Costa Rica is an eco-tourism paradise with rain forests, exotic wildlife, volcanoes and much more. This little Central American country is also an interesting place to scuba dive. Most of the diving in Costa Rica is done on the west coast Pacific Ocean side with an area up in the Guanacaste region located in the northwestern part of the country and another south of the capital city of San Jose near the middle of its west coast. If flying into San Jose, one would have to do some internal traveling to get to either of these two locations.

The Guanacaste area is a bit easier to get to especially if one could arrange a flight right to the town of Liberia in northern Costa Rica. There are some seasonal charter flights from North America directly to Liberia. The town of Playas del Coco which is used as the main base for divers is a short cab ride from the Liberia airport. There are restaurants and small hotels in Playa del Coco including a few American owned scuba dive operators. These dive operators usually have special package deals available which include both diving and accommodations with one of the local hotels. Everything in town is within easy walking distance.

I made a trip for scuba diving here during the late fall season. The operator I used was Rich Coast Diving. The local Costa Rican divemasters from Rich Coast they took all of the scuba equipment including tanks down to the beach every morning by pickup truck.

The dives ranged from about 60 feet to 85 feet with mild to moderate currents. One thing that all divers will notice here is that the diving in Costa Rica is very different from the usual Caribbean reef diving. The visibility is a lot poorer and there are some noticeably colder thermoclines. The poor visibility is due to higher amounts of plankton in the local waters compared to the Caribbean Sea. In some dive sites, we had to swim through sections of water which turned into an almost brown color soup. This cut the sunlight from the top drastically. However, there is a huge plus side to this poorer visibility. The plankton attracts larger marine animals and if divers came here to see the big ones, they will not be disappointed.

Even some of the reef fish here are larger. For example, the trumpet fish we saw down here are significantly larger than the ones found in Caribbean waters. Also, there are much more porcupine puffer fish here. Previously in Caribbean waters, I’ve seen only a few porcupine fish and they are usually alone. Here in Costa Rica, I saw large schools of them. We encountered large schools of other fish types on a regular basis as well.

The local divemasters here definitely work in a different way compared to their counterparts elsewhere. In many Caribbean locations, the divemasters would promote a ‘look only, no touch’ rule. Here, the divemasters actively turned over every rock to find interesting creatures for us. They would catch them in their hands and pass them over to the other divers. Over three days of diving, I held a seahorse, an octopus, a spotted eel, an orange color frogfish and a puffed up porcupine fish. Of course this practice of handling marine wildlife is debatable in terms of ethics but it was certainly an interesting experience holding these creatures in my hands. The divemasters were certainly hard working for sure though as they were eager to make sure that the guests had good dive trips.

Large animals such as giant sea turtles, stingrays and white tip sharks were also spotted. On one occasion which I will never forget for the rest of my life is when a very large school of cow-nose rays headed straight for our group of divers. They looked like a huge squadron of alien spaceships. They went right through and past us while we watched in wonder. Then they disappeared. This memorable experience was much too short lived.

So for a very different type of scuba diving compared to the Caribbean without traveling too much further, Costa Rica is an interesting destination for divers to consider. There won’t be crystal clear visibility but the marine life will be different with more large animals to see. The diving itself is also very reasonable in cost being significantly lower than in premium priced locations such as the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas. In addition, there are many other things to see and activities to do on land besides the scuba diving which makes Costa Rica a very full vacation.

Is it possible to make bullets out of ice that will not melt when fired from a high-velocity gun? Sure it is possible especially if they are coated with something to hold them together for their brief flight towards their target. Can we shoot ice cube bullets in high-speed rapid-fire weapons too?

Sure this is possible as long as they are identical and the gun muzzle does not heat up too much. Some get so hot that they melt when firing 1000’s of rounds per minute. But again with a coating of sorts and dry ice bullets this should be possible. Could we put ice bullets in a C-130 Gunship and rapid fire them down on the enemy like a multi-round lightning storm from hell?

Perhaps, it seems this would be possible and rather nice too as you do not have to worry about carrying the weight if you have giant ice machines making the bullets in flight like an ice maker. Meaning less weight is more range and unending supply of ammo, as you make it as you fly. Well then what if we had unmanned aerial blimps, which doubled as a GunShip or a Blimp GunShip? Is that possible?

