@Pardinus
@Pardinus
After the last guild brawl in Splinterlands, got enough merits for my first gladius case! And I must say the animation when opening the pack is pretty awesome! No luck with the cards, all common and one rare, but since they're brand new cards and with some pretty cool abilities, can't complain. It's just another cool feature, while we eagerly away for the Chaos Legion launch!
@Pardinus
Fiiiiinally back to an airport! Damn, I missed this. Off to a full week on nature exploring. And to start in style, remembered I now have access to the VIP lounges, thanks to my crypto.com card! Definitely more and more I love the crypto world! 😁
@Pardinus
First impressions of Pico island: hate it. The horrible landscapes, UNESCO world heritage site; the windmills facing the ocean, and the nature all around with the summer breeze. Oh, why did I chose this! 😉😁😁
@Pardinus
Some more island exploring! That little peak among the clouds, is the tip of the highest mountain in Portugal, a little over 2300 meters. And if all goes according to plan, I'll post a photo from the top tomorrow! Meanwhile, getting awed with the luxurious green, even thow this is a volcanic island.
@Pardinus
Although the Azorean islands landscape is amazing, the weather tends to be unstable, and it's said Azores can have the 4 seasons in a whole day. Fog is a common event; it works for some cool photos, but hard to hike in the middle of it. I felt like saying today... what the duck is this?? 😁
@Pardinus
After a 6 and a half hours hike, in a sligthy less than 4km track, but with over 1000m of level difference, half dead... but worth it! The highest mountain of Portugal got another visit right until the top. As for the view... breathless!
@Pardinus
The best way to relax after a strenuous hike? Relax in one of the many natural swimming pools Pico island has to offer. This one is in Laje, with a view to the mountain I hiked hours before! The cold water was great to calm the muscles.
@Pardinus
The island exploring continues. There are so many trails that is hard to choose one. And to help me choose, decided to make a break for a sugar overload in a fantastic restaurant facing the sea. Definitely in love with Pico!
@Pardinus
Açores is considered a top world destination for whale watching. In this island, there are spots callled vigias ("lookouts") where in ancient times, spotters would scout the sea for whales and tell the fishing boats their location. That is still still done now for the observation tours. One of the most emblematic whales here is the Sperm whale. This is just a model... but hoping tomorrow I'll see my first real one! 🙂
@Pardinus
In one word: blessed. That's how I feel today. Tried to see whales today, and no luck... but with five different dolphin species and a turtle, can't help but to feel blessed for witnessing this nature's show! The cool photos are in the camera with the big zoom, but here's a taste of my day so far. We truly live in a wonderful world.
@Pardinus
Time to say goodbye to Pico island. São Jorge, here I go. Curious about what will I find, but in any case Açores already went waaaay up in my favourite places list: amazing nature, less persons, more wildlife. I'm awed and haven't evem dived yet!
@Pardinus
There are worse ways to start the day than with a coffee with this view. Already on São Jorge island, facing Pico island with a great view of the mountain. Off to some exploring!
@Pardinus
São Jorge has an amazing landscape, stripes of land called fajãs, that enter into the sea. Besides the view, there are tons of hiking trails connecting them, so plenty of exploring to be done. Too bad I had so little time. But enjoyed it well, and bathed in one of the most amazing natural pools I've seen!
@Pardinus
Untargetable monsters? Monsters who take almost no damage from big hitters? The new abilities in Splinterlands will surely bring a ton of new strategies to the game. It just keeps getting better, and the new reward cards come just when I come back home from vacations. Can't wait to get my hands on them!
@Pardinus
Last island on my vacations: Faial! Will try and dive as much as I can, so will leave island exploring for the free time. Just hoping the weather will let me do some sightseeing in higher altitudes. That fog helps for a nice photo from far, but not fun at all if you want to check the volcanos! And I finally find a beach with sand! 😁
@Pardinus
The day started rainy, but weather in these islands can change rather quick. One of the island's attractions is also near its highest point, so the chances of not seeing anything because of the fog are big in days like this. But as the morning went on and the sky cleared, decided to take my chance... and I'm glad I did! Entering a small tunnel to the belvedere, and marvel with the sight of this amazing crater!
