Spotty Monsters, Lost in Spain, and a Bears-eye View of B.C.

Perceptive Travel is tagged as the “ best travel stories from authors on the move” and this month we’ve got something awe-inspiring, something pensive, and something with a very unique point of view.

Michael Buckley went snorkeling with the biggest fish on the planet—whale sharks—off the shore of Donsol in the Philippines . You’ll want to check it out for the photos and video if nothing else.

Beebe Bahrami returns to the land she covers in her books, Spain, but when lost in the countryside she recalls advice from her Persian grandfather. Down a Stream in Iran and Up a Creek in Spain .

In an earlier story, David Drotar wondered what an alien would think when landing in Quebec . Now he’s gone on a bear-watching trip in British Columbia, Canada , but sees it through the eyes of a family of bears and the salmon.

But wait, there’s more! I review some new music , including a snoozer of an album from Iceland’s Bjork and a 20-piece spectacle band from Portland I can’t wait to go see this weekend when they come through my city.

William Caverlee handles the travel book reviews this month, including one on the infamous container of rubber duckies that spilled in the Pacific, the duckies then riding the currents to places far and wide.