Lesleyanne Ryan. Canadian Armed Forces Veteran. Peacekeeper. Novelist. Photographer. Traveller. Cat Lover.
This is the name of this category until I figure out a better one.
Storm Chasing with Tempest Tours
14-25 May and 4-22 June 2018
Storm chasing is, in relative terms, a new kind of tourism. Television shows like In Search Of… (1978) and movies like Twister (1996) introduced professional storm chasing to the wider public, and over the last twenty years or so, a number of tour companies have sprung up offering people the chance to join in with the chase. Continue reading “Storm Chasing with Tempest Tours 2018”
20 March to 12 April 2018
The Atacama had always been on my list of places to see, and when I went looking for a tour, I had expected to find one that went north from Santiago or south from La Paz. When I found this tour, I wasn’t sure what northern Argentina had to offer.
A few minutes of Googling answered that question.
What I found was a region full of history, culture and wildlife. A region of mind-blowing scenery that gave us a glimpse into the Earth’s distant past.
A region that sees few foreign tourists and truly is a hidden treasure.
I wrote this tale as we travelled, so it is very detailed. You can start with Day One or navigate to individual pages via the Table of Contents.
My photos are currently being uploaded to my flickr page.
Enjoy.
🙂
Nepal and Bhutan
9 – 25 October 2017
This tour was supposed to be in Tibet, but in mid-September, the Chinese government decided to hold a high level Congress meeting in Lhasa for a week in October. For this reason, the border was scheduled to close starting on 17 October.
Right in the middle of our tour.
So, with less than a month to departure, Eldertreks scrambled to assemble a tour of Bhutan so that we didn’t have to change our flights. They sent an itinerary to everyone on the tour to see who wanted to go.
All eleven agreed. For myself, there wasn’t a second though. Bhutan was high on my list.
When I told people the tour had been changed to Bhutan, the first thing a lot of them said to me was, “where?”
That’s where. 🙂
Despite the short notice, Eldertreks put together a great itinerary and everyone on the tour was open to adjustments as necessary. In fact, this had to be one of the best groups – both the guides and fellow travellers – that I’ve travelled with.
In Nepal, we visited Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur and the Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery in Namo Buddha. (As with all the photos in this tale, click on the photo to see a larger image).
And in Bhutan, we visited Paro, Thimphu, Panakha, Phobjikha Valley and Haa Valley.
Thanks to Bob for the Google Earth images of the tour route.
You can navigate the tale from the Table of Contents.
And all my photos are on my flickr page.
Enjoy!
🙂
Dubai Getaway
October 4 to 8, 2017
With a tour of Nepal and Bhutan planned for October, I decided to make a stop in Dubai en route.
Monograms Travel offers a two day-three night city visit and I added an extra day.
You can navigate the tale at the Table of Contents.
All the photos can be viewed on my flickr page.
Enjoy!
🙂
Storm Chasing with the Great American Eclipse
15-22 August 2017
On May 30, 1984, I saw my first eclipse. It was an annular eclipse with eighty percent coverage over St. John’s. I placed a piece of film over the lens of my Kodak 110 camera and took this grainy picture as it approached maximum coverage.
I was mesmerized not only at the sight of the sun almost completely covered by the moon, but at the eerie light it cast over the city. I would see three more eclipses over the next thirty years, but never one that came as close to totality as this one.
The moment I learned of the August 21st eclipse, I knew I had to see it. I researched the possibility of travelling to a major US city in its path but found the cost to be prohibitive. Then I booked a storm chasing tour with Tempest Tours for June and noticed that they also had a solar eclipse tour.
The week-long tour included chasing late season storms, astrophotography, sight-seeing and finished with a viewing of the eclipse. The cost for the entire tour was less than seeing it on my own and had the added bonus of using their expertise to find clear skies.
Sold.
And it was worth every penny. None of my previous eclipse experiences even come close to seeing totality.
You can navigate to each day of the tour on the Table of Contents.
On my previous tour, I wrote a general overview on storm chasing that described the daily routine and other points that are relevant to this tour as well.
All the photos for this tale can be found on my flickr page.
Enjoy
🙂
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