Southern California

Last fall I spent a week visiting friends in Southern California. I enjoyed mild weather and good times while there.

During my downtime I lounged in the beautiful backyard at my friend’s house.

In the morning I take the short walk down to the beach. I watch surfers catch the waves early in the day. I love all the trails along the beach.

We take a drive out to Coronado Island. We walk along the beach, visit the historical Hotel del Coronado and walk the town a bit.

We later stop at La Jolla Cove and watch the sea lions and birds. If you can stand the smell you could have hours of fun just observing wildlife. Unfortunately some get way too close to the animals which is not cool. We also notice a group of swimmers that swim through the cove as a hobby; I guess dodging the sea lions in the process.

We watch a beautiful sunset and then catch dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the way home.

In the morning we have booked a taping of the Price is Right in Los Angelos. We make the drive from San Diego to try our luck on the show. It is my first time but my accompanying friends have been on two times before. It is a long day but a fun experience. One of my friends may have been picked to be on the show that aired March 17th, 2026 – St Patrick’s Day.

The next day two of us need to connect with nature and walk a trail in town. We end up at a nature center where we do some bird watching. Following the trail takes us to a sidewalk path towards the beach. Our path has taken us a bit out of the way so we call our other friend to come pick us up. While we wait for him we watch surfers in action. Our friend arrives and tells us about some of the local surfers. This is a small town surf community where most people know who everyone is.

On our way back to the house we make a stop at the Golden Lotus Temple to admire the tropical gardens there.

The next day I take a visit to Disneyland but more on that in another post.

Our last day we have delicious breakfast burritos and donuts from VG donuts.

It is a great end to a great trip. My flights home are not so great. I end up flying home during a government shutdown. I get about ten minutes in fancy lounge access before I have to run through the airport to catch an earlier flight because my itinerary keeps getting wrecked in real time. The rush to my flight doesn’t even matter because my connection gets cancelled anyway with no chance of getting home that evening. The one fortunate thing with moderate technology is that I see my flight being cancelled while in flight and I proactively book a hotel in Atlanta for the night since I am not getting home. I am glad I do because people are scrambling to find hotels that are not sold out since numerous other flights are cancelled as well. But at least I am on the east coast, closer to my home.

As a frequent traveler you have to expect a bout of travel drama from time to time.

One bright spot about the terrible travel time is the impressive Atlanta airport art. I chose to walk instead of the shuttle and enjoyed all the art on the way to take the bus to the hotel I booked.

Another highlight to my horrible travel days is the flight I am scheduled on the next morning happens to be the last flight for the captain who is retiring. He has an entourage on the flight celebrating, including his family. Thank goodness this fun flight wasn’t canceled and he was able to take this last flight in a joyful way.

Jardín: Gallitos de Roca (Cock of the Rock)

This afternoon I am heading to the Parque Natural Jardín de Rocas where I can witness the Gallitos de Roca (rare and unique birds). They come to this reserve looking for female birds to mate with. The English translation is Cock of the Rock (I’ll just leave that there with no further comment).

The reserve is located not to far from the bridge I crossed previously for another hike .

The park doesn’t open until the late afternoon because you will only see the males performing in the early evenings.

The lady who runs the park is very nice. She tells me of all the great places to go for bird observation.

I don’t have to go far because there are already birds hanging out in the tree right next to me.

I find a place along the observation boardwalk and wait.

I am glad I brought my telephoto lens with me because while the birds are close by, they aren’t close enough to get decent photos with the diffused lighting.

We sit quietly and wait for the males to fly in and start singing for a lover. They are loud. I can’t see how the females would be attracted to that but what do I know.

After viewing the birds I chat with some other travelers outside the preserve. They give me some helpful advice on my next town. The Colombia traveling community is small but very supportive.

I head back into town and have a nice dinner at Óleo Bistró Restaurante.

Tomorrow I head to Salento. I love my time in Jardin and would stay longer but for once I scheduled just the right amount of time in a city. I definitely would not mind returning some day.

Elephant Nature Park

One popular thing to do while in Thailand is to visit one of their many elephant rescue parks. The organizations differ to many degrees while some allow riding and close interaction and others are more strict with the interaction between the elephants and human visitors. While I have never been a fan of using animals for entertainment, I certainly have been less tolerant of using animals for pleasure as the years go by. In the times I don’t follow my instincts in this regard I end up feeling extremely guilty and don’t enjoy the experience (example – “humane” elephant ride in India many years ago, and recent camel ride in Egypt recommended as a “humane” operator by my tour company – both experiences had me feeling extremely guilty). I vow to never use an animal in that way again. With that in mind I chose to visit a park that limited the interaction with the elephants. After some research Elephant Nature Park seemed to be a good match for me. I booked one of their full day experiences.

We did get an opportunity to feed the elephants and do a quick touch to feel their skin but that was about it for guest to elephant interaction

The day starts early morning where they pick you up from your hotel in Chiang Mai. On the way you watch videos about the park. When you arrive you are instructed on applying sunscreen and bug spray in a designated area in order to not harm the animals.

First we feed the elephants a snack. The elephants can eat 150-300 kg of food a day. We learn how much it costs to feed the herd and why it is so important to have financial support of donations and visitors like me.

We feed the elephants from the bottom floor of the observation area. The area allows us to observe but not bother the elephants. Many of the elephants are rescues that are being rehabilitated from a life of work, entertainment or some even injured from conflict. We also learn about the founder Lek Saengduean Chailert.

They soon take us around to another area where we are able to give some elephants so snacks again. We learn more about elephants and how they like hanging out with their small family of elephants and hate horses and dogs (but you will find dogs that will hang out with the Mahouts).

We also learn about the life of a Mahout (elephant guide) and how as a woman you cannot become one. Sometimes it is a matter of finding the perfect match between mahout and the elephant.

The park is also a facility that rescues and rehabilitates other animals.

We learn about the different kind volunteers and how they stay on site for intervals. It definitely seems like an enriching opportunity.

Next it is time for bath time where elephants are responsible for bathing themselves with the exception of a mahout helping out a blind elephant.

Statement from the Elephant Nature Park website – “From 16 April 2018 the elephants will bathe themselves with no visitor interaction. This is part of the next phase of Elephant Nature Park to offer elephants a chance to live as natural a life as possible.”

After a busy morning we are treated to a delicious vegan lunch buffet and some relaxation time.

I spend my downtime visiting the rescue kitties. Some are free to roam and others live in the Cat Kingdom.

After lunch we head back out.

We get to watch more bathing elephants; many bathe with their small herd group and many include a baby elephant they nurture. It is nice to quietly watch the elephants play in the water.

And it is time for more food. It takes lots of food to maintain that physique.

As the elephants snack we get more back stories of the elephants in the facilities. Some are very old. From what I can see they are very lucky they get to spend their remaining days in this park.

Our visit is soon to be over. I visit the gift shop to buy a souvenir t-shirt and find the employees to be pretty lazy (see below).

My van arrives shortly to drive us back to our hotels. The day is money well spent.