Travel, Read, Conserve

Being from the Pacific Northwest , we are not new to whale-watching. We have done trips around the San Juan islands to see pods of Orca whales at a reasonable distance, even seen a gray whale resting on a shore on the Central Oregon coast. So we went in with a certain level of excitement to see the migratory humpback whales all the way down at Baja California but not with the expectation to be blown away. Boy, were we wrong about that! First things first - our captain and the two ladies-  marine biologist Barbara and photographer/guide Tania were absolutely awesome. They kept us safe, all the while regaling us with whale anecdotes and facts about the region and its geographical features. The close up views of the famous El Arco , Lovers beach and Land’s End with the colony of sea lions resting on the rocks were an added bonus.  The boat ride on the the beautiful turquoise Sea of Cortez was more or less smooth but as soon as we got onto Pacific waters, it w...

The Mountain was out! - It being early fall, and having heard about the elusiveness of Mt McKinley, we did not start out the Denali Park bus ride to Wonder Lake with any hopes of catching a glimpse of the mountain. But about half an hour into the bus ride, after crossing the savage river we saw a white patch on the left horizon turning a beautiful pink. We started becoming optimistic, and our bus driver confirmed what we are seeing was the sunrise on Mt Mckinley! As the bus went on, more parts of the mountain started shaping up, and by the time we were at the stony hill overlook, it was all out in full glory! It stayed with us all the way to Wonder Lake and a couple of hours on the ride back. It was incredible in its size and beauty. I had read somewhere, seeing the Denali actually alters the soul a little, and I feel that is true in every sense. Fall colors - Seeing the glorious fall colors in the sub-alpine tundra was a reason we planned the trip in early September. And we...

Kauai was such a wonderful treat of rocky ocean shores, verdant rain forests, and red dusty canyons, it will always remain as one of our sweetest memories. Some of the highlights of the trip from the summer of 2016 : 1. Weather - It was spectacular on all days, except a few hours while we were on the North shore, but the bad weather led to some adventure hiking down the slippery trail to the Hideaway beach while hanging on to ropes , and enjoying the sea in the rain, then coming back to our condo in ponchos. So my advice is to not worry about the weather at all, even if the forecast says 50% rain it rarely amounts to anything. 2. Waimea canyon/Waipoo falls - We spent an evening and a morning out there - its amazing with the red volcanic soil, the canyon from so many lookouts, views of Napali coast from the Pihra trail. We hiked the Waipoo falls trail in about 3 hours - it is a moderately strenuous trail with many elevation changes, but has great views of the canyon and a...