Travel Tales
“Vamanos, mujeres!” That was the insistent invitation from a large Cuna mamacita brandishing a grinning mouthful of golden teeth and a half chewed-up cigar. Wearing a red headscarf, arm and leg beads, gold nose rings and earrings, and the traditional colorful mola panel blouse, she was inviting our women to join a raucous party.
Asia & The Pacific
The islands of New Zealand are lands full of surprises, contrasts and sensory overload! These differences are found in the varied landscapes, from glacier-covered alpine peaks to subtropical rain forests to sparkling, 21st-century cities contrasted with the vibrant and ancient Maori tribal culture. Even the weather ranges from fierce snowstorms to balmy sunny weather.
Travel Tales
Jonathan did not look well, as I leaned him gingerly against the tall baobab tree under the sweltering Malagasy sun. His sweating face was pallid, his eyes flickering and he shook his head with a slurred speech.
Conservation
A successful tourist season at our East Greenland Base Camp was over. With all packed up, we bid goodbye to our wonderful Greenland staff and were ready for the homebound flight after another magic summer season for us and our guests in the high Arctic. We had a surprise visit in the Kulusuk Airport Hotel.
Travel Tales
The three sets of polar bear footprints on the tundra slope in East Greenland were very fresh. Two sets belonged to a pair of younger cubs and the third larger set was their mother’s.
Travel Tales
The rickety bus from Quito to Otavalo in Ecuador was bursting with a rich cacophony of Otavaleños women chattering in Quechua, yellow chickens clucking nervously from small bamboo cages, and the bus radio filling the coach with the popular song of “El Condor Pas” in Spanish.
Nature & Wildlife
In the wildlife drama that is a Botswana safari, this looked like a virtual demolition zone. We had just stepped out of our kayaks, scouting for an optimal place to camp. Looking around, we realized that the island had been completely trampled.
African Safaris
In the wildlife drama that is a Botswana safari, this looked like a virtual demolition zone. We had just stepped out of our kayaks, scouting for an optimal place to camp. Looking around, we realized that the island had been completely trampled.
Travel Tales
A muscular straw-yellow lioness suddenly appeared in the headlights of the old Peugeot, forcing us to a halt. She nonchalantly glanced over her shoulders with an expression of, “This is my road—not to be shared!” and snarled back at us. No lion’s share here.
Travel Tales
“Kura-kura!” yelled the little village boy as he came running out of the dark tropical night and into our jungle camp. Two of our Papuan boatmen from our mother ship, the James Bond II, grabbed their machetes and a couple of burlap sacks and followed after him with excitement.
Travel Tales
Myanmar’s tropical sun laughed from a happy blue sky, but the mood of our travel group was introverted to the point of being somber. This was fair enough, since we had just survived the worst tropical cyclone to plough through the Andaman Sea in years.
Travel Tales
The persistent nudge was annoying. A very large body was trying to push me off the camping mattress. Snugly wrapped in my sleeping bag, I drowsily realized that the firm pressure was not from a tent mate—I was in a single tent—but from something much bigger.
