We Had Never Seen It, And Almost Never Would Have

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The lizard’s superschnoz on display. Photograph by Alejandro Arteaga, tropicalherping.com

The lizard’s superschnoz on display. Photograph by Alejandro Arteaga, tropicalherping.com

News from Ecuador in recent weeks was mostly a bummer, environmentally speaking. The government there knew it was sitting on a gusher; specifically an extremely sensitive, biodiversity hotspot is sitting on that gusher; and they tried their best to offer the world an opportunity to help them avoid drilling.  Did they do everything conceivable before deciding to drill?  There is lots of opinion on that; no matter who is right, the outcome is not a good one. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.  This week, however, there is news out of Ecuador that brings a smile to the face:

It’s no lie—scientists have spotted a lizard with a nose like Pinocchio in an Ecuadorian cloud forest. What’s more, the long-nosed reptile was thought extinct, having been seen only a few times in the past 15 years. Continue reading →

Incredible India!

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As countries go, India is just about as varied as they come. With a history of people coming here to either lose themselves or find themselves, it’s simultaneously colorful, soulful and gritty.

This offering by the Indian tourism board will take your breath away!

Thenmala Sengottai – Meter Gauge Rail

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Photo credits : Dileep Kumar

Photo credits: Dileep Kumar

The Thenmala-Sengottai Meter Gauge Ghat section had been one of the gems of the Indian rail system and certainly one of Kerala’s most beautiful routes. Maharajah Balarama Varma of Travacore conceived and implemented the railway line during 1904, with an , with an inaugural run in July of that year. Continue reading →

Support WWF Today!

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Scientists have captured video of a Sumatran rhino, once thought to have been wiped out, in the Kalimantan forest in Indonesia. In footage captured by the WWF, the animal can be seen bathing in a puddle and scurrying among trees. The video proves the charity's efforts to preserve the species have had some impact

Scientists have captured video of a Sumatran rhino, once thought to have been wiped out, in the Kalimantan forest in Indonesia. In footage captured by the WWF, the animal can be seen bathing in a puddle and scurrying among trees. The video proves the charity’s efforts to preserve the species have had some impact

We have been thrilled by the increasing velocity with which camera-trapped images and video of endangered animals get hurled across the wired world. The video above (click to go to the Guardian‘s host site for that half minute of pleasure). Back in March, WWF released this news release and at the time we did not link to it because it seemed premature; now, read it and weep:

Found! Traces of Sumatran Rhinos in Indonesian Part of the Heart of Borneo

Sendawar, East Kalimantan, March 28, 2013. A team from WWF-Indonesia has found fresh footprints resembling those of a rhino in the Heart of Borneo (HoB) area of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Continue reading →

Word on the Street

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Last year we talked about artist Ken Brown in a genre specific post. Not only is he a collector of all things vintage he has a keen eye for the quirky juxtapositions that occur in everyday urban life. It makes perfect sense that he would have his ear to the ground about Bansky’s New York arrival.

International street art eminence, Banksy, arrived in NYC and word had it that he would do a piece somewhere in the city each day, for one month. A friend tipped me on a location for the third day Continue reading →

Flavour Of Kerala – Ada Pradhaman (Payasam )

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Photo credits : Nobi Pauls

Photo credits : Nobi Pauls

Similar to many other cultures, a traditional meal in Kerala ends with maduram, something sweet. Payasam is the classic Kerala dessert. There are many varieties of payasam; Paal Pyasam, Paruppu Payasam, Semiya Payasam and Ada Pradhaman. Continue reading →

Tourism Event in Thekkady

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Entrance to the Tourism Event

Entrance to the Tourism Event

This past weekend Cardamom County was the venue for a Thekkady Destination Promotion Council (TDPC) event to promote the activities available in Thekkady and Kumily. At first I thought it was just going to be like other conference events I had witnessed in my 3 months here, but I soon realized I was wrong. The first evidence of my misconception came when someone asked me if I was coming early to see the elephants before the guests arrived.  I was completely surprised by the question but of course I responded, “yes!” quite aware that this event was becoming a lot more interesting than I had previously thought. Continue reading →

Note To Self: Explore

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Thanks to the team at exp,lore.com, and hopefully by clicking the image above you will always be able to find the series of handwritten texts described here:

