Donald and Esther's Travels

Brazil (and Argentina) Highlights

2011-09-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

Favorite Food: Pao de Queijo (cheese bread). Yum.

Favorite Restaurants: Rio’s kilo restaurants, where you payby the weight.

Favorite Drink: Guarana soda.

Runner-up: Coconut water. Refreshing after three hours inthe sun.

Best Bird: Blue-fronted piping guan, spotted on both theBrazilian and Argentine sides of Iguacu Falls.

Runners up: Hyacinth macaw, Toco toucan

Best Mammal: Ocelot.

Runner up: Golden lion tamarin.

Best beach: Copacabana, Rio

Best tour guide, Rio: Neyla Bontempo (her #1 ranking on Tripadvisor is well-deserved)

Best tour guide, Iguacu and Pantanal: Zapa (phenomenal enthusiasm for nature)

Best hotel: Hotel das Cataratas, Foz de Iguacu, Brazil (stunning location, beautiful hotel, tasty food)

Missed connections: Jaguar, Anaconda, Capped Heron, Rio’sBotanical Garden, Snorkeling with Dorado, Piranha (without snorkeling).

For photos of all sorts of Brazilian critters, see this slideshow.

The Pantanal After Dark

2011-09-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

"You are already here."

Many animals become more active at night. So we spent three evenings in the back of our truck shining a spotlight along the roadside looking for gleaming eyes. Most of them were caiman eyes, but we did find other critters as well.

We were hoping for a jaguar, of course, but the only one we saw was in a sign warning guests not to walk around alone at night. (We also heard one calling, but it didn't reveal itself.)

The elusive Brazilian tapir.

Second on our list was the Pantanal's largest native resident, the tapir. One made a brief appearance on our final night. (As you can see, we are still working on our night photography.)

A crab-eating fox foraging.

Bambi (a pampas deer fawn)

Thumper (A Brazilian rabbit)

Much more common were crab-eating foxes (which outnumbered the crabs about 10:1), deer, and rabbits.

This pauraque landed right in front our truck.

Night was also the best time to see nighthawks. These cryptically-feathered birds pretend to be leaves or tree limbs during the day. At night, they come out to hawk insects. Most common were pauraques, which we often spied resting on the ground or flying through the trees. We also saw one giant potoo which appeared as large as real hawk.

A burrowing owl at dusk.

Burrowing owls are easy to see during the day time, but one also posed for a nice photo just after it got dark.

Birds of Brazil

2011-09-11T14:18:00.001-07:00

We saw and identified about 160 species of birds over 11 days. The vast majority appeared in the Pantanal, which is truly a birdwatcher's paradise.

We had trouble identifying species for certain types of birds, most notably hummingbirds. So this list is probably an undercount of what we saw.

Red-legged Seriema (film makers used these guys to figure out how the velociraptors in Jurassic Park would move)

Greater Rhea

Undulated Tinamou

Chaco Chachalaca

Blue-throated Piping Guan

Black-fronted Piping Guan (Iguacu, one of the stars of the trip)

Bare-faced Curassow

Magnificent Frigatebird (Rio, phenomenal numbers)

Neotropic Cormorant

Anhinga

Southern Screamer

Muscovy Duck

Brazilian Teal

Striated Heron

Boat-billed Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron

Rufescent Tiger Heron

Cattle Egret

Snowy Egret

Great Egret

Cocoi Heron

Whistling Heron

Buff-necked Ibis

Plubeous Ibis

Green Ibis

Bare-faced Ibis

Limpkin

Roseate Spoonbill

Wood Stork

Maguari Stork

Jabiru (symbol of the Pantanal)

Turkey Vulure

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

Black Vulture

Snail Kite

Crane Hawk

Roadside Hawk

Savannah Hawk

Black-collared Hawk

Great Black Hawk

Yellow-headed Caracara

Southern Crested Caracara

Gray-necked Wood Rail

Common Moorhen (Rio)

Sungrebe

Wattled Jacana

Southern Lapwing (everywhere)

Collared Plover (Rio)

Solitary Sandpiper

Kelp Gull (Rio)

Brown Booby (Rio)

Black Skimmer

Feral Pigeon (Rio)

