Celebrating friendship in the Okanagan
Sometime between the pizza Margarita and the Caesar salad, and possibly influenced by the glasses of chilled Pinot Gris, we decide to cycle the old railway trails through the Okanagan. Which, for most people, would be a side note in a week long journey through Continue Reading →
How to leave Morocco
“Oh, to get out of Casablanca… to go to America… you are a lucky man.” (Ferrari to Rick, Casablanca) The shores of Casablanca shine up at us as our plane banks in to land one brisk, sunny day in early March. We have flown in Continue Reading →
Unlikely friendships at Chobe River, Namibia
There’s nothing like a close encounter with an elephant to bond unlikely friends. Although at the time, our focus was more on the elephant than our latent friendship. It all started a couple of days earlier, when we arrived at Chobe River in the Zambezi Continue Reading →
Finding treasure in the Erongo
Immanuel is taking us on a treasure hunt. Immanuel is a guide at Ai Aiba Lodge, our home for the next few days. The lodge sits among a cluster of granite rock boulders in Namibia’s Erongo Mountain Conservancy. We’ve come here to see the not-so-famous Continue Reading →
The Magic Carpet of Marrakesh
“La.” With that, the stunning royal blue wool carpet is whisked away by two attendants, and with a flourish, another one is rolled out for our inspection. I’m hopeful we can get out of this predicament with our credit card intact. And then the tray Continue Reading →
Water and hope in the Sahara, Morocco
She’s just a speck out on the fringe, where the stony plain and scrubland converge. A herd of goats is scattered across the landscape, heads down, searching for a meal. Yahya, our driver, guide and partner with Sahara bespoke tour operator Wild Morocco, slows the Continue Reading →
Happiness is new year’s in Costa Rica
It feels like we’ve been climbing this damn mountain for days. Our water bottles are almost empty, the sun is relentless and the air is thick with humidity. I’m drenched in sweat. Ulysses, our guide with barely two decades to knock together, turns to us Continue Reading →
Love and war in Oban, Scotland 1944
December 24, 1944 Royal Air Force Base, Oban Scotland This Christmas feels different. It feels like the beginning of the end. After five bloody years, peace, or some variation of it, appears faintly on the horizon. So the mood is especially festive on this Christmas Continue Reading →
Exiled on Buyukada, Adalar, Turkey
Once upon a time, a Byzantine prince had his life as privileged royalty in the exotic palaces of Constantinople crushed, and he was exiled to a remote island in the Sea of Marmara to live out his days. The island prison location worked so well that Continue Reading →
Flying into history – a Spitfire over France
It’s 1942. I’m flying at about 10,000 feet over the French countryside, alert for enemy aircraft. I’m flying low – too low. Suddenly I realize the ground has been rising, and a mountain looms just ahead of me. A slight maneuver of the controls – Continue Reading →