Tonga: The Sexiest Men In The World

Sexy smiling Tongan man at Kava Ceremony

  First of all, there is something I need to explain. What you are about to discover is that in this country…. … the bigger and the broader you are, the more prestige you have!   Quite a reversal from the cultural expectations in North America! Every time I tell someone… Continue reading

The Gilligans’ Island Experience

Internet Hut: After receiving 3 or 4 completely different directions for getting to the only Internet access on Little Corn Island, we traipsed through the jungle to the East side of the island and after ten minutes came to a tiny Gilligan Island style hut with two old computers. We… Continue reading

3 Great Cheap Restaurants in Old Havana

Cheap Food in Old Havana   Cuban food is good. No matter what you’ve heard, it is good basic food. The cheapest and best Cuban food is found in Paladares, the locally-owned and run restaurants, the smaller Mom and Pop Restaurants. Rice and beans are served with every meat or… Continue reading

4-Legged Beach Bums in the Yucatan

  When we moved from Merida to the beach near Telchac Puerto, we had no idea we would have so many visitors, especially these kind.   First challenge though, was finding the tiny sand road turnoff to our beach house. It was a bit of a challenge, even in daylight,… Continue reading

Music Echoing Across The Austrian Alps

  It wasn’t the yodeling through the Austrian Alps that was impressive, no, – though I’m sure yodeling would be equally amazing – but it was the music!   We can understand much better now, how incredible it is to experience sound resonating across the giant alps and how dramatically it floats… Continue reading

What’s So Great About The Panama Canal?

Panama

  Of course we had to go see the magnificent Panama Canal while we were in Panama. Maybe I expected too much or maybe I didn’t really understand its purpose or maybe, dare I say it – it’s something more appreciated by men, but for me it was quite plain… Continue reading

Children Hide Inside Tree in Sabah, Borneo, World War ll

  Borneo Jungle Walk   It was time for the Borneo Jungle Walk in Sabah, Borneo.   As we entered the jungle, the first thing to walk across was a swinging rope bridge, which David managed with ease.  [spacer height=”20px”] I won’t say how T managed on the rope bridge,… Continue reading

A Pig Butchering in Pico

Pigs

  As people kept referring to farms in the Azores – often right in the centre of towns and villages, we would look around expecting to see an expanse of field, and never find it! All we could see were houses, and trying to be polite (and not wanting to… Continue reading

Street Food in Penang: How Adventurous Are You?

  What’s more fun than sampling hundreds of different new foods? We can’t think of anything that appeals so consistently to everyone – young and old, every person, from every country in the world. It is simply a universal pleasure to enjoy good food.   And we’ll try most any… Continue reading

In The Pink

  Birds are not a big attraction for us, but we were a little curious about the Yucatan flamingos. We thought $100 was a little steep for the Flamingo Boat Tour out of Celestun, so we declined several offers from local tour operators.     Since there was a large… Continue reading

Wild Monkeys Jumping On Our Boat

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  At Orange Walk, in Belize, we stayed at the Orchid Palm Inn, a lovely inn filled with  – you’ll never guess – orchid plants. Reasonable rates and very nice rooms: Orchid Palm Inn.   The owners of the Orchid Palm told us about the Lamanai Jungle River Boat, so the… Continue reading

The Secret, Cheap, Hauntingly Beautiful Mangrove Tour

  It was only by accident that we heard about the Mangrove Tour. We were swimming in a cenote at some Mayan Ruins in the Yucatan, Mexico, when a woman was telling other people about this amazing tour that no one knows about because it originates in a little village… Continue reading

Tonga: “But I’m Not a Pilot!”

Tonga Islands Aerial View

 [spacer height=”20px”]   Tonga: Going to Ouleva Island   We were flying from the Vava’u Group in Tonga to the Haap’ai Group, where we had arrangements to take a boat to an uninhabited island, Ouleva.   At the airport, as we walked out to our small 8-seater plane, I noticed the pilot was… Continue reading

Louisiana: Cajun Country, Crawdaddies & the Canada Connection

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  Louisiana and the Canada Connection   Louisiana: there is a strong connection between Louisiana and Canada. A good number of people in the Louisiana area came from Canada! We recalled learning this in history at school, but had completely forgotten about it, or at least I did.   French-speakers… Continue reading

House Sit: Cleaning The Chicken Coop

Today we cleaned out the chicken coop at our house sit in Clairac, France. Yup! Easy Peasy.  Only problem was that fat Old Momma Chicken would not move. She’s nesting again! So we had to work around “Ms. Precious”.   The other 3 chickens had already been let out in… Continue reading

With My Eyes Closed

  “Want to go to Argentina?” I said to my friend D. “What? Argentina? Hmm… I don’t know… how long?” “Just a month. There is a great price out of LA.” “A month! I can’t get that much time off work.” “Are you sure? Have you asked?” “No. Ok, I’ll… Continue reading

Falling Down the Castle Stairs in Ireland

 [spacer height=”20px”] What a thrill it was going to be to actually stay in a real castle! We were excited. [spacer height=”20px”] [spacer height=”20px”] After spending a few days in Limerick and driving out to see the Cliffs of Moher, we were on our way to our first castle –… Continue reading

CUBA: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again… It’s A Jump To The Left…

  If you have ever wanted to go back to the 1950’s, you can easily do it in Havana, or anywhere in Cuba (with the exception of the tourist resorts).   It’s fun to actually feel the Cuba time warp. For us, it was like going back to our childhoods…. Continue reading

History Is Boring

History Repeats Itself. Which May Explain Why It's So Boring.

  Some people find history fascinating; others find it completely boring. I used to be the latter, finding all those dates absolutely meaningless (stop scowling). Random dates and events seemed like completely useless knowledge. I wanted to know what was happening today! Not 500 years ago.     In high… Continue reading

Borneo River Safari: Gigantic Butterflies and Tree-Climbing Crocodiles

  Gigantic Butterfly   Relaxing on the deck before our Borneo River Safari, something moved beside my chair. I looked, and made a small gasp. There was a huge creature fluttering on our patio window a foot away from me! I stood up, stepped back… and took a closer look…. Continue reading