Mentally Preparing for Haiti

Through out this year I have been taking part in numerous fund raisers to join my church's mission team  on their annual journey south of the border. For the longest time we did not know where we'd be going. The group has gone to just about every nation in Central America. Back when I was in high school and a part of the team, we went to Belize and Guatemala. Not long ago it was announced that this year we'll be going to a parish in Haiti.

Of course I am well aware of the situation in Haiti. I went the the U.S. travel website and this is what it had to say in it's opening paragraph describing Haiti:

COUNTRY DESCRIPTION: Haiti covers the western third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The capital city is Port-au-Prince. The January 12, 2010 earthquake significantly damaged key infrastructure and greatly reduced the capacity of Haiti’s medical facilities. Despite the passage of time, Haiti’s infrastructure remains in very poor condition, unable to support normal activity, much less crisis situations. Last year’s cholera outbreak – exacerbated by inadequate public sanitation – killed thousands of Haitians, further straining the capacity of medical facilities and personnel and undermining their ability to attend to emergencies. While the Embassy's ability to provide emergency consular services has improved since the earthquake, it is still limited. The Haitian National Police (HNP), with assistance from UN Police (UN Pol), are responsible for keeping peace in Haiti and rendering assistance during times of civil unrest. The level of violent crime in Port-au-Prince, including murder and kidnapping, remains a concern and Haiti is considered a ‘critical threat’ post for crime.

So, I am a little intimidated, but I'm going to roll with it. We will be traveling with a priest who was a part of our parish for a while. He is from Haiti and speaks Haitian Creole and will be with us the entire time. We will be drinking all of our water, and traveling to a parish with a school who has asked for our help. After the earthquake many things are still in need of repair and help. It is my understanding that the school associated  with the church is where we will be focusing our efforts. 

Father Jean, our guide, will be traveling with us. I can't recall the name of the town we will be traveling to, but he says it will take 5 hours by bus from Port-au-Prince . This seems excessive to me since the island is so small, so I spoke to our group leader about it. She informed me that Fr.Jean wants to show us tourist sights along the way so that we leave with a good impression of his country. That is very kind, but I feel somewhat torn about it. If you google Haiti and then click on images, every other picture is bodies, mud, and rubble. This is a country that is in desperate need of help, and I can't feel good about relaxing on a beach in a place like that. But maybe that is what Fr. Jean wants to overcome. Nobody wants their home to be viewed as a disaster zone. 
I don't know much about Haiti, but I am prepared to learn and to give as much as I can.

Lowry Park Zoo: Rhino Encounter

Too close? 

I am finally getting caught up in my posts and I just realized that I never blogged about a really great experience I had last fall down at the Lowry Park Zoo. The zoo is a wonderful place to get up close with animals large and small. After browsing their website I found an encounter that really surprised me.

HAY!!!

 At the zoo there are typical encounters like a sting ray touch tank, bird feeding for tropical birds, pony rides and etc. The encounter that struck me as really amazing was the white rhino encounter. During this interaction visitors have the opportunity to pet and feed a massive white rhino.

concrete barriers

Now, I've watched my fair share of the Discovery Channel and I know that these giants of the African plains can be aggressive and potentially very dangerous. I wondered how it would be possible to safely interact with these massive animals.

petting a rhino horn

The people at the zoo were wonderful and gave us great information about the rhinos. To interact, you stand behind large concrete pillars that are spaced large enough for us to reach through, but not large enough for the rhino to come through to us. Grant it, there is always the possibility of getting your arm smashed between a rhino and a hard place, but if you move slowly and behave yourself, there is really no reason for this to happen. After all, the rhinos primarily want to eat hay, and you petting them is just some nonsense going on in the background of their minds.

nom nom nom 

The skin of a rhino is incredibly rough and thick. I pinched at the large gray rolls of skin. It was like petting a rough dirty tire. I was even able to touch the horn at one point. It was really amazing. With my  contour camera set to take a picture every couple of seconds, and firmly attached to an extension arm, I was able to reach get some really amazing angles and up close shots.

Lindsay making friends

The rhino encounter is offered every saturday and sunday at 1pm, but not at all during the week. For more information about this activity and how you can take part, you can visit the Lowry Park Zoo website.

