“Agua caliente” in Spanish means hot water. Here in Tucson, Arizona where this park is located it is very hot right now! We are twenty degrees warmer than the average temperature this time of year. No one is really enjoying it, especially the wildlife. Not every animal or plant can burrow into the ground or have enough energy to travel to a distant cooler location. Their survival rate can be affected. And similar to humans, animals can dehydrate and be in need of shade.
Things we can do to help wildlife: Provide shallow water containers with resting stones. Even bees can make use of it and not drown or have a way for small animals to move out of the water. Change the water often to keep it clean, disease-free and don’t use a metal container that will get hot. Provide shade and shelter. A good reason to not prune bushes right now. Lizards and others will hide out in those spaces. I’m sure if you research this topic you’ll find more suggestions.
Here’s what I did see at Agua Caliente Park in Tucson:
Cormorants spread their wings to dry them after swimming to catch fish or frogs, etc.
Twenty-five years ago I trekked to Everest Base Camp in Nepal. It was an opportunity of my lifetime then and I think back to those days with fond memories! I had a school and local community in upstate New York, Lansing, supporting my efforts. I took months to train for the trek, prepare lesson plans for each middle school subject area for teachers to use in their classroom while I was gone, and presented pre and post community presentations so all knew where I would be for a month while away from the school. My faculty generously took charge while their principal was on a mountain!
As I think back on the trekking experience, it was a turning point in my life. Then I realized there is a whole world to see and thus began my travel world-wide and not just the USA as I had been doing. I backpacked for decades and this trek was a stepping stone to more physical demands upon my body. Hiking for miles and miles and at altitude was a never-ending learning experience! Understanding the Nepali culture, how to navigate air travel to arrive at remote places, and to cooperate with trekking partners to carry everything we needed to Everest Base Camp as we were supported by Sherpas and the mighty beasts, yaks, to do so!
Little things still stick in my mind. A Sherpa who ran back miles to collect a fellow travelers eyeglasses left on a stone wall. My tent mate who almost fell over the side of a trail since she did not stay on the mountainside of the trail as a yak went by her. She clung to a tree root to save herself. Washing up in a very small tent with about 4 gallons of hot water after a week of no showering, etc. Eating new foods that were deliciously made by our Sherpas who also delivered a cup of hot tea to our tent each morning! Attending the required medical session about altitude concerns. Seeing Mount Everest the first time … since you do not see the mountain when at base camp… and thinking how beautiful it is! Receiving a khata scarf from a monk at one of our monastery visits. Standing at Everest Base Camp and seeing and hearing a distant avalanche! So many wonderful memories! Simply appreciating the experience today and always. Thank you always to those who supported by effort. I will never forget you!
Mount Everest
Some bridges were not as well built then as I have seen in more recent treks.
Up the icefall if I was to take the next step to summit the mountain … will never happen by me!
My school sent a package to this school … that is a whole other story!
Our gift to the school when I arrived.
Sherpas carry everything to the mountain villages!
Rob Hall was admired by me and so I hung a prayer flag at his memorial.
I would go back to Nepal in a heartbeat. Mountains are my first love and nothing beats the Himalayan Mountains! If you have never been to Nepal, check it out. Tourism has truly grown since 2001 when I was there. Lodges are more abundant whereas we had tented quite often. I’m sure the food is just as delicious and the people are lovely!
Rarely do I see young birds, chicks. Parents usually do a great job protecting their chicks from predators, thus I too miss seeing chicks. Recently I was at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Arizona. I was shocked to see yellow-orange feathered chicks jumping out of their marshy nest to be near their black and white parent! I learned these chicks are known to follow their parents into water soon after hatching.
They are American Coot chicks … 6 of them followed the parent and eventually scurried closer to get food. The competition between them had already begun! As I looked closer, the chick’s heads were bare red and black and they had a stubby red and orange bill. Of course I did not have my camera with me on this day. That’s the way it is sometimes. Also, the birds were a distance away for any good phone photo, so opportunity missed. I returned the next morning with my camera and hoping for the chicks to be in sight. Yes!! Here are my photos; enjoy!
Look to the sky, is there a bird? Is it a hawk? You have no idea what that bird is in the sky? Perfect time to join others as we look to the sky in Tubac, AZ for birds and especially hawks. It is hawk-watching time this entire month of March; however, a group will be at the Ron Morriss Park in Tubac on March 13 – 17, 8AM – 5PM each day. There are vendors with scopes and binoculars to take a peek through and plenty of knowledgeable people letting you know what bird is in the sky.
Hopefully we’ll see plenty of birds and learn new things about birds. Recently this is what I learned…
American kestrel is not a hawk, it is a falcon.
