Note: This is part nine in a series of fun travel stories to highlight our alpha launch of FunnelScope. Need to find the right hotel for you? Try Funnelscope!

Most people aren’t fans of internet pop-up ads.  In fact, they loathe them and quickly click on the browser button to delete them.

Well, what happens when you encounter multiple human versions of an internet pop-up ad?

My family and I visited a beach in Cabo San Lucas Mexico near multiple large hotels.  As we were there the first of January, it was the slow season for tourists.  But, apparantly the slow tourist season doesn’t equate to beach vendors taking time off.

As soon as we hit the beach, a slew of vendors approached us.  My dad had broken his sunglasses and needed a new pair.  He also wanted a cheap t-shirt as a souvenir.  We negotiated with the vendors and made our transactions.

In the next hour we counted how many vendors approached us as we laid on the beach.  We counted 45, no joke.

The vendors are human beings trying to make a living so we were obviously nice to them.  A “no thanks” usually didn’t get them to leave right away.  Gradually we got a bit firmer.  We lasted an hour, and then left to find a less “touristy” beach.

Watch the short video.  Yes, there is such a thing as the human version of the internet pop-up ad.

Note: This is part eight in a series of fun travel stories to highlight our alpha launch of FunnelScope. Need to find the right hotel for you? Try Funnelscope!

Kids are awesome. Traveling with kids can be a challenge – sometimes even a challenge to your ego.

The three short videos below were taken in Cabo San Lucas Mexico. A beautiful shot of the famous Cabo arch can be seen in one of the videos.

We ran across a pack of sea lions laying on a bed of rocks (video 1). The boat we were on was able to get close to the rocks and allow us to view the sea lions up close.

One of the sea lions barked after the boat captain barked at it. My young nephew asked his dad what sound sea lions make. My brother, being the excellent dad he is, responded with a full gusto sea lion bark and flipper flap. Little did he know I was filming him (video 2)!

A lone sea lion sat by itself on a tall rock. The boat was able to pull right up to the rock. The sea lion acted like he was ignoring us, but kept on opening one eye, checking us out, and then winking at us (video 3).

Note:  This is part seven in a series of fun travel stories to highlight our alpha launch of FunnelScope.  Need to find the right hotel for you?  Try Funnelscope!

So how do you scuba dive with kids?  Try a glass bottom boat.

On first thought, a glass bottom boat invokes images of an entire hull made of glass.  Nope, that’s not the case.  In fact, the area of glass is pretty small – maybe 6 feet by a foot.  This is probably a good thing as who really wants to ride in a boat that could easily crack anyway?

Boats naturally scare away fish.  But if the captain goes slow, and stops the boat near a reef or other area with lots of fish you’ll see your fair share.  You really can’t see much in deeper water, but in shallow clear water you can see all the way to the bottom.

Check out this short video.  The big wild angel fish is beautiful.  People with salt water tanks at home would love to have it.  The number of fish seen is also surprisingly high.

This is the sixth post of FunnelScope Funnies series focusing on fun and interesting travel stories to highlight our alpha launch of FunnelScope.

Continuing with stories in the Amazon from my previous post, one of the days our group went out in canoes to fish for piranha. Fishing required a rope, hook, and pieces of red meat. We would stick the rope in the water and when we felt a nibble would pull up as hard as possible (without falling out of the canoe since then the situation can quickly reverse…that’s one definite downside of fishing for piranha!). The following photo highlights the fruits of my labor.

Fishing for Piranha

As you can see, I didn’t do too bad. I have to say, it was a very cool experience. But that’s not the best of it.

We brought the piranha back to our camp and the locals cooked the piranha we caught for us. At first I thought they were kidding. Who eats piranha? But sure enough, they brought out cooked piranha.

Hesitant, I had a bite of my catch…it was the tastiest fish I had ever eaten. It was tender and delicious. What an expected surprise! The only disappointment was that I had not caught more since it was so good.

Travel Lesson #5: When in the Amazon try the piranha…just make sure they don’t try you.

This is the fifth post of FunnelScope Funnies series focusing on fun and interesting travel stories to highlight our alpha launch of FunnelScope.

The amazon is an amazing place. What blew my mind was to learn that there are actually fresh water dolphins that live in the amazon’s rivers. I always thought of them as beautiful creatures of the oceans…not creatures in rivers.

