Zoë Sheng

Member since August 2017

#None 0 0

I'm Zoë. I'm originally from Edmonton, Canada and then moved to Vancouver Island although spent lots of time in China where family members still reside. I also spent a few years at boarding school in England where my trips started when my parents took me around the coastal paths and what later turned out to be world heritage sites which are considered my first "ticks". Since then I traveled a lot, studied part-time in Auckland, and my "skills" of efficiency and organized planning helps a lot - meaning that old towns tend to get an overnight stay to easily explore them while churches, tombs or cemeteries that only take an hour tops to visit are really just scheduled for a quick visit. I do sometimes regret not visiting a place longer but revisits are not out of the question. However, as I don't drink alcohol, party, or require fancy nights out on the town it shortens activities in places too (if you enjoy doing this  then I'm happy for you just don't wonder why I get stuff done quicker). I also scuba dive frequently which I love the most in the world though I'm not a tec-diving nerd and keep it simple (thus Bikini Atoll is probably out). No deco diving for me unless it's a special wreck.

Personally I'm very private. I ditched Facebook over a decade ago, Instagram I only lasted for a few months and even Whatsapp I tend to mainly use for staying in touch, contacting hotels and tour guides. I'm not anti-social and usually travel in a small group if it works out, although I do enjoy solo traveling more because nobody will screw up my planning. Anyone tagging along will know "it's her way or no way". I have met two people from our community although they didn't noticed it was me at the time. I also do not know the name of one of them but maybe I'll find out eventually. I also almost ran into the Aussie couple and their dog but I was stuck in the Peruvian mountains while they were partying (joke, or assumption?!) in Cuzco.

Since 2023 I started slowing down world heritage specific traveling mainly because I have just seen so many and so much already. I'd rather spend the time with friends and my marine buddies the sharks and dolphins than seek out a mediocre church or wine county, plus the list keeps growing with lackluster titles that hardly excite me, not that I try tick off tentative sites as I can anyway but outliers and crappy stuff far away from civilization isn't going to be fun to visit.

In 2024 I had a mitral valve replacement (ugly scar now) followed by an RFA to fix my heart rate. It definitely slowed down any traveling I wanted to do and unsure how it will continue. Hopefully I'm as good as new with medication. Even scuba diving is ok!

At the time of writing I still need to visit 156 sites which doesn't seem like a lot but a few are impossible to visit, some require lengthy trips (30 days for one, two weeks for a few others) and can cost a huge sum of money. There are also those warring states that are currently off-limits (+Venezuela for security/embargo reasons). Having officially visited 151 UN listed countries these are still left with sites:

Afghanistan
Angola
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo, DR
Congo, Republic
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Ghana
Guinea
Haiti
Ivory Coast
Kiribati
Kyrgyzstan
Libya
Madagascar
Mali
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Sudan
Syria
Togo
Venezuela
Yemen

For the rest of sites in countries I have been already:

  • Heard and McDonald Island - requires lengthy boat tour
  • Macquarie Island - cruise $$$
  • Khinalig, Azerbaijan - wasn't even tentative I think and it's quite far off the beaten track, next time I visit Azerbaijan it shall be done
  • Okavango Delta - didn't want to cram this as a 1½ day drive-by on my last Botswana trip; worth a lengthy visit for sure
  • Peninsula Valdez, thought hard about adding it into my Argentina trip but early February just wasn't good enough to guarantee Right whales and orcas and September just seems better to splurge the money
  • Brazil - still missing almost half because I backed out twice but I will get it eventually lol
  • French Austral Lands and Seas - well, that's the one you join a ~30 day cargo ship trip that will visit it along the way, "fun"
  • Marquesas Island, it's an extra trip from French Polynesia's main hub
  • Zagori Cultural Landscape, Greece - I drove through this, or past this, but I can't really count it I think. I also don't mind visiting Greece again. For now Europe stays incomplete
  • Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras - One could tick this by taking a boat around the coast to one of the villages inside the park but visiting this properly isn't easily accomplished - I don't think visiting the villages will give an insight into the heritage of the biosphere reserve at all
  • India keeps adding tentative sites so I can make the trip more worthwhile in the future but only 3 sites remaining at the moment which isn't much 
  • Jordan - my first trip was the main things and rest, probably "meh", would need another trip.
  • Mongolia - a few sites and a couple of these are HARD to visit as they are in the middle of nowhere.
  • Sub-Antarctic Islands, NZ - cruise
  • Te Wahipounamu, NZ south island - technically have been there but I want to hike for a week+ to count this visit
  • Russia is currently off-limits to me personally
  • Aldabra Atoll used to have a $$$ cruise but I think Covid killed it (literally) so the only way to visit is taking the cruise from Zanzibar that stops there on the way. Not super expensive and seeing that you get a cruise it's a nice vacay - if you are into that. Having already done Zanzibar and the Seychelles doesn't help me but maybe fun in a small group
  • Tajik National Park (& Tugay Forests) require a lengthy road trip best done by car from Osh - however, for the last few years the countries haven't seen eye to eye so they won't let rental cars from Kyrgyzstan cross over thus one would have to go from Dushanbe and that's a hefty additional mileage!
  • Gough and Inaccessible Islands - named "inaccessible" with reason
  • Henderson Island - you need special permission to visit although joining a charter trip would include it; however, they are rare and $$$
  • Tauric Chersonese - well, Crimea is now in "Russian" territory and not sure I'm even allowed to visit
  • Zimbabwe I have only visited Victoria Falls but definitely interested in exploring the rest!
  • Palestine: would never visit the Gaza strip and now they have a site so it's probably unvisited from me for a while, mainly due to their policy to fast track the sites under warfare

My most impressive site: Abu Simbel, Ilulissat Icefjord, Cocos Island

My proposal for a new site: Mariana Trench

Recent Visits
  • 1
    0
    Sept. 16, 2024
    Iguacu
  • 3
    0
    Sept. 16, 2024
    Churches and Convents of Goa, Great Himalayan National Park, Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers
  • 3
    0
    Sept. 5, 2024
    Chola Temples, Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas, Western Ghats
>

About Zoë Sheng

First name
Zoë
Member since
August 2017
Country of Origin
None
Visits
Rank
#None
WHS
0
Tentative Sites
0
Website Participation
Reviews
379
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
Tentative Sites
1067 160
Photos
N/A
Locations
N/A
Zones
N/A

Reviews by Zoë Sheng

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Torgau Castle Chapel by Zoë Sheng

Torgau Castle Chapel (On tentative list)

Torgau Castle Chapel

Hartenfels Castle takes forever to visit. Plan 3 hours if you want to see all including hanging out at the bear cage. I actually think the castle would be better …

Site of the Schöningen Spears by Zoë Sheng

Site of the Schöningen Spears (On tentative list)

Site of the Schöningen Spears

Schôningen means museum. You can visit the DDR border around here but for the spears you need to enter the museum. I arrived quite late so the lady gave me …

Wadi Al Helo by Zoë Sheng

Wadi Al Helo (On tentative list)

Wadi Al Helo

Wadi Al Helo is best combined with Hatta and Malhelo as you are heading to the southeast and almost hitting Oman on the way. The problem for my visit was …

Hatta Archaeological Landscape by Zoë Sheng

Hatta Archaeological Landscape (On tentative list)

Hatta Archaeological Landscape

Hatta is an exclave to Dubai and even though you drive for over an hour and almost reach Oman it's still Dubai, with the dam clearly showing the leaders. You …

Faya Palaeolandscape by Zoë Sheng

Faya Palaeolandscape (Nominated)

Faya Palaeolandscape

You'll be heading for the Mleiha Archeology Center for this one which I visited twice in the last few years. First was a bit of a bust. They had lots …

