Travel Tips for the Modern International Traveler

1.  The internet gives you access to local news in the areas you will be visiting.  In addition to accurate up to the minute news, you can read ads and find out about interesting things that are happening at the time you will arrive.  Begin your foreign cultural immersion while still at home.

For example these are the online English language newspapers I read regularly to keep up on things happening in the places I travel to:
Philippines  http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/
China: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
Beijing: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/
Uganda:  http://www.newvision.co.ug/Home.aspx
Bangkok: http://www.bangkokpost.com/

2.  The internet gives you access to local radio stations.  

 This can be really good if you are traveling to someplace and you will be driving yourself.  You can begin to get an idea about traffic patterns.  

It is also a good way to find out about performers in town and other things to do.  

When you’re away from home, you can still follow your favorite radio shows online.

Here’s an app that helps with this.

                                       

3.  Try a meet up website.  Going to someplace exotic, remote or off the beaten path?  Can’t find a lot of good information about that area?  Trip advisor.com and virtualtourist.com are okay for finding out about normal stuff.  But if you want to really get specific information or you want to find out about things not so commonly found on the internet, then you might want to try my tried and successful method.

Go to some online meet up website and write a profile that says exactly what you want.  For instance you might say “I want to meet someone who can tell me about some good local restaurants”.  Or whatever you are searching for.  You might say “I’m looking for someone who would like to go visit local restaurants with me and my wife, where we can try local food in good restaurants that only local people know about.”

You will be surprised at what you can learn about some place before you even go there.  And there is almost no village or town anywhere that doesn’t have some internet café full of locals looking for something interesting to do.

• COUCHSURFING: This is an excellent place to meet people & even find a place to crash for a night or more. If you travel to experience the local culture and lifestyle then check this site.  https://www.couchsurfing.org

•CITY OF A THOUSAND WELCOMES: Here’s a great idea if going to Dublin, meet someone and talk over tea or coffee. Arranged by the website. A free service supported by civic sponsors.  http://www.cityofathousandwelcomes.ie/

•TRAVBUDDY:  This website is designed just for travelers to meet other people and other travelers.  http://www.travbuddy.com/

There are dozens of options for online meet ups, but these samples will give you some good ideas for getting started on a new kind of travel experience.  WARNING: Scams are rife on the internet. There are dangers involved in this style of meeting people.  Do your own due diligence and don’t whine to me if you get mugged or kidnapped by Al Qaeda terrorists.  Do let me know if you have a good time!

4.  MEETING PLANNER:  I don’t use this all the time, but lately I have had many online meetings and phone conferences with people scattered through various time zones.  This  app makes it easy to choose times that are okay for all who are involved.
http://www.timeanddate.com/iphone/meetingplanner.html

5. Here are some aids I use on almost every trip I take.  I’m not a huge frequent flier, but last year I was on about 30 flights to & between the USA, Canada, Mexico, China, the Philippines, and Thailand.
•SEAT GURU:  I love this website to find the best seat.  It’s not as good as having flown on a plane yourself and scoped out exactly the best seat choices, but it is nearly as good.  There is a phone app for this website. http://www.seatguru.com/

•AGODA:  There is no better hotel website.  It doesn’t cover all of the world yet, but it will.  I have never found cheaper rooms on another website for the same hotel.  Easy to use.  Great coverage in Asia and some other parts of the world. Recently started in Mexico and is absolutely #1 for hotel shopping in Baja California.  www.agoda.com

•GOOGLE EARTH OR MAP:  I use this tool before every trip to a new location.  I like to study the map view.  Then I like to go to the street view and just look around at where I will going to for the first time.

•Kindle Ebook reader:  I use the simple $49 version that has wifi ads when turned on. Those ads don’t display while I’m traveling.  The Kindle and Amazon.com are the GREATEST things to come out of the computer age for travelers like me.  I could write a dozen pages about how much I love this device. Kindle app available for all computers, smart phones and tablets.  Don’t leave home without it.
www.amazon.com



Have a fun and safe vacation,
Keith Jones
Baja Jones Adventure Travel
www.bajajonesadventures.com

Kabul, Afghanistan The making of an antique rug

It was May or June of 2009.  I rode in another Toyota Corolla.  We were on our way to do some shopping.  We also needed to download some files online.  The connection at our office just wasn’t fast enough for what we needed to do.

All the foreigners I know in Kabul ride around in Big Black Suburbans (military contractors) or Big White Suburbans (NGOs).  Me, I’m always in some beat up old gray colored Toyota.  But I think it makes my life more interesting this way.

As always when I’m out in public in Afghanistan, I had on an Afghan style hat.  I was slouched low in the seat, so I wasn’t easily visible from outside.  For a small city, Kabul has some terrible traffic problems. 

From what I could see, the congestion was caused by various embassies and other big government compounds whose security forces closed off the roads that at one time passed by those compounds.  This indiscriminate closing of roads has left parts of central Kabul heavily congested.

To avoid some of this traffic congestion, our driver used side roads.  On one of these unpaved dirt roads a large reddish brown rug lay in the middle of the road.  All the cars and trucks just drove over it.  Big puffs of dust billowed from beneath the rug with each passing car.

I couldn’t understand why someone would throw a seemingly new rug into the road.

My friends laughed when I asked them why the rug was there.  “Keith, my friend, they are making an antique Afghan rug there.” 

I joined the laughter, thinking this was a lot like the Chinese sculptors who bury swords in the earth to make them into antiques.

Author Bio:

Keith Jones is the founder of Baja Jones Adventures, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands and has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. He specializes in gray whale tour, blue whale tour, gray and blue whale combo tour, giant panda bear tour, walk a tiger tour, shark tour, African safari tour, African gorilla trek, arctic narwhal tour and Magdalena Bay whale watching tour. He also writes about Baja travel and gray whales. Keith Jones is the author of Gray Whales My Twenty Years of Discovery.

Vegetable shopping in Kandahar

I have a short story to tell, from when I was in Kandahar in the winter of 2007. This was before I knew Ajmal. But I thought some of you might be wondering about me, an American acting as the campaign press secretary.  This tale might help you to know me just a little better.

