Sleding on the White Sands, NM, USA

Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening White Sands National Monument of New Mexico. Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and created the world's largest gypsum dune field. White Sands National Monument preserves a major portion of this unique dune field, along with the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to this constantly changing environment.

Unlike dunes made of quartz-based sand crystals, the gypsum does not readily convert the sun's energy into heat and thus can be walked upon safely with bare feet, even in the hottest summer months. In areas accessible by car, children frequently use the dunes for downhill sledding. Sliding downhill is an exhilarating sport. The proper position for sledding is to sit or lay on your back on the top of the sled, with your feet pointing downhill. Sledding head first increases the risk of head injury and should be avoided.

The white sands dune field is an active dune field. The dunes move from west to east as much as thirty feet per year. Many species of plants and animals have developed very specialized means of surviving in this area of cold winters, hot summers, with very little surface water and highly mineralized ground water. Most desert animals are nocturnal, coming out to feed only at night when temperatures are cooler. Every animal in the white sands makes tracks on the dunes as it moves, leaving clues to its nocturnal activities.

Tuah in the White Sands
Alamogardo, NM
11 August 2009

Adrian seeks shelter
White Sands
Alamogardo, NM
11 August 2009

Adrian in the White Sands
Alamogardo, NM
11 August 2009

Adrian in the White Sands
Alamogardo, NM
11 August 2009

Ghani makes his way up the dunes....slowly
White Sands
Alamogardo, NM
11 August 2009

...and he's up...
White Sands
Alamogardo, NM
11 August 2009

....and he's on his way down!
White Sands
Alamogardo, NM
11 August 2009

Ghani, Adriani and Tuah in the White Sands
Alamogardo, NM
11 August 2009

Adrian in a Junior ranger vest and a Park Ranger
White Sands
Alamogardo, NM
11 August 2009

Way Down South : Key West, USA

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys.

One of the biggest attractions on the island is a concrete replica of a buoy at the corner of South and Whitehead Streets that claims to be the southernmost point in the contiguous 48 states The point was originally just marked with a sign, which was often stolen. In response to this, the city of Key West erected the now famous monument in 1983. Brightly painted and labeled "SOUTHERNMOST POINT CONTINENTAL U.S.A.", it is one of the most visited and photographed attractions in Key West.

Land on the Truman Annex property just west of the buoy is the true southernmost point, but it has no marker since it is U.S. Navy land and cannot be entered by civilian tourists. The private yards directly to the east of the buoy and the beach areas of Truman Annex and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park also lie farther south than the buoy. The farthest-south location that the public can visit is the beach at the state park for a small entrance fee.

Florida's southernmost point is Ballast Key, a privately owned island just south and west of Key West. Signs on the island strictly prohibit unauthorized visitors. The claim "90 Miles to Cuba" on the monument isn't entirely accurate either, since Cuba at its closest point is 94 statute miles from Key West. Further south than the southernmost point of Florida lies the entire state of Hawaii as well as US territories, with two (American Samoa and Jarvis Island) actually in the Southern Hemisphere.

We spent a wonderful day out on the Florida Keys with Susie Goh, a Malaysian living in Miami, whom we bumped into in Orlando. We were honoured to have been invited to stay in her home during our time in Miami.

Us at the southernmost point on Continental USA
90miles from Cuba
Key West
Miami, FL
12 July 2009

Susie with Adrian at South Beach
Key West, FL
12 July 2009

Tuah at Mile 0
Mile 0 of US Route 1....the road to America begins here!
Key West, FL
12 July 2009

Key West Sunset
Florida
12 July 2009

Adrian finds a spot to prance around
Key West
Miami, FL
12 July 2009

Creole Cuisine in New Orleans, USA

Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana (centered on the Greater New Orleans area) which is a melting pot cuisine that blends French, Portuguese, Spanish, Canarian, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Deep Southern American, Indian, and African influences. It also bears hallmarks of British, Irish, Italian, Dutch, German, Albanian, and Greek cuisines.

There are some contributions from Native Americans as well. It is vaguely similar to Cajun cuisine in ingredients (such as the holy trinity), but the important distinction is that Cajun cuisine arose from the more rustic, provincial French cooking adapted by the Acadians to Louisiana ingredients, whereas the cooking of the Louisiana Creoles tended more toward classical European styles adapted to local foodstuffs.

Broadly speaking, the French influence in Cajun cuisine is descended from various French Provincial cuisines of the peasantry, while Creole cuisine evolved in the homes of well-to-do aristocrats, or those who imitated their lifestyle. Although the Creole cuisine is closely identified with New Orleans culture today, much of it evolved in the country plantation estates so beloved of the pre-Civil War Creoles

Some samples of main dishes include:
Crawfish Étouffée
Jambalaya
Shrimp Alfredeaux
Crawfish Fettuccine
Pompano en Papillote
Red Beans and Rice
Shrimp Creole
Chicken Creole
Trout Meuniere
Sauce Piquante
Stuffed Bell Peppers
Blackened Salmon
Mirliton
Creole Baked Chicken
Shrimp Bisque
Quiche

Ghani's Roast Beef Po-Boy
Court of Two Sisters Restaurant
French Quarter
New Orleans, LA
19 July 2009

My Jambalaya ( a bit like claypot chicken rice, just a bit more dry and no 'lap cheong'!)
Court of Two Sisters Restaurant
French Quarter
New Orleans, LA
19 July 2009

The famous Court of Two Sisters Restaurant
French Quarter
New Orleans, LA
19 July 2009

Cafe Beignet
Music Legands Park
Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA
19 July 2009

Bourban St by night - buzzing with boozers and party goers
Latin Quarter
New Orleans, LA
19 July 2009

Stopping the famous New Orleans Streetcar
St Charles St
19 July 2009

The Niagra Falls, USA and Canada

The Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. The falls are 27 km north-northwest of Buffalo, New York and 120 km south-southeast of Toronto, Ontario, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.