Indeed we could do that however remember blimps have a limited carrying capacity, nevertheless if we made the bullets in flight and the weapon firing system did not weigh that much, it might be a way to patrol an area from the air and eliminate ground targets which are sighted via infrared at night or video feed during the day. So perhaps we might consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Travel means making parking decisions. There are many options you could park at the airport lot or at car parking facilities situated near the airport. Airport parking means searching, often moving from one full lot to another, or commuting to the terminal by a shuttle from the other end of the airport, and paying a parking fee that may be more than the cost of your air ticket. The experience could make you want to tear your hair out.

Parking at the airport would mean:

1. Starting out early to reach the airport at least an hour before reporting time as many a time a parking spot many not be immediately available and you may have to drive around quite a bit before finding a place.

2. Carrying luggage from the car to the airport itself or to the shuttle service.

3. Budgeting for settling the short term or long term parking costs. Airport parking can prove to be more expensive than you thought. At many airports the rates for parking vary from day to day and during peak season. Often you may need to pay as much as $ 150 for parking for five days. Economy parking is hardly ever available and you may have no choice except the more expensive lots.

4. Finding all lots full and having to make a dash for private parking facilities at the last moment. This could delay getting to your gate in time.

5. During holidays, rush hours, and travel seasons there could be a great jam or arriving and departing cars all making a bee line for the gate house or token counter. The chaos is compounded by long queues at every gate and at the security and this could mean a 400 yard or more dash to the gate carrying your mound of luggage.

6. Security measures instituted with little or no notice can spoil even the best made plans. A rule like no parking within a distance of 300 m could mean that you will have to park a great distance away. And due to alerts there can be random security checks of all entering vehicles leading to considerable delays. The traffic will not just slow down to a crawl but many of the closely located short-term spaces will be shut down.

7. Due to repairs and construction work often unanticipated detours need to be made while trying to access airport lots.

8. The car park may be located at a great distance from your terminal and if you are not in the know, you may choose to park diagonally opposite to the terminal.

9. Valet parking is not a free service; one will have to pay to have the car parked to save you valuable time.

10. Many trolleys only function on feeding in a coin. Even if the coin is refunded later it just means remembering to take along a coin of the right domination.

11. The large volume of passengers at any given time at busy airports just means that the transfer buses are not just overcrowded but slow and uncomfortable with people and their luggage jostling for space.

Why board a plane angry, tired, and frustrated. As a modern traveler there are many conveniences you can opt for. Parking at off-airport lots, is organized and hassle free. Even if the lots are some distance away the conveniences are such that it would be a time and money saving decision.

Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for http://www.1888Discuss.com/airport-parking/, the premier REVENUE SHARING discussion forum for Airport Parking including topics on secured parking, gate parking, discounted parking, traveling and more. He also freelances for the premier Airport Parking Site http://www.1888AirportParking.com

ArrangeYourVacation, one of the most exclusive holiday homes and villa rentals company, has just released its 3 latest innovative and specialised online websites: Mexico-Holiday-Homes, Italy-Vacation-Homes and Greece-Holiday-Homes. Travelers seeking vacation information about the destinations of Mexico, Greece or Italy, can find extensive information at this 3 vacation rentals web sites.

Characteristic of all ArrangeYourVacation-web sites, those three are easy to use, with comprehensive information about private villas and activities at each destination. There are extensive high quality photographs and a vacation rentals navigation tool. “Vacation rentals and holiday homes are a great alternative for those who wish to have more privacy and space to maneuver, something that hotels don’t really have. Staying in a hotel involves tipping porters and valets; there is the added expense of dining out daily. Plus, if staying at a hotel for several days, it can be a bit tedious to stare at the same four walls and share a room with family members without a modicum of privacy. Just like there are hotels everywhere, there are vacation rentals and holiday homes all over the world ready to be booked.” said President and Founder of ArrangeYourVacation Milan Matchev. “From the initial dream of a vacation in a luxury villa, through the entire trip, every step should be stress free and enjoyable.”

Luxury vacation in holiday home have never been easier to plan. ArrangeYourVacation has over 100 hand-picked villas and a staff in each country, where it provides vacation rentals, that assures the finest in service.

“Our client satisfaction rate is extremely high due to our personal contact with each traveler. Our websites are an extension of our knowledgeable staff and offers our valued clients complete details for those seeking a luxury villa in Mexico, Italy or Greece,” added Matchev.

The new vacation rentals websites can be viewed at http://Mexico-Holiday-Homes.com, http://Italy-Vacation-Homes.com and http://Greece-Holiday-Homes.com. An e-newsletter sign-up is available on the sites which keeps past guests and potential customers informed about the latest villa news, last minute specials, events in those countries and real estate information. The owners of vacation rental properties in Mexico, Italy or Greece can advertise their homes on this new web sites for free. As a special bonus, there holiday home listings will be added to the database of ArrangeYourVacation ( http://arrangeyourvacation.com) also for free, to assure maximum exposures of each property listing.