My first experiences with the people of Afghanistan came when I was living in Kandahar and went out exploring the City. I was told by everyone that it was dangerous for me to go out in the City of Kandahar.  I could be kidnapped or worse.  I believed them, but life should be lived fully.  Hiding in a compound all day and all night just isn’t my style.

My friend Raziq tried his best to find some traditional styled clothing to fit me.  You can see from the photo I was just a bit larger than the clothing he eventually brought to me.  After donning my disguise, I rode with Raziq and another friend from Kandahar Air Base into the City of Kandahar in an old Toyota Corolla.

Raziq was concerned about roadside bombs, so I had my hat pulled low across my face and a gray and white shawl wrapped high around my neck.  I had grown a slight graying beard.  From a distance, while I was seated in the Toyota I might appear to be an Afghan.

While in town we had lunch at an excellent restaurant where I enjoyed the best cucumbers and yogurt I have ever eaten.  Then we visited the gold sellers street where this photo was taken.

Later we stopped at a vegetable market, because I was in town to buy some large quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables.  I left Raziq and his friends talking and I roamed alone through the mounds and piles of carrots and potatoes and other fresh vegetables.

My attention was attracted by a loud cracking sound, much like fire crackers or small explosions.  But the sound was not that of a rifle or a bomb.  I was curious and walked toward the main street.  Standing on the edge of the curb I leaned out looking to my left to see what all the commotion was about.

I should have been more aware of my surroundings.  It was only later that I realized while I was walking toward the edge of the road all the other people in the market were slowly moving back away from the road.

Suddenly a convoy of ISAF vehicles appeared from around a bend in the road.  The noise was a warning klaxon on the lead vehicle.  All the people of Kandahar recognized this cracking sound as the warning that a military convoy was coming through. 

The armored vehicles were moving way too fast for the narrow road conditions.  A poor carrot farmer whose overloaded cart laden with carrots and pulled by an ancient graying donkey fell into a pothole on the side of the road. The cart overturned as the convoy roared by.

I stared at the soldiers or private contractors as they sped past me.  The last vehicle in the convoy was driven by a particularly crazed individual.  He saw me standing alone by the curb.  So he veered sharply toward me so that the right side wheels of his armored vehicle ran through a big puddle of very brown muddy water.  The water shot out from beneath the tires.  I was drenched from the waist down in a disgusting brown muck.

The old man standing across on the other corner with the overturned cart, looked near to crying.  Anger and frustration were lined in his sun withered face.  I walked over and gave him some help to push the cart upright. Then standing in ankle deep water I helped to throw the 50 kilo bags of carrots back into the van.

By the time we were finished loading his cart, I was truly filthy.  I took a couple loose carrots and fed them to his calm and sturdy donkey.  He said, “salaam aliakum” and  I repeated the words back to him.

Returning to the back corner of the market where my friends were waiting I was greeted by some strange looks.  I had left them wearing spotlessly clean, new clothing.  I returned covered in mud that had turned the lower half of my legs and shoes a dark beige color.  My hands were dirty brown.  I even had mud in my hair.

I just looked back at them and said, “my friends I now know what that strange noise means.”  Thankfully we had finished all we wanted to accomplish that day, so we climbed into the beat up Toyota and headed out of town.  That’s when I noticed a gathering of nomadic people, off in a distant field.  A wedding celebration was just beginning.

“Raziq,” I said, turning to my friend who was sitting in the back seat fingering his beads, saying a silent prayer of thanks that we had made it out of town safely.  “Raziq. do you think the bride and groom would mind if an American invited himself to their wedding party?”

But that wedding party is a tale for another day.  I hope you enjoyed my tale about shopping for vegetables in Kandahar.

Keith E. Jones

Author Bio:

Keith Jones is the founder of Baja Jones Adventures, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands and has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. He specializes in gray whale tour, blue whale tour, gray and blue whale combo tour, giant panda bear tour, walk a tiger tour, shark tour, African safari tour, African gorilla trek, arctic narwhal tour and Magdalena Bay whale watching tour. He also writes about Baja travel and gray whales. Keith Jones is the author of Gray Whales My Twenty Years of Discovery.

Walking from Phitsanilok toward Sukhothai and Myanmar – by Onanong Hukharn

Cars and buses were driving very close to us on this part of the road west of Phitsanilok.  Keith decided to tie a blue shirt onto a stick.  Then with his stick and rag we walked along, him feeling safer, but I felt shy a little!  When we walked many people looked at us with strange expressions on their face.  They thought we waiting for the bus or maybe that we had no money to buy tickets. 

One couple stopped their car.  Both of them were very nice and friendly. “Where are you going Kha?” (that is a polite greeting like sir or ma’am)  Sukhothai I answered! 

They said ,”Oh dear that far from here please get on the car we going the same place”, then they asked me more questions.  “Why do you have to walk?  Are you not tired? Why are you doing this?”

I replied, “We will walk all the way across Thailand. This trip is really spectacular.

They had more questions like “where do you sleep?  Do you bathe in the rivers?  What do you eat?”  And the most difficult question for me to answer, “Why are you walking?  You will get hot and tired.”  I tried to explain we were doing this because nobody had ever done it before.  I said “kah we meet nice people like you and get to know more about Thailand.”  The nice couple offered me a ride one more time before driving away.

As they drove away I felt even more shy (sic embarrassed) about what Keith and I are doing. But I told him I would do this, so I must do it. 

This ends Onanong’s comments for now.

The day went by quickly.  It was a day without any really memorable events.  We walked, we rested and then we walked again.  Some days are like that, even on a great adventure. 

As my watch moved toward 3:00 p.m. we arrived at the outskirts of Sukhothai.  Once we passed the City sign and had officially entered the city, Onanong flagged a songthaew (pick up truck taxi).  We pushed our packs into the back on the floor between the bench seats.  Weary from the 18 kilometers (10 ½ miles) we had walked that day we stepped into the back of the songthaew to gratefully ride the next 2 kilometers to the TR Guesthouse where we planned to stay for the next couple of nights.

The Songthaew dropped us a few blocks from the guesthouse, leaving us a short walk before we would get to dump the packs for  few days. 

