Sunny, breezy Aruba is truly a delight to visit! On our first full day, we snorkeled a mangrove-lined beach, took the mosaic Stairs into the Sea, relaxed at Baby Beach, explored the art and dining scene in San Nicolas, and drove on a quest to see the other side of the Seroe Colorado natural bridge, only to find wild, windy wave-polished ledges that felt like the edge of the world!
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| Rodger's Beach near Stairs into the Sea |
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| Seroe Colorado Natural Arch |
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| Cactus "forest" |
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| Octopus by Odeith, 2017, that apparently represents Tito Bolivar, with Paul Wong’s ‘Mi Forsa’ in background. |
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| Southeastern coastline just north of the Seroe Colorado Natural Bridge |
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| Sunset from top of Hooiberg |
We had selected the small boutique hotel Serene by the Sea so we could stay on the quieter side of the island, populated more by local residents than tourists. With that in mind, we spent our first day exploring the southern beaches, rugged coastlines and the artsy, historic town of San Nicolas.
Then, after showers and a break, we headed to the central part of the island for wonderful sunset views from the second highest point in Aruba, followed by dinner in the Oranjestad port area.
Mangel Halto Beach
Our first stop was Mangel Halto. This is a lovely beach with lots of shade from the green mangroves lining the shore. The few thatched shelters were already claimed when we arrived around 10:20 am, so we picked a quiet alcove formed by mangroves.
I had read that the current runs from the left to the right, when facing the sea, so we walked over the little wooden bridge to use the curved, sandy beach on the left to enter the water.
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| Sandy beach to the left, with a few rocks to get past. Although it looks calm in this photo, there were some white caps that made it to shore. |
The water stays shallow pretty far out, and the water was nice and clear. We planned to snorkel with the current and return to shore in the bay to the right with the wooden dock.
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| Shallow, but dead reef against which the fish really stood out. Photo by TO. |
Mangel Halto is considered by several bloggers to be the best snorkeling in Aruba. However, you do have to swim out a ways to get to living coral. On this day, the winds were running at 18-20 mph, and I was the only one with flippers. So we decided not to venture towards the sandy cuts through the reef.
We saw lots of large green stoplight parrotfish in their terminal phase coloration. There were also some more drab fish that reminded me of the Rainbow Fish after it had given away all of its scales. It turns out that these are younger stoplight parrotfish in their initial coloration phase.
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| Stoplight parrotfish in their colorful terminal phase, as well as more subtle grey initial phase parrotfish in the back. That orangey fish to the right might be a rainbow parrotfish. |
Mosaic Stairway to Dish Osteria: A T&M Pittsburgh Steps & Dine Hike
February 28, 2024
Pittsburgh is known as the City of Bridges, but it also qualifies as the Steps Capital of North America with more than 800 public staircases. Over the past decade, Pittsburgh has become a foodie destination, with its many restaurants and pop-ups. My husband and dog (T&M) have been exploring and mapping out loop hikes of all different lengths and elevations, often walking past fantastic restaurants such as Dish Osteria. One sunny, winter afternoon, it all came together in a 3.3 mile Pittsburgh steps hike ending with amazing pasta, drinks and conversation.
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| Melia leading the way up the Mosaic portion of Oakley on our summer explorations of South Side steps |
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| Continuing up Oakley St. Steps on our winter Steps & Dine hike |
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| Dish Osteria - Rigatoni alla Scamorza |
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| Summer View from St. Thomas Steps |
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| St. Josephat Church on Mission |
Discovering the joys of urban hikes
After we moved from the suburbs into the city of Pittsburgh, we were happy to ditch the car on a more regular basis due to our new proximity to walking, biking, shopping and kayaking routes. My husband and chow chow spent countless hours exploring new urban hikes to replace their forays through the mountains and woods around Seven Springs, and gradually I started to join them. He became especially fond of seeking out Pittsburgh City Steps, recognizable by their characteristic painted metal railings.
Just off the coast of southern California lies a series of 8 small islands, five of which form the Channel Islands National Park. On the third day of our Lindblad Nat Geo Venture cruise, we spent the entire day exploring the highlands, beaches, canyons and Torrey pine groves of Santa Rosa Island. An unexpected wealth of small wildflowers, glimpses of the elusive Santa Rosa Island fox and an old one-room school house rounded out our hike. And we even got back in time for me to head back out on one of the last zodiac raft tours.
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| Santa Rosa Torrey Pine grove where we stopped for lunch |
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| Water Canyon |
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| Coastal Road, west of Black Rock |
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| Bechers Bay, Skunk Point and Santa Cruz Island across the channel |
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| View of Bechers Bay and Nat Geo Venture in distance from Torrey Pines Loop Trail |
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| Santa Rosa coast north of Corral Point |
Just off the coast of southern California lies a series of 8 small islands, five of which form the Channel Islands National Park. Santa Cruz Island is the largest of the northern volcanic chain, a partially submerged tail-like extension of the Santa Monica Mountains. For our afternoon excursion, we selected the long hike up to a scenic viewpoint near Prisoners Harbor. Although the giant coreopsis was in a dormant, moribund state, we were greeted by the vibrant cobalt blue-colored Island Scrub Jay, while a Santa Cruz Island fox bid us adieu. Both species are only found on Santa Cruz Island.
