Category: Travels for Fun
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THE SAFARI LESS TAKEN
My neighbour from Aleppo, Syria and mate for 35 years, Scott Christiansen, and I were in Tanzania last month for a consultancy. It was a Sunday, and we had Bambara groundnut and sweetpotato leaves growing out of our ears. So we decided to get out of Dodge. When in Tanzania the thing to do is to go on a safari. But the Swahili word ‘safari’ simply means going on a journey. Scott and I decided to take a safari in Tanzania … but just not the type you’re thinking of. I’m…
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KARIJINI
If you’re a redophile then I’ve got just the place for you. Head to the Pilbara region of in the north central part of Western Australia. Iron ore country. The landscape glows with deep reds and earthy ochres. Iron deposits layered over 2.5 billion years. The red ancient banded iron formations are among the oldest rocks on Earth. The red of the Pilbara isn’t just pretty to look at. It’s pretty to cash in at the bank. The Pilbara is a global powerhouse in iron ore production. Pilbara mines export nearly…
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MURDER IN FJÄLLBACKA
I love a good murder mystery and am always on the lookout for new authors. So when my Norwegian friend, Inger, told me about a series of crime novels based near her Swedish holiday home, I was keen to read on. For a couple of years, I immersed myself in the Swedish coastal town of Fjällbacka as I read a series of Camilla Läckberg novels. I think I read nine books about the husband-and-wife duo of writer Erica Falck and police detective Patrik Hedström as they solved crimes in their little…
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CAN THO
I arrived in Can Tho, Vietnam’s gateway city to the Mekong Delta, after an all-night flight and a three-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City. I was too tired to set out and explore the city … and it quickly became too hot and humid. So I did the lazy photographer method and just set the camera on time lapse on my hotel room’s balcony while I took a snooze. There was a fair bit of activity on the Hau River, which is a distributary of the Mekong and passes through…
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A SUNDAY STROLL IN HARARE
Jet lag got the best of me so instead of sleeping in on my first day in Zimbabwe, I woke up at dawn. It looked like a beautiful spring day in Harare so I put on my walking shoes to explore. There’s always one destination I aim for when I arrive to a new place: the botanic garden. Google Maps said it was a 30-minute walk from my hotel so despite the advice from the hotel reception who said you can’t walk there, I set out regardless. Google Maps was right.…
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SURF’S UP AT LEEUWIN-NATURALISTE NATIONAL PARK
July is supposed to be cold and rainy, but we’re seeing the contrary this winter. The forecast promised a sunny day, so Joseph, Padma and I drove south for a couple of hours till we reached the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. The Indian Ocean was at its finest and we watched bottlenose dolphins and later humans surfing in the turbulent waves. Joseph hadn’t seen the longest timber jetty in the Southern Hemisphere at Busselton so we popped in just in time to see the tip of the sun dip into the Ocean.
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SAKE IN AN IZAKAYA WITH A FRIEND
In December 1981, I was standing on the sidewalk in San José, Costa Rica while watching the fireman’s parade. A marching band clad in blue uniforms pounded away on their instruments. I looked out amongst the band members and spotted my mate Glen Snyder blowing away on his trombone while keeping in step. Glen and I had arrived in country six months earlier as Peace Corps Volunteers assigned to environmental education projects. Glen lost no time and had already integrated himself into his local community and joined the municipal band. I…
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JOSHUA TREES AND FAN PALMS
In a good year, the Mojave Desert will get 100 mm of precipitation. So, plants need to fiercely compete for limited resources or develop mechanisms to survive by living on next to nothing in terms of precipitation. The Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) is one of those species which has mastered desert living. Its broad root system can extend up to 11 metres in its search for any moisture. If it can get settled in, a Joshua Tree can live for several hundred years in the higher elevations of the Mojave. Legend…
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THE ROADTRIP TO THE ‘WORLD’S BEST BEACH’
It’s a long way to Esperance. A full day’s drive from our home in Halls Head. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t take our German visitors to Lucky Bay … a beach recently listed as the #1 beach in the World (https://worlds50beaches.com/top-50-worlds-best-beaches/). We wanted to give our guests, Heiko and Susanne, a full Aussie experience so we packed up the car with camping gear and headed for Fitzgerald River National Park. We set up a very comfy campsite and spent a couple of days by exploring the Hammersley Inlet and…
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