When I stayed at the Royal Aquarium Resort in Curacao,  guests had free access to the aquarium right next-door.  I haven't been visiting zoos or aquariums over the past few years.  I've been very involved in animal rescue for about a decade.  My husband and I have had at least 100 foster animals in our care during those years.  We also donate food, money and transfer pets when they need to be spayed or neutered or brought to a safe shelter.                                           

So truth be told if I had not had free access to the aquarium I probably would not have visited it while on the island of Curacao.  However I saw right away that the animals seemed very well cared for and I did do some research on whether or not aquariums and zoos are all bad.  Of course there are some good ones and some bad ones and as with most issues, there are two sides to every story. 

During my first visit to the aquarium, I saw one of the trainers talking to a family who really wanted a kiss from a sea lion.  She was adamantly telling the family that, "today was not a good day for the sea lions as they were not kissing and the trainers were not going to try to make them".  The trainer seemed to care more about the animals than what the people wanted to pay money for. 

I am still sure how I feel on the whole aquarium and zoo issue(s).  I do not believe animals should be used for entertainment or kept in captivity only for that reason.   That said, at this point, I don't see myself making it a habit of visiting zoos and or aquariums in the future.

As you can see from the following links there are some good reasons to have animals in sanctuaries as some are becoming extinct and need protection.  I certainly would not want my cats roaming free they are completely indoor cats.  Perhaps they would be less bored being allowed to go outside but they would not be safe from other predators, automobiles, and diseases. I realize that comparing my domestic cats to large marine life is probably not a great example, but some large animals do need protection for various reasons.

Mystic Aquarium - Animal Rescue Program

Vet Street - How Zoos and Aquariums Help Endangered Species

I did want to share my photos and thoughts.   I am curious to hear what your thoughts are on zoos, aquariums and sanctuaries. Please leave your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.

Most of these photos and other can be found on my Pixabay account.  Pixabay has hundreds of thousands of photos that can be used for free in a variety of sizes and you don't have to worry about getting in trouble as they are released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0.  Here is my account:  Mariamichelle' photos

Below is a baby sea lion nursing:
The dolphins put on an amazing fifteen minute show.  There were several mother and daughter dolphins in the show.  The younger ones were still learning their jumps and stunts.
I did pay twenty dollars for a kiss from a dolphin.  It stuck it's tongue out at me afterward!



The sea lions were equally as amazing!

The flamingos were as pretty as ever:

Thank you so much for stopping by and please leave your comments below have a great week.

~  Michelle

I will leave you with a video of a baby sea lion nursing:

I visited Spain three years ago and saw four different areas of the country.  There are still other areas of Spain I would like to see such as Barcelona, but I do feel like I saw a pretty good cross-section of the country.  I'm writing this post from memory so I'm afraid it won't be as detailed as if I had written it three years ago after the trip.

I started out in Malaga which is in the southern part of the country and made day trips to the rock of Gibraltar and to a charming beach town called Nerja.  While visiting these three areas I was fortunate enough to have my high school friend join me who now know lives in Sweden.  She was a very good tour guide as she knows how to drive in Europe which I never would have dared to do by myself.  Of course having a great friend from way back join me made the trip 10 times more fun.  We would have enjoyed the trip no matter where we were!        

After leaving Malaga I went to Madrid for a few days.  As some of you may know, I am not much of a city person and Madrid is a very large city in my opinion.  I thought the architecture and buildings were beautiful and I learned a lot about the history of the country by going on a tour. 

  The rock of Gibraltar was fascinating to see.  The monkeys were so much fun.  They were not aggressive at all compared to the ones I saw in Bali. 

From what I have seen in Spain so far I would say that the beach town, Nerja, was my favorite.  It's definitely an area I would love to go back and visit.  I thought it was really beautiful, clean not a very big town with still plenty to do. 

My photos are not the best either I didn't have any knowledge of photography at the time I have tried to improve them but that is hard to do without a raw file.  I had no idea what to take photographs of or how to take them and definitely not how to edit them.  That is something that I am working at getting better at now. 

Here are some photos of the rock of Gibraltar and a concert hall inside it:

My friend and I at the Rock Of Gibraltar:

I thought the babies were adorable!

The following few photos are of the southern section of the country called Malaga.  The following is a photo of the marina.  There are a lot of nice restaurants and shops.  It was a great place to have lunch and dinner.

This park was right behind the hotel:

My one souvenir from Malaga - I only bought the purse because it matched my shoes so well!

 The following few photos are of Nerja:

Here are a few somewhat pathetic attempts at taking photos in Madrid:




Lastly, here are a few photos of my friend and I goofing off at a restaurant we liked and frequented:

And one more in Nerja:
Thank you very much for stopping by.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  I hope you all have a wonderful week!

~Michelle

 Above is the Azure Window in Gozo - MUCH bigger than I imagined it would be!

Let me start this post by saying that in the future I am going to make an effort to write shorter and more frequent posts.  This is another post that I am writing from memory of my trip to Malta last summer.  I spent seven days on this beautiful Mediterranean island.  I visited a small nearby island named Gozo.   I also got a fish pedicure for the first time. I really enjoyed my time there.              

One of the things that inspired me to visit Malta was the architecture.  It has a very old European look to it.  The beaches are rocky, but beautiful and known for great snorkeling.  The island is known to  be very safe and the people are very friendly.  It is not a terribly expensive place to visit in comparison to some of the places I have visited in Europe, but I had just spent a week in Paris before my visit to Malta so that might have affected my perception!               

