The next three cards are from a very good friend Leon( also friend of my eldest son) , who went for a break to Ascension Island where his family live. Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around 1,600 kilometres from the coast of Africa and 2,250 kilometres from the coast of Brazil The Wideawake Tern Known as the Sooty Tern in other parts of the world, here it is best known for it's call of "Wide awake!", and it gives the island it's second name. It is a graceful bird with a forked tail and pointed wings, generally white below and black above with a white patch on the forehead. Their main food is fish and squid.They are widely distributed around the world in tropical latitudes. On Ascension they breed in colonies called "Fairs", the main ones being in the south-west corner of the island, Mars Bay Fair, and Waters Edge Fair, but they are also found in small numbers on Boatswain Bird Island. In 1998 there were adjudged to be 400,000 birds in the two main colonies.
The Land Crab (click on the link above to read more) There is a lot of mystery behind the Land Crab. How did they get there? Nobody knows. Apart from visiting green turtles and seabirds, the crabs were probably almost alone on the island for most of the million years since it rose above the waves. Johngarthia lagostoma is only found on Ascension and, in much smaller numbers, on three Brazilian islands further west. Since they can neither swim nor fly, nobody knows how they got here. Being land crabs, they are unlikely to have rafted over on timber from Africa or Brazil, says Richard Hartnoll of the University of Liverpool, UK, their only persistent investigator. Their larvae might have survived long enough to float over on the intermittent ocean currents from the Americas – but their nearest relatives today are to the east, in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea.
The donkeys are found mainly in Georgetown and around One Boat, those living in Georgetown are often woken in the early hours by their loud braying. Some are relatively friendly and will allow you to pet them, but they can become rather boisterous and dangerous to road users during mating season. Ascension’s donkeys have developed rather curious eating habits – probably due to the lack of vegetation for them to eat, they’ve acquired a taste for cardboard and will happily devour any boxes left lying around!
This next card is from my great friend Jackie --The super traveler. She has sent me cards from everywhere. Jackie's blog is JUNK BOAT TRAVELS..You will have to click on the link to read more about her travels, amazing.)
Palm Springs, a desert city in California, is known for its hot springs, stylish hotels, golf courses and spas. It's also notable for its many fine examples of midcentury-modern architecture. Its core shopping district along Palm Canyon Drive features vintage boutiques, hip interior design shops and buzzy restaurants. The surrounding Coachella Valley offers hiking, biking and horseback riding
The mountains in the background are the
San Jacinto Mountains
which help with the fabulous weather in Palm Springs.
We then go to WARSAW with a beautiful card from a lovely blogger friend from PolandOLA...her blogs are Lakomym Okiem - cooking blogand Daleka Droga - travel blogBoth written in Polish and English. Ola and I have been friends through quite a while and we just exchanged postcards. Here we have the Lazienki Palace The Łazienki Palace is a Baroque palace and is located in the largest park in Warsaw that occupies over 76 hectares of the city center . The Łazienki Palace is located in the largest park in Warsaw that occupies over 76 hectares of the city center. From 1674 the property and the nearby Ujazdów Castle belonged to Count Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, who built a Baroque Bath House named "Łazienka". The building, erected on a square plan, was richly decorated with stuccos, statues and paintings; some of the original decorations and architectural details are still preserved from that period. In 1766 King Stanisław II Augustus purchased the estate and decided to convert the pavilion into his small, private summer residence (To read more please click on link above)
And today a card arrived from Trevor (my friend Marilyn's husband) I love his cards as they are not only a huge surprise(like a lot of yours too) but also what he writes!!!!☻ (Hi , Weather cold, Beer cold, Goulash hot!)
Thank you Trevor. I know a few of you have been to Slovenia .Esme from Chocolate & Croissants certainly has!!Remember my postcard? A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL.. Interesting countries and interesting topics to write about. All so different. ♥♥♥♥♥♥
