View of Milford Sound New Zealand from helicopter

Helicopter view of mountains near Milford Sound

Quiet beach in Kaikoura, New Zealand

See Mapplr’s posts on New Zealand.

I went to a penguin colony outside Punta Arenas, Chile and captured these lovely creatures on film, waddling around in their natural surroundings. They are really amusing little things, rocking left and right as they traverse the fields and waterways of the colony, and every now and then, one of them seems to lose his balance, but suddenly manages to stay upright.

Llao Llao, Argentina looks very much like the Italian or Swiss Alps. I enjoy hiking the trails around Llao Llao to get stunning views of the lakes and the snow-covered mountains. Llao Llao is a popular ski and summer holiday destination.

Easter Island is one of the most remote places on earth, situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean far away from Chile (5.5 hours by plane) or from Tahiti (6 hours by plane). It is tranquil, beautiful and mysterious. The moais (gigantic heads carved out of stone) give the island an eerie atmosphere. They seem to be looking up and into the distance, as if waiting for someone to come (remember Chariots of the Gods?). Only a small part of the island, the town around the airport, has electricity and habitation. The rest is uninhabited, except by small birds, wild horses and a few cows. Because there’s nothing on most of the island — no electric or telephone poles, no houses, no hotels — walking along one of the many paths along the water or around the volcanic craters (see photo below) makes one feel calm and serene.

The ski resort of Valle Nevado in the Farellones above Santiago, Chile

According to the San Francisco Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector,  the largest (pardon the pun) revenue generators come from the cruise ships that call into port at San Francisco. “After all those calorie-laden meals and lack of activity, cruise passengers weigh in at orders of magnitude more than the prescribed guidelines.”

Not surprisingly, cruise ship operators have lodged a formal complaint with the SF Mayor’s office citing discrimination. A spokesperson for the Mayor however brushed aside complaints saying, “Obesity is the number one threat facing America today. Our nation spends a disproportionate percentage of its health care budget treating obesity-related diseases. San Francisco wants to be at the forefront of the war on fat.”

San Francisco’s fat tax has attracted a lot of interest from other cash-strapped cities and counties seeking to cover serious budget deficits. Indeed, the federal government is looking into imposing a National Fat Tax and has already begun a series of initiatives to obtain its fair share at San Francisco’s international airport. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has already instructed immigration inspectors at SFO to install weight scales to weigh incoming passengers. The city initially balked at revenue sharing with the federal government, but in the end, it negotiated a deal that will transform the airport’s Fast Track Immigration service to a FAT Track.

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Happy April Fools!

We are driving through the Atacama desert at sunrise: barren, rugged, pockmarked hills, deep grooves etched into them by centuries of wind and the violence of nature. Nothing grows here! Around us the wind-blown tracks of offroad vehicles zigzag, appearing and disappearing again into the distance. The chilled blue sky slowly loses its deep serenity as it surrenders to the wakening day. Whispy trails of clouds whirl above the distant hills. The desert is still and tense, nervously awaiting the full rising of the sun, when the parched landscape will be turned into a cauldron of searing heat. — from Travel Guide to San Pedro de Atacama