The group Sensible Washington, which is working to legalize marijuana for adults in Washington state, became a lot more visible on Saturday.
Specifically, the group's huge pro-legalization billboard went up in Fife, Washington, on Interstate 5 North and South, entering and leaving Seattle. The group said the billboard would remain up through the November 2011 election.
"Because drug dealers don't ID. Legalize In 2011" the bright yellow billboard reads.
According to Gotcha Covered Media, 288,000 vehicles a day will pass under the billboard on I-5, and it will also be visible from Highway 99, which isn't included in that vehicle count.
That's a lot of cars, with a lot of potential impressions on voters -- more than 2 million vehicles a week, or 8,640,000 a month.
"Thanks to generous donations from two Sensible Washington volunteers and support and cooperation of the billboard company, Gotcha Covered Media (thank you!), we now have North- and South-facing billboards at this location through the November 2011 election," Sensible Washington said on its website.
In what could grow into something much bigger in future cases, potential jurors in Missoula County District Court staged a revolt Thursday, taking the law into their own hands and making it clear they would not convict anybody for having less than 2 grams of marijuana.
The tiny amount of marijuana police found in Touray Cornell's Missoula, Montana home on April 23 became a big point of contention for some members of the jury panel, reports Gwen Florio of The Missoulian. One juror after another said there was no way they would convict somebody for having 1/16 of an ounce of pot.
One juror wondered aloud why the county was wasting time and money prosecuting the case at all, according to a "flummoxed" Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul, who called it "a mutiny," Florio reports.
An Illinois family is accused of running a million-dollar "designer marijuana" grow operation from their home.
John Gecan, 52; his wife Darlene, 52; their son Christopher, 27; and another relative, James Osmolski, 22, were charged after police busted the grow op in the 7,000-square-foot home in an unincorporated area near Tinley Park, according to Cook County Sheriff's officials, reports Chicago Breaking News Center.
Sheriff's detectives said they began investigating the family earlier this month after intercepting a package of marijuana buds addressed to the home.
L-R: John Gecan, 52; his wife Darlene, 52; their son Christopher, 27; and another relative, James Osmolski, 22, were charged after police busted a "sophisticated" pot growing operation John and Christopher Gecan were arrested Tuesday after they received the shipment of marijuana. During the arrest, detectives claimed they smelled a "strong odor of pot" coming from the house and saw "drug paraphernalia," including cannabis pipes and a grinder, "in plain view" in the garage, officials said.
Dozens of marijuana plants and a sophisticated marijuana cultivation operation were found inside the home, according to detectives. Police removed 97 plants, 2,960 grams (almost six pounds) of marijuana, and $7,511 in cash, along with a "small amount" of cocaine, police claimed.
Police claimed the street value of the marijuana is "more than $1 million," saying the Gecans cultivated "an unusually high quality product."
According to officials, a large section of the home's basement was occupied by the marijuana growing operation.
A "dummy wall" concealed several rooms where family members divided up different stages of the cultivation process. The rooms were set up with insulation, automatic temperature control, dehumidifiers and an elaborate ventilation system with air filtration, according to officials.
Some of the plants were as much as six feet tall. Police claimed the family used charters and computers to track production, harvesting and pricing, with prices ranging from $40 for a quarter ounce of "regular" marijuana to $4,409 for a pound of "primo" cannabis.
Police also seized lighting fixtures, irrigation tables, fertilizer and indoor hydroponic equipment.
John and Christopher Gecan and Osmolski had bails set at $50,000 each, while Darlene Gecan had bail set at $25,000. All were charged with marijuana possession and with intent to deliver.
John and Darlene Gecan were released on bond Thursday afternoon, while young Christopher Gecan and Osmolski were still in Cook County Jail, according to the sheriff's office.
Seven people were arrested after almost 11 tons of marijuana was found packed into six railroad boxcars from Mexico in what is being called possibly the largest pot bust in Chicago-area history.
The cannabis was found at a south suburban warehouse this month, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which claimed the pot was worth $22 million, reports Chicago Breaking News Center.
The warehouse raid came after Customs agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, came across a Union Pacific train headed for Chicago Heights carrying about 21,800 pounds of suspected marijuana, the office said.
Agents "observed a number of large bundled packages, referred to as 'super sacks,' in six cars on the train," the office said.
Richard-Daley-1.jpeg Photo: Prime Juice Media Chicago Mayor Richard Daley: "Every day there's pot coming to Chicago. America loves pot" The agents looked inside one of the sacks and saw "13 cubic bundles, which were encrusted in a thick layer of fine red masonry pigment dust." Tests showed all the packages contained marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Shipping documents said the sacks contained titanium ore sent by Comercializadora De Minerale, a company in Jalisco, Mexico, and were bound for Earth Minerals Corp. in Rockdale, just south of Joliet, Illinois.
The packages were then resealed and the railroad delivered them to a warehouse in Chicago Heights, according the the U.S. Attorney's Office.
One of the suspects, Carlos Osvaldo Quintero, spoke to a Union Pacific employee "several times" about the delivery, according to the office. From December 6 through December 10, the rail cars were unloaded by forklifts to a storage facility next to the warehouse, the office said.
Agents said they did not see any marijuana being removed from the storage facility before the arrests -- but if some of the pot made it onto the street, I don't imagine they'd rush to admit that.
Charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana were Quintero, also known as "Carlos Gomez" and "Miguel Dominguez," 31; his father, Martin Quintero, 63; Felipe de Jesus Magana-Campos, also known as "Padrino," 47; Eduardo Angel Zalayaran-Ruiz, also known as "Other Inge," 54; Javier Vera, also known as "Ducky," 24; Christian Gonzalez, 24; and Miguel Cordova, 20.
The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of life imprisonment and a $4 million fine.
Even large marijuana busts like this and the family bust in Tinley Park won't make a noticeable difference in Chicago's cannabis supply, admitted a surprisingly frank Mayor Richard Daly.
"Every day there's pot coming to Chicago," Daley said. "America loves pot, they love guns. Every day, you could write headlines every day. And every day Chicago police make an arrest, in a home, in a car."
Wow, that's pretty poetic, for a mayor. Hey Mayor Daley, did you ever consider a career as a slam poet?
