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
Still amazed by Petra and discussing which Jordanian meals we were going to cook first, we continued our journey south west to the Red Sea. Prior to arriving, we stopped to visit the desert of Wadi Rum; filming locations for The Martian and Lawrence of Arabia. After a quick stop for tea in a Bedouin … More Fake Mars and relaxation
On 9/24, we continued south west from the Dead Sea with relaxed bodies and mud smoothed skin for Petra; the ancient site that was the original motivator for us wanting to visit Jordan. Through the afternoon desert heat, we began to see hazy glimpses of the canyons that hid the ancient city. Arriving to the … More Petra, a stop recommended by Indiana Jones
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
Our plane touched down well after sunset, so our first impressions of Amman, Jordan were the city lights that extended for miles. The drive in to our hotel revealed a cosmopolitan city with prosperous neighborhoods and international logos lighting up corporate buildings. The next morning we met our driver & guide, Firaz, to begin exploring … More Desert lights and sandy cities
We spent a night in Inverness to break up the drive between the Orkneys and Edinburgh, and were surprised with champagne and a lovely charcuterie and cheese board for Lindsay’s birthday when we arrived at our B&B (thanks again, Seattle Mom & Dad!). On our last day in Scotland, we managed to squeeze in two … More One last Scotch tasting
On 9/15 we departed Ullapool to continue the northerly drive on more of the spacious highland roadways. Our home for the next 4 days would be the Orkney Islands, a chain of islands located off the northern tip of Scotland. Unexpectedly, our time in the Orkneys turned out to be the highlight of Scotland for … More The Surprising North
We’d hoped to escape the stormy weather on our way to Skye, and for the first day it seemed luck was with us. We arrived at our B&B with enough daylight remaining to walk the mile and a half to the tiny village harbor of Elgol. The light on the water was beautiful; we ignored … More Grey Skye and stormy weather
Driving in the Highlands was a unique experience. We repeated our driving mantra daily as we started the car, “stay left, stay left.” The Highland roads came in two shoulder-less sizes: narrow and more narrow. The larger of the two, on which the traffic flowed between 60-70 mph, are the size of neighborhood roads in … More A lesson in defensive driving
A Forever of Nows 