Golden Years

Yellowstone is situated on an active volcano! Three major eruptions have occurred in the last 2.1 million years, the most recent only 650,000 years ago. Magma only 3-8 miles down provides the heat for the thermal features in Yellowstone. The Upper Geyser Basin, home of old faithful, is one of 3 large geyser basins along the Firehole River. We were there on a sunny day and we treated to eruptions from 3 other geysers in addition to Old Faithful. Along the many miles of boardwalk we passed numerous hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles (steam vents). At the north end of the park, the boiling water and steam travel to the surface through limestone, which dissolves to form a weak carbonic acid. When the hot water reaches the surface, calcium carbonate is deposited to form the ... read more

WOW. Spectacular. We were incredibly lucky with the weather. Two days of blue sky to see the falls and today, the day we fly back to Buenos Aires, it is raining. Day one we walked the trails on the Argentina side of the fall and yesterday we crossed into Brasília to see and experience the falls up close. We were drenched, but soon dried in the 30C weather. We also went on a jungle adventure by mountain bike, kayak, and Jeep. Loads of fun.. The falls are wider than Victoria and taller than Niagara, made up of approximately 250 individual drops. The Iguazú river and falls mark the border between Argentina and Brasília..... read more

We arrived in El Calafate on a rainy day, but the weather has been grand since. The first afternoon we sheltered from the rain in the Glaciarium, an excellent interpretive centre explaining the ebb and flow of the Perito Moreno Glacier. The glacier terminates in Lago Argentina and on occasion advances across the lake to the land on the other side to form an ice dam. The water level on the upstream side rises by 11m until the pressure causes the dam to rupture and come crashing down in spectacular fashion. Our road trip to El Chalten and our hike to a lake at the foot of Cerro Fitzroy were fabulous We encountered much wildlife along the way The lamb is great.. Today we fly to Mendoza.... read more

Our 10 day sailing adventure from St. Lucia to Grenada is done and we are now relaxing at a beach front cottage in Grenada. We fly home tomorrow.... read more

Victims of the strike action by the French railway workers, here we sit in Paris patiently waiting for a train to Orleans. The 11:35 train was canceled, now we are hoping the 12:51 will run. Fortunately the coffee shop serving chocolate croissants is doing a roaring trade. The Paris 7’s was great fun. Canadian women finished 3rd and the men 4th. England came 2nd losing to South Africa in the final. The Stad Jean Bouin is a small stadium and we had seats affording us a great view of the action on the pitch. Unfortunately the toilet facilities left much to be desired and the food reminded me of British-rail food of the 70’s. On Sunday we packed a lunch. Resturant’s in Paris are closed on Sundays, but we happened upon a Greek deli take out ... read more