When in Santorini always have your camera ready ?
There are two ways to get to Santorini – by plane or by ferry. If you are arriving by ferry try to get one that docks during daylight and be sure to have your camera ready. The view as you approach the island is breathtaking. Steep cliffs, one thousand feet high, rise almost vertically out of the clear, blue water of the Aegean. You can sea a road wind its way up the mountains to a string of whitewashed buildings at the top.
Santorini is famous for its sunsets. You might be lucky enough to have a view of the sunset from the balcony of your Santorini hotel room. To maximise the experience, however, you are probably better off heading for the small town of Oia in the north of the island. Spend some time exploring it’s narrow, whitewashed lanes then find yourself a Santorini luxury restaurant overlooking the sea. Get comfortable. Get a glass of wine. Get your camera ready. The whole sky seems to turn orange and the view is amazing. That is the moment you know you are really on holiday and all the cares and stresses of work melt away.
The traditional picture postcard views you get of the Greek islands are often based on photographs of Santorini. Hotels, villas and churches here all have the traditional colour scheme of whitewashed walls with a blue trim. Roads snake their way up steep cliffs. The sun shines overhead and the Aegean sparkles. Almost everywhere you turn you are presented with a view straight out of a postcard.
American Express produces a magazine called ‘Travel and Leisure’ which compiles an annual poll of travel destinations. Santorini consistently appears on that list as the top island holiday location in Europe. The poll considers all aspects of an area. Santorini luxury hotels, restaurants, views, facilities and value for money have all achieved high marks, year after year, from thousands of travellers. Why not take their word for it?
Categories: 1000 Islands Bed And Breakfast Tags: always, camera, Ready, Santorini
Summer Camp Guide | Get ready for fun
Summer Camp Guide | Get ready for fun
Ah, the freedom of summer! Oh, the boredom of summer.
Read more on The Kansas City Star
Categories: Camping Vacations Tags: Camp, guide, Ready, summer
Get Ready to Whale Watch in Baja!
Gray whales are 52 feet long and weigh 36 tons, yet are gentle enough to touch… and Baja California’s Pacific coast is the perfect place to experience the thrill!
Every year in November, more than 10 thousand gray whales trade the freezing waters of Alaska’s Bering Sea for the warmth of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. Traveling along the Pacific coastline at top speeds of five mph and with pregnant females in the lead, the whales take about four months to make the 10 thousand miles roundtrip.
Once the whales reach the Mexican coast, they mate, bask in soothing lagoons and give birth, making January through early April the peak time to whale watch. During these months, boat excursions are available all along Baja California, giving tourists the chance to observe these magnificent creatures in their natural environment, see the newborn calves and enjoy the blowhole water shows.
Gray whales are so friendly that on many occasions they swim right up to the boats and even allow human contact. In early spring, the calves and their mothers are the last to head back up north, and without the presence of the males, mothers are less protective, often allowing their young to approach tour boats more freely.
Where to watch
Although a small percentage of whales, particularly those that are not giving birth, make it as far south as Cabo San Lucas and the East Cape on the southern tip of the Baja, most whale-watching takes place in three major lagoons all the coastline of the Baja Peninsula.
Laguna Ojo de Liebre: Also known as Scammon’s Lagoon, this body of water is located half-way down the peninsula on the Pacific side in Guerrero Negro, about 440 miles south of the border. It was the principal hunting lagoon used by commercial whale hunters in the 19th century. Today tourists arrive to the lagoon by car, but a national airport is also available for tourists flying in from other destinations in Mexico.
Laguna San Ignacio: Located 100 miles south of Laguna Ojo de Liebre, access to this site is mostly through charter air service from international airports such as San Diego and Tijuana.
Bahia Magdalena (Magdalena Bay): This bay in becoming increasingly popular for whale-watching due to its proximity to the La Paz and Loreto International airports.
How to get there
Tourists can arrive by charter plane and/or ground to the lagoons. Loreto’s International airport is the closest international airport to the lagoons, with limited service provided by Aeromexico and Aero California. Baja California’s capital, La Paz, is located approximately halfway between Loreto and Cabo and its larger airport offers more flight options.
