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- 10 most spectacular wildlife migrations
- Casual fine dining takes off in Tokyo
- Gallery: Extreme shots by one of the world's greatest adventure photographers
| 10 most spectacular wildlife migrations Posted: 24 Mar 2013 06:59 PM PDT They journey hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of miles for food, shelter and to give birth. And the annual wildlife migrations that take place around the world aren't just spectacular displays of nature, they're once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunities. Bald eagles, British Columbia, Canada
Bald eagles are the only sea eagles endemic to North America, and each winter they gather in droves on the branches of Douglas fir, hemlock and cottonwood in Brackendale, British Columbia, a community just north of Squamish (halfway between Vancouver and Whistler). The eagles come to feed on salmon that swim up Brackendale's glacial-fed rivers to spawn. While the best time to see them is mid-November through mid-February, the eagles are at their peak in January and typically average around 1,500 a year, with a record-setting high of 3,769 in 1994. One of the best ways to view them is on a half-day river rafting float down the Squamish River with Brackendale's Sunwolf Lodge. The trip costs US$100; overnight packages -- including cabin stays -- begin at US$285, www.sunwolf.net Wildebeest, East Africa
The annual wildebeest migration between Tanzania and Kenya involves up to 1.5 million of these antelope traversing vast stretches of open plains in search of fresh, mineral-rich grasslands. This isn't so much a time-oriented migration as it is a continual search for food, over a round-journey of 1,800 miles. Along with zebra, gazelle and eland -- who join the wildebeest on their travels -- the journey attracts thousands of spectators, not to mention lions, leopards and carnivorous crocodiles, that wait for a chance to attack the prey. While the animals move year-round, the start of the dry season -- typically late June and July -- is the best time for viewing wildebeest in Kenya's Masai Mara. The reserve and its surrounds have dozens of camps at the center of the action. One of the best is Kicheche Valley Camp in the Naboisho Conservancy, just beyond Masai Mara's borders. kicheche.com Emperor penguins, Antarctica
National Geographic's 2005 documentary, "March of the Penguins," introduced the world to Antarctica's annual emperor penguin migration: thousands of gray-backed, white-belled birds up to four feet in height making multiple journeys across a massive ice sheet -- at the peak of winter -- in a story of parenthood and birth. Their arduous expedition is instinctual and remarkable to see, especially against Antarctica's stark white scenery. This best time for viewing the emperor penguin migration is typically October through early December. Premier travel company Adventure Network International offers nine-day expeditions to one of the continent's emperor penguin rookeries, though the US$40,200 price tag is a tad steep, www.adventure-network.com; more affordable is Quark Expeditions, which runs cruises to Antarctica that coincide with the annual event, www.quarkexpeditions.com Monarch butterflies, California, United States
Every October, tens of thousands of monarch butterflies arrive in Pacific Grove, Calif., to nest for the winter. These orange and black beauties crowd the coastal city's Monterey pines and eucalyptus trees, roosting in the exact same spots their ancestors did. The sight is most spectacular midday when the sun is at its brightest, shining through the monarchs' wings and illuminating them like stained-glass windows. Pacific Grove hosts a Butterfly Parade each October to welcome the seasonal residents, whose numbers peak during December and January. Butterfly docents are on hand at tPacific Grove's Monarch Grove Sanctuary throughout the season to offer info and details. www.pacificgrove.org Bats, Texas, United States
Each evening from March through October, the skies of downtown Austin, Texas, become awash with the winged bodies of anywhere from 750,000 to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats. They fly from their roosts beneath the city's Congress Avenue bridge like an oscillating ink stain, embarking on a search for food. It's the largest urban bat colony in North America and it's estimated that they consume up to 30,000 pounds of insects nightly. In the beginning, the bats are mostly pregnant females who've journeyed north from Mexico to give birth, typically around June and July. The sight becomes even more spectacular in August, when the babies join their mothers in flight. Hundreds of spectators take to the southeast slopes of the Congress Avenue bridge each evening to catch the bats as they emerge, usually when the sun begins to set. Take a blanket and join them, or book an hour-long tour on Lady Bird Lake with Lone Star Riverboat to watch from the water. www.lonestarriverboat.com Arctic caribou, North America
