IINTERESTING RIDES

                                                 A Camel Ride

In the Australian outback the camel handler gave us some advice on what it would feel like when the camel got up and down. We decided to ride together in the double saddle.

A camel gets up on his hind legs first, which tends to propel one a bit forward, then up goes his front legs. There wasn’t too much of a jolt as the camel got up, but going down Jan let out a whoop! When lying down   the camel puts his front legs down first! Then the hind legs go down with a plop. We both were propelled forward, but we managed to stay in the saddle.

The ride is different than riding a horse. You don’t bounce like on a horse. I wouldn’t want to ride a camel very far, but it was fun and an interesting experience.

Australia is the largest producer of camels in the world, and exports them all over the globe.

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A Slow Slippery Ride

Due to recent rains in Belize it was questionable whether we would be able to make it to the ancient Mayan ruins Caracol. The rainy season started early that year and the archaeologists left the area two weeks early. The final decision would not be made until  morning. Since this was the main purpose of my staying over in Belize,  I whispered a silent prayer.

            At breakfast we learned the trip was a thumbs up! The road, and I use the term very loosely, through the jungle was like clay and very slippery. We did our share of slipping and sliding but stayed on the ‘road’ as there was nowhere else to go. No gutters to fall into!

            Our young driver told us, “Unlike the US, most of our young people do not drive.” This young man was good and he kept us from getting stuck, although at times we had pause to wonder.

            As we inched along, I tried to visualize what it must have been like to cut a path through the jungle during wartime. The jungle does not stay at bay long and grows back quickly--like overnight!.

            We heard several toucans while riding but never did see one. These beautiful birds were too high up in the tree canopy.     After almost three hours, in which we had traveled 18-20 miles, we sighted a ruin and then we were suddenly in a large clearing—the entrance to Caracol! 

THE GREEN MACAW

     Beautiful Birds

           

The owner of our hotel in Sarapiqui, Costa Rica belonged to a volunteer organization trying to save the green macaw.

She told us, “Because of deforestation and rapid colonization, the habitat of the Great Green Macaw has been reduced from 12,460 hectares to 529 hectares. Five years ago there were only 25 mating pairs, now they have increased to 100 pairs.

           “The Great Green Macaw is still endangered. On the black market one sells for $3000.  That is a great deal of money to someone making $300 a month.”                

The bird mates for life. They live exclusively in the almond tree in the tall canopy of the forest. The almond tree grows 30-50 meters tall. As the leaves fall from the tree, it creates a natural cavity for the bird. The nut is very hard, but the macaw has a very strong beak and can crack the nut.

She continued, “Almond wood is very hard and a desirable building material. People cut the trees on their property to sell the wood. Our organization has started paying property owners an annual sum      to take care of and nurture their almond trees and not  cut them down. It seems to be working.”

            A macaw reproduces at five years of age and has one to three chicks a year. They can live to be 60 years old. Owls and the African bee are the predators of the macaw chicks.

She concluded, “It is recommended that 1000 trees per hectare is ideal. Seven years ago this ten acres was pasture land. We have planted every plant on the grounds. We also planted many almond trees, and it is our hope that someday macaws will be all over this area.”

We saw many green macaws during our visit.  Our Chachagua hotel had a resident green macaw. Her mate had died and she was a cantankerous little bird. Well, she wasn’t very little. She would perch on the dining room rail during meal times. She was cranky enough to make visitors aware to keep their distance. She was lovely to look at though and you couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

AN UNUSUAL NIGHT

                                                           The Ark

          

           The first thing we did when we arrived at the Aberdare Country Club overlooking Mt Kenya was to check all our luggage except the overnight bag going to the Ark.

            After a leisurely lunch at the club we were on our way to the Ark. Upon arrival our guide instructed, “The only way to reach the Ark is over this long elevated trestle. It goes directly to reception.  You can take your time walking over the forest floor as you will see a lot of birds on the way.”  A bonus along the way was a huge cape buffalo grazing at the edge of the trestle.

The Ark in the forest is a unique structure  with a large elevated deck overlooking a salt lick and watering hole. A deck provided a great place for viewing animals as they came to drink from the pond and to lick the salt.

The ground level houses the lounge and dining rooms. The windows are very thick glass with a stone barrier base outside so you needn’t worry about a big water buffalo barging through the glass while you’re eating dinner!