Universal Knights: UCF Takes Over Universal Islands of Adventure

Hogwarts

I am currently a student at UCF and heading in for my last final this afternoon. I am fortunate in that UCF has a regional branch in my home town where I can get my education for cheap. It works out great and is essentially why I am here. Sometimes though, it is hard to feel like an actual university student when not connected to the main campus. Main campus students get all sorts of perks like a fitness center, frequent activities, and conferences (which we hear about at the last minute and never have time to drive down to Orlando for).

Hoggesmead

Recently UCF held an event which we were able to participate in, Universal Knights. Basically UCF rents out Universal Studios Islands of Adventure and gives it's students free tickets to the park for the night. Free being a huge motivator for me, I jumped at the chance of a ticket and happily joined some of my classmates down at the park the night of the event.

raining

Mother nature had other plans. It was raining hard through out the drive down, and in the walk from the parking garage to the park entrance I was soaked. It rained on and off through out the night, soaking us at random. Occasionally the rides shut down due to lightening, but all in all we toughed it out and were able to go on all of the rides that we wanted to.

looking tough with spiderman 3D glasses

Hulk line: longest wait of the night

My favorite part of the park is of course, the Harry Potter area. I love it....and I love even more that they are planning to expand it. If I had it my way they would turn the whole park into Harry Potter. It is so great to be in the streets that look like Hoggesmead. I was geeking out big time through out our time there. The rides are great, the lines are actually fun and interesting (for the most part), and the butter beer is yummy too. I recommend the frozen version of it. It's like a butterscotch frapp. with out the caffeine.

Butter beer....yummmmm

All in all, even though we were a bit soggy, it was a great time and Islands remains my favorite park in Orlando as far as rides go. For more info about the park, you can check out their website at https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Parks/Islands-of-Adventure.aspx

Manatee Springs State Park

The weather is warming up and I am getting the urge to go to the springs. The springs here in Central Florida are my favorite part about our natural landscape. There is nothing like diving into the cold waters of a crystal clear spring pool.

Desiring something new and different, I headed out to Manatee Springs, near the Suwannee River on Florida's western side. This spring is located just outside Chiefland, which means you won't have to travel far to get some barbecue after your swim.  Once you enter the park, you must drive down a winding road to reach the parking lot for the swimming area. I was a bit confused at this point as to which direction to take off walking, so I just followed the children.

Map map from the Manatee Springs website

There are two different places for scuba divers: The main spring and then the Catfish hole. They are located right next to one another. The Catfish Hole is covered with floating weeds, so this is not somewhere that I would recommend going for a swim in. Divers will do fine, since exploring under the surface vegetation is the goal. This overgrown of vegetation is typical of springs along the Suwannee River, and is a result of pollution. The excess of nitrates in the water (essentially fertilizer) causes a boom in the algae, which eventually shortens the lives of fish and drops the populations of wildlife. You will see plenty of this neon green algae choking the spring.

Mullet picking through the algae 

Manatee Springs has a nice railing around it at the head spring, forming a sort of viewing area for the swimming hole. What struck me about this spring is how many cypress trees are perched right along the edge of the head spring. I have not encountered that at other springs yet, and found it to be very pretty. On my day at the spring the air was not quite warm enough to swim so I debated diving in. In the end I took the plunge, if nothing more than for the pleasure of laying out in the sun to dry off.

boardwalk around headspring

swimming area for kids

Swimming area for kids

There is a better swimming area which is more beach like, just the slightest bit downstream. You will be able to see is from the top of the head spring. To get to it you must walk around the top of the head spring on a boardwalk that will take you over to the other side. This area is better for little kids and families since it is shallower there.

