I first visited the Galápagos Islands in 1994 as part of a college semester studying ecology and environmental issues in Ecuador. We spent a week in the islands, cruising from one amazing spot to another aboard a 16-passenger yacht. To this day, I remember it as one of the best weeks of my life. Fourteen Read More …
Few places are as lonely as Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. This isolated headland on Hornos Island marks the northern edge of the Drake Passage, a treacherous body of water that was the bane of many a ship before the construction of the Panama Canal. “Rounding the Horn” meant battling strong Read More …
I just returned from leading a tour in Cuba, where my group had the opportunity to see the world’s smallest bird, the bee hummingbird. As its name suggests, this miniscule flier is scarcely bigger than a bumblebee. Its Spanish name, zunzuncito, captures something of the whirring of its tiny wings as it darts through the air Read More …
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve been thinking back over the romantic scenes I’ve encountered during my travels. One that comes to mind is from a tour I led to Cuba a couple of years ago. I was walking near the main plaza of Trinidad with some members of my group when we saw a Read More …
I was wandering along Havana’s famous seaside boulevard, the Malecón, when I spotted a group of young men enjoying themselves jumping from the seawall into Havana Harbor. They would start on the opposite side of the street, wait for a moment without traffic, and then run across the road, leap onto the wall, and launch Read More …
Remember dominoes? The game with the little white tiles with the black dots may not get a whole lot of play these days in the U.S., but in Cuba it’s still hugely popular. At tables on sidewalks and in plazas, players plot their next moves, while spectators gather round to watch the action or just Read More …