The mass migration of North America's Porcupine caribou (the name derives from the Porcupine River that runs through Alaska and the Yukon), is some feat: a grueling 1,500-plus-mile journey from Canada and Alaska to the Arctic Refuge coastal plain and back -- using various routes -- in search of nutrients and insect relief. The number of Porcupine caribou arriving at Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge can reach upward of 100,000. The event also sparks the arrival of bear, wolves and wolverines. Arctic Wild leads an eight-day photography adventure into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in June, when the population of Porcupine caribou is typically at its peak. Prices are US$4,500 per person. www.arcticwild.com Whale sharks, Mexico
Though enormous in size (whale sharks can reach more than 40 feet in length and weigh up to 15 tons), the largest fish in the sea is also completely docile and typically solitary, which makes the arrival of hundreds of them off Mexico's eastern coast an extraordinary sight. Every summer these spotted and striped fish arrive in the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean to feed on plankton, meandering from side to side as they search. They typically hang around from June through mid-September. Searious Diving offers boat trips to snorkel with whale sharks in the waters north of Isla Mujeres, one of the great fish's two local hubs. Prices begin at US$125, www.islawhalesharks.com Flamingos, Kenya
Between April and June, Kenya's Lake Nakuru explodes with color, its shallow waters overrun with long-legged lesser pink flamingos who've come to feed on the lake's blue-green algae. It's been described as a full-on fuchsia feast. While their numbers have fluctuated in recent years -- from 6,500 to as many as 250,000 -- the display remains spectacular, especially if you have the opportunity to spot them soaring in flocks overhead. Lion Trail Safaris runs day trips from Nairobi to the alkaline lake, located about two hours north of the city. Prices begin at US$175, www.liontrailssafaris.com Red crabs, Christmas Island, Australia
They descend cliffs, climb banks and maneuver around obstacles to reach the shoreline and lay their eggs, eventually returning to the island's central plateau with their offspring in tow. The synchronized migration resembles a crimson-colored river undulating across the island and can last up to 18 days. The event typically takes place in November or December (the crabs will only move when it's raining) and coincides with the turning of high tide and the arrival of the waning moon. Island Explorer Holidays offer a round-trip adventure from Perth to Christmas Island to watch the phenomenon. Prices begin at US$1,500, www.islandexplorer.com.au      |
| Casual fine dining takes off in Tokyo Posted: 24 Mar 2013 03:00 PM PDT Tokyo has more fine dining establishments than any other city in the world -- many have haute price tags to match the haute cuisine. The average cost of the food alone at high-end restaurants is around 15,000 yen (US$158), and at a really high-end place, that figure can double. Factor in wine (typically starting at 10,000 yen a bottle) and service charge (10 percent), and you can see why some visitors to the city are turned off. But things are starting to change. A handful of recently opened casual fine dining restaurants, helmed by talented young chefs, is serving creative cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere -- and you won't wince when you get the check at the end of the meal. L'As
Owner and chef Daisuke Kaneko, formerly of Quand L'appetit Va tout Va, has capitalized on the lack of Tokyo restaurants offering high-level food at an affordable price. "A lot of restaurants are struggling right now, but I thought we'd be able to attract customers with good food at a reasonable price," he says. The simple decor mirrors the restaurant's minimalist concept. Inside, there's a wall of natural stone and a clutch of wooden tables surrounding the open kitchen. As at Relae in Copenhagen, cutlery is hidden in a drawer beneath your right hand. The chef takes an even simpler approach to service: everyone gets the same seven-course tasting menu for 5,250 yen/US$55 (a steal by Tokyo standards), which changes every two weeks. More on CNN: Asia's 10 best restaurants Kaneko's cooking is a genre-blurring version of contemporary French that utilizes seasonal Japanese ingredients. In spring, the chef poaches fat spears of white asparagus in clear tomato concentrate and then garnishes the dish with locally grown herbs and flower petals. Summer brings an earthy risotto dotted with whole hikaru-ika (firefly squid) the size of gumdrops, and slices of roasted lamb nestled against discs of pan-fried nagaimo (mountain yam). Like all things at L'As, the food displays artful efficiency. A succulent pigeon pie, beside a puddle of jus enriched with the bird's liver, is wrapped in printed butcher's paper and eaten with the hands. A dish of fried scallops and baby corn fritters is crowned with a sweet tangle of raw corn silk.. The restaurant is typically booked two weeks in advance for dinner, but be prepared to wait even longer for weekend lunch reservations. 5-16-5 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku; +81 (0)3 3406 0880; www.las-minamiaoyama.com
L'Alchimiste
