Tijuana in Mexico

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

© Urbaner44/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Urbaner44/cc-by-sa-4.0

Tijuana is the most populous city in the state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality and the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area. It is just south of California and it has a close proximity to the Mexico–United States border which is part of the San Diego–Tijuana metro area.   read more…

Papeete on Tahiti

5 February 2025 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Balou46/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Balou46/cc-by-sa-4.0

Papeete (Tahitian: Papeʻete; old name: Vaiʻete) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Papeete is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, of which Papeete is the administrative capital. Both the President of French Polynesia and French High Commissioner reside in Papeete.   read more…

Marquesas Islands

27 January 2025 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Nuku Hiva © Moerani Manate/cc-by-sa-4.0

Nuku Hiva © Moerani Manate/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te Henua ʻEnana (North Marquesan) and Te Fenua ʻEnata (South Marquesan), both meaning “the land of men”) are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. Their highest point is the peak of Mount Oave (French: Mont Oave) on Ua Pou island, at 1,230 m (4,035 ft) above sea level.   read more…

Viña del Mar in Chile

3 January 2025 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

© panoramio.com - Andrew Latham/cc-by-sa-3.0

© panoramio.com – Andrew Latham/cc-by-sa-3.0

Viña del Mar ( meaning “Vineyard of the Sea”) is a city and commune on central Chile‘s Pacific coast. Often referred to as La Ciudad Jardín (“The Garden City”), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile’s fourth largest city with a population of 324,836 (according to the 2008 census). Viña del Mar is also part of the Greater Valparaíso area, the country’s second largest metropolitan area (pop. 935,602, 2017 census), after the Metropolitan area of Santiago. The Greater Valparaíso Area is home to five municipalities: Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Concon, Quilpue and Villa Alemana.   read more…

Cabo Blanco in Peru

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

© flickr.com - Ministerio de la Producción de Perú

© flickr.com – Ministerio de la Producción de Perú

Cabo Blanco is a fishing village in northwestern Peru, 3 km northwest from El Alto, Talara, Piura. It was famous in the past among big-game fishermen and today is a noted surf break. The village takes its name from the light coloured nearby mountains.   read more…

Theme Week Hawaii – Kauai

28 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Keʻe Beach at Haʻena State Park from the Kalalau Trail © flickr.com - MattWright/cc-by-2.0

Keʻe Beach at Haʻena State Park from the Kalalau Trail © flickr.com – MattWright/cc-by-2.0

Kauaʻi, anglicized as Kauai, is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km²), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauaʻi lies 73 miles (117 km) northwest of Oʻahu, across the Kauaʻi Channel. The island’s 2020 population was 73,298. Styling itself the “Garden Isle”, Kauaʻi is the site of Waimea Canyon State Park and Na Pali Coast State Park. It forms the bulk of Kauai County, which also includes the small nearby islands of Kaʻula, Lehua, and Niʻihau.   read more…

Theme Week Hawaii – Lanai

27 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Hotel Lanai and Lanai City Grille © Mike Grant/cc-by-sa-4.0

Hotel Lanai and Lanai City Grille © Mike Grant/cc-by-sa-4.0

Lanai (Hawaiian: Lānaʻi) is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The island’s only settlement of note is the small town of Lanai City. The island is 98% owned by Larry Ellison, cofounder and chairman of Oracle Corporation; the remaining 2% is owned by the state of Hawaii or individual homeowners.   read more…

Theme Week Hawaii – The Big Island

26 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Laʻaloa Bay in Kailua-Kona © Steevven1/cc-by-sa-4.0

Laʻaloa Bay in Kailua-Kona © Steevven1/cc-by-sa-4.0

Hawaii (Hawaiian: Hawaiʻi) is the largest island in the United States, located in the eponymous state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of 4,028 square miles (10,430 km²), it has 63% of the Hawaiian archipelago‘s combined landmass. However, it has only 13% of the archipelago’s population. The island of Hawaiʻi is the third largest island in Polynesia, behind the north and south islands of New Zealand.   read more…

Theme Week Hawaii – Maui

25 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Big Beach in Makena © flickr.com - dronepicr/cc-by-2.0

Big Beach in Makena © flickr.com – dronepicr/cc-by-2.0

Maui is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km²). It is the 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of Maui County‘s five islands, along with Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, and Molokini.   read more…

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