"There's so much coming in," Daley said. "Both we have homegrown pot, and we have pot from foreign countries."
This pure indica medicinal strain comes from California. In that state's medical community she is considered an "elite clone", meaning that she is only available as a cutting. Not to worry if you are a medical merijuana patient in California - this strain can be found at various despensaries throughout the state. Purple Kush is especially popular at the SR-71 dispensary in "Oaksterdam", the section of downtown Oakland that tolerates medical marijuana providers. Patients there praise this Purple Kush's deep body stone as a treatment for pain and depression.
This lady forms a short squat bush with very dense intermodes and huge fan leaves, staying in the 2-3 foot height range indoors. With topping or pinching she will be at least as wide as she is tall. Purple Kush's foliage exhibits a classic indica growth pattern: a sturdy bush with dark green hues and hints of purple toward ripeness.
Purple Kush is versatile, performing well for both indoor and outdoor growers. She does very well in a screen of green (SCROG) setup. Purple Kush buds form tight chunky nuggets with hints of purple in the tips of the calyxes, as well as the soft pine bouquet and a sweet, grapey taste on an earthy foundation. her very frosty veneer of glands will please both the connoisseur of indica potency and the hashish fan. The Purple Kush high is strong, deep stone delivers when it comes to treating chronic pains and inflamations, among other conditions.
Looks: Rich green dense buds with a bit of leaf and bright dark orange / red hairs. (9/10)
Smell: It smells like kush and unburnt diesel fuel. When it’s ground up it gets a really strong smell of kush, unburnt diesel fuel and skunk. The smell when its ground up reminds me of a spare rib, it has this twang to it. Some of the strongest smelling medicine EVER. A small bud will reak up the WHOLE house when the jar is cracked. This is the stuff you smell before you even see it. If you’re trying to be discrete with the smell, look for another strain. (10/10)
Taste: Super heavy kush taste. With hints of a fresh pine tree forest. The kush taste is so overpowering, that I have to change the volcano bag afterwards or every other bag until it is changed tastes like kush regardless of the strain. (9/10)
Effects: Night time use only. Strong indica effects. Provided a calming, anti-anxiety happy feeling. Noticed although I was in floating haze I was still fully functional and had lots of energy to get stuff done. Too much in one sitting is instant nap time. Works great for high tolerances. Made me really hungry too! (9/10)
The Chandler City Council took a first step Monday night to write restrictive zoning regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries.
The Council voted unanimously to start work on zoning code amendments that limit the locations of dispensaries beyond those in a new state law.
Exactly what those restrictions will be is uncertain, but the council will discuss them at a Dec. 16 subcommittee meeting, bring them to public hearings in January and adopt them in February.
Several council members said the potential for marijuana theft and the anticipated cultivation of medical marijuana in city limits are reasons Chandler should adopt zoning restrictions.
Municipalities across the state have been scrambling to write ordinances for medical-marijuana dispensaries since Proposition 203 was officially approved by voters last month.
Planning Director Jeff Kurtz said cities can limit medical marijuana dispensaries to specific zoning districts, require special use permits and set maximum square footage for the operations. If Chandler doesn't change its zoning code, the dispensaries would be allowed in most areas that permit retail commerce, he said.
Mayor Boyd Dunn, a member of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns executive committee, said the state law is so vague that the regional group drafted a model ordinance for municipalities. Arizona Department of Health Services is expected to start reviewing applications from people who want to operate a dispensary or use medical marijuana by April. Under state law, no more than 124 dispensaries can open across Arizona. At least one has to open in each county.
According to league records, no Valley city has yet adopted zoning changes that regulate medical marijuana dispensaries but Tempe and Scottsdale have held public discussions of proposed restrictions and Peoria has a draft ordinance set for a vote next month. Four cities outside of Maricopa County, including Tucson, have adopted medical marijuana zoning laws.
If you’ve been paying attention to chemtrails, you may have observed rainbow smearing (diffraction) of light reflected off them. Dark sunglasses can bring the subtle rainbows into the dynamic range of the human eye. Chembows are often visible when the sunlight reflects at approximately 45• angle to the chemtrail.
In the past, high altitude jet contrails dissipated quickly, and didn't form persistent horizon-to-horizon trails that later spread out into a blanket of silvery haze. How many days have you watched clear skies turned solid gray by chemtrails? Global dimming has been proven and is highly associated with chemtrails.
By whatever means the chemicals are being dispersed, whether as a fuel additive or spraying, and for whatever purpose(s), it's safe to say at this point that a semi-secret aerosol dispersal program exists, and a number of different chemicals are being released into the air using jet aircraft (including barium, aluminum, polymer fibers, and microorganisms). High altitude ice crystal formation increases around these nucleation sites, often resulting in stunning rainbows (chembows and sun dogs) of diffracted/refracted light, and pink and green dichroism.
The program is global in scope and is causing untold harm to our environment. It's time to recognize the mangnitude of this threat, and conduct some real diligent science and intelligence gathering that identifies conclusively the source and composition and impact of the release of this aerosol.
Flagstaff City Council members sent staff back to the drawing board to come up with less restrictive zoning for medical marijuana businesses noting that strip clubs faced less restrictive zoning in the initial plan.
Medical Marijuana Clinics and Dispensaries Arizona The federal marijuana enforcement policy declares federal authorities will no longer be raiding state licensed medical marijuana dispensaries and clinics that are in compliance with their own state laws and regulations concerning the medical use and safe access to marijuana. Under current federal law however, the use, sale or possession of marijuana, whether medically prescribed or not, is still unlawful and carries significant criminal penalties.
Zero tolerance of drug use is the workplace norm in Arizona, but the medical-marijuana law that takes effect next year will cloud what had been a clear-cut issue for workers and employers.
If a supervisor suspects that using marijuana for medical reasons affects the quality of an employee's work, how should the supervisor respond?
If employees who were prescribed medical marijuana are injured in an accident on the job, are they eligible for workers' compensation?
What happens if a legal user of marijuana fails a company's drug test when applying for a job?
The new law bars employers from discriminating against medical-marijuana users; but, employment attorneys say, it does allow employers to terminate or take action against employees who use medical marijuana on the job or whose work is impaired by the drug.