After the video production is ended the editing stage gets going. As a rule editing control units stay put largely with the editing companies and the technically skilled specialised professionals contribute with high level of inspiration for the period of the editing task. By and large for the period of the editing task the positive portions of the video footages are reserved and redundant portions are cancelled. There is numerous useful software products that are in huge demand for this purpose. The purpose of the video is analyzed & subtle revisions are finished too. Sound clips & background music are also utilised at some stage during the editing process. There is also Special Effect Generators (SPG) which makes the selected video clips even more eye-catching. For the most part of the creative organisations provide the footages and the editing services. Vidify provide corporate video production services and expertise for a range of online media engagements.

Nowadays many video production and publishing companies exist to satisfy specifications of different firms. As well as corporate presentations, videography is also in use to preserve key moments of life for example wedding anniversaries, birthdays, special occasions; family holidays and so on. Handheld video cameras with digital chips are today commonly available in the consumer market. Short films have happened to become reasonably popular besides being quite educational and interesting. If truth behold videos allow individuals to relate better to the topic than any other style of communications.

Today, a number of people are setting up video production companies as demand of these brands of studios are increasing. It is also possible to acquire loads info from the Web on video production just with a few mouse clicks. The rise of video industry has influenced the expansion of commercials and to develop professional commercials, a good-quality video production and publishing business is essential. Online videos play essential function in carrying out of business marketing plans and at this moment online video production is a popular concept among the internet users. As a result, across the globe video production and publishing plays a significant responsibility.

Arguably one of the most spectacularly beautiful countries on earth Papua New Guinea is situated to the near north of Australia and comprises the eastern half of the world’s largest island. Within is geographical boundaries lay several hundred offshore islands large and small, some with unique flora, fauna and many diverse primitive village cultures.

Separated from The Indonesian state of West Papua, along the 140th meridian this young nation stretches into the Pacific Ocean and is bordered by the Coral Sea in the South and Micronesia to the North.

Contained entirely within the hot tropics and surrounded by oceans, heavy rainfall and high temperatures throughout the year have combined to create one of the largest rainforest areas outside of the Amazon.

Geologically it is relatively young and is undergoing continuous change as the earths movement and the many active volcanos sculpt the terrain with powerful tremors, ash and lava all along an east west, line of instability forming part of the “ring of fire” that reaches from Asia right across the Pacific Ocean.

The biological diversity of the flora and fauna that is encountered as one travels from the coastal regions across lowland flood plains of swamp, open grass and into the forested slopes and mountains offer visitors a seemingly unending variety of scenery.

All the recognised species of “Birds of Paradise” are represented here and over.other species of birdlife combined with the unique marsupial, mammal, insect and marine life combine to make PNG a very special place in the world of nature.

With over seven hundred distinct languages spoken throughout the nation the human cultural aspects are without parallel in anthropological terms. From the earliest contact with the western world during the second half of the 19th Century many hundreds of studies have produced a diverse range literature on the people of this land as they journeyed through time from their primitive beginnings to the present day where the nation now takes it’s place in the 21st Century as a member of the world community.

With so much diversity of culture, scenery, flora and fauna it is little wonder that PNG offers the world so much as a travel destination. Tropical Beachside Hotels, cultural performances, spectacular scenery, Mountain Treks, Fishing, unequalled Scuba Diving, Bird Watching, World War 2 Historical sites and relics (including the Kokoda Trail)

From the bottom of it’s oceans to the highest mountain peaks it is all here. Although it is resource rich in terms of Gold, Copper, Oil, Gas and Timber, PNG is still a developing country and the majority of it’s population are subsistence farmers of one kind or another but their shyness, generosity, humour, and good nature leaves most visitors with glowing tales of their stay in this wonderful place with it’s warm and friendly people and rich cultures.

Shane Thomas

For more information please see
http://www.PNGTD.com

You might think of hostelling as something that college students do while traveling through Europe for the summer. However, hostelling is not just for the college crowd anymore, and now includes people of all ages and backgrounds. If you are a traveler on a budget, staying at a hostel can be an adventure that will add to your travel experience.

Staying in a hostel will not be everyone’s cup of tea, and many travelers would prefer to spend the money on a traditional hotel. Hostel traveling is best suited to those traveling alone, or to young people traveling in groups. Hostels are not really recommended for families traveling with young children. In fact, many hostels do not accept children under a certain age.

