Apr 29th, 2013 at 9:00AM:
Formerly: The Emperor's Birthday, Greenery Day
When? April 29
Public holiday in: Japan
Part of: Japan's Golden Week, a series of four public holidays in the span of a week that sees offices closed, trains and planes packed and a mass exodus from the major cities like Tokyo.
Who died? Former Japanese Emperor Hirohito, posthumously referred to as Emperor Showa.
They changed his ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
nature posts
Better Know A Holiday: Showa Day
Apr 29th, 2013 at 9:00AM:
Formerly: The Emperor's Birthday, Greenery Day
When? April 29
Public holiday in: Japan
Part of: Japan's Golden Week, a series of four public holidays in the span of a week that sees offices closed, trains and planes packed and a mass exodus from the major cities like Tokyo.
Who died? Former Japanese Emperor Hirohito, posthumously referred to as Emperor Showa.
They changed his ...Photo Of The Day: Early Morning On The Faroe Islands
Apr 23rd, 2013 at 6:00PM:
The Faroe Islands are a bit too remote to be on many people's bucket list and that's a shame. Halfway between Scotland and Iceland in the windy north Atlantic, they offer a rugged beauty equal to any adventure travel destination.
This shot from user kanelstrand from Gadling's Flickr pool was taken early one morning after some rain. The mixture of light and shadow, the deep color of the sea ...#OnTheRoad On Instagram: Lake Placid, New York
Apr 22nd, 2013 at 12:00PM:
When driving from New York City to Lake Placid in the Adirondack Mountains, it's hard not to be struck by how green everything is compared to the urban jungle of Manhattan. And now, this corner of the Adirondacks is promoting another kind of greenness in its quest to earn the title of America's most environmentally friendly travel destination. This Earth Day and week, I'm exploring this ...Thieves Steal Rhino Horns From National Museum Of Ireland
Apr 19th, 2013 at 1:00PM: A gang of masked men broke into the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin on Wednesday night and made off with four rhino heads.
Museum officials said in a press release that the thieves overpowered a security guard and tied him up. They then entered a storeroom and removed the heads. The heads had previously been on display but had been put into storage a year ago for fear of their being ...Leatherback Turtle Nesting Ground Protected In Puerto Rico
Apr 14th, 2013 at 12:00PM:
Puerto Rico has just declared 5.4 square miles of coastline as protected land in order to preserve a leatherback turtle nesting ground, BBC reports.
The Northeast Ecological Corridor has been a battleground between conservation groups and big business for 15 years. The choice was basically between two ideas: "Hey, look at this beautiful natural wonder; let's preserve it for low-impact ...Video: Amazon Ants Transform Into Life Raft
Mar 25th, 2013 at 4:00PM:
If you're still haunted by the sight of spiders raining down on a Brazilian city, as we brought to your attention last month, this heartwarming nature video might be a palette-cleanser. Captured by the BBC, fire ants in the Amazon adapted to a flood by ganging together and turning themselves into a raft for their queen. Braving all manner of threats (speedboat on your left!), the colony clung ...
Tourists Amazed By Serengeti Wildebeest Calving
Feb 27th, 2013 at 1:00PM:
February is a special time on the Serengeti. Right now its population of some 1.5 million wildebeests are giving birth to an estimated 8,000 calves a day, the Tanzania Daily News reports.
The East African nation has seen some 16,500 tourists come to watch the event in Serengeti National Park, including 5,800 domestic visitors who are part of a growing African middle class that's boosting ...More Than 11,000 Elephants Poached In Gabon In Past Decade, Officials Estimate
Feb 7th, 2013 at 3:00PM: The West African nation of Gabon has one of the largest populations of elephants in the world, yet now they're in danger of being wiped out for their ivory.
The World Wildlife Fund reports that a study done by itself in cooperation with the Gabonese National Parks Agency and the Wildlife Conservation Society found that up to 11,000 elephants were killed by poachers in Gabon since 2004. That may ...Photo Of The Day: Flamingos At Lake Nakuru
Nov 11th, 2012 at 6:00PM:
Today's magnificent shot comes to us from Flickr user John Overmeyer, who captured this elegant image of flamingos feeding at Kenya's Lake Nakuru. The lake's high concentration of algae attracts huge flocks of the birds and other wildlife to the area, bringing with them plenty of nature photographers. I love the washed out colors, the various poses of the different birds and their hazy ...Brazen Poaching Of Rare Rhinoceros Species In India
Sep 27th, 2012 at 11:00AM:
Two recent poaching incidents reveal the dangers faced by India's rare animals, even when they are supposedly under protection.
