201 Street

On most days, the idea is to keep your ship afloat, but on December 30th of 2009, right before the end of the decade, the ship known as the Sea Taxi was towed to a spot off Key Biscayne and sunk, simultaneously changing its name to the Ophelia Brian.  It became the biggest ship ever deliberately sunk to become an artificial reef in Miami-Dade County for the sport of scuba diving.  This ship was originally constructed in 1965, forty-five years ago, by J.J. Sietas in Hamburg, Germany.  The 210 foot vessel was christened Hoheburg, and has had a number of name changes over the years — the Marianne C., the Wilma, the Black Sea, the Ocean Breeze 1 — but ended its life above water as the Sea Taxi.  Today, the Ophelia will serve as an artificial reef, which will provide another place for recreational diving, for eco tourism, even for fishing to the locals at home in Miami and the travelers in that city’s hotels.   Previously, two other ships were sunk as artificial reefs — the Herbert Horn Type 458, sunk in 1984, and the Marie Horn Type 451, sunk in 1976.  Below the surface of the water, their names changed, too, to Ultra Freeze and Deep Freeze.

These deliberately created wrecks will last for decades, and furnish a home for corals and marine fish, in addition to the opportunities made possible for fishing and diving.  South Beach Dive and Surf is one of a number of sea diving companies that enable you to visit and explore these artificial reefs.  You’ll find the PADI Five Star facility in the center of the fashionable South Beach area and within an easy walk to restaurants and hotels and other popular tourist sites.  Established in 1995, they boast an experienced staff that will help you make your dives, according to your own level of experience.  If you’re into diving, or know someone who is, this is an excellent way to explore a side of Miami most people don’t get to see, the world of Miami underwater!

Hawaii is known for its wide variety of species, from the plants to the animals.  In fact, it has about ten thousand animals and plants together that do not live anywhere else in the world.  With Oahu vacation packages, you will most likely see the playful monk seal.  It got the name because it tends to be a solitary animal.  The other attribute that makes the monk seal a “holy” kind of animal is the way in which the skin about its neck look.  It hangs in a way that might suggest the lowered hood of a monk’s robe.  Its actual Hawaiian name is ilio-holo-i-ka-uaua.  In a rough translation of the text, it means a dog that can navigate the difficult ocean.

Because they are also one of the “over the hill” breeds of the pinniped classification system, they are often called by scientists a kind of fossil.  They have not changed or evolved much in the last fifteen million years.  Despite this long history, its species is in danger of extinction.  Currently, only fifteen thousand and twelve thousand seals still exist in the islands today.  Other places it once existed was in the Mediterranean, but there it is believed to be gone for good.  Though you cannot see them in Maui, vacation packages to Hawaii often come with tours that over all the islands, so you can a have a chance to see this peaceful creatures whatever island you pick.

You can also see these great animals with in  Lanai hotels.  Such deals there are a fantastic way to see it and other animals.  For instance, the color fishes, octopuses, and eels that it feeds on for sustenance.   It is in the sea for much of its life.  As a result, it kind look like green due the algae that grows in its fur from so much exposure to the water.   Other water trivia associated with this animal revolves around its ability to go sis hundred feet under water for a good meal.  It can do without any kind of harm.  It can actually slows is heart beat down to about fifteen beats in a minute.  In surface swims, the monk seal has a beat of up 120.  It is called bradycardia.  Perhaps this is another reason for why the seal is called a monk.  Its lowered heart beat is similar to the advantages meditation can give you, the kind of meditation monks often do.

After a six hour flight and and interminable wait a the airport for my bag, (I could not carry it on, it was like two centimeters too long, but I exaggerate, I could have been out of the a lot faster) I was famished, starved, and eying a review of a Chinese restaurant in Kual Lumpur called Sek Yuan. It apparently is an old school place with mid twentieth century charm (this means differing things to different people) and so hungry was I that i went right up to an auto rickshaw, showed the guy with a tight elastic black sock like cap and gold necklace the address and said in my best Malay “How much?” You could not do this at one of the luxury hotels Malaysia has. Normally one might get into an extended argument but I think he say the look of seriousness on my face (I needed to eat) we quickly agreed to a price that I wrote on a lip of paper and we trundled off, then zipped off, dodging traffic like aping pong ball, the humid KL air enveloping me with the smells of the street, the blaring horns and the insane, suicidal drivers. We bounced around for what seemed like forever but was i think twenty minutes  tops wen when wheezed to the restaurant. I could not believe he found it.

I gave the black stockinged fellow a hearty tip that cause his eyes to rotate like a radar dish and my stomach was ratating the same way as I anticipated the evening of Malaysian chines food. Well they had duck hanging int he the back and that was that, I set myself down in the spare restaurant and orderd tea and had the most tremendous Peking duck dish I have ever had, lean, not so fatty as I am used to, cooked to perfection. The waiter looked on in admiration as I just about inhaled the thing, leaving a glistening pile of bones. I’m gonna like Malaysia.

The Western Cape and other parts of South Africa I found ostrich in the Little Karoo. Apparently, an entire industry has sprung up and some interesting rural legends since last I visited.  I never thought I’d see even the thought of farming ostriches for anything. But, the Oudtshoorn Ostrich which is a cross between the resident Little Karoo breed and the birds from Northern Africa are world famous for their feathers.