Most hostels are set up like dormitory rooms, with several bunk beds arranged in the room, with anywhere from four to ten bunks per room. Each traveler is assigned a specific bed upon check-in.

Nearly all of the hostels in the United States group their accommodations according to gender, with the female guests in one section of rooms and the male guests in another. In multi-level hostels, males and females are often separated by floor.

It is not uncommon, however for European hostels (and those elsewhere around the world) to allow mixed genders to share a room. Make sure to ask about the policy of the hostel before you check in. I, as a woman traveling solo, have never encountered a problem with these arrangements, and I have stayed in hostels throughout Europe, including Rome, London and Amsterdam. Some visitors might be surprised or offended by these sleeping arrangements.

The bathroom accommodations at hostels differ also, with some rooms containing a shared bathroom and shower, while other hostels will have shower and bathroom facilities located in the hallway. If you would prefer not to share a bathroom with strangers, make sure you ask about the hostel’s policy ahead of time.

More often now, reservations are becoming increasingly vital at hostels, especially during the summer months in popular cities. It is now not at all unusual for hostels in popular tourist cities to be booked solid for months, where once it was common for travelers to be able drop by the hostel and expect to get a bed.

Price is by far the biggest appeal of staying at hostels. The nightly rate for a hostel is usually no higher than $25 or $30 per night, with most costing even less. With the average hotel room costing somewhere around $100 to $150 in many cities, it is easy to see why hostels are becoming such a popular alternative.

Another benefit of staying in a hostel is that the staff is extremely accommodating and knowledgeable about the local area. Unlike many staff members of some luxury hotels, who travel in from the outlying areas and rarely see the city in which they work, hostel staff tend to live in the city, and have an personal knowledge of the local sites, including which attractions are can’t miss and which ones aren’t worth the trip.

Hostels also usually have access to discounts and coupons for local area attractions and restaurants, and they can provide information on the best restaurants and hangouts around.

While not everyone will find a hostel appealing, and the accommodation of a local hostel are simple at best, they can be wonderful options for lodging for the budget minded traveler. After all, the goal of travel is to get out and see the world, and hostel travel lets you save money on lodging so that you can do just that.

To learn more about budget travel and get vacationing tips visit
www.budget-travel-help.info

Who says that discount hotel rooms are only available at shabby motels? With a little creativity and a whole lot of patience, you book a room in a posh hotel and enjoy luxury at a big discount. Get everything you have always wanted - 24-hour room service, comfortable bed linens and a concierge without all the bills.

The Internet works wonders

A tight budget is no excuse for a cheap hotel room. Use the Internet to your advantage to find the lowest rates available for the best rooms in town. Log on to your favorite travel agent website - you will be surprised at what you may find.

Be on the lookout for nontraditional categories such as ‘hip hotels,’ or ’spa favorites’ and ’seaside retreats.’ Your travel websites may be ‘hiding’ discount rooms in these categories.

Are you planning to stay long? If you are, take advantage of discount rates available for tourists who intend to stay for an extended period. You can typically get as much as 30 percent off the regular rates.

During off-season, many travel agencies offer first-class hotel rooms for 40 percent less than regular rates. What’s more you can take advantage of first rate vacation packages, cruises, spa stays and car rentals - all at discount prices.

Take advantage of the hotels where your travel agency has ’special deals.’ When you book in these hotels, you get huge discounts. You should also use the “sort by hotel class” function on your travel agent’s website, because you will immediately zoom in on the discount hotel rooms you can afford.

On the assumption that you have not figured out gambling saloon gambling, feel free to read on. A definition of a gaming establishment is a house that features gaming. At such a place, guests will hopefully play at one-armed-bandits or trying out alternative games. Gambling saloon games frequently have ovious probabilities included that ensure the gambling house retains dominion against the guests.

A large number gambling saloon games can make you end up habituated very rapidly. Take, for example, the famous one-armed-bandit, a cash operated gadget with 3 or more gears that pivot when a crank attached to it is pushed. The machine customarily remunerates according to a row of emblems observable on the screen of the gadget. Disastrously, betting house games present a mirage of manageability, tricking the guest: the addressee is awarded judgments, but actually these won’t really nix the customer’s negative odds. This is brought about by the the gaming room not returning the full amount as expected. This process is usually seen at work in popular casino games such as seven-card stud, dice, roulette or blackjack.

