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 [...]
Water Reflection – My Shot of the Day – March 25, 2013
Just after dawn these early spring days, the air is perfectly still and the sound of Red-winged black birds fills the air. The snow and ice have melted and ponded and pooled and the calm morning air makes for some great water reflection photography. I shot this in Taos’ Fred Baca Park wetlands soon after [...]
International Water Day – Clean Water is a Basic Human Right
Happy World Water Day!! 2013 was chosen to be the International Water Cooperation year and today, March 22, as International Water Day (or World Water Day). Why do we celebrate World Water Day? Because water is the most important resource on the planet. Water is not just an environmental issue. Access to clean water [...]
Book Review: The Traveler (Fourth Realm, #1) by John Twelve Hawks
Pretty tiresome tripe. Crap, really. Just opening to the first page will pain your sensibilities. Essentially, there exists a group of people with special powers to cross over to other dimensions. Then there are a group of people who are sworn to protect them. Then there are a group of people working to hunt them [...]
12 months of pure powder pleasure – How to pull off spending a full year on the slopes
Being able to ski or snowboard every single month of the year is an accomplishment seen to be achievable only by the very wealthy or the very dedicated. Chasing the fluffy white stuff around the globe in an inexplicable attempt to satisfy an endless craving to plummet at breakneck speeds down long, steep drops of [...]
The High Bridge from High Up – My Shot of the Day March 15, 2013
The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge…the “high bridge”…northwest of Taos, New Mexico from about 1000 feet up in a hot air balloon. The arched Rio Grande Gorge bridge is the 82nd highest bridge in the world and the tenth highest in the USA. It hangs 565 feet (170 meters) above the Rio Grande. The span is [...]
Twenty-One Beautiful Birds of Panama – Birdgasm!
Panama has more species of birds than the United States and Canada combined. I awoke on my first morning in Panama to the sound of all those birds of Panama. I up and stumbled out onto the balcony of my friend Maria Elena overlooking the Bridge of the Americas, grabbed a cup of the most [...]
The Best Driving Roads in the UK
For goodness sake. I’ve STILL never been outside of Heathrow or the Manchester airport. It is kind of unbelievable really. With all the things to do and see in the UK I always arrive there just in time to be on to someplace else. What I’d really like to be able to do sometime is [...]
Whooper Swans Heading North – My Shot of the Day – March 5, 2013
My shot for today is actually a year old. One year old exactly in fact. These Whooper swans passed over the kids and I on March 5, 2012 while we played on the ice in the Gulf of Bothnia next to Vasa, Finland. The Whooper swans (the national bird of Finland) were heading north into [...]
Late Winter Snow in New Mexico – My Shot of the Day – February 28 2013
Snow in New Mexico is vital for both people and the environment. Spring is soon on its way and overall, we are way low as far as the snow we need. Still, the last week saw several snow storms come through, dumping some much-needed moisture on our overly dry mountains. These are the times of crisp, [...]
Seeking Some Sassy Ceviche at the Fish Market in Panama City
Everyone was yelling. You notice all the shouting about the same time the fetid reek of salt, tin, ammonia and decay smacks you in the nose. “¡Permiso! ¡Permiso! ¡Cuidado!” A short man in a mustache and green apron pushed past me with a dolly overloaded with ice. His rubber boots splashed in a puddle, spraying [...]
The Ancient City of Hoi An – Travel to Vietnam
Long before GATT, the TWO and global trade, there was the Vietnamese port city of Hội An. From 2,000 years back the little settlement with the giant harbor served as a conduit for goods coming and going throughout the Pacific Rim and beyond. In the 10th Century spices, silks and ivory from Hội An were [...]
Jim O’Donnell
Archaeology, beer and food have motivated author and photographer Jim O’Donnell’s twenty-five years of travel to over forty countries on five continents - and are at least partially to blame for the five languages he is sure he can stumble through. Jim is the author of “Notes for the Aurora Society
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