Hawks and kestrels are raptors, but kestrels have pointed wings and hawks have rounded wings. Kestrels have the beautiful facial “whiskers” and hover while hunting. I think American kestrels are quite good-looking. Now I know, they are a falcon and not a hawk … but I might see them while I am at the Hawk Watch in Tubac. Come … join in …
Travel involves so much energy that at the end of the day I never seem to accomplish all I wish. Sketching happened to be one of the activities not done while on the road during this last trip. However, after each trip or major event, I like to sketch in my “events book”. So I did that for this trip. Plus I loved the look of the “boina” or “Gaucho hat” on the guys; I’ll sketch them too! At Rapa Nui, we had our trip guide and a local guide, so they are included in my sketch book too. Not the best sketches, but a way to keep memories and a final look at my Argentina and Chile trip. Now to travel on in 2026!
I saw this sign on a bus in Argentina and had never seen it before. The bus industry in Argentina had a campaign to train drivers to recognize signs of human trafficking a number of years ago. I learned also there are companies and businesses doing this around the world within the transit industry. This made a lot of sense to me since I only otherwise see help available with postings, such as this one:
Sign inside bathroom stall
Whatever we can do, must be done! Signs, of all sorts, indicating help is available are important!
During my long-haul flights, over 4 hours, I wore my new compression socks. New experience for me. Much to my surprise the compression socks were comfortable and even best when off after a long flight! My last flight involving 11 air hours plus time in connecting airport and then another 3 hour flight … I could not wait to get the socks off! I am guessing my swollen legs were held in place by the socks. What a relief to finally take the socks off and see no swollen legs. They did their job, yeah! Ok, I am convinced and they are now on my packing list.
Use of eSim is so much easier than the physical Sim cards. I chose to try Saily’s eSim this past trip and not Airalo which I had used in the past. Nord security is how I happened to become aware of Saily. Saily eSim was so easy. I chose the eSim best for the area of the world I was visiting and it connected automatically upon my arrival to Chile. My primary cellular service was already turned off so I used the eSim quickly. While no phone calls or texting can be done, at this time yet, I use WhatsApp if needed for those services. Looks like I will continue with Saily!
Here are some thoughts about other apps:
I love Polarsteps especially wanting to see the area of the world I had traveled around once I have completed a trip.
Lots of air miles!
Here’s a new app for me … BEEN. With the BEEN app, I could list all the countries I have “been” and those I “wish” to visit. So now I know I have been to 35 countries and wish to visit many more.
Many more countries to visit!
Another new app for me … PhotoCircle. I know there are many files people use to drop photos to you during/after a trip; however, I loved the PhotoCircle app. Photos of your choice can be easily included, if you are an invited person to participate in the circle. Also you can download a photo from the collection if you wish. This allowed my fellow travelers and I to share photos. Very cool, check it out!
Finally, I learned the calculator app on my phone will convert currencies and more. Tap on the lower left calculator on the basic screen, then slide the toggle to convert, click on the top entry and you’ll discover more than currencies to convert! Wow! Give it a try!
Note calculator lower left; click there to start.
My travel to Chile and Argentina, with a day in Brazil, was great fun! Someday when I return, I will include Chile’s Atacama Desert, Argentina’s Mendoza wine country and the land between these two areas. Wonder when that will be? If you have an opportunity to visit these countries, do it!
The one thing I know for sure, at this moment, is the only “Old 7 Wonders” wonder that still exists 4,000 years later is the Great Pyramid of Giza. Then I tried to make sense of the other “wonder” lists. I also wondered how many of the places I had actually visited in my lifetime! Why not make that a good reason for my going down this rabbit hole!
Apparently CNN’s “7 Wonders of Nature” includes the following:
Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef, Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Mount Everest, Northern Lights, Parícutin Volcano and Victoria Falls.
Not bad, I have seen 4 of 7.
Now there is a “New 7 Wonders of Nature” list which includes:
Iguazú Falls, Amazon rainforest, Halong Bay, Jeju Island (South Korea), Komodo Island (Indonesia), Puerto Princesa Underground River (Philippines) and Table Mountain (South Africa).
Not so good on my end, only 2 of 7.
AND there is also “New 7 Wonders of the World”. The old list was focused on the Mediterranean and only has the Great Pyramid of Giza existing. This list now includes more of the world:
Roman Colosseum (Italy), Great Wall of China (China), Taj Mahal (India), Christ the Redeemer (Brazil), Machu Picchu (Peru), Chichén Itzá (Mexico) and Petra (Jordan).
Not so good on my end, 3 of 7.
