Hawaii’s Changing Landscape on View
Visitors watch land alteration daily at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park I first visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park not long after Kilauea began erupting. That event began in 1983, and one subdivision had already been engulfed in lava. Street signs sticking out of the rock made for good images. It made news then, and still does. Videographers [...]
Chinese Coal Ship Aground on Great Barrier Reef
Marine park and top diving destination at risk If I ruled the world, China would stop mining coal. The cost is too great: frequent fatal mine accidents (the latest just a few days ago), filthy and unhealthy air over much of China from antiquated coal-fired plants and now the “Shen Neng 1,” a Chinese bulk-coal [...]
Winter is High Season for Stormwatching
Tofino is the best place for observing mammoth Pacific Coast storms in luxury and comfort Here’s a wet and wild winter option to languishing on a tropical beach, swatting golf balls on a palm-studded course, cruising calm seas on a big ship or even skiing through down-soft powder snow. If you lust for a combination [...]
Galapagos "In Crisis"; Ecuador Might Suspend Tourist Visits
Eleven-and-a-half years ago, we visited the Galapagos, cruising from island to island on a 12-passenger motor-sailer called the “Diamante.” The map on the right, from VisitEcuador.com shows the relationship of these islands, which are 600 miles from the coast of Ecuador, to each other. Our visit was a “National Geographic Special” come to life. The [...]
Easter Island
Way out in the Pacific, 3,700 kilometers or about 2,300 miles from mainland Chile, lies Easter Island — Isla de Pascua in Spanish and Rapa Nui in the increasingly accepted language of Polynesia. It it is the island to which Thor Heyerdahl sailed on the raft ‘Kon-Tiki‘ and which was first reached by airplane from [...]
