R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 154

The Norwegian Sun Docks in Skagway

Norwegian Sun in Skagway

The Norwegian Sun’s next stop, on June 3, was the ever-charming community of Skagway along the Chilkoot Inlet. And, as with Juneau, I’m going to give you gals a great jewelry shopping tip, one you wouldn’t expect way out here in the wilds of Alaska. But, first, let’s take a look at some of the stunning scenery that awaits you on the walk into town from the cruise dock, traveling along Congress Street before hanging a left on Broadway:

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway, Alaska

O...

The Norwegian Sun in Juneau

Norwegian Sun docked in Juneau

No Fun Photo Friday this week. We’re going to instead continue with our recent Alaska adventure with Al and Lisa Fittipaldi. I’ve shown you

Juneau fishing boat

Of course, Juneau is the capital of Alaska. Indeed, here’s the entrance through which Sarah Palin used to enter before she got bored...

The Norwegian Sun Docks in Ketchikan

Ketchican

We met up with our good friends from Houston, fellow authors Al and Lisa Fittipaldi, and boarded the Norwegian Sun in Vancouver, Canada, after a bus ride from Seattle. We’ve cruised with Al and Lisa several times over the years. They’re a fun couple. We even spent twenty-eight days with them as recently as October of last year on our cruise around the Pacific aboard the Crown Princess — but that’s a trip I’ll be blogging about at a later date.

Time to Tour Ketchikan and Creek Street...

Behind the Scenes on the Norwegian Sun

The Norwegian Sun in Juneau, Alaska

I’m interrupting my series on our Chile-to-Los Angeles cruise for something to cool you down this hot, hot summer. We’re going to take a quick look at this year’s Norwegian Sun excursions into Alaska, beginning with a look behind the scenes on the Norwegian Sun.

Norwegian Sun model in original paint scheme

Ursula and I are Platinum status on Norwegian, which gives us the perk of a behind-the-scenes tour of the ship. These tours used to include the navigatio...

Fun Photo Friday — More Tárcoles River Expedition Favorites

Toothy Grin

Below you’ll find more of my favorite photos from our Tárcoles River expedition, but first I promised a rather exciting video depicting hand-feeding an American crocodile and otherwise getting even more up-close and intimate with this rather intimidating and very large fellow:

Today’s Fun Photo Friday shots:

Frigatebirds

Northern Crested Caracara

Tárcoles River

Tárcoles River

Next week I’m going to delay a continuation of this trip for a quick sojourn into Alaska. The reason I’m...

Tárcoles River Expedition — Part 4

Brightly Colored Crab

Today I’m going to post a slide show of some images from our Tárcoles River expedition. On this week’s Fun Photo Friday you’ll see some of my favorite shots as well as a nice little video, which includes a rather hair-raising clip of hand-feeding a very large American crocodile, and kissing it right on its very prominent, teeth-laden snout. Until then, click on any image below to enlarge the image and bring up today’s slide show:

Filed under: Photography, R. Doug...

Tárcoles River Expedition — Part 3

Finger Eatin’ Good!

The above picture should give a at least an indication of just how big these American crocodiles get along the Tárcoles River! This fellow was huge! But he was also very old and pretty slow, thank goodness. On Friday you’ll see a video of him being hand-fed, and even kissed on the snout.

Here, even the termite nests are incredible:

Termite Nest

You’ve already had a sampling of the great birding available to visitors of the Tárcoles River jungle, and here’s a shot of some p...

Fun Photo Friday — Some Tárcoles River Expedition Favorites

Jaws

Today I present some of my Tárcoles River expedition favorites (more next Friday, including a video featuring feeding a crocodile by hand):

Frigates in Flight

Safari

Wadin’

Cruisin the River

Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation Tagged: Costa Rica, Fun Photo Friday, photography, Puntarenas, R. Doug Wicker, Tárcoles River, travel, travel photography, vacation

Tárcoles River Expedition — Part 2

Great Egret

The Tárcoles River must be a birder’s paradise, from what we saw. There were many species of falcon, some of which I’ve been unable to identify, other birds of prey, and many types of waterfowl.

Falcon

But, as I’ve noted before, birds are not the sole inhabitants here. Animal life ranges from reptilian predators to farm animals grazing along the banks of the Tárcoles River.

American Crocodile

Brahman

However it’s the abundant and diverse bird life that really gets your attention h...

Tárcoles River Expedition — Part 1

Lurking Eyes

Our group of intrepid explorers loaded up into several boats and headed into the wilds of the Tárcoles River amidst the Costa Rican jungle. It didn’t take long to find a rather intimidating predator, as you can see by the lurking eyes gliding just above the water in the photo above. This is the potentially dangerous but not very aggressive American crocodile. But, while it may not have an aggressive reputation, it’s still something I’d prefer to avoid while in the water.

Big Fell...