While up on the observation deck everyone is asked to be extremely quiet. All the rooms are on the second and third level. Each room was equipped with a buzzer.  All night the buzzers went off when animals wandered into the area. Two rings meant large animals, rhino or elephant, were feeding. Three rings meant big cats had arrived.

        It really was too cold to sleep on deck that night although my son and another hardy photographer made it until 4AM when a little fog rolled in. The rest of us slept in our clothes and when the buzzers went off grabbed a jacket or wrapped up in a blanket and quietly and quickly made it to the observation deck. I saw rhino and two beautiful female lions. It was an interesting experience.

   We speculated that heat sensors at the perimeter alerted the watch that an animal was approaching. Then after a visual search and identification he would ring the buzzers. It was an exciting and unusual night.

The next morning as we were driving out from the Ark a beautiful spotted leopard crossed right in front of our van; my guess is he was going home to rest after a nights hunt. He was beautiful! What a bonus!

INTERESTING TRIVIA

BITS AND PIECES

Our hotel room in Stockholm, Sweden overlooked the Kings Hops Park where hops were grown in the 18^th century for the royal brewery. We walked to the town center ending up at King Garden Square. Five hundred years ago it was the king’s kitchen garden where he raised vegetables. Now surrounded by the Sweden House, NK dept store and the harbor front, it is a great place for people watching.

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The staircases are ubiquitous to Quebec City, Canada  and a reminder of the city’s past,. At one time as many as 25 such staircases connected the two parts of the hilly city. Upper Town was the home of dignitaries, religious and political leaders, where Lower Town contains the oldest neighborhood in North America. Once crowded with traders, workers and the disenfranchised, now it is a delightful restored smart shopping and historical area.

Breakneck staircase is the first staircase built in 1893. The 170 steps are built on the site of the original 17^th century stairway that linked the town. Today shops and cafés can be found at various levels. We walked sections of the staircase at various times as we wandered around the city as a means to get where we were going but did not climb it all at once just for the sake of doing so.

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In Italy a bar is an open-air sandwich shop. Food is consumed while standing at a small high table. Sitting for a meal is pretty much for tourists and in 1992 cost $2-$5 for the privilege of sitting.  We did find a chain restaurant, which had very good food at a reasonable price, and where we could sit for free. I learned Italians were not big on condiments on their sandwiches. On my next trip I’ll think about carrying some packets of my favorite condiments with me!

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The Carnivore Restaurant, located in the Nairobi outskirts is a popular and famous tourist restaurant. A large cooking pit is in the center of the restaurant where all kinds of wild game are cooked. Waiters come to the table to serve you and tell you what the meat is and you can try any or all of it. The food was good, although I’m not much for exotic dining. It was certainly a different dining experience. The view of the tropical landscaping was lovely from the dining room. Our interesting lunch was something one should do once and we both were game (no pun intended) to at least try everything.

LAND AND SEA IGUANAS DIFFERENT

              IGUANAS AND MORE IGUANAS

land iguana

There are land iguanas and marine iguanas and I did not know the difference until I visited the Galapagos Islands. It was so exciting to see our first iguanas up close. As our cameras clicked away out guide  told us, “Calm down, calm down, you’ll see lots of Iguanas.”

Land iguanas are red, green, and black/brown with a jagged tooth-like spine. They are good size and blend into the terrain unless they are walking on the sandy beach. We needed to watch where we stepped. On South Plaza Island they were everywhere and amazingly we could get within three or four feet of them. Often they would be still and pose as if saying, “Okay---snap away.”

Another day we landed on Espanola Island where the main inhabitants are marine iguanas. The marine variety is black and blends right in with the lava rock. They are a lot smaller and closer to the ground than the land iguana. Again we had to be careful walking on the slippery rocks. The marine iguana is a vegetarian. They live on the algae found in the shallow waters.

marine iguana

Marine iguanas are flat to the ground and sort of spidery and no where as cute as land iguanas.

I’ve seen many different varieties of land iguanas that tend to be much smaller than the land iguanas in the Galapagos.  They ran in the sand along the beaches in Costa Rica.  Even smaller ones ran around our lodge site in Belize.