Eared Dove (Rio)

Picazuro Pigeon

Scaled Dove

Picui Ground Dove

Ruddy Ground Dove (everywhere)

White-tipped Dove

Hyacinth Macaw

Golden-collared Macaw

White-eyed Parakeet

Peach-fronted Parakeet

Monk Parakeet

Black-hooded Parakeet

Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

Blue-fronted Parrot

Perhaps others as well

Squirrel Cuckoo (Sao Paulo)

Smooth-billed Ani (North of Rio, Pantanal)

Guira Cuckoo

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

Burrowing Owl

Great Potoo

Pauraque

White-collared Swift (Rio)

Great Dusky Swift (Iguacu)

Swallow-tailed Hummingbird (Rio, Iguacu)

Minute Hermit

Violet-capped Woodnymph

Probably other hummingbirds as well

Black-crowned Trogon

Ringed Kingfisher

Amazon Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

Rufous-capped Motmot (Iguacu)

Rufous-tailed Jacamar (North of Rio)

Chestnut-eared Aracari

Red-breasted Toucan (Rio)

Toco Toucan (Iguacu, Pantanal; another star of the trip)

White-wedged Piculet

White-barred Piculet (Iguacu)

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker (Iguacu)

Little Woodpecker

Campo Flicker (Iguacu, Pantanal)

White Woodpecker

Pale-crested Woodpecker

Lineated Woodpecker

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

Olivaceous Woodcreeper

Red-billed Scythebill

Possibly other woodcreepers

Rufous Hornero

Great Antshrike

Vermillion Flycatcher

White-rumped Monjita

Cattle Tyrant

Masked Water Tyrant (Rio, North of Rio)

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Great Kiskadee (everywhere)

Lesser Kiskadee

Tropical Kingbird (Rio)

Crested Black Tyrant (Rio)

Southern Beardless-Tyranulet

Short-tailed Pygmy Tyrant

Fork-tailed Flycatcher (Campo Grande)

Plush-crested Jay (Iguacu, Pantanal)

Purplish Jay

Gray-breasted Martin (Iguacu, Pantanal)

Southern Rough-winged Swallow (North of Rio)

Blue and White Swallow (Rio)

Rufous-collared Sparrow (Rio, Iguacu)

Chalk-browed Mockingbird (North of Rio, Iguacu)

Black-capped Donacobius

Southern House Wren (everywhere)

Long-billed Wren (Rio)

Thrush-like Wren

Rufous-bellied Thrush

Pale-breasted Thrush (Iguacu)

Golden-Crowned Warbler (Iguacu, Sao Paulo)

Bananaquit (Rio, Pantanal)

Chestnut-vented Conebill

Blue Dacnis (Rio, North of Rio)

Violaceous Euphonia

Sayaca Tanager

Palm Tanager

Black-goggled Tanager

Silver-beaked Tanager

Yellow-billed Tanager

Red-crested Tanager

Green-headed Tanager (North of Rio)

White-Bellied Tanager (North of Rio)

Brazilian Tanager (North of Rio)

Ruby-crowned Tanager (North of Rio)

Grayish Saltator

Tawny-bellied Seedeater

Saffron Finch

House Sparrow (Sao Paulo, Pantanal)

Screaming Cowbird

Shiny Cowbird

Giant Cowbird

Chopi Blackbird (Iguacu, Pantanal)

Unicolored Blackbird

Orange-backed Troupial

Epaulet Oriole

Golden-winged Cacique

Solitary Cacique

Red-rumped Cacique (Iguacu, Pantanal)

Yellow-rumped Cacique

Crested Oropendola

For more Brazilian creatures, see this slideshow.

Mammals of Brazil

2011-09-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

The Pantanal offered some of the best mammal viewing we've ever experienced. At least 22 species in three days. Add in two species of monkeys we saw elsewhere, and we racked up at least 24.