Whale-watching options
Gray whale excursions comprise half-day or day trips, packages based out of whale-watching camps, and cruise programs that allow tourists to sleep onboard ships. There are various tour operators that specialize in whale-watching, including some major ones below.
Baja Expeditions: Based in La Paz and one of the oldest and largest whale-watching outfitters, Baja Expeditions service both the Magdalena Bay and San Ignacio lagoons. It offers charter flights directly from San Diego to San Ignacio and five-day, all-inclusive packages, including accommodations at the camps. It also offers seven-day combined kayaking and whale-watching programs to Magdalena Bay, meeting at the La Paz International Airport. Programs run from February to end of March.
Baja Discovery Tours: Boasting more than 20 years experience, Baja Discovery Tours it offers all-inclusive service from the San Diego International airport, including ground service to Tijuana, charter service to San Ignacio and accommodations at the San Ignacio camp. Five-day programs run from February to end of March.
Lindblad’s Special Expeditions: This provider offers nine-day cruises featuring whale-watching at Magdalena Bay along with other destinations and activities. Groups meet in Los Cabos.
Miramar Adventures: Offers three-day excursions to the Ojo de Liebre lagoon. Tourists arrive by car.
For those not interested in signing up for a whale-watching package, Puerto Lopez Mateos or Puerto San Carlos at Magdalena Bay are quaint sleepy villages where boats can be rented for US$50 a day, skipper included, and are located two hours by car from the Loreto International Airport.
Gray whales aren’t the only species to see while in Baja. Sea Kayak Adventures: also offers kayaking/camping adventures out of Loreto on the Sea of Cortez, located on the eastern side of the Baja Peninsula. Tourists can watch finback and blue whales, along with dolphins, sea lions and exotic fish. Apart from paddling among islands, additional activities include snorkeling and hiking up scenic canyons offering breathtaking panoramas.
More on gray whales
Hunted for their oils, blubber and other valuable products, gray whales were once victims of massive slaughters in the 1800s and early 20th century. The hunting continued until the numbers were reduced to only a few hundred, and the whales were subsequently placed on the endangered species list.
Thanks to an international protection agreement made among several countries in the 1940s, the whales’ numbers have grown at an incredible rate. Today, more than 20,000 gray whales exist and although still protected, they were removed from the endangered species list in 1975. Gray whales are among the oldest species of mammals, inhabiting the Earth for about 30 million years.
About the Mexico Tourism Board
The Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) brings together the resources of federal and state governments, municipalities and private companies to promote Mexico’s tourism attractions and destinations internationally. Created in 1999, the MTB is Mexico’s tourism promotion agency, and its participants include members of both the private and public sectors. The MTB has offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
FOR PRESS ONLY: For additional ideas, help with a story or general travel and tourism information about Mexico, please contact the MTB’s North American Press Room directly at 1-800-929-4555, by e-mail at northamericanpress@visitmexico.com, or visit our press Web site at www.visitmexicopress.com. To access an online warehouse of free, downloadable b-roll, visit www.thenewsmarket.com/visitmexicopress.
# # #
Erick Laseca
Mexico Tourism Board
312-228-0517
erick.laseca@bm.com
Categories: 1000 Islands Camping Tags: Baja, Ready, Watch, Whale
How to Show Up Ready for Marine Boot Camp
Showing up on day one for Marine Boot Camp without training for weeks first is like begging to get your butt kicked. You need to be in shape both physically and mentally long before you even go speak to your Marine Recruiter.
Week one of Basic Marine Corp Training can be quite a shock upon arrival at Parris Island. As it is, you will be dogged like crazy right up to your limits, many will break the first day. You on the other hand will still feel like heck but by being prepared, you’ll avoid much of the shock and others will bear the brunt before you do.
This article pertains mainly to preparing for Marine Corps basic training at Marine Boot Camp, but the lessons here can be applied to any of the armed forces. Too many recruits show up having done zero research into how to be a Marine or what they are about to endure when dealing with drill instructors.
