Day 61 – I Almost Feel Badly Talking About Brazil Today…

So as I said yesterday, today I’m going to finish talking about the seven natural wonders of the world. I’ve already discussed six of them, and the last wonder on the list is the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (also known as Guanabara Bay). Those of you who have been paying attention to the World Cup know that Brazil lost horribly to Germany in the semifinal today. Germany scored seven goals to Brazil’s one, which is almost unheard of in soccer. And to make matters worse for Brazil, the game was in Brazil. Of course, Mr. Coffeebeans and Baby Girl were excited since Mr. Coffeebeans is German. Well, Baby Girl didn’t really understand why she was excited, but Daddy was so she was!

Despite Brazil’s humiliating soccer defeat today, I’m still going to talk about the last natural wonder I haven’t discussed- the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro means “January River.” The Portuguese explorers who discovered the Harbor named it for the date they discovered it- January 1^st (in 1502). It’s not actually a river, though, but rather a huge bay. This Harbor is the largest bay in the world based on water, and was created by erosion from the Atlantic Ocean. Granite mountains surround the Harbor, including the famous Sugar Loaf Mountain, from which you can see panoramic views of the Harbor. Visitors can see the Harbor by air tour, boat tour, or traveling to the top of one of the mountain peaks overlooking it.

The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro is interesting among the seven natural wonders list, because instead of being in a remote or very natural location like most of the other wonders, it is in a big city. This means that it can be harder to have a “natural” world experience when visiting this wonder, but it also means visitors can see a natural wonder while enjoying the culture and comforts of a big city. You can read more about the Harbor here: http://sevennaturalwonders.org/the-original/harbour-of-rio-de-janeiro/ and here: http://www.unmuseum.org/7wonders/rio.htm

That’s it for this month and the Natural Wonders! Stay tuned tomorrow for the start of a new month and new topic!

Xoxo,

Diana

Days 44-47: Catch-up Time! More Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Canyonlands, and Arches!

I haven’t been able to upload my blog for a few days since the WiFi at our campground has been either nonexistent or not working, so I have a lot to catch up on! The “Coffee Bean Dreams” project is at an interesting point, anyways, since I’m lucky enough to be taking this road trip vacation, and my morning coffee reflections are being done at actual locations of natural beauty rather than just reading about them online. So here is a quick catch-up on what we’ve been doing. I tried to shorten it a bit since it’s several days rolled into one blog, but it still turned out kind of long!

Day 44 (June 21^st) – We visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. On the first day we did the Rim Trail. Portions of it are paved so we took Amelie in the stroller so that she would be nice and shaded, since it was sunny and hot! There are portions of the path that are not paved and don’t work with the stroller, so we took the free shuttle between those. I do have some baby carriers that I like to hike with her in, but it’s so hot right now that having her wrapped up in a carrier and right against me was just too much heat. It was not as adventurous as some hikes I’ve done in the past, but it was beautiful nonetheless, and I didn’t have to worry about Baby Girl getting too much sun or getting too hot. In the evening the temperatures at the Rim dropped significantly, and I ended up even putting on a hoodie while we watched the sunset over the canyon, which was one of the most spectacular sunsets I’ve ever seen! On the second day we were at the Grand Canyon, we checked out the desert view side, which had some great views as well. We didn’t spend as much time there, though, because we just drove the road and stopped at the lookout points instead of hiking- we wanted to get to our next stop, Monument Valley, before dark!

Enjoying Sunset and cooler temperatures at the Grand Canyon's South Rim

I should mention, since I’ve been talking about the seven wonders of the natural world, that the Grand Canyon is on the list! The Grand Canyon, while not the steepest or longest canyon in the world, is on the list because of its overall size and scale and beautifully colored landscape. It’s 277 miles long, has widths ranging from 4-18 miles, and a depth of over one mile. It was formed by erosion from the Colorado river over millions of years. You can read more about the Grand Canyon here: http://sevennaturalwonders.org/the-original/grand-canyon/ and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon. I feel very lucky to have been able to see this beautiful canyon, and have seen one of the seven wonders of the natural world!

