Langebaan in South Africa

25 March 2025 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© flickr.com - Domenico Convertini/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Domenico Convertini/cc-by-sa-2.0

Langebaan is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa on the eastern shore of Langebaan Lagoon. Langebaan is situated 120 km north of Cape Town, just off the R27, about 28 km from Vredenburg and 20 km from Saldanha Bay. The Lagoon stretches for 17 km from Saldanha Bay, past Langebaan to Geelbek in the South. In places it is up to 4 km wide.   read more…

Gulf of Mexico

6 March 2025 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Paseo del Prado in Havana, La Habana, Cuba © Tacorontey/cc-by-sa-4.0

Paseo del Prado in Havana, La Habana, Cuba © Tacorontey/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Gulf of Mexico (Spanish: Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southwest and south by the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo; and on the southeast by Cuba. The coastal areas along the Southern U.S. states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, which border the Gulf on the north, are occasionally referred to as the “Third Coast” of the United States (in addition to its Atlantic and Pacific coasts), but more often as “the Gulf Coast”.   read more…

Salvation Islands

4 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Royal Island © Tylda/cc-by-sa-3.0

Royal Island © Tylda/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Salvation Islands (French: Îles du Salut, so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland), sometimes mistakenly called the Safety Islands, are a group of small islands of volcanic origin about 11 kilometres (6 nautical miles) off the coast of French Guiana, 14 kilometres (7.5 nautical miles) north of Kourou, in the Atlantic Ocean. Although closer to Kourou, the islands are part of Cayenne commune (municipality), specifically Cayenne 1er Canton Nord-Ouest.   read more…

Cape Hatteras in North Carolina

6 August 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse © National Park Service - NPGallery

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse © National Park Service – NPGallery

Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina.   read more…

Gulf Stream

20 May 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Environment Reading Time:  8 minutes

Evolution of the Gulf Stream © ngdc.noaa.gov - RedAndr/cc-by-sa-4.0

Evolution of the Gulf Stream © ngdc.noaa.gov – RedAndr/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States then veers east near 36 latitude (North Carolina) and moves toward Northwest Europe as the North Atlantic Current. The process of western intensification causes the Gulf Stream to be a northwards accelerating current off the east coast of North America. At about 40°0′N 30°0′W, it splits in two, with the northern stream, the North Atlantic Drift, crossing to Northern Europe and the southern stream, the Canary Current, recirculating off West Africa.   read more…

São Miguel Island, the largest island of the Azores

30 December 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Fonte de Buraco Belvedere overlooking the village of Maia © José Luís Ávila Silveira/Pedro Noronha e Costa

Fonte de Buraco Belvedere overlooking the village of Maia © José Luís Ávila Silveira/Pedro Noronha e Costa

São Miguel Island, nicknamed “The Green Island” (Ilha Verde), is the largest and most populous island in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers 760 km² (290 sq mi) and has around 140,000 inhabitants, with 45,000 people residing in Ponta Delgada, the archipelago’s largest city. The ancient laurisilva forest has mostly been replaced by cultivated fields and imported trees and plants, such as the ubiquitous cryptomeria trees. There are some hot springs (caldeiras), generally located in the center of the island, in the area stretching from Povoação to Nordeste. The highest elevation on São Miguel is the Pico da Vara at 1,103 metres (3,619 ft). Lying at the eastern end of the island, it is the focus of a Special Protection Area containing the largest remnant of laurisilva forest on the island, which is home to the endemic and critically endangered bird, the Azores bullfinch. Whale watching tours, starting from Ponta Delgada and Vila Franca do Campo are available. One may see sea turtles, dolphins and humpback whales.   read more…

Island of Gorée

5 August 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  15 minutes

© Inextre/cc-by-sa-3.0-es

© Inextre/cc-by-sa-3.0-es

Île de Gorée is one of the 19 communes d’arrondissement (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an 18.2-hectare (45-acre) island located 2 kilometres (1.1 nmi; 1.2 mi) at sea from the main harbour of Dakar, famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade although its actual role in the history of the slave trade is the subject of dispute. Its population as of the 2013 census was 1,680 inhabitants, giving a density of 5,802 inhabitants per square kilometre (15,030/sq mi), which is only half the average density of the city of Dakar. Gorée is both the smallest and the least populated of the 19 communes d’arrondissement of Dakar. Other important centres for the slave trade from Senegal were further north, at Saint-Louis, Senegal, or to the south in the Gambia, at the mouths of major rivers for trade. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The name is a corruption of its original Dutch name Goedereede, meaning “good roadstead“.   read more…

Mar del Plata in Argentina

13 March 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Leandro Kibisz

© Leandro Kibisz

Mar del Plata is a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the head of General Pueyrredón Partido. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name “Mar del Plata” has the meaning of “sea of the Plate region” or “adjoining sea to the (River) Plate region”. Mar del Plata is one of the major fishing ports and the biggest seaside beach resort in Argentina.   read more…

Theme Week Uruguay

20 August 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  11 minutes

Punta del Este © Roberto Tietzmann/cc-by-2.5

Punta del Este © Roberto Tietzmann/cc-by-2.5

Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a state in the southeastern region of South America. It borders Argentina to its west and Brazil to its north and east, with the Río de la Plata (River of Silver) to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. Uruguay is home to an estimated 3.44 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo (List of cities in Uruguay). With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), Uruguay is geographically the second-smallest nation in South America, after Suriname. Uruguayan culture is strongly European and its influences from southern Europe are particularly important. The tradition of the gaucho has been an important element in the art and folklore of both Uruguay and Argentina.   read more…

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