If you walk over past the bath house and concession, you'll see a place where you can rent canoes. The actual manatee springs river run, is very short, and in no time at all you'll be dumped out into the wide expanse of the Suwannee River. Boats go flying down this river at incredible speed so I would stick to the river banks. They are far more interesting anyways.

cute, but not this gal!

brilliant green of new cypress 

The walk

Lots of cypress knees

To check out the river run with out renting a canoe or kayak, you can walk the raised boardwalk through the cypress swamp out to the Suwannee River. There is a little overlook with a roof for shade. This board walk was very pretty and I recommend strolling down it if you visit.

cutesy manatee

The best part for me was laying out in the sun after a short swim, and reading my book. It was just what I needed. If you decide to go, you can check out more information at http://www.floridastateparks.org/manateesprings/

A towel with a view

The Curtis M. Phillips Center: The Rite of Spring

The Curtis M. Phillips Center

Back around Saint Patricks Day, I decided to cash in on some free ballet tickets I had gotten from a magazine I had written for last year. The ballet was called The Rite Of Spring and was to be performed at the Curtis M. Phillips Center for performing arts in Gainesville, Florida. The day of the ballet I went back and forth trying to decide if I should go or not. Gainesville is 45 minutes away and I had no one to give my extra ticket to, as everyone was either busy or just simply did not want to go.

fountain outside the center

I decided to go it alone, which is really not an uncommon thing, and is often quite refreshing. I got dressed up, arrived early, had a glass of wine and listened to the pre-show lecture about the style of the dance and etc. Honestly it was a very dry talk, but it was enjoyable just to be out and in that atmosphere.

Slightly botched panorama 

Because I was a single seat I got to sit fairly close up front and had a nice conversation with a woman who was obviously really enjoying the atmosphere as well. She was one of those people who is so genuinely pleased with where they are at, that you too soon fall under their veil of satisfaction from mere proximity.

stereographic view

The show was enjoyable and different from any other ballet I had been to...which of course up to this point was only the Nutcracker. There were several different sections, each very different from the last. During intermission I walked up to the front and checked out the orchestra in the pit. It was neat to see them all down there, and wonderful to hear the live music. While I love the woods and the company of a campfire, sometimes it is soooo refreshing to clean up and take in some humanly beautiful. Thinking about it....I'm going to go browse up coming shows right now.....

Classing It Up, Princess Style: Cinderella's Tea Party With My Niece

The Fairy Godmother and a couple of wicked step sisters

It was time to come out of the woods and head to the theater. The Ocala Civic Theater recently put on a production of Cinderella, the ballet. Harli, my niece, is at an age where she loves to dance around and all things princess are of utmost interest. For a few bucks each I got us tickets to Cinderella's tea party, a pre-ballet event for little kids that can't sit through a whole ballet production very well.

Lots of little princesses

During this event, the little girls were supposed to dress up like princesses and have juice and cookies (aka tea) while listening to the story of Cinderella read to them. The dancers from the show were all dressed up in full costumes and make up, and one of the sets was in place.

The Dancers

Ready to dance

When we entered we were escorted by a ballerina to the stage. Bubbles were coming down from the ceiling, and everything on the stage sparkled and glittered in pastel colors. After listening to the story, they cleared everyone off stage, and we got to watch Cinderella do one of her dances from the ballet.

Harli and Cinderella

 Once the house lights came up, we lined up and took pictures with Cinderella out in the lobby. Harli loved it. I'll admit it was super cute and right at her level. Once the program was through we headed across town for some Greek food. Yum! It just goes to show that you never know what great programs are taking place in your own city. I love doing stuff like this with Harli, and she really ate it up!

Greek is Goooooooooood!

Taking Flight: An Unexpected Afternoon

Piloting a plane!

A couple of weeks ago I went out to the Ocala Airport to interview a young pilot for a magazine article which will be coming out shortly. I have been writing a lot lately. Articles seem to be falling in my lap, and with school and a new job to boot, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed. Still, it is good to be writing. I love the unique experiences and the interesting people I have the opportunity to meet as a travel writer. At the airport I sat down to chat with a local pilot (actually a flight instructor) who is only 22 years old.

He showed me around the hanger and we looked through planes. Next thing I know we are up in a little two-seater flying over Ocala. It was unexpected and an awesome way to spend an afternoon. He even let me fly it a bit. I flew us over my home, and then out over the Silver River, which is one of my favorite places locally.

Silver Springs from the air

If you are interested in earning your wings, you can check out the Ocala Flight School at Ocala Aviation. A big thank you to Ocala Aviation for the great afternoon up!