The Oceans have always been a source of life, but with the changes affecting our Earth, will they ultimately be our destruction?
A heavy introduction for a Tour Host Review, but with the recent media blitz on the effects of Global Warming, the freakish weather, and the UN's determination to assist the tourism sector and protect the deep sea, it is a top...
Tour Host Review
Mikimoto, USA
“I would like to adorn the necks of all the women in the world with pearls”
Kokichi Mikimoto
Archaeologists report that divers risked their lives as early as 2250 B.C. to find the perfect natural pearl. Pearls have filled ancient Egyptian vaults and modern safe-deposit boxes. In the 12th century, the Chinese created blister pearls by inserting tiny lead i...
Located in a strategic position at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, the archipelago of the Comoro Islands arose from the seabed of the western Indian Ocean as the result of volcanic activity. The islands: Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Moheli), Nzwani (Anjouan), and Maore (Mayotte), have distinct topograhical characteristics due to their different ages....
In the remote southeastern corner of Zanzibar, villagers gather by the thousands to celebrate New Years for four days with immense bonfires and feasts—in the middle of July. Men playfully fight each other with banana tree stems in the center of town. Women rhythmically march around the mock melee, singing sexually suggestive songs. A thatched pyramid-like hut is built...
Why is it that announcing your upcoming trip to Jamaica somehow lures your otherwise perfectly reasonable friends into a ghastly Bob Marley imitation. “Jamaica, mon?” they’ll say. “Guess you’re a dreadlock woman, now!” Sure. Whatever. What I was seeking though was beyond the syncopated rhythm of a Wailers album. I wanted to see beneath,...
Less than a decade ago, Costa Rica was virtually unknown as a destination for diving. Suddenly it is being applauded for its variety and abundance of marine life. New facilities along the Pacific coastline are now offering first-class dive boats and fully stocked dive shops. And best of all, divers enjoy the excitement of truly virgin diving in areas never before...
Quite simply, the size of the diminutive six acre island was what impressed me first about Tobacco Cay. The island’s white sand beach, amazing reef diving, a laid back, swing-in-your-hammock-all-day vibe, the warmth of the Afro-Caribbean inhabitants, and spectacular ocean sunsets were unexpected surprises.
Despite the warmth, I was shaking like a leaf. I had just watched a Great White Shark rip a hundred pound tuna bait to pieces. Piet was now asking me to slide into a metal shark cage that floated just above the water and looked about as secure as a shopping trolley. I could even see the dark shadow of one shark slice through the water far below me. “To think I actually...
Ever since the film and television industry brought undersea adventures into our living rooms, we have been fascinated with the mysterious world beneath the sea. Scuba pioneers such as Jacques Yves Cousteau and Emil Gagnon spread the notion that man could “become one with the fishes,” attracting men, women, and children to the underwater realm. This has sparked...
Years ago, the Eagles sang about “Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona”. Now I’m sure that the street corners in Winslow are fine examples of Western architecture and planning, but then so are the street corners of Butte, Montana and Ogalalla, Nebraska. So if you are reading this from an American perspective (which we’ll take as representing the...
Although the recent discovery of a hybrid grizzly bear & polar bear (“Pizzly” bear) appears strange and bizarre, it brings attention to a bigger and more serious issue.
Scientists have documented signs of escalating temperatures as well as changes in the atmosphere and sea currents in the Arctic , leading some to believe these trends may result in...
James Cook was born on October 27, 1728, in Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, England. He was the son of a farmer of Scottish decent. As a young teenager, Cook was apprenticed to a seafaring family. In 1755, he joined Great Britain's Royal Navy and soon proved himself an expert navigator. Just after making officer rank, Lieutenant Cook was chosen by the Royal Society of London to...
With climate change posing a potential threat to tourist resorts, the South Pacific islands nation of Fiji has been selected as a pilot country for a series of United Nations-backed projects aimed at helping the tourism sector to adapt to the effects of climate change, ranging from more frequent cyclones to beach-eroding higher sea levels.Island destinations are particularly prone to the effects of climate change with many of them relying on warm waters...
