Phromthep Cape: A Site Of Majestic Beauty
One of the most prominent locations in Phuket as well as the most photographed, Phromthep Cape is a destination that should not be missed when travelling to this beautiful island.
This scenic spot is one of the best locations in the island to view the beautiful sunset, which when coupled with the pristine waters that are on offer provide one of the most picturesque sights on the island. Apart from the cape itself, onlookers are presented with panoramic views of the beautiful and stunning surrounding landscape.
The view that is presented from the cape truly stirs the imagination and one can almost imagine the shores of Sri Lanka and India being visible from here. Visitors to the Phromthep Cape can also proceed further down a path that which is full of rocky terrain. Due to the nature of the path and its rugged terrain, it is suitable for the more adventurous traveller which is why many settle for the cape itself.
Another attraction that can be found here is a spectacular lighthouse which provides sprawling views over the surrounding areas from an even more immense height. Featuring an air conditioned interior, visitors who choose to climb to the top of the tower will be privy to views of the Phi Phi Islands, Koh Racha Noi and Koh Racha Yai. Also visible from here is Koh Kiaow Island which is also home to a Buddhist Monastery.
When visiting the cape, travellers should not pass up the opportunity to stop by the shrine dedicated to the Hindu God of creation, Brahma. Surrounded by thousands of wooden elephants of various sizes, this shrine is not only photogenic but also presents an aesthetic marvel to behold upon. The shrine is a strong icon of religious worship and truly showcases the diversity that is present on the island.
Travellers planning on visiting this popular attraction will find that staying in a Phuket hotel resort that is located close to this destination will provide easy access and convenience. The Movenpick Resort and Spa Karon Beach provides an ideal location in addition to a range of amenities and comforts that ensures for a comfortable stay in the island.
When visiting Phuket, visitors owe it to themselves to indulge in the spectacular view that is on offer from the cape and bask in the splendour that will truly dazzle the senses.
The Cape Cod National Seashore Treasure
Take a captivating trip through Massachusetts’ Cape Cod National Seashore Park. With miles of splendid white sand beaches, inspiring walks and trails, and stunning fragile dunes, the park is a remarkable geological wonder thousands of years in the making. Just keep reading and you can visit it right here…
The Cape Cod National Seashore is a 4,308-acre park 60 miles south of Boston, Massachusetts. It was set aside by an act of congress in 1961 to preserve and protect a unique geological area and wild life habitat of New England. Cape Cod was formed when the last of the great glaciers melted about 12,000-years ago leaving a large lake, which eventually drained exposing the sediment and deposits left by the glaciers from earlier times.
Nature has reshaped the whole of Cape Cod especially the Atlantic-facing National Seashore area, and it continues to this very day. But this is the place to come to escape. This is the place to come to experience nature, especially off-season. So let’s take a brief Cape Cod vacations trip together. Are you ready?
NAUSET BEACH
The first stop on your trip is Nauset Beach in the town of Orleans. This is a striking beach to walk and see the relentless work of nature. The Atlantic storms batter the dunes each winter and beach erosion is a major problem here. Protection is the name of the game at Nauset not just for the dunes, but the birds nesting in the spring. Always pay close attention to erosion and bird nesting protection signs anywhere during your trip to Cape Cod.
The entrance to Nauset beach is located in East Orleans at the end of Beach Road, where there’s a large parking lot. The lot is about 2 miles from Routes 6/6A, and during the summer months you’ll pay to use it.
NATIONAL SEASHORE EASTHAM VISITORS CENTER
The National Seashore has two visitor centers. The Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham will orientate you to the park, and provides short films, a museum, and free maps for hiking and biking trails. The salt pond itself is a glacial kettle pond that was once freshwater but the ocean has seeped through. Take time to discover the easy-walking trails near the pond, and learn about the varied birds and plants the area supports.
THE LIGHTHOUSE BEACHES
These next two beaches are very popular and during the summer the parking lots fill up quickly. Many people use their bicycles to get to these locations – plenty of parking for bikes and the price is right – free!