A clean brightly decorated bakery was temptingly situated just where I clambered from the back of the truck taxi.  There was a display case filled with various cakes and pastries.  After a long hot day of walking a piece of cake sounded heavenly.  I left my backpack lying at the door of the bakery while I purchased a full double layer chocolate and vanilla cake.  Meanwhile Onanong waited patiently, not once reminding me that I was still supposed to be on a healthy diet plan.

At the guesthouse, once inside our room I placed the cake on a table.  Since we planned to stay in Sukhothai 4 or 5 days, I emptied my backpack so I could launder everything.  Then after a shower, shave and a second nice hot shower I went out with Onanong to find some dinner.

After dinner we returned to the room. I had big plans to eat that cake we had bought earlier.  Sitting down to a small table in the room I pulled out a folding knife I carry. It is spring loaded to open and has a very sharp 7” blade I use for peeling fruit or cutting cake.

As I made the first slice, a swarm of large red ants burst from the cut in the cake.  I jumped back, cursed and then finished cutting that piece of cake.  By then the ants were swarming all over the tabletop.  I quickly moved my laptop off to one side of the table. 

With the large slice of cake removed, we could see ant tunnels throughout the cake.  Apparently these industrious ants had found an entrance to the bakery display case and in just a few hours had set up house in my cake.

I closed the box on the cake and ants and folded it inside a plastic bag.  By then it was late.  I was tired, Onanong was tired so we just left the cake, thinking the ants were trapped inside the bag.

I slept in until sunrise the next morning.  As the sky grew bright enough for me to see easily in the room, I climbed from bed and opened the laptop.  The Macbook Pro powered up while I brushed my teeth.  Then sipping a cup of hot tea I opened my email program and began downloading mail from the night before, which time is daytime in the USA and Britain.

I noticed a few of those red ants crawling near the laptop and brushed them to the floor.  As I waited for the email to download the laptop screen began to get strange colors and missing spots.  Clearly something was wrong.  I jammed a USB memory stick into a port and as fast as possible began transferring my most important files, those I knew were not backed up on my backup drive.

As I finished and ejected the small memory stick my laptop screen was turning some awful blue and orange colors one pixel at a time.  I just sat and watched the computer turn to garbage.  Finally I turned it off .  Then knowing what I would find I picked the dead thing up and began shaking it.  Perhaps 50 or 100 red ants swarmed out and ran in circles on the table top.

I was too disgusted with myself to bother the ants.  I ignored them as they swarmed around the table searching for their next portable home.  I looked at Onanong, shrugged my shoulders, said “let’s go change this for a cake with no ants”.  I grabbed the ant riddled cake and headed for the door.  Onanong was quiet, waiting for me to explode in anger.  But how can you blame ants for searching out all those warm crumbs of food that had accumulated in the spaces on the keyboard between the keys. 

There’s probably more than one lesson in this story, but I never bothered to try and figure out what I should have learned from the incident.  I found new cake without ants.  I eventually bought a new laptop.  I still eat too many sandwiches and salads while I write on this laptop.  I do try to put it away in the carry bag at night when I’m traveling.

Ants Attack my Laptop

November 2011 and I found myself walking across the widest part of Thailand.  For about half the walk my Thai friend, Onanong accompanied me.  While it is not too unusual to see a backpacker in Thailand, it is unusual to see them actually walking with a goal other than to drag their packs from one guesthouse to another as they move down the road a hundred yards from one guesthouse to another. 

It is even more unusual to see Thai people walking any lengthy distance.  On this stretch of highway Onanong was walking along with me.  She is a tiny woman, standing 150 cm (4’-11” ) and weighing just 42 kilos ( 92 pound).  Her backpack perched high on her back seems larger than her when she walks in front of me. 

We were walking from the city of Phitsanilok toward Sukhothai the ancient capital city of the Kingdom of Siam.  Part of the road wound perilously through the mountains, a narrow, winding thread of concrete that at some places had no shoulder so we were forced to walk on the roadway or on a steep and slippery dropoff. 

This stretch of road was really dangerous.  I had visions of a car or bus careening around a corned and just knocking me and Onanong off the edge of the cliff like roadside.  We couldn’t walk on the opposite side of the road, because the road was blasted and carved into the rock mountainside.  We could not risk being caught between the sheer vertical rock face and some careless driver. 

To add to our visibility I took a broken branch and used the sturdy stick like a flagpole to tie a bright blue shirt onto the end of it.  I carried this makeshift flag so that it stuck up higher than my pack, fluttering in the breeze.

“Keith, what is that for?” Onanong asked as I cobbled together this makeshift warning device.  I explained it was so drivers might see us better.  Then in characteristic Thai fashion she didn’t say much more about my warning flag.  However as we started walking again, I noticed Onanong was lagging behind me a bit.  The gap of 10 yards made it seem as if she wasn’t really with me.

Later that day Onanong confessed I embarrassed her carrying the flag.  The entire idea of walking and sleeping in strange people’s yard was quite embarrassing to Onanong.  So much so, that when she walked with me, we generally found some National Park campground or a guesthouse or lodge to room at overnight.  Only when I was walking alone did I sleep in yards, schoolyards and on some temple grounds.

For me this adventure was a challenge of the physical kind.  Walking 5 to 15 miles, day after day, carrying a backpack when the temperature was pushing 100 degrees in the shade was tough for me.  Getting up in the morning, eating a banana and then waiting while the Ibuprofen eased the pains in my body enough that I could get up and carry the pack again was challenging for me.

The mental difficulties that Onanong faced as a devout Thai woman trying to throw off the cultural shackles of 2000 years of history, to do something beyond the comprehension of the average Thai was far more difficult a challenge to overcome.  Whenever a friendly driver would stop and offer us a ride, Onanong was forced to face the same barrage of questions each time.  “Pi, you need a ride?  Are you walking because you cannot afford to buy a ticket on the bus?  Are you okay?  Is this farang (foreigner) forcing you to walk so he can save money on bus fare?  You want to go to Myanmar, why don’t you ride?”

Onanong’s challenge was of the mind, something far more difficult to overcome than the few aches and pains I suffered with during our walk.  She could not swallow 2 Ibupropen then wait 15 minutes for the embarrassment to go away.  It dogged her every footstep.

