week 343

Mon: A fluke storm from Mauritius reintroduced extinct, yet former native, bird species to Reunion; a reminder of how fragile island ecosystems are.

Tue: Tasmania south west park hides a sea inlet leading to a large “lake” where peat runoff from rivers darkens the waters allowing deep sea creatures to populate it.

Wed: Kamchatka’s Okhotsk sea coastline harbors tiny coastal communities of native Koryaks living sustainably from a fish bounty.

Thu: New Zealand reforesting gamble with rapid growing foreign trees proved disastrous when the first cyclone hit land.

Fri: Nepal’s Gurung cliff honey hunters risk everything for a taste of the almost narcotic nectar.

week 342

Mon: Tiny villages on fluvial islands at the mouth of the Congo river harbor many kimbanguism believers hoping for a better fish catch.

Tue: Bear hibernation studies on Kamchatka’s national parks require being drop by a helicopter hundreds of kilometers away from any inhabited site for a month at a time.

Wed: Brazil final prohibition of slavery in 1888 did not promote integration but rather a massive migration of europeans to the south and former slaves to the north from the entry port of Rio de Janeiro.

Thu: Removing sugar cane plantations for the benefit of the native flora in Reunion confound neighbors of a well meant migrant from “la metropole”.

Fri: Dedication of a monument in Puerto Lopez, the geographical navel of Colombia, by the president back in 1997 required an escort of 5 helicopters since access by road was unthinkable.

week 341

Tue: The paucity of bridges over the river Amur between Blagoveshchensk and Heihe shows how tentative is Russia’s aperture to China.

Wed: The bank of England and the insurance company Lloyds have a lot to answer when it comes to justify their wealth origin from the trans-atlantic slave trade.

Thu: Mapuches defending araucaria forests against loggers around Valdivia teach the wider chilean population to appreciate their land and heritage.

Fri: The native sikuani people around San Martin (Meta) reclaimed and secured the legal rights to own their ancient land and practice their rites.

week 340

Mon: Damming the Zambezi river fastly created the vast Kariba reservoir stranding many wild animals in tiny islands; so, it was needed to rescue them to mainland.

Tue: Cossacks of the Don river keep alive their acrobatics while riding their horses in front of a bemused populace.

Wed: Uninhabited Sao Tome island proved to be the perfect base for portuguese merchants transfer of slaves from Luanda to work the gold mines around Elmina.

Thu: A shame that the main threat to sheep grazing in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego is not wolves but road traffic.

Fri: Few ranchers in Restrepo municipality (Meta) realize that the source of clean water resides on their own land.

week 339

Mon: Pumas and cattle ranchers around “Torres del Paine” national park have gotten into a truce for the long term benefit of Patagonia’s environment.

Tue: Riding the last troika in Vladimir oblast requires expert hands to keep the inner horse trotting while the outer two galloping.

Wed: Subsaharian slave trade peak when demand for them in the markets of Cairo reach Mansa Musa’s Mali empire.

Thu: In Sulawesi building “pinisi” boats using the traditional way, without western technique influence, caught the eye of a weary german traveler… for 30 years!

Fri: The cuadrillas of San Martin (Meta) re-enact battles between indigenous guahibos, spaniard colonialists and the imported african slaves (cachaceros). But what are the moors doing there as fourth army?

week 338

Mon: Inle lake in Myanmar hides the Kayan people with their tradition of long neck stretching by women.

Tue: Kuzomen hamlet, on the Kola peninsula, takes good care of the former kolkhoz horses left to fend for themselves after the former soviet union collapse.

Wed: Fjords and islands on Chile’s Patagonia coast host a rich marine life, including coral, although at risk of salmon farming runoff.

Thu: Goryokaku fort in Hakodate (Hokkaido) is the place to be when cherry trees blossom late in the spring.

Fri: Mesetas in the Meta department, bordering “la Macarena” national park, tries too hard to sell its touristic attractions like the Guejar river waterfalls.

week 337

Mon: Balinese hindu festival of Galungan/Kuningan, when the ancestors return home for a while, is easily recognizable by the decorative street bamboo poles.

Tue: Horses roam free in Tuva’s steppe for all winter while in Bashkiria they till the frozen soil.

Wed: From Rio Gallegos (Patagonia) to Rio Grande (Tierra del Fuego) requires catching a ferry and cross borders twice so to reach the city at the end of the world, Ushuaia.

Thu: Ainu population reverence to nature can teach non-native respect for Hokkaido environment.

Fri: Valdes peninsula coastal waters protection against massive fishing trawlers has the Argentinian navy patrols busy year round.

week 336

Mon: An armenian following his grandfather’s footsteps during WWII, from Azerbaijan to Ukraine via Georgia and southern Russia, ponders the current situation wondering “we used to be brothers”.

Tue: From inland Yakutsk to coastal Okhotsk by land is an odyssey only achievable in the winter months using monster trucks over frozen rivers.

Thu: Merapi volcano activity monitoring, in Yogyakarta (Java), gives german geologist a chance to study its puzzling absent caldera.

Fri: The chosen route by the mother/son team rushing through south america, Rio de Janeiro-Cordoba-Mendoza, provides a chance to get acquainted with gaucho life style.

week 335

Tue: Phnom Kulen hills stone quarries inform the construction process of closeby Angkor Thum.

Wed: When it comes to “llaneros” folklore music, Paz de Ariporo’s maracas are top of the line.

Thu: Taking a long detour, Sao Paulo’s slums provide food for thought to the intrepid londoners rushing towards Ushuaia from Cafayete.

week 334

Mon: In the heart of the Dolomites natural park, a shepherd can hide his flock for a week or two.

Tue: Banteay Chhmar ruins, built under the rule of Jayavarman VII and as impressive as Angkor wat, deserve better protection.

Wed: Villavicencio (aka Villavo), the gate to the colombian Llanos region, has substantial natural charm in its outskirts.

Thu: The colours of the serrania del Hornocal, the deep ravines of “quebrada de Humahuaca”, and the small town of Humahuaca give the argentinian Jujuy province a very bolivian feeling.