We walked past the National Park sign, and onto some buildings that contained restrooms. I was disappointed to discover that the only National Park Service Passport Cancellation Stamp station on the island was located miles away near the Scorpion Anchorage.
As we set out along the dusty Navy Road, we had high hopes of viewing the Santa Cruz Island Fox, another subspecies that only lives on Santa Cruz Island. While we saw plenty of deposits containing berries and possibly deer mouse fur along the sides of the road, the elusive fox was not to be seen.
Instead, we saw native vegetation such as the Santa Cruz Island Oak with hanging beards of Spanish moss, and berry laden Toyan bushes. The Chumash dry these berries and then grind them up to make pancakes.
I asked about the Giant Coreopsis and our naturalist pointed out some dead-appearing leafless grey silhouettes, some bearing dried blooms. At this time of year, the coreopsis is still in a dormant stage, awaiting the winter rains.
The air was fragrant with the scent of anise, one of the non-native plants that flourished on the hillsides. Indeed, it seemed these taller and denser stalks were choking out the much more widely scattered coreopsis that I remembered as forming fields of yellow and green (See photo from 1982 here).
As the trail wound up, we came across numerous beautiful views of the bay and the Santa Barbara coast in the distance.
I decided to turn back with another couple to wait at the picnic table and enjoy the view out to the mainland, while my husband continued onwards down the hill. They reached a lovely gully leading to the sea lined by tiny yellow blooms before turning around.
There were more flowers out than I would have expected for November, even in California. We saw lots of small white blooms across the ground.
In shady bends of the trail, there were waving fronds of yellow soft-leaved paintbrushes.
We spotted another Island Scrub Jay, perched up high on bush lupines. I lingered to photograph the rich purple blooms against a backdrop of silvery-green leaves and to chat with our naturalist Chelsea.
For dessert, a caramelized apple tart tatin a la mode, which we enjoyed with an extra side of chocolate ice cream.
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| The Santa Cruz Island subspecies of Channel Islands Fox |
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| View from Del Norte Trail |
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| The National Geographic Venture in Prisoners Harbor with Santa Barbara in distance. |
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| Wild buckwheat |
Click here to read about short (<3 miles) Southern California Hikes with Santa Catalina Views
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 1. Embarkation, Dolphins & Moonrise
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 2a. Anacapa Cliffs & Wildlife via Zodiac
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 3. Santa Rosa Torrey Pines Hike
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 4. Santa Catalina Two Harbors & Avalon
Santa Cruz Island Excursions
With excitement, we listened to our options for venturing ashore. When I visited the Channel Islands four decades ago, the National Park Service did not yet manage Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands although arrangements had been made for eventual transfer of Santa Rosa and part of Santa Cruz. Both of these islands have sources of fresh water and were inhabited by the Chumash, followed by cattle and sheep ranchers.
The options for activities included zodiac raft trips, two short to medium hikes focused on the beach, continuing on to visit the restored wetlands, or a long hike up the hills to a scenic viewpoint. After all of the delicious food we had been consuming, we opted for the long hike. Another option was more Zodiac rafting, and those that selected the shorter hikes could do both.
As we approached the dock at Prisoners Harbot, we were glad of calm seas, and the staff made sure we all transitioned safely up the ladder.
Scrub Jays and Vegetation
As soon as we approached an old fence, we saw one of the endemic species of birds. The Santa Cruz scrub jay is a more brilliant blue than other related birds, and boasts the most restricted range of all birds. It only lives on this 96 square mile (249 square kilometer) island.
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| Santa Cruz Scrub Jay |
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| Island Oak |
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| Toyan bush |
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| Dormant Giant Coreopsis |
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| Fragrant, but invasive anise |
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| Navy Road |
The Del Norte Trail
After a bit of climbing, we turned left onto the Del Norte Trail, a narrow path lined by grass that took on rainbow hues against the green trees and blue bay beyond.
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| Rippling rainbow-hued grasses and bay on Del Norte Trail |
After we reached a viewpoint with a picnic table, part of the group started back and part of the group kept going as the path led more steeply downhill. Vegetation also encroached the trail more closely in this less traveled section and I wished I had not zipped off the legs of my hiking pants.
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| Narrowing downhill track on Del Norte Trail |
The late afternoon sun reflected off the undulating hills beyond as they returned to the viewpoint, while ravens called and something potentially the size of a small fox or large rodent scampered through the bushes near the picnic table.
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| Undulating sunlit hills beyond the Del Norte Trail |
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| Soft-leaved paintbrushes |
The Santa Cruz Island Fox
Then she got a message on her walkie talkie that our lead hikers had spotted an Island Fox!
The two of us hurried along and were rewarded with a nice view of a little fox sitting under arching shrub branches. Of course, like our kids, the fox has its eyes shut in most of the telephoto pictures taken by my husband.
