Located on the south-eastern coast of Argentina's famous Patagonia region, Puero Madryn is a relatively recent development, founded in the mid-1800's by the Welsh, although the first humans made it here 10,000 years ago, and dinosaurs roamed the area 250 million years ago. The city has a population of 60,000 -- although our tour encountered only a few dozen in the 100-degree heat of the bush country. We headed for the Valdes Peninsula by mini-bus, across 75 miles of dusty, rock-bed road., We enjoyed a sumputuous lunch at the San Lorenzo sheep farm -- with cheese, wine, olive and sausage starter, tender lamb, Empenada meat pastries, more wine, and a carmel flan to die for ... then we witnessed the breeding grounds of about 200,000 Magellen Penguins; hidden in nests under shrubs, or learning to swim and fish near the beaches that stretch to infinity. Down the road apiece was a separate colony of sea elephants -- measuring up to 20 feet long and three tons, which is a mere morsel for a 10-ton Orca Killer Whale. Then photographed a baby Burrowing Owl on a fencepost, saw a pair of Patagonian Cavy -- a rodent, which looks like a super-sized jack rabbit, and wild llama's roaming all over the bush, sometimes in battle for a mate (photo).
Our first leg in this 2-week journey to South American is a loooong flight from Minnesota to Buenos Aires -- about 6000 miles, cramped in coach class, made tolerable by a movie and a few hours sleep in the 12 hour fight. Everything was delayed from departure to land transport ... But the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas sailed on time for Montevideo, Uraguay in calm seas at 9 pm.
Late to awake for breakfast ... Donna heads for a local wine tour, while I study the history and geography of the coastal towns in South America where we will visit ... soaking up some warm sun on the top deck. We'll visit the city center later ... Checking out the Kobi beef, leather goods and wines. The weather is in the "perfect zone" -- at 78+.
Below our balcony is a fuel ship topping off the oil for our day at sea tomorrow, while they bring on local foods and gifts. We hear the ocean seas here can be a little rough, so we're prepared with Bonine.
We meet interesting people -- less than 1/3 from the US, some Europeans, but mostly Latinos. A key part of these trips is enjoying the experiences, stories, culture and ethnicity of other travelers. (Every announcement is in 3 languages -- ENG, SPA and Portuguese.) There are a few kids aboard on "summer break" from South American schools. So we are learning a few basic words phrases (Bon dia is "good-day" in Portuguese). And the Concierge Club is still a bonus perk for frequent travelers in suites that we enjoy on Royal Caribbean, especially for breakfast and pre-dinner socializing .... As well as getting hot tips for tours or other special arrangements from our concierge Juan from Panama.
Dinner is on the "anytime" plan, so we decide when for the next day at our convenience and show up. Last night we joined a round table for 10, mostly Americans. But more often we could be in the minority, which is good too.
Our Blackberries are perfect for travel emails, altho will probably cost a fortune from sea. So we'll buy a WiFi connection for the laptop on sea days, which we can use throughout the ship. Yep, all the comforts of home ... And then some. Prepped my camera gear for wildlife and scnic shooting later this week. And we are on top of FOX and CNN for news and sports, but somehow that all seems less relevant as we contemplate a more serene life at sea. Bon Dia. Jim
The Falkland Islands lie exposed in the Southern Atlantic Ocean approximately 500 kilometres (300 miles) off the coast of Argentina. They remain British in territorial terms, population, and character although Argentina's long-standing claim to the islands led to a brief war between the two countries in 1982 for which the islands are probably best known.
There are two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, plus numerous smaller ones. The terrain is mostly hilly, becoming mountainous in just a few isolated places with areas of exposed rock. The highest peaks are snow-capped for large parts of the year with snow-cover descending to lower hills during the winter.
Because of the harsh climate there are no trees and the natural vegetation is mainly grassland. This supports over a million sheep, which produce the wool that was until recently the Falklands main export, now overtaken by the sale of fishing licences for territorial waters.
The islands are sparsely populated with less than 3000 inhabitants and just a few isolated but hospitable villages. However, they are home to an amazing variety of wildlife, including large penguin and seal colonies.
The climate is classified as sub-polar because in no month does the average temperature rise above 10°C (50°F). Rain falls throughout the year, becoming more frequent during the summer when cloud cover is at its maximum.
September and October sees the least amount of rain, and February and March the most sunshine. Temperatures during the winter are cold but generally only fall below freezing overnight. However in summer it never becomes particularly warm usually only rising to 15°C (59°F) in the warmest months.
Our South America trip begins here -- watch this Blog for frequent posting as we begin the journey in Buenes Aires and travel around the Horn, through the Straits of Megallan, and back north to Valpariso, Chile. ... over 6,000 miles from home. Here's a map of the southern tip, the path taken by early explorers of 16th century. I invite your comments or questions, with a slight delay, as the administrator (me) needs to clear each one to avoid the spam. I will include both photos and some video along the way. Enjoy!
