We've all heard about whale watching from boats or shore, and a few companies are now offering the possibility of actually swimming and snorkeling with whales in the wild. Is this a good thing? Some whale watching operators in the Kingdom of Tonga, South Pacific islands, advertise the possibility of swimming and snorkeling with humpback whales during the cetacean's annual migration from July to October. This activity sounds appealing, yet … [Read more...]
About David Stanley
David Stanley is the author of Moon Handbooks South Pacific, Moon Fiji, and Moon Tahiti. He has also written many Lonely Planet guides, including three edition of Eastern Europe on a Shoestring and two editions of LP Cuba.
Over the years he has visited 184 of the 193 United Nations member countries
Tahiti in Fiction & Film
Over the years, Tahiti and Polynesia have provided novelists and moviemakers with colorful subject matter. Early travelers told of wanton women on tropical shores, and Fletcher Christian added drama to the plot by leading a mutiny against the tyrannical Captain Bligh. In 1934 American writers Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall brought out the Bounty Trilogy. This three-part novel deals with Christian's mutiny on the Bounty, the escape of … [Read more...]
A Hiking Guide to Easter Island, Chile
Ask me which Pacific island has the most to offer hikers and I'll probably answer Easter Island. Here on an island 11 km wide and 23 km long you'll find nearly a thousand ancient Polynesian statues strewn along a powerfully beautiful coastline or littering the slopes of an extinct volcano. The legends of Easter Island have been recounted many times. What's less known is that the island's assorted wonders are easily accessible on foot from the … [Read more...]