How this happened is that when the continents collided, the ocean became trapped between them, including the ocean’s creatures. Dolphins evolved over time to live in a habitat of fresh water and comparatively shallow rivers. And similar to ocean dolphins, they are gentle creatures that protect people…in the amazon it’s against piranhas and caiman (in the crocodile family).

Check out this video to see an approximately 9 foot Caiman Crocodile (although you can’t see its whole body):

The fact is if you swim in the amazon when there are no dolphins around, then there is a good chance you will be eaten alive by piranha or caimen. In the first video below, you can see a dolphin blow water at the surface (btw, freshwater dolphins are pink) and in the second one you can see yours truly swimming with the dolphins. I have always loved dolphins and you can tell by my child-like excitement. The dolphin kept touching me and swimming around me…it was quite amazing.

So what makes this story funny is my reaction to touching the dolphin– and you can hear my friends chuckling when I yell it. I think they weren’t quite sure what I meant when I kept yelling “You should feel this thing!”

This is the fourth post of FunnelScope Funnies series focusing on fun and interesting travel stories to highlight our alpha launch of FunnelScope. I’m excited about this one because it’s not my story…it’s from one of FunnelScope’s users, a fashion model from New York named Krista Gamble.

She admits her story falls into the “not-so-funny” category similar to the story about Northwest pilots sleeping at the wheel.

After a great jet-set weekend in St. Kitts and having been hit-on non-stop by local mafia guys (Tony Soprano has nothing on these guys), my best friend and I were flying back to the States.

An hour into the flight we heard some commotion with the flight attendants. A passenger had locked himself into the bathroom. Next thing we see is this guy lying down in the middle of the aisle. A couple doctors came from behind our row to attend to him. We figured the man was having a heart attack.

Horrified, I grabbed a flight attendant and demanded she ask the pilot to land the plane so they could get this poor guy to a hospital. She rudely replied, “We only consider that in an emergency?” Surprised by what constitutes an emergency on a plane, I whispered to myself “Please stay alive until we land so they can get you to the hospital.”

Luckily things settled down and the man’s condition stablized. I overheard one of the doctors say his heart rate and blood pressure are fine. Then suddenly he took a turn for the worst and died. Just like that! Dead just three feet away from me in the aisle. The plane finally made an emergency landing in Bermuda and they took blanket-covered body from the plane. It was horrifying!!

That flight attendant never looked me in the eye again. We were all shaken up and it was sad to see someone die right in front of you, on a plane no less. I always wondered if we landed the plane as I had asked, whether he would have lived. Too bad a dying person does not constitute as an emergency.

Travel Lesson #4: (This one is obvious so I won’t bother saying it)

This is the third post of FunnelScope Funnies series focusing on fun and interesting travel stories to highlight our alpha launch of FunnelScope.

The following pictures are from the Bolivian salt desert (Salar de Uyuni). This is a spectacular sight that you have to experience. It formed when two continents collided, trapping the ocean’s salt water. Eventually the water evaporated, leaving behind this wonderful salty playground.

One of the cool things is a coral reef that is above ground. As a scuba diving enthusiast, seeing and walking on a coral reef above ground is a bit mind-blowing. I will show pictures of the reef in a follow up post. But first, the silly stuff…

Ingredients for Stew?

Looks real, no?

Salt Desert Critters

Bolivian Compact Car?

Bolivian Jaguar Cub

The second post of FunnelScope Funnies series focusing on fun and interesting travel stories to highlight our alpha launch of FunnelScope.

Let me start by saying I did not actually kidnap the jaguar cub and preferred that we didn’t for lots of reasons.

In 2007, I decided to take a trek into the Bolivian jungle. I went with a small adventurous group and a native guide where he taught us how to fish and hunt in the wild. It’s quite an experience and adventure. You quickly become fond of your guide as you realize in the middle of the (very dark) jungle that your life truly depends on them. We soon realized that our guide was also out of his mind.

At the tail-end of our trek when we were heading back to civilization, the guide came across footprints. He identified them as the footprints of a jaguar. Instead of walking in the opposite direction, he decided to follow them. Yes, this concerned us but as I already said you have to trust your guide otherwise you probably die anyway.

After trekking awhile after the jaguar he asked that we camp out so he could search for it on his own (with a hunting knife in hand to protect himself). By the way, did I say that our guide spoke very little English? So we hung out as our guide was off chasing a jaguar. In our minds, if he found the jaguar and was injured or killed, how were we going to find our way back?

After a few hours, our guide came back with a jaguar cub tied in some rope. The cub was gorgeous and we were elated to see both our guide and the cub. But then it struck us if the mother jaguar found us with her cub, we were all done for. Plus it’s just not right taking a cub from her mother. The guide didn’t care. In fact, he wanted to keep the jaguar cub as a pet. We were in no position to argue in the middle of the Bolivian jungle.

I have to say the cub was the most playful thing (see videos below). And the native seemed to be able to control this wild animal with incredible skill. But the entire trek back I was sure we were going to be mauled by momma jaguar. Luckily we made it back fine. The videos are of the cub when we were in the main camp at the outskirts of the jungle where they seemed prepared for such things with chains and collars.

I never could have imagined when I signed up for the trek that I would find and be part of a group taking such a gorgeous creature out of the jungle. One of many lessons learned in the jungle. Travel Lesson #2: You never know what you might walk out with once you enter the jungle.

Given that FunnelScope is an innovative, new travel search site with a social twist (exciting social features coming in 30-45 days!), we decided to launch a new theme for folks to share funny (and not-so-funny) travel stories.

Admit it—we all have them….whether it’s the horror story about your recent Northwest flight where your pilot(s) overslept and overshot the airport by ~200 miles or that painful story of the cleaning lady who kept knocking on your hotel room even when you had the “Do Not Disturb” sign posted.

Please share your stories with us by sending an email to me at kul at funnelscope dot com. I would love to hear your stories and share them on our blog.

Given that I founded FunnelScope because I love to travel, I certainly have my share of stories. So I’ll kick it off, but hopefully we’ll hear yours soon so we can post them on this blog. Here goes mine…

A few years ago I was heading to Punta del Este, Uruguay for New Years. For those who don’t know Punta, it’s a very popular destination for South Americans (especially Argentines) over their summer holidays. The issue for Americans is that it’s a hassle to get there. From New York, it’s a 10 hour flight to Buenos Aires, an hour flight to Montevideo, and then a 2 hour drive to Punta. A lot of traveling but it’s worth it once you get there (see pics below).

My friend and I were flying from JFK airport in New York on American Airlines. Waiting at the gate, we learned the flight is delayed due to mechanical problems. It was unclear if we could even fly that evening. My friend and I were concerned since 1) we would miss our connecting flight, and not guaranteed we would get a seat on another flight; 2) we found the last available rental car in Montevideo and would probably lose it; and 3) our hotel only guaranteed our room if we showed up on the day of our booking due to some strange high-season policy. So we needed to get there on time or our trip would be ruined!

After some hours delay, an American airlines official announced they found a new plane but that none of the luggage would arrive until a couple days after. My friend freaked out due to fears we may not see our luggage at all. Given the logistics of the trip, there was a very high risk of that happening. He went to the check-in counter and demanded we get our luggage (in somewhat threatening language). The short-tempered supervisor looked at us and said “Guess what…given that outburst I’m not letting you fly at all tonight. Come back tomorrow!”

My friend backpedaled and tried to explain our situation but the supervisor refused to listen. With tickets already in hand, we decided to sneak back into the concourse and board the plane anyway. After approximately 30 minutes, we saw the supervisor walking down the concourse with a security guard looking for us! In desperation we hid. We actually hid (how embarrassing)!! People were looking at us like we were terrorists. Can you imagine what it must look like to see two guys in an airport clearly trying to hide?

We successfully hid until they announced boarding. Then we tried to conspicuously get in line to board, but the supervisor nabbed us. I tried to calmly reason with him and explain my friend’s outburst. I described how much effort it took to find the rental car and hotel…and if we did not take this flight, we would miss our connection and likely not have a car or hotel. The supervisor could care less. He wanted to take his revenge in the midst of a long holiday season. With a security guard in tow, we walked back toward the exit when he suddenly stopped and said, “I’m going give you guys another chance and let you on this flight. You got lucky I’m in the holiday spirit.”

Even though the supervisor was clearly on a power trip, we were elated to get on the flight… and with no luggage. I don’t think our hearts stopped pounding until we were well over Florida. It took 5 days before we saw our luggage, but it didn’t matter. We still had a blast! We came inches from the trip being a complete nightmare. Travel lesson #1: Take what you get, especially when traveling over the holidays!