While traveling through Brazil, I discovered a new sport I had never seen before, but one I’d definitely love to try. The sport was created in 1965 on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, as a way for football (soccer) players to be able to practice their skills without violating the terms of the formal football ban that was going on. It is similar to volleyball in that points are awarded to the opposing team when the one team “drops” the ball. To make the game a bit more challenging, there are only two players from each team allowed on the court at one time. While the sport is most popular in Brazil, it has gained international attention and is also played in the United Kingdom, Israel, Paraguay, Asia and the United States.
For a better idea of how the game is played, check out the above clip of a Footvolley match being played on Leblon Beach in Brazil.
When last year’s earthquake and resulting tsunami rocked Japan, the destruction of property and disruption to travel plans were immediate. Minor quakes after the initial tremor did little more damage. But a Japanese squid-fishing boat has been drifting across the Pacific Ocean all year and is now closing in on British Columbia’s north coast.
“It’s been drifting across the Pacific for a year, so it’s pretty beat up,” said marine search coordinator Jeff Olsson of Victoria’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in aTimes Colonist article.
The 150-foot tsunami ghost ship was sent out to sea by the weather event and first found drifting right-side-up about 140 nautical miles (260 km) from Cape Saint James on the southern tip of Haida Gwaii, an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia. A Canadian Coast Guard plane on a routine surveillance patrol spotted the ship on March 20, causing them to issue a warning to all vessels that the ship is an obstruction to navigation.
“The ghost ship is probably going to be pretty much worthless – nobody’s going to want to have anything to do with it because of the huge costs that are going to be incurred [towing it to shore],” said Gray, senior captain with the Vessel Assist towing company reports the Times Colonist, adding “All that garbage, it’s going to hit Alaska, it’s going to hit B.C. and it’s going to hit Washington.”
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In 1994, I hiked to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal. It was one of the high points of a yearlong trip across the Middle East and Asia and my memories of that trek are still vivid today.
The Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Base Camp treks were popular even back then and although I walked alone, I met several other hikers along the way. There were few guesthouses though, and mostly I stayed in spare rooms in local villages. Now I’ve heard that there are Internet cafes along the way. I haven’t confirmed this; I don’t want to know. I love adventure travel because it takes me away from my day-to-day life. The last thing I want to do while trekking in the Himalayas is to check Facebook.
Two memories stick out the strongest. The first happened three or four days into the hike. I was at a high altitude, puffing along with a forty-pound pack and all bundled up to stave of the bitter cold. I made steady but rather slow progress thanks to the high altitude. Then a Sherpa passes me wearing only thin trousers, a shirt and flip-flops. He was carrying a roof beam over his back, secured into place with a harness and forehead strap. The Nepalese are a tough people!
I got to the base camp and stayed in a stone hut that night. The next morning I went exploring. Pretty soon I came across some mysterious tracks in the snow. They looked for all the world like the footprints of a barefoot man, except very large and strangely rounded. I followed them for a few hundred feet until I reached a part of the slope shielded from the sun by an outcropping of rock. This part of the slope hadn’t received any sunlight, and so the snow hadn’t melted at all. The tracks suddenly became much smaller and were obviously animal in origin. To me they looked like a fox’s, although I can’t say for sure.
The explanation is simple: the sun warmed the snow on the exposed part of the trail and the tracks partially melted, becoming wider and rounder. The claws became “toes” and the pads of the feet joined into one oval mass. So. . .no yeti sighting for me!
Still, that did not dampen my excitement and awe of being at the breathtaking location surrounded by snow-capped Himalayan peaks. Put this video on full screen, sit back, and enjoy.
No matter what you think of cruises – and they are a polarizing force in the travel world – this video is pretty captivating. From Alaska’s icy waters to the coasts of Croatia and the buffets in the bowels of the boats, we get a sense of just what you can see and experience while traveling in a mobile metropolis. And the best part of the video? No Dramamine is necessary to enjoy it!
Do you remember the trepidation that you felt as a kid whenever you tried something new? Whether it was learning to ride a bike or strapping on a pair of roller skates for the first time, there was always a sense of dread that was quickly followed by elation as we realized that we weren’t going to die after all. The video below will give you flashbacks to those occasions as it features a fourth-grader attempting her very first ski jump.
Captured on a helmet cam, the video conveys the girl’s sense of nervousness as she psychs herself up for her first attempt at the jump. That nervousness is soon replaced with exhilaration, however, as she not only sticks the landing but glides by her friends to share the joy.
I have to hand it to her. Even now as an adult I’m not sure I’d want to go down that jump. But after watching the video, I’m guessing her first attempt wasn’t her last.