Pantanal

Ocelot (the highlight of the trip; came jogging through the forest about 10 one morning)

Crab-eating fox (also at Iguacu)

Giant river otter

Tayra

Coati (South American; also at Iguacu)

Giant anteater

Yellow armadillo (six-banded)

Tapir (Brazilian)

Marsh deer

Pampas deer

Grey brocket deer (also at Iguacu)

Red brocket deer (also at Iguacu)

Brazilian rabbit (also at Iguacu)

Agouti (Azara's; also at Iguacu)

Capybara

Collared peccary

White-lipped peccary

Feral pig

Howler monkey (Black and gold)

Capuchin (Brown; also at Christ the Redeemer in Rio)

Greater fishing bat

Lesser fishing bat

Bat flying in our bedroom (species unknown)

Other bats outside where they belong (perhaps fruit?)

Evidence of other critters

Jaguar tracks, calls, photos on camera traps

Puma track (maybe)

Elsewhere

Golden-lion tamarins (at reserve north of Rio)

Common marmosets (Sugar Loaf, reserve north of Rio)

For more mammal photos from Brazil, see this slideshow.

Reptiles and Amphibians of Brazil

2011-09-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

The Pantanal hosts the world's densest population of crocodilians. Yacare caimans are everywhere. But have no fear, these alligator cousins eat fish and the occasional capybara, not humans. Indeed, they are quite afraid of anything large that walks near them. Perhaps because they aren't the top of the food chain. Jaguars love a tasty caiman meal.

At dusk, the caimans are joined by frogs (species, anyone?). These guys would crawl all over the lodge. Posing quite the obstacle course as we tried (successfully, I think) to avoid squishing any.

Can a lizard be beautiful?

Yes. With the dry season coming to an end, the tegu lizards had shed their old skins and were looking sharp. About two feet long, these guys look like a cross between an iguana and a monitor lizard.

We didn't encounter any of the famous snakes. No anaconda, no fer-de-lance. But on our last night of spot-lighting, we did find this cat-eyed snake. The photo doesn't do it justice; quite a lovely creature.

Our final wildlife sighting in the Pantanal. A red-footed tortoise crossing the road. He was a shy fellow, so we had to take our guide's word for it that his feet are actually red.

Iguacu had reptiles too. Amazon lava lizards looked quite lovely perched above the fall.

Iguacu Falls

2011-09-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Or, if you prefer, Iguassu or Iguazu.

One of the three great falls in world (the others being Niagara and Victoria), Iguacu put on quite a show for us. Thanks to recent rains, the river was running about three times higher than average. That washed out one of the best vantage points on the Argentine side, but made for great viewing otherwise.

That's the Garganta Del Diablo -- the Devil's Throat -- off to the left.

A view from the Argentine side

One of the nicest hotels we've ever experienced. The Hotel das Cataratas.

Classic Sights of Rio

2011-09-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

We spent almost two weeks in Brazil recently, starting in Rio.

Rio's most famous landmark is Christ the Redeemer. Recently voted one of the seven new wonders of the world, it's perched above Rio. Sometimes he plays hide and seek in the clouds.

And sometimes it's crystal clear up on the mountain side.

Less famous, but equally photogenic is Sugar Loaf, so named because of it's alleged resemblance to a sugar loaf.

That's Copacabana beach in the far background. Beyond it lies Ipanema Beach, where we stayed.

Most impressive thing at each beach? The folks playing volleyball with their feet. "Foot volley" is quite the athletic endeavor.

Downtown, Rio has an unorthodox cathedral. Inspired in part by Mayan pyramids, the cathedral is essentially a cone. Inside, there are four beautiful stained glass windows and a wonderful statue of our favorite saint (Francis).

From the entrance, you can look across the street to the central bank and the headquarters of Petrobras. (Esther's joke: You might refer to the three buildings as the trinity.)

Across the bay (Rio turned out not to be a river), lies Niteroi. It's home to a modern art museum designed by Brazil's most famous architect, Oscar Niemeyer. On our visit, at least, the building was much better than the art inside.

New Format

2011-09-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

We just updated the blog format. The upside is that it looks nicer. The downside is that the layout of photos in older posts is a bit haphazard. Thanks for your patience.

Coming soon: Donald and Esther's trip to Brazil.

Alaska Highlights

2010-09-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Signature Quote: “We are not going to die.” (Expedition leader Karl … as a pod of humpback whales suddenly turned onto a collision course with our skiff.)