The issue is likely to be tested in Arizona's workplaces. The law specifies that medical marijuana is for grave illnesses - such as cancer, HIV and glaucoma - but it's increasingly common for employees with serious illnesses to continue to work long after their diagnosis.
Because there is no standard for being under the influence of marijuana, defining what it means to be impaired by the drug on the job is more difficult. In general, employment law allows termination for poor work performance.
Issues not directly related to job performance also are expected to crop up for employers. Because a medical-marijuana user could fail a drug test even if he or she is not under the influence, patients who use the drug legally could still run afoul of their employers' drug-testing policies.
The result is widespread uncertainty among employers. In the months before the program launches, companies and their attorneys will be scrambling to review their drug-testing policies and scrutinize employee rules to comply with the new law.
Many states with existing medical-marijuana laws are still struggling with many of the same issues. Many may have to be resolved in court.
However, because states have separate statutes and judicial systems, decisions in one state may not carry weight in another.
Workplace issues have arisen frequently, said Mike Meno, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. His organization backed the successful November ballot initiative that made medical-marijuana use legal in Arizona.
Although there are 15 states that allow patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, Arizona is one of a handful of states that spell out protections for employees who use medical marijuana.
Voters in Arizona strongly support allowing for medical marijuana in the state. According to a Rocky Mountain poll, 54 percent of likely voters in Arizona plan to vote yes on Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. Only 32 percent of voters claim they plan to oppose the measure. The committed yes vote is slightly over 50 percent and is 22 points higher than the no vote. Overall, this is a fairly strong position for a ballot measure roughly three weeks before the election, and indicate the proposition is likely to pass.
Not surprisingly, the poll shows a large age divide on the issue. While voters under 35 overwhelmingly support Prop 203 by a margin of 61 to 21 percent, voters over 55 slightly oppose it 41 to 43. As long as younger voters turn out in reasonable numbers, the proposition should be on track to passage.
If the voters of Arizona approve of Prop 203, it will become the 15th state to legalize medical marijuana.
PORTLAND, Ore. – Kraft Foods Inc. said Wednesday that it will cut the salt in its products that are sold in North America by an average of 10 percent over the next two years to appeal to health-conscious consumers.
The changes at Kraft, the largest U.S. food maker, will affect more than 1,000 products and eliminate more than 10 million pounds of salt over the two-year period, the company said.
Kraft and other food makers have cut their use of sodium in recent years. Among other cuts, the company said this latest move will cut the salt in Oscar Mayer Bologna by 17 percent, Easy Mac Cups by 20 percent and Velveeta by 10 percent.
"We are reducing sodium because it's good for consumers and, if done properly, it's good for business," Rhonda Jordan, president of health & wellness at Kraft Foods, said in a statement. "A growing number of consumers are concerned about their sodium intake, and we want to help them translate their intentions into actions."
Health experts generally agree Americans eat too much salt and the vast majority of it comes from processed food. The excess is dangerous because salt contributes to high blood pressure, which can lead to stroke, kidney disease, heart disease or heart failure.
Many health leaders have urged food makers to reformulate their products to reduce salt.
Dietary guidelines generally limit healthy adults to about a teaspoon, or 2,300 milligrams of sodium, a day. People who are most sensitive to salt — African Americans, people with high blood pressure and others — should limit their daily intake to 1500 milligrams, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Kraft, which is based in Northfield, Ill., offers more than 100 products with no sodium or what it calls low or reduced levels. But a 2.05-ounce, single-serving Easy Mac Cup, for example, has 700 milligrams of sodium — about 30 percent of the recommended average daily intake.
Kraft said it also is reformulating some items for international markets, including cheese products in the UK. But the bulk of the company's business is in North America.
Among other companies aiming to cut sodium is ConAgra Foods Inc., the maker of Chef Boyardee and Hebrew National. ConAgra announced in October that it would will cut sodium 20 percent in the next five years.
Campbell Soup Co. has cut the sodium in more than 100 of its products — including V8 juices, Prego sauces, Pepperidge Farm breads and some of its namesake soups — by 25 percent to 50 percent over the past four years. Campbell announced in December that it would cut the sodium in its SpaghettiOs canned pasta by up to 35 percent.
BURBANK, Calif. – The Los Angeles coroner's office says "The Lost Boys" actor Corey Haim is dead at 38.
Coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said Wednesday that Haim died at 2:15 a.m. at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. She said an autopsy will determine the cause of death and there are no other details.
Canadian-born Haim became a teen heartthrob with the 1986 film "Lucas" and 1987's "The Lost Boys."
His first role was in the 1984 hit "Firstborn," in which he played a young child caught up in a family war. He then appeared in the 1985 television movie "A Time to Live."
In recent years, he appeared in the A&E reality TV show "The Two Coreys" with his friend Corey Feldman. It was canceled in 2008 after two seasons.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's recent endorsement of Arizona Sen. John McCain's re-election was widely viewed as another sign of how far the relationship between the two fierce rivals from the 2008 Republican presidential primaries has evolved.
More cynical observers noted that Romney, a leading GOP 2012 White House prospect, likely wants to remain on the good side of McCain, his party's 2008 nominee.
But to some in the camp of Senate challenger J.D. Hayworth, Romney's embrace of McCain came as a personal blow.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, perhaps Hayworth's highest-profile ally in the state, previously was Romney's honorary Arizona campaign chairman, going so far as to stump for Romney and against McCain in the key early presidential-race states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Arpaio said Romney's decision to back McCain won't diminish his respect for him.
"If he runs again, I'm sure he would like to have McCain support him," Arpaio said. "Is that how politics operates? One day you're on one side, and the next day you're on the other side?"
Jason Rose, Hayworth's campaign spokesman and political consultant, was Romney's state director during the 2008 race.
"Governor Romney is a good man who would make a great president," Rose said in an e-mail when asked about Romney's choice of McCain over Hayworth.
Meanwhile, a Facebook group called "Mitt Romney Supporters for J.D. Hayworth" as of late Friday had 137 members, including Hayworth himself.
In other developments:
• Local "tea party" activists apparently aren't totally sold on Hayworth as a conservative alternative to the more moderate McCain. Organizers of four tea-party groups in Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff and Mohave County issued a joint statement Monday saying they are declining to endorse in the GOP Senate primary.