The physical requirements for the Marines are more stringent than those for other branches and the amount of materials covered is overwhelming mentally. This article series attempts to help you prepare for your 12 weeks of intense training, beginning with the first week and your arrival at Parris Island.
What I suggest is using the time between signing up and the day you leave to train your butt off. If it is more than 12 weeks, great. If not, at least you’ll have head start.
Now I’ll try to give you an overview of what to expect the first week and subsequent articles will deal with the rest of the 12 weeks.
Week 1. Arrive at Parris Island (West of the Mississippi, you’ll go to the training center in San Diego but let’s use Parris Island for ease of discussion). For starters, you’ll show up at about 2AM that first night and will be greeted by screaming drill sergeants.
The DIs will force you to start listening to them while you are still sitting on the bus. They need to instill discipline and the foundation begins immediately. Everything they tell you to do has a reason: to turn you into Marines.
You on the other hand will be living in a blur. You must remember 2 things:
1. Go whenever or wherever an instructor tells you to
without question.
2. Forget your name. Practice referring to yourself as “this recruit” and your friends and fellow Marines as “these recruits” for weeks before you show up and implement this technique the second you are first spoken to by an instructor.
Never, ever, refer to yourself as “I” or any other recruit by his name or mention “We.” This alone will keep you from feeling the heat too much that first week. If you do nothing else, adhering to this rule hard and fast will keep the focus off of you and onto others who are caught unaware and/or otherwise “just don’t get it”.
Start running 4 miles a day, everyday right now. Even if you suck at it, your heart feels like it might burst and you are essentially plodding along, you will be much more mentally prepared to go the 3 miles per day that the Marines will expect of you with less trouble, and finish far ahead of the back of the pack and again, keep most of the heat off of you.
Even if you workout, lift weights and can rip telephone books in half, you will not be prepared for the amount of pushups you’ll be required to do. Here’s a good rule of thumb: be able to 125 straight pushups and build up to 1000 a day. Even if you have to forgo some gym time, do it.
Benching 300lbs, squatting 500lbs and curling 150lbs simply won’t help you when you’re face down in the mud with a DI screaming at you to quit and drop out because you’re struggling with getting to the 600th pushup of the day, its 6PM and the entire company is waiting for you to finish so they can eat.
To recap Days 1-7:
1. Listen and be prepared to do nonsensical things without questioning them.
2. Give zero advice at this stage to other recruits. Just follow DI orders unless you are specifically asked to offer your own and then make it short. On occasion, offer encouragement to those who “get it” but may be physically hurting. Never try to verbally prod a slacker although physically helping up a teammate at your own expense can sometimes endear yourself to the team.
It may or may not endear yourself to the DIs but offering a helping hand at the right time is often better than stepping on a fallen Marine just so you can finish a run, for example.
3. Never, ever, ever, refer to yourself as anything other than “this recruit”. Ever, right from the minute your bus disembarks. Same goes for fellow trainees – they must be referred to “these recruits”. The DIs will be specific if they want you to refer to someone by name.
4. Get used to saying “yes sir” and always look everyone in the eye unless specifically asked not to.
5. Be able to run 4 miles in under 40 minutes.
6. Be able to do 125-150 pushups non-stop, (resting in up position), and do 1000 total per day weeks before you go off to marine training.
This is a good start for anyone considering joining the Marines. Week 2 will be coming soon. These lessons will at least keep much of the heat off of you and onto those who the DIs would like to get some to either drop out or make serious gains.
You can get the entire Weeks 1- 12 (graduation) by signing up for my free newsletter “Marine Tough” at http://www.thegolfhustler.net/bootcamp.html. You’ll learn all aspects of physical and mental toughness necessary for all branches of the armed service and corresponding Special Forces.
Thanks for reading, good luck soldier.
Hank Reardon
Show Up Ready for Marine Boot Camp
Showing up on day one for Marine Boot Camp without training for weeks first is like begging to get your butt kicked. You need to be in shape both physically and mentally long before you even go speak to your Marine Recruiter.
Week one of Basic Marine Corp Training can be quite a shock upon arrival at Parris Island. As it is, you will be dogged like crazy right up to your limits, many will break the first day. You on the other hand will still feel like heck but by being prepared, you’ll avoid much of the shock and others will bear the brunt before you do.