@Pardinus
Time flies: went diving today, and realised it's been two years since last time I've done it! Clear waters, and tons of life such as eagle rays, black moorays, barravidas, octopuses, parrotfishes and so much more. One thing is certain: I want to do this way more often! And even got a good piece of advice at the dive school... from a dolphin? 🙂
@Pardinus
After a couple more dives, what a better way to refill the energies than with a visit to probably the most well known cafe of Portugal? Peter's Cafe Sport is a landmark here in Faial; they are best known by their Gin... but found out they have an awesome chocolate cake too! 😉
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This is written on the apartment where I'm staying now. And I can only think about: "man... you had ONE job..." It's not that the message isn't a good one, but missing a full word in the translation and make it just a nonsense phrase... priceless! 😁
@Pardinus
On my last day in Açores, and already missing it. Had superb dives; it's amazing the amount of life here, and so close to shore. And thanks to a cool dive buddy, I have my first underwater photos too!
@Pardinus
One of the good things of getting up early? Being able to witness the big mountain of Pico with the colours of the sunrise. Time to start saying goodbye to these wonderful islands, but will still make the most of the time left. Have a great week everyone!
@Pardinus
First day back to normal life grinding. And my question now is... when and where next vacations will be? 😁 These ones left very good memories, and can't wait to check all the photos in a big screen. One thing is for sure, my photo portfolio got a good increase!
@Pardinus
Back from vacations... back to gaming! Today my first new reward cards from Splinterlands dropped, and they're awesome! The new abilities open the doors to sooo many new strategies, and some of these new cards are an absolutely must-have. And on top of that, love the new art as well. Time to start battling!
@Pardinus
Has it ever happened to you to review your vacation photos, realise you have very very similar photos, and be unsure about which ones to keep? That's how I end up with a few dozens similar photos... 😁 As in this case: this is a rock in Pico island called "cachorro", which translates to "dog" in english. Guess no more explanations needed!
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It was close... but managed to reach Diamond I with 1 hour left for season ending, after a gaming spree, since I hadn't played and rented the cards during my vacations. And the effort payed off: more reward chests equals more chance for something good to drop. And a Legendary in the first season rewards with the new cards seem more than a good prize! How did your season rewards go?
@Pardinus
Went up to this rocky formation for some birdwatching, since it's a nesting place for some rarer species. Haven't seen any of the species I was looking for, but these cool wild flowers were a pretty decent substitute!
@Pardinus
Back to work, and less time to even think about posting! And not, I can't say luckily it's Friday... I work on Saturday too! 😁 But the saying is true: who wants to, finds time to. So sharing a few more from my vacations, since my head is still there! 😄 Another beautiful natural pool called poça da Rainha, in Faial.
@Pardinus
Finally passed all the vacation photos to the computer: more than 3gb of data and over 1000 files... guess I'll be spending some time deleting duplicates and blorred photos. All for a good cause, and I'm very curious to see the wildlife photos from the camera with a decent zoom!
@Pardinus
Finally where it belongs: went to check DAPP radar today, and guess who is now number 1 blockchain game? SPLINTERLANDS!! Only in the last 24h, 258k users played the game; and playing the game for more than three years now, I think it totally deserves that place in the podium. This is massive, and the new collection hasn't even been released yet. I'm guessing things will get wild in a few weeks! ;)
@Pardinus
And now that I've settled, time to get back to my usual posts! Daily wildlife photography: the Azores chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs moreletti. As with a few of other species in these islands, this species is a subspecies of the common chaffinch, with slight differences in plummage. It's as pretty as the common one, and present in all islands of the archipelago; it's also very common and not that shy, so chances are if you visit Açores... you'll see one!
@Pardinus
It's good to see that despite toys that nowadays look awesome, children can still let their creativity loose and make their own toys! Will my nephew be the next Picasso? 😁
@Pardinus
Daily wildlife photography: the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis. This was one of the dolphin species I spotted these last vacations, and they were by far the most friendly. Both juveniles and adults were present in the group, approaching the boat and jumping around it. They have a typical hourglass pattern on the sides, with the yellow and grey colours, making them easily identifiable.
@Pardinus
Seeing the news about the active volcano in Las Palmas, reminded me of the landscapes I've seen in Pico island, just a couple weeks ago. The last eruptions were ages ago, but the signs remained: just looking at the rocky formations, especially at sea level, you can be sure you are travelling in a volcanic island.
