Honduras in CNN's top 16 up-and-coming destinaions

"Its primary allures are the fine white-sand beaches of the Bay Islands, Mayan ruins and colorful colonial cities. Delve deeper still though and you'll uncover forested mountains, jungles, coral-clad dive sites and wildlife such as jaguars. The Western Caribbean Bay Islands Roatan, Utila and Guanaja get the press for waters graced by whale sharks, rays and turtles. [...] "Honduras has everything," says Thornton of Intrepid Travels. "It's certainly emerging as one of the hottest destinations in Central America.

- CNN Travel

this made me smile

Lindsey Graham suspends his campaign for U.S. president. The Internets can be so funny!

norwegians are awesome!

Norway launches campaign to give Finland a mountain. A group of Norwegians has launched a campaign to shift their country's border by 200 metres to bring the peak of the Halti mountain into Finnish territory as a gift to their mountain-deprived neighbour for the 100th anniversary of its independence. Moving the border between Norway and Finland just 490ft (150m) to the north and 650ft (200m) to the east would bring Finland a new highest peak while losing Norway just 0.015 square kilometres. At 4,479ft (1,365m), Halti does not even make the list of Norway’s highest 200 peaks. But one of its lower spurs, Hálditšohkka, marks the highest point in Finland, at 4340ft (1,324m).

- The Telegraph

an incredibly spectacular thing

The Internet is an incredibly spectacular thing and only now, after so many years, we are understanding its power. With the Internet the world is opened, the barriers fall, the separation ends, the togetherness starts, the collaboration explodes, the helping emerges. Some nations saw true revolutions that used the Internet as the primary catalyst, such as the Arab Spring. Here in Brazil we are just starting to make a better use out of this amazing tool. Internet is taking down mass control. The big media groups controlling news by how it suits best what they want the message to be and what they want us to read are no longer the sole owners of information. You go after what you want. You bond to whomever you want. You explore whatever you may want to. With the advent of the Internet, the small are no longer speechless. There is a voice. The anonymous become acknowledged. The world comes together. And then the system may fall.

- Gustavo Tanaka 

the fall in love series (2)

Fall in love with Paya Bay for the first time (or all over again)! All photos taken in 2015.

Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras.

roatan international airport

I recently sought and received special permission to visit the control tower at Roatan International Airport (RTB). The tower sits on a hill just behind the airport facilities. Its location affords it a nearly complete view of the entire length of the seaside runway. According to Wikipedia, "the airport resides at an elevation of 12 m (39 ft) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 07/25 with an asphalt surface measuring 2,395 by 45 meters (7,858 ft × 148 ft)." While still rather rare landings, the flight traffic controllers said that the airport's runway is capable of handling aircraft as large as the Boeing 767-200ER. Flights using these large aircraft have been dual-destination charter operations from Europe that offload the bulk of their passengers -- and cargo weight -- in Cancun, Mexico or La Havana, Cuba and then finalize their transatlantic hauls in Roatan.

Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras.