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Overview

Introduction

On your way from Mammoth Cave to Louisville (or vice versa), consider a stop in the area around Elizabethtown. Among the attractions is the Lincoln Heritage House, a cabin built by Abe's father. There's a driving tour of historic homes and, in summer, a walking tour of downtown, with costumed characters representing famous figures who passed through the community—P.T. Barnum and George Custer, for instance. While in town, be sure to ask about that mysterious cannonball that's lodged in the second floor of a downtown building.

From Elizabethtown you can also make a brief trip to Fort Knox Military Reservation, well-known as the site of the U.S. Bullion Depository. Don't plan to see much gold—the granite and steel-reinforced structure can be viewed only from the outside.

But you can visit the General George Patton Museum of Leadership, where you'll find many personal items used by Gen. George S. Patton throughout his life, including his command vehicle and the Cadillac sedan in which he was killed. The museum is free.

Just a hoot and a holler away is Glendale, a small community that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A longtime whistle-stop, the town has capitalized on its railroad heritage by establishing a small but worthy complex of eateries and shops right where the trains used to pull in. Three restaurants draw folks from around the area for home-style and classic southern cooking, and there's a bed-and-breakfast and a number of crafts and antiques shops, including some real bargains in handmade wicker and wood furniture. In October, Glendale stages the Glendale Crossing Festival.

South of Glendale, near Hodgenville, is the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park. This is the farm where the future president was born in 1809. A cabin that resembles the original is housed inside the huge Greek Revival memorial building. Lincoln buffs will also want to visit Hodgenville's Lincoln Museum, featuring wax figures re-creating scenes from Lincoln's life, and the statue of the president at nearby Lincoln Square Circle Monument.

The Lincoln Boyhood Home, another farm where Lincoln lived as a child, is 7 mi/11 km northeast of town on Highway 31E.

Overview

Introduction

At the eastern end of the Garden Route in South Africa and 400 mi/650 km east of Cape Town, is P.E. (as it's commonly called) or Port Elizabeth, an industrial city fringed with excellent beaches.

Allow a couple of hours to walk the 3-mi-/5 km-long Donkin Heritage Trail that links the most interesting historic building, monuments, churches and parks. These include Fort Frederick (built in 1799) and Donkin Reserve with its lighthouse (built in 1861). Along the Humewood Beach waterfront is the large Bayworld complex that houses a museum, an oceanarium and a snake park. It makes a nice refuge if you're in town on an all-too-common blustery day.

Do leave yourself enough time to explore the thought-provoking Red Location Museum located in one of Port Elizabeth's oldest townships. Its unique spatial interpretation of history and memorial to the struggle for freedom have won the museum several prestigious awards. Addo Elephant National Park (about an hour's drive north) has Eastern Cape elephants, black rhinos and other animals. Most visitors will find two nights in P.E. sufficient.

Location

Shore Excursions

City tours explore the historic sites in the city center such as Fort Frederick, the Donkin Memorial, Horse Memorial and City Hall. Then there is time to enjoy the beachfront, which has a seaside resort atmosphere and numerous attractions including the aquarium and snake park at Bayword, and the shops, restaurants, musical fountains and beautiful gardens at the Boardwalk Casino & Entertainment World. There may be time at Shark Rock Pier for a photo opportunity of Port Elizabeth's skyline.

The Addo Elephant National Park is about 45 mi/72 km from the port, so a two-hour game drive by open vehicle can easily be arranged. Sightings of the more than 500 elephants in the park are almost guaranteed, and there are numerous other animals including lion, hyena, cheetah, zebra, eland, kudu and red hartebeest. Also quite notable is the unique flightless dung beetle, which is found exclusively in Addo. The shop at park reception is an excellent place to pick up souvenirs.

Overview

Introduction

With a fine backdrop of the Rwenzori Mountains behind it, this park in western Uganda—240 mi/390 km southwest of Kampala—is bordered by Lake Edward to the west and Lake George to the east. These two bodies of water are connected by the Kazinga Channel, which is inhabited by what is thought to the world's largest concentration of hippos. The sight of hundreds of these creatures languishing in the water is best appreciated from a boat ride, from which you may also spot crocodiles and a variety of birds. Astonishingly, the park is home to at least 610 species of birds—more than in any other park in Africa.

On the savannah plains are elephant, buffalo, lions, Uganda kobs (a type of antelope) and hyena. Channel Drive is good for leopards and is the only place in Africa where diurnal sightings of the monstrous giant forest hog are regular. As with Murchison Falls, wildlife numbers have largely recovered from the poaching of the 1970s-80s. A highlight there is enjoying a sundowner on the lodge terrace and watching as elephants trumpet at the water's edge below.

A newer attraction of QENP is chimpanzee-tracking in the Kyambura Gorge, and the underrated Maramagambo Forest in the far south is home to several beautiful crater lakes, a creepily impressive bat cave and lots of forest birds and monkeys. The Ishasha sector in the far southwest, serviced by a lovely riverside tented camp, is the most reliable place in Africa to look for tree-climbing lions, as well as other wildlife and birds (including the rare shoebill).