@Pardinus
Daily wildife photography: the rainbow lorikeet, Trichoglossus moluccanus. This is one of the most colourful parrot species I know! Althout this is a wildlife theme post, these guys were in captivity, in a huge bird park in Malaysia. And when I was approaching them, they wanted to show me they are doing ok there... and that sometimes, three is NOT a crowd!! :))
@Pardinus
Daily wildlife photography: the brown basilisk, Basiliscus vittatus. Found this curious critter during a small hiking trail in Tortuguero national park, in Costa Rica. Basiliscs were one of the species I was hoping to see, and I would be glad if I had seen only one. But got lucky, seen several individuals, and both green and brown basilisk! I didn't seen them running on water... but the fact that some posed for the photo, as this one, was more than enough!
@Pardinus
Always liked to see these kind of signs, with the distance to far away places from where we currently are. Makes me want to pick a destination, and just continue to travel after my current destination is explored. Am I the only one? 😉
@Pardinus
What's better than being lucky once? Well... being lucky twice! Rolled the wheel of fortune of the only decent faucet I know... and this is what came up; since I had another roll, I did it again, and 4500 tickets again! Now the only thing missing is to get lucky at the lottery! :)) Have a great weekend everyone!
@Pardinus
Daily wildlife photography: the european rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus. This little guy was hopping around in the grass, in the middle of the afternoon. He ran fast as soon as he spotted me, but wasn't fast enought to escape the camera! :) I was able to saw a couple of them in my nature trails in the islands. Photos taken in São Jorge, Açores, Portugal.
@Pardinus
Chaos Legion is coming! I have mixed feeling about the rollout made by Splinterlands, since hardly anyone without a huge wallet will get enough vouchers for a decent pre-sale buy, but I'll wait and see! Meanwhile, trying my first gladius card on brawls, and that bloodlust ability... is just insane! Level 1 cards become mayhem monsters!
@Pardinus
Daily wildlife photography: the pied avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta. These elegant birds were all over the place, last time I went for some birdwatching in Algarve, Portugal. With those looooong legs and colour pattern, they are easily recognizable, even in flight... or when doing funny poses!
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How fun it is to open Splinterlands packs? Opened my second gladius pack today, and gained two more rare cards. Even at level 1, these cards feel slightly overpowered; and as time passes, guess i'll see them more and more on the brawls. Only 10 cards so far... but hoping many many more to come!
@Pardinus
Daily wildlife photography: the black iguana, Ctenosaura similis. Normally, green iguanas are the climbers, and black iguanas are more frequently seen in rocks... but this one really wanted to go up that tree. Black iguanas are also excellent climbers, and I bet the view from the top was great! Photos taken near Quepos, Costa Rica.
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Tried to check Enter the Sphere, a game on the BCH chain... and sorry, but disappointed is an understatement. Yes, some cool graphics; but the only existing "game" so far seems to be through a telegram bot. When will blockchain games realise that advertising a product before the bare minimums brings more bad than good?
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Daily wildlife photography: the eurasian hoopoe, Upupa epops. Hoopoes feed on insects, and this one was probably trying to decide where to drill next. Guess she chose the location so good... that a sparrow decided to join in! Hope to get more hoopoe photos in the future, it's hard to capture them on camera. Photos taken in Tavira, Portugal.
@Pardinus
Another red day. With all the Splinterlands crazyness, I haven't been following the markets as I wanted, but it does feel like a lot of FUD in the air. Remember if you bought high... you only lose when you sell! Take the opportunity to observe and keep stacking your favourite bags!
@Pardinus
When was the last time you received a postcard? It's one of the things I enjoy doing when travelling, sending postcards to some of my friends; I know they'll have a smile on their face when they receive them!
@Pardinus
Daily wildlife photography: the Risso's dolphin, Grampus griseus. Unlike most dolphins, these ones have a rounded head. As they get older, due to the rough plays and fights with other dolphins, and the squid hunting (their favourite food!), their bodies fill with scars, those white lines that are easily seen. I was fortunate enough to see both adults and newborns! Photos taken in Pico, Portugal.
@Pardinus
Been collecting Coingecko's candies since I found out about them. You can trade them for some goodies on the website, and you never know what new offers will appear. Besides... they're free! And consistency pays, since the amount of candies increases if you don't miss a day!