Coast Guard Beach in Eastham can be reached by bike from the bike trail from the Salt Pond Visitor Center, or by car from Nauset Road off Route 6 directly after the Visitor Center. This beach is a favorite walk of mine at low tide, and was the area where Henry Beston wrote “The Outermost House.” Sadly the blizzard of 1978 washed the cottage where he lived while writing the book – out to sea.
Nauset Light Beach can be reached from Brackett Road also off Route 6. Overlooking the beach is the red and white picturesque Nauset Lighthouse. Originally built in Chatham in the late 19th century, it was moved here shortly after, and moved again in 1996 when erosion of the cliff threatened to collapse the lighthouse. This beach is popular for the imposing and towering cliffs.
GREAT ISLAND HIKE IN WELLFLEET
The Great Island hike in Wellfleet is a 6-mile hike, so allow yourself at least half-a-day to explore this wonderful area. Located on the Cape Cod Bay side of the Cape in Wellfleet, drive to the trailhead off Chequesset Neck Road, and prepare yourself -and camera – for an exhilarating hike.
This is a real nature hike. There’s no sandwich bar or coke machine waiting for you at the end, so take your own snacks and drinks. Of all the trails in the Cape Cod National Seashore Park, this is perhaps the most remote – and I like that!
NATIONAL SEASHORE PROVINCE LANDS VISITOR CENTER
The second of the visitor centers in the National Seashore Park is in Province Lands off Route 6 and on Race Point Road. This is the northern extremity of the park, and is the final stop on our brief Cape Cod National Seashore tour.
The Visitor Center has an observation deck where you can view the ocean, Province Lands forest, and the towering dunes. Province Lands is jam-packed with swimming beaches, a bike trail, a walking trail, and a beautiful lighthouse at Race Point. Take time to tour this area and enjoy this unique area of the Cape.
Cape Cod National Seashore is one of the most popular summer vacation destinations in New England. But in my book it’s a great place to visit anytime of the year. If you’re prepared to explore and walk a bit you can discover your own secluded and pristine piece of Cape Cod.
Categories: 1000 Islands Hiking Tags: Cape, National, Seashore, Treasure
Robben Island Cape Town South Africa
Visit the island where Nelson Mandela (Madiba) was imprisoned for 27 years for his beliefs.
Robben Island is known the world over as a place of banishment exile, isolation and imprisonment. For nearly 400 years, colonial and apartheid rulers banished those they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society to this 575-hectare rocky outcrop in Table Bay.
The Island’s unwilling inhabitants included; slaves; political and religious leaders who opposed Dutch colonialism in East Asia; troublesome local Khoikhoi and African leaders who resisted British expansion in South Africa; Leprosy sufferers and other sick and the mentally disturbed; French Vichy prisoners of war; and most recently, political opponents of the apartheid regime in South African and Namibia.
Robben Island’s Most Famous Prisoner:
During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs. Yet people such as Nelson Mandela emerged to lead South Africa to democracy, with a message of tolerance, reconciliation and hope.
Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded in turning a prison “hell-hole” into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation.
The Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island:
The Robben Island visitor experience begins at the Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, at the Clock Tower Precinct inside Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront.
The Gateway is the “mainland front door” to Robben Island, symbolising the importance of the island in South Africa’s young democracy. The Gateway houses a 150-seater auditorium, boardrooms and a Robben Island Museum shop, among other facilities. Digital, interactive exhibition spaces on all three floors of the Gateway building provides the visitor with a historical context of Robben Island’s Maximum Security Prison, as well as reflecting the broader span of the island’s history.
Robben Island receives upwards of three hundred thousand visitors each year, with the highest percentage being South Africans. More than 95% of the visitors described their visit to Robben Island as a positive uplifting, eye-opening experience.
Windmills stir up a storm in Cape Vincent
Windmills stir up a storm in Cape Vincent
Gary Walts / The Post-Standard Tibbetts Point Light House is a Cape Vincent landmark. If the town approves windmill farms, more than 100 turbines hundreds of feet tall also would become part of the scenery.
