James' World 2

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The Cabo Blanco Absolute Natural Reserve is a Nature Reserve of Costa Rica, part of the Tempisque Conservation Area in the province of Puntarenas, covering an area of 3,140 acres (12.7 km²) terrestrial and 4,420 acres (17.9 km²) marine on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula near Montezuma-Cabuya and Mal Pais.

The site is home to the San Miguel Biological Station which was developed to promote and support teaching, research, and environmental education and has facilities that include classrooms, laboratories, and a reference library. The reserve was created in 1963 due to a campaign started by Olof Wessberg and was the first major conservation project in the country.

Up to the 1960s the lands that now constitute the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve were being depleted of their natural forests for use as farm and pasture land. The emphasis in those days was to develop and increase agricultural production and cattle, and little concern was given to conservation of natural habitats.

Olof Wessberg (known as Nicolas) and Karen Mogensen arrived in Costa Rica in the 1960s in the pursuit of Karen’s dream of finding happiness in harmony with nature. They chose to establish themselves in the Nicoya Peninsula.

Soon after establishing themselves in a farm near the Montezuma area, they set up on an expedition to the Cabo Blanco area in search for native tree seeds to reforest their newly acquired farm. Upon arriving to the area, he was amazed at the abundant wildlife and the size of the trees in the area. This was like an oasis in the midst of a desert as all lands around had been devastated to give way to low-yield pasture and agricultural lands. Wikipedia

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The Casbah (Arabic: قصبة‎, qaṣba, meaning citadel) is the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. In 1992, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed Kasbah of Algiers a World Cultural Heritage site, as “There are the remains of the citadel, old mosques, and Ottoman-style palaces as well as the remains of a traditional urban structure associated with a deep-rooted sense of community.”

More generally, a kasbah is the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns. The name made its way into English from French in the late 19th century (the Oxford English Dictionary states 1895), and can be spelled “kasbah” or “casbah.”

The Casbah of Algiers is founded on the ruins of old Icosium in the 10th century. It was a city built on a hill, stretching towards the sea, divided into the “High city” and the “Low city”. One finds there masonry and mosques dating from the 17th century: Ketchaoua Mosque (built-in 1794 by the Dey Baba Hassan) flanked by two minarets; Djama’a al-Djedid (1660, at the time of the Ottomans) with its large finished ovoid cupola points some and its four cupolas; Djamaâ el Kebir (the oldest of the mosques), built by Almoravid ruler Yusuf ibn Tashfin; and Ali Bitchin Mosque (Raïs, 1623). The Casbah also contained several palaces, including Dar Aziza, Dar Mustapha Pacha, Palace of the Dey, and Dar Hassan Pacha which was built in 1791 to house the Pasha, who lived there for eight years. Wikipedia

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Dugi Otok is the seventh-largest island in the Adriatic Sea, part of Croatia. It is located off the Dalmatian coast, west of Zadar. It is the largest and westernmost of the Zadarian Islands and derives its name from its distinctive shape: it is 44.5 km (27.7 miles) long by 4.8 km (3.0 miles) wide, with an area of 114 square kilometers (44 sq mi). Its elevation reaches 300 m; and many of its higher portions contain stands of Maritime Pine.

The western coast is tall and rugged, and many of the towns are clustered on the eastern side, including Sali, the largest, Zaglav, Žman, Luka, Savar, Brbinj, Dragove, Božava, Soline, Verunić (Verona), and Veli Rat. A nature park, Telašćica, covers the southern part of the island and is adjacent to Kornati Islands National Park. There are six islets and rocks in the Telašćica Bay: Korotan, Galijola, Gozdenjak, Farfarikulac, Gornji Školj and Donji Školj.

The island has been inhabited since prehistoric times, as evidenced by many archeological sites that have still not been fully investigated. The earliest findings date back to Paleolithic, and numerous hillforts and gravesites are evidence of continuous settlement throughout Eneolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.

The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII in the 10th century mentioned it under the name of Pizuh, and later it was called Insula Tilagus in documents (“pelagos” in Greek means sea), and its Latin name was Insula maior. In the 15th century, it was registered as Veli otok.

The old and main settlement on the island was located in the southern area. It has only been inhabited significantly since the Turkish invasions (15th-16th centuries). Until then the island belonged to Zadar monasteries and citizens. Nowadays there is a total of 11 settlements on the island, and they are all on the north-eastern side of the island concerned primarily with fishing, although salt was once produced here.

The village of Veli Rat is also home to the Veli Rat lighthouse, another spectacular sight. The beautiful island of Dugi Otok, with a Mediterranean climate and ancient Croatian culture, receives very few visitors. Olive oil, figs, cheese, and wine accompany the seafood in the natives’ diet. A definite step back in time, the island boasts an ancient church and some Roman ruins. It is in close proximity to Kornati. Wikipedia

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