"The Tea Party is a non-partisan, grass-roots movement that stands for limited government, free markets, and fiscal responsibility," Tucson Tea Party co-founder Robert Mayer said in a written statement. "Both McCain and Hayworth's records during their many years in Washington leave much to be desired on these issues."
But Hayworth still can point to local tea-party support - many in attendance at his Feb. 15 campaign kickoff identified themselves with the movement - and he recently did secure the endorsement of the national group TaxDay TeaParty.com.
• Rep. Charles Rangel's ethics troubles have prompted three House Democrats from Arizona to jettison campaign cash linked to the embattled New York Democrat.
Rep. Harry Mitchell returned $28,000 and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords donated $21,000 to veterans groups, aides confirmed. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick relinquished $14,000, the Associated Press reported.
Rangel, under fire for multiple ethics issues, on Wednesday said he was stepping aside as chairman of the prestigious House Ways and Means Committee.
Eyes are literally our windows to the world, but few people take the time to care for the body part that imparts the precious gift of sight. There are many easy ways to treat your eyes with the respect they deserve. Dr. Scott Greenstein, an ophthalmologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, offers these suggestions to keep your eyes healthy:
1) Get an Eye Exam, No Matter Your Age
Seeing an ophthalmologist is not just for people who already have glasses. Greenstein recommends all children get a full eye exam before beginning kindergarten and every few years after.
Adults also should get their eyes checked, even if there is not an obvious problem.
"There are many people that think if they can see reasonably well, that’s the end of the story," he says. "They may have some ophthalmic condition that’s undiagnosed." Other conditions, such as headaches, may be due to a vision impairment that is forcing the eye to strain.
And while eye damage has many causes, Greenstein says, computer screens are not one of them. "There is no evidence that you can over use your eyes," he says. Eyestrain from staring at a screen is not a disorder that causes any anatomical or structural damage; however, eyestrain may be due to other problems, so if there is any change in vision or change to the eye, he recommends seeing an ophthalmologist.
2) Wear Sunglasses
It may seem obvious, but "if you spend any time outdoors, you should wear a hat and sunglasses," Greenstein says. This is not just an issue of comfort.
Studies have shown that repeated sun exposure could increase incidence of cataracts, which cause cloudy vision as well as macular degeneration, a condition that reduces vision in the central part of the retina.
Obviously, the bigger the lens, the more of the eye is protected, but any style with ultra violet protection is sufficient. For those looking for maximum protection, Greenstein noted yellow and orange tinted lenses have been shown in some studies to absorb the wavelength of light that increases the risk for cataracts and macular degeneration.
But if the idea of a lemon-tinted world turns you green, that’s fine, he says. The best protection from sunglasses comes from having a pair you will want to wear for any and all sun exposure.
3) Manage Your Diabetes
Diabetic retinopathy is a condition where high blood sugar damages blood vessels behind the retina. That blood then can leak out into the retina, causing vision problems. Anyone with type 1 or type 2 diabetes should receive an annual eye exam. "Poor [blood sugar] control increases your risk, and better control lowers your risk," Greenstein explained. Even so, diabetics who are controlling their blood sugar still can develop eye problems.
4) Eye Protection: Not Just for Welders
Many high-risk occupations, such as welding, require eye protection because the cornea can be severely burned from a stray spark. Greenstein says he also has seen that same degree of damage from skiers who were not wearing goggles.
Besides skiing, the backyard can be a potential danger zone for eyes. Weed whackers and lawnmowers can send debris flying, and even raking or pruning can shoot a stray branch into the cornea. Not only should goggles be worn for a range of gardening activities, Greenstein says, but also for racquetball, squash and even basketball, which can produce many fingers straight into the eye.
5) Carrots Are Not Enough
Despite dinner time advice dished out by parents, eating fruits and vegetables will not save or enhance your vision, according to Greenstein. For some people with unhealthy optic nerves or a very dry cornea, diet can make a difference, but those cases are rare.
That does not mean that a balanced and varied diet of fruits and vegetables will not contribute to eye and overall health. A balanced diet, for instance, is key to controlling diabetes, which can cause eye damage.
For certain macular degeneration patients, vitamins A, C, E and zinc have been shown to reduce the risk and severity of this condition. But for the majority of macular degeneration patients, Greenstein cautioned, a supplement of these vitamins will not cause any harm — but will also not improve vision.
More important than diet, he says, is to stop smoking, which increases the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration.
6) Take Your Contacts Out
Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves some contacts for "extended wear," that is not a free pass to leave them in as long as you want, Greenstein says. Leaving contacts in too long, especially overnight, can lead to infection. "Even if it is approved for extended wear," he says, "I do not recommend it."
7) Check Your Medication
Flomax, a medication for male urinary symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia, can complicate cataract surgery, Greenstein noted, and men should consider whether they are going to need cataract surgery before beginning this medication.
Prednisone, a synthetic corticosteroid drug used to treat a range of autoimmune diseases, also has been shown to increase the risk for glaucoma and cataracts when taken for long periods of time. It is best to tell your ophthalmologist about any medications you are taking at each visit.
8) Do Not Wait to Get Cataract Surgery
Greenstein says many patients who have a cataract wait years after an initial diagnosis to get surgery because they are waiting for the cataract to be "ripe," but "The longer you wait, the higher the risk to get it out," he says. "The eye is not a piece of fruit."
Cataract surgery has a very low complication rate, and anyone with this condition should discuss whether surgery is an appropriate option with his or her ophthalmologist.
Being a parrot owner myself, I am not surprised at the talent they have. But Einstein is so smart she has a vocabulary of more than 200 words and sounds; she can perform nearly half on a cue from her trainer, Stephanie White. She can also impersonate a spaceship, a monkey and even a skunk.
Do you have a talented pet? We would like to hear from you.
