Akumal, the first resort town in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, remains a far cry from the hustle and bustle of its northern neighbors Playa del Carmen and Cancun. Akumal means “place of turtles” in the local Mayan language. I’ve snorkeled the reefs in Akumal Bay on multiple occasions. This time around, we were in search of […]
Read PostWe arrived to Otun Quimbaya after dark on a Saturday. On the way from Pereira we stopped along the Otun River in town in search of the torrent duck, a local highlight. We struck out on the duck, but did see a white-capped dipper in the river. Otun Quimbaya is located in the west slope […]
Read PostNestled between two urban Manizales neighborhoods, Los Alcazares Ecopark proved to be a surprise highlight of the trip. Upon arrival, our guide informed us that a typical two-hour morning birding session at this location often yields 50+ species without walking more than 100 yards down the road from the entrance. We showed up late in […]
Read PostApproximately 10% of Earth’s living species are found in Colombia. At present, Colombia ranks first in the world when it comes to the number of bird species. Our first major stop for birding on this trip was El Dorado Reserve in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and a two-three hour drive from Santa Marta. El Dorado […]
Read PostBack in Bogota after 7 days of birding (Santa Marta, Otun Quimbaya and Cali regions). Final tally of birds seen comes to 317 different species (the group saw a total of 355). To put that into perspective, we saw approximately 1/3 of the total number of species recorded in the US in Canada in just […]
Read PostLabor Day has come and gone, the days are getting shorter, and summer seems to be waning. All of these point to the month of September, one of our top choices for travel to Peru. September marks the end of Peru’s winter and the weather is spectacular. In addition, crowds are smaller at big attractions […]
Read PostIsla Mujeres, Mexico is one of our top destinations in the summer because of the large congregations of whale sharks that can be found from June through August. Numbers of whale sharks tend to peak between mid-July and mid-August. If swimming alongside the largest fish in the world isn’t reason enough to visit Isla Mujeres, […]
Read PostToday, we’re headed south to Isla Mujeres, our favorite island in Mexico, for our annual whale shark trip. Whale sharks, the largest fish species swimming the world’s oceans, congregate off the coast of Isla Mujeres during the summer months. Hot, sunny days and ocean currents cause upwellings of plankton (tiny morsels of whale shark food). […]
Read PostIn the summer months, humpback whales are a relatively common sight in Alaska’s Inside Passage. Humpback whales start their annual migration from their breeding grounds near Hawaii and Baja California, Mexico to Alaska in the spring. Alaska’s nutrient-rich waters provide ample food for humpbacks during the summer months. During that time, they replenish fat stores […]
Read PostOn July 25, 2012, we booked the” Trifecta” with Alaska Galore Tours in Juneau. This afternoon tour lasted approximately seven hours and it was hands-down one of the best day tours I’ve ever been on. We started with a scenic flight from Juneau Airport over Mendenhall Glacier and Juneau Icefield. It was a cloudy afternoon […]
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