Category: Travel

Birds-eye view

I know images taken from the airplane window are such a cliche, but

a) I have not flown in a while, so it feels new and special again, and

b) the views were just spectacular!

I was recently flying from LA to Denver and back. Both times the sky was perfectly clear, with magnificent views of the desert, mountains, and rivers. What was fascinating is that while we were flying over mostly empty swaths of land, I could always spot the tiniest ribbon of a road snaking its way west. And at one point, I even thought I could spot the Zion Canion and the great arches, which, according to the flight path, isn’t out of the question. 😉

Seeing the terrain from above and how clearly it was shaped by ancient rivers made me think this would make for the most amazing (and engaging) geography lesson (a’la Magic School Bus)!

nature Travel

What whale watching is really like

Post author By Ola Bodera
Post date July 26, 2021
No Comments on What whale watching is really like

Last year, I decided to take my Mum on a whale watching trip for her birthday (experiences over material gifts, and all that😉 ). Neither of us is passionate about sailing and being out on the water in general, but we had a fantastic time nonetheless. Here’s what I learned from this adventure 🙂

There are different kinds of whale watching trips – pay attention to the type and size of the boat. We went on an inflatable speed boat, seating around 20 people. This is pretty small for a tourist boat, and it makes for quite an intimate experience.
The trip out to the ocean and back takes a little bit and can get boring. This is where being on a speed boat really paid off because it’s one of the fastest ways to get out to sea. It’s also the most fun!
Whale watching involves a lot of sitting on a boat in the middle of the ocean (for me, this is far enough so that you can’t see the shore). The smaller the boat, the more sensitive it is to ocean swell, even mild one. Be prepared for seasickness. 🙂
I wouldn’t count on taking amazing pictures. 🙂 The photos in advertising materials are always the best of the best shots taken over the years, so adjust your expectations. While you’ll most likely spot whales on your trip, it will not be a full breach, but something a bit less spectacular. But make no mistake – seeing even a small part of these majestic animals up close is breathtaking. You don’t want to miss it because you were tinkering with your camera.

These images were captured by our captain. You don’t want to see my feeble attempts 😉

Tags australia, nature, sydney

Travel

Diagon Alley

A year and a half ago I visited the Harry Potter World at Universal Studios Florida. At that point I had only vague recollection of Harry Potter from the movies, as I was never an avid fan. Nonetheless I was blown away by how immersive it was, the attention to every last detail, the sounds, the sights, the smells(!), the scale of it.

Well, I just finished reading “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, and all the memories of that trip came rushing back. Only now do I fully appreciate how great a job they’ve done at Universal Studios. The whole experience feels like walking through the pages of the book alongside Harry and Hagrid on their first trip to Diagon Alley. It truly is a magical place ❤️

Travel

Blue Kingdom

During (way overdue) cleanup of my hard drive, I uncovered a couple of photos from Disneyland from last year. Some turned out really well! I only had one day for sightseeing, so had to decide which park to visit, and landed on Magic Kingdom. Aside from “The Happiest Place on Earth” message being pushed a little too hard at times (or maybe it’s just the Grinch in me), the whole experience was really fun and immersive — 10/10 would go again!

Landscape Photo Challenge Travel

Photo Challenge: Liquid

This weeks photo challenge prompt – liquid – got me a bit by surprise, but when I started digging thorough my hard drive I found this pic. One of the rare decent photos from a plane – Øresund Bridge between Malmo and Copenhagen.