Jamaica, which was originally claimed for Spain in 1494, has a history that has been greatly affected by slavery and the slave trade. The island was taken from Spain in 1655 when British Admiral William Penn and General Venables seized the island. Jamaica for almost two centuries was the world's largest sugar exporter, which was achieved through the use of imported slave labour, resulting in the island's large Black population. Jamaica also has a sizeable minority of East Indians, and varying numbers of Whites, Afro-Chinese, and persons of Syrian/Lebanese decent, many of which have intermixed throughout the generations. Individuals on the island seldom belong to one racial group; the genetic roots of many people can be traced to origins that are not necessarily physically apparent.
Christianity is the major religion in the island (It is estimated that about 80% of the island's 2.5 million inhabitants are Christians).
Jamaica's resources include coffee, papaya, bauxite, gypsum, limestone and sugar cane. If you’ve never had Jamaican coffee your missing out on the best morning wake up.
Most Jamaicans speak Jamaican Creole, also known locally as Patois (Patwa). Jamaican pronunciation and vocabulary are significantly different from English, despite heavy usage of English words or derivatives. Jamaican Creole is almost exclusively used when Jamaicans speak between one another. In all other cases (especially around tourists) English is used.
Although all Jamaicans can speak English, Westerners may have trouble understanding them. It's English, but a heavily accented version. Even the billboards use the Jamaican phoenetic slang, like "Ebery 'ting is ah right" to mean "Everything is alright." Some Jamaicans speak a little bit of the other popular languages, like Spanish.
You may hear some Jamaicans say "Waah gwan?", "Waah appen?" or "what tah gwan", which is the patois variation of "What's up?" or "What's going on?". More formal greetings are usually "Good morning", or "Good evening".
Visit Nine Mile where Bob Marley was born and now buried. The journey up into the mountains lets you experience the heart of the country. Spend a day at Negril 7 mile beach and finish off at Rick's Cafe for a spectacular sunset and watch even more fantastic cliff diving.
Jamaican food is a mixture of Caribbean dishes with local dishes. Although Jamaican food gets a reputation for being spicy, local trends lean towards more versatile food variety. Some of the Caribbean dishes that you'll see in other countries around the region are rice and peas (which is cooked with coconut milk) and patties (which are called empanadas in spanish speaking countries). The national dish is Ackee and saltfish, and MUST be tried by anyone visiting the island. It is made with the local fruit called Ackee, which looks like scrambled eggs, but has a unique taste of its own and dried codfish mixed with onions and tomatoes. You probably won't get a chance to try this food anywhere else, and if you really want to say that you did something uniquely Jamaican, then this is your chance. Freshly picked and prepared ackee is 100 times better than tinned ackee, but must be harvested only when the ackee fruits have ripened and their pods opened naturally on the large evergreen tree on which they grow: unripe ackee contains a potent toxin (hypoglycin A) which causes vomiting and hypoglycemia . Another local food is called bammy, which was actually invented by the Arawak (Taino) Indians. It is a flat floury cassava pancake normally eaten during breakfast hours that kind of tastes like corn bread. There is also hard-dough bread (locally called hard dough bread), which comes in both sliced and unsliced varieties. Try toasting it, for when it is toasted, it tastes better than most bread you'll ever eat. If you are looking for dishes with more meat in them, you can try the jerk flavoured foods. The most popular is jerk chicken, although jerk pork and jerk conch are also common. The jerk seasoning is a spice that is spread on the meat on the grill like barbeque sauce. Keep in mind that most Jamaicans eat their food well done, so expect the food to be a bit drier than you are accustomed to. There are also curries such as curried chicken and curried goat which are very popular in Jamaica. The best curried goat is made with male goats and if you see a menu with curried fish, try it.
You may even want to pick up a piece of sugar cane, slice off some pieces and suck on them.
Fruit and vegetables in Jamaica are plentiful. Many of the local varieties are unknown to visitors. Locally grown fruits and vegetables are inexpensive. Visitors may well find that imported produce tends to be more expensive than in their home country. Grapes in particular tend to be very expensive on the island.
Chinese food is available in many places from Chinese takeout stores and has a distant Jamaican taste.
It is recommended to sample the local fruit and vegetables. If unfamiliar with a particular fruit it can pay to ask a local about which parts can be eaten. Local and imported fruits are available from road-side vendors. If the fruit is to be eaten immediately the vendors can generally wash the fruit for you on request.
Finally, there is the category of "ital" food. Ital food is completely vegetarian and generally consists of a vegetable stew. Ital food is not generally on the printed menus in the upscale tourist restaurants and can only be found by going to smaller places (often just somebody's house.) Rastafarians are often vegetarians and eat (and serve) ital food.
So next time your looking for a vacation spot, remember Jamaica. This will be one of the best trips you’ll take. Let us know what you think of Jamaica.
NEW YORK – Millions of cable subscribers faced the prospect of Oscar night without the Academy Awards broadcast Sunday after ABC's parent company switched off its signal to Cablevision customers and the two companies blasted each other for failing to reach a deal in a dispute over fees.
In dueling statements dispatched early Sunday, the two companies traded blame for the stalemate ahead of one of the most-watched nights of television.
"Cablevision has once again betrayed its subscribers," said Charissa Gilmore, a spokeswoman for the Walt Disney Co. and ABC Television Group, in a statement. "Cablevision pocketed almost $8 billion last year, and now customers aren't getting what they pay for ... again."
Cablevision Systems Corp. said the stall in negotiations should be blamed on Disney CEO Bob Iger. "It is now painfully clear to millions of New York area households that Disney CEO Bob Iger will hold his own ABC viewers hostage in order to extract $40 million in new fees from Cablevision," said Charles Schueler, a Cablevision executive vice president, in a statement.
The signal can still be pulled from the air for free with an antenna and a new TV or digital converter box.
Cablevision has argued that Disney is seeking an additional $40 million a year in new fees, even though the company pays more than $200 million a year to Disney.
Disney counters by arguing that Cablevision charges customers $18 per month for basic broadcast signals but does not pass on any payment for ABC to Disney.
The dispute is similar to a standoff at the end of last year between News Corp. and Time Warner Cable over how much Fox television station signals were worth. That tussle, which threatened the college football bowl season and new episodes of "The Simpsons," was resolved without a signal interruption.
Cablevision also feuded with Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. in a January dispute that temporarily forced the Food Network and HGTV off the service. Neither side provided terms of an agreement that restored the channels after three weeks.