Day 45 (June 22^nd) – Today we explored Monument Valley, which is located in Utah right near the Arizona/Utah border. Monument Valley is essentially a series of huge rocks jutting up into the landscape. It’s pretty incredible to see. The rocks are at various stages of erosion: mesas are the first stage of erosion and are wide, stable rocks that look like tables; buttes are the second stage of erosion and are smaller than mesas; and spires are the final stage of erosion and are narrow, free standing rock formations. Monument Valley has a wide range of these giant rock formations in all of these stages of erosion. The land these rocks sit on was at one time underneath the Gulf of Mexico. Through millions of years of the sea withdrawing and uplift of the Earth’s crust creating the Colorado plateau, the forces of this uplift and erosion left behind these giant rock formations and now we have Monument Valley, which, of course, is still eroding slowly today. (More on Monument Valley: http://www.navajonationparks.org/index.htm).

There is a 17 mile round-trip unpaved road that takes you right into Monument Valley. You can pay a per-car fee to do a self-guided drive of this road. The road is a little rough and very dusty. Thankfully, we had a four-wheel drive vehicle, so it was no problem. In fact, Baby Girl seemed to love the rough spots in the road, and when we went over a particularly bouncy spot, she would often laugh, which, of course, made us laugh as well! The self-guided tour was awesome- you basically travel right through and around these giant structures. It was nice to be in the air conditioned car, too, because it was HOT! We only pulled Baby out for a few quick minutes to snap a photo of her- too much sun and heat for such a little thing!

The view from our campground at Monument Valley. Not too shabby!

Driving the rough road through Monument Valley. Notice the person and cars in the photo to get a sense of scale.

A quick photo op with Baby Girl at Monument Valley

Day 46 (June 23^rd) – We drove to Canyonlands National Park in Utah and went to the Needles Portion. (The Park is divided into three areas: Needles, Island in the Sky, and The Maze: these sections are not directly connected to each other so visiting more than one in a day is pretty difficult). The Canyonlands are another area of the Colorado plateau where rock deposits and erosion have left behind impressive rocky cliffs, mesas, canyons, and river gorges. (More on the Canyonlands: http://www.nps.gov/cany/naturescience/index.htm).

There are several challenging hiking trails, and many very challenging 4x4 trails. We hiked a few easy trails and just made sure Baby was covered from the sun with her hat and a light blanket. Although I enjoy challenging hikes, those will have to wait a few years now! Honestly, though, it was so hot that maybe it was nice to have a valid “excuse” for not doing the more difficult trails! In any event, the scenery available from the trails we did and the lookout points on the scenic drive was still well worth the trip!

Canyonlands. It's hard for a picture to give a true sense of scale here.

Day 47 (June 24^th) – Today we spent the morning seeing a few more scenic outlooks in Canyonlands, and then drove to Moab, Utah because we are planning to spend some time at Arches National Park. (We spent a few minutes at Arches watching the sunset, which was gorgeous!) The Anticline Outlook at Canyonlands was beautiful, although the bugs today were out in full force. I’m not sure exactly what they are, but there are all these little gnat-like bugs that were incessantly flying around every time we got out of the car. So today’s hikes were a little short, but we did see some beautiful spots in Canyonlands. And, bonus- our new campground in Moab has working WiFi, so I can upload these updates to my blog! I must say, however, there is something nice about being completely off the grid, unconnected to the rest of the world and just enjoying nature! I’m excited to explore more of Arches tomorrow, but as you can tell, it’s been a great several days full of many opportunities to take in some truly spectacular natural beauty! 

Baby Girl and I enjoying the sunset at Balanced Rock in Arches National Park

Whew, that was a lot! I hope you enjoyed catching up on the last few days!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 43 – The Real, Live Grand Canyon!

I’m taking a break from my regularly scheduled programming today, because our vacation has started! For three weeks, we will be driving an RV around seeing some national parks! Our first stop is the Grand Canyon- we arrived last night and spent today hiking the rim trail on the south rim. I’m exhausted but it was so amazing. The Grand Canyon definitely deserves its place on the 7 Wonders of the Natural World list – the view is incredible. I’ll talk more about the Grand Canyon later, but for now, here are a few pictures from our hike today!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 41 – Surprise! Here’s a Volcano!

