The Amateur Traveler talks to Eddie about the island of Dominica. Dominica was discovered by Columbus and he might still recognize this lush tropical mountainous island with some of the best scuba diving in the world.

News

Travel Carnival - July 28th, 2008

• Tourists’ flight to wrong country
• Qantas jet lands with gaping hole in fuselage
• Iraq opens airport aimed at tourism

Show Notes

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The Amateur Traveler joins Chris (a different Chris) as he talks about swimming with Humpback Whales in the waters off the Pacific island country of Tonga. This episode features whale song recorded with an iRiver and a hydrophone.

News

The Scholar Ship
Travel Channel - 5 Takes

Show Notes

Photo Gallery

Chris’s detailed trip report
Chris’s article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tonga Trivia:

• The famous “Mutiny on the Bounty” occurred in Tonga, in the Ha’apai Group.
• Captain James Cook gave a radiated tortoise from Madagascar to the Tongan royal family as a gift in either 1773 or 1777. The tortoise was given the honorary title “Tu’i Malila” and lived continuously with the royal family until it died in 1965 — almost 200 years later.
• Tonga has a total population of abut 100,000 people. About 60,000 live on Tongatapu, and 15,000 on Vava’u.
• The only native land mammal to Tonga is the flying fox, a species of fruit bat.
• Humpback whales come to Tonga in the Southern Hemisphere winter — July to October
• One of the deepest points in the world is near Tonga — the Tonga Trench, which is over 30,000 feet deep in some places.

Chris’s sound equipment: Aquarian AQ9 hydophone and an iRiver iFP-799T mp3 player
Underwater Cameras

Internet Resources

Tonga tourist links:

• Tongan Visitors Bureau
• WhaleSwim Adventures - offering package tours to swim with humpback whales
• Aquarium Adventures - tour booking agency in Vava’u
• Hakula Lodge and charter fishing boat M/V Hakula
• Whales in the Wild - whale watching/swimming tours
• Mounu Island Resort
• Fafa Island Resort (Tongatapu)
• Wild Focus Films - providing underwater digital video footage of your encounters with the whales
• Beluga Diving
• Dolphin Pacific Diving
• S/V Impetuous charter sailboat
• S/V Melinda charter sailboat
• Matangi Tonga - Tonga’s online newspaper
• Planet Tonga - news and features about Tonga

Discussions

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Promos

Biltmore Insider Podcast
Real Deadwood Podcast

Thanks to LiveWorld for providing the bandwidth for this podcast

Song

Whale song. (artist name unknown)

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The AmateurTraveler talks to Chuck who has recently returned from Egypt. He talks about cruising the nile, Egyptian historic sites and scuba diving in the Red Sea off Sharm el-Sheikh.

Show Notes

Photo Gallery

Map of Egypt
Fact: The temple of Ramses & Nefertari is 3200 years old
Abercrombie & Kent

Holidays in Egypt
Holidays to the Red Sea

Internet Resources

Podcast & Portable Media Expo
Sounds for Sights Blog and Podcast

Discussions

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The Amateur Traveler interviews Kimberly and Paul who recently returned from a trip to Belize and Guatemala. They sea kayaked out to small islands, swam into caves and climbed Mayan ruins at Tekal. Stay tuned for adventure in this episode of the Amateur Traveler as we head to Central America.

News

Weekly Podfinder promo

Show Notes

Photo Gallery

Island Expeditions
Eva’s Restaurant
Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave Slideshow
Belize Map
Marie Sharp’s hot sauce

For more information on Mayan ruins in Guatemala check out TravelBlogs.com

Discussions

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Promo

Podcaster Confessions

Song

Sun Lotion by Steadman

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