Mountain Monkey

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There’s nothing quite like a sacred mountain by the sea to get the monkey’s juices flowing. Yesterday he spent the day hiking around Mt. Daisen in the southwestern part of the island of Honshu. Soaring about 5,400 feet above the Sea of Japan this is another volcanic mountain created over hundreds of thousands of years by several eruptions. Since about 70% of Japan is mountainous, it’s inevitable that you’re going to spend some time with them and every town seems to have its own sacred mountain. At one time there were at least 30 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines scattered…

Cherry Blossom Monkey

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It was the end of an era. Literally. On Tuesday Emperor Akihito abdicated the Chrysanthemum Throne in favor of his son, 59-year old son, Naruhito. The new era, dedicated to peace and harmony, is cause for quite a celebration across Japan and pretty much the entire country is on a 10-day vacation. So getting into the spirit, Kongo joined tens of thousands on Tuesday to view the cherry blossoms at Hirosaki Castle located in the northern part of Honshu Island. The original castle and grounds date back to the early 1600s. It is one of a dozen remaining castles from…

March to the Sea

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This week Kongo marched to the sea.  Literally.  From his house to the ocean is an 8-mile trek through Point Mugu State Park in the Santa Monica mountains.  Now maybe “march to the sea” is a too exuberant an expression.  This isn’t much like General Sherman’s historic March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah during the Civil War.  This hike is almost exclusively downhill, which is pretty cool for old monkeys.  It’s still a good hike and not nearly as destructive or controversial as the burning of a 60-mile wide swath through the heart of Georgia. The route passes…

Chaos

Categories: Galapagos · TravelTags: · · · · · · 3 Comments

This week’s Photo Challenge at WordPress is Chaos.  Here hundreds of blue-footed boobies and pelicans attack a bait ball in the Galapagos Islands.  There birds were diving constantly, splashing, screeching, and gorging.  Pelicans got so full of fish they were unable to take off again. See more depictions of CHAOS at the WordPress challenge site. Travel safe.  Have fun.

Ailsa’s Travel Theme: Inviting

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This inviting spot at San Diego’s Safari Park is located in the World Gardens section of the zoo.  It’s far away from the crowds and tourist monkeys scampering all over the more popular attractions and Kongo likes to sit on a little bench under a big pine tree there and listen to the birds.  He thinks this is a good image to add to Ailsa’s “Inviting” travel theme this week.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Between

Categories: Galapagos · TravelTags: · · · · · · · · · · · 2 Comments

Wherever there is three, one is always BETWEEN, which is the theme for this week’s photo challenge from WordPress.  Here these three blue-footed boobies (Kongo calls this image Tres Amigos) perch on a rock in the Galapagos Islands.  The two on the ends look at the one between.  See more of Kongo’s Galapagos images here.

Vultures

Categories: San DiegoTags: · · · · · · · · · · · 2 Comments

It was feeding time for the vultures at the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park yesterday when Kongo passed by.  Vultures are interesting birds and provide valuable services by cleaning up carrion in the wild but these are images you wouldn’t want to see anywhere outside of a zoo, like if you were trekking across the desert and one of them landed next to you.