Antigua: Land of 365 Beaches
Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Antigua: Land of 365 Beaches

With a gorgeous beach for every day of the year, tortoise sanctuaries and loads of succulent seafood, Antigua & Barbuda is truly a hidden gem. The island offers endless amounts of sunbathing, swimming and water sports but still feels quaint and untouched. It also has rich British history as a British naval headquarters and sugar colony.

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Plitviče Lakes National Park
Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Plitviče Lakes National Park

A UNESCO World Heritage Site in the heart of Croatia since 1979, Plitvice Lakes National Park is known for its picturesque series of tufa lakes, caves, canyons and connected waterfalls that reach over 250 feet high. The emerald green lakes can be explored via a series of wooden paths and trails that surround the 16 lakes and over 90 waterfalls.

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Yala National Park
Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Yala National Park

Once the capital of the Sinhalese Kingdom of Ruhuna as early as the 3rd century BC, Tissamaharama is steeped in history. This quiet town in Sri Lanka is known for Buddhist monasteries, beautiful beaches and wildlife reserves like Yala National Park, where visitors can join a wildlife safari.

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Ella’s Epic Waterfalls, Train Rides & Jungle Mountains
Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Ella’s Epic Waterfalls, Train Rides & Jungle Mountains

Sri Lanka’s Ella is most well known for Nine Arches Bridge, a viaduct bridge built without any steel and set against a lush green landscape surrounded by rolling hills, cloud forests and tea plantations. The town also boasts epic waterfalls, exhilarating train rides and sacred Buddhist temples.

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Fushimi Inari Taisha’s 10,000 Torii Gates
Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Fushimi Inari Taisha’s 10,000 Torii Gates

Over 10,000 torii gates line the path to Fushimi Inari Taisha, the head shrine of the deity Inari Ōkami and spirit of foxes, fertility, rice, tea, sake, agriculture, industry, general prosperity and worldly success. Placing offerings helps protect visitors from evil forces.

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Elephant Safari at Minneriya National Park
Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Elephant Safari at Minneriya National Park

A small town in Sri Lanka, Minneriya is famous for two things — the great Minneriya Lake and Minneriya National Park. Declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1938, the park is an incredible location for safari lovers and known for its abundance of roaming elephants.

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Mogote Hills of Viñales Valley
Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Mogote Hills of Viñales Valley

Viñales a small town west of Havana with green rolling hills planted with fruit, vegetables, coffee and tobacco. It’s known for steep limestone hills called mogotes which dot the landscape and gardens full of palms and orchids.

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Elephant Watching in Pinnawala
Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Elephant Watching in Pinnawala

Pinnawala is a village near Sri Lanka's capital city of Colombo. The small village is special because of its elephant orphanage, nursery and captive breeding ground for wild Asian elephants. Pop over for a night and grab a room overlooking the elephant's watering hole.

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Near-Death Experience on Rainbow Mountain
Travels Jessica Knowlden Travels Jessica Knowlden

Near-Death Experience on Rainbow Mountain

A two hour drive from Cusco, Vinicunca, also called Mountain of Seven Colors, is a mountain in the Andes of Peru with an altitude of 16,522 feet above sea level and extremely harsh conditions. The seven colors come from mineral composition but are only visible during Augusts’s dry season.

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