fresh” is what its all about. Combined with locally-sourced ingredients, we quickly forgot the “Mexican food is not healthy” misnomer and focused on unique combinations of vegetables, rice, beans and spices.
“The staples of Mexican cuisine do include corn and beans – which are full of fiber – but also vitamin-rich peppers, tomatoes and fruit” says Chef David Suarez, busting myths about Mexico for CNN. “Authentic Mexican food incorporates seasonal produce, fresh cheeses, seafood, herbs and meats, as well as complex carbohydrates.”Locally grown herbs and spices like chiles, cilantro, epazote, cinnamon, and cocoa are expertly used and for those who like it hot, this is the place to get it. Still, fire-hot spicy is not the standard but is available and offered as a preparation option in the kitchen (“make it hot for me”) or through a variety of sauces and additions tableside (“let me make it hot”). Chipotle, a smoke-dried jalapeño chilli, is also common in Mexican cuisine as are garlic and onions but not to overpower the fresh seafood star of the show.
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“People tend to think of Mexican food as just tacos, burritos and enchiladas – lots of cheddar cheese, sour cream and jalapeños” Chef Julieta Ballesteros told CNN. “Although some of these dishes do exist in traditional cuisine, that’s definitely not all there is.”
In fact, we had a hard time finding the cheesy, gooey and fat-filled entrees commonly tagged as “Mexican food” in the U.S. They were most commonly found on a children’s menu, blowing away the notion that frozen taquitos, canned refried beans, Taco Bell, Doritos and other processed foods are authentic in any way. Initially, that was kind of disappointing and it took a while to get the hang of associating “healthy” and “Mexican”.
But thinking differently about food in Mexico was typical of other misconceptions that failed to pass the reality test. We also never found anyone even remotely resembling a drug lord or the Frito Bandito. A visit to the all-but-abandoned Port of Mazatlan revealed a safe and desirable place to park a cruise ship.
Even the whole “don’t drink the water” thing that dogged Mexico for decades has been rendered a non-issue. Every Mazatlan restaurant we tried served bottled water and purified ice as standard fare. Not once did we see glasses served with iced tap water as we might commonly see in the U.S.
We did, however, see a whole lot of tequila “influence” in Mexico. And by “influence” I mean they hung shot glasses around our necks and started pouring shots as we got off the plane, much like a flower lei is given to those visiting Hawaii.
For those who associate Mexico with tequila, you will not be disappointed. There are some tequila-infused sauces and menu items but we got the impression that those were silly things designed mainly for tourists.
Mazatlan Mexico’s food is bold, fresh, safe and interesting not to mention tasty, especially alongside a frosty Pacifico beer and a shot or six of a locally distilled tequila.
Photos: Chris Owen
Want to have your travel stories published in a book?
Have you ever wanted to have your travel stories published in a book? Well, now here’s your chance. The bloggers behind wegetthere operate under the strong belief that “travel means freedom”, and they strive to create a community of travelers, explorers, and adventurers. Taking their mission one step further, the bloggers have decided to put together a book, relevantly titled “Travel Means Freedom”, written by the travel community.
Anyone is eligible to share their travel stories. All that you must do is click here to be guided through the 3 steps:
- Download the Microsoft Word template for your story.
- Write a travel story that is about 1,000 words long.
- Submit the contact information form.
That’s it! Submissions are being accepted through November 22, 2011. The book will be available in print and digital format, and selected contributors will receive 80% of the profits made from digital book sales. To learn more and submit your story, click here.
Henry Rollins, Punk Rocker and Travel Philosopher
World Hum’s Jim Benning spent some time talking with musician Henry Rollins about his new book and the results are freaking excellent. Henry Rollins says one awesome thing after another about travel, photography, climate change, globalization, and lots more.
I had a hard time choosing, but here’s one short excerpt:
I hit the streets every day with no real plan besides walking and seeing what happens or taking a taxi across town and finding my way back. Or I look out the top of the hotel and see an area and say, okay, I’m going there today-that slum, that village. I go through souks and bazaars and stores. People come up and ask, “My friend, what are you doing here?” My icebreaker is, “I’m here to meet you.” Which is true, and also sometimes cracks them up. They say, “Me?” I say, “Oh yeah, man, I’m Henry, what’s happening?”
Go read the whole thing on World Hum.