Disney and Cablevision have been airing dueling advertisements about the ongoing dispute for the past week. Also, lawmakers in Washington have chimed in, suggesting the Federal Communications Commission step in.
The company's previous contract with Cablevision expired more than two years ago, but it was extended month by month as talks continued.
Under previous arrangements, Disney was paid for cable channels such as ESPN and Disney Channel, but gave its ABC broadcast signal away for free, a situation that most broadcasters are now trying to change.
"We can no longer sit back and allow Cablevision to use our shows for free while they continue to charge their customers for them," WABC-TV president and general manager Rebecca Campbell said in a statement.
Schueler suggested that disgruntled viewers should blame Disney's top executive if the station goes dark.
"There is one man who is going to decide whether New York gets to see the Oscars, and that's Disney President and CEO Bob Iger," he said in a statement late Friday. "We call on Bob Iger to stop holding his own viewers hostage, end his threats to pull the plug on ABC at midnight and instead work with us to reach a fair agreement."
Has Haarp struck again? Or is this really Mother Nature at work. The earthquake that devastated Chile has yet another problem emerging, looting. The Chilean police have now arrested dozens of people for violating curfews after looters took almost everything from markets in this city hardest hit by the earthquake. The president of Chile has promised food, water and shelter for thousands living on the streets.
Some coastal towns just to the north of Concepcion were almost obliterated, first shaken by the quake, then slammed by a tsunami that lifted whole houses and carried them inland and that reduced others to piles of sticks. In Concepcion itself, firefighters were seeking survivors in a toppled apartment building, a day after they had to pause because of tear gas fired at looters who wheeled away everything from microwave ovens to canned milk at a damaged supermarket across the street.
Ingenious looters used long tubes of bamboo and plastic to siphon gasoline from underground tanks at a closed gasoline station.
So are you prepared if something like this happens to you? I think most of us are not.
ORLANDO, Fla. – A veteran SeaWorld trainer was rubbing a killer whale from a poolside platform when the 12,000-pound creature reached up, grabbed her ponytail in its mouth and dragged her underwater. Despite workers rushing to help, the trainer was killed.
Horrified visitors who had stuck around after a noontime show watched the animal charge through the pool with the trainer in its jaws. Workers used nets as an alarm sounded, but it was too late. Dawn Brancheau had drowned. It marked the third time the animal had been involved in a human death.
The whale, named Tilikum, apparently grabbed Brancheau by her long ponytail, according to the head of animal training at all SeaWorld parks, Chuck Tompkins. He told ABC's "Good Morning America" that her ponytail swung out in front of the whale.
"That's when the trainer next to him (Tilikum) said that he grabbed the hair, pulled her under water. And of course, held her under water," Tompkins said.
SeaWorld's Web site said the park would be open Thursday but that killer whale shows were suspended for the time being at its Orlando and San Diego parks. Its third location in San Antonio is not yet open for the season.
Brancheau's interaction with the whale appeared leisurely and informal at first to audience member Eldon Skaggs. But then, the whale "pulled her under and started swimming around with her," Skaggs told The Associated Press.
Some workers hustled the audience out of the stadium while the others tried to save Brancheau, 40.
Skaggs said he heard that during an earlier show the whale was not responding to directions. Others who attended the earlier show said the whale was behaving like an ornery child.
But Tompkins said the whale had performed well in the show and that Dawn was rubbing him down as a reward for doing a good job.
"There wasn't anything to indicate to us that there was a problem," Tompkins told the CBS "Early Show."
Another audience member, Victoria Biniak, told WKMG-TV the whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off."
Because of his size and the previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with Tilikum, and only about a dozen of the park's 29 trainers worked with him. Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most. She was one of the park's most experienced trainers overall.
"We recognized he was different," said Tompkins. He said no decision has been made yet about what will happen to Tilikum, such as transferring him to another facility. SeaWorld has also suspended the killer whale shows at all of its parks, which also include locations in San Diego and San Antonio, to review procedures.
A SeaWorld spokesman said Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after the woman lost her balance and fell in the pool at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia.
Steve Huxter, who was head of Sealand's animal care and training department then, said Wednesday he's surprised it happened again. He says Tilikum was a well-behaved, balanced animal.
Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum.
Brancheau's older sister, Diane Gross, said the trainer wouldn't want anything done to the whale because she loved the animals like children. The trainer was married and didn't have children.
"She loved the whales like her children, she loved all of them," said Gross, of Schererville, Ind. "They all had personalities, good days and bad days."
Gross said the family viewed her sister's death as an unfortunate accident, adding: "It just hasn't sunk in yet."
Dawn was the youngest of six children who grew up near Cedar Lake, Indiana. Her passion for marine life began at the age of nine, Gross said, on a family trip to Sea World.
According to a profile of Brancheau in the Sentinel in 2006, she was one of SeaWorld Orlando's leading trainers. Brancheau worked her way into a leadership role at Shamu Stadium during her career with SeaWorld, starting at the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium before spending 10 years working with killer whales, the newspaper said.
She also addressed the dangers of the job.
"You can't put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you," Brancheau said.
Billy Hurley, chief animal officer at the Georgia Aquarium_ the world's largest — said there are inherent dangers to working with orcas, just as there are with driving race cars or piloting jets.
"In the case of a killer whale, if they want your attention or if they're frustrated by something or if they're confused by something, there's only a few ways of handling that," he said. "If you're right near pool's edge and they decide they want a closer interaction during this, certainly they can grab you."
And, he added: "At 12,000 pounds there's not a lot of resisting you're going to do."
Mike Wald, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Atlanta, said his agency had dispatched an investigator from Tampa.
Wednesday's death was not the first attack on whale trainers at SeaWorld parks.
In November 2006, a trainer was bitten and held underwater several times by a killer whale during a show at SeaWorld's San Diego park.
The trainer, Kenneth Peters, escaped with a broken foot. The 17-foot orca that attacked him was the dominant female of SeaWorld San Diego's seven killer whales. She had attacked Peters two other times, in 1993 and 1999.
In 2004, another whale at the company's San Antonio park tried to hit one of the trainers and attempted to bite him. He also escaped.
