Bleah. This site doesn’t have too much deep thought, though I do think it’s a fairly interesting read, and I do put some time into it, both from research and my own experiences.

Normally I toss this stuff immediately into the trash folder. I’m not interested in supporting forex traders or their scams.

But my last post, below, garnered one of these from someone who runs their own travel blog, about Bantayan Island in the Philippines, and the site looks pretty interesting, especially if you’re considering a visit to the Philippines. (Ahem, your Serenity agent can fix you up with a vacation there.) So here’s a photo of the beach:

Sugar Beach in Santa Fe. Click to enlarge.

Looks like a pretty nice place, and the blog seems to be pretty active. Go take a look. http://www.bantayan-island.net/

There. I’ve done someone a good deed. Maybe I’ll go plug this site on that site!

Doesn't look too violent, but you don't want to be in that smoke

Thousands have evacuated, and agencies are bring in rice and face masks. Unless you’re a relief worker, you should probably not get in the way.

I’ll pick a nice volcano for the next post.

In the center of China, back in the 300′s AD, the back wall of a cave high in a mountain collapsed, leaving an arch. They call it the gate of heaven (Don’t google ‘gate of heaven’—you’ll get a lot of church buildings. Google “tianmenshah’ instead.). It’s hard to find a good picture of it—if you step back to get the surrounding mountain, it looks small. If you get close to see how big it is, you can’t see the mountain. It has a road leading up to it. You can take a bus, or ride a cable car. But everybody has to walk the steps at the very top. The view, I’m told, is worth it. Here’s a shot from a distance:

It's that little white spot near the top.

Not very good, but that’s okay. Because here’s a link to a powerpoint presentation with some pretty impressive pictures. It’s definitely worth the look. At the end of the presentation is another link to a youtube video of airplanes flying through it.

My thanks to a friend in my motorcycle club for sending me this link. I think he wants to ride his bike up the road.

The country experienced some horrible genocide back in the mid 90′s, but that’s over now, and the tourist industry is justifiably growing by leaps and bounds. For the adventuresome.

Normal adventurers

This is the place to go to see gorillas, hippos (the largest hippo-oriented national park in the world), volcanoes (see a couple posts back about a trip to a volcano in nearby Congo), jungle, elephants, and more. Not to mention local culture and art.

Typical art, typical smile.

Almost ready to call your Serenity agent, right? Maybe not a bad idea, but there’s this one lake you might want to stay away from. Lake Kivu.

Looks innocent, doesn't it?

This lake is dangerous. Here’s a quote from a limnologist (lake scientist)

Lake Kivu is a meromictic lake with a relatively shallow euphotic layer (~18m) usually smaller than its oxic mixolimnion (20-60 m), and with a weak thermal gradient in the mixolimnion.

There’s more where that came from, but what’s going on is that this lake has a lot of dissolved carbon dioxide and methane in it, and tons and tons of these gasses are trapped down at the bottom of the lake. Something might make all that gas escape, all at once. The valley would fill with unbreathable gas, and everybody would suffocate. Maybe in their sleep. You might have heard of another lake that experienced a limnic eruption, killing a couple thousand people. This lake is 2,000 times larger and the area is more densely populated. ‘Nuff said.

On the optimistic side, scientists are working at extracting the methane peacefully and converting it into electricity. It could supply power to the region for a century. I’d rather have that happen.

Have you ever been to Rwanda? We’d like to hear about it.

My thanks to Chang W. Lee of The New York Times for the photo

Guess what? They relaxed. They found out that with fewer distractions, their ability to concentrate improved.

Time seemed to slow down for them. They experienced what they called “the third day syndrome” when the exact time didn’t seem to matter any more. Hence forgetting to put on the watch.

They talked about how they were thinking and feeling. One thing they mentioned was a study done in Michigan that showed that taking a walk in the woods improves your ability to learn. (I already knew this—another book I read recently said that it’s because of chemicals given off by the trees and fungi.)

They decided that their senses were changing—getting sharper. They were noticing more things around them; they were becoming connected to their surroundings.

Apparently the experience improved their ability to be creative. Several came up with new approaches to projects they were working on.

They all ended up in slightly better shape, and I’ll bet they were closer friends when the trip was over.

So there you have it—scientific proof that you benefit from taking a vacation. Go do it. Now, before something distracts you.

