Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Glowworms of Waitomo & the Geothermal Wonders of Te Puia

Drift through Waitomo Glowworm Caves, a dark underground river and look up to see thousands of tiny lights — like a terrestrial Milky Way. The hush, broken only by the guide’s whisper and soft water splashes, makes the boat ride pure joy. In Rotorua’s heart, Te Puia blends raw geothermal power — geysers and bubbling mud pools — with Maori culture. Craft demonstrations and the haka add warm human presence, making it a sensory-rich place where land and culture meet.

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Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Nantes Uncovered: Secrets of the Dukes’ City

Nantes — spirited and audacious — marries a storied past with a fresh, creative pulse. Once a bustling seaport with a painful link to the slave trade, the city keeps those memories close while continually transforming: a refined art of living, imaginative cultural ventures and renewed neighborhoods where history and innovation meet on every corner.

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Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Tikal: Echoes of an Ancient Maya Civilization

In the heart of the Guatemalan jungle, amid lush vegetation that whispers ancient stories, stand the ruins of a Maya civilization that flourished from the 6th century BCE to the 10th century CE. Its ceremonial center, alive in memory and stone, houses towering temples, silent palaces and public plazas that invite exploration, joined by ramps that seem to lead both into the past and into the imagination.

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Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Chasing Waterfalls in Cienfuegos

Located on Bahía de Cienfuegos, a bay on Cuba’s southern coast, Cienfuegos is a peaceful town oozing charm. Known for colorful colonial-era buildings, the town is a chief seaport for sugarcane, coffee and tobacco.

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