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USA | Fri, 11 Apr 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [28885]
NO TRIP TO THE HOUSTON AREA would be complete without a visit to Sabine Woods Audubon Sanctuary—at least for birders like us. Yes, we know we’re here too soon for the Spring migration but we’re hoping to see a few of those famous Early ... Read more >
USA | Sun, 6 Apr 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [28950]
AFTER TWO WEEKS OF SLOTH ON FLORIDA’S Turquoise Coast we’re back on our Grand Tour. This leg took us through Alabama and Mississippi to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. After our 8-hour journey from Pine Island to Destin, the two-hour ... Read more >
COSTA RICA | Wed, 5 Mar 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [29689]
OUR SPIRITS NEEDED A JOLT OF COSTA RICAN Pura Vita before returning to the sturm und drang of the USA and a condo in the beach town of Jaco was just the ticket. This is our fourth visit to Costa Rica, we’ve already covered most of the country ... Read more >
USA | Mon, 10 Mar 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [24209]
IT’S BEEN TWO AND A HALF YEARS since Hurricane Ian crashed through Fort Myers and just a single lane on the only bridge connecting Pine Island to the mainland is open. On-going construction regularly stops traffic dead. Businesses along Pine Island ... Read more >
PANAMA | Fri, 21 Feb 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [11856]
OF PANAMA’S ROUGHLY ONE THOUSAND BIRDS, seven are found only in Panama. With our previous birding birding trips in nearby Columbia we had already seen all but 90 of the species. No, problem, though. This trip was not jus about birds—it was ... Read more >
PANAMA | Tue, 18 Feb 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [11838]
ANOTHER EARLY START TODAY, first a van to Yaviza and followed by another panga ride on the Chucunaque River to El Real and onward by truck to the Embera village of Pijibasal where our Crested Eagle trek would begin.
Our Guide ... Read more >
PANAMA | Mon, 17 Feb 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [11832]
SUNDAY WAS AN EASY DAY, as if Oscar wanted to test our mettle. Breakfast at 6:15 followed by three hours of birding on Sendero el Balsal. This isn’t primary rain forest—much of it is a teak plantation—so we all piled into the back of ... Read more >
PANAMA | Sat, 15 Feb 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [6430]
BIRDING IN DARIÉN HAS BEEN ON OUR RADAR for years. Until recently the logistics and cost were daunting, the rivers were frequented by drug smugglers and illegal immigrants and decent lodging was non-existent.
... Read more >
ECUADOR | Sat, 8 Feb 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [6336]
THERE ARE TWO WAYS THAT ANIMALS originally arrived in the Galapagos—a sea voyage or via the friendly skies. Blown offshore by winds, birds—just like seeds—eventually reached the islands. Animals that are strong swimmers like sea ... Read more >
ECUADOR | Mon, 10 Feb 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [6239]
DARWIN’S FINCHES ARE THE BEST-KNOWN of the one hundred or so resident bird species in the Galapagos. They may have inspired his theory of evolution but the seventeen species are actually in the tanager family—they are not even closely related ... Read more >
PANAMA | Thu, 13 Feb 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [6145]
WITH A LAUNDRY BAG FULL OF DIRTY CLOTHES and a few days to kill before we headed to the Darién rain forest, we booked an AirBnB just outside Casco Antiguo, Panama City’s Old Quarter.
... Read more >
CHINA | Sat, 15 Feb 2025 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [6053]
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and I have always had a complicated relationship. She’s like that lady who likes to make her own rules and make everything difficult for some unknown reason, yet you still feel that you should give her ... Read more >
MARSHALL ISLANDS | Sun, 9 Feb 2025 | By shaz | Views [6010]
My flight was the island hopper so I have 2 stops, Kosrae where I'm allowed to get off and Kwajalein where I'm not allowed to do anything even move as it's a military base airport. Hah when has that stopped me especially the photos of the amazing sunset ... Read more >
PERU | Wed, 22 Jan 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [881]
WITH APOLOGIES TO RED SKELTON, we flew in to Lima yesterday and, boy, are our arms tired! The flight was only three hours long but after getting up 2:30 in the morning for the only direct flight from Salta, it’s not just our arms but our entire ... Read more >
SAUDI ARABIA | Tue, 22 Oct 2024 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [762]
Jordan has Petra, Croatia has Dubrovnik, and Japan has Kyoto. In its fledging tourism industry, Saudi Arabia has Al-Ula (sometimes spelt AlUla, which is the spelling I prefer because that makes it a perfect palindrome), which is the gateway to Mada'in ... Read more >
ECUADOR | Fri, 7 Feb 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [621]
THE JURY IS STILL OUT as to whether “ galapágo ” is an old Spanish word for “saddle” or for “tortoise” which the saddles resembled. Either way, the Galapagos would be nothing without the giant tortoises that ... Read more >
PERU | Mon, 27 Jan 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [572]
BASED UPON THE CARVINGS AT EL BRUJO, the Moche weren’t the friendliest people—pretty much what you would expect from people ruled by Warrior-Priests who worshipped a god known as Decapitator at a site called El Brujo (sorcerer) by the Spanish ... Read more >
PERU | Thu, 30 Jan 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [541]
WE DECIDED TO BYPASS CERRO SECHIN and Chankillo on our way north and save them for our return to Lima. Photos of Cerro Sechin depicted intricate carvings on real rock, not mudstone, and we figured we would see much more at the site. Not.
... Read more >
USA | Thu, 24 Oct 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [533]
WE VAGABONDS HAVE TO BE SOMEWHERE; a hotel or hostel, a birding tour or cruise ship. Or an AirBnB in Myrtle Beach SC. It’s a logical stop on the way to Florida, the price is right and we enjoyed our visit in the spring of ’21.
... Read more >
CHILE | Fri, 6 Dec 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [500]
EVEN FOUR DECKS UP, SPRAY FROM the bow streamed down our balcony windows. Oosterdam had been fighting gale-force winds and three-meter waves since we sailed back into the Pacific. Everyone was weaving like winos on a Friday night and the west wind ... Read more >
ECUADOR | Thu, 6 Feb 2025 | By graynomadsusa | Views [487]
DURING A “WHILE WE’RE HERE” MOMENT we booked a trip to the Galapagos. We had visited the archipelago fifteen years ago, five days exploring the older eastern and southern islands. This time we’re on an 8-day trip on a luxury yacht ... Read more >
USA | Tue, 29 Oct 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [486]
EVEN THOUGH IT’S ONLY ABOUT 400 MILES from Myrtle Beach to St. Augustine, we broke up the trip with a stop in Georgia. When we last visited Savannah in ’05—the details are a bit fuzzy in my mind—we seem to recall having a good ... Read more >
USA | Wed, 30 Oct 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [483]
ST. AUGUSTINE IS THE OLDEST CITY in the United States. It is also the last “Friends and Family” stop on this leg of our Grand Tour. John’s sister Jean “Charlotte” and daughter Carli moved down from “Joisey” about ... Read more >
USA | Wed, 6 Nov 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [475]
IN THE 50S WHEN SPACE WAS THE NEW FRONTIER, families would gather in front of tiny b&w TVs and anxiously count-down with each new space launch. Today, 65 years later, launches from Cape Canaveral have become ho-hum events—we actually watched ... Read more >
FALKLAND ISLANDS | Tue, 10 Dec 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [448]
FOR GREAT BRITAIN THE FALKLAND ISLANDS are strategic. For Argentina Islas Malvinas are a matter of Pride. For Oosterdam , it’s all about penguins! Colonies of Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins—even some King Penguins—nest on the islands ... Read more >