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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Hell’s Gate National Park by Zoë Sheng

Hell’s Gate National Park (On tentative list)

Hell’s Gate National Park

This park is a dream come true. No more being locked into your safari vehicle for hours, no more having to follow your tour guide, you roam free! Yes, self-drive …

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

Noel Kempff Mercado National … (Inscribed)

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

Noel Kempff (NK from now on) is a unique savannah but also has rainforest area - but no, you won't get stuck in a jungle and whack through the thick …

St. Paul Church by Zoë Sheng

St. Paul Church (On tentative list)

St. Paul Church

The church is named after Paul Newman and his blue eyes who once fell into the well. There are frescoes all over including the one with a basket of eggs …

Jodrell Bank Observatory by Zoë Sheng

Jodrell Bank Observatory (Inscribed)

Jodrell Bank Observatory

Can understand the low rating. I feel the place has changed since the early days and people reviewing it lowly is because nowadays you get to see and learn …

Studley Royal Park by Zoë Sheng

Studley Royal Park (Inscribed)

Studley Royal Park

Some of our community members pride themselves with reviewing EVERY site they visit and I think for the UK there is no reason to do so, and in fact I'm …

Kondoa by Zoë Sheng

Kondoa (Inscribed)

Kondoa

Kondoa was one of the reasons I chose to self-drive in Tanzania because it's quite away from the other sites and I didn't want to arrange a separate tour for …

Gwaii Haanas by Zoë Sheng

Gwaii Haanas (On tentative list)

Gwaii Haanas

Haida Gwaii is in the top 3 of my beloved Canada sites and to think I only visited after such a long time traveling!! I'm also not alone on this …

The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo by Zoë Sheng

The Passage Tomb Landscape of… (On tentative list)

The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo

I know why there's only one review because nobody wants to follow such a detailed explanation of the proposed site and honestly I can't add much more than personal trip …

Cold winter deserts of Turan by Zoë Sheng

Cold winter deserts of Turan (Inscribed)

Cold winter deserts of Turan

Visited Altyn Emel NP in 2022 while driving through Kazakhstan. It's most likely the easiest choice and on paper it also looks like a breeze from Almaty. Two problems with …

Nahanni National Park by Zoë Sheng

Nahanni National Park (Inscribed)

Nahanni National Park

Nahanni was my last Canadian WHS and there's a good reason for it. It's not exactly tough to get in but you need to have the right timing and definitely …

SGang Gwaay by Zoë Sheng

SGang Gwaay (Inscribed)

SGang Gwaay

To be clear, SGang Gwaay is ONLY the site on what used to be called Anthony Island and getting here takes either your own yacht/boat or do a tour. The …

Selous Game Reserve by Zoë Sheng

Selous Game Reserve (Inscribed)

Selous Game Reserve

One would think I enjoy a nature park with animals and on paper the vast area is extremely impressive. However, there are so many problems with the park.

For …

Stone Town of Zanzibar by Zoë Sheng

Stone Town of Zanzibar (Inscribed)

Stone Town of Zanzibar

I get the charm and it's quite touristy when you arrive by ferry, walk along the cleanish port and enjoy the sunshine and breeze and hey, Freddie Mercury museum!! However, …

Ogasawara Islands by Zoë Sheng

Ogasawara Islands (Inscribed)

Ogasawara Islands

Also called the Bonin Islands but that won't get you far with the locals, has 30 islands but you will only visit two of them tops. You will always arrive …

Raja Ampat Islands by Zoë Sheng

Raja Ampat Islands (On tentative list)

Raja Ampat Islands

Highly recommended even for non-divers. Obviously the main draw is diving and even snorkeling is popular at the resorts but you'll be missing a lot of the area just looking …

The Banda Islands by Zoë Sheng

The Banda Islands (On tentative list)

The Banda Islands

Banda is magical. It features so much and while it's not for everyone, the people who were there had already visited multiple times over the decades and want to stay …

Bunaken National Park by Zoë Sheng

Bunaken National Park (On tentative list)

Bunaken National Park

I love Bunaken. I've been there twice, once when I was young and recently again as I dived at almost every Indonesian place there is to dive :) Bunaken is …

Wakatobi National Park by Zoë Sheng

Wakatobi National Park (On tentative list)

Wakatobi National Park

You may have seen my previous review but after my second, much longer visit I am not negative about it's chances to be WHS and while I don't think feel …

Chitwan National Park by Zoë Sheng

Chitwan National Park (Inscribed)

Chitwan National Park

It's been a while since the review and also since my visit which must have been 2019 or so. Your main gateway is Bharatpur Airport although some people do take …

Lorentz National Park by Zoë Sheng

Lorentz National Park (Inscribed)

Lorentz National Park

Took me years to accomplish visiting and even then it wasn't easygoing though it should have been rather simple. First off while you see the park on Google Map that …

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