Onanong wants to say a few words about this walk.  Here is what she has to say.

Haji Ajmal Shamali, The Loudspeaker and Me

My friend and Afghanistan Presidential candidate Haji Ajmal Shamali is a quietly devout man.  While living in quarters provided by Ajmal in Kabul in 2009, I came to Ajmal as a person who walks quietly, but carries a deep and profound love for his religion and for his country within him.

At the time I lived in a room on the second floor of a house that is situated next to his business office compound.  Next to the office compound is a mosque.  As with all mosques this one has a speaker mounted on a tall steel pole.  The mullah’s prayers are broadcast on the speakers.

The first of five daily prayers take place one hour before sunrise.  The mullah announces his call to prayer loudly via the loudspeaker.  The first night I slept in that room I was awakened at around 5:00 a.m. by what sounded to me like a man standing in my bedroom and shouting at me.

I leapt from my sleeping pallet wondering if I was being attacked.  My first thought was that armalan, my night time bodyguard must have fallen asleep or been knocked out.  Spinning around in the dark room in a ridiculous parody of some Kung fu fighter, I found  nobody there.

Then I realized the sound was outside my bedroom window.  Gazing out I saw a big rusty speaker mounted on a pole at the elevation of my window and seemingly aimed directly into my window.  For the next month, I woke every morning at the same time to the mullah’s call to morning prayer coming to me in a loud thin sound that vibrated as if the loudspeaker were about to come apart.

Then one morning there was no prayer call.  I slept until awoken by daylight, around 6:00 a.m.  The speaker had come apart and was no longer functioning.  When I went down to the office I mentioned to Ajmal that I had slept in because there was no morning prayer over the loudspeaker.  He shrugged and said thank you.  I wondered why he would say thank you, but then I sat at my desk and began my work day, thinking no more about the loudspeaker.

The next few mornings were – for me anyway – blissfully quiet.  I can honestly say I did not miss the loud 5:00 a.m. wake up call. 

Then on a cool morning, with the sky still black and sprinkled by thousands of tiny stars, the call to morning prayer once again blasted into my bedroom.  I again leaped from the floor, but this time I knew I was not being attacked.  On this morning the sound was much louder than before.  The thin tinny quality was gone and I could actually understand what was being said over the speaker.

When Ajmal arrived at the office later, I mentioned to him that the loudspeaker was back to working again.  I told him it sounded louder and much clearer.  My good friend smiled and then told me that Yes he had gone immediately to he mosque and made arrangements for a new and better speaker to be installed.

I smiled and went back to my desk where i buried my mind in the work on the computer screen.  But later that night, as I lay in bed reviewing the day’s activities I smiled once more as I compared Haji Ajmal Shamali’s response to the broken loudspeaker to what my response had been.

Working closely with this man day after day without him ever preaching to me one time, has made me more introspective about my own religious beliefs.

Whale sharks move away from Donsol

I first visited Donsol in 2005, to snorkel with whale sharks there.  The locals call these sharks butanding.  On the first day, I was surprised as the 6 swimmers in my boat ended the day having snorkeled with 4 or 5 different butanding.  We disagreed about one whale shark, whether it was the same as the first one we had been in the water with.

My second day on the water was a repeat performance, with many whale sharks being seen and 3 or 4 that we swam with during our 3 hour boat trip.  We passed other butanding who were either going away from us or who were already “taken” by another boat.

Last year I heard some rumors that the whale sharks had not returned as usual.  But this was something nobody wanted to talk much about.  I took no groups there either of the last two years so I did not really have first hand knowledge.

In the Philippine newspaper, the Inquirer, an article just a few days ago finally confirmed those rumors.

As I write this it is July 26 and the whale shark (butanding) tourist season in the Philippines has mostly come to an end.  Tourist income is reported by the Philippine Inquirer to be down by 50% from around 4 million pesos two years ago to only 2 million so far this year. 

Donsol is a small town of 47,000 located in a distant and relatively undeveloped region.  The community is surely feeling the pain of losing half their income.

There were only two butanding spotted during a substantial part of this snorkeling season and last year was similar. The drop in whale sharks to swim with obviously led to the drop in tourists coming to Donsol to snorkel alongside whale sharks.

Why are most of the whale sharks gone?  The number one most likely cause is pollution diminishing the available plankton supply near to shore, forcing the butanding to feed further offshore.  Everywhere I travel in the Philippines, I see housing built out over rivers, no provisions for sewage.  The rivers are all polluted here without exception, some to the stage of being nothing more than black, oily, trash clogged breeding grounds for mosquitoes and disease.

Malapascua Island where I live in a simple bamboo hut or bahay kubo as it is called here, has no rivers.  This small island of about 6 square miles has only 3,000 inhabitants.  There are no rivers, so sewage and most trash disposed of in a sanitary way.  The ocean is water is clean and still provides a great place to dive.

If Donsol wants its tourist industry to recover, the local government needs to act immediately to clean up the rivers that flow into the ocean in the area the butanding normally congregate to feed.  When the sharks do return, the tourism officials then need to more closely regulate the snorkeling encounters.  It is not the tourists’ actions that may place stress on the whale sharks, but the unrestrained large flow of boats and swimmers.

There is speculation in the Inquirer news article that the 40 permitted boats carrying up to 6 passengers each that ply the shore near Donsol could be responsible by causing stress upon the feeding animals.  Swimming tourists and poorly captained boats frequently cross too close in front of feeding whale sharks, causing them to turn or change direction and disrupting their normally calm feeding methods.

In an effort to satisfy all comers, the number of boats that go out from the Donsol boat office is limited primarily by the number of tourists who arrive wanting to go out on the boats.  A more orderly and restrictive schedule needs to be developed.  A schedule plan that places less pressure on the animals.  Perhaps limiting the number of boats allowed out with snorkelers to 6 or 8 boats at any time would help reduce the interference and stress upon the feeding butanding.

This might mean that some tourists who arrive without reservations would be forced to wait an extra day.  Or they might only get to go out in the afternoon, missing the best morning snorkel time.  This seems like a small price to pay compared to chasing the animals away from their normal feeding area and thus out of reach of the boats.

