Now you can travel monthly! Not everyone can travel extensively, or even very often, but thanks to a brand new company, Explore Local Box founded by Jessica Larrabee, you can! Receive a monthly box, or one time box, that explores the local flavors and cultures of other locales! I just went to Boston, and it was an awesome little trip! The box is so cute and I was excited to receive it. Anyone who loves to travel, and/or loves food, will love this gift. Just in time for Mother’s Day, and as a bonus you can use the code TWT10 to get 10% off your one time box, or the first box of a subscription! Check out Explore Local Box, and get your Travels with Tam discount!
Beautiful Diving in Raja Ampat on Day 5!
Misool Island continued to be good to us, and there was beautiful diving on day 5. It was a short dive day, so the dive had to be good! We went to Watch Towers, and enjoyed a great variety of fish and coral! And I saw my first Woebeggone Shark, so exciting! Enjoy!
Diving is sometimes similar to a Dr Seuss book.
I Loved Diving in Raja Ampat, it was Sensational!
During July 2016 I took a fabulous dive trip to Komodo National Park in Indonesia with Ray of Hope Expeditions, to document manta rays in the area. Dr Andrea Marshall, the foremost Manta Ray scientist and co founder of Marine Megafauna Foundation, does several of these expeditions every year, and I absolutely love these trips, and I travel solo! I wrote about my Komodo trip extensively, and the diving was so intensely beautiful, I decided I just could not wait to get back and do more diving in Indonesia. So, in February 2017, I went to Raja Ampat with Andrea, and once again stayed on The Arenui, a Boutique Liveaboard, the most luxurious dive boat I have ever been on!
Video by Andrea Esty.
Where is Raja Ampat? It is in West Papua, on the Bird’s Head Peninsula of Indonesia which consists of over 1,500 islands! Raja Ampat means “four kings”, and the four kings are islands, Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo. We went to all four of the kings. The kings are named for local mythology that tells about a woman who finds seven eggs. Four of the seven eggs hatch and become kings that occupy four of Raja Ampat biggest islands while the other three become a ghost, a woman, and a stone. What is so great about Raja Ampat? It is part of the Coral Triangle, which contains the richest marine biodiversity on earth. The diving I have done in Indonesia confirms that there is life…on every inch of the bottom of the sea. Thankfully, the warming ocean temps and acidification seems to be better tolerated by the reefs of Indonesia, for unknown reasons. I don’t know if it will always be so, but for now, the area is doing well.
I flew Japan Airlines (incredible service!) from Dallas Ft Worth to San Diego, to Narita, Japan, to Jakarta, Indonesia, then I rested! I spent one night in Jakarta, just to catch my breath. The next day I boarded Garuda Indonesia (the national airline of Indonesia which is quite nice) in Jakarta, connected in Makassar, then arrived in Sorong, Indonesia. Ronald, one of the dive masters on The Arenui, was waiting to greet us at the airport. It was lovely to arrive onboard, go to the cabin I would be sharing with Andrea, and wait for the trip to begin! I love citizen
science expeditions.
The start of a trip is always exciting, and it was fun to see the cruise directors, Debbie and Jerry, and all of the crew and staff I remembered from July 2016. Another passenger, Elias, who was also on the Komodo trip was onboard as well. There was a group of six fun loving, dive crazy, adventurous women, and we were all anxious to see manta rays! So, off we went!
You would also enjoy http://tamtravels.wpengine.com/how-to-perform-citizen-science-with-manta-rays/
Emperor Penguins! Exploring Antarctica on the Lindblad NatGeo Explorer!
*A Continuation of a fabulous Antarctic Expedition with Lindblad Natgeo! Exploring Antarctica is a true privilege.
Annie, my travel buddy, in front of the Explorer, on the fast ice.
On our 3rd day, our 2nd on land, we actually had the thrill of seeing an Emperor Penguin! It is a very unusual sighting, because Emperors mate during the dead of winter (I think it may be safe to say that Emperor Penguins have the worst existence of any bird on earth) and this was Antarctic summer. There he or she was, hanging out with Adelie penguins on ice!
[Read more…] about Emperor Penguins! Exploring Antarctica on the Lindblad NatGeo Explorer!
5 Reasons I am SO Excited to Arrive in Antarctica!
Sooo excited to arrive in Antarctica!
Today is Day 3 of my Lindblad/National Geographic Expedition on the Explorer to Antarctica! After a few days in Buenos Aires, which I will post about, a day traveling to Ushiaya, Argentina (aka The end of the world), and a day at sea watching whales and seabirds, I woke this morning to snow and Fin and Humpback Whales off the bow. As we watched the whales, I saw my very first iceberg. I am overwhelmed by the beauty of this extreme landscape, and humbled by its scope. Just some first impressions!
- Icebergs! The floating ice is absolutely beautiful.
- Extreme landscape!
- Chinstrap Penguins!
- Gentoo Penguins.
- Elephant Seals!
These are my first five day one incredible reasons I already love Antarctica!
I am Thrilled to be Featured on Next Act for Women!
I am so excited to be featured on Helene Stelian’s fabulous blog, Next Act for Women! I am joining a very elite band of adventurous
women who have been reinventing their lives. Please come on over and read the article, find out about all kinds of travel opportunities, and peruse the stories of many women who are conquering their Next Act! Tam’s Story on Next Act for Women.