Africa Travel: Djibouti

by Adrienne Wilson on

Strangely enough Djibouti is probably one of the first African countries I ever learned about. My old sixth grade teacher had a quirky sense of humor and claimed the country as one of his favorites because of the name. While it made most of the other sixth graders giggle, I always wondered if there was something a bit off in his head. Anyhow, Djibouti is an east African country bordering the Red Sea as well as Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Once in, getting around the country seems fairly easy so long as you have patience for long bus waits. Sites of interest include Lac Abbé where Planet of the Apes was filmed years ago and Tadjoura which is the country’s oldest town and good dive spot.

Diving in the Red Sea off the shores of Djibouti is said to be spectacular. Head down below to discover schools of barracuda, batfish, giant reef rays and turtles. The waters are also home to resting migrating whale sharks between mid-September until the end of November. Several dive sites offer detailed information on their underwater tours. DivingTravel.com is only one of many out there, but has an awesome “Devil’s Caverns” excursion allowing avid divers to follow the tracks of two French adventurers and writers, Arthur Rimbaud and Henri de Monfreid. This world-class dive has some of the most interesting marine life and stunning colorful soft coral. Click here to find out more about their tours.

The photo above comes from Fred and Karen’s 2004 Djibouti dive adventure. Visit their site to get an idea of what dicing in DJ is like.

AMAZING CGI Sharks

by Erik Olsen on

This was found via Boing
Boing and then a company called Flowline…and then I
noticed that Willy had posted about it over at Divester. So I am, as they say, a day
late and a dollar short.

But no matter. I post it here now for Gadling fans. The film features some of the
most mind-blowing CGI, that is computer generated, sharks you’ve ever seen. Actually watch this sucker.

I
watched it like three times, and kept shaking my head how real it looks. Of course, whether it looks so real on a
full-sized motion picture screen, well, we’ll have to see, but compared to the special effects we’ve seen in some shark
films, well, it kicks butt. My goodness, what Mr. Spielberg could have done with such imagery in making Jaws.

Best American Diving Cities

by Erik Olsen on

A nice post from Willy over at Divester about the best
places in America to go diving. I question all of the Florida diving spots. But then again, I’ve not done a great deal
of diving in Florida. I know Willy would object to my objection. But I think the best places in the states are spots
like Monterey and Seattle. Yes, Seattle. The Northwest provides some of the most amazing, albeit cold, diving in the
world, with Giant Octopus and LingCod the size of children.

Anyway, good stuff over at Divester. Give a
look.

Tobago in Go World Travel

by Adrienne Wilson on

Nothing beats clicking into
some of your favorite travel publications and finding an article or two about the piece of paradise you’re getting
ready to explore. Agreed? Go
World Travel features a story by Eric Lucas and his time spent in the quiet lesser known Tobago, a place as foreign
as Tuva for me. Though I was a few hours away by ferry at some point in the past I never made it and truthfully I was
okay with that. The week spent in Trinidad wasn’t nearly enough so to compensate I’m spending three weeks between both
of the islands. Splurging and comfort were priority for Lucas and his travel companion, which landed them at The Palms,
one of the finest resorts on either of the islands. This will be the exact opposite for me and my companions. While we
have plans to stay at the Tobago Plantations it probably won’t be as nice as this resort the writer describes up to the
very ceiling fan, one of the best amenities you can have with blazing hot temperatures and sticky humidity 24/7. In
addition to pinpointing some of the island’s finest luxury accommodation he writes about snorkeling Buccoo Reef,
birding, and hiking. Slowly Tobago is becoming less of a mystery, but until explored by my own two remains one all the
same.

Snorkeling for Clams off the Cook Islands

by Neil Woodburn on

It was the giant clams that got me most excited about snorkeling in the Cook Islands.

I always thought that giant clams fell into the Captain Nemo, killer squid, and sexy mermaid school of non-existent
sea legends.  And yet, there they were, just 15 yards off the beach, all pink and fleshy, gaping open, about the
size of an enormous truck tire.

Snorkeling off the Cook Islands proved to be some of the best I’ve ever experienced.  The fish were not
as varied as I’ve seen in Thailand, but the water never got deeper than five feet so everything was within easy
reach – including Parrot, Butterfly, Trigger fish, and even some octopus.  Check out some photos and
information about diving these waters at cookislandsdivers.com. 

Although there are places to snorkel throughout the island of Rarotonga, I stuck to the waters just off the Rarotongan Resort – which happens to be a marine
sanctuary.  The waters were crystal clear and chock full of fish and giant clams.  A word of warning,
however.  While using a snorkel borrowed from the resort, I felt a little tickle in the back of my throat.  A
few days later, just as I got home, I came down with full-blown tonsillitis that wiped me out for almost two
weeks.  Ugh.  There is nothing like warm, tropic weather to incubate someone else’s germs in a snorkel
test tube.   Needless to say, I’m bringing my own next time.