Owner and chef Kenichi Yamamoto was inspired by his experience working at Le Chateubriand -- a Parisian neo-bistro that enjoys cult-like devotion among fans around the world -- and opened his restaurant in July 2011. His mission was to banish the stuffy atmosphere common at many of Japan's fine dining restaurants without compromising high standards. Instead of dripping chandeliers and subdued shades of black and gray, L'Alchimiste features an open kitchen and playful lilac seats, lit by chic, single-bulb fixtures. He points out that the concept behind L'Alchimiste, which he describes as "pop gastronomy," has two meanings: "It refers to both 'popular' in the sense of 'for the ordinary people' as well as the fun, 'pop' image you get from the dishes and the whole restaurant." More on CNN: Tokyo restaurant dishes up the dirt Yamamoto's delicate presentations and refined cooking style reflect his classical French training. Plump langoustine tails, astride painterly stripes of blood orange emulsion, are accompanied by charred Brussels sprouts. Beneath its crispy caramel surface, the melt-in-your-mouth mango crème brûlée conceals a rich foie gras mousse. The chef doesn't limit himself to dainty dishes on his 10-course tasting menu, priced at 7,875 yen (US$83). A juicy steak bavette, cooked rare and served with a sorrel sauce, is a hearty match for the restaurant's excellent list of mostly natural and biodynamic wines. Shirokane 1-25-26, Minato-ku; +81 3 5422 7358; www.alchimiste.jp 81
The restaurant aims higher than its neighbors and offers modern international cuisine, prepared with a light touch by Chilean chef Francisco Araya. The eight-seat 81 is the brainchild of Takeshi Nagashima, who started dreaming of opening his own restaurant after a stint at elBulli in Spain, where he met Araya and sommelier Julieta Piñon, who is in charge of wine service. "I wanted to open a different kind of place with a more international view," Nagashima says. At 29, Araya is too young to remember the Chinese chicken salad and Teriyaki filet mignon that gave Asian fusion a bad name. The food is a playful mix of Latin American, European and Asian influences, made with high-quality produce sourced mainly from Japan. Bite-sized empanadas, filled with beef broth and served with miso mayonnaise, pop in your mouth like xiao long bao soup dumplings. More on CNN: The best sushi restaurants in Tokyo A simple plate of raw tuna cubes, lightly coated in sesame dressing and arranged around a starfish-shaped mousse of coconut cream, draws philosophical inspiration from chefs like Andoni Aduriz of Spain's Mugaritz, where Araya apprenticed before elBulli. Traditional dishes are given a new twist: fluffy gnocchi the size of mini-marshmallows are made with Parmesan cheese and kudzu root, then topped with fresh pesto and micro-tomatoes. A dish of creamy, truffle-scented mashed potatoes and foie gras (a great match for the Dom Perignon that accompanies it) comes in a sealed jam jar to preserve the aroma. The 12,000 yen (US$128) price tag for 81's eight-course tasting menu includes a flight of five wines to go with each dish. 5-25-2 B1F Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku; +81 (0) 3 6909 4850; www.81restaurant.jp    |
| Gallery: Extreme shots by one of the world's greatest adventure photographers Posted: 20 Mar 2013 01:06 AM PDT Although he's often named one of the world's greatest adventure photographers, Tyler Stableford, 37, is uncomfortable with the label. "In some ways it connotes a profession more interested in thrill-seeking, and that couldn't be further from my goals as a photographer and director," he says. The Colorado-based photographer says he's more interested in "soulful storytelling." Yet, for lack of a better term, Stableford admits that "adventure photography" comes closest to explaining what he does. Physically, anyway. Harnesses, axes, crampons and ice screws are as much a part of his kit as his cameras as he combines a passion for climbing with a desire to document it. Extreme conditions
Stableford seems to take a masochistic joy in the extreme challenges of his environment. Many of his shooting locations are in some of the most remote and challenging environments on the planet, from mountains ridges and glacier caves to the bottom of coal mines. "Really the joy for me is in the process of tuning out the adversities and focusing on creating high-level imagery," he says. More on CNN: Gallery: A year in the life of a travel photographer Stableford's favorite shot is one he took of adventure writer and climber Mark Jenkins on an Iceland trip to a rare ice cave (first image in the above gallery). As serene as the photograph looks, it was a terrifying one to take, as the ice inside the glacier cave was shifting and cracking. In order to get the shot Stableford had to attach himself to the ice below his subject. It was totally worth it: he counts Iceland as the most photogenic country he's ever visited. On traveling"One of the joys of shooting travel images is that having a camera in hand gives me an excuse to walk up to somebody interesting (photo-worthy), whom I'd never talk to otherwise and have a conversation," says Stableford, who travels at least one week per month for work. "Tha'ts my number one tip for photographers at any level. When traveling use your camera as a way to introduce yourself to locals and to gain access to scenes that other tourists might not get." Any final word of advice? "Be sure to send the subjects the images!" he says. More on CNN: Amazing desert photographs taken by paraglider    |
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