The seasonal trope of the commencement address is upon us as wisdom on life is being dispensed from graduation podiums around the world. After Greil Marcus’s meditation on the essence of art and Neil Gaiman’s counsel on the creative life, here comes a heartening speech by artist, strategist, and interviewer extraordinaire Debbie Millman, delivered to the graduating class at San Jose State University. Continue reading →

Toddy Shop

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Photo credits : Tintu

Photo credits: Tintu

Toddy shops are not just about toddy. They are also known for the food they serve, mainly the spicy variety. The particular dishes vary from the region to region. The eastern part of the state favours dry food while in the central and southern districts seafood is preferred. Continue reading →

Camera Traps Of 2013 Updating 1872’s “Last” Sighting

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Spotted: the surprise sighting of the tiger quoll in the Grampians national park. Photograph: Parks Victoria

Spotted: the surprise sighting of the tiger quoll in the Grampians national park. Photograph: Parks Victoria

We have recently become fans of modern technology‘s ability to leverage charismatic images for conservation’s purposes with creatures large and small. It is not as simple as the scientific “seeing is believing;” more “seeing is caring.” In this case, if we did not have the title and subtitle of the article, we would have little clue what we were looking at:

Tiger quoll seen in Grampians – in first sighting in wilderness area since 1872

Remote camera set up to spy on wallabies sends back images of endangered marsupial Continue reading →

If You Happen To Be In New York City

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New York University’s Institute For The Study Of The Ancient World is hosting an exhibition that speaks to those of us who love maps and the ideas they represent in historic as well modernistic terms. (GPS-guided navigation systems, we love you, but this is about your ancestors). Those ideas can be as simple as “Getting From Here To There, In Hindsight,” which might have been a subtitle to this exhibition:

Measuring and Mapping Space will explore the ways in which ancient Greek and Roman societies understood, perceived, and visualized both the known and the unknown areas of their world. It brings together more than forty objects, combining ancient artifacts with Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and printed books that draw upon ancient geographic treatises. Together, they provide a fascinating overview of Greco-Roman theories of the shape and size of the Earth, ancient methods of surveying and measuring land, and the ways in which geography was used in Roman political propaganda. A specially designed multimedia display examines the increasing importance of modern technologies in mapping the ancient world. Continue reading →

Padmanabhapuram Palace – Trivandram

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Photo credits : Nujum Myannad

Photo credits: Nujum Myannad

Padmanabhapuram Palace was the capital seat of the Travancore State until 1792, when it was shifted to Trivandrum. This magnificent home of the Travancore rulers was not a single unit, but a complex of 14 palaces spread across six and a half acres. Continue reading →

Arachnophotography

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Photograph by the author at Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge, Nicaragua.

Growing up in Costa Rica prepared me for most encounters with the eight-legged kind I’ve had later in life, so that I have to hide a smile as my housemates here in Ithaca rave about the size of our household spiders in all their sweet innocence. A few years ago when I was working in Nicaragua I made an effort to photograph many of the arachnids I came across, and I’ve included a gallery of some of those shots below. But just a couple weeks ago while browsing the great blog Colossal I found this and was stunned, not by the size of the spiders because most of them are really quite tiny, but by the incredible diversity and beauty that Nicky Bay was able to capture in the spiders of Singapore. If you have some free time and no problem with close-ups of creepers, crawlers, weavers, and stalkers, I’d highly recommend browsing Bay’s macrophotography galleries for an hour or three.

Continue reading →

If You Happen To Be In Austin

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An expected 3,000 attendees are gathering in Austin, Texas, for SXSW Eco next week. Photograph: Austin CVB

An expected 3,000 attendees are gathering in Austin, Texas, for SXSW Eco next week. Photograph: Austin CVB

We normally think of technology or music when we think of Austin, or SXSW.  This even provides more to think about with regard to either of them. Thanks to the Guardian for letting us know about it:

Activists and industrialists might be like oil and water, but 3,000 of these strange bedfellows are gathering together in Austin, Texas, to discuss oil and water at SXSW Eco 2013 next week. Now in its third year, the annual conference aims to encourage cross-sector collaboration between professionals in business, government, academia and nonprofits on topics ranging from policy to consumer engagement. Continue reading →

In Praise of Slowness

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Slow Food, Slow Cities, Slow Travel…the element of time and how we either squander it or savor it has become a meme for the movement toward the local, the artisanal, the responsible. The idea that doing something slowly and carefully and taking the time to enjoy it can be almost universally applied.

There’s enough evidence that the stress of fast-paced, over-programed lives take a toll on our health and happiness, no matter what our age. Continue reading →