Tag 5......again

Marja of DutchCorner, who is in New Zealand just to confuse us, asked me to do a meme based on 5. My first thought was de ja vu, cause I remember doing a meme called Tag 5 . As it turned out the two memes are quite different so I decided that to happily take this new meme on. However, if you are new to this blog and want to know a bit more about the Lone Grey Squirrel, I think you will find the previous meme quite informative also.


Part 1: 5 Weird Facts About Me

Strange enough, I have already done one called "Six Weird Things About Me". So you can get the details here, however just to tantalize a little, here are the six keywords;

1. Squirrels
2. White Food
3. Buffy
4. Graveyards
5. Bananas
6. Miracle

Part 2: 5 Places I Would Like to Visit or Visit Again (click links for pictures)

1. Banff National Park, Canada
The United Nations Human Development Index has named Canada the best country to live in the most in their annual report. Canada secured the best country status 10 times out of 20 reports. (Norway is second with 6 times at the top and Iceland the most recent winner in 2007). I have to agree. Of all the places I have traveled, I would chose Canada as the best place to live. The best combination of natural beauty and a young but caring society. For sheer natural beauty and space to feel free in, it has to be Banff National Park and all the other adjacent Rocky Mountain National Parks. I was there for just a week but could easily spend the rest of my life there.

2. Tepuis of Venezeula
For the adventurer in me, this is my dream destination. Tepuis are flat tabletop mountains with sheer cliff faces of over 300-1,000 m. The world's highest falls, Angel Falls comes off one of these tepuis. Rising out of the dense equatorial rainforests, they are often shrouded in mists. Visitors flying over them have described them as islands in the mists. These were the mountains that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write about "The Lost World". To go where few, if any, men had been before; to see rare and unique plant and animal species and to have an adventure...........this is where I would like to go.

3. Budapest, Hungary
Europe is a great place for culture, history and the arts. I have enjoyed Vienna and to be fair, have not been to Paris. Yet, it is this Pearl of the Danube that calls me to come back. I spent five days in Budapest when I visited and left acutely aware that I could have spent five times longer and still feel that I have more things to see and experience.
Highlights have to be the food, the people, their proud and unusual history which is quite distinctive.

4. Croatia (Dalmation Coast and Plitvice Lakes National Park)
I am kind of cheating here by using Croatia to cover both a place that I have been (Plitvice Lakes) but also a place that I would like to visit (Dalmation Coast). I have previously posted on Plitvice but suffice to say it is truly a natural wonder and a soothing place for a water spirit like me. Dalmation Coast from Dubrovnik to Split is a place rich in a period of medieval history that I know little about but find fascinating. Walled cities, castles and churches and all set into the ruggedly beautiful coastline.

5. Endau Rompin National Park, Malaysia
My first wild area. My first love. Pristine, beautiful rainforests with rich wildlife like tigers, elephants and rhinos. Isolation and relatively difficult to get to merely adds to its charms. Mountain tops with palm forests and swamps and islands amidst the cooling mists of the falls as well as numerous waterfalls and rapids makes this a top spot. Swimming in crystal clear jungle streams was an incredible experience.


Part 3: 5 Things I never imagined at 25

1. I never imagined that I would be married. I went through a phase and a way of thinking that did not include marriage.
2. I never imagined that I would be working in nature conservation. At that time, I was still thinking of a career as a mad scientist in a lab somewhere blowing things up.
3. I never imagined that I would have had the opportunity to study and live in Canada.
4. I never imagined that I would ever end up overweight as I was always scrawny until I was about 28.
5. I never imagined that I would still feel young at 45. Well, apart from the aches from various injuries collected over the years and fading memories.
   

Please if you are tempted to try this meme, do drop a comment to let us know that you are doing it. Ta ta for now.