Tag: Cruise
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Certificates for transiting the Panama Canal
#flathal #flatstanley #panamacanal One of the fun things about a trip like we are currently on is getting to collect certificates that serve as keepsakes to remind us of doing something special and momentous. Flat Hal and I had never been through the Panama Canal before? Had Flat Stanley? Several friends we are traveling with…
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Birds flying around the Panama Canal
#flathal #flatstanley #birding #panama #panamacanal It might sound silly, but it seemed like there were different birds at the Caribbean side of the canal vs. the Pacific side. Just 75 miles apart, we sailed it in less than 10 hours, but Flat Stanley and Flat Hal saw more Brown Pelicans than they could easily count…
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The Flat Fellas Sail the Panama Canal
#flathal #flatstanley #panama #panamacanal Considered by some to be a man-made wonder of the modern world, on par with the CN tower in Toronto, the Empire State Building in New York, or the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Panama Canal dramatically cut the distance ships had to sail from the North Pacific Ocean…
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Costa Rica… just a few of the flowers we saw…
an amazing number were familiar from the South Pacific trip. How many can you identify? #flatstanley #flathal #costarica
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Costa Rica covers only about 0.03% of the Earth’s landmass but contains approximately 5-6% of the world’s biodiversity!
#flathal #flatstanley #costarica #limon #biodiversity Limon offered Flat Hal and Flat Stanley the chance to discover new plants, animals, and more alongside things they discovered on our trip to the South Pacific. They saw the lipstick plant before, and marveled at the shape and color of what grew on it, having no idea until they…
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Sloths! The Flat Fellas see a Sloth on the Move in Costa Rica!
#flathal #flatstanley #costarica #sloth Flat Hal and Flat Stanley got to see a Sloth on the move! We wanted to share a little about them, in case you aren’t familiar with the sloth, so we asked Gemini AI for some help, it offered: These slow-moving mammals are tree-dwelling animals that live in the rainforests of…
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The Flat Fellas in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
#FlatHal #flatstanely #CostaRica #PuertoLimon #Cacao Located on the Caribbean Sea, Puerto Limon provided Costa Rica with a shorter more direct shipping route to Spain and England before the Panama Canal was built, when Costa Rica was shipping their exports from the Pacific Ocean side of the country. Cacao (the all important ingredient for chocolate,) and…
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Santa Marta, Colombia… where in the world are the flat fellas?
#flathal #flatstanley #colombia #santamarta The population of Santa Marta, Colombia is approximately 555,030 as of 2023. As a country, Colombia has a population of just over 53 million people, with around 7 million of them living in/near the capital city of Bogota. Have you heard of the country of Colombia? Do you know what part…
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Santa Marta, Colombia… doing a little homework before we arrive.
#flathal #flatstanley #santamarta #colombia Colombia is a unitary presidential republic.The United States has a federal presidential constitutional republic. On the surface these sound very similar, but upon further investigation it looks like some of the differences are in where the checks and balances on the President are, how much of a role the Vice-President plays,…
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Larimar – Blue Stone native to the Dominican Republic
#flathal #flatstanley #larimar #dominicanrepublic An oversimplification of Geology is to say it is the study of rocks. Some of us notice cool rocks we see. Whether it is because they are unusual compared to others nearby, or because nature has polished them smooth through years of wear and tear. In the Dominican Republic I saw…
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Flat Fellas Visit Santo Domingo
#flathal #flatstanley #santodomingo #dominicanrepublic Santo Domingo is the capital of The Dominican Republic – a representative democracy. Our day there involved walking around a beautiful harbor area with small parks to relax in, seeing some trees we had never seen before (Cook Pine and Traveler’s tree or Traveler’s Palm), and at sail out spotting a…
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The Flat Fellas first port of call is Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic
#flatstanley #flathal #dominicanrepublic #santodomingo Located on Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic shares the island with Haiti. Both countries have ports cruise ships visit, today we visited Santo Domingo. We docked within sight of Punta Torrecilla, a lighthouse, about a mile from the old town. Facing the sea is an…
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida —Departing on an epic journey!
#flatstanley #flathal #florida #cruise Do you and your friends ever “jinx” one another? Jinxing is a little like superstitions. Being concerned if you do something, or say something, it will have negative consequences. In this case Flat Hal has been trying not to jinx himself by referring to this trip in a way that implies…
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Traveling again…or should we sing “on the road again”?
Flat Hal and Flat Stanley are off on another adventure. (#flatstanley #flatstanleyproject #flathal #hollandamerica #volendam) The last one was called Tales of the South Pacific, and they lost count of how many islands they visited in the region, though they sure had fun discovering capitals! This trip is called “Pole to Pole”. For the second…
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The cruise is over… and it feels like we covered a lot of ocean — how far did the Flat Fellas travel?
San Diego, California to Nawiliwili, Kauai, Hawaii: ~2,200 nautical miles Nawiliwili, Kauai to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii: ~230 nautical miles Kailua-Kona to Honolulu, Oahu: ~90 nautical miles Honolulu, Oahu to Kahului, Maui: ~95 nautical miles Kahului, Maui to Hilo, Hawaii: ~125 nautical miles Hilo, Hawaii to Fanning Island, Kiribati: ~1,200 nautical miles Fanning Island to Pago Pago,…
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Flowers the Flat Fellas saw in San Diego
Gazania, aka Treasure Flower.Evergreen CandytuftRose — a beautiful, tight budDay Lily Flower Names… Identifying plants can be hard enough, but many plants have not only a complex sounding scientific name, but also common names – plural. A flower man be known as a bluebonnet in Texas and a Lupin elsewhere for instance. The flat fellas…
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Flat Hal and Flat Stanley made the most of traveling with a digital camera
Before digital cameras not only was photography a more expensive hobby than it is now, but the time between taking a picture and seeing that picture was longer by a difficult to comprehend magnitude. Not only did you not see the picture within minutes of taking it, but there was a time when a family…
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Flat Hal and Flat Stanley saw Tikis in Nuku Hiva
When we asked Gemini AI to help us if we had indeed seen Tikis, and more about them, this is what we read: A Tiki is a human-like figure that’s an important part of Polynesian culture and history. Here’s a simple explanation: Origins: Tikis represent gods, ancestors, or important figures. They were often worshipped and…
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The Flat Fellas went sightseeing in Fakarava
One of the things Flat Stanley and Flat Hal enjoyed on our walk aroundFakarava was the simple joy of recognizing some of the things we saw afteressentially a week in French Polynesia paired with the fun of continuing todiscover new things. Do you recognize these birds that seemed to behaving a staring contest on the…
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Fakarava, the Flat Fellas learned how Coconut trees start
Coconut trees come from coconuts! It sounds so simple when you type it or say it, but seeing a coconut sprouting by the side of the road was somewhat magical. Flat Hal found it as hard to believe as I did, so we asked Gemini AI just what was going on in the picture we…
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Fakarava – a long flat hike to a unique lighthouse
Flat Stanley and Flat Hal rode the tender to shore, then walked along the coast. First we headed away from the airport, and saw a lot of fantastic flowers and coconut trees. Then we turned back the way we had come from, went back to where we had started, and kept going. In all we…
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Why did the Flat Fellas and I spend so much time on plants and flowers?
It is a fair question to ask. Taking pictures of birds and flowers is a good way for us to learn. I wanted to be better at knowing the names of plants, flowers and birds when I see them. I also wanted to be aware of the plants and birds I saw that don’t live…
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A tour around the island of Tahiti with Flat Stanley and Flat Hal
Captain Cook visited Tahiti several times, and one of the places we visited had several monuments, including one to him, and one related to the Mutiny on the Bounty. Do you know about Captain Cook? The ship The Bounty? Their stories have captured the imaginations of generations, and are one of the reasons Tahiti is…
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The Flat Fellas visited another national capital together – do you know what city it is?
Flat Stanley and Flat Hal have visited Pago Pago, Suva, Nuku’alofa andAvarua (do you remember which country each of those cities is the capitalof?) the cruise has now brought us to the capital of French Polynesia, Papeete. Walking around Papeete we stopped by the city hall, where a major functionwas going on. We also tried…
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Moorea, the flowers and sights of this French Polynesian island
This was our first sighting of a Greater Crested Tern, and the pineapple and bananas were surprisingly interesting to photograph. The top of the pineapple can be planted to start a new plant, but it will take about 5 years for it to produce any pineapple. They showed us at the base of the pineapples…
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Moorea in Focus – an afternoon spent photographing a beautiful island in the South Pacific
Flat Stanley and Flat Hal stayed in the backpack while their photographer tried to up their game and learn some new tricks. A professional photographer led a tour in Moorea, showing us some of their favorite places to take photos on the island, and offering tips and advice for getting visually interesting photos. One of…
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Huahine – the sunrise was a brilliant forecast of the day to come
Flat Stanley and Flat Hal have been setting an alarm to get up to see the sun rise on as many mornings as possible during our trip. Some mornings that has been as early as 4:45 am. Today, at 4:55, when the alarm went off very little light was slipping beneath the curtains into our cabin. It felt…
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Flat Stanley and Flat Hal have been sharing pictures with our fellow travelers
There are lots of wonderful things about going on a cruise. One of them is meeting our fellow passengers, sharing experiences and excursions… and photos from our days, whether they are spent together or apart. Flat Stanley and Flat Hal have not only been putting our photographs in this journal, but we have also been sharing…
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Bora Bora birds… Flat Stanley and Flat Hal recognized the birds we saw!
When we first started this trip we would not have been able to gesture to the most of the birds and ask one another “is that a….?” and insert the correct name. However, as we walked around Bora Bora we recognized a Pacific Reef Heron, a Brown Noddy, a Zebra Dove, and some pigeons (also known…
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The Leeward Islands, part of The Society Islands in French Polynesia
Flat Stanley and Flat Hal had a good time walking around Uturoa, Raiatea, French Polynesia. It was a very warm day, with an occasional breeze that almost cooled us off. The Society Islands include the Leeward and Windward Islands… names that are interesting. With a little help from AI to understand better, The names “Windward” and “Leeward”…
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Uturoa, Raiatea, French Polynesia – Flat Stanley and Flat Hal saw some new birds, along with some familiar ones
This was the first port in a while when the flat fellas noticed a flock of pigeons. Pigeons seem to be everywhere back home in Texas, according to Flat Hal, but for the past few ports the Common Myna bird seemed to be taking their place.
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Good-bye Cook Islands, next stop the Island Nation of…
Our next stop is visible on the included map. The map shows Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands, all of which we have visited, as well as marking our path towards our next port of call. We are headed East / North East. We have several stops planned at various ports that are in the…
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Flat Stanley and Flat Hal tried to find a $3 note and a $2 coin in the Cook Islands
The Cook Islands have their own currency. However, they also accept the New Zealand dollar at a 1 to 1 exchange rate, or equal value, and the New Zealand dollar felt like it was the currency most people were using. As a result, trying to get a Cook Islands $3 note (otherwise known as a…
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Avarua, so many flowers to see as we walked this peaceful community’s streets
Our ship arrived in Avarua on a Sunday. The majority of businesses were closed, and families were enjoying the day together, relaxing, swimming at the beach, enjoy ice cream, and generally seeming minimally aware nearly 2,000 people had come to see their island home. Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands… everywhere we turned there were more flowers,…
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Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands – the flat fellas visited another capital!
When we got back to the ship Flat Stanley and Flat Hal were surprised to discover we had been in another Capital city. Our tender dropped us off in Avatiu Harbor. On shore we flipped a coin and walked to the left – mostly because we were told the airport was to our right. The airport sounded less…
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Avatiu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands – A relaxing community to walk around and enjoy the tropical sunshine
Flat Stanley and Flat Hal might not worry much about sunburns, but they travel with someone who does. Today we spent a lot of time finding shade as we walked beneath a powerful mid-day sun to see what this charming community had to offer. We found incredibly kind locals, children swimming, playing and enjoying ice…
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Aitutaki Flowers — a rose by any other name… is just as pretty
Do you recognize the quote I was inspired by? Can you get it right, & know who wrote it? Flat Stanley and Flat Hal have taught me a LOT about birds and flowers this trip. Among other things, the way I look at the world around me is changing. I look up in to the…
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The birds of Aitutaki- at least the ones our cameras saw
Flat Stanley and Flat Hal have seen the Common Myna bird so many times now that he just barely rated a picture, and not a pretty pose to share in our journal with friends. The Pacific Plover is one we are still learning to recognize, so he got a photo, along with new-to-us (though similar…
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Aitutaki… The Cook Islands, did you guess this island nation was our next stop?
Flat Stanley and Flat Hal had a fantastic time at their first stop in The Cook Islands. The water here is amazing, it is different colors based on the depth, if there are coral reefs beneath the water, etc, so it has a variety of colors spread out in an amazing display. The population of…
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Flat Stanley and Flat Hal crossed an invisible line and get to repeat a day!
The flat fellas crossed the international dateline, and returned to the Western Hemisphere. Instead of changing their clocks one hour forward, or backward, we moved the entire calendar one day backward and get to repeat yesterday. The International Dateline is typically referred to as being at 180 degrees longitude… but when I asked Gemini AI to…
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Tonga is behind the flat fellas, where to next?
Flat Stanley and Flat Hal have been to the Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, Fiji and Tonga. Where to next? They are staying in the South Pacific, north of the Tropic of Capricorn… and (unsurprisingly) headed for another island. Where do you think the next stop might be? It only seems fair to give a hint: Vava’u, Tonga…
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Part of traveling is embracing unexpected changes in plans
It is very rare for everything on a trip to go the way it was planned. Whether a flight is delayed, a port is missed, or the ship needs to stay longer than planned in a port for one reason or another, part of traveling is learning how to roll with these unexpected changes. Some travelers…
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Vava’u, Tonga shared their culture and community with Flat Stanley and Flat Hal
Many of the ports Flat Stanley and Flat Hal have visited on their cruise have welcomed the passengers with local music, dance, residents in native dress sharing a glimpse of a life different than ours back home and taking time to talk with us and make us feel not just welcome in their community, but…