Read more on The Post-Standard
10 Things to Experience On Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island
10 Things to Experience On Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island
1) Mountaintop and seaside hiking trails. The Cape Breton
Highlands National Park has both easy and rugged trails for both
the casual and ambitious hikers. You can hire a hiking tour or
just strike out on your own to enjoy the serene and beautiful
scenery of the region.
2) Sea Kayaking – hiring a tour guide can provide you with
equipment and experience to better encounter the wildlife and
rugged scenery of the coast of Cape Breton Island. Depending on
where you hire your tour, you can see bald eagles, cormorants,
guillemots, pilot whales, a minke. You can find sea kayaking
tours from Cheticamp, Cape North, Baddeck, Ingonish, or
Louisbourg and places in between.
3) Spend an afternoon in Baddeck, at the Alexander Graham Bell
Museum overlooking scenic Bras d’ Or Lake. Mr. Bell made his
summer home in Baddeck, and the museum houses many of his lesser
known, but highly intriguing projects. His hydrofoil, his
fascination with tetrahedrons, and many other intriguing things
are in the world-class museum for you to discover. 4) Dust off
your kilt and don your dancing shoes. Cape Breton is full of
Celtic colors and tunes. If you’re driving through town and see
home-made signs that say “Ceili Tonight” it might be worth
stopping for a spontaneous sampling of Celtic culture.
Otherwise, you can also plan your Ceili (pronounced Kay-Lee)
experience by checking local tourist bureaus for feature events.
In October, the entire island is abuzz with the Celtic Colours
International Festival, the largest celebration of its kind in
North American, but you’ll also find smaller events at other
times of the year. 5) Scuba diving around Cape Breton Island.
Literally hundreds of shipwrecks litter the ocean floor along
Cape Breton Island. In fact, since 1597, more than one thousand
shipwrecks have been recorded along Cape Breton Island’s coast.
For the most rewarding diving, consider St. Ann’s Bay to St.
Paul Island. 6) Descend down into a coal mine beneath the ocean
floor in an underground tour of the Ocean Deeps Colliery Your
guides for the underground excursion are retired coal miners who
will help you imagine making your daily living in dark quarters
beneath the ocean floor. Located about one mile from downtown
Glace Bay on Cape Breton Island.
7) Hit the beach and bum around. The beaches of Cape Breton
Island can be small and isolated, or large and packed with
people – or any combination in between. If you’ve seen on Cape
Breton beach, you have NOT seen them all. So, if beaches are one
of your interests, you may want to consider a sampling of Cape
Breton’s beaches and find out which ones suit you the best for
your vacationing state of mind, and your personal travelling
style.
Visit the Fortress Louisbourg. Spend your time wandering
freely through a wonderfully restored centuries-old Acadian
village. Staff at the fortress are dressed in clothing from the
period, and restaurants on site serve food from the era. It’s a
delightful step-back in time at North America’s LIVE largest
historic reconstruction on the east coast of Cape Breton Island.
9) Hit the road (or the mountains) on your bicycle. Cape
Breton’s scenery has been embraced by bikers worldwide, and Cape
Breton Island officials have greeted them with arms wide open.
Several wonderful biking trails (cycling and mountain biking)
are available across the entire Cape Breton Island. Local
chambers of commerce should have ample information about their
specific locales trail system and related service providers.
10) Whale watching tours from Cape Breton Island will not only
give you a chance to see the large graceful creatures, but
you’ll also likely have a fair shot at seeing white dolphins,
seals, leatherback turtles, and native birds. On portion of Cape
Breton boasts a 95% success rate in whale sightings, and some
tours will give you a certificate for another free excursion if
you a whale isn’t sighted (or perhaps that’s just in Tiverton).
Some tours use Zodiac boats, others use schooners, and some are
via kayak. Cape Breton has plenty of options for the aspiring
whale watcher.
Categories: 1000 Islands Museums Tags: Breton, Cape, Experience, island, Nova, Scotia's, Things