Yacob land

Ahhhhh. it is so very nice to be here! Yacob land has a mountain, that has one really long chair lift, that takes you to the very top of the mountain and there is only one run, that goes from: powder trees, to park, to more pow pow, to a water fall were you clip out of your skis and ski boots and kayak down a very long river that spells: land. (That is why it's Yacob land.) You can see all of the animals along the river and then you get to my mansion. The water supply comes from The Water Tree. The Water Tree is a tree that hangs upside down from a cloud, (thats where it gets its water from) and has 2 hoses, 1 hot, 1 cold. The hot goes to my crater hot tub, and the cold is my drinking and river water. My language is fwigan, (pronounced: fweegin) this is how you spell hi in fwigan: hi. There is also a colorful forest on Yacob land, and all the trees are different colors and in it lives the rare plada-bird! It his orange, has a long tail, and has a long yellow beak. OOOOO!!!!! There it is!!! I'm off to catch it! Bye!

Yacob :)

Climbing Palm Trees and Dancing in Fiji

When Keegan and I went to Fiji, we went to see a Fijian meke dance where men, women and children all take part. The women danced with fans and the men danced with clubs and spears. The music was a steady beating of sticks. After their performance, they encouraged the guests to join them in a simple dance movement called the taralala. So, we went up and joined in dance with them. It was a new experience because I've been doing hip-hop as my dance, and now I got try a new dance.

After the dance, Keegan and I went to the beach. It was in the evening, and we found a palm tree sticking out over the water. I saw it and the thought came "I want to climb that tree!" So, what did I do? I climbed out onto the tree and I kept going and going and going. When I was almost to the end, something happened... My grip loosened, I struggled to keep on the trunk, but it was too late. I fell down, down, down toward the water and fell in with a SPLASH! It was warmer than I expected, but I still rushed to shore. Keegan and I ran back to our hotel so I could dry off. Anyway, it was a good vacation to Fiji.

See you all soon,

Nicholas

Before and After

Before I got to Bhutan with Cody, I made a list of 10 things I thought the country would be like:
1. It has square houses
2. Cheetahs live there
3. There are no trees
4. There are pyramids
5. The people look Korean
6. The people's favorite food is snakes
7. The geography is desert
8. The coordinates are: 23 North and 32 East
9. They have plenty of fresh, clean water
10. The people are mostly mad.
*Bonus thought: Countries that are nearby: Korea, India



Then I got to Bhutan and here is what Cody and I found:

1. Cody and I stayed in a traditional Bhutanese house, made out of mud, bamboo, and wood. The doors and windows were decorated with animal and flower designs. In the house we stayed in, the cows lived on the bottom floor, the second floor had storage, and the third floor is where we lived.  And the most important part of every house is a prayer flag in the center of the roof

2. One website told us there were cheetahs in southern Bhutan, but most websites talked about the snow leopard. Cody and I saw a snow leopard. It was crouching on the mountainside. This is what he looked like!

3. We saw the Himmalaya from everywhere! We also saw lots of rice paddies. There is flatness and pointiness everywhere here. We couldn't find any deserts in Bhutan.

4. Cody and I went base jumping off the Lakhang, which are monastaries. Check this out. (We got this picture after we jumped.)

5. The people don't look Korean. They come from tribes of northern Burma and northeast India and Nepal. So they look like this

6. "Ema datse," which is chilies and cheese, is one of the favorite dishes in Bhutan.

7. Bhutan is comfortably squeezed into the middle of the Himalaya

8. 27 N, 90 E.  I was close!

9. Glaciers are melting and so water is harder to get. Also, even in Bhutan, there is a problem with dirty water.

10. The goverment watches out for the happiness of its people. For a long time, they knew TV would not make people happy. They were the LAST country to introduce TV. It was the year Eleanore was born. 1999. They don't allow tobacco or plastic bags in Bhutan because the goverment thinks they make the people less happy. The one traffic light they ever had made people frustrated so they took it down and put back the person to direct traffic. That must be sooooo tiring. There is hardly ANY advertising. And Bhutan cares about the environment and the spirit of the people.

*11. I was right on one of the countries that are near Bhutan, which was India. The other one is Tibet.

 Frances Joy

Bird Watching in Madagascar

It was so fascinating to find these awesome birds and see them hanging out in the forest. This is one of my favorites, the long-tailed ground roller. It is rare (endangered) and is a ground dwelling bird.

This is the male velvet asity, which also called a false-sunbird and eats fruit.

