Miami to Panama City - March 14, 2024 - Puerto Limon, Costa Roca

 coming soon.

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Danum Valley - Borneo Rainforest Lodge - March 13th

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Chris with leech socks We got up early and headed to breakfast around 7:00 AM.  As we had a schedule hike, we put on our leech socks before heading out. The dining area is all open air and has a great view of the river. So while eating our breakfast we watched for birds and listened to the morning chorus. There were 6 other people in our group with Donny our guide…a couple from England and a family with two girls ages 8 and 10 from Malaysia.  Our scheduled activity for 8:30 AM was a hike up to the lodge viewpoint.  It was steep uphill climb (and very hot and humid), we decided not to go.  The couple from England had the same thought and the lodge found us another guide for a morning hike.   Trail  We walked through the jungle for 3 hours (about 2 miles) at a slow pace to watch for birds, animals, and insects.   We had on our leech socks and did encounter some leeches.  The tiger leeches sit on leaves 3 feet above...
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At Sea - Norwegian Mainland to the Svalbard Archipelago - Day 12 - July 13, 2023

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We woke up this morning to dense fog which followed us until late afternoon as we sailed north in the Barents Sea heading for the Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Both the air and water temperatures had dropped by at least 15F since we left Norway's mainland and passed from the warmer Gulf Stream current into a cold arm of the south flowing Arctic current. We passed by Bear Island which is supposed to have lots of nesting birds, but the fog was too dense to even see the island.  It is the southern most island of the Norwegian Svalbard Archipelago which  was discovered in 1596 by Dutch Explorers and named after a polar bear they saw swimming nearby. "Despite its remote location and barren nature, the island has seen commercial activities in past centuries, such as coal mining, fishing and whaling. However, no settlements have lasted more than a few years, and Bear Island is now uninhabited except for personnel working at the island's meteorological station Herwigh...
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Manila, Philippines - March 7th

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Port of Manila This morning we docked in Manila around 8 AM.  Our tour left about 9 AM and we headed for the Taal Volcano ...more about this later. Upon leaving the ship we drove through the Intramuros section of Manila which is an historic walled area within the city (.26 sq. mile).  During Spanish rule this was considered the City of Manila.  The Battle of Manila in 1945 entirely flattened the Intramuros with the exception of the San Agustin Church.  The Intramuros is still be reconstructed. We passed by the Manila Hotel which is an historic 5-star hotel built in 1909.  The oldest surviving premiere hotel in the Philippines. Street scene Street scene Here are some street scenes we passed in Metro Manila on our way to our next stop.  Bamboo Organ Next we headed for the St. Joseph Parish Church which has a 19th century bamboo organ. We were fortunate enough to hear it being played. Link to Organ Videos.  St. Joseph Parish Church Whole Jack Fruit...
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