So anyway, one strip I read is called Rip Haywire (google it). It’s a lighthearted parody of an adventure comic, like Steve Canyon and Buzz Sawyer back when I was a kid. The art is not nearly as good, but then, Rip is not serious, either. A new story arc started on Aug 16, set “somewhere off the coast of Kaua’i Island.”

Kaua’i happens to be a real place, so let’s take a look at it.

Kaua’i is a little more than 500 miles square; it’s pretty much a big, dormant volcano, the northernmost island in Hawaii.  Still tropical, but everybody speaks English and you don’t need a passport. And they do dumb American things, like pie-eating contests. Coconut cream pie, of course. They call it the garden island, and it’s certainly green. Maybe the island is most famous for being the location of another dumb thing, Gilligan’s island—the pilot, anyway.

The cast

More than 70 other movies were shot there, too. Okay, maybe it’s more famous for Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jurassic Park movies. It really is a gorgeous place. And since we raise chickens, I have to mention that the island has lots of wild chickens.

This is about how many adult chicken we have at our place. Ours are pets that give us eggs; these are wild.

It’s easy to get your Serenity agent to fix you up with a nice vacation there. Maybe you’ll see Rip’s flame-throwing squid.

PS. Wouldn’t you know it—a day or so after I wrote this, National Geographic revealed their photo of the month. It’s a wave on the shore of Kawai’i.

click to enlarge

The comic is called F Minus, and it has some pretty off-the-wall stuff. I wonder how that would actually taste. And while I’m at it, here’s another one:

Okay, enough bad humor for now. Got any good ones to share? Post a link in the comments.

Tahiti is out in the middle of the south pacific, part of a chain of islands called the Society Islands, in French Polynesia. Tahiti is the largest island of its group, and consists of two volcanic mountains. It’s shaped like an hourglass. I didn’t happen to find a good picture of the two volcanoes together, but this shot is interesting, don’t you think?

This boat is floating on water, not suspended in the air. Click to enlarge.

So a lot of people who wrote about this island luridly (or lovingly) described the superb physical beauty and friendliness of the “natives,” and the island has capitalized on its reputation, though I can’t say you’ll see a lot of naked girls running around. I can say that they’re friendly, and at least the people who still stick to the traditional diet are beautiful and have good teeth. Go read that book by the dentist.

Click to enlarge

And my point? Don’t go on a vacation where you do nothing! Go somewhere interesting. Learn something. See something you’ve never seen. Have an adventure.

But don’t stand on a bridge with a forced smile.

Last Tuesday (Aug 10) was the anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan’s departure on his trip around the world. 18 of his crew made it back, though he didn’t. (He got involved in some local politics in the Philippines and was felled by a poisoned arrow.) But he accomplished a few things on the trip, got a few firsts.  He was the first European to enter the Pacific Ocean from the east, going south around South America through the narrow, stormy passage that now bears his name. The weather cleared up after he got through, so he named the newfound body of water the Peaceful (Pacifico) Ocean.

So what about this strait? The farthest south you can go by land is to Cape Horn, and if you’re really really adventurous, you can take a motorcycle trip there. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use your Serenity agent, but Ayers Adventures is best known in motorcycling circles for tours to the southernmost point in South America.

Yup, South America has penguins

You can take a “cruise” there if you’d rather go by sea, but perhaps a better term is “expedition.” If you want marimba bands, Margaritas, and lolling in the sunshine, this isn’t what you want. It’s also not close, like the Caribbean is. One voyage lasts at four weeks. Longer, if they don’t get back in time. Here’s their blurb: “…We are interested in finding passengers who have the goals of sailing, wildlife projects, ecological projects, filming and geological projects…” they also have this to say: “…are dependent upon the irregularities of the weather and ice conditions each season. About 50% of the time is spent waiting at anchor for the weather.” another phrase they use is “deserted and inaccessible.”

Not exactly for bikinis

If you’re that kind of vacationer, you will be rewarded with memories to tell the grandchildren and sights that are spectacular. Humpback whales, storms, glaciers, wind and rain, penguins, weather, rugged coastline, icebergs, waves—you get the idea. It’s an adventure you’ll never forget.

You won't get this view from the ship

Unlike Ferdinand, you’ll probably come back alive.