Here is the female velvet asity. What have you been eating lately? Burger King? (Ha ha ha.)

I happened to catch this helmet vanga peeking out from behind his nest.

This pygmy kingfisher is so cute! I saw it catch a grub and feed it to its babies.

While I was bird watching, I randomly saw this little fluffy guy here. He is a lowland streaked tenrec and I named him Sparky because he looks like a mini firecracker. He was looking for earthworms when I found him, and I motioned to Logan to come over to see him. Logan looked surprised and said "What is that thing?!" The tenrec scurried back to his family burrow near a small stream when he realized we were there.

I wish I could keep one as a pet, but I can't (sigh). Oh well, he'd be too spiky anyway and I could never pick him up.

Have good travels!

Jacob

Australia

This is the Sydney Opera House

This is a Numbat. Cute right?

This is Mike

Okay I'm finally caught up on my blogs!! Good thing I kept a journal of EVERYTHING that happened on all of my trips.

We are in Sydney, home of the world famous Sydney Opera House. We saw an opera there, but I can't say I'm a big fan. Opera just isn't my style. But the opera house itself is amazing! The architecture is just wonderful.

While in a small town just outside of Sydney ( I can't remember the name) we met a man named Mike. His name may be modern, but don't be fooled. He is descended from the original inhabitants of Australia. He showed us how to throw a boomerang. Mine didn't come back. Mike says it takes years of practice to get it right. I say it takes natural born talent. Either way I had to walk for 100 meters to get mine back.

Okay, the Numbat is one of the most cute animals I have ever seen (okay, I say that to every animal. But still...)!! It looks like a striped anteater (and I think it may be a type of anteater, I can't remember) with just a little bit of chipmunk. It is just so darn cute!!!

Okay, so the two things I always notice about a country is how cute the animals are and the food. We've already covered the cute animals, so on to the food. Now I'm not a big banana person, in fact I don't eat them without peanut butter, but in Australia they grill them on the BBQ. It was amazing ( I use that word waaaayyy to much). The banana caramelizes on the inside and it is delicious!

Well, all for now. I have to get some rest for our trip to the outback tomorrow to (hopefully) see some Kangaroos!! (By the way, Joeys [ baby kangaroos] are so cute!!)

Kelsey

0 degrees, 67degrees west

This is a Black-Faced Lion Tamarin

This is (in order) Yara, Davi, and Thiago

Hey everyone! We are always talking about the equator...but we are always on one side or the other. How about being on both?? That's what Mia and I did when we went to S. Gabriel da Cachoeira. It is right on the equator. It's so cool to have your left foot where the toilet bowl spins one way and your right foot where it spins the other. I'm not going to say what country or continent S. Gabriel da Cachoeira is in. That you have to find out ;)

Our tour guide took us to a wildlife preserve where we saw a Black-Faced Lion Tamarin, a very cute endangered species. Her name was Victoria, and she was cute as could be. Until she decided the banana in my backpack looked good. She pounced. Then off I ran, screaming at the top of my lungs, and Mia and the Guide laughing their heads off. That happens a lot (not the Tamarin jumping on me, the screaming at the top of my lungs part).

We met three children on our journey. Yara, Davi, and Thiago. Yara is 11, and she made us the best rice and beans with bananas. It was amazing. Davi is 8, and he showed us their pet dog, Rio, SO CUTE! Thiago is 10, and he was silent until soccer came up. He loved soccer. He showed us all the moves he knew and told us someday he would be on the national Brazilian soccer team. All three kids were adorable.

Don't Eat Me!!!

Hi everyone! I am presently in a tree house in Papua New Guinea. I am staying near (not with) the Korowai tribe. Some people say that they are still cannibals but others say that they have finally stopped that tradition. They have been around since the Stone Age. I'm serious.   Anna and I weren't sure if we should stay with them or not but eventually we decided that we really didn't want to risk getting eating so we are staying a few miles out of their village.

This is where we are staying. Talk about a tree house!

This is what we had for dinner last night. They didn't taste like chicken.

It was a hard decision weather we should come here or not, considering all of the diseases of this jungle:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis E
• Typhoid fever  
• Malaria
• Dengue fever  
• Japanese Encephalitis
• Plague
• Chikungunya
• Leptospirosis
• Rabies  

But, I will tell you that all the vaccinations were worth it! It is amazing here!

The first three days of our trip we spent on the southern coast. The ocean it touches on that side is called the Coral Sea. We were staying at Port Moresby.

If you look closely, you can see Port Moresby on the southern peninsula.

