Tag: travel
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Florida Birding Trip Day 1: Pivot!

Today we drove to West Palm Beach where we will meet up with Loren Fisher and the workshop participants. As we made our way south and then east, we passed massive sugar cane fields with road signs warning of smoke and fog impairing visibility. We had no idea that sugar cane is set alight before…
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Florida Birding Trip: The Wild of Springs & Prairies

We relished our days spent in the Florida countryside, including visits to some local nature areas and taking in the sights. Our first visit was to Fanning Springs State Park. This quiet area is on the Suwannee River, with turquoise blue springs and meandering boardwalks through the forest and above the swamp, safe from alligators.…
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Southern Japan Cruise Day 11: Until We Meet Again

Today is our final port of call: Kochi. We are happy to visit Kochi, but sad it is our last excursion of the cruise. We are welcomed into port with a flag performance that was quite impressive! I wonder how many steps that would count for, on an activity app? As we disembark, volunteers help…
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Southern Japan Cruise Day 9: Charmed

We are very excited for today! We are visiting another new site to us; Kagoshima. The view from our balcony is of Sakurajima, an active volcano across Kagoshima bay. We are touring on our own, visiting Sengan-en, a beautiful botanical garden. It is cool in the fresh morning, and we grab our jackets and head…
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Southern Japan Cruise Day 8: Kaleidoscope Day

We arrive to the port at Jeju Island South Korea while it is still dark. Even through the darkness, we see the preparations for our arrival: tour buses are lining up in the parking lot, walkways are being set up, and activity is bustling inside the terminal. This is our first visit to South Korea.…
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Southern Japan Cruise Day 7: Ground Hog Day

Yay! Another day at sea as we sail to South Korea. Today’s photos continue with things you can only find on a cruise ship, along with things that entertainment us while on board. Today it is a bit rough at sea. We are rocking and rolling all about the ship. It’s not often you see…
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Southern Japan Cruise Day 6: Among Friends

This morning brings us to Naha Port to visit the cities of Naha and Okinawa. The port is spacious and well organized. Disembarkation was easy and we were welcomed by many helpful volunteers. Having sailed towards the south, there is a noticeable difference in the weather; the humidity and temperature are both high, and our…
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Southern Japan Cruise Day 5: A Few of Our Favorite Things

Today is a favorite cruise day of ours: a sea day! A day at sea allows us to take in the ocean views from our balcony and around the ship, and a chance to have a photo shoot. Today’s theme: Photos of things unique to a cruise ship. Let’s go to the obvious: The FOOD!…
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Southern Japan Cruise Day 4: A Kiss is But A Kiss

Today is our second day in Osaka and we have an excursion to Osaka Castle and a visit to Dotonbori District, a downtown restaurant and shopping area. We board our tour bus and head off to the castle, a bit of a drive away. We arrive at Osaka Castle, which is now part of Osaka…
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Southern Japan Cruise: Day 2: Wanderers

We woke this morning to a colorful sunrise as we arrived into Shimizu Port. Today we decided to take a walking tour of this port city, versus one of the many cruise bus excursions traveling out to Mount Fuji, which we did earlier on one of our pre-cruise days. Shimizu is an old port town…