I suspect the economic pressures upon the local government will divert attention away from these two stressors – pollution and stress from too many boats.  Rather I imagine all entities involved will erroneously jump on the Global Warming bandwagon.  The Inquirer article has paved the way.  It will be easy and politically correct right now to blame all the ills of the environment upon Global Warming.  But it is not an accurate assessment of what is really happening at this moment.

The Inquirer listed warming water due to Global Warming as the most likely cause of the whale sharks changing their long held feeding grounds. But the water temps at 28 to 29 degrees Celsius (about 84 Fahrenheit) are nearly perfect for whale sharks.  

It has been my experience with whale sharks at various locations around the world over the last 10 years that when the water temperature drops below 80 degrees F. the whale sharks become difficult to find.  When I do find them in cooler water they are swimming faster and frequently deeper, making it almost impossible to have an excellent snorkeling encounter with one of them.

I think global warming is being blamed for too many bad environmental events that are not caused by this phenomenon.  This current situation in Donsol is a prime example of the Global Warming alarm misdirecting attention from more immediate and very real concerns.

Whale Watching 1

http://www.bajajonesadventures.com 562) 889-4016 Whale watching around the world and in Baja california. Baja Jones is the only sponsor of this, the world's largest gray whale information website. Join Keith (Baja) Jones on a whale watching trip. Rub noses with a friendly whale!

Keith (Baja) Jones is an avid writer about Baja travel and about gray whales. Every winter you will find him in Baja, somewhere near the Gray Whales. As the founder of Baja Jones Adventurers, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands, he has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world.


Since 1992 Baja Jones has logged over 3000 hours observing the whales of Baja, while sitting in pangas, on the various lagoons and ocean waters of Baja California, Mexico. Keith has also logged more than 100,000 miles driving the Baja Highway #1 and the many side roads along the way. We believe our leader is the most knowledgeable person currently working as a gray whale watching guide in Mexico.

His writing and photos have been published in a dozen countries and scores of magazines, newspapers and websites. He corresponds with hundreds of writers, environmental activists, biologists, researchers, scientists, students and other whale enthusiasts each year. Each issue of our newsletter is read by several thousand people. Keith recently wrote the Gray whale section for the "Lonely Planets Guide to Cabo and Baja" and the Baja Desert section for The Sanford Travel Guide

Africa Safari 1

http://www.bajajonesadventures.com (562) 889-4016 Planning an African safari? Let us help you. At Baja Travel, we strive to make your African Safari the experience of a lifetime.

Keith (Baja) Jones is an avid writer about Baja travel and about gray whales. Every winter you will find him in Baja, somewhere near the Gray Whales. As the founder of Baja Jones Adventurers, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands, he has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world.

Since 1992 Baja Jones has logged over 3000 hours observing the whales of Baja, while sitting in pangas, on the various lagoons and ocean waters of Baja California, Mexico. Keith has also logged more than 100,000 miles driving the Baja Highway #1 and the many side roads along the way. We believe our leader is the most knowledgeable person currently working as a gray whale watching guide in Mexico.

His writing and photos have been published in a dozen countries and scores of magazines, newspapers and websites. He corresponds with hundreds of writers, environmental activists, biologists, researchers, scientists, students and other whale enthusiasts each year. Each issue of our newsletter is read by several thousand people. Keith recently wrote the Gray whale section for the "Lonely Planets Guide to Cabo and Baja" and the Baja Desert section for The Sanford Travel Guide.

African Gorilla Trek

http://www.bajajonesadventures.com (562) 889-4016 For an unforgettable, life-changing experience, try gorilla trekking. This is a unique adventure in the heart of Africa's most spectacular rainforests. No matter how short or long the trek, spending time in the company of a gorilla family guarantees that the journey will be extraordinary.

Keith (Baja) Jones is an avid writer about Baja travel and about gray whales. Every winter you will find him in Baja, somewhere near the Gray Whales. As the founder of Baja Jones Adventurers, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands, he has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. Now those adventures continue in Africa.

Since 1992 Baja Jones has logged over 3000 hours observing the whales of Baja, while sitting in pangas, on the various lagoons and ocean waters of Baja California, Mexico. Keith has also logged more than 100,000 miles driving the Baja Highway #1 and the many side roads along the way. We believe our leader is the most knowledgeable person currently working as a gray whale watching guide in Mexico.

His writing and photos have been published in a dozen countries and scores of magazines, newspapers and websites. He corresponds with hundreds of writers, environmental activists, biologists, researchers, scientists, students and other whale enthusiasts each year. Each issue of our newsletter is read by several thousand people. Keith recently wrote the Gray whale section for the "Lonely Planets Guide to Cabo and Baja" and the Baja Desert section for The Sanford Travel Guide.

Whale Watching Trip With Baja Jones Adventures

This is a trip description written by a happy Baja Jones Adventures whale watcher. President's Day Weekend Whale watching trip with Baja Jones Adventures.

We had to be awake and at the van at 4:30 am to leave from San Diego for our whale watching tour to Baja, Mexico. The driver said we leave this early to avoid the traffic in

San Diego and Ensenada as we drive south. The drive was long, but interesting. Our lunch stop included an interesting cave painting site located high on the side of a

mountain.

Our first full day in Mexico began with breakfast at a small local café called Puerto Viejo (The old Port). Our group of 8 met for breakfast at 7:00 AM. Everyone was excited. I was bubbling with energy as we enjoyed Spanish omelets, tortillas and hot cakes.

I left the restaurant and walked to the van that would carry us to the Bay. I noticed heavy fog surrounding the town. I wondered if we could whale watch with fog like that. Maybe I said something out loud, because Baja Jones (Keith to all of us) spoke up and said that fog is a good thing. He explained that fog meant there would be no wind. The fog would be gone by the time we loaded into the boats and because there would be no wind, it would be warm and a very nice day. This forecast proved to be quite accurate. We arrived at the boat embarkation point, a place called Punta Mariscal, at around 8:30 AM. There we received life jackets and clambered onboard the waiting fiberglass launch. Once everyone was seated the boat driver quickly backed away from the dock

and headed slowly from shore.

