The Whale Trail Story

  When whales burst from the sea in joyful exhilaration they humble us with their awesome power.  Making the longest migrations of any mammal on earth from chill waters of Alaska to Baja California they rely on ancient knowledge to guide through treacherous seas. Today their challenges are greater than ever from congested, noisy shipping lanes, to pollutants and plastic in our oceans. The creation of the Whale Trail with over sixty designated viewing sites on the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to California is an attempt to bring greater sensitivity to the needs of the largest, and oldest creatures on our planet to survive.

Six viewing sites have been identified on the Central Coast of California; in San Simeon; Moonstone Beach in Cambria, the pier at Cayucos; the bluff trail in Montana de oro State Park; the Avila Pier and at the Oceano Dunes Overlook at Grand Avenue.

I visited the Piadras Lighthouse in San Simeon that sits on a lonely peninsula jutting out in to rough seas crashing over sea stacks. Docents led tours through the manicured grounds garner good viewing spots for a variety of marine life, including the whales during migrations. A fluffy otter was floating on his back oblivious to crashing waves while Elephant Seals lay sprawled on the shore. 

Adventure-travel writer, Linda Ballou, has a host of travel articles on her site, along with information about her travel memoir, Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler’s Tales, her historical novel Wai-nani, A Voice from Old Hawai’i and her latest action-adventure novel The Cowgirl Jumped over the Moon at-www.LindaBallouAuthor.com.  

Triumphant Year for the" Lost Angel"

It pays to google yourself once in a while. To my delight, I discovered that I am on the list of Top Baby Boomer Blogs forSenior Adventures. As the Adventure Travel Expert on the National Associationof Baby Boomer Women, my articles are shared in many places that I have not initiated. It is fun and exciting to see how the internet works in strange and mysterious ways

 Africa has been on my list for about a decade. I finally made it in grand style this year.  The Ultimate Safari with Overseas Adventure Travel that took me to less traveled tracks in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia was everything I had hoped for. I wrote half dozen articles about my time there. Here is the link to my interview on Around the World TV.Here is a link to Into the Wilds of Africa  featured in Real Travel Adventures E-zine.

Me with my favorite guide Cowboy

Collateral goodness from my journey brought me to Mat Dry, safari guide and owner of  This is Africa safaris. He gave me the most flattering review that Lost Angel Walkabout has received to date!

There is no other way to say it; Linda Ballou is an OUTSTANDING writer and an incredibly dynamic individual! Lost Angel Walkabout is about as captivating a collection of travel tales as one could hope to read..

for more

 Mat helped me with my article The Elephant in the Room that I shared on Green Loons eco tours. I felt the need to bring awareness to an environmental problem that is not discussed because South Africans are afraid it will dissuade tourists from visiting their respective countries.

Two sides to the Elephant story

Peter Steyn, editor of Globe Rovers Magazine headquartered in Hong Kong, reached out to me on Social Media. That is one of the really fun things about my writing journey. You never know who will stumble upon one of your articles, or books and find you interesting.

This is the conversation that ensued and appeared in Globe Rovers along with the following book review of Lost Angel Walkabout. What a fun encounter. Check out his magazine for lots of great info on distant destinations for the intrepid traveler.

Stay tuned in for more adventures to come as I work on my next travel collection "The Lost Angel Rides Again", Wild Ballou Wander, ? You tell me. Cheers Linda

Armchair travel makes a great gift for your travel loving friends!!
Lost Angel Walkabout available with free shipping on my site
www.lindaballouauthor.com or all online distribution sites.