Once in a blue moon

Do you know what’s the origin of the phrase ‘Once in a blue moon’?

In 1883, a volcano called Mount Krakatoa in Indonesia had one of the most explosive eruptions of all times – (and copying from wiki) it was equivalent to 13,000 times the nuclear yield of the Hiroshima atom bomb. It ejected approximately 21 km³ ,of rock, ash, and pumice. The sky had so much volcanic dust, and that too for months, that the moon appeared blue. Now, such a big eruption does not happen very often. In fact, this one is considered to be the single largest recorded eruption. Hence, the phrase ‘Once in a blue moon‘. An event that happens very rarely.

 

But why I happen to know all this? Because I was crazy about volcanoes when I was a kid. Geography was my favourite subject (No wonder, I ended up loving travel so much) and geology was my primary field of interest. Aconcagua, Cotopaxi, Vesuvius, Krakatoa were names on the tips of my fingers. In those days, when the internet was just a baby (that makes me sound so old!), I read up every possible book on volcanoes and geological phenomenon that I could find in my school library. I had posters about newspaper articles on volcano eruptions and although India doesn’t have much in the name of volcanic activity, I was proud of the fact that India did have one active volcano – Barren Island – in Andaman and Nicobar islands – which was quiet far away and difficult to reach. In those days, getting a chance to visit a volcano would have been a dream come true. Probably more a bucket list thing, though I was not aware of the concept of bucket lists when I was 13!

 

But why am I telling you all this?

 

Because that dream just came true. 🙂

 

On my trip to Naples, I got a chance to visit Mt Vesuvius. In fact, it was probably the main reason I decided to go to Naples. And Senor Vesuvio did not disappoint.  I do not mean that it erupted! That would have been tragic (and no offence Pompeii, but amazing as well) – but I mean, the visit was absolutely worth it – I did a mini-hike to the top and saw the crater! More about it in my next post! 🙂

 

Mount Vesuvius from Castel Nuovo, Naples

Mt Vesuvius from Castel dell’Ovo, Naples

Did you know? International Red Panda Day!

A day dedicated to a creature of infinite cute-ness! Yes, yesterday, September 17th was the International Red Panda Day – I just found out. And this news sent me whirling down the memory lane..

My first encounter (not literally!) with a red panda was through the timeless classic Jungle Book. To be specific – the TV serial Jungle Book Shonen (Japanese animation), the hindi version of which used to air on Sunday mornings on the national television of India. Pappu, the red panda was the little cute friend of Mowgli – always portrayed as a little helpless but a bit mischievous, and always very very cute! You can see him riding on Mowgli’s neck in this lovely opening theme of the serial..

A couple of years back, I went to Sikkim, a little state in the north-eastern region of India, nestled between the mountain kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan. Incidentally, Red Panda, an animal with ‘vulnerable’ status, is found in Sikkim and I was super-excited to get a chance to see this elusive animal, even if in captivity. Sikkim zoo, built on the concept of ‘Immersion exhibit’ which provides large areas and semi-natural habitat for the animals. When we went to the zoo, it was raining, and most of the animals were taking shelter inside their enclosures, and we didn’t have a lot of luck spotting any red pandas in the huge area allocated to them. And as the weather held up, we saw this cute red panda unable to avoid its curiosity to look at the trigger-happy tourists.. 🙂

Red Panda peeking from its hiding place!

Still very curious, Mr Red Panda!

We also got to see more of this adorable creature from a closer distance in the Darjeeling zoo, which had a lot more trees (which is a good thing, as red panda is an arboreal animal) but smaller in space (which was a bit disappointing 😦 )

What's on his mind? Food? Mischief? Or just the desire to be photographed? 🙂