Even before arriving at the Area #3 whale watching zone we could see dozens of whale spouts from inside the van. Once we stopped and were all outside the van we could even see some whales who raised up out of the water in an act called spy hopping.

Loading into the boats is an interesting experience here. There is no dock. Only a shallow sloping muddy seashore. We loaded into the back of an old blue pickup truck and then the driver drove out into the water where the boat captain was standing in knee deep water, holding the boat steady.

We stepped from the tailgate of the pickup truck onto a seat in the boat. As soon as all of us were onboard, the captain pushed the bow toward the whales, and climbed into

the boat himself.

Then we slowly motored away from shore, as our boat driver carefully found a channel through the mudflats. Within 5 minutes we were in deeper water and surrounded by

blowing whales.

At first we shouted and pointed at every whale spout. But soon we stopped because there were so many it quickly became “normal” to see a whale swim up from below and blow a spray of water 10 or 20 meters from our craft.

The day progressed with continued whale spouts and an occasional jumping whale. We enjoyed this experience for about 45 minutes. Somebody later said they thought themorning started slowly. They thought maybe the entire trip would be just like that.

But this all changed in just moments, when a huge gray whale slowly moved toward our boat. Keith saw the whale coming to our right side and said that this whale was going to come closer. It continued to approach, then sank beneath the water and swam under our boat. The whale was longer than our boat by almost twice. She was also wider than our boat and we could look over the left or the right side and see her floating directly below us. Her back never touched the boat, but it was almost frightening to me.

I think Keith grew excited by this because suddenly he leaned way over the side and plunged his arm down into the water. His arm and his blue jacket sleeve disappeared beneath the water, almost to his armpit. After a moment he threw his arm up and as water poured from his jacket he shouted something. Telling us all that he had touched the whale underwater. This started a rush, as all 8 of us pushed to the one side of the boat. The boat tipped up on it's side as if it would roll over. Keith moved to the opposite side and told us it was okay to try and pet that whale.

For another hour, that seemed like only 5 minutes we took turns touching, rubbing and even kissing this wonderful animal. After an experience like that how could we possible do better? Keith insisted we should think about this as a great individual experience. He said we should not try to compare it to tomorrow because we could have a different, but equally as great experience tomorrow.

I'm going to bed now. It's 9:00 pm. The sun and water tired me out. I'll surely dream of some jumping whales tonight.

Laura Soleil

Writing from Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Scammon's Lagoon)

Baja California Sur, Mexico

February 12, 2010

Confessions of a Bamboo Thief

 My work as a tour guide takes me to so many interesting places.  One of my favorite places is China.  China’s a huge country, with slightly less land area than the USA, but 4 times the population. 

When I’m in China, I always take my tour groups to a panda breeding preserve where we perform a few days of volunteering.  My tour group members work alongside the panda keepers as the keepers go about their daily chores of caring for several pandas.  Cleaning cages, feeding and monitoring activity of the pandas in their care are the regular daily tasks.

 

Feeding and clean up always involves taking out the bamboo from the day before and bringing another 50 pounds of fresh bamboo.  The bamboo is trucked in fresh daily because pandas are great connoisseurs of bamboo.  If bamboo is not fresh, the pandas will not eat it.  If it is too dry they will not eat it.  If it is too old when cut, they will not eat it.  They can be quite fussy about their bamboo and the preserve staff has learned to accommodate this finicky diet.

There was a time in the 1970s and 1980s when uneaten; one or two day old bamboo was not removed from the panda enclosures.  Bamboo was and is expensive to truck in to the panda preserves daily.  The old drying bamboo was left in the panda enclosures for several days if uneaten, for the pandas to eat or not.  Panda keepers just thought that pandas would only eat one or two varieties of bamboo.  The world thought that pandas were just too finicky about their diet.

We know better now.  Pandas will eat any of some 35 varieties of bamboo.  But it must be fresh, like homemade bread is best eaten fresh from the oven.  Old bamboo just won’t do for these bamboo gourmands. 

Around the panda preserves at Wolong and Bifengxia are groves of bamboo. These are grown for landscaping and decorative purposes and are not put there to be used as panda food.  The bamboo for pandas is purchased from local farmers who are contracted to grow and harvest fresh bamboo.

But this contracted bamboo comes to the preserves a day after cutting, perhaps two days after being cut.  The pandas recognize this difference between fresh bamboo they harvest as they eat, but they learn to accept this harvested bamboo, which is kept covered and moist until it arrives in the morning for delivery by the panda keepers to the panda enclosures. 

 

Several times I helped panda keepers sneak into these ornamental bamboo groves to illicitly harvest tasty, moist fresh young bamboo for some special panda.  This might be some panda who was not eating well or who was recovering from one of the frequent stomach disorders the captive pandas suffer.

While my friend the panda keeper would casually slip into the grove of 6 foot or 7 foot high bamboo, her knife hidden in her jacket, I would play lookout.  Then quickly as possible the panda keeper would harvest a dozen 4 foot long fresh young bamboo stalks and we would quick walk back to the panda enclosure. The grateful panda would always chow down on that illicit bamboo like it was 20 year old bourbon during prohibition.

Once given to the panda the evidence would disappear in 15 minutes.  This illicit cutting of the bamboo was considered a minor infraction of the work rules. Something akin to a parking meter violation vs. the more serious crime of drunk driving. 

The punishment for this illicit cutting of decorative bamboo would have been for the panda keeper to take on some extra work duty.  Work such as working a double day and then night shift during the panda mating season.  Or perhaps taking over the work of a sick or vacationing panda keeper while also continuing the care of her own 2 or 3 pandas.

What I have to wonder right now, is if as a self-confessed bamboo thief, when I go for my next visit to Bifengxia in October will I be penalized and given double panda poop scooping duty?

Photo below: The man responsible for catching bamboo thieves. . . . .

 

Mr. Han, my good friend and the head panda keeper responsible for all of the panda keepers at Wolong until 2008. He has had the same and added responsibility at Bifengxia since the 2008 earthquake.

