by Loti | Jan 20, 2014 | Animals, Australia, Birds, Endangered Species, Environment, Flowers, Food, Health, Insects, Plants
Adelaide, Australia. Within walking distance of our hotel, I discover a magical botanical garden. Free to the public, in the middle of downtown, this 125 acre oasis includes a rainforest under glass. The forest is housed in the largest single span greenhouse in the Southern Hemisphere (for those of us geography challenged, the Southern Hemisphere is all the land below the equator including Anartica, Australia, most of South America and a third of Africa.) Entering the glass 2 story structure, the air is misty and buzzing with activity, from birds, insects, plants growing and 1,000 misting nozzles. I have always heard how important the rainforest (defined as a dense forest receiving 90-180 inches of annual rainfall) is to our global ecosystem, but I had no idea 50% of the world’s plants and animals live in them. And many of our medicines (some anti cancer and leukemia drugs for starters) come from rainforest plants. Yet we are losing 1-2 (and some biologists estimate the number is closer to 100) animal and plant species a day to extinction primarily from deforestation. Wow! So what can we do? I plan on learning more about the issues and possible solutions by joining a conservation club, visiting rain forests whenever I can and taking steps to recycle and be nice to our Earth. Once a species is gone, we can never get it back. And that sounds so...
by Loti | Jan 2, 2014 | Food, Indonesia
Bali, Indonesia. I am always amazed at how much I don’t know. While I have traveled the world fairly extensively, I always find new fascinating things. Whether 5 miles from home, in my backyard or thousands of miles away, there is a whole world out there if I just pick my head up, look around and be present. Checking into my amazing room in Bali, I couldn’t help but notice a very weird looking fruit on the plate in my room. It was brown with scales and looked like a baby armadillo. Do you eat this thing, I wondered? Well it turns out to be salak or snake fruit. Sadly, I never took time to eat one which was my loss since they are packed with nutrition and are supposed to taste both sweet and acidic. And why would I not try one? Because I got busy with other things, life got in the way, all the cliches I can think of come to mind. So next time, I will stop and experience a new wonder. I may never have the chance again. Taking a photo is great, but tasting and experiencing life is even better! Life’s moments only come once and then they are gone forever. My New Year’s resolution? Being fully...
