Day #11,663, Part Dos (Belize): Although we’d already crossed ‘jungle canoeing’ off the ol’ anniversary list, Mr. M & I were not content to call it a one-adventure sort of day. Having seen the great Mayan ruins of Tikal the day before, we wanted to visit a Mayan ruin on the Belizean side, too. Xunantunich (pronounced […]
Wild Orcas off Vancouver Island
Canada’s Vancouver Island, just off the coast of British Columbia, is one of the best places in the world to see wild orcas. You can sign up for a kayaking trip out of Telegraph Cove or opt for a boat ride along the Johnstone Strait where pods of orcas spend their summer. Mr. M & […]
The Birds & The Bees in The Galapagos
**Check out my guest post Exploring Iceland’s Golden Circle over at The Travel Wench! (All the cool kids are doing it, so you might as well… ) If you haven’t yet visited, The Travel Wench is an amazing travel blog chronicling the wanderlust of the aforementioned, highly entertaining “wench.” Go forth!** Day #9,996: The Galapagos […]
The Land of Fire & Ice, Part Einn: Independence
Days #11,399-11,400: By some turn of witchcraft, it takes less time to get to Iceland from NYC than it takes to make my usual pilgrimages home to LA. Four and a half hours after leaving JFK, Mr. M & I touched down near the barren, moonscaped town of Keflavik. Mood: Stellar. While Icelandair has the […]
Learning to Travel in South Africa
Day #9,467-69: After 40 hours of traveling from LA to DC to Senegal to Johannesburg, the newly married Mr. M & I touched down in the city of Durban on South Africa’s eastern seaboard. It was midnight and the first time my feet had ever stood on foreign soil. My first night abroad was not […]
In Search of Galapagos
Lucky Day #10,000 (confetti & balloons!): In the town of Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos archipelago lives the Charles Darwin Research Station. The Station is dedicated to conserving the unique marine and terrestrial ecosystems of the Galapagos, and it’s open for the public to learn more about their work. […]
Viva Brasil, The Pantanal Part 2: A Caiman Tail… Tale
The Pantanal is home to what is thought to be the largest concentration of crocodilians in the world. Day#11,062: Paul determined that our morning held in store a boat ride down the Rio Negro. Drifting lazily in the summer heat taking in the beauty of the Pantanal sounded pretty darn good. Mr. M, our guide […]
Viva Brasil, The Pantanal Part 1: Appreciating the Unappreciated
Some places on this majestically overwhelming planet are grossly under-appreciated. It’s hard not to include the Usual Suspects in a Bucket List: The Amazon… seeing the Northern Lights in the Arctic Circle… going on an African safari… Of course they’re incredible. But what about the lesser-known, equally impressive natural wonders that are ordained to exist in the […]
A Walk on the Wild Side
As you may or may not know, I’m technically a veterinarian. Growing up- in densely suburban Southern California, I might add- Sister S and I (you remember her!) shared our very small home with raccoons, squirrels, opossums, ferrets, chickens, and even a tarantula. We were that house. The one the neighbors all hated cuz it […]
Kangaroo Island… Minus the Kangaroos
When I began planning a trip to Australia, a whole list of Must See’s immediately made it onto the list: Sydney, The Great Barrier Reef, Uluru… It was a few days into Hardcore Planning Mode before I’d even heard of this place mythically dubbed Kangaroo Island. I pictured kangaroos as far as the eye could […]