Sally Lightfoot crabs playing with marine iguanas

QUAINT COLONIAL TOWN

     EL FUERTE, MEXICO

El Fuerte, Mexico is the southern terminus of the Copper Canyon Railroad. We arrived in the lovely colonial city after our week in the Sea of Cortez and after a short flight from La Paz to Los Mochias.

 El Fuerte is a small, old, quaint town which we easily explored on foot.  The city was established as a fort in the late 1500’s to protect the colonists from native North American attacks. We arrived on  some kind of a holiday so we were lucky enough to see a parade and some native dancing in the street. It doesn’t take long to see most of the town as it is pretty small. Many of the stores were closed for the holiday which precluded any shopping which disappointed us not a bit. There was a lovely gazebo in the small town park.

            We took some pictures after the parade and then  decided to walk up to the old fort. It wasn’t very far. At the top after a fairly easy hike I gasped, “What a gorgeous view! I’m so glad we didn’t miss this. That’s a pretty good size river running down there.”

            Lake Miguel del Hidalgo is a man-made lake 15 ½  X 6 miles. The dam  built in 1956 was  expanded in 1963. The lake holds 350 million cubic meters of water and houses a hydroelectric plant which generates 270 million kilowatts of electricity a year.

            Before dinner we returned to the El Fuerte Lodge to enjoy margaritas in the lovely courtyard before dinner.

            The train was due at 7:30 AM the next morning so that meant an early start to have breakfast, check out of the hotel and get to the station.

BORA BORA, TAHITI

                          Photo Op Around Every Curve

Bora Bora is every bit as beautiful as the PR pictures profess! It is an incredibly gorgeous island with a photo op around every turn of the 22-mile long and mostly paved circumference road. I was taking pictures just as the sun was peeking over the low part of the island as we approached on a beautiful sunny day.

            Our guide told us, “Bora Bora means first born and in this part of the world is pronounced Pora Pora as there is no ‘B’ sound in Polynesian. Capt. Cook sighted Bora Bora in 1769 on his first voyage. Bora Bora refused to accept French sovereignty when Tahiti became a protectorate in 1842 and remained independent until France annexed her in 1888. Her last queen died on Tahiti in 1932.”

            He continued, “The main island is 6 X 3 miles and is surrounded by coral islets. Two smaller islands are separated on the west by the channel. The east side of the island is barren. The fertile west side's main crops are vanilla and copra.. Tourism is also a major industry. The population is 4500.”

The interior of the island has slopes, hills, cliffs, and U shaped mountains with deep gorges  covered with native vegetation. Captain Cook named the islands the Society Islands because of their close proximity to each other. It is home to 400 species of native flowering plants including more than a dozen orchid varieties.

            Here we were introduced to our first ride in the colorful les truck.   Our les truck was decorated with life hibiscus and the poles of the open air vehicle were wrapped with palm fronds accented with the lovely red torch ginger.

            The population inhabits the perimeter of the island. Each house has a  little house that looks like a mailbox at roadside, but it is  for their French bread which is baked by Tahitians and delivered daily by Chinese.

We made many stops and ate tiny thumb-size bananas, which were very sweet and sampled fresh taro and poke, an island tapioca and papaya pudding.

The island has one physician, one pharmacy, and one hospital—clinic really as it is only able to handle minor problems. Tahiti has no dangerous animals, no snakes nor scorpions. The beaches were gorgeous. The first hotel was built here in 1961.

For the friendly people life moves slow. What a great place to relax!

FIT FOR A QUEEN

                                                        The Queen’s Staircase

         In Nassau, Bahamas,   the 65 steps in the valley were carved by hand out of a natural limestone wall by slaves between 1793-1794. The staircase is 102-feet tall and was named in honor of Queen Victoria. Slavery in the Bahamas was outlawed 31 years before the US abolished slavery.

            Originally the staircase was built to provide British troops a protected route to Fort Fincastle, and the slaves used were local people from the island. At the top of the stairs, on the island’s highest point sits Fort Fincastle established by Lord Dunmore  in 1793. It is situated on on Bennett’s Hill as a lookout for pirates and invaders. The fort, shaped like a paddle wheel, was never used because Nassau was never attacked. Three cannon are still in place, although are not original.

            Later the fort was used  as a lighthouse and then later  as a signal tower.