Papua New Guinea introduced me to my new favorite flower: 

It is a recently discovered orchid found in Papua New Guinea. Isn't it beautiful? I love it because it looks so delicate but also really fluorescent! So cool!

I am very glad I came to Papua New Guinea and let alone had such a good time!

Safe travels!      

Eleanore
P.S. I hope no one is in New Zealand right now! I heard about the big earth quake in Christchurch! It's so horrible!

33'S 134'E - I might just move here after ski season! -

Only 4500 nautical miles & 36 days @ sea

...from icebergs in the Southern Ocean

to great white sharks in the Indian Ocean

and kangaroos on the beach.

  No surfing today!

It sure feels good to be on land, even if only 

for a few days to arrange for fuel and food, 

because Kangaroo Island is NOT my final 

destination, only a great place to pull into 

after the long trip from Antarctica.

I'm headed to 22'S 14.36'E

Can you guess where I'm going?

hint: world's largest ______________.

 

OK - another 4 days with no wind in my sails,

but the coastal cruise was a great way to 

check out the wildlife with my binoculars

- crocodiles, water monitors, some awesome 

red birds called adelaids and koalas.

Now I am finally where I want to be, 

a group of Islands called the Whitsundays.

They are all that remains of a coastal range

which was submerged when sea levels 

rose at the end of the ice age.

There are lots of other boats around,

lots of people sharing dive stories,

great lobster dinners and music in the cockpit.

I think I'll move here - just kidding - well maybe someday.

See ya soon, Cody

P.S. have you guessed where I'm at?

Rugby World Cup 1995: New Zealand perform haka in final

Who here was Heard of rugby??? It's one of my favorite sports ever!!! and it is big in New Zealand. Here is a video of the new zealand rugby team doing their Haka, My favorite player is Jonah Lomu, look him up, this is really cool!!!!

27 degrees S 133 degrees E and 18 degrees S 175 degrees E

This is me surfing

This is a picture of my dad surfing in namotu two years ago

Hello there everybody!!!!! I happen to be blogging a little late ( I had Swollen glands it was not pretty) So here is my post about Fiji and Australia, Australia was really really cool! I loved all of the places we went, the sydny opra house, swimming on the great barrier reef, and so many other places I can not name them all!

This picture is a map of the Fiji islands Niki and I went to a Island called namotu it is so tiny that you can't see it on the map!, you can run around the Island in like 8 minutes! anyway when we meet again on the next webcast meeting im going to show You guys a traditonal warrier club it is very cool.... Did you know that the most deadly snake in the world live in namotu ( I forget the name) but they are accutaly not a threat at all their mouths are so tiny that they could really only get a hold of the web of your fingers, and they are very relaxed they to not care for humans in the slightest.

That's all I have for now!!!!

Elmo

Devastation in New Zealand

These maps give us important information
about the earthquake in New Zealand.

People around the world
are calling this one of New Zealand's worst natural disasters...

Keep Track of the Places You've Been

Every time you travel somewhere on this earth you bring yourself closer to people and places you never knew before.  You get to take away great stories and photographs; sometimes you take away new philosophies and perspectives; but what traveling also does is connect you to those people and places long after you leave them. Knowing a place and its people ties to you it and them. Forever.  

Beautiful as well as terrifying things happen in the places you have been. 

Those of you who visited New Zealand should make it a priority to know what has happened there in recent days. 

Also, those who traveled to Egypt, you too should know what has happened there since you left.

If you'd like to, respond to this entry or be ready Friday to tell us what has happened.

Thanks!

Carolyn

Antarctica

Okay, so I am definitely a little behind. Mia and I are in our next destination already (well actually last weeks, but I havent gotten a chance to e-mail her yet and find out where we are going next) and I am still blogging about Antarctica. I promise tomorrow will be the next blog. Scouts honor. Anyway, if I had to describe Antarctica in one word it would be COLD. This place is freezing. But on the outer, coastal if you will, places are swarming with animals. Seals and penguins and whales. I even saw a Narwhal, which is kind of like a unicorn whale. It has a long horn coming out of it's forehead. I wonder if fish ever get speared by their horn......it would be really hard and frustrating to eat something that was stuck two feet in front of you.

So I think that one of the best (and best tasting) ways to keep warm is to drink hot chocolate. Anyone disagree? It tasts good and its warm. The penguins were so cute, they came right up to me and tried to pull the tasles off my pants and jacket. I think one actually took a tasle, but I'm not sure. I wish I could have held one, they looked so cute. But not only were there laws holding me back, I'm pretty sure the penguin would have freeked out and tried to peck my eye out or something.