In my lifetime quest to see the world, I need to keep at it! How are you doing in seeing these “wonders of nature” and the “wonders of the world”? Hopefully better than me! Let’s get going!! My good news; I have visited 6 of 7 continents! Travel on!
Mount Everest; Himalayan Mountains, Nepal
Grand Canyon with Colorado River seen from South Rim
It is wonderful to see different scenery and eat new foods, but another fun aspect of travel is to meet people while on the road. People, and the opportunity to interact with people, add a dimension to the travel experience no photo or travel book can provide.
Let’s me start with my fellow travelers. They come from different USA states, with varying personalities and travel experiences. This allows me to enjoy understanding their perspective as we all look at new experiences while traveling together. It’s enlightening and I appreciate the daily interaction. What’s best too is the fact we have each other’s back while traveling; keep each other on-time, safe, aware of details and learning new things. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised when some of my fellow travelers joined in looking for birds while on a hike! It is always great to have more eyes on the scene. Maybe they enjoyed the opportunity to learn about some new birds too? Hope so!
Then there are the people I just happen to meet. Tables in South America are closer in hotels and restaurants than one would find in the USA. As a result, I met an older man at breakfast one morning … actually it was a couple of mornings since I arrived early to my tour. This 83 year old man from New York City was reading Agatha Christie. Somehow we started to talk and I learn he was to meet his friend for travel in Chile, yet his friend died a few days ago. The friend was almost 20 years younger than him. So now this man was here to attend a funeral.
I am a good listener and I think it is why we talked again the next morning at breakfast. Yet I learned much from him. He had traveled for a month in Japan visiting 9 cities recently and hired Uber drivers per city. I walked away from the conversation realizing 83 years old is still young! Wow! (And then my fellow travelers show up and there are three 80 plus year old people!)
Someday I hope to get my touring bicycle out and ride again, whether across a state or country, whatever. So whenever I see touring bicyclists I am always drawn to find out about their adventure. Here I was on Chiloé Island, Chile talking with bicyclists from Belgium! They were bicycling 5 weeks in Chile, their last week on Chiloé Island and having a wonderful time. Amazing!
Bicyclists from Belgium; one fully loaded bicycle!
Many people make a tour interesting. We had a couple of home-hosted meals and spent time with a family for a day so we could talk with local people. Whether it’s the couple explaining how to tango and showing us their professional dancing ability, or an indigenous person talking about their culture and goals to protect their sovereignty, or an employee demonstrating how to make a Pisco sour … they all add to my travel experience. Plus with the help of our trip guide, when necessary to translate another, we have an opportunity to learn quite a lot. In many locations we also had local guides, so plenty to ask of them!
Demonstration on how to make a Pisco sour.
Mapuche tribe member and our guide translating for him.
And then sometimes you see something you have never seen before. So I include this; as we are carted off to a boat for observation of penguins, etc at Puñihuil Wildlife Reserve. (It is the only place where Magellanic and Humboldt penguins nest near each other.) Anyway, it was fascinating how half of our group stood on a platform that was rolled out to the boat. We could then board the boat and not get our feet wet! These employees are rolling people out to a boat, and back from the boat, numerous times in a day. Fascinating! Never saw this before and appreciated having dry feet.
Rest of group rolling toward the boat.
Now boarding the boat with dry feet!
Sure there were beautiful scenes, but it was about sharing them with others as we stood together looking at it. There were also individual moments when a conversation started with someone I never knew. It’s a joy to interact with people; it adds to my travel experience and I am always grateful!
I am amazed for a trip, not being a birding trip, I saw 61 different species of birds while visiting Argentina! No surprise then for 37 bird species to be new ones for my life list of birds! Yes!
Here are some of the birds I saw. The Patagonian mockingbird reminded me of mockingbirds at my home. They are constantly calling and changing their calls.
Patagonian mockingbird
An easy gull to identify:
Brown-hooded gull
Shovelers have a distinct bill. I just needed to learn the one I saw is a red shoveler:
Red shoveler
Arriving at a lagoon, I saw this swan and immediately knew it was a new species for me!
Coscoroba swan, the smallest of swan species
I loved looking at this bird’s eye:
Spectacled tyrant
This bird I almost didn’t capture with my camera and knew it would be a new species for me:
Look closely in center for tufted tit-tyrant
I’ve seen ibises, but here was a black-faced ibis:
Black-faced ibis
There were many other birds I photographed; however, I would have loved my larger zoom lens to truly have better photos. Yet, it was not birding trip so I think my smaller zoom did okay! A great trip with my fellow travelers sharing in the joy of seeing birds as we learned about each country we visited. What fun each day! If you missed the birds I saw in Chile, then click here.
