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Category: Travel (Page 4 of 14)

Under the Sea in Mozambique by Oliver Hyde #InkRipples

Today I’ve got a special guest #InkRipples post for the January travel theme (February’s is chocolate, so make sure to stop back in on Monday, February 1st for that!). Let’s give a big welcome to traveler extraordinaire Oliver Hyde as he shares his passion for Africa!#InkRipplesBlogBanner

Under the Sea in Mozambique

by Oliver Hyde

People are usually visiting Africa for the safaris and incredible history and culture. Because we rarely hear about the beauty of the seaside and turquoise waters, we tend to neglect Africa as a travelling destination. Mozambique is the country with the most amazing coastline in entire Africa, and perhaps the world, and it is slowly, but steadily, becoming the favorite destination for snorkelers, surfers and divers. With its 2470 km (1500 miles) of coastline, this African country can match some of the most renowned world destinations, such as Maldives or Hawaii. Let us dive in deeper into the topic and find out why you should put Mozambique on your travel bucket list.

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The Coast of Mozambique

As mentioned, the delightful Mozambique has a whole vastness of coastline, and it is no wonder that the beaches and underwater world are so diverse. No matter if your bucket list has swimming with the sharks or catching the biggest wave on it, you will find a place for it in this incredibly picturesque country. Since you will probably have to choose between several locations, we will show you what you are facing.

  • Bazaruto Archipelago

The group of five islands (Benguera, Magaruque, Santa Carolina and Bangué) is a protected national park in Mozambique, so you can rest assure that there will be no crowded beaches and that the nature will be practically untouched by human influence. It is the home to dozens of bird species, such as pink flamingos and fish eagles. Other inhabitants of the archipelago are red duikers, Nile crocodiles and bushbucks. Dolphins can be seen swimming through clear waters around the islands, but if you dive deeper you can see more than 2000 different species of fish. Loggerheads, green turtles and leatherbacks can also be seen in this area. The intriguing dugongs spend their time foraging among sea-grass around the archipelago. Top two places to see in Bazaruto Archipelago are San Sebastian and Two Mile Reef. The first one is perfect for diving and scuba diving, and if you visit between May and December, you can also swim with whale sharks. The second one is ideal for snorkeling.

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  • Quirimbas Archipelago

Located far up north, this group of 32 islands is known for their historical sites, but it does not lack in staggering nature. No one can resist the fascinating white stretches of sand surrounded by azure and turquoise waters and dotted with beautiful greenery of dense mangrove forests. Some of the islands are practically uninhabited, so you can enjoy complete serenity while exploring this breathtaking destination. The archipelago is known for great diving sites, the best of them being Vamizi, Rongui and Quilaluia. Vamizi is famous for world-class diving, snorkeling, dhow sailing and fishing. With its plethora of marine life and stunning coral reefs, it surely offers a spectacular diving experience. Other premiere dive spots, Rongui and Quilaluia, have alluring coral gardens and a wide range of close-in sites for diving and snorkeling. Some of these spots are famous for their luxury resorts, but if you feel more comfortable being in a house or an apartment you can always browse through the offer on propertymaputo.com.

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  • Tofo

This small village on the south of Mozambique is so sublime that it deserves a special place on our list, near the giants like Bazaruto and Quirimbas. The beach in Tofo runs in a long arc with a small city in the center. It has long been southern Africa’s favorite sea safari location, and it seems that it will remain so. The warm azure waters and the underwater world are pillars of Mozambique tourism. The best diving rounds are from October to May and from May to September. Tofo is also famous as a world-class surfing destination with the best surfing spot in the country and one of the best in the world – Tofinho. It is no wonder, because the immaculate reefs, pleasantly warm waters, dream-like waves, friendly locals and affordable prices, make Tofinho an ideal spot for enthusiasts wanting to get the most bang for their buck.

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If you need any other reason to visit Mozambique and discover its charm below and above the water, just remember the amazing hospitality of the locals and the laid back attitude which will finally make you rest on your vacation. Speaking with the words of famous Henning Mankell: “You still feel a genuineness that no longer exists in countries where tourism has been industrially developed.”

About the Author:

Oliver Hyde is an experienced business consultant from the UK. His job allows him to travel, which also happens to be one of his greatest passions. Being a wanderer, he rarely stays at the same place for a long time, but Africa stole his heart. He had been travelling through the continent for more than a year.

January #InkRipples Bonus Post: That Time I Went to Tahiti and There Was a Tsunami

Since #InkRipples is all about travel this month (and I wrote about books – shocker, me writing about books – in my official #InkRipples post “Traveling the World and Beyond”), I decided to offer you up some bonus travel reposts. This is part 1 of the Tahiti tsumani story that originally posted in March 2011, plus some pictures from the more relaxing part of the trip. Look for part 2 next Friday. Enjoy!