When I had my granddaughter on a trip to the island I hiked her to the staircase and then to the top. As we approached the bottom of the staircase a local fellow met us, introduced himself and said, "Welcome to my home." He then continued to give us a brief history of the island and the fort. When he was finished we tackled the 65 stone steps to the top. It was an easy climb and a popular attraction. There also is a 128-foot high round concrete water tower in the area. The view from the fort is spectacular.

ICELAND

WATERFALLS AND HOT SPOTS

            We spent a full day driving Iceland’s picturesque countryside. We were not disappointed when we arrived at the Gulfass, meaning golden waterfall. The beautiful 105 feet high two-tier waterfall, where a rainbow often shines through the mist and spray, was flowing huge amounts of water. The wind was blowing and we got a pretty good shower of spray, but we did see a gorgeous rainbow which seemed close enough that we could reach out and touch it.

At one time a hydroelectric plant was proposed, but there was such an uproar from the citizens that the government bought the land to preserve it.

West of Gulfass is the Strokkur Geyser, known as the churn.  It spouts a 60-100 foot jet of water about once every five minutes. The geyser performed for us a couple of times as we walked by.

I’m always on the outlook for the unusual, odd or whimsical feature when I travel. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this funny  little guy in Hveragerdi on our ride through the countryside.

Since 1902 natural thermal heat from springs in the center of town has heated greenhouses at Hveragerdi’s, Greenhouse Village. Artificial light and hot water prolongs the growing season for flowers and produce. A thin layer of soil covers boiling water underneath. Not unexpected, it was humid and very warm inside.  This was an interesting project, a bit different from hydroponics. Many residents make regular treks there for fresh produce long after the normal growing season is over. That southern low plateau region is an agricultural area.

A UNIQUE SCHOOL

                                   School of the Air

Before the internet, smart phones, Skype or text messaging Australia had a unique school for its children who lived in the outback where distances are indeed great.  In Alice Springs we were fortunate to visit the School of the Air headquarters  that was established in 1951.  

With a broadcast area of 1.3 million square kilometers, the equivalent.  area the size of central Europe, they reach school children living in isolated areas in the outback.

At the time of my visit there  were 120 children enrolled, ranging in age from 4½ to 12 or 13. The average enrollment is 150; at the peak 180 children were enrolled. One-third of the children are aboriginal. There are several such schools in the country, each covering up to 100 kilometers.

            A guide told us, “The cost is $80 a year per child, plus an $80 one-time fee for equipment and a $50 computer fee. The children see the teacher and their classmates three times a year. Each child has a home tutor, often the mother, in addition to the teacher. Materials are mailed to the child every two weeks with assignments, and in turn all work is mailed back to the teacher in Alice Springs. The majority of the children are in the top 10% of their grade and 90% go on to college. Class size is 8-15 children.

“After age 12 or 13 the child has to come to Alice Springs to boarding school, which consists of four ten-week sessions and costs $10,000-15,000 a year,”the guide told us.

When the guide was finished, before touring the facility, we looked at some photos. Most of us made a donation to the school for school supplies.

We all were impressed with the facility and the neat program. But what a lot of work for mom, who already has plenty to do!  

AN UNUSUAL ANIMAL

Tasmanian Devil

Tasmania Devil Park is a delightful little park. Having only heard about the devil, I was anxious to see one.  There were three or four of them in an enclosure. It was fun to watch them run around and play.

A park guide told us, “The Tasmanian Devil is a wolverine-like animal extinct on the Australian mainland and found only in Tasmania. It is a carnivorous marsupial. The size of a small dog, black in color, it has a spine tingling screech. Its powerful jaws can crack bones so when feeding it can devour the entire animal. It is fearful rather than aggressive. A picture showing its teeth is usually a yawn rather than an aggressive act. Aggression is shown with loud noises.”

      Tasmanian Devils are synchronous breeders, mating in March, the babies are born in April/May. A female can have 6-8 pups, but she only has four nipples so only four pups can survive. The gestation period is only four weeks, but the pups suckle in the pouch for another six months. They generally live about five years. Inhabiting virtually all of Tasmania, they survive any and all climates, sleeping by day, and eating at night.

        Devils raiding poultry yards were a nuisance to early settlers . At one time there was a bounty offered for them  driving them to  remote areas. When protected in 1941, they had been hunted almost to extinction. The population has survived, and today is a healthy one.

