The Red Beach of Hormuz Perhaps the most recognizable macro features of a map of the Middle East are the arms of water surrounding the Arabian Peninsula. Toward Africa, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are separated by the Bab al-Mandab Strait. On the eastern side are the Persian Gulf and the Gulf […]
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Bimini Road In the works Timaeus and Critias, the Greek philosopher Plato briefly mentioned an island as an allegory for excessive self-confidence. The people on this landmass sported a massive navy, which attempted to destroy Plato’s version of an ideal state, Athens. The gods did not smile upon these people, so the deities inundated the island with so
The Crabs of Christmas Island In 1615, about 200 miles south of the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra, Europeans first spied a 52-square-mile spit in the distance. Nearly three decades later, Captain William Mynors sailed aboard the Royal Mary for the East India Company. On 25 December 1643, Mynors spotted the same isle and decided to
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Inishfearglin, Puffin Island, & Puffin Rock In our last issue, we examined the distinctive, colorful birds of the planet’s northern oceans: puffins. These avians spend half the year on the open ocean and the other half nesting on often spectacular cliffsides. Puffins congregating on a cliff – photo by Steve Garvie One of the joys of
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Ile Moyenne, a Voluntary Robinson Crusoe, and the World’s Smallest National Park Please Respect the Tortoises. They are probably older than you. — Sign on Moyenne Island About 800 nautical miles east of Africa, 115 islands dot the Indian Ocean, forming an archipelago named Seychelles. Named after a minister of Louis XV, the islands had never
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Skull Rock On 12 May 2023, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted, sending large segments of the video-gamer population into ecstatics. TotK is a sequel to Breath of the Wild, the revolutionary 2017 Zelda entry that many consider one of the greatest games ever created, if not the greatest. In addition to the usual Zelda fare, Breath treated players to an incredibly detailed open world,
The Galápagos Islands Half a thousand miles west of Ecuador, cradling both sides of the equator, an archipelago dots the Pacific Ocean. In 1535, on his way to adjudicate a dispute between Spanish conquistadors Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro in Peru, the Bishop of Panama, Fray Tomás de Berlanga, was shocked to discover 21
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