National Geographic Moment I: Brown bears catching pink salmon below the falls at Pavlov’s Bay.

National Geographic Moment II: Bubble-netting humpback whales surrounding the skiff with their bubbles. Time to reverse.

Best Amphibian: The western toad, formerly known as the boreal toad. Green as moss, but even great camouflage doesn’t work if one hops across the trail.

Most Impressive Creature: The Dall’s Porpoise. Seriously. Brown bears, humpback whales, and 376 pound halibut are impressive creatures. But the Dall’s Porpoise is the fastest sea creature we have ever seen. Think torpedoes that sending up rooster tails of spray as they zoom by. So fast that no one on this adventure even got a photo of them.

Best Glacier: Dawes. A symphony of blues and whites in the rare Alaska sun. Very cooperative in calving, shooting, and sliding. A great kayak.

Worst Glacier: McBride. It calved so much that we couldn’t get near it.

Best Book: John Muir, Travels in Alaska.

Missed Connections: Orca, Kittlitz’s Murrelet, Moose, Black-tailed deer, Hoary Marmots, Mountain Goat.

Funniest Critters: A flock of juvenile Harlequin ducks, rendered nearly flightless by their molt, flapping across the surface.

Moment of Unexpected Levity: A 3-minute safety briefing to start a 2-minute bus ride.

Gem of a Store in the Morass that is Tourist Juneau: The enamel pin and zipper pull store of Bill Spears.

Best Warning: At the Mt. Roberts trail head in the hills above Juneau (paraphrased): Keep dogs on leash. Unleashed dogs that run ahead on the trail, may come running back to their owners with a bear in pursuit.

Our Last Day of Adventure in Alaska

2010-09-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning began with a hike through bear country in Idaho Bay. We didn't meet any of the furry critters, but we did find remarkable evidence of their presence.

Brown bear often step in the exact same spots year after year, following in the steps of their elders. You can see those tracks in the first photo.

Later in the morning, we headed to Dundas Bay for our longest kayak of the trip. We certainly needed the workout after eating so well on the boat.

This is a rare photo of Esther and Donald both paddling.

After a couple of miles (against the falling tide), we found about a dozen sea otters scattered across the water at the base of an island. The babies are quite large by this time of year, and some of the moms seemed a bit over-matched by their soon-to-be-independent pups.

Several harbor seals were also cruising the waters. As best as we could tell, this particular seal enjoyed sneaking up on mother sea otters and scaring them. A moment later, mama otter and her pup disappeared below the water in a cloud of spray.

Note: The first two photos are by other travelers on our expedition.

An Unexpected Amphibian

2010-09-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

On the way out of Glacier Bay, we stopped at Barlett Cove, home of a excellent dock (where one fisherman had a 376 pound halibut), a visitor's center, and a beautiful trail through the temperate rain forest.

The trail begins with a stone marker that was placed at sea level in 1966. It now stands much higher. Why? Because the land is still rebounding from its centuries under the glaciers.

And then into the forest, where every surface seemed to be dripping with moss, lichen, and fungi. I kept expecting a hobbit to appear. Instead, we found something better: Alaska's only hopping amphibian, the Western Toad (formerly known as the Boreal Toad).

I don't think I would have spotted him if he had stayed still. His green color blends perfectly with the moss and lichens. But Mr. Toad decided to hop, which gave me a chance to pick him up to share with our fellow travelers.
When we reached the Visitor's Center, we realized how uncommon the toads are. On the bulletin board by the main entrance, the National Park Service posted a flyer asking for information about any toad sightings.

But that's not all it said. In bold letters, the flyer also advised: "Do not touch or apprehend. Toad carries deadly fungus."

Yikes, that seems like the sort of thing they ought to tell you before you can get on the trail. I was going to wash my hands anyway, but this added some urgency. And then a light bulb went off, and I realized that they meant deadly to other toads. That made more sense. And is a good reason I won't pick up any more Western Toads.

One Slight Problem Visiting McBride Glacier

2010-09-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

After our up-close look at Dawes Glacier a few days earlier, we had high expectations for our visit to McBride Glacier up Muir Inlet in the eastern arm of Glacier Bay.