The nightlife in Malta looked to be very good!  It definitely is a place I would've enjoyed visiting when I was younger.  On my last day there I had to get up at 5 AM.  I walked across the street to get a cup of coffee and people were still out dancing and partying at the bars and restaurants.

Below is a photo of St. Julian's Bay on Malta:

Popay Village was stunning and I would love to see it again!

The roof top pool at the Intercontinental hotel where I stayed:
The following are photos of Valetta which I found especially beautiful!

Malta is part of anarchipelago that consists of three islands which are Malta, Gozo, and Comino.  The three islands have a total population of over 400,000 people. Malta is the largest island. 
Gozo is the second largest island and is more rural and is known for and subsists on fishing, tourism, crafts and agriculture.

Here are some typical beach scenes on Malta:

 My first "fish pedicure".  It doesn't hurt.  It just tickles and is not harmful to the fish.  You must wash your feet first.
The following are photos of my trip to Gozo.  It's only about an hour long ferry ride to get there:

Here I am with a girl named Nicole from Switzerland.  She was traveling alone as well.  We seemed to have a lot in common being really independent people.
Thank you so much for stopping by!  Have you ever visited Malta?  Please leave me any comments or questions.  Take care my friends!

~Michelle

Warning:  I barely knew how to use my camera and nothing about editing my photos when I went on this trip around Thanksgiving 2013.  The following photo is a "selfie":

When I went to San Francisco I expected to be roaming around the city and visiting museums.   However, I was visiting a friend I had gone to Africa with.  In Marin County I stayed in a very nice town named Mill Valley.  My friend and I went hiking every day I was there.  There was so much for me to see in the Marin County area I really didn't feel like going into the city.

It's not that I didn't want to go into the city.  There just really wasn't enough time in a week to do all the hiking I wanted to do as well as see the city of San Francisco.  I decided that seeing the city of San Francisco in-depth would be a second trip.  I was enjoying the fantastic weather, the fall colors and the sunsets too much on our daily hikes. 

Here are a few photos of the lovely town of Mill Valley.  I love the combination of the foliage mountains and palm trees!

The following photos are of Muir Beach.  There are many beautiful beaches in Marin County.  I liked the rocks and the homes built into the cliffs at Muir Beach:



These photos were taken at Crissy Park.  It's a great place to view the Golden Gate bridge, walk your dog, see San Francisco from a distance.  You can see Alcatraz very easily too! 

 I am convinced at least one if not all three of the men who escaped from Alcatraz made it to shore.   Maybe they were or are running our banking system ;)  In case you don't remember, they were bank robbers.  To me it just doesn't look that far from the shore.
Alcatraz:

San Francisco as seen from Crissy field:

 

 These photos were taken at the Tamalpais National Park which is a wonderful place to watch the sunset:

Here are some photos of the Green Gulch Farm which is also known as the San Francisco Zen Center.  I loved this place!  Unfortunately, I didn't slow down enough to take photos that were focused so I made a collage.  I also did not know how to use any editing software when I went on this trip last November (11/2013).

Here is there web site: http://www.sfzc.org/ggf/

Thank you so much for visiting.  I look forward to hearing your comments and questions.  I am really wondering if you agree with me about the Alcatraz escapees surviving?   Have a wonderful week my friends

~ Michelle

Skansen was created in 1891 and  is the first open-air museum and zoo in Sweden to show what life was like before the industrial era.  The name Skansen has also been used as a noun to refer to other open-air museums in Europe and the United States.  Skansen's buildings and grounds are beautifully maintained, the views are amazing, and the admission price of 100 kroner or 17.04  dollars seemed very fair to me. 

While I was there I saw several groups of children on a field trip from school.  I can see why a school would encourage this activity a it was an awesome history lesson for me!  I learned a lot about the history of Sweden's architeture and way of life.  I had so much fun in the zoo area with the indigenous animals of this country especially the lemurs!

I sent about six hours at this open air museum, but wish I'd had longer.  If you enjoy learning about history and taking photos, you might want to allot one and a half or two days to fully experience Skansen.  I know that I would have loved an extra day there as there is a lot to see.  Be sure to wear good walking shoes and try to go on a nice day as most of the activitie are outdoors. 

This guy met me at the entrance and seemed to be following me through the park:

The entrance and gardens were beautiful:
There was a glass blowers shop with a working glass blower who was selling some beautiful items:
There are several outdoor cafes to get get something to eat or drink:

I saw many groups of chidren who appeared to be there on a field trip:

I really enjoyed seeing the traditional Swedish architecture:


The farmers lived in close knit communities so they could work together and help each other with caring for their crops and animals:





A greenhouse:
The ouside of a nineteenth century Swedish home:
Inside a traditional Swedish home:
A traditional class room:

I LOVED the lemur exhibit!  It does cost 120 Kroner or about 20 dollars/person to go inside the exhibit.  You can see them quite well from outside.  I took the photo at the top of this blog from outside the exhibit.  I had so much fun playing with them and being such an animal lover, I would pay the twenty dollars to enter their lair again.

This guy was being all cute and cuddly until...

He tried to make off with my camera - and they are VERY quick!

Here is  baby sitting on his mother eating a piece of fruit:
I thought this guy was meditating:

This is a baby lemur.  They are very playful!

There is a tree growing in the middle of their aquarium:
I loved the Meercats aka Meerkats as well (they are part of the mongoose family):
I loved the views throughout the museum:

Thank you so much for visiting.  I'd love to her any questions or comments you have.  Have a great week my friends!

~ Michelle