The fox cooperated by sitting there lazily watching us with its ears in a very relaxed position for at least 4-5 minutes judging by the time stamps on the photos, before running off beyond the eucalyptus trees in the landing picnic area.
What a delight! The Channel Island foxes represent yet another example of the lasting impact made by Rachel Carson when she alerted the nation to the hazards of DTT. It turns out that the loss of the bald eagle, which is endemic to these islands and pescatarian, allowed the larger carnivorous golden eagle to move in.
And the golden eagles delighted in their ability to carry off full grown Channel Island foxes. Like the Galapagos, each island has its own subspecies of fox. Descended from the grey fox, these foxes have evolved to a smaller size due to limited resouces. And the Santa Cruz Island fox is the smallest of them.
The Channel Island foxes were nearly extinct at the beginning of this millenium. But due to efforts enabled by the Endangered Species Act, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, they have recovered and are now considered as "near threatened". Their recovery was facilitated by relocation of golden eagles to the mainland (Utah according to the naturalist), elimination of feral pigs, and restoration of bald eagle numbers after DTT was banned.
Dinner
Again, we enjoyed a cocktail hour with a featured mixed drink and nonalcoholic beverage, a meat, cheese and fruit platter, and grilled vegetables. Waiters brought trays of this tasty quinoa-black bean ball with a zesty sauce.
And we enjoyed dinner with another set of red and white wines, including a salad, braised short rib or roasted halibut over truffle whipped potatoes and roasted asparagus.
After dinner, we learned about other conservation efforts on Anacapa Island. How do you trap and remove invasive rats without harming the population of an endemic type of deer mouse that is only seen on Anacapa Island? The solution was to trap the deer mice and house them in a special building near the lighthouse, releasing them only after the rats had been eliminated.
Photo Sharing
The cruise ship had a computer to which people could upload 4-5 of their favorite photos to share with the group. Mike, our photo instructor collected these submissions from both guests and naturalists at lunch time on our last full day, and produced the official Slide Show for our cruise.
Looking through these photos, it was evident that every group was rewarded with cool experiences, from mother-of-pearl mollusk shells on a round rock beach, more scrub jays and a western side-blotched lizard for the hikers to closeup views of brown pelicans, spotted harbor seals, caves and cormorants silhouetted on points of land, along the Nature Conservancy side of the island to the west.
Click here to read about short (<3 miles) Southern California Hikes with Santa Catalina Views
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 1. Embarkation, Dolphins & Moonrise
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 2a. Anacapa Cliffs & Wildlife via Zodiac
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 3. Santa Rosa Torrey Pines Hike
Click here for Channel Islands Cruise Day 4. Santa Catalina Two Harbors & Avalon
🐾 If you email CHIS_Information@nps.gov with the dates and the names of the islands visited, they will send you the NPS passport cancellation stamps by mail.
HAVE YOU VISITED THE CHANNEL ISLANDS OR GALAPAGOS?
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Just off the coast of southern California lies a series of 8 small islands, five of which form the Channel Islands National Park. Anacapa Island is closest to Ventura, CA, about 12 miles off the coast. And the multiple flights of California brown pelicans coming out to sea at dawn are a dramatic testament to the success of Pittsburgher Rachel Carson's impact in rescuing wild birds. We enjoyed a beautiful Zodiac raft trip past colonies of playful sea lions, Arch Rock, the only brown pelican nesting site in North America, waving amber-brown strands of giant kelp. While we enjoyed mobile bar service by raft up above, a diving team was down below producing a video of life below the surface. We returned to learn more about the first humans to dwell in these islands, followed by a fantastic lunch on board the Lindblad/National Geographic Venture.
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| Dawn over east Anacapa Island. |
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| The National Geographic Venture from a Zodiac raft |
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| One of many playful sea lions of Anacapa Island |
Just off the coast of southern California lies a series of 8 small islands, five of which form the Channel Islands National Park. These isolated bits of land host such a variety of unique plants and animals that they have been nicknamed The Galapagos of North America. Access to the parks is not straightforward, so we jumped at the chance to visit four of the six Channel Islands that are open to visitors on a 5-day cruise with Lindblad Expeditions. We arrived early for a few days of southern California hiking and eating. After pulling out of the Port of Los Angeles, we enjoyed great food and drinks onboard the National Geographic Venture, accompanied by our first dolphin sightings as the moon rose over Palos Verdes.
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| View from back of ship on the yoga lounge level |
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| Exiting the LA Harbor breakwater |
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| Moonrise over Palos Verdes |
Forty-one years ago, I had the opportunity to hike Anacapa and Santa Barbara Islands. I have vivid memories of the Giant Coreopsis - short, twisted trees straight out of Dr. Seuss with large, daisy-like flowers and fine, thready prehistoric foliage. The Channel Islands National Park had just been formed 2 years earlier; only Anacapa, Santa Barbara and San Miguel were open to visitation at that time.
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| Fields of giant coreopsis on Santa Barbara Island, March 1982 |
