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Greenland and the Culture of the Kayak
The first time I heard the expression “Eskimo roll,” I was standing on the deck of the M/V Sea Spirit, a small, polar-adapted, expedition ship that was my home for two weeks as I
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My World Travel Companion, Fred | Olaf’s Corner
There is an interesting photograph hanging in our hallway that reminds me of a very special traveling companion named Fred. The wooden-framed picture shows a little Buddhist boy crouched on a stone window sill
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Carpe Diem on Portugal’s River of Sweet Wine | Olaf’s Corner
If some wise old Gypsy woman ventured to read the cracked lines and hard blisters of my palm, she could clearly find that two activities have dominated my life—drinking good wine and paddling great
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Top Adriatic Adventures: Croatia & Montenegro
If you have never experienced an active Adriatic adventure, you have no idea what you’re missing. Having lived in Europe and as a relatively avid traveler with an appetite for new destinations and cultures,
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A Whale of a Journey: Kayaking Baja’s Sea of Cortez
During the spring of 1995, I joined a Natural Habitat Adventures kayaking trip in search of Pacific gray whales in Baja’s Sea of Cortez. We zigzagged from one end of the Baja peninsula to
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Recreation vs. Conservation in National Parks: Will Enjoyment Equal Support?
When President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service on August 25, 1916, I doubt he anticipated that one of the statute’s words would cause a lot of controversy 100 years
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Shipwrecked in Myanmar—No Problem! | Olaf’s Corner
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
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Pushed Around on South Georgia Island | Olaf’s Corner
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
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