Lāhainā on Maui

13 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

© PaulT (Gunther Tschuch)/cc-by-sa-4.0

© PaulT (Gunther Tschuch)/cc-by-sa-4.0

Lahaina (Hawaiian: Lāhainā) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States, and includes the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts. As of the 2020 census, Lahaina had a resident population of 12,702. The CDP encompasses the coast along Hawaii Route 30 from a tunnel at the south end, through Olowalu and to the CDP of Napili-Honokowai to the north. As Lahaina sits on Maui, a relatively small island with limited developable area, its real estate is some of the most expensive in Hawaii.   read more…

Mendocino in California

17 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© flickr.com - Lee Coursey/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Lee Coursey/cc-by-2.0

Mendocino (Spanish for “of Mendoza“) is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California, United States. The name comes from Cape Mendocino 85 miles (137 km) to the north, named by early Spanish navigators in honor of Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain. Despite its small size, the town’s scenic location on a headland surrounded by the Pacific Ocean has made it extremely popular as an artists’ colony and with vacationers. Mendocino is located 10 miles (16 km) south of Fort Bragg at an elevation of 154 feet (47 m).   read more…

Tetiꞌaroa in the Pacific

31 July 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Supertoff/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Supertoff/cc-by-sa-3.0

Tetiꞌaroa (French: Teti’aroa) is an atoll in the Windward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, an overseas territorial collectivity of France in the Pacific Ocean. Once the vacation spot for Tahitian royalty, the islets are under a 99-year lease contracted by Marlon Brando. Tetiꞌaroa is administratively part of the commune of Arue, whose main part is in the northeastern part of Tahiti. The atoll is located 53 kilometres (33 mi) north of Tahiti. The atoll has a total surface area of 6 square kilometres (2 sq mi); approximately 585 hectares (1,450 acres) of sand divided by 12 motus (islets) with varying surface areas. The lagoon is approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) wide and 30 metres (98 ft) deep. The atoll has no reef opening, making access by boat nearly impossible.   read more…

Theme Week Honduras

21 June 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

A Mayastela, an emblematic symbol of the Honduran Mayan civilization at Copan © Talk2winik

A Maya stela, an emblematic symbol of the Honduran Mayan civilization at Copan © Talk2winik

Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.   read more…

Theme Week Peru – Chiclayo, Capital of Friendship

24 April 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  12 minutes

Palacio Municipal © Pitxiquin/cc-by-sa-4.0

Palacio Municipal © Pitxiquin/cc-by-sa-4.0

Chiclayo is the principal city of the Lambayeque region in northern Peru. It is located 13 kilometers inland from the Pacific coast and 770 kilometers from the nation’s capital, Lima. Founded by Spanish explorers as “Santa María de los Valles de Chiclayo” in the 16th century, it was declared a city on 15 April 1835 by president Felipe Santiago Salaverry. He named Chiclayo “the Heroic City” to recognize the courage of its citizens in the fight for independence, a title it still holds. Other nicknames for Chiclayo include “The Capital of Friendship” and the “Pearl of the North”. Chiclayo is Peru’s fourth-largest city, after Lima, Arequipa, and Trujillo, with a population of 738,000 as of 2011. The Lambayeque region is the fourth most populous metropolitan area of Peru, with a population of 973,000 in 2009. The city was founded near an important prehistoric archaeological site, the Northern Wari ruins, which constitute the remains of a city from the 7th to 12th century of the Wari Empire.   read more…

Theme Week Peru – Lima

23 April 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  22 minutes

Lima City Hall © WMrapids

Lima City Hall © WMrapids

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima Metropolitan Area. With a population of more than 9 million, Lima is one of the largest cities in the Americas. Lima was named by natives in the agricultural region known by native Peruvians as Limaq. It became the capital and most important city in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Following the Peruvian War of Independence, it became the capital of the Republic of Peru (República del Perú). Around one-third of the national population lives in the metropolitan area. Lima is home to one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the New World. The National University of San Marcos, founded on 12 May 1551, during the Viceroyalty of Peru, is the first officially established and the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas. Nowadays the city is considered to be the political, cultural, financial and commercial center of the country. Internationally, it is one of the thirty most populated urban agglomerations in the world. Due to its geostrategic importance, it has been defined as a “beta” city. Jurisdictionally, the metropolis extends mainly within the province of Lima and in a smaller portion, to the west, within the Constitutional Province of Callao, where the seaport and the Jorge Chávez Airport are located. Both provinces have regional autonomy since 2002.   read more…

Theme Week Peru

19 April 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  18 minutes

Architecture of Paseo Pizzaro in Trujillo © Pitxiquin/cc-by-sa-4.0

Architecture of Paseo Pizzaro in Trujillo © Pitxiquin/cc-by-sa-4.0

Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is a megadiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the Andes mountains extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical Amazon Basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon River. At 1.28 million km² (0.5 million mi²), Peru is the 19th largest country in the world, and the third largest in South America.   read more…

Bikini Atoll in the Pacific

9 December 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  18 minutes

Entrance sign to the island © Ron Van Oers/cc-by-sa-3.0-igo

Entrance sign to the island © Ron Van Oers/cc-by-sa-3.0-igo

Bikini Atoll, sometimes known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a 229.4-square-mile (594.1 km²) central lagoon. After the Second World War, the atoll’s inhabitants were relocated in 1946, after which the islands and lagoon were the site of 23 nuclear tests by the United States until 1958. The atoll is at the northern end of the Ralik Chain, approximately 530 miles (850 km) northwest of the capital Majuro. Three families were resettled on Bikini island in 1970, totaling about 100 residents. But scientists found dangerously high levels of strontium-90 in well water in May 1977, and the residents were carrying abnormally high concentrations of cesium-137 in their bodies. They were evacuated in 1980. The atoll is occasionally visited today by divers and a few scientists, and is occupied by a handful of caretakers.   read more…

Theme Week Thailand – Chiang Mai

29 February 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

Tinsulanonda Library © FreeGenius

Tinsulanonda Library © FreeGenius

Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand and the capital of Chiang Mai Province. It is 700 km (435 mi) north of Bangkok near the highest mountains in the country. The provincial capital is the economic and cultural center of the north. The city is also called the Rose of the North because of its scenic beauty. Chiang Mai is the center of Thai handicrafts. Wood processing, textile production and the processing of jade jewelry in particular are important branches of the economy. In addition, tourism is an important source of income for many people. Chiang Mai hosts many Thai festivals. In early December 2017, Chiang Mai was awarded the UNESCO title of Creative City. In 2015, Chiang Mai was on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage inscription. Chiang Mai was one of two tourist destinations in Thailand on TripAdvisor‘s 2014 list of “25 Best Destinations in the World”, where it stands at number 24.   read more…

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