Christmas is rapidly approaching, and we've chosen to share our greetings electronically. We send our best wishes for your happiness, health and peace throughout the Christmas holidays, and for 2009. We've also enjoyed holiday greetings from many of you already, and appreciate the thoughfulness and news updates. Time certainly flies by, so here's a 1-minute summary.
We're still working, we're always between trips, and we enjoy our kids and grandchildren in so many ways. Our plans for next year? More of the same. No, it's not dull. We are certainly blessed, with our lives, resources, friendships and family. There's much to give thanks for this Christmas, and we know you feel the same way. So, have a great celebration throughout the holidays, and keep the faith.
Meanwhile, we'd like to share one of our favorite places with you ... the Hawaiian Islands, through a brief slide-show (which we've also turned into a printed book via Shutterfly.com ). Just click on the URL below ... and then:
-- click the ORANGE link in center-bottom to 'View Photo Book,"
-- then click on 'SLIDE SHOW.' (Disregard the sign-in, or any commercial stuff)
-- select the icon for 'Single Page View' next to 'Options' at the top right
This 25-page album includes captions and photos from paradise. It certainly shows God's handiwork. Enjoy --- and consider the beauty of our planet wherever you are, and the need to preserve it. Best wishes for a joyous Christmas, and a very happy New Year. Hope to see you soon.
I recently acquired an Epson Perfection V500 Photo flatbed scanner, for use solely with slides and negative strip films, but it will also scan prints. (I already have a Canon photo print scanner ... which will scan 6 prints at a time, which is great for volume jobs.)
So ... if you're archiving family images from slides, this Epson might do the job. I intend to scan hundreds of slides I made as a kid, and later when we started our own family ... it was all slides in those days. The scan quality is SUPURB.
The Epson does a few more useful things ... ie enhances colors and over-exposed backgrounds; and automaticallly removes dust particles and scratches that get all over slides and look awful when enlarged. So, this is a time-saver, avoiding PhotoShop. The downside? Well -- I see only one ... it takes awhile to scan and enhance just four-slides at a time ... several minutes each, not seconds.
But this is a great way to archive and index old photos. A good investment at $179 on Amazon. The tech specs are: 6400 dpi for 17 x 22 inch enlargements, Digital ICE scratch/dust removal, Easy Photo Fix to restore faded colors, and a free copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements (worth $100 by itself).
Google has a lookup system for cellphones (I suppose any phone) ... for business lookups. Just call 1 800 466-4411-- So, when you get connected, say to the prompt for WHICH CITY, " -- ie Shoreview, Minnesota. Then for the WHICH BUSINESS prompt: ie Radford Video Creations." It will then connect you, or you can say "Text Message" and it will send the details of the address and phone to your SMS messaging system on your cellphone as a permanent written copy. This is good stuff ... FREE and FAST. Too bad it's not for residential too. You can find this all on the web at www.google.com/mobile/goog411/index.html
Here's my 'fat-and-poor-man's solution for "hand-holding" a 6-pound+ Canon High Def Camera ... frankly, it didn't work well. Camera is way too front-end heavy. Our bigger bones and muscles in the shoulder and back absorb and balance the weight of large cameras MUCH easier than lighter hand-held units. And of course ... the rigs for steady-ness are another story -- addressed by SteadiCam, Steady Tracker and Glidecam units .... I'd just like to hold the damn thing without cramps or a tripod in mobile situations.
I considered several commercial options -- from $69 to $600, and more. Then I bought this one for $69 and modified it. ... a simple PVC pipe arrangement in a Y shape (see photos) -- called a SpiderBrace at http://www.spiderbrace.com/. Frankly, it's totally useless for my purposes, since it had no counter-balance, and the camera is front-heavy. I added the 2.5 lb weight at the back (right), and the stick which clipped to the belt for added support.
Ultimately, I trashed the whole thing, and went to steadytracker.com --- and bought their 'extreme' version for $350. So far so good ... great shots in motion while walking, running, spinning and dutch angles. Only problem is the weight on my weaking wrists.
We're on the road again ... the count-down has begun for final prep to go 'down under' ... 18 hours of flight, plus transfer times ... whew. The leg from LA to Auckland, NZ is 12 hrs .. then to Sydney. So, I needed some serious in-flight distractions. Enter -- the electronic toy chest. Have plenty of mags and books in the backpack. But we decided AGAINST our laptops (that's a first), since we scored free use of computer time on the cruise ship ... a major bennie at 50 cents a minute! Whew. (And anyway -- I didn't want to risk damage to the laptop, considering a client road assignment in February, where I'll convert news videos to the web.) So ... not only are we disconnected in long-flight, but I can't even spin disks. So, what's a poor travel geek to do -- assuming the inflight movies don't keep me amused?
