Life is a patchwork of experiences
“I’m tired” whined my three-and-a-half year old son. He was dragging his feet and kicking up sand on the flat part of the Grapevine Hills trail to the Balanced Rock in Big Bend National Park. As I trekked along the same trail 28 years later, I could still clearly hear his voice across time and space. How had the years flown by so quickly?
Continue reading “On the Trail to Balanced Rock in Big Bend – Taking a Hike Down Memory Lane”
The balanced rock hiking trail is one of the most popular day hikes in Big Bend National Park, probably because it is fairly easy. The first 9/10 of a mile are level and only the last 2/10 require a scramble up and over rocky terrain. The reward is a lovely view across the desert toward the Chisos mountains through the “window” formed by a very large balancing boulder.
Thanks for visiting
Rose
Please note that my visit to the Big Bend area was hosted by Visit Big Bend but all content is my own.
I can’t resist a reflection photo when I see one, so I had to take this one of the canyon walls reflecting in the Rio Grande in Big Bend’s Santa Elena canyon area. The river was too high and the bank was too muddy to hike to the mouth of the canyon, so I had to be satisfied with this early morning view instead – not a bad alternative.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
Please note that my visit to the Big Bend area was hosted by Visit Big Bend but all content is my own.
“The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas”
I knew that when my 3 1/2 year old son came home from preschool singing these lyrics from the song “Deep In the Heart of Texas” that he had acclimated to our move to Houston. Six months after we moved to the Lone Star State, we took a trip into the heart of Texas and discovered the truth behind the Texas dark skies in Big Bend National Park. The Big Bend dark skies were the best place to see the milky way in the lower 48 states.
Big Bend National Park is not just a beautifully scenic park in the traditional sense with the Rio Grande cutting grand canyons through the desert landscape. The area is also designated an International Dark Sky Park with one of the best, biggest and darkest night skies in the lower 48 states of the US. On a cloudless night during my recent visit, I was able to clearly see the milky way arc from horizon to horizon. Such an amazing sight for someone who lives on the East Coast of the US where I can barely see the big dipper.
Thanks for visiting
Rose
Please note that my visit to the Big Bend area was hosted by Visit Big Bend but all content is my own.
One of the easiest and most rewarding trails in Big Bend National Park is the 0.3 mile Windows View Nature trail. The best and most popular time to walk this easy trail is at sunset – and you can see why. Benches along the paved walkway let you sit and enjoy mother nature’s show. In this photo, I’ve included a silhouetted of one of the many desert plants in the park, a common sotol with its mound of spiky leaves and its tall flower stalk.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
Please note that my visit to the Big Bend area was hosted by Visit Big Bend but all content is my own.
An African safari should be more than just seeing the BIG 5. The extent of the animal diversity in this part of the planet was amazing. This photo essay shares the great 55 African safari animals that I saw in the many parks I visited on my first Kenya and Tanzania safari adventure.
We were treated to a spectacular sunset on our last evening on safari in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park. One of the things that made this park unique from the others we had visited was not the animal life, but rather, the plant life – the baobab trees to be specific. The distinctly wide and bulbous shaped tree trunk stores water for the tree so that it can survive drought conditions, thereby its other name “Tree of Life”.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
Sex in the jungle. Can’t say I really ever thought much about how hippos procreate – that is, until I saw it happen in the Ngrongoro crater in Tanzania. Hippos are mammals, but spend most of their time in the water so it seems natural that mating should occur there as well. This large group of hippos was hanging out in this, muddy, smelly, swampy watering hole, mostly submerged. All of a sudden, a big male lifted himself up, dragged himself on top of the nearby female, and grunted there for a few minutes, with the smaller female trying to keep her head above water the whole time. Our guide told us that the hippos can stay under water for up to six minutes, but that sometimes females can end up drowning during this “romantic” interlude. Eventually the male rolled off back into the murky mess, only to start all over again a few minutes later.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
We saw many zebras throughout our safari in the various East Africa parks, and many baby animals, but this was the first very young zebra that we saw on the whole 10 day trek. Mom waits patiently as he gets his fill nursing. This was inside the Ngorongoro crater, where the animals do not migrate and have to make do with whatever food is available year round.
Thanks for visiting.
Rose