Well, thats all for now, you can read about our next place (or last weeks anyway) tomorrow.

Let me just say it was a whole lot warmer.

Kelsey

So the picture of the penguins reminded me of the little latino penguins from happy feet. I thought the real life ones were pretty cute

The Narwhal picture really shows the horn. I love it

And the seal was just super cute :)

What's Happening Here?

(Bahrain)

Carolyn

2* South 30* East

Hi Everyone! Right now I am in Rwanda, a country in south/central Africa. I was in Chad with Anna but then I came down here. Here I am exploring the mountains and watching the Mountain Gorillas.

This is one of the gorillas that I saw. I named her Wanda. I think she liked that name.

Those animals are my new favorite. They are so peaceful and so much like us. But humans have so much drama and the gorillas are just living their happy, calm  lives in the mountains.

I am staying in a tent about half way up Mt. Karismbi (above), the mountain that Dian Fossey did most of her research on. It feels really good to be standing on a mountain that a woman with so many dreams made so much change on. Before Dian, people around the world didn't really care about the poaching of the Mountain Gorillas.  They didn't know them or understand them.  Now, after she observed them, took photos of them and introduced them to the world, people are against the poaching of the Mountain Gorilla.


Sadly, tomorrow I am going to have to leave to go somewhere else but Rwanda and its gorillas will always be one of my favorite places. 

See you all really soon! Time is flying by!! Safe travels! LZ
P.S. I heard from my cousin who lives in Reno that there is a REALLY big snow storm in Truckee!!! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy! 

67 degrees N I53 degrees W

Who knew that Penguins and Polar Bears never meet? Polar Bears live only in the Arctic and Penguins live in Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, and many other places in the world. Polar bears can't see very well but they can smell you from a mile away and they are very dangerous. Lucky for Frances and I, there are no polar bears in the Gates of the Arctic National Park but there are tons of caribou.

We are in the Brooks Mountain Range and it is amazing! Yesterday was the best day of powder skiing I have had in the Arctic. Francis and I built this HUGE kicker, honestly I think Francis got the biggest air off it, but I learned a new trick, a triple rodeo 1260. It was awesome, until I realized I was standing in the middle of a herd of caribou. Big Daddy Bou was NOT happy! He huffed and he puffed and he CHARGED! I "SKI-daddled" out of there faster than the 1997 world record speed of 150 mph! Sorry Jeff, I'm 9 and I have beaten your skiing and your bowling records! Maybe next year :-)

Once Frances and I got back to camp we found some awesome arrowheads. These are made from chert and chert is everywhere in the Brooks Range. I figure making a throwing knife would be safe right about now just in case Big Daddy Bou finds me. It's freezing and my fingers are not able to type very well so I will have to check in once I get to a warmer climate.

Safe travels!
Cody






the chert is a fine graned

69Degrees30'S 65Degrees00'W

Antarctica is much different than the Arctic! All I see is a snow desert. Ice is everywhere! There are not nearly as many animals here as there were in the Arctic. While traveling through northern Alaska in the Arctic I saw polar bears, seals, narwhals, muskox, wolverines, arctic foxes, arctic hares, etc. Most people think there are polar bears in Antarctica, but even they couldn't survive here. The only animals that can survive here are penguins and seals. I came to the Antarctic Peninsula to see the colonies of Adelie Penguins.

The North Pole is recording more ice melt than ever before, but strangely enough, the South Pole is the least affected place in the world from global warming. Antarctica also has the cleanest air in the world because there is an air barrier off the coast of southern Australia which blocks the dirty air that is getting pushed down to the South Pole. I think another reason is that in Australia it is warm and humid and in Antarctica is really cold and dry. Cold air and warm air don't mix very well, but warm air and smoggy air do.

Did you know there are Southern Lights or Aurora Australias in the South Pole like the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis in the Arctic? In fact, the Aurora Australias are just a reflection of the Aurora Borealis in the north! The Southern Lights are more emerald green in color with a deep blue tint whereas the Northern Lights are more hot pink in color with a tint of green. They are both the most beautiful sight I have ever seen!

In 1968 there was a population of about 10,000 polar bears in the Arctic Circle and now there are about 27,000 :-) The crazy thing is, that while the population of the polar bears is growing, their habitat is shrinking! Mankind desperately needs to start taking better care of our "Mother Earth" so that the polar bears, the auroras, the ice, and all the other cool things on our planet will survive.

Logybear