Solivagant

Member since December 2005

#None 0 0

I am now retired but have been "travelling" for a "hobby" since I was 15 (1957!) whilst pursuing otherwise normal mundane career and "home" things in UK - thus being limited by "annual leave" allowances. During that time I have visited 164 "independent countries" - defined by me as the 193 full UN members plus (somewhat illogically, but they are generally accepted as "sovereign") Taiwan and Holy See (but am not pursuing "193"!). Unfortunately quite a few relatively easily accessible current WHS got "missed" along the way. If only I had known they would get chosen - they are not all obvious choices! Despite the weaknesses in the list and the politics involved in the selection and voting mechanism they provide a quick means of grasping the highlights of many countries and sometimes lead down interesting knowledge and research "avenues" which would otherwise have remain unexplored. 
Proposal for a new WHS:- Roca Agostino Neto Cocoa Plantation Sao Tome.
There are just too many European WHS relative to the rest. Little Sao Tome became the world's greatest producer of cocoa under the Portuguese. So poor were the social conditions that Cadbury boycotted Cocoa from there in early 20C. At Roca Agostinho (and other crumbling colonial sites on Sao Tome) you might just get a feeling for the economic system which created it and "fed" Europe with a raw material so often taken for granted - a really atmospheric place. But it isn't even on the "Tentative list"!

My most impressive site: Machu Picchu. I would like to choose somewhere

My proposal for a new site: See under

Recent Visits
  • 11
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    July 28, 2024
    Beijing Central Axis, Funerary and memory sites of the First World War, Gedi , Hegmataneh, …
  • 0
    4
    Jan. 1, 2020
    City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Dunhuang Yardangs, The Lijiang River Scenic Zone …
  • 0
    5
    Jan. 1, 2020
    Ancient cities of Upper Myanmar, Bago, Inle Lake, Shwedagon Pagoda, Wooden Monasteries of Konbaung Period
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About Solivagant

First name
Solivagant
Member since
December 2005
Country of Origin
None
Visits
Rank
#None
WHS
0
Tentative Sites
0
Website Participation
Reviews
442
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
855 0
Photos
N/A
Locations
N/A
Zones
N/A

Reviews by Solivagant

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Tiya by Solivagant

Tiya (Inscribed)

Tiya

A word commonly used regarding Tiya (including in the UNESCO documentation itself) is “Enigmatic”. Despite its inscription as long ago as 1980 remarkably little is known about the c35 strangely …

Peninsula Valdes by Solivagant

Peninsula Valdes (Inscribed)

Peninsula Valdes

Peninsular Valdes offers some of the best opportunities of any continental location worldwide to view 3 iconic marine mammals – Whales (The “Southern Right” in this case), Elephant Seals and …

Kizhi Pogost by Solivagant

Kizhi Pogost (Inscribed)

Kizhi Pogost

The Wooden Churches of Khizi, with their glistening silvery aspen shingles and their setting (if you are lucky with the weather!) among green fields next to blue waters, provide one …

Yaroslavl by Solivagant

Yaroslavl (Inscribed)

Yaroslavl

The historic centre of Yaroslavl was inscribed in 2005 perhaps as part of a “tourist push” in advance of the town’s thousandth anniversary in 2010 and we quite enjoyed our …

Lower Valley of the Omo by Solivagant

Lower Valley of the Omo (Inscribed)

Lower Valley of the Omo

“Lower Valley of the Omo” is the only WHS I know of inscribed for reason A (In this case as a site of early hominid remains), but visited almost entirely …

Harar Jugol by Solivagant

Harar Jugol (Inscribed)

Harar Jugol

In the 19th Century Harer (or “Harar”) was one of those “ultimate destinations”, like Timbuctoo and Mecca, whose dangers and inaccessibility, both physical and cultural, fascinated European explorers. It had …

Lower Valley of the Awash by Wojciech Fedoruk

Lower Valley of the Awash (Inscribed)

Lower Valley of the Awash

Els’s count of WHS reviews implicitly presumes that anyone reviewing a site will have been there! In the case of the “Lower Valley of the Awash” this is unfortunately not …

Gough and Inaccessible Islands by Solivagant

Gough and Inaccessible Islands (Inscribed)

Gough and Inaccessible Islands

Gough Island is the "ultimate" for us "WHS collectors"! But how to visit this "oh so remote island" where no one is even allowed to land - so important is …

Central University City Campus of the UNAM by Solivagant

Central University City Campu… (Inscribed)

Central University City Campus of the UNAM

Although it was only inscribed in 2007 it is somewhat surprising to see that this easily accessible site in an easily accessible city still hasn’t been reviewed almost a year …

Querétaro by Solivagant

Querétaro (Inscribed)

Querétaro

Queretaro undoubtedly has a pleasant city centre. Its calmness belies its situation at the heart of a growing conurbation of over 1 million people. That said, in terms of suitability …

Xochicalco by Solivagant

Xochicalco (Inscribed)

Xochicalco

10 out of Mexico’s 27 inscribed sites are pre-Hispanic – Xochicalco isn’t among the “top ranking” but has its interests and is certainly worth visiting if you are in the …

Zacatecas by Solivagant

Zacatecas (Inscribed)

Zacatecas

As a “colonial” centro historico Zacatecas has a number of similarities with Guanajuato – particularly its setting in a deep(ish) valley and its wealth from Silver. We visited it first …

Tlacotalpan by Solivagant

Tlacotalpan (Inscribed)

Tlacotalpan

Tlacotalpan is the “odd man out” among Mexico’s plethora of UNESCO-inscribed old “colonial” towns. Whilst others have expanded way beyond their original size, this sleepy backwater has regressed from the …

Morelia by Solivagant

Morelia (Inscribed)

Morelia

Among the somewhat excessive number of Mexican historic “colonial” town centres on the UNESCO list Morelia’s special claim lies in is its very “Spanish” feeling/atmosphere. As the Rough Guide says …

Puebla by Solivagant

Puebla (Inscribed)

Puebla

With a population of c1.4 million, the city of Puebla was by far the largest of the WHS-inscribed provincial “colonial” Centros Historicos we saw during our tour of Central Mexico …

Oaxaca and Monte Alban by Solivagant

Oaxaca and Monte Alban (Inscribed)

Oaxaca and Monte Alban

The linkage of the apparently disparate sites of Oaxaca and Monte Alban in a single inscription is unusual. Each place certainly has its merits compared with others on the List; …

Koutammakou by Solivagant

Koutammakou (Inscribed)

Koutammakou

Anyone interested in Ethnology, Architecture, Cultural landscapes or African culture generally should try to reach this site. It consists of an area of country in NE Togo and NW Benin …

Portobelo-San Lorenzo by Solivagant

Portobelo-San Lorenzo (Inscribed)

Portobelo-San Lorenzo

(Nb. This review is of a visit in Apr 1991 and submitted to this web site even before it started maintaining submission dates - i.e before 2005!!)

Rock Art of Alta by Solivagant

Rock Art of Alta (Inscribed)

Rock Art of Alta

There are (at least?) 4 different WHS solely devoted to prehistoric rock carvings – Alta (Norway), Valcamonica (Italy), Tanum (Sweden) and Coa Valley (Portugal)- Bhimbetka in India I think is …

Rock Drawings in Valcamonica by Solivagant

Rock Drawings in Valcamonica (Inscribed)

Rock Drawings in Valcamonica

Having already visited the Scandinavian WHS Rock art sites at Tanum and Alta we didn’t want to miss the Italian site at Valcamonica during a visit to N Italy (though …

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