I’ll get it out of the way up front. The Boquete Garden Inn is probably THE BEST little inn I’ve stayed at, ever. Understand, of course, that I am a fanatic for birds, gardens and flowers. So walking through the gate from the already near-paradise that is the town of Boquete into some place that [...]
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The Sister Moon Eco-Lodge on Isla Grande, Panama
Ten minutes across some pretty rough waters from the Panamanian village of La Guaira, we found ourselves kindly deposited on the Caribbean island of Isla Grande. The boat pilot didn’t want to take on the larger waves near the reef to the northwest and so we had to walk the ten minutes along the rim [...]
Ya. Chamonix and All That.
Yesterday I was up in Taos Ski Valley with the kids. We were tubing with my daughter’s school. It was incredibly fun. My little boy, watching the skiers on the slopes around us asked if he could learn how. “Oh no,” was my first thought. I grew up in Colorado and skiing was always part [...]
Where the Fairy Tern is Winging: Convicts, Mutiny and Executions: A Guest Post by Jim McIntosh
Editor’s Note: Brutal rule by an oligarchy is never as far off as we might think. It is something that has happened far too often throughout history and it is a danger the supposedly democratized “Western world” is dangerously close to falling back into at the moment. Too few people hold too much power and [...]
Pictures of My 2012 – 24 Shots from All Over
I was rather heartbroken when I left my kids at the train station on a drizzly morning in Vasa, Finland at the end of March. They were flying home to New Mexico. I was flying south to Toulouse, France. 2011 had seen me in twice in Finland (once with the kids), in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, [...]
The Söderfjärden Meteor Crater – Finland
I visited the Söderfjärden on a warm, rainy August morning. The ten kilometers of road south from Vasa were perfectly clear except for two fearless foxes moving from one stand of Red Pine to the other. I had spent the previous several days in Finland’s Kvarken Archipelago and had heard about the 520-560 million year old meteorite impact crater to the [...]
Gulf Coast Birding – The Best Five Birding Sites in Mississippi
Gulf Coast birding hits a high point in Mississippi. Somewhere around 350 species of birds are known to inhabit or move through the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Not only are the rich coastal environments vital for migratory species as they move north from South America in the spring or return south in the fall but the [...]
Touring Chicago’s Ethnic Neighborhoods
From 1840 to 1900, Chicago was the fastest growing city in the world. The Irish came early, spilling into the city to escape the genocide of the famine back home. The Irish dug the canals and settled one of the first neighborhoods, Bridgeport. As the city became the transportation hub of what was then known [...]
Top 10 Foreign Retirement Destinations
For years, it has stuck in my mind that, when I reach retirement age (and at this point it is not when, it is IF) I would find myself a little, tiny apartment within view of the sea either on the Mediterranean side of the Spanish-French border or the Atlantic side of that same border. [...]
Visiting Kyoto Monuments
If Tokyo impresses visitors with its futuristic look, Kyoto is actually the historical and cultural centre of Japan. Surrounded on three sides by wooded hills and mountains, bisected by the Kamo River, the city occupies an exceptional site. With its unique geography comes a unique history! The ancient capital of Japan – from 794 until [...]
New Mexico’s Valley of Life
The Valle Vidal is a lush mountain basin located in the heart of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in northern New Mexico. Donated to the American People in 1982, the Valle Vidal is managed by the Carson National Forest primarily for it’s wildlife, as well as it’s outstanding scenic and recreational opportunities. The Valle Vidal [...]
Briefly Noted: Treasure Fables and Scary Places You Gotta See
Go on, admit it. Its fun to be scared sometimes. Some of my best travel experiences arise from brief moments of fear – or that trippy feeling swirling around your belly when you stumble across someplace that just isnt quite right. Sadly, all my photographs and the negatives of the Sedlec Ossuary in January 1995 [...]
Purchase Fine Art Prints and Books by Jim O’Donnell
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Twenty-One Beautiful Birds of Panama – Birdgasm!
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Spring Rainstorm Pictures – My Shot of the Day – April 1, 2013
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Seeking Some Sassy Ceviche at the Fish Market in Panama City
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Arabian Sea Sunset