The guide continued, “Although they have a reputation of killing sheep, they are rather inept killers, preying on small animals when they do kill. They prefer to scavenge, and are very good at it.  When under stress they produce a rather unpleasant odor, but when calm are not smelly but   rather tidy animals.”

    After watching the devils for awhile we strolled off and came upon a park guide who was holding an animal neither of us had ever seen.

It turned out to be Lilly, a baby wombat, who was just as cute as can be. About 18 months old she was still small enough to be held in a caretaker’s arms.

We were told, “Wombats grow to about the size of a pig, and they can do a lot of damage to a car if one is unlucky enough to hit one on the road. They burrow. See how their front and back claws are different. They dig with their front claws then throw the dirt back with the hind claws. A marsupial, they suckle in the pouch for six months, then stick around with mom for another twelve months. Related to the koala, wombats are vegetarians, and are nocturnal. In the wild they live 5-8 years, about 20 years in captivity. They have a hard steel-like back plate. When threatened, they head into their burrow, placing the hard plate at the entrance, which protects them, as nothing can penetrate it.”

Interesting animals indeed, and probably a couple we may never see again.

AN ANCIENT TEMPLE

                                             Jokhang Temple

This 1300-year-old temple is located in the oldest part of Lhasa, Tibet. What a cultural event! We saw  people walking around twirling prayer wheels and people chanting as they fingered prayer beads. Prayer beads contain 108 beads and the chant sounds like Om Mani Padme Hum which in Tibetan refers to the precious pearl on Buddha, the red water hill, and a clean heart to take me home.

            Seeing the throngs of pilgrims was a peek into a totally different culture. Outside the temple were two prayer poles covered with prayer scarves and prayer flags. On each side of the temple huge incense burners belched smoke. The aroma of incense permeated the whole city.

            Our Tibetan guide explained, “Tibetans pray with their thumbs inside the palms with palms together. Then they touch the forehead for mind, the lips for speech and the chest for the body. The motion is quick from forehead, to lip, to chest.”

            We observed many outside the temple prostrating themselves to Buddha. Shoes were removed. Women tied their skirts. After doing the prayer bit they fell to their knees, usually on a mat, put their hands palm down on pads and slid forward  flat onto the pad. That was repeated over and over. Later when walking the square we saw pilgrims prostrating themselves every few steps. People paid no attention and simply walked around them.

            The main gate of the temple faces west toward Nepal. The door fronts of the inner chapel date to the 7^th century. In 1950 Red Guards shelled and ransacked the temple. Part of the damage has been restored. The present temple dates to the 17^th century.

            As we walked clockwise around the inner of three halls we passed long long lines of pilgrims waiting to put yak butter into various burning candles and to peek into the many small chapels that were off the hall. We were told it was not uncommon to take 4-5 hours to complete the circuit.

            Large metal vats of of yak candles with 5-6 wicks the size of my little finger burned all over the temple. Many find that aroma offensive, so we all took the advice of our guide and used the tiger balm under our nose we’d purchased at the herb market. However, I found the incense aroma a lot more troublesome.

            It was very dark, dank and damp inside the temple. Wall paintings depicted Tibetan history. The inner hall murals date to 1648, while the murals on the outer walls are 19^th century.

            Large baskets, bigger than a bushel basket, filled with money, were located in many areas in the temple. Most of the bills were small, but people could make any donation that they desired. We were assured  that no one would steal money from the temple. In 2001 Jokhard Temple was designated a UNESCO site. Some restoration has taken place since then.

            Originally it was undecided where to build the temple. Some high priest threw a gold ring which landed on a sand bar in a swampy area. This was considered a good omen. Goats carried dirt in baskets to fill in the swamp so the temple that was originally called the goat dirt temple.

            Eventually we worked our way around to the 7^th century golden Buddha for which the temple was built. I was actually glad to see sunlight as we left the temple.

            Surrounding the Jokhang Temple is the Barkhor Baazar. Most of the venders and hawkers displayed the same merchandise. Prayer wheels, prayer beads, jewelry (junk) and small brass objects dominated the marketplace.

            This was an interesting visit. One I’m glad I did as it gave me a better understanding into another culture and religion.