Schwerin Residence Ensemble by Zoë Sheng

Schwerin Residence Ensemble (Inscribed)

Schwerin Residence Ensemble

Schwerin is a huge area and I have "only" been to the massive castle, it's gardens and the entire lake next to it. The castle costs entrance and unsure it's …

Beijing Central Axis by Zoë Sheng

Beijing Central Axis (Inscribed)

Beijing Central Axis

I definitely like this nomination but it needs to be limited to only important areas. I used this picture (public domain) because it shows 100 years ago Tiananmen Square was …

Orkhon Valley by Zoë Sheng

Orkhon Valley (Inscribed)

Orkhon Valley

One of the easier Mongolia sites with a bus going daily from UB and it "only" takes most of the day with lunch break. The main reason would be to …

Kilifi Caves  by Zoë Sheng

Kilifi Caves (On tentative list)

Kilifi Caves

I visited all three components although Mawe Meru appears to be just the black rocks on top of Chasimba Caves which is even marked so on the map. Also I …

Le parc national de la Kibira by Zoë Sheng

Le parc national de la Kibira (On tentative list)

Le parc national de la Kibira

A natural extension to Rwanda’s Nyungwe NP, boasting the same floral and fauna. That park has already got a great review so I won't bump it down with my scribblings. …

Gedi  by Zoë Sheng

Gedi (Inscribed)

Gedi

Gedi is to be nominated very soon and I wouldn't be surprised if it slides through even though the visitor centers are all "Kenyan style" half built and then left …

Tombs of Buganda Kings by Zoë Sheng

Tombs of Buganda Kings (Inscribed)

Tombs of Buganda Kings

As of 2024 the main building is still under renovation. You arrive in the busy area of Kampala to be taken to a mandatory guide who explains mostly well until …

Rwenzori Mountains by Zoë Sheng

Rwenzori Mountains (Inscribed)

Rwenzori Mountains

I can't add much new to this site. I did even less hiking than Els doing only 4.75km to the first camp and then back to the main gate. It …

Nyandarua Mountains by Zoë Sheng

Nyandarua Mountains (On tentative list)

Nyandarua Mountains

The site is still called Aberdares Range no matter what the description says. It could be be that only certain mountains are to be inscribed but the waterfalls are definitely …

Muramvya, Mpotsa et Nkiko-Mugamba by Zoë Sheng

Muramvya, Mpotsa et Nkiko-Mug… (On tentative list)

Muramvya, Mpotsa et Nkiko-Mugamba

This entry is just odd and I don't even want to try and understand what exactly wants to be inscribed. There is a "mansion" house (look like from the 60s …

La résidence royale du Burundi: Le cas de Gishora by Roman Bruehwiler

La résidence royale du Burund… (On tentative list)

La résidence royale du Burundi: Le cas de Gishora

I disagree this is a site for world heritage. It is already an INTANGIBLE site on the list and the rest of the place isn't what it was back in …

Glass Sponge Reefs Protected Areas

Glass Sponge Reefs Protected … (On tentative list)

Glass Sponge Reefs Protected Areas

First off sorry there's no pictures. It is hard to spot good stuff from above the water and even when one does it will be hard to photograph. From the …

Fort Jesus by Zoë Sheng

Fort Jesus (Inscribed)

Fort Jesus

Oh jeez, they named a fort after Jesus? Well unlike the prophet the fort is not special, at all. So the unique points are that it was numero uno European …

Lamu Old Town by Zoë Sheng

Lamu Old Town (Inscribed)

Lamu Old Town

Ignore my pictures.I tried to get the collage to do LAMU but that didn't work after all so now it's like a Central America facade every town spells out. It …

Coastal Forests of Kenya by Zoë Sheng

Coastal Forests of Kenya (On tentative list)

Coastal Forests of Kenya

"Thin elephant red soil", the translation for Arabuko Sokoke Forest, is in my top 3 sites in all of Kenya, and Kenya has a lot of sites/parks!! Arabuko actually means …

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