The Okavango Delta is an aberration of Nature — a river delta which never reaches the sea. Instead, the waters of the Okavango drain into the arid plains of the Kalahari Desert in northwestern Botswana — creating a lush and fertile haven for all manner of flora and fauna. We arrived at Maun, the access …
Continents
Tales from the Watering Hole: My Stay at Elephant Sands
You are stuck inside the confines of a vehicle for most safari experiences, jostling for space with other tourists and using what wiggle room you have to get the best angle for your photography. That’s the norm. But there are some places where wildlife comes to you, and the barriers separating you are non-existent. Elephant …
Tales from the Watering Hole: My Stay at Elephant SandsRead More
Exploring Chobe National Park with Acacia Africa
After leaving Livingston, Zambia and the rain-deprived, but still splendorous Victoria Falls behind us, our Acacia Africa tour group crossed into Botswana via the Kazungula ferry and made our way to Kasane to explore Chobe National Park. With nearly 12,000 square kilometers of protected area, the largest elephant population of any national park in Africa, …
Hike to Cutthroat Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail
September brings with it the end of summer, and with the end of this particular summer comes the last of this interlude in the PNW. It’s been a whirlwind of activity, with hikes all over the Chuckanut and Cascade ranges, as well as a ton of get-togethers with friends and family. This ritual of visiting …
Reasons to Visit Anacortes
Traveling from Seattle north along Interstate 5 will take you to Bellingham and eventually Vancouver in beautiful British Columbia. It’s a tempting bit of highway to breeze along, skipping all the drive-through towns in Snohomish and Skagit Counties for more intriguing destinations further north. You certainly could, but it would be a mistake. You’d miss …
Hiking to North Butte in the Chuckanuts
Summer is really the best time to visit the PNW, with the weather as good as it’ll get and the trails open for exploration. The North Cascades have some of the best hiking trails in the PNW — such as Heliotrope, or Lake 22 — but there are other destinations around Northwest Washington with much …
Hiking Heliotrope Ridge
While Brandon, Sandy, and I drove up Mount Baker Highway, I was trying to figure out just how long it had been since I’d been on a proper hike in the Pacific Northwest. I was shocked to realize it’s been nearly 3 years since I’d done a hike in my home state! My last two …
Exploring Vardzia Like a Local
When my Georgian friend, Nino, was recommending things for me to do, see, and devour in Georgia, exploring the ancient cave city of Vardzia (ვარძია) was at the top of her list. Primarily constructed in the 12th century and the seat of power of the legendary King (Queen!) Tamar, Vardzia was abandoned during the Ottoman …
Rituals on the Open Road: Going Home
It’s always the greenness of the drive which gets me; after I’ve left the airport and merged on to I5, whether it’s northbound from Seattle or southbound from Vancouver. It’s so easy to take a color for granted, but such a concentration of it after an extended absence makes me realize what I’ve missed. The …
Hiking to Udziro Lake
My time in Georgia is drawing to an end. Three months, you might think, is sufficient time to spend in such a small country, but you’d be wrong. There are so many hikes I won’t have the time to do, so many places I won’t have the time to visit. All that means, though, is …