Here What’s on My Bag

With the airlines beginning to tighten their enforcement of carry on rules I thought I would pass along what I carry on the plane. The difficult choices we must make are those items we cannot live without and that are too expensive to replace if they get damaged in the check in luggage. I once put a nice Nikon camera safely in the center of a checked bag, wrapped in bubble foam and then padded by T-shirts and socks only to find the attached lens cap and UV filter destroyed. I was lucky the camera and lens survived.

Well here’s what’s usually in my carry-on bag. I took these photos after arriving in the USA on my last trip back from the Philippines.

 

Begin in the top left corner of the photo and working clockwise.

A lightweight sport windbreaker that roll into a small, roll to easily slide into the bottom of the backpack that I use as my carry-on bag.

Small tube of roll on waterproof sunscreen spf 50

Tic Tac breath mints

Cell phone

Headlamp

Small Ziploc baggie with toilet paper and napkins folded in it. An empty Ziploc is also folded inside this storage baggie to hold my dirty socks if I change socks on the plane. Also inside the T.P. baggie are a few IBprofen, a couple Imodium AD and a couple tagament in a small plastic bottle. One extra pair of warm clean dry socks

A can of Pringles. Crushable foldable hat. Sunglasses inside a hard shell carry case. When traveling from Asia to USA or back I customarily put the hat and sunglasses in my checked bag.

My laptop is inside a cushioned case that slides into a cushioned pocket in the backpack. Thus providing two layers of padding for my precious laptop. I usually carry the laptop charger and cord in the carry on not in checked luggage.

A fabric money bag that can hang from my neck by a cord, but normally just lay in the bottom of the backpack. Inside this bag I carry small sums money from the countries I’m traveling through, a few extra passport size photos for visas, my frequent flier cards, and my California driver’s license. My passport when traveling is in a special easy to access pocket inside the backpack or in my shirt pocket.

A small but really terrific Kodak video camera that is waterproof to 15 feet. The small digital camera I used to take the photos for this article, which is a Canon Power, shot A3100.

A thermal drink cup with lid ($1.00 at 7-11 or Starbuck’s) inside the cup I carry a Ziploc baggie filled with sweetener and tea bags. You can usually get hot water for free on the plane simply by walking to the galley and asking. Easier and faster than waiting for the food service. With this large cup you can actually drink some tea, not just have a sip or two like you get with those tiny plastic airline cups that they only fill halfway. Sometimes I add a couple Snickers bars to this tea service bag.

A notebook and several pens in different colors with waterproof gel ink so the ink doesn’t run if my notebook gets wet.

My kindle eBook reader I still use the cheap and simple black and white model because I only use this for reading books. This and my laptop are two of the most important items I carry.

A backpacker’s headlamp for reading. Frequently the lighting on airplanes is misdirected or cannot be adjusted so as to shine where I want the light.

 

Sometimes I carry maps in my carry-on bag if I’m going somewhere new and I want to make notes while I’m on the flight.

I almost never carry liquids in my carry-on bag. If traveling to an area with mosquitoes I will place a small spray tube of DEET repellent in my bag so I can dose up before leaving the plane. I might carry roll on style sunscreen in tube if I will be going directly into hot bright sunlight when I land. Otherwise I don’t carry sunscreen onto the plane.

I brush my teeth either using the miniature tubes of toothpaste provided by the airline or I brush without toothpaste. I just use the salt packet from my airline meal and sprinkle that onto a wet toothbrush.

In addition to this day pack as my carry-on bag I normally also carry my Nikon SLR camera with the zoom lens mounted onto the camera body in a smallish camera bag that becomes my “personal” item as customarily allowed.

This carry on back pack was purchased at Costco. I looked for months all over the world for a quality bag that had a cushioned laptop pocket, a separate large pouch or pocket and some small pouches and pockets to tuck away various items. This bag is now 3 years old and appears almost new. I carry it every day as I walk so I’m quite pleased with the bag.

I hope this helps you when planning your next adventure.

Keith Jones

Writing this morning in Covina, California

March 19, 2013

Author Bio:

Keith Jones is the founder of Baja Jones Adventures, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands and has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. He specializes in gray whale tour, blue whale tour, gray and blue whale combo tour, giant panda bear tour, walk a tiger tour, shark tour, African safari tour, African gorilla trek, arctic narwhal tour and Magdalena Bay whale watching tour. He also writes about Baja travel and gray whales. Keith Jones is the author of Gray Whales My Twenty Years of Discovery.

Everything You Need to Know About Tacos When Traveling in Baja California

Here are the basic styles of tacos with the names as you will see them at the various taco stands and restaurants in Baja. Most of the tacos named below can also be ordered as a torta. Tortas are Mexican sandwiches prepared on some tasty bread rolls.

When handed or served your taco across the counter at a small taco stand, traditionally the corn (mais) or flour (harina) tortilla will be laid flat on a plate and have a serving of the meat you ordered placed in the center of the tortilla. Some taco stands cover the plate with a plastic bag so the plates don’t get dirty and are easier to wash.

You then pick one soft taco up in one hand, ( I use my left hand) folding the tortilla into a U shape with the meat held inside the U. Then you use the condiment rack or tray and spoon the various toppings onto the meat to make your taco a finished product.

Condiment options include salsa fresca (onion, tomato, celantro mixed fresh as needed), a finely chopped cabbage, liquidy guacamole, spicy hot (picante) salsas, sliced limes and sometimes other extras. The better taco stands will also have grilled chilies, along with slices of cucumber and round red radishes that are free with the tacos.

It is customary at taco stands to first order your food, to then eat and to finally pay before leaving. Most taco stands don’t write your orders on paper so each customer is on his or her honor to tell the money taker who finally tallies their bill, the true quantity of food and drinks consumed. Frequently the drinks are in an ice box or a glass fronted refrigerator and the customers simply grab what they want and pay with the food. No cheating at the taco stands please.

A typical taco order sounds like this in Spanish: “Dos tacos de carne asada con harina”. This is saying two carne asada tacos with flour tortillas. Or you might order “Dos tacos de pescado con mais”, which would be two fish tacos with corn tortillas.