Wednesday's attack was the second time in two months that an orca trainer was killed at a marine park. On Dec. 24, 29-year-old Alexis Martinez Hernandez fell from a whale and crushed his ribcage at Loro Parque on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Park communications director Patricia Delponti said the whale, a 14-year-old named Keto, came from SeaWorld but is not a son of Tilikum.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Six U.S.-bound orphans seized by Haitian officials as they prepared to board a flight to Miami were to resume their journey to American homes on Wednesday after being handed over to the U.S. Embassy.
Jan Bonnema, the Minnesota-based founder of the Cap-Haitien orphanage where the children lived, said the orphans were to fly to Miami in the afternoon on a charter and their adoptive parents will be able to take their children home on Thursday.
Sara Vanzee and her husband, Tim, are waiting for their 13-month-old son, Albert, to arrive. The couple says the situation has been stressful even though they understand the suspicions surrounding adoptions given recent cases in Haiti.
"Our hope is that they're OK with it, that they can see that we absolutely love these children and that we want to provide for them," Vanzee, who is from the U.S. Midwest, told The Associated Press.
The case of the six orphans seized Saturday at the Port-au-Prince airport echoed that of 10 Americans caught last month trying to take youngsters out of the earthquake-ravaged nation. But this time things turned out differently, with the six children being handed over to the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday.
The two cases highlight the perils of trying to remove youngsters from this desperate country.
At the very moment when Haiti's impoverished children are in greatest need — and well-meaning foreigners are most willing to help — fears of child trafficking are making it harder than ever for them to leave the Western Hemisphere's poorest land.
Fears were exacerbated by the case of 10 U.S. Baptist missionaries who were stopped in late January trying to take a busload of 33 children to the Dominican Republic without proper documentation.
Thousands of desperate Haitian parents, unable to care for their own children, have shown themselves eager to give the youngsters away in hopes of giving them a better life. But they are terrified they will be tricked by predators who will enslave or sexually abuse the children.
Haiti's government immediately halted new adoptions in the chaos that followed the Jan. 12 quake, allowing only those already approved to move forward.
That chill hardened into a freeze after Saturday's incident. A U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity, said the latest drama held up the departure of 50 orphans approved for U.S. adoption.
It took the U.S. ambassador and Haiti's prime minister to iron out on Tuesday what turned out to be an ugly misunderstanding.
Four women including an adoptive mother from Minnesota arrived at the airport with six children ages 1 to 5 from the Cap-Haitien orphanage. The U.S. Embassy official carrying the documents needed to usher them through immigration was running late.
Suddenly, a group of 20 men rushed to block them, cursing them and screaming "'You can't take our children!'"
The women were briefly detained, but the children wound up spending three days sleeping on the ground in a tent-city social services home, according to their escorts from the Children of The Promise orphanage.
Still in detention were two of the 10 U.S. Baptist missionaries. Their eight associates were released last week and flew back to the United States.
WASHINGTON – Democratic congressional leaders confronted the reality Tuesday that they may not be able to pass the comprehensive health care overhaul sought by President Barack Obama. Republican leaders prepared to do everything in their power to make sure they can't.
Democrats saw the sweeping health bill that Obama unveiled ahead of a bipartisan health care summit Thursday as their last, best chance at a top-to-bottom remake of the nation's health care system that would usher in near-universal health coverage. But some were clear-eyed about the difficulties after a year of corrosive debate and the loss of their filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said comprehensive reform would be best but it's not all or nothing.
"We may not be able to do all. I hope we can do all, a comprehensive piece of legislation that will provide affordable, accessible, quality health care to all Americans," Hoyer said at his weekly media briefing. "But having said that, if we can't, then you know me — if you can't do a whole, doing part is also good. I mean there are a number of things I think we can agree on."
The areas of disagreement have been more obvious. Senate Republicans on Tuesday rejected the White House plea for a simple up-or-down vote on Obama's health care plan, indicating they would offer hundreds of amendments to stop the legislation.
"Our constituents don't want the Senate to just wave the same thing through just because it has a new name and even more spending," said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Insurance market reforms like barring insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions would be difficult or impossible to pull off without a large risk pool achieved by a requiring nearly everyone to be insured. Smaller measures could be done individually, such as money for insurance pools to provide coverage to people with health problems.
Two days before Obama's televised health summit with Republicans and Democrats, the prospects for any bipartisan deal dimmed as the administration set the stage for pushing ahead with only Democratic support, a risky move that would require the president's political capital and elusive unity from a fractious party.
Obama's new plan used legislation already passed by the Senate as its starting point, making changes designed to appeal to House Democrats. He unveiled it Monday almost exactly a year after calling on Congress to act to reform the nation's costly an inefficient health care system. Majority Democrats were on the verge of meeting the challenge before Republican Scott Brown's upset win in a Massachusetts Senate seat last month.
Brown's win underscored the perilous political environment for Democrats in an election year, but Obama didn't scale back his ambitions, opting for one last attempt at full-scale legislation. It costs around $1 trillion over a decade, requires nearly everyone to be insured or pay a fine, and puts new requirements on insurance companies, including — in a new twist responding to recent rate hikes — giving the federal government authority to block big premium increases.
If Obama fails on a comprehensive health care overhaul where Bill Clinton and other presidents failed before him, the chance won't come around again anytime soon.
The whole endeavor will now rise or fall on Obama's ability to sell his plan at the summit Thursday, and the reaction from lawmakers and the public in the days ahead.
Some rank-and-file Democrats were openly skeptical that the White House and congressional leaders could pull it off. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., a moderate who opposed the health legislation when it passed the House, questioned whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi could hang on to the votes that allowed her to get the bill through 220-215 in November. Since then a couple of Democrats have left the House, and Pelosi may also lose votes from anti-abortion Democrats who oppose the less restrictive abortion language in the Senate bill, which Obama kept in his plan.
"Is she going to be able to hold everybody that was for it before?" Altmire asked. "What about the marginal members in the middle who got hammered over this vote and would love a second chance to perhaps go against it?"
Only 32 percent of Americans say Congress should move soon to pass a comprehensive bill, embodied in the House and Senate Democratic legislation and Obama's new plan. That was the finding of a poll released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Americans were evenly divided on the legislation, in a 43-43 percent split.
