In the Yucatan State in Mexico lies the city of Celestun, it is surrounded by mangroves and in the open waters surrounding the mangroves you can find the Pink Flamingos.
Pink Flamingos
The Pink Flamingos in Celestun are Pink because of their diet which is high in pigments from alpha and beta carotenoid. The richest sources of these elements come from algae and different invertebrates that the constantly feeding Flamingos ingest.
Black vultures Coragyps atratus
This area is home to as many as 300 different bird species.
A fisherman
It is not only the Flamingos that are getting their food out of the bays and the mangroves in the area. The area is full of crab tines that provide for the fishermen and their families.
I believe this is a blue crab Callinectes sapidus or in Spanish called Jaiba azul.
This is one popular catch in the area, and the crabs provide sustenance for many families in this part of Yucatan.
I think this is a Juvenile Double crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus.
High up in the Mountains in Northern Thailand lives a moth, it is close to the mountain village of Pai, so this is the Moth Of Pai. Moths and Butterflies are similar creatures, so the above might be a butterfly, maybe in the Pappilonidia family, but Moth of Pai also sounds better than the Butterfly of Pai… or maybe not…
Bangkok Bumblebee
In Thailand, in the big city of Bangkok, Sukhumvit area, on top of a high-rise next to small single family homes lives a Bumblebee. Sometimes the Bumblebee takes flight and sometimes in what could be nectar drunken flight, it seems to almost stall while correcting the direction of travel and trying to level out.
Doves of Chiang Mai
In the North of Thailand lies the city of Chiang Mai. The city was founded sometime between 1294- 1296 as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom and remained so until 1556 when it was occupied by a tribe called the “Taungoo”. You can read more about the history of Chiang Mai here.
One of the Cộng Câ Phê cafés in the old quarter of Ha Noi.
Cong Ca Phe (Vn – Cộng Câ Phê), was started in Ha Noi in 2007 with the first store located at 17 Trieu Viet Vuong Street in what is called the French Quarter of Ha Noi (the French Quarter lies just South of the Old Quarter). Trieu Viet Vuong Street is the traditional café street in Ha Noi. The decorations in the “Cong Ca Phe” cafés can be described as hip rustic with a lot of metal and concrete mixed with reclaimed wood and a cool interior design. Of course at the center are the different, innovative and oh so delicious coffee and other drinks, and bites too for that matter.
Entrance at one of the Cong Ca Phe locations in Da Nang.
The name is derived by using the first word, “Cộng” of the full name of the country, “The Socialist Republic of Vietnam” Vn – “CỘNG HOÀ XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM” and THEN adding the Vietnamese word for café “Câ Phê” – that makes – Cộng Câ Phê. Read more on their website here.
Interior of the Cong Caphe in Da Nang, the bar and some of the staff.
Cộng Câ Phê is expanding throughout S/E Asia and now has cafés not only in Vietnam but also in S Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia. Here are the locations.
Another angle of the interior.The rustic bar stools.A look inside the bar with the drink making in full swing on a busy afternoon.Many items at Cong Caphe have coconut cream in them, one popular items is the coconut coffe.Another favorite is the coconut Cacao shake, mmm…. just superb!
Not too many years ago wild Tigers roamed the Kulen mountain and the surrounding Savannas. Today however, Tigers are considered extinct in Cambodia, but there is a reintroduction effort underway that started in 2017. With the help of WWF the Tiger will be reintroduced in the country.
Phnom Kulen, the Kulen mountain range is located about 50km (about 30 miles) N/E of the city of Siem Reap. Some 1200 years ago in the 900’s, Phnom Kulen was named Mahendraparvata and it was the first capital of the Khmer Empire (also called the Angkor Empire). Today it is a place revered by and considered to be sacred to Hindus, Buddists and Cambodians in general. This is where Jayavarman II founded the Khmer Empire.
Siem Reap River headwaters up on the Kulen mountain has some spectacular waterfalls on it’s way down the mountain. This is the big Kulen falls. Oh, and Lara Croft jumped from the top of this waterfall in the Tombraider movie.
So the story goes – according to locals: First came the farmers and poachers up the mountain and the Tigers largely moved away or were decimated. Then came the tourists who were visiting nearby Angkor Wat and the farmers were shooed off the mountain by the authorities who looked at tourism as a larger catalyst for change than farming.
Siem Reap River high up on the mountain.These are the upper falls of the river up on the Kulen mountain.
Tourism can be a driver of positive change, but it has to be managed very carefully to be a good force and can not be left to self regulation, as this is likely to cause more harm than good.
This is where the river goes over the edge into the big Kulen falls.Next to where the river goes over the edge is this big Kudzu overgrown – something.Kulen falls. The plunge-pool is perfect for swimming and trunks and change boot can be rented if you did not bring trunks.Another look out over the area surrounding the Kulen mountain.
Here is a video of the Kulen Falls:
Expand to full screen when playing by clicking arrows in the upper right corner.
