OBLIGATORY TRAVELER

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Tag: animals

  • Splashing Around Seal Bay-Alaska-Uncruise

    Splashing Around Seal Bay-Alaska-Uncruise

    To minimize reading and picture disappointment, I should tell you that, much like our Panama/Costa Rica Uncruise, when we didn’t see a single Iguana on Iguana Island, we see zero seals while visiting Seal Bay. Low tide well under way, our group lands upon a rocky beach for our morning shore walk. After receiving our daily…

  • Glacier Bay National Park-Alaska-Uncruise

    Glacier Bay National Park-Alaska-Uncruise

    The morning begins like most…with coffee. Unlike most of my mornings however, I’m sipping my caffeine in front of the grey, moody, Alaskan landscape, of Glacier Bay National Park, instead of  my grey, moody, office cubicle. When we planned our trip to Alaska, seeing a glacier was at the top of my wish list. So…

  • Staying at Plantation on Crystal River and their Sunset Cruise-Florida

    Staying at Plantation on Crystal River and their Sunset Cruise-Florida

    Standing at the edge of Plantation on Crystal River, I watch as the sunset transforms the sky into a cheeky shade of purple. I notice something bobbing in the water. With each bob whatever it is moves closer to where I stand. At first I think it’s a manatee, but it’s a bit too agile.…

  • Manatee Festival and The Crab Plant-Crystal River-Florida

    Manatee Festival and The Crab Plant-Crystal River-Florida

    While swimming with manatees, we learn that we have inadvertently scheduled our visit during the weekend of Florida’s Annual Manatee Festival. As we didn’t have a strict schedule for the weekend, we  join in the fun. I must admit that I’m initially disappointed as we enter the Manatee Festival. In my imagination, I expect the…

  • Swimming with Manatees – Crystal River, Florida

    Swimming with Manatees – Crystal River, Florida

    We are up and out of our hotel room before light touches the sky. At the Plantation Dive Shop, we check in and are placed in a group with two other couples. Per the swimming with manatees regulations, we watch a video about the manatee swim dos and dont’ss. In the outdoor changing area, I…

  • Relax, Unwind, and Go Back in Time- Salem County, New Jersey

    Relax, Unwind, and Go Back in Time- Salem County, New Jersey

    *Some of the activities included were provided by Visit South Jersey, however as always, all opinions are my own As the Obligatory Traveler, I’m not ashamed to visit and have fun at super touristy sites, but I also like to take time to explore off the beaten path places, especially when I need a little…

  • The Penguin Experience at Two Oceans Aquarium-Cape Town

    The Penguin Experience at Two Oceans Aquarium-Cape Town

    It is the usual occurrence. I’m sitting on the sofa, laptop in lap, watching an episode of International House Hunters. I’m especially attentive as this particular episode takes place in Cape Town, South Africa, our next destination. A B-roll shot pops on the screen showing the mother and daughter hunting duo petting a penguin. It…

  • Penguin Fun-Visiting Boulders Beach-South Africa

    Penguin Fun-Visiting Boulders Beach-South Africa

    It was one of those rare days when the Travel Channel actually had a show on about travel. It was a show counting down the best 100 beaches in the world. Using the show as background noise, the overly animated, voice over guy, suddenly grabbed my attention. He touted a beach in South Africa where…

  • Wine Flies-Wine Tour-Part 2-Cape Town

    Wine Flies-Wine Tour-Part 2-Cape Town

    *I received a media discount for the following tour. I promise that all opinions are my own.  Oh no! Mark, our Wine Flies Wine Tour guide, stops the van. We are winding our way up Middelvlei Wine Estates’ drive, when we pass one of their donkeys, whose head is stuck in the fence.  Mark jumps…