When I’m not in my wellies tending to our two-acre plot of olive trees, tucked inside the Valle d’Itria of the Alto Salento sub-region of Puglia in the southeastern reaches of Italy, I like to lace up my hiking boots, grab my camera and walking stick and head out on long, photo-shoot treks around my ‘hood.
Growing up, I was taught that the Philippines was an archipelago composed of a staggering 7,100 islands. But recently, that number has changed. The Filipino National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) had suspected there were actually a lot more for a long time. Using synthetic aperture radar satellite technology and in-person checks they remapped the country and came up with over 500 more islands … 534 more to be exact. The 3 main islands are Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao but there are thousands of smaller ones. A friend of mine says his family owns one in the Quezon province that is so small there are days in the year when the whole island is under water. I think he was joking ... then again, maybe he wasn't.
The great ship designed for transatlantic crossings is negotiating a heavy Atlantic sea with white caps appearing like melting snow flickering atop curling 20-foot waves. There is muscle in the wind as an enormous stream of strength converges on the ship twisting the light in tight Picasso-like curls.
Beneath the City Chambers on Edinburgh's famous Royal Mile, lies Mary King's Close, a series of narrow, winding side streets with multi-level apartment houses looming on either side, which has been hidden for many years. In 1753, the houses at the top of the buildings were knocked down to make way for the then-new building. Parts of the lower sections were used as the foundation, leaving below a number of dark and mysterious underground alleyways steeped in mystery -- and misery.
I am in Mindo to study the cloud forests around me. Each cloud forest is a unique habitat, a home to scores of plant and animal species that are found only in Mindo. Over eons, these forests formed when the Pacific Ocean's warm vapors wafted against the cooling Andes peaks, creating the ideal environment for orchids, bromeliads, and ferns. These mountains are home to Guadua Augustoflora, the South American bamboo that, with greater efficiency than most plants, sucks carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converts it into material used to build local houses.
From my train window I could see where Hitler’s Nazi Army blitzed into the countryside, and later where Stalin’s Red Army returned the favor as his troops marched towards the defeat of Nazi Germany. Countless invaders arrived before the Germans and Russians, including the Tartars, the Teutonic Knights and the Slavic tribe, the Plonians, who stayed and made Poland their home. But today, eating lunch in my luxury train compartment, all I could see and feel was the serenity of the little farms and villages that dotted the terrain. There’s something about physically watching the miles pass from your train window that allows a perspective that is not offered by plane travel. Also, Europe is smaller than the U.S., with its major cities relatively close to one another, making it ideal for passages on the continent’s well-connected train lines.
I was up close and personal with the coral moonscape and the many multi-colored residents who call it home. Trigger fish, trumpets, sergeant major fish, blue parrots, butterfly fish -- "The list is so long it would take me a whole day to tell you," my instructor claimed. At one point, he directed me to the bottom to look underneath a big coral formation where a Puffer Fish was happily hiding. You can't do that when snorkeling!
Without a doubt, most people from North America and Europe visit Mindo because they read that it is one of the world's top sites of biodiversity for bird species. The central role that ecotourism plays in Mindo can be observed in the pueblo's central plaza. In the plaza, you can see the stone statue of a hummingbird. Sitting on one of the benches, you can look around and see the famed cloud forests of Mindo in the mountains around you.
Quito, the proud capital of Ecuador, stands majestically beneath wandering clouds that drape the city with long shadows that shift dramatically as the clouds are blown about by fickle weather patterns. At an incredible 9,350 feet above sea level, the city is the second highest official capital city in the world after La Paz, Bolivia.
I was delighted when my husband and I received Betty’s invitation to join her for a picnic at the Sunset in the Palms Resort in Negril, Jamaica. The setting was lush, the food and wine enticing. Conversation, though, was a tad strained. But then her recent history was a bit dicey. Recently married, rumor has it was a shotgun wedding. Seems Betty …
