Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for August, 2015
Loons in New Hampshire
By Linda Tancs
It’s high loon season. No, we’re not talking harried travelers; we’re talking waterbirds, like ducks and geese. Their closest relatives, however, are penguins and albatrosses. The common loon is the most widespread species. Marveled at for its yodels, hoots and hollers, the Granite State has about 280 pairs of loons to delight visitors at most lakes. Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness, New Hampshire, is a particular favorite of locals and tourists. The seasonal boat cruise is a great way to learn about the natural history of the lake and its popular wildlife. You’ll also view locations where the movie On Golden Pond was filmed.
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Great American Stations
By Linda Tancs
One of America’s great rail stations marks its 80th birthday this year. The honoree is Newark Penn Station, an Art Deco landmark in Newark, New Jersey. Dedicated in 1935, the station is a linchpin of the northeast corridor, a nexus of travel between New York and New Jersey and, thanks to connecting service via NJ Transit to Newark Liberty International Airport, the rest of the world.
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Navigating the Zambezi
By Linda Tancs
On its journey to the Indian Ocean, Africa’s Zambezi River meanders through six countries. It forms a border at various points involving Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Flanked by two national parks (Lower Zambezi National Park on the Zambian side and Mana Pools National Park on the Zimbabwean side), it also provides a wilderness area that many tout as unparalleled, free of the tourist hordes found in many South African parks. The two parks sit on the Zambezi flood plain, a peaceful haven for buffalo, elephants, lions, leopards, antelope, crocodiles and hippos.
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One Scary Walk
By Linda Tancs
Touted as the world’s deadliest walkway, Spain’s El Caminito del Rey (The King’s Little Path) is a king-sized fright for those daring enough to walk this narrow pathway over 300 feet above a dizzying gorge. Re-opened just a few months ago since its closure in 2001 after a series of deaths, the refurbished 110-year-old walkway features new wooden planks and safety lines. Located in the village of El Chorro (northwest of Málaga), the route’s royal association came when it was inaugurated in 1921 by King Alfonso XIII.
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The Winged Rock
By Linda Tancs
Resembling the mythic Bali Hai (shark-toothed Mount Mouarua in Moorea), New Mexico’s Shiprock is likewise fanciful in its own, geologic sort of way. The landform, known as Tse Bitai (“the winged rock”) in Navajo, is a volcanic neck owing its shape to the erosion of surrounding rocks from an eruption occurring over 30 million years ago. It’s located in the Four Corners region of the Navajo Nation.
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Cornwall’s Only City
By Linda Tancs
Truro is Cornwall’s only city and the most southerly one on mainland Britain. You’ll find Cornwall’s only cathedral here, a Gothic Revival stunner with an unusually unaligned nave and chancel. What Truro is aligned with, though, is literary great Winston Graham. His Poldark novels are set in Cornwall between the 18th and 19th centuries and inspired by Truro.
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Africa’s Water Tower
By Linda Tancs
Far from just being second banana heightwise to Kilimanjaro, East Africa’s Mount Kenya provides water for about 50 percent of the country’s population and produces 70 percent of Kenya’s hydroelectric power. That’s one tall order. But lest you think it’s only a workhorse, you’ll be pleased to learn that the scenery is just as compelling. In fact, UNESCO describes it as one of the most impressive landscapes in the region, boasting glacier-clad summits, moorlands and enough diverse forest for the hard-to-spot leopard, bongo, giant forest hog and rhino to peacefully abide.
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The Great Hunger
By Linda Tancs
Phytophthora infestans, the fungus that causes potato blight, invaded parts of Ireland in August, 1845. By the following year, the blight had devastated the harvest throughout the country. Heavily dependent on the crop, the resulting famine caused widespread death and poverty as well as emigration for those who could afford to do so. The Great Hunger, as it’s called, was one of the first national disasters to elicit international fundraising. The magnitude of this event is chronicled at The Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. The museum is one of many locales memorializing this tragedy in the United States. Other memorials exist in many locations throughout Ireland and also in cities around the world with large populations descended from immigrants affected by the famine.
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Baker’s Hot Attraction
By Linda Tancs
Known as the gateway to Death Valley, Baker is a tiny desert town in California with a big boast. It’s home to the world’s tallest thermometer, measuring 134 feet. The top temperature it can display is likewise 134 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded at Death Valley in 1913. So what’s the highest temperature it has actually displayed? That would be 127 degrees, recorded in August, 1995.
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A City Between Two Castles
By Linda Tancs
The Czech city of Brno sits between two castles—Špilberk Castle on the hill in the city centre and Veveří Castle on the Svratka River. The castles play an important role in Brno’s history, having been laid siege by the Swedish army in the 1600s during the Thirty Years’ War. Despite their significant power, the Swedish forces failed to maintain their position and retreated empty-handed. The Moravian victory is celebrated each year on 15 August, Brno Day. The festivities include a re-enactment on the slopes of Špilberk, a period market fair and costumed parades.
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