Killer duck jumps out of the water.
DAILY PHOTO: A Duck at General Coffee State Park
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Tag Archives: outdoors
DAILY PHOTO: Gulf of Finland Inlet
Taken from the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa
In 2011, we made a mid-summer trip to Helsinki. We stayed at the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa. It’s located northwest of Helsinki proper up the inlet to the city’s west side (not far from Seurasaari Island.)
This photo was taken at probably 1:30am. Vampires beware: I don’t think it ever got fully dark. There was always light on the horizon. Those little black specks on the water are birds whose circadian rhythms were as confused as was mine.
BTW, that hotel has an awesome breakfast buffet that’s included in the room price. It’ s a little out-of-the-way though.
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DAILY PHOTO: Sacsayhuamán in the Peruvian Andes
This Incan site overlooks Cusco, Peru.
Sacsayhuamán may well be the first Incan site you see, if you fly into Cusco. It sits on a hill overlooking Cusco. If you’re in the mood to stretch your legs and aren’t too queasy from the elevation (Cusco, 11,200ft), it’s not too difficult a walk from the city center. You can use the Cristo Blanco (huge white Jesus), which shares the same hill, as a navigational reference.
The Incans were the master masons. These stone walls were made without mortar. Yes, those irregularly shaped blocks sit perfectly on each other and have for hundreds of years. The one thing that Sacsayhuamán has that other sites don’t is a naturally occurring fun park of slides. One can also traverse a pitch black cave, and get spectacular overview shots of the city.
Naturally occurring slides
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DAILY PHOTO: Isla Contoy, Mexico
“The beach is that way,” says crab to lizard.
Isla Contoy is a bird sanctuary off the northeast corner of the Yucatan peninsula. There are no hotels or permanent residents there, but one can easily make half day trips by boat from either Isla Mujeres or Cancun. The only buildings on the island are a ranger station, an observation tower, a small educational display, and some picnic shelters. Because people don’t live here (besides maybe a few park rangers and scientists) and the number of visitors is limited, the wildlife density (particularly birds, but also lizards, crabs, rays, etc.) is tremendous.
Because they try to limit where people go to avoid interference with the wildlife, a few hours here is sufficient. However, there is a pristine white sand beach that, as I indicated, is visited by rays and fish.
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DAILY PHOTO: Church at Tims Ford, Tennessee
On a cloudy night, this place would be CREEPY!
Have you ever seen an idyllic, pristine setting, and thought, Under different circumstances this would be the perfect location for a horror film?
That was my feeling as I walked out of the woods and saw this solitary, white church and its graveyard on a hill in central nowhere (No offense, Tennessee.) Picture what this place would be like under a low, roiling, gray clouds. It’s spitting cold rain, the graveyard is leaf-strewn. From which grave will a clawing hand protrude? You don’t know. You don’t know.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 