When you eat inside a Mexican restaurant you are usually served a bowl of corn chips (totopas) and some salsa. When eating at a taco stand, you almost never get served chips. But there are an infinite variety of taco stands and service. My favorite taco stand in Loreto is called La Pangalapa. This place servee chips at your table before the tacos and condiment tray are delivered. It is a sort of upscale taco stand with sit down tables, a large covered dining area, two pretty sisters serving and taking orders and wide variety of soft drinks, beer and hard liquor.

Taco stands come in all styles and sizes. There are small portable stands where the meat is cooked and the tacos prepared on a small wheeled cart. There are small fixed stands just large enough for the cook to stand behind the counter. There are very large stands that can have half a dozen or more workers. There are taco stands housed inside catering trucks.

Most stands specialize in one or two varieties of tacos. A typical taco stand might have carne asada and pollo tacos, but not have fish tacos. Most often birria tacos are at specialized birreria stands. Frequently fish tacos are served at a stand specializing in seafood. A taco stand featuring fish tacos might also have seafood cocktails and ceviche available. Pangalapa, in Loreto is like this. They have seafood cocktails (pulpo – octobpus, camaron – shrimp and almejas –clam) and excellent fish ceviche along with shrimp tacos. Pangalapa sometimes has carne asada tacos, but not always.

Each taco stand keeps its own hours of operation. Sometimes there are two stands side by side, but the two stands are open at different times of the day. Sometimes several stands are lined up in a row, with each stand serving some different style of tacos.

A variation on the taco is the authentic Mexican burrito. These burritos look nothing like an American style burrito. What we in America think of as a burrito is now commonly referred to in Baja as a “super burrito”.

An authentic burrito can be made with either corn or flour tortilla, but is more commonly made with flour tortillas. The flat tortilla has some beef, machaca or beans and ranch cheese spread on and then is rolled into a long thin tube. These burritos do not have rice, salsa, sour cream, lettuce or tomatoes rolled inside. When those toppings are placed inside the authentic burrito becomes an American style super burrito.

In the USA we have something called a taquito, which is a corn tortilla rolled up with meat or beans inside and then fried to a crispy light brown. The authentic Mexican tortilla resembles a taquito, but is not fried and is filled with tasty meat or beans, not some kind of fake soy filled ground beef.

Taco varieties:

Carne asada: This is a flat pancake thin piece of beef (flank steak) that is chopped into small 1/8 to 2inch square pieces and then is spread onto the taco. Asada means seasoned and this is usually cooked on a charcoal barbeque. Carne asada meat seasoned and prepared by placing a layer of beef in the bottom of a pan, then some salt and maybe some onion and chili peppers, then alternating layers of beef and this seasoning. This is “seasoned” overnight in the refrigerator and then the beef is fried on a grill or barbeque and then chopped into taco size pieces.

Machaca: Dried beef that is purchased from the butcher shop pre-seasoned with the peppers and onion. While made by hundreds of different cooks and butchers across Baja, the flavor of machaca is remarkably consistent. One of my favorite rolled burritos is the machaca burrito.

Adobada: When you see a large ham or pork leg reddish in color being slowly turned in a manner similar to shawarma with a ceramic gas flame on one side of this upright spitted ham, then you are seeing adobada being prepared. The pork is slightly sweet from an infusion of pineapple. The ham on the skewer has been sliced paper thin in both a horizontal and vertical direction. The cook slowly turns the meat as a gas burner cooks the outside of this big ham. As meat is cooked properly the cook uses a sharp knife to peel thin layers into the metal pan that is beneath the skewer. This meat is then placed on your tortilla. If you like cooked ham you will enjoy this taco.

Pescado or fish: The type of fish varies throughout Mexico, but is always a white fleshed boneless variety of fish fillet. On the west coast of Baja in the north and central regions of Baja the most common fish is probably sea bass or corbina. On the east coast yellowtail tuna or dorado are common. Small pieces of this fish fillet are dipped in a batter and then deep fried. Two or three pieces of this battered fish will be placed on to your tortilla. Absolutely a must try if you enjoy fish and chips.

Pollo: Chicken fillets that are shredded and then placed onto your tortilla.

De cabeza: Cabeza means head in Spanish. Yes these are the “head of a cow” tacos. To prepare the meat the head of a cow is placed onto a specialized steam table. A heavy canvas is laid over the top of the cow head. Some spices and seasonings are added beneath the canvas. Then the head is steamed until the meat is thoroughly cooked. The cook slices or spoons pieces of this meat onto your tortillas. Frequently the entire head is on display beneath the steam cloth at the taco stand.

Dorado: Nope these are not dorado fish tacos. A dorado taco is beef or chicken filling rolled into a tortilla and looking like an American “taquito”. There is no such thing as a taquito in Baja. This rolled meat taco is then fried lightly and served on a plate, usually three of these to a serving. This is restaurant, not taco stand food. Normally served with guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and tomato.

A staple for fishermen and lovingly prepared by their wives are machaca and bean &cheese rolled burritos. A foil wrapped package of 6 or 12 of these burritos will be handed to the fishermen by his wife as he leaves home in the early morning heading out for a hard day of work on the water.

Quesadiilla: Flour tortilla filled with white ranch cheese, folded in half and then grilled to melt the cheese.

Sincrinazado: This is a quesadilla with beef or pork added to the cheese filling.

Milaneza: Beef is breaded and fried in bite sized pieces. Two or three pieces are placed onto a tortilla.

Birria: NO this is not burro meat. This is a style of preparing goat meat for tacos or tortas. This goat meat will usually be oily and reddish in color from the chili and spices used in the sauce. Birreria this is the sign frequently seen on street vendor stands that basically means “goat meat restaurant”.

While this description of taco making is a bit long winded, after reading this you can be assured that when you approach any taco stand you will now be quickly known as the “taco expert” of your group.

Link to the youtube video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCc9kDu6rHE

Buen provecha

Author Bio:
Keith Jones is the founder of Baja Jones Adventures, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands and has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. He specializes in gray whale tour, blue whale tour, gray and blue whale combo tour, giant panda bear tour, walk a tiger tour, shark tour, African safari tour, African gorilla trek, arctic narwhal tour and Magdalena Bay whale watching tour. He also writes about Baja travel and gray whales. Keith Jones is the author of Gray Whales My Twenty Years of Discovery.