This article pertains mainly to preparing for Marine Corps basic training at Marine Boot Camp, but the lessons here can be applied to any of the armed forces. Too many recruits show up having done zero research into how to be a Marine or what they are about to endure when dealing with drill instructors.
The physical requirements for the Marines are more stringent than those for other branches and the amount of materials covered is overwhelming mentally. This article series attempts to help you prepare for your 12 weeks of intense training, beginning with the first week and your arrival at Parris Island.
What I suggest is using the time between signing up and the day you leave to train your butt off. If it is more than 12 weeks, great. If not, at least you’ll have head start.
Now I’ll try to give you an overview of what to expect the first week and subsequent articles will deal with the rest of the 12 weeks.
Week 1. Arrive at Parris Island (West of the Mississippi, you’ll go to the training center in San Diego but let’s use Parris Island for ease of discussion). For starters, you’ll show up at about 2AM that first night and will be greeted by screaming drill sergeants.
The DIs will force you to start listening to them while you are still sitting on the bus. They need to instill discipline and the foundation begins immediately. Everything they tell you to do has a reason: to turn you into Marines.
You on the other hand will be living in a blur. You must remember 2 things:
1. Go whenever or wherever an instructor tells you to
without question.
2. Forget your name. Practice referring to yourself as “this recruit” and your friends and fellow Marines as “these recruits” for weeks before you show up and implement this technique the second you are first spoken to by an instructor.
Never, ever, refer to yourself as “I” or any other recruit by his name or mention “We.” This alone will keep you from feeling the heat too much that first week. If you do nothing else, adhering to this rule hard and fast will keep the focus off of you and onto others who are caught unaware and/or otherwise “just don’t get it”.
Start running 4 miles a day, everyday right now. Even if you suck at it, your heart feels like it might burst and you are essentially plodding along, you will be much more mentally prepared to go the 3 miles per day that the Marines will expect of you with less trouble, and finish far ahead of the back of the pack and again, keep most of the heat off of you.
Even if you workout, lift weights and can rip telephone books in half, you will not be prepared for the amount of pushups you’ll be required to do. Here’s a good rule of thumb: be able to 125 straight pushups and build up to 1000 a day. Even if you have to forgo some gym time, do it.
Benching 300lbs, squatting 500lbs and curling 150lbs simply won’t help you when you’re face down in the mud with a DI screaming at you to quit and drop out because you’re struggling with getting to the 600th pushup of the day, its 6PM and the entire company is waiting for you to finish so they can eat.
To recap Days 1-7:
1. Listen and be prepared to do nonsensical things without questioning them.
2. Give zero advice at this stage to other recruits. Just follow DI orders unless you are specifically asked to offer your own and then make it short. On occasion, offer encouragement to those who “get it” but may be physically hurting. Never try to verbally prod a slacker although physically helping up a teammate at your own expense can sometimes endear yourself to the team.
It may or may not endear yourself to the DIs but offering a helping hand at the right time is often better than stepping on a fallen Marine just so you can finish a run, for example.
3. Never, ever, ever, refer to yourself as anything other than “this recruit”. Ever, right from the minute your bus disembarks. Same goes for fellow trainees – they must be referred to “these recruits”. The DIs will be specific if they want you to refer to someone by name.
4. Get used to saying “yes sir” and always look everyone in the eye unless specifically asked not to.
5. Be able to run 4 miles in under 40 minutes.
6. Be able to do 125-150 pushups non-stop, (resting in up position), and do 1000 total per day weeks before you go off to marine training.
This is a good start for anyone considering joining the Marines. Week 2 will be coming soon. These lessons will at least keep much of the heat off of you and onto those who the DIs would like to get some to either drop out or make serious gains.
You can get the entire Weeks 1- 12 (graduation) by signing up for my free newsletter “Marine Tough” at http://www.thegolfhustler.net/bootcamp.html. You’ll learn all aspects of physical and mental toughness necessary for all branches of the armed service and corresponding Special Forces.
Thanks for reading, good luck soldier.
Hank Reardon