libbing_life's Journal

Thailand was pretty amazing too! Didn't hike as much, but still saw some cool stuff.

Malaysia was a blast!

Third time in Uganda was a blast :)

Visited from Feb 13th to 22nd. Saw a poison dart frog :D

Visited Taiwan from March 23rd to April 5th. Saw a Hammerhead worm for the first time!

In Japan, I was on a five day tour that went through Kyoto and Osaka, so I had to scramble to get these shots in order not to stray too far from the group.

For the first time, I traveled to Taiwan for vacation. In Taipei, Xiang Shan or Elephant Mountain was only a ten-fifteen minute walk from where I stayed, so I hiked there the most. I also visited San Diao Ling, near the top of Taiwan.

On Saturday, I went to the North Campground of Henry Cowell, Fall Creek (also in Henry Cowell), and then Quail Hollow Ranch from 12:00-5:00.

I had dropped by the North Campground of Henry Cowell on my way to the fungus fair last week. There were some large Fly Amanitas along the road. This time, I was surprised at how nearly all the mushrooms I had seen last week were gone and replaced by a whole new set of mushrooms.

Fall Creek was recommended to me by some hikers when I had visited Quail Hollow Ranch, and today I finally got to visit. The creek is beautiful, and there were some interesting mushrooms. However, it was quite cold and dark, and Quail Hollow Ranch was a refreshing change of scenery.

Mexico was awesome! But my camera kept on fogging up inside because of the humidity, and I don't take very good underwater photos. I was in Cancun from the 26th of August to the 2nd of September. We took one excursion where we went to Coba, Tulum, and the Cenotes.

In the day, iguanas patrolled, and at night, these geckos would come out. I went out that night, and came back with like fifty bug bites from a swarm of mosquitos I only brushed through in a couple seconds. It was pretty terrifying. The beach was right next to the resort, and although the waves were rougher than I've swum in before, there were such beautiful fish underneath.

I went on a tour to Coba, Tulum, and the Cenotes. It was nice, but also restricted because I couldn't just wander off and explore the areas for wildlife. Also, there was this group of children that smushed a jumping spider right after I took a photo of it.

When I flew to Tennessee for debate nationals, I was not expecting to see fungi nor so much wildlife. However, Tennessee rains far more than California, and we flew into the state in a thunderstorm. NITOC (National Invitation Tournament of the Champions) was held at Union University. We stayed in Tennessee from May 27th to June 6th.

I googled trails nearby and found out that there were bike trails created by Union University open to the public. So when I got knocked out of my third outround of debate, I went hiking with my dad and, to my surprise, spotted fungi. It was shocking how just outside the clean, neat university lived hundreds of different organisms–fungi, insects, plants, and more.

I hiked on a different trail the next day, a 1.7 mile loop, and I was surprised to find that nearly none of the species overlapped even though the Union University trail by the pond was close by.

After NITOC ended, we packed up out of the dorms and drove to Memphis, visiting the National Civil Rights Museum. Then we drove to Nashville. The next day we hiked at Edwin Warner Park and the Radnor Lake State Park. Too soon the trip came to a close and we flew back to California. All in all, it was a wonderful trip.