The BBC reports that a one-horned rhino was shot in Assam when it wandered out of Kaziranga National Park. Poachers took its horn but the animal did not die. Park staff are now trying to save it. The park is home to about two-thirds of the world's population of ...Scottish Wildcat May Go Extinct Within Months
Sep 14th, 2012 at 4:01PM:
A new survey by the Scottish Wildcat Association of the endangered Scottish wildcat has revealed only about 35 purebred individuals, prompting the group to announce the cat may go extinct within months, the BBC reports.
It was previously thought that their population numbered about 400. Another survey, funded by Scottish Natural Heritage and published last month, estimated about 150 breeding ...15 Super Shots Of Nature Reflected On Water
Aug 14th, 2012 at 4:00PM: The richness I achieve comes from nature,
the source of my inspiration. - Claude Monet
It's true. There are not many things on this planet as inspiring as nature. Vibrant colors, enormous peaks, crystal lakes, animals in the wilderness and natural phenomena you have to see to believe exist in a world far away from the intimidating skyscrapers and chaotic lifestyles of busy cities. Spending ...Survey Names America's 8 Best Lakes
Aug 4th, 2012 at 2:00PM: In an effort to find out what the best lakes across the United States are, USA Today conducted a survey to allow travelers to weigh in on the subject. The poll generated over 5,000 votes on Twitter and Facebook, and named Lake Tahoe as America's best lake.
The survey listed 15 finalists, chosen by regional magazine editors.
Says Laura Bly of USA Today, "While we took some heat for ignoring ...Eynhallow: Visiting Orkney's Haunted Isle
Jul 29th, 2012 at 9:00AM:
Orkney is an ancient land where prehistoric monuments still dominate the landscape, along with the wide sky and surrounding sea. Plenty of strange stories have grown up about certain places. Some of the strangest have to do with a little island called Eynhallow.
Eynhallow has been deserted since 1851. Considering that it's a little less than 200 acres of treeless grass and rocky cliffs ...Shapinsay: Visiting A Wee Scottish Island
Jul 27th, 2012 at 2:00PM:
No trip to Orkney is complete without seeing some of the smaller islands. They offer plenty of natural and historic sights as well as peaceful solitude.
Little Shapinsay can be seen from the main harbor at Kirkwall, but visitors often overlook it. Even though it only measures six miles long at its longest and has only about 300 residents, it's served by a regular car ferry from Kirkwall. My ...Exploring The Beauty Of Acadia National Park
Jul 23rd, 2012 at 2:00PM: The United States is home to many beautiful national parks worth exploring. One of these is Maine's Acadia National Park, the first national park to have been established east of the Mississippi River. Rugged coastline, granite peaks, historic hiking trails, myriad plant and animal species and Cadillac Mountain, the tallest mountain on the United States' North Atlantic Coast at 1,532 feet, all ...Video: Terra Sacra Time-Lapse
Jul 17th, 2012 at 5:00PM:
"Terra Sacra Time Lapses Trailer" from Sean F. White on Vimeo.
This time-lapse collaborative called Terra Sacra from Sean F. White is beautiful. Sean traveled to several countries to film the footage that made up this video (Bolivia, Chile, USA, Antarctica, Kenya, Brazil, Madagascar, United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Mali, Nepal, New Zealand, Japan, Bhutan, Peru, Mongolia, Iceland, ...
Photo Of The Day: Galapagos Crab
Jul 15th, 2012 at 6:00PM:
The unique diversity and one-of-a-kind wildlife of the Galapagos Islands makes it a hotspot for traveling nature lovers from around the globe. In today's photo, taken by Flickr user wesleyrosenblum, we find a brilliant red crab in close-up on the island of Santiago. This eye-popping crustacean's wild crimson and orange hue photographed against the otherworldly black volcanic rocks almost had ...Reaching The Summit Of The United States' Most Visited Peak
Jul 11th, 2012 at 3:00PM: At 14,110 feet, Pikes Peak is one of Colorado's "fourteeners," mountain peaks reaching 14,000 feet or higher. Although not the highest, Pikes Peak is the country's most visited mountain, with more than a half million people reaching the summit each year. While hiking is how many people choose to brag about their reaching the top of these dizzying mountains, Pike's Peak is one of only two ...Leatherback Turtle Eggs Destroyed In Trinidad
Jul 10th, 2012 at 1:00PM:
Construction workers moving sand on Grande Riviere beach in Trinidad have accidentally crushed a large number of leatherback turtle eggs. The workers used bulldozers to redirect a river that was eroding the beach, popular with tourists who like to see the turtles hatch.
BBC reports that 20,000 leatherback turtle eggs were destroyed, while Trinidad Express Newspapers quotes Environmental ...