I’m jumping back to the seven natural wonders list today. I’m going to talk about Paricutin. Paricutin is a cinder cone volcano located in Michoacán, Mexico, about 200 miles west of Mexico City. A cinder cone volcano is a volcano formed by volcanic debris accumulating around a volcanic vent. Paricutin was named one of the natural wonders of the world because mankind witnessed its birth. It was a fast-growing volcano, reaching three-quarters of its size within its first year! In fact, the volcano reached five stories within a week! Can you imagine – one week, there’s nothing there, and the next week there’s this five story tall volcano thanks to the volcanic debris it has spewed out! At the time Paricutin was named one of the seven natural wonders of the world, it was an active volcano. Today, however, it is dormant, with its last eruption occurring in 1952. (http://sevennaturalwonders.org/the-original/paricutin/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin)

Those who want to see Paricutin can do so by taking a 12 mile round trip hike to the top of the volcano. The journey can also be made by horseback. The trail to the top takes you past lava fields and buried village homes. I’m not sure how I feel about hiking a volcano that erupted in 1952… it seems like that hasn’t been that long and I’d be worried about it erupting again. This probably shows my complete ignorance about volcanoes, however, since I would imagine that people who actually know about these things can tell if there is significant danger of the volcano erupting soon. In fact, Paricutin is believed to be a monogenetic volcano, which means that once it has finished its initial eruption it never erupts again. I think I would hike the trail if I was there… I’d just be a teensy bit nervous the whole time, haha!

What do you think? Would you climb Paricutin?

Paricutin Erupting in 1948

 Paricutin today. 

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 36 – Another Water Wonder

Continuing on with both the water and seven wonders of the natural world theme, I’m going to talk about Victoria Falls today. Who doesn’t love a good waterfall? Honestly, I think if someone doesn’t like waterfalls there is something wrong with them!

Victoria Falls, located in Africa on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, is the largest waterfall in the world based on width and height. The falls measure a mile wide and 360 feet high. Explorer David Livingstone named it Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria, but the locals called it Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means “smoke that thunders.”

Many consider an air tour to be the most impressive way to view the falls. I love flying, so a helicopter ride over the falls would be just my cup of tea. As a bonus, those taking a flight tour of the falls often see African wildlife on their tour as well. (Elephants, anyone?!) Another option for viewing the falls would be to hike one of the many trails available to visitors. This sounds like a great adventure as well!

When I do finally make it to Africa, Victoria Falls is definitely on my must-see list! (Read more about Victoria Falls here: http://sevennaturalwonders.org/the-original/victoria-falls/).

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 35 – Great Barrier Reef: Because How Could I Not?

Continuing on a bit with the water theme I seem to have started, I decided to mention the Great Barrier Reef today. Because, honestly, on a list of natural wonders/natural beauty, how could I not include it? It’s commonly called one of the seven wonders of the natural world. (By the way, so are the northern lights, which I didn’t even realize when I was writing about them the other day!) This makes me think that traveling to all of the seven wonders of the natural world would be a fun goal. I’m already aiming to travel to all seven continents. Yes- even Antarctica! So far I’ve been to four: North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Perhaps someday I can check Australia off of that list by making a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef!

The Great Barrier Reef is located in the Coral Sea near Queensland Australia. It is impressive for a number of reasons: it’s the only natural wonder visible and recognizable from outer space, it’s the largest coral reef in the world, and the largest, individual formation created by living organisms in the world! It spans over 1600 miles and consists of over 2900 separate reefs. In other words, they don’t call it “Great” for nothing! Read more about the Great Barrier Reef here: http://sevennaturalwonders.org/the-original/great-barrier-reef/.

Scuba and snorkeling are the best ways to see the Great Barrier Reef. I’ve never been scuba diving, but I want to try it someday. (Although I have a little bit of an irrational fear of sharks. And jellyfish. Oh my god I’m terrified of jellyfish! You’d think since I skydive I could handle scuba diving, too!) I know literally nothing about scuba diving right now except that it allows you to go deeper than and stay underwater longer than snorkeling. Have you ever been scuba diving? If so, where? Dreaming about scuba diving at this beautiful natural wonder was definitely a good way to relax during my morning coffee today!

The Great Barrier Reef as viewed beneath the surface!

 

View of the Great Barrier Reef from Above!

Xoxo,

Diana