1) MUSIC: Thumb-size iRiver MP3 player ... loaded with about 200+ songs (mostly golden oldies), selections from NPR classical concerts, and a few talk shows. Good for starters and down-time.... especially exercise workouts aboard ship. But I need more.
2) MOVIES & MANUALS: An 8-inch wide portable DVD player, which plays movies, but unfortunately not computer DVD Roms with teaching manuals. (I considered movies on my PDA, but that's too small ... and a pain to dub and load.) I really need to use this trip to study about 12+ hours of software lessons for the new Adobe CS3 Suite of authoring tools, which are on DVD-ROM. This is a formal tech course by Total Training and Adobe. THE Problem: playing a computer disk DVD-Rom, on a portable DVD movie player. Not an easy conversion, and it's allot of content -- time is critical now. Well, it so happens that I have a so-called "scan-converter" ... which takes the signal from the RGB plug going to the computer monitor, passes it thru the black-box, and back to the monitor -- diverting a 2nd signal to an S-video connection or an RCA output. So, I just hook that to a stand-alone DVD recorder, with the audio output .... and dub the courses (in real time) ... all the 12 hours of lessons from DVD-Rom disks, to common DVD movie disks, in full resolution, bypassing all the (uh, encryuption)... oops, gave away a dubbing secret. Fortunately, there isn't much interactivity. I had to be sure to neutralize the screen saver and monitor power timers... then just let it tape on LP for four hours per disk of lesson content. Yes, it's minimal quality, but small screen.
3) iPAQ PDA ... well, I need some games, Yahtzee, Sudoku, Monopoly, Casino games, etc etc.... and in a pinch, it is wireless Internet receiver, for airports, etc., and collects all the news and mail from home. Pocket-size. I shouldn't need it on the ship if I use their machines. Very small screen.
4) CAMERAS: another compromise to travel light, but must bring back 'usable' memories. For sure, the Aiptek HD camera goes with me, for videos. Granted, the audio sucks ... so the MP3 player might save the day there, with it's mic recorder for on-site narratives, if needed. I could also use the Aiptek for stills, considering it's high 8MP resolution, especially when I need a pocket camera ... like a river raft ride. BUT ... it has no zoom lens or wide angle. So ... I'm also bringing my trusted high-quality Sony F828 digital still camera, for the keepsake photos, when I have the luxury of a camera hanging around my neck... or both. It's allso 8Mp... but far superior glass and zoom, etc. Cost 10X more. I'll be leaving all the other pro video gear at home. Just not right for a cruise ... travel light.
5) CELLPHONE: decided against international expense for calls. Will send email. But I have it along anyway -- just in case, it will work most anywhere, and also connects to the web and email. Ultra-small screen. Yuuch.
So ... a few small electronic devices to save my hide on travel -- all smaller than a laptop, AND it all goes in the backpack with snacks and mags. Only hurdle is power ... batteries. All are rechargeable. And I bring spares. Yes, I'm covered for music, movies, and manuals ... to get thru long flights, news and email. When I'm not sleeping, reading, eating and of course -- being a tourist. Stay tuned for further news ... from 'down-under' on the RadBlog at: http://radfordvideo.blogspot.com/
A greeting from Donna and Jim who wish you joy, health and happiness. After years of writing and reading these archival notes ... we still enjoy exchanging holiday messages with our friends and family, BUT now we're using email, and we try to keep it brief ... and still heart-felt. A few efficiencies to start the new year.
Our family has been blessed with seven beautiful grandchildren who are the focus of our attention, with hockey games, birthdays, grandpa's game room, sleepovers and trips. It seems that grandparents acquire a different perspective as we age ... we live in awe of the kids energy, their learning capacity and their many interests. Looking back as parents, maybe we took a lot for granted, and hoped our kids would turn out okay. Well, they sure did! We are proud of what our daughters have done with their lives, and their own families. It's one more gift to consider this Christmas from Aimee, Heather and Megan, Craig, Jeff and Tom. (See the holiday photo below).
We also travel (some might say "too much"). It's been our keen interest to see new places, meet people and experience life in places far from home. In a few weeks we'll head south, to Australia and New Zealand to see great mountains and fjords, the world famous Opera House, and go kayaking, river rafting, and to the bush. In the past year we visited Hawaii, Europe, and the Caribbean -- and our own North Shore, Arizona & Texas. But, it's always good to be home, and to enjoy the seasons here in Minnesota. It's really our favorite place.
Our business ventures continue to grow -- Donna is a consultant for Carrousel Travel/American Express, and Jim is producing video for corporate clients. He also finished a documentary for cable TV about Shoreview's history and won a national cable TV award for a screen play. (See them on the website below.) We wish you all the best .... Good health. Enjoy the moment. Pray for peace. Stay in touch.
