Categories
French Polynesia Society Islands

Raiatea

Somewhat smaller than Tahiti, Raiatea is the second largest of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. The proper spelling of the name, rarely used though, in the Tahitian language is Ra’iatea, meaning bright sky; Ulieta is an obsolete transcription commonly used in the 19th century. The chief town on Raiatea is Uturoa, administrative center for the Leeward Islands (French Îles Sous-le-vent). The islands of Raiatea and Tahaa are both enclosed by the same coral reef, and may once have been a single island.

Raiatea is both the largest and most populated island in the Leeward Islands, with a land area of 167.7 km² (64.7 sq. miles) and a total population of 12,024 inhabitants at the August 2007 census. The population density is 72 inhabitants per km². Ra’iatea is widely regarded as the ‘center’ of Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to Hawaii, Aoteroa (New Zealand) and other parts of East Polynesia started at Ra’iatea. A traditional name for the island is Havai’i fanau fenua (Hawai’i birther of land).

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Seychelles

Aldabra Atoll

Aldabra is a raised coral atoll in the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that form part of the Seychelles. The island is more than 700 miles from Mahé and is closer to the coast of Africa and Madagascar. Virtually untouched by humans, with distinctive island fauna, including the Aldabra Giant Tortoise, the island is designated a World Heritage Site. The atoll is home to the world’s largest population of giant tortoises, numbering some 100,000 individuals. They are also known for their green turtles, hawksbill turtles, hammerhead sharks, mantarays, barracuda, and birds, including the Aldabra rail, the last surviving flightless bird of the Indian Ocean region. The Aldabra Group includes the island of Assumption and the atolls of Astove and Cosmoledo.

Aladabra was designated a World Heritage Site on November 19, 1982, and is administered by the Seychelles Island Foundation based on Mahé. An environmental disaster for the island was averted in the 1960s when the British nearly entered into negotiations with the United States to turn the island into a military air base. The proposal created an international protest by ecologists and their lobbying resulted in military plans abandoned and the wildlife habitat receiving full protection.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Seychelles

Bird Island

Bird Island is the northernmost island in the Seychelles archipelago, 60 miles from Mahe. The 0.70 km² Coral island is known for its birdlife, including sooty terns, fairy terns and common noddies, and for hawksbill and green turtles. It is now a private resort with 24 bungalows. It also contains a small weather station.

Bird Island was formerly known as “Ile aux Vaches” due to the numerous dugongs (sea cows) that lived in nearby waters. Between 1896 and 1906, 17,000 tons of guano were removed from the island and exported to Mauritius as fertilizer. It formerly was a coconut plantation, and cash crops such as papaya and cotton were also grown.

Since 1967 it has been privately owned, and conservation measures have taken place such as protection of birdlife and sea turtle nesting sites, and the eradication of feral rats and rabbits.

Another phenomena of Bird island is that each Year in May millions of bird come for nesting to the island and before they start nesting they pick up water from the sea and drop in the large grass patch of the island, where they intend to nest. The salt water the bird drop makes the grass go dry and after a few weeks they can start building their nests on the dry ground.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
São Tomé and Príncipe

Príncipe

Príncipe is the smaller of the two major islands of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa. It has an area of 136 km² and a population of around 5,000 people. It rises in the south to 948 metres at Pico de Príncipe, in a thickly forested area forming part of the Obo National Park. The north and centre of the island were formerly plantations but largely reverted to forest. The island forms one province and one district named Pagué. The languages other than Portuguese includes Principense or Lunguyê with a few Forro speakers.

The island has one town, Santo António, and an airport (IATA code: PCP, ICAO: FPPR?), as well as some small villages including Bela Vista, Bombom, Futuro, Neves Ferreira, Paciencia, Ponta Fonte, Ribeira Ize, Santo Antonio de Ureca, Vila Rosa and more – few connected to the small road network.

The island is a heavily eroded volcano over three million years old, surrounded by other smaller islands including Ilheu Bom Bom, Ilhéu Caroço, Tinhosa Grande and Tinhosa Pequena.

Príncipe was the site where Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was experimentally proved successful by Arthur Stanley Eddington and his team during an eclipse in 1919.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Mozambique

Bazaruto

Bazaruto (Portuguese: Ilha do Bazaruto) is a sandy island located approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of the mouth of the Save River, Mozambique 21°38′S 35°30′E. The warm, southward-flowing Mozambique Current seems to contribute to the increasing buildup of the sandy coastline. Because the water along this coastal area is very clear, much of the sub-surface channel pattern around the island is discernible. Several narrow lines of plankton bloom (barely visible in the photograph) parallel the shoreline. The coastal plains show numerous lakes and a swampy environment that appears to be karst topography. Underlying the area is limestone rock that has eroded into a pockmarked landscape, creating water-filled sinkholes. Rainfall in this humid subtropical climate amounts to between 50 and 100 centimeters (20 and 40 inches) annually.