Blind Poker is a very a very trendy casino pastime. The gaming devotees, holding fully obscured hands, wager in the pot which is finally paid out to the last player controlling the best set of cards. (As everybody knows, the best bluffing hand may actually win too…) Similar to seven card stud, blackjack too is a very popular casino pastime. Most of its acclaim is by virtue of its particular mix of chance and technique and decision making, as well as a method identified as Card Counting. It is a very complicated strategy through which gamers may skew the probabilities of the card game for their own ends both by wagering and strategy actions in correspondence with the cards dealt.

“Craps” is yet another famous gambling hall wagering game using the roll of 2 dice. Guests bet on the outcome of of one roll, or on a succession of spins of two dice. Contrary to blackjack, there just isn’t any viable winning strategy people could make capital of to improve the chances. Roulette is an immensely popular game of chance: a croupier rotates a roulette wheel holding thirty-seven (as applicable to European roulette) or precisely 38 (Vegas roulette) uniquely tagged compartments in which the tossed pellet must come to rest, marking the winning number Supposing that a participant has placed a chip on any given number and makes it big meaning they’ve got a lucky hand, the benefit is 35 to one, the pledge itself will be given back. Ergo in total it is increased by a factor of thirty-six.

We strongly recommend you be emphatically on the lookout nevertheless because such gaming room betting games may well be somewhat habituating. A totally unacceptable number of lives are reported to have been wasted in the course of addictive gambling and though it indeed feels enjoyable, do please try to balance your play.

gambling software site

Leaders of over 50 countries from the Commonwealth will be meeting on the Mediterranean island of Malta from November 25 to 27, and for three days the island will be enjoying the attention of hundreds of millions of TV and online news viewers and newspaper readers worldwide.

Malta has often been overlooked by holidaymakers and second home owners in favour of other Mediterranean islands such as Mallorca, Cyprus and Menorca, and hotels and estate agents alike on the island are hoping that the three days of publicity will boost tourist and property buyer numbers for 2006.

With good all year round weather and an English speaking population visitor numbers from the UK, which make up about half of the island’s tourist numbers, have been surprisingly flat in recent years, and with cheaper holidays available in the new destinations from Eastern Europe such as Bulgaria set to capture more of the UK holiday and property market Malta could see tourist numbers remain level or even fall in future years.

Malta Holidays

Malta missed it’s own target of a modest increase in tourists this summer, and there are worries on the island that the opportunity to increase awareness among potential visitors will be missed.

Michael Johnson of Tribune Properties who specialise in property for sale in Malta comments:

‘Malta is ideally situated in the Mediterranean to attract tourists from all over Europe and further afield but for a lot of people I speak to in other countries it isn’t an obvious destination of choice.

The island has a strong domestic property market and doesn’t rely too heavily on overseas property buyers like some of the Mediterranean islands do, but at the same time those that do buy here play a good role in the economy overall.

The timing of the Commonwealth meeting is good as it’s just before the New Year when a lot of people decide where they will be going for their summer holidays, and next summer’s tourist could be next winter’s property buyer. But they’re only going to do that if they visit the island first, and I’m hoping that Malta will see an increase in tourists in 2006 - it really depends on whether the island takes this chance to market itself in the months ahead on the back of the free publicity the Commonwealth will bring..’

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting takes place very two years, and has its roots in the British Empire, with 53 members who were former British colonies belonging to the organisation.

Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth, and will be visiting with Prince Philip for a two day trip to Malta to open the meeting on November 25 in Valletta, the island’s capital. It will be the royal couple’s first visit to Malta since 1992, and welcoming crowds are expected in similar numbers to their previous four visits.

In addition to the Queen and Prince Philip, among the attendees will be the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the Prime Ministers of Canada, New Zealand, India, South Africa, Singapore and Australia.

‘Around half of Malta’s tourists are from the UK’ adds Michael Johnson, ‘and it’s a similar figure for non islanders buying property here. As well as increasing holidaymaker numbers from the traditional UK market we should be trying to appeal to people in Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand and other countries who take a holiday in Europe to consider visiting Malta for a few days to sample the fine hotels, hospitality, history and culture that the island is so rich in. But it remains to be seen whether the tourist board is capable of translating good free publicity into visitors for the island.’

The Commonwealth meeting is being held in Valletta, Malta from November 25 to 27.

For a guide to the island, including holidays in Malta, hotels, self catering holiday villas and apartments, flights, car hire and details of Malta’s main towns of Valletta, St Julian’s, Sliema, Mellieha, St Paul’s Bay, Qawra and Bugibba visit
http://www.yourmalta.com

To request details of current property and real estate for sale in Malta visit
http://www.maltaproperty.info