Most still want Congress to pass something this year, and 58 percent say they'll be disappointed or angry if that doesn't happen. But 20 percent say lawmakers should pass a scaled-back bill, and 22 percent say it would be a good idea to call a time-out on health care and come back later in the year.
Obama's plan does not include the government insurance option sought by liberals and it dramatically scales back a tax on high-value insurance plans from the Senate bill that was opposed in the House. It eliminates a controversial Medicaid deal for Nebraska, offers all states more help with Medicaid funding, and beefs up subsidies to help lower-income people buy care, all changes that won praise from House Democrats. It also closes the so-called "doughnut hole" in Medicare's prescription drug coverage.
Individuals and small businesses would shop for insurance in regulated state-based marketplaces called exchanges.
Many women are fearful of breast cancer. One reason is that breast cancer is personal. Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women during their lives, and many of us know someone — a mother, sister, friend — who has had it. Another reason is that breast cancer is a real threat to women. It is the second leading cancer killer of women in the United States, next to lung cancer. It also can affect our sexual health, overall health, and emotional health. The good news is that most women who get breast cancer survive it. Thanks to screening, breast cancer often can be found early, when it’s easiest to treat. In fact, many women are even cured of the disease.
Cancer is a disease in which cells become abnormal and form more cells in an uncontrolled way. With breast cancer, the cancer begins in the tissues that make up the breasts. The cancer cells may form a mass called a tumor. (Note: Not all tumors are cancer.) Cancer that invades nearby tissue is called invasive. The most common types of breast cancer are:
• Invasive (or infiltrating) lobular carcinoma (LAH-byuh-luhr KAR-sih-NOH-muh) – Cancer that begins in lobules and grows into surrounding tissues. About 1 in 10 invasive breast cancers are this type.
• Invasive (or infiltrating) ductal carcinoma – Cancer that begins in the ducts and grows into surrounding tissues. About 8 in 10 invasive breast cancers are this type.
Cancer cells also can enter the lymph vessels in the breast and spread to the lymph nodes. Breast cancer can spread to other parts of the body. With routine screening, breast cancer often can be found at an early stage, before the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body.
Symptoms
Thanks to screening, breast cancer often is found before a woman has any physical symptoms. Yet a woman should know how her breasts normally look and feel so that she can report any unusual changes to her doctor. Reasons to call your doctor include:
• A lump in or near your breast or under your arm
• Thick or firm tissue in or near your breast or under your arm
• A change in the size or shape of your breast
• Nipple discharge (fluid that is not breast milk)
• Nipple changes, such as a nipple that points or faces inward (inverted) into the breast
• Changes to your breast skin, areola, or nipple, such as itching, redness, scaling, dimples, or puckers
Keep in mind that most breast changes are not cancer. For instance, nipple discharge can be caused by birth control pills, some medicines, and infections. Or, a breast lump could be a cyst, which is a fluid-filled lump that is not cancer. Early breast cancer usually does not cause pain. Still, any breast changes or pain should be checked out by a doctor. If you notice a change in your breast, call your doctor and schedule a visit. Don’t wait until your "next checkup."
Source: womanshealth.gov
The first time I saw this amazing bulldog I was amazed. Let’s face it this bulldog has a lot of talent. Tillman rides everywhere from the Santa Monica Pier to Dodger Stadium and everywhere in between. He goes down stairs, visits skateboarding shops and speeds down hills and through puddles all on his old school skateboard.
SNOWBOARDING
Now if you think his owner Ron Davis stopped at skateboarding, think again. Tillman has now learned how to snowboard. One summer it was just to hot for him to skate says owner Ton Davis so he took Tillman skim boarding and surfing. And then came winter.
So off they go to learn snowboarding and yes he loves all these sports.
A TRUE CHAMPION
Now that is one talented Bulldog. Do you have a talented Pet? Let us Know..
If you are going to travel to Peru, Machu Picchu is a must stop travel spot. It is South America’s most popular tourist attraction and was recently designated one of the world’s new seven wonders. Machu Picchu’s journey starts in the former seat of the Incan empire, Cusco with its historical buildings, before heading through the geographically and archeologically rich sacred valley.
LAKE TITICACA
Lake Titicaca is the world’s highest navigable lake at 3810 meters and one of the largest at 10,000 kilometers in volume its sapphire blue waters are known as the birthplace of the Incan gods and home to per Incan civilizations such as the Aymaras living on the man made Uros Islets that have changed little over the millenniums.
NASCA LINES
Another must see are the Nasca Lines. It was lost to the world until it surprised pilots in 1921 when they flew over this flat and desolate region of southern Peru. They looked down and saw lines and carvings extending as wide as 65 kilometers featuring such forms as a monkey, a spider, a pelican, hummingbirds, a whale, a dog and perhaps even an astronaut or space alien. Archeologist are still debating the what, how and why of these fascinating tokens of a lost civilization.
AREQUIPA COLCA CANYON
On your journey in Peru visit the Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. Arequipa and the Colca Canyon represent the urban and rural southern Peru at its best. Arequipa is the “white city” so named because so much of its extensive and exquisite architecture has been carved out of ashen volcanic rock. The pristine Colca Canyon offers opportunities for whitewater rafting, rock climbing, hiking, encounters with communities unchanged by colonization and even dinosaur tracks.
HUARAZ
And then there is Huaraz perched at 3028 meters Huaraz has always been a Mecca and magnet for rogue adventures ready to risk everything scaling a rock or a flakier. Forget about Huaraz as a city still barely recovered from a devastating earthquake over thirty years ago. This area made famous by the film Touching the Void also offers some of the greatest opportunities for mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, bird watching, paragliding, skiing and spectacular sightseeing.
IQUITOS
And last but not least on your journey in Peru is Iquitos. For many Iquitos is a gateway to Paradise. Here you will encounter Monkeys, Macawa, Herons, Hawks, Turtles to Toucans which overwhelm any visitor.
Charted boats provide the opportunity to see many of these creatures as well as the eye opening foliage and flowers which serves as their home. Iquitos is home to the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, home to 100 species of mammals, 500 species of birds and 250 species of fish. There are also local museums and opportunities for shopping.
If you have already had the opportunity to visit this magnificent land please tell us about your adventure.