002The wee hours of Friday morning. Sirens blare. Heart quickens. Body from dead asleep to pinpoint alert in seconds. I knew this could happen, but it doesn’t make my pulse pound any slower. I feel the hubby—it’s too dark to see—rise next to me. “Here we go,” I say, not exactly sure what we’re in for. I’ve never been in a tsunami before.

Now I’m not going to pretend like this is some harrowing tale of survival. It’s more a tale of apprehension and anxiety with not much dramatic payoff. I wouldn’t even call it a near miss. The hubby and I are alive and safe. Not like so many people in Japan. Still, I think our tale is one worth telling…if only to keep my mind from churning over the events and the television images over and over again. Writing this down is my therapy.

But let me go back to the beginning, where many—certainly not all—stories start. French Polynesia, island of Moorea, Thursday night. Some combination of jetlag, sun exposure, pregnancy—and yes, even the hubby has been extra tired from me being pregnant—and extreme island relaxation has lulled us into slumber at an early hour.

I wake around 10:00 pm to find the movie we were watching has ended, the television screen a blank blue screen. I flip to CNN, one of three English-speaking channels we have. 8.9 earthquake, Japan. My first thought Damn, that’s strong. At the time, I didn’t know that it was the strongest recorded quake in Japanese history. My second thought This is not good. Not good at all. Even a country so prepared for quakes must surely suffer from one so massive.

CNN already has footage of not only the earthquake, but also of a devastating tsunami that hit northeastern Japan. A 10 meter wall of water. Tsunami warnings up for countries all across the Pacific. Then I think, Uh, oh. We’re in the middle of the southern Pacific on a tiny island. What does that mean for us?

003The last tsunami to hit French Polynesia after the earthquake in Chili in February 2010 was measured in inches. I had looked it up because after I had heard tsunamis had been in the area, I had wanted to make sure my favorite tropical location was still intact. The remote location and the surrounding coral reefs had kept French Polynesia safe, but that didn’t mean we would get through this one unscathed.

I watched the coverage for about 30 minutes, my anxiety level rising with each development. Footage from the CNN newsroom in Tokyo.Deep breaths. Stay calm. Footage of the wave pouring into northeastern Japan. Keep breathing. Calm, cleansing breaths.Tsunami warnings for Russia, Indonesia, Australia, Hawaii, among other countries and islands. French Polynesia isn’t specifically mentioned, but my attempts to stay calm are failing. I’m in a foreign land. On an exposed island. A tsunami may or may not be approaching.

Time to get another opinion on whether or not I’m overreacting. Time to wake the hubby. He doesn’t seem to share my apprehension. Maybe he’s still half asleep; maybe I am overreacting. This annoys me. He’s supposed to be the one to freak out, not calm, collected, take-everything-in-stride me!

“Should we call the front desk?” I ask. “Or go down there and see what’s going on?”

I’m trying to hide my growing fear, to play this as if I’m curious and just want to be prepared, but a million things are running through my head that I don’t say. Do they even know what is going on down at the front desk? Does Moorea have modern tracking equipment for tsunamis? Do they have adequate warning procedures? The water is so close to our room. Will we have to evacuate? What will happen to all our stuff? Will we even know it’s coming, the water rushing in unannounced and we’ll all drown? Was it a huge mistake to come here while pregnant, putting my unborn child at risk?

008The hubby seems mildly concerned. His calm demeanor only proves to grate on my already agitated one. He hasn’t been watching the coverage as long as I have. He didn’t see the list of countries under tsunami warnings. He hasn’t let his mind wander to dark places and worse-case-scenarios.

There’s no way I’m sleeping until we find out more information from the resort. I tell the hubby this. He says, “Okay. Let’s walk down to the front desk.”

I’m not sure if he’s humoring me or if he’s also concerned. Either way, I’m relieved to be on my way learning more. The manager at the desk is well informed of the situation. He explains how there are buoys off the coast of the islands that will give us adequate warnings, if we will even need them. He is the picture of calm. He doesn’t think there’s much to worry about. I feel better.

We go back to the room to sleep. We have a solid five hours before the alarms will sound…

January #InkRipples: Traveling the World and Beyond

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You’d probably believe me if I told you that in the last year, I’ve traveled to Waterbury, CT, several towns in upstate New York, New Orleans, and the Biltmore estate in North Carolina. You’d have no reason to doubt me if I said my travels included a small town in middle America full of cornfields or if I mentioned visiting Hawaii.

Panic_HC_JKT_des4.indd                Bone Gap                 Everything

But what if I said I’ve also been to an empire inspired by Ancient Rome, several planets in distant galaxies, and a kingdom full of dragons that can take human form (twice!)? And that is only a handful of the many, many places I’ve been. Now you might be starting to question my honesty, or possibly my sanity. I can assure you, however, that I have been to all of these places.

