Tag Archives: photography

August 22, 2016 · 5:35 am

Golden Princess Reaches Nicaragua

San Juan del Sur Panorama

On March 25, 2015, the Golden Princess arrived at our next destination — the smallish fishing village of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, on the narrow Isthmus of Rivas that separates Lake Nicaragua from the Pacific Ocean.

San Juan del Sur

Quaint San Juan del Sur has a population of less than 16,000. For our purposes this day it served as a jumping off point for a tour northbound that would include a trip to Granada and a boat ride on the 19th largest lake in the world, a lake so large that early Spanish explorers mistook it for a sea until they discovered its waters were fresh rather than salty. Returning from our boat tour would also take us to a large crater lake in the caldera of an extinct volcano.

San Juan del Sur

We arrived in San Juan del Sur early that morning, so the photos you see here were taken much later that afternoon upon our return to the ship.

San Juan del Sur

If San Juan del Sur looks familiar to fans of the Survivor series, that’s because this and the surrounding areas were the locations for Survivor: Nicaragua (2010), Survivor: Redemption Island (on an island in Lake Nicaragua, 2011), Survivor: San Juan del Sur (2014), and Survivor: Worlds Apart (2015). I’ve never watched Survivor, but it would appear that’s one show that’s in a severe location rut, even if the location is on the exotic side.

San Juan del Sur

We boarded transportation and headed to the city of Granada, population around 124,000 and home to Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral.

Granada — Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Catedral de Granada)

The streets of Granada are immaculate, the buildings both colorful and picturesque, and the scenery delightful, as you can see here.

Granada

The streets were not quite as devoid of people as the photographs here might lead you to believe. I allowed our tour group to get well ahead, and then waited for breaks in the number of people as I composed shots.

Granada

Nevertheless, I wouldn’t say Granada was exactly teeming with humanity.

Granada

On Wednesday I’ll present more images of the cathedral and the areas surrounding it. Before I leave you today, however, I’m going to display my one good shot of the Apoyo Lagoon Natural Preserve and the lake that fills the volcanic caldera located there. The lake is 4.1 miles/6.6 kilometers in diameter and 575 feet/175 meters deep.

Apoyo Crater

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Tagged as Apoyo Crater, Golden Princess, Granada, Lake Nicaragua, Nicaragua, photography, R. Doug Wicker, San Juan del Sur, travel

August 17, 2016 · 5:35 am

One Last Glimpse of Alaska and Her Glaciers

Today I present my longest (10:45) and most ambitious video to date. In order you’ll see:

0:20 Mark — Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay, includes:
- An impressive ice calving event at the 1:50 mark and another at 2:02
2:15 Mark — Images of the Norwegian Sun transiting Glacier Bay with additional glaciers
3:42 Mark — Norwegian Sun’s sunset transit past the majestic mountains of Wrangell – St. Elias National Park with stunning images of snow-capped mountains bathed in the reddish glow of a setting sun
4:22 Mark — Hubbard Glacier, includes:
- A column of ice probably close to 200 feet/60 meters tall breaking off from the glacier and crashing into Disenchantment Bay at 6:18
8:20 Mark — Portage Glacier

Beginning next week I’ll return to our Chile-to-Los Angeles cruise. You’ll recall we got sidetracked with Alaska following my presentation of the Costa Rican jungle. We’ll take up with our next stop on that voyage — Nicaragua.

As for this week’s remaining blog post, it’s a Fun Firearm Friday with a look at another historic firearm.

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Filed under R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation, Video

Tagged as Alaska, Alaska cruise, Glacier bay, Hubbard Glacier, Margerie Glacier, Norwegian Sun, photography, Portage Glacier, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation, video

August 15, 2016 · 5:35 am

Departing Glacier Bay Aboard the Norwegian Sun

Wrangell–St. Elias

The Norwegian Sun sailed back out through the John Hopkins Inlet. Once again we passed by both the John Hopkins and Lamplugh glaciers.

John Hopkins Glacier

Glacier Bay

Lamplugh Glacier

One fun photo subject are the mini icebergs dotting the bay. Many seem to magically take on the shape of animals.

Mini Iceberg

Our next stop was Hubbard Glacier, which will star in my next blog post. Until then, I’m going to leave you with some images taken after we left Hubbard Glacier and cruised past the incredibly tall peaks contained within the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, which encompasses both the Saint Elias and Wrangell mountain ranges.