The closest mainland town to the island of Bazaruto is Inhassoro, although administratively it belongs to the Vilankulo District and Inhambane Province.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia (French: officially: Nouvelle-Calédonie; colloquially: (la) Calédonie; popular nicknames: (la) Kanaky, (le) Caillou), is a “sui generis collectivity” of France located in the region of Melanesia in the southwest Pacific. It comprises a main island (Grande Terre), the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands. Approximately half the size of Taiwan, it has a land area of 18,575.5 square kilometres (7,172 sq mi). The population was estimated in January 2008 to be 244,410. The capital and largest city of the territory is Nouméa. The currency is the CFP franc.

Since 1986 the United Nations Committee on Decolonization has included New Caledonia on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. New Caledonia is set to decide whether to remain within the French Republic or become an independent state in a referendum to be held between 2014 and 2019.

Nouméa, the capital, is also the seat of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (formerly the South Pacific Commission), an international organization.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Tanzania

Zanzibar I

Zanzibar (pronounced /ˈzænzɨbɑr/) is a semi-autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, informally referred to as Zanzibar), and Pemba. Zanzibar was once a separate state with a long trading history within the Arab world; it united with Tanganyika to form Tanzania in 1964 and still enjoys a high degree of autonomy within the union. The capital of Zanzibar, located on the island of Unguja, is Zanzibar City, and its historic center, known as Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.

Zanzibar’s main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism. In particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper. For this reason, the islands, together with Tanzania’s Mafia Island, are sometimes called the Spice Islands (a term also associated with the Maluku Islands in Indonesia). Zanzibar’s ecology is of note for being the home of the endemic Zanzibar Red Colobus and the (possibly extinct) Zanzibar Leopard.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Thailand

Koh Lipe

Koh Lipe (Thai: เกาะหลีเป๊ะ) is an island in the Adang-Rawi Archipelago in the Satun Province of Thailand.

Koh Lipe is a tiny island in the Andaman Sea located 70 km off the southwest coast of Thailand near the Malaysian border. The Thai name is transliterated many different ways into English. The most common names in English are Koh Lipe, Koh Lipeh, Ko Lipey and Ko Lipe. Koh Lipe is part of the Tarutao National Marine Park and is directly south of the larger islands Ko Adang and Ko Rawi and about 50km from the island of Tarutao. It was settled by a band of sea gypsies originally from Malaysia, known as the ‘Chao Lei’ people or also known as Urak Lawoi. This island has four main beaches: Sunset beach, Sunrise beach, Karma Beach and Pattaya beach. Accommodation from grass huts to air-conditioned bungalows can be found on these beaches. It is possible to walk around the entire island in little over an hour.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Malaysia

Langkawi

Langkawi, officially known as Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah (Malay: Langkawi Permata Kedah) is an archipelago of 99 islands (an extra 5 temporary islands are revealed at low tide) in the Andaman Sea, some 30 km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia. The islands are a part of the state of Kedah, which is adjacent to the Thai border. On July 15, 2008, Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah had consented to the change of name to Langkawi Permata Kedah in conjunction with his Golden Jubilee Celebration. By far the largest of the islands is the eponymous Pulau Langkawi with a population of some 45,000, the only other inhabited island being nearby Pulau Tuba. Langkawi is also an administrative district with the town of Kuah as the capital and largest town. Langkawi is a duty-free island.

On June 1, 2007, Langkawi Island has been given a World Geopark status by UNESCO. Three of its main conservation area in Langkawi Geopark;Machincang Cambrian Geoforest Park, Kilim Karst Geoforest Park and Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest park.(Island of the Pregnant Maiden Lake). These three parks are the most popular tourism area within Langkawi Geopark.

Langkawi is particularly known for its beaches which are among the best in Malaysia. Some of the most popular are Pantai Cenang, Pantai Tengah, Burau Bay, Pantai Kok, and Datai Bay. Pantai Cenang is a picturesque beach with seemingly unending stretches of fine white sand. The beach is contoured by tall coconuts and casuarinas. Pantai Tengah is separated from Cenang by a small cape. Burau Bay, fringed by rocky outcrops, is the favorite place of migratory birds in Langkawi. Pantai Kok is a peaceful beach with the backdrop of limestone hills. Datai Bay has wonderful combination of forests and sea.The milky beach is backed by lush forest.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Bahamas

Harbour Island

Harbour Island is an island and administrative district in the Bahamas. Harbour Island is set off the north east coast of Eleuthera Island. The only town on the island is Dunmore Town, named after the former Governor of the Bahamas, the Earl of Dunmore (1786-1798), who had a summer residence on Harbour Island.

Harbour Island is famous for its pink sand beaches which are found all along the east side of the island. The island is accessible by plane through North Eleuthera Airport, followed by a short water taxi ride from neighbouring North Eleuthera. Harbour Island is a popular holiday destination for Americans. Known as Briland to the locals, Harbour Island is colourful with New England-style buildings and flower lined streets. Harbour Island is part of the Out Islands of the Bahamas.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)