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…

Theme Week Hawaii – Molokai

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

Molokai Lighthouse © MahaloMichael/cc-by-sa-3.0

Molokai Lighthouse © MahaloMichael/cc-by-sa-3.0

Molokai (Hawaiian: Molokaʻi) is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length and width with a usable land area of 260 sq mi (673.40 km²), making it the fifth-largest in size of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. It lies southeast of Oʻahu across the 25 mi (40 km) wide Kaʻiwi Channel and north of Lānaʻi, separated from it by the Kalohi Channel.   read more…

Theme Week Hawaii

23 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  8 minutes

Waikīkī and Honolulu from Diamond Head © Hakilon/cc-by-3.0

Waikīkī and Honolulu from Diamond Head © Hakilon/cc-by-3.0

Hawaii (Hawaiian: Hawaiʻi) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (alongside Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state in the tropics.   read more…

Theme Week Dominican Republic – Santiago de los Caballeros

30 November 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration © panoramio.com - Luis A. González Hde…/cc-by-sa-3.0

Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration © panoramio.com – Luis A. González Hde…/cc-by-sa-3.0

Santiago de los Caballeros (English: Saint James of the Knights), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the capital of Santiago Province and the largest major metropolis in the Cibao region of the country. Santiago is the largest Caribbean city that is not a capital city, and it is also the largest non-coastal metropolis in the Caribbean islands. The city has a total population of 771,748 inhabitants (2022). Santiago is located approximately 155 km (96 mi) northwest of the capital Santo Domingo with an average altitude of 178 m (584 ft).   read more…

Theme Week Dominican Republic – La Vega

29 November 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

© Veganazo99

© Veganazo99

La Vega, is the fourth largest city and municipality of the Dominican Republic. It is in La Vega Province. The city is known as the Carnaval epicenter of the Dominican Republic for its tradition and culture, its large agricultural production methods throughout its province. La Vega is bounded on the north by the Camú River. This river flows about 100 kilometers before emptying into Yuna River. South of the city is the Cordillera Central, the largest mountain system of the Dominican Republic. El Ponton Field, a local airport, bounds the city on the east. To La Vega’s west are the Camú River again and Montellano.   read more…

Theme Week Dominican Republic – Puerto Plata

28 November 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

© flickr.com - Ronald Saunders/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Ronald Saunders/cc-by-sa-2.0

Puerto Plata, officially known as San Felipe de Puerto Plata; (French: Port-de-Plate) is a major coastal city in the Dominican Republic, and capital of the province of Puerto Plata. The city is a major trading port. Puerto Plata has resorts such as Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, which are located east of the city proper. There are 100,000 hotel beds in the city. The first aerial tramway of the Caribbean is located in Puerto Plata, in which visitors can ride up to the Pico Isabel de Torres, a 793-meter (2600-foot) high mountain within the city.   read more…

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