Every February through April, up to 2,000 gray whale mothers and babies converge in the lagoon Ojo de Liebre near Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The gentle giants call the waters homes while giving birth, mating, and teaching their calves essential skills to prepare them for the long migration north. Our friends told us…
While walking through the Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, I expected to see jaguars, but there were none to be found. I was far from disappointed, however. Instead, I saw about 50 different sloths and was fascinated with our tour guide, Becky. Becky Cliffe, also known as “Becky Sloth,” is like the…
Lake Tahoe is spectacularly beautiful. From the picturesque lake to the lofty pine trees, and stunning mountains, it is gorgeous. If you’re a nature lover, you will like it, but keep in mind that it is also over-crowded, very hot, too expensive and extremely touristy. It reminded me of so many lovely places on this…
I love to travel. I live for it, and so do a lot of people. Besides being fun and exciting, travel teaches us more about ourselves and other cultures. There are tons of great reasons to travel, but to be honest, there are also many valid reasons not to travel. There is a dark side…
Walking along the silvery colored sandy beach of Leadbetter Point, while watching my dog run through the shallow waters without a care in the world, I felt captivated by the tranquility of the place. The beauty took my breath away, but it was the silence that struck me most. I couldn’t hear a single car, boat, or airplane. There wasn’t another person in site. The only thing I could hear was a couple of seagulls off in the distance.
Leadbetter Point State Park is located on the northern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula, just northwest of Oysterville. The park is nestled between Willapa Bay on the north and east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. If you’re a nature lover, you’re going to love Leadbetter Point. There are a number of great things to do at the park, including hiking, fishing, bird watching, boating, clamming, and oyster collecting.
Noel Kary stands at the end of the pier of Willapa Bay, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his grandson. He’s part of a 4th generation crab fishing family, and he didn’t stop commercial fishing until he was in his eighties. Now his grandson is fishing the very same waters of Willapa Bay. It’s a way…
My lifestyle as a travel blogger is rarely full of glamour and luxury like most people think. The past week has been a good example of that. I spent the days working my butt off for a family running a Permaculture retreat and education center in the mountains near Biella Italy. Compost toilets, not-so-hot hot…
Standing next to the 100-foot waterfall, feeling the water spraying over me, the sound was deafening. It was the day before Mother’s Day, and I couldn’t help but feel blessed with the beauty of our dear Mother Nature, and the Kayak Wailua tour is a great way to see her at her finest.
The day began with a meet and greet with the cheerful staff at Kayak Wailua. I was excited that my daughter, Jamie, would be our guide for the day. She explained to our group what to expect on our expedition. The tour would take about 5 hours total and would include about 5 miles of kayaking through the Wailua River and an easy one mile hike (in both directions) up to Secret Falls, called Uluwehi by the Hawaiian people.
The only other people in our group was a family of four from Santa Cruz with two young energetic boys. We all loaded into the shuttle and headed for the marina. While our driver unloaded the kayaks, we received some last-minute paddling instructions from Jamie and loaded up our gear. Soon we were on our way up the river. The Wailua, which means Spirit in Hawaiian, is surrounded by beautiful jungle, with tropical trees, colorful flowers and lots of interesting birds. We paddled past the Sleeping Giant, known as NouNou Mountain and Mouna Kapu, then into a narrow and overgrown area where we disembarked and began our foot excursion.
After almost a year and a half in India I’ve gotten to know the country quite well. There are so many things I love about India, like the beautiful Himalayan Mountains, delicious food and fascinating culture. However, there are a number of things that I have really missed from home. These 10 things I will never take for granted again.
India has more cell phones than toilets. There are very few public toilets, which means that public urination (by men) is common. One day, out of pure curiosity, I decided to count the number of men I saw taking a pee on the way to work. In 8 kilometers I counted 14 guys relieving themselves on the side of the road. If you are lucky enough to find a public toilet it will probably be an Indian style squat toilet. Western style toilets are even harder to find.
If you are able to locate a public restroom be prepared for it to be dirty, even disgusting! They don’t have the same sanitary standards that the west does. I have only found one hand dryer or filled paper towel dispenser in a public bathroom my entire time in India, and that place was operated by foreigners.
I spent eight amazing days in Malaysia. I was impressed with many things, including the general sophistication of the cities and the kindness of the people. However, it is the geographical beauty, the delicious food, and the fascinating culture that sticks out most in my mind.
The geographical beauty
By far, the lush landscape and stunning hills of Cameron Highlands was my favorite. Cameron Highlands is about 200 kilometers northeast of Kuala Lumpur, and definitely worth a visit. It’s easy to catch a bus from KL airport and it only takes about 5 hours. Highlights of my visit in that area included a day touring a tea plantation, dining at The Ye Olde Smokehouse, and trekking through the ancient Mossy Forest. The waterfront area of Penang also took my breath away. Make sure you take a ferry over to George Town. It takes about 20 minutes and the view is spectacular.
Malaysian food
Eating Malaysian Food is an adventure in itself. A lot of the seafood is sold whole, with the eyeballs still on! It was a little shocking to me. Most of the time I really had no idea what I was eating and because of the language barrier I couldn’t understand what they were telling me about the menu. Apparently that isn’t an unusual event because they would then hand me a picture menu and I would just point at something and hope it was good. The “point and eat” approach worked in my favor every time except once when I was served a dish with every piece of what I assume was chicken, was nothing but gristle. Yuck!