On one of our final days on Espiritu Santo, we booked a snorkeling plus turtle and dugong spotting tour. What’s a dugong, you ask? We’d never heard of them either! A relative of the manatee, dugongs are large-ish marine mammals that live in the coastal waters of the Indo-West Pacific. They are shy and gentle … More Carpe Diem

Our final stop: Vanuatu. A cluster of 80+ islands in the South Pacific, Vanuatu is a tropical destination that transports you beyond the reach of modern civilization; a place of idyllic deserted beaches and thatched-roof villages, where tribal chiefs gather their council under the shade of a banyan tree and ancient customs are still very … More Curious Clown Fish & Kava

After several weeks of sparsely populated wide-open spaces, our arrival in Seminyak was a bit of a jolt. Busy roads with a jumble of motorbikes, taxis and pedestrians; a hectic main drag with wall-to-wall designer boutiques, surf shops, galleries, and restaurants; beaches littered with soggy remains of temple offerings and lined with hip bars, their … More Beautiful Bali

While impossible to put into words everything that we saw and experienced with Earthwatch, we couldn’t end without acknowledging a few additional favorite memories and tributes: Pilansberg National Park One of the unexpected perks of the Earthwatch project was the opportunity for multiple game drives in Pilansburg National Park. While stalking rhinos for the vigilance … More Earthwatch: Footnotes

We are both avid readers of National Geographic, we linger over the photographs and read nearly every word of each issue; we even follow some of our favorite photographers on Instagram. We have long admired the scientists whose research in the field leads to fascinating discoveries, and we envy them their exciting profession and unconventional … More Earthwatch: In the field

When we first began planning our itinerary for this big adventure, we knew we wanted to dedicate some time towards a volunteer opportunity or philanthropic venture. It was, in fact, the first part of our trip that we booked, and it became an anchor to build the rest of our travels around. Our intent was … More Earthwatch: The mission

Some our favorite animal encounters in Ngala… African Wild Dogs We were absolutely charmed by the painted dogs. We were lucky to have multiple, up-close and leisurely sightings with the pack throughout our stay – all the more special given how severely threatened these animals are (only 6,600 remaining in the world). Highly social animals, … More Ngala: part 2

Two or more of an animal will constitute: a pride of lions… a parade of elephants… a crash of rhinoceros… a journey of giraffe… a dazzle of zebra… a venue of vultures… a bloat of hippopotamus… a troop of baboon… a business of mongoose… a clan of hyena… an implausibility of wildebeest… and so on. … More Ngala: part 1

It is an interesting time to be an American traveling abroad. On the subject of politics, conversations with locals or fellow travelers usually start tentatively, until it is clear we have no intention of voting for Trump. And then, expressions of disbelief, a series of morbidly curious questions, and terrified musings about the “what if” … More Travel & politics

We celebrated Lindsay’s birthday at the Dead Sea. We stayed at a posh resort with its own private salty beach, and took full advantage of the “miracle” mud and relaxing spa. After two nights of indulgence, we rejoined Firaz to continue our road trip through Jordan. Before heading south to Petra, we side-tripped to Madaba, … More Floating through 40