Niagara Falls is composed of two major sections separated by Goat Island: Horseshoe Falls, the majority of which--two-thirds according to the US Geological Survey--lies on the Canadian side of the border, and American Falls on the American side.The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also located on the American side, separated from the main falls by Luna Island.

Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide and is the most powerful waterfall in North America

We took a ride on The Maid In The Mist, a boat tour of Niagara Falls. (The actual boats used are each named Maid of the Mist, followed by a different Roman numeral in each case.) The boat starts off at a calm part of the Niagara River, near the Rainbow Bridge, and takes its passengers past the American and Bridal Veil Falls, then into the dense mist of spray inside the curve of the Horseshoe Falls. We were give ponchos to wear, and it didn't matter that is was raining the day we visited anyway, as naturally, everyone ends up getting wet!

Somehow, after the Victoria Falls on the Zim/Zam border, with lush jungle surrounding it, The Niagara Falls with all the large buildings surrounding it, seemed so wrong.

Ghani and Adrian at
Niagara Falls
NY
28 June 2009

Me at Niagara Falls
NY
28 June 2009

Niagara Falls
NY
28 June 2009

The American Falls
Niagara Falls
NY
28 June 2009

The American falls and The Bridal Veil Falls
Niagara Falls
NY
28 June 2009

The Horse Shoe Falls
Niagara Falls
NY
28 June 2009

In deep thought on board the Maid in the Mist
Niagara Falls
NY
28 June 2009

Visiting Harvard Yard, Massachusetts, USA

Harvard Yard is a grassy area of about twenty-five acres, adjacent to Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that constitutes the oldest part and the center of the campus of Harvard University. It contains thirteen of Harvard College's seventeen freshman dormitories, as well as four libraries, five buildings of classrooms and academic departments, and the central administrative offices of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the university, located in University Hall and Massachusetts Hall, respectively.

The western third of Harvard Yard, which opens onto Massachusetts Avenue at Johnston Gate, is known as the Old Yard, and around it cluster most of the freshman dormitories. Among these is Massachusetts Hall, which, having been constructed in 1720, is the oldest still-standing building on Harvard's campus and one of the two oldest academic buildings in the United States.The lower floors of Massachusetts Hall house the offices of the President of Harvard University.

Also located in the Old Yard is the statue of the university's first benefactor, John Harvard. This monument is a frequent target of pranks, hacks, and humorous decorations. Moreover, Harvard students urinate on the very foot that tourists rub for good luck. if I had known this fact before our visit, I would have disinfected the foot of the statute before allowing Adrian to rub it!

Facing Massachusetts Hall is Harvard Hall. The original Harvard Hall on this site housed the College library, including the books donated by John Harvard, after whom the college and the building were named—all but one of which were destroyed when the building burned in 1764. Rebuilt in 1766, Harvard Hall now houses classrooms.

Adrian touching John Harvard's left shoe...so the story goes that if one does so,
there's a chance to return to Harvard
Harvard, Boston
20 June 2009

Alligators and the Everglades, Florida, USA

Everglades National Park protects the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River. The wilderness area is named for Marjory Stoneman Douglas who was instrumental in creating the park, and who coined the phrase "River of Grass." It has been designated a World Heritage Site

Although primarily freshwater animals, alligators will occasionally venture into brackish water.Alligators live in wetlands and this is the vital habitat that holds the key to their continued long-term survival. Alligators depend on the wetlands, and in some ways the wetlands depend on them. As apex predators, they help control the population of rodents and other animals that might overtax the marshland vegetation.

American alligators are less susceptible to cold than American Crocodiles. Unlike the American Crocodile, which would quickly succumb to the cold and drown in water of 45 °F (7.2 °C), an alligator can survive in such temperatures for some time without apparent discomfort.[10] It is thought that this adaptiveness is the reason why American alligators spread farther north than the American Crocodile. In fact, the American alligator is found farther from the equator and is more equipped to deal with cooler conditions than any other crocodilian

We were kindly hosted and given a wonderful tour of the Everglades by Susie Goh, A Malaysian living in Miami, whom we bumped into a few days before in Orlando, where she had been on holiday.

** Due to the massive oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico, The Everglades was pronounced an Endangered Area on 30 July 2010

Alison at Everglades National Park
Miami. FL
11 July 2009

Alligator
Everglades
Miami, FL
11 July 2009

Adrian at the Everglades
Miami, FL
11 July 2009

Alligator
Everglades
Miami, FL
11 July 2009

Susie and Adrian
11 July 2009


A slide show on our trip to the Everglades and The Florida Keys
can be found on the blog entry titled
Way Down South : Key West, USA