I stumbled upon Little Karoo by accident, I hired a car and  left my room from one of the Best Hotels South Africa ,has, to go see some friends I met when I was first here over 30 years ago. I seemed to have gotten their directions wrong and ended up here instead. So, I parked my car and did a little investigating on foot.  I found being in the company of ostriches exciting. There were many other tourists about doing the same as I, just watching them interact with each other and ourselves. There are several ostrich farms around Oudtshoorn and they each give tours on a daily basis. The one I was on was a working ostrich farm. I got to see how the birds are bred and see all the other ways with which the ostrich products are made and marketed. I even got to ride on one of the biggest ostrich I’d ever seen. Some other of the tourist did not get to take a ride, because they were too heavy, luckily I’m so underweight I look like I’m at deaths door. Then after I rode the big ostrich, which is altogether a most unusual ride, I stayed around for a staged ostrich derby. They had very lightweight jockeys ride the birds around this enclosure. It was so funny to watch these big seemingly clumsy birds make it all around the track.

I called up my old friends and told them I has gotten lost, and I’ll see them the next day, if that was alright. I told them where I was, and I could hear laughter on the other end of the line. They told me to enjoy my trip and that they will always be happy to see me when ever I arrive at their doorsteps. Ah, Africa, what an amazing place, what amazing people live here and what wonderful birds observe and enjoy.

When I was growing up in western New York State, the bird that delighted me the most was the pileated woodpecker, it’s as big as a crow and has a flaming red crest with a spectacular patterned wing that is revealed when it flies. Little did I know that I would get to see its even larger relative, the ivory-billed woodpecker, now extinct, but it was one of North America’s largest woodpecker species.  In May, I joined up with my friend, Woodfrow, staying at a Five Star Hotel New York City offers the thousands of tourist visiting everyday.

I was in his hotel room when he pulls out an album book and starts showing me photos of a trip we took way back in 1942 to Tallulah, Louisiana. I remembered that we went there with our folks who planned a guided tour. Our guide was a local woodsman by the name of Richard, a man that I remember well, he was funny and very knowledgeable. We set pace with his long stride and he led us toward a section of swamp where my parents were most interested in. He pointed to a pair of birds who were roosting. He urged my parents to take photos and step quickly, because the birds were preparing to leave their roosting holes. The section of swamp we were at had a good amount of those birds. I remember my parents being so thrilled.

Woodfrow pointed to the photos that my parents has shot that day, and low and behold, my parents captured the ivory-billed woodpecker. It never occurred to me, when on that trip that my parents had some kind of instinct about the fate of these beautiful birds. Richard, told me he really didn’t know either at that time. When my parents sent him copies of our trip, he felt for some reason that he needed to hold on to those photos. I’m so glad he did. All my parents photos where lost in a fire. It was truly amazing to be here, in a New York hotel room, seeing actual photos of an extinct bird. But, what was most amazing is the news with which Woodfrow had for me. Recently, the ivory-billed woodpecker has been sighted and now put on the endangered list. What an amazing day.

I found that the nicest parts of Cape Town look so much like any other thriving and busy European city. I arrived early on a Sunday morning and as soon as I got all situated in my Cape Town Luxury Hotel room, I went wandering around the immediate vicinity on the waterfront. I found this to be a very busy place were there was major construction going on; lots of cranes suspending up overhead.

I found a huge shopping area where there was many people out browsing the stores and sight seeing just like me. My first goal though, was to find an electrical adaptor for my precious laptop. I met this very friendly local, an employee of the electronic shop I found who not only fixed me up with the correct adaptor but offered me access to his Internet dial-up account for the duration of my stay. I couldn’t believe the generosity of this person.

That night, I treated myself to a first class dinner at my hotels restaurant. I passed on the more exotic dishes such as springbok or ostrich and went with something more familiar. I was happy to find out that my meal was excellent and inexpensive to boot! I was expecting to pay almost double, but apparently, Cape Town prices are so much cheaper than back in the States. I’m surprised more Americans don’t come here because the dollar can go very far. I waiter told me the reason is because the country is pushing very hard for tourist dollars, so they are purposely keeping prices down.

The next morning, I got up bright and early and went to the beach where I met with some fantastic sand sculpting people. They helped me figure out which sand sculpting material is better to use and to sculpt with. There is an extremely competitive sand sculpting community here on the beach. My first attempt, a 6-foot tall structure, two tiered base only stayed up long enough for me to admire for only about 5 minutes. The locals need not fear my capabilities with the sand. But, what fun that was and the people where nice enough to encourage me to not give up, but really, I have no talent when it comes to sand. But, I do have a talent for finding the best places to visit. Cape Town is a blast.

I came to Mumbai to witness the return of the vultures. I’ve heard about their reappearance through a friend of mine who lives not to far from Kolkata. She’s been one of the few Parsi activists pursuing a different way other than leaving the dead on the ‘Tower of Silence’ because it’s been sited that a number of the vultures have dwindled in an alarming rate around Mumbai and around Kolkata.

I met her in the lobby of one of the 5 Star Mumbai Hotels, and we went off to observe the skies of Kolkata. She told me that it was definitely good news for the Parsi community and that a man who was the first to photographer of piles of half-eaten, rotting bodies from the Tower and who live in Mumbai, vigourously campaigned for ending this ageless ritual practice of leaving corpses to be fed by vultures. It has been proven that it hasn’t worked. The vultures have disappeared and died with the indiscriminate cutting down of tall palm trees and particularly around the Tower itself. The disappearance was notice back in 2005 and the disappearance has been attributed to the overuse and widespread use of Diclofenac, which is a medicine to treat cattle with which these birds feed on.

Recently, around two dozen of the vultures have been sighted near the Race Course and the nests were spotted on a few tall trees near the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. Suggesting that the birds are once again breeding. Forest officials and bird-lovers have described the development as wonderful news. The forest department has begun to launch a vulture breeding program at the Buxa Tiger Reserve in the Northern part of Bengal. As we arrived to Kolkata, I look out the windshield of the car and saw several vultures circling and riding the thermals high up in the sky and my friend and I smile.