Ember in the Ashes               Revealed                Seraphina

You want to know how? Books! (Just in case all the book covers above didn’t tip you off to what I was talking about.) 😉

With two kids under the age of five, my days of wandering the bookstores of London, swimming with the sharks in Tahitian waters, and running marathons in Alaska (all things I’ve done in the flesh) are currently limited. For now I have to rely on my imagination to take me places.

And you know what? I’m kind of okay with that. I love traveling to new places and old favorites, and I’m sure I’ll get back on an airplane one of these days. For now I’ll content myself with cracking open (or writing) a new story because I can travel anywhere in between the pages of a book!

Interested in seeing what I’ve read this year? Check out My Year in Books on Goodreads. Where did your favorite books take you in 2015?

#InkRipplesgreen#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by me, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (January is all about travel), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. Be sure to check out Kai’s and Mary’s posts this month. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.

 

What’s in a Year of Blogging?

fireworks_light_nightHappy New Year! One of my favorite things about a new year on the blog is taking a look back at the old year. There are all kinds of analytics available with stats at the ready, which makes this post really easy to compose. So here are some of my favorite tidbits about the Observation Desk (did you know that was the name of my blog?!) in 2015:

Most Viewed Post – “No Matter How You Do The Math, Death Just Doesn’t Add Up”

This post about my late sister, Kylene, on what would have been her 30th birthday got more hits in a single day than I’ve had in entire months. It was a really special post, and it brings a smile to my face to know that so many people are interested in the beautiful person that was my sister. I wouldn’t have wanted any other post to garner so much attention.

Popular Guest Posts – “Meet Beth Lovell Illustrator for THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER” and “Japanese Wedding Traditions from S.J. Pajonas Author of RELEASED”

The Great CT Caper was a really big part of my 2015 and I hosted many of the authors and illustrators involved in the project, so it’s fitting that one of those guest posts made it to the top. The Japanese Wedding post was actually from 2014, but it proved to stand the test of time with a lot of hits in 2015. I’m cutting back on guest posts for 2016, so it will be interesting to see how this category pans out in the next year. (With that being said, I’m not eliminating guest posts, so if you are interested in posting in 2016 simply contact me!)

Views by Country – By far the most views came from the United States, but Brazil (surprisingly) and Canada put in good showings as well. A few one-offs of interest included Mozambique, Andorra, and Fiji.

Most Fun Search Terms – This is probably my favorite category to look back on. There are always some really wacky search terms that bring people to my website, though a change in how the data is collected definitely limited the specific search terms used (there were over 700 searches listed in the all-encompassing “unknown search terms” category). A couple of my favorite were “good one liners for a girl named katie,” “the way of chatting to a rude boy so that he can get impressed,” and “genie female.”

Turning to 2016, keep an eye out for a continuation of #InkRipples, starting on Monday with the monthly topic of travel. There will, of course, be the usual writing/bookish updates and cutie pictures of the boys. I don’t think I ever did a final look at my attic writing space, which technically isn’t 100% finished (what ever is!), but has turned out quite nice. If I remember, I’ll post about that some time this year.

What else? Who knows! I’m sure there will lots of other things that pop up. Anything particular you’d all like to see on the blog? I’d love for you to share in the comments. And thanks to everyone who takes the time to pop in and read…I wouldn’t be here without you (well, I might still be here, but I’d just be talking to myself!). All the best to you and yours in 2016!

The Great Connecticut Caper Wrap-Up at Gillette Castle

The final chapter of THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER, a serialized MG mystery, went live last week! Have you all been reading along? I read it aloud at the breakfast table as soon as I saw it was posted, and I thought it did a perfect job of pulling all the clues together and wrapping up the Caper. Later that day the whole family packed up and took a trip to Gillette Castle (which went missing and was a focal point of the Caper) to celebrate at the Mystery Solved event.

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I decided not to participate in any kind of official capacity, so it was great fun just getting to be there and watching The Boy take part in a bunch of the activities. And there was a lot to do there, from painting and coloring to making (and eating) marshmallow castles. Plus there were some really fun read alouds…and ya know, the castle and the gorgeous scenery at Gillette Castle State Park. Plus I got to catch up with many of the Caper contributors and meet a few in person for the first time.

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The Caper turned out to be a really fun project to be a part of. It was a nonpaying writing job, but it paid out in a lot of other ways, both financially with some workshop opportunities and in non-monetary ways with networking and some unique, fun opportunities with Caper events. It was cool to work with so many other creators on one story, definitely something I had never done before and would consider doing again.

I have really been cutting back on projects that aren’t my main focus (like my own WIP), particularly ones I do for free, but I’m really happy I took a chance on the Caper (and that they offered me a spot as an author!). I think you have to say no sometimes, but it’s good to try new things and stretch your creative boundaries. It was also great fodder for the blog (you can check out all the Caper related posts here).

Have any of you said yes to something that was an unknown and reaped the benefits? Or maybe you said yes and wished you hadn’t (I’ve had that happen as well)?

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