McBride is off the beaten track. Indeed, our park ranger for the day hadn't been up there all year. Too bad we ran into one little problem: McBride had been calving so much during the recent warm spell that the route up to it was blocked by an armada of icebergs.

If look in the center of the photo, you can just make out the right edge of the glacier on the far side of a mile or two of icebergs.

Cruising Up Glacier Bay

2010-09-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

Glacier Bay stretches more than 60 miles from its mouth at Icy Strait to the base of the tidewater glaciers at its northern end. Quite impressive, particularly when you consider that it didn't even exist just 250 years ago.

When the founders gathered to sign the Declaration of Independence, glaciers reached all the way into Icy Strait. Glacier Bay had not yet been born. By 1800, the bay was 5 miles deep. When John Muir visited in 1879, the bay had grown by another 40 miles. Since then, it has expanded another 20 miles, as the glaciers continue to retreat.

For travelers, that means that getting to the glaciers takes time. But there is plenty to see along the way. South Marble Island, for example, provides a safe place to breed for Black-legged Kittiwakes, Tufted Puffins, Horned Puffins (much rarer in these parts), Pigeon Guillemots, Common Murres, and other feathered critters.

It's also a spot where adolescent sea lions play king of the mountain.

Real Alaska Weather

2010-09-06T11:35:00.001-07:00

After communing with whales in the morning, we set out for a lengthy journey to St. George's Island, where Icy Strait meets the North Pacific. Our proximate goal was to see more critters -- huge male Steller's sea lions, puffins, porpoise, and sea otters.

Even more important, however, is that this journey finally exposed us to real southeast Alaska weather. As we got closer to the ocean, rain, mist, and clouds replaced the sun that had blessed us in previous days. Lots of fun -- at least in small doses. And a great opportunity for some landscape photography when we anchored behind Lemesurier Island at dusk.

We Are Not Going to Die

2010-09-06T10:15:00.001-07:00

The highlight of day 6 was a close encounter with a pod of humpback whales. The whales were using their bubble netting technique, in which they blow a wall of bubbles to corral a school of tasty herring, chase them to the surface, and engulf them. Our guide Karl explained that the alpha female coordinates the action using her song to synchronize the pod's actions. Apparently they are quite selective about which whales they are willing to bubble net with.

After chowing down, the whales would swim abreast, take some breaths, and then dive for more. We had a great time trying to guess where they would resurface.

Our first surprise came when the pod was feeding very close to the shore in False Bay. After traveling a few hundred yards, the pod suddenly turned 90 degrees and headed toward our skiff. The photo above shows one whale about ten feet from the skiff. After that shot, I put down my camera to enjoy the sight of the fifty-foot critters as they passed a few feet away.

Happily, Esther was filming with her Flip. Her video captures both the closeness of the encounter and the delight of our fellow travelers:

And here's how it looked from another skiff nearby:

If you want to hear the alpha female singing as she coordinates the pod, check out this video. If you listen to the end, you will hear her change pitch, signaling for the whales to surface.

We almost had an even closer encounter a few minutes later. As the skiff lay idle in the water, we noticed large bubbles coming up all around us. The whales were herding herring directly below us. Karl put the skiff in reverse to get out of the way. And as we looked into the water, we could see the white pectoral fins of the humpbacks as they called off their ascent perhaps ten feet under the water.

Watching Brown Bears Catch Salmon

2010-08-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

When evening came we visited Pavlov's Bay (insert obligatory dog / saliva / pscychology joke), where we lucked into a classic Alaska moment: watching a pair of brown bears catch salmon at the base of a waterfall. The salmon would try to spurt across the shallow riffles, with their backs sticking out of the water, and the bears would bound over and try to grab them. We saw each bear catch four or five salmon apiece. Several other salmon managed to escape after brief periods in the bears' control.

Unfortunately, these inconsiderate bears waited under almost dark to start their snacking. Most of our photos turned out to be pure black. But one did provide some detail after aggressive work in Adobe Lightroom. The white stuff is the waterfall, and the center-right blob is Mr. Bear.

And a very impressive bear he was. Also a shy one. When he caught a salmon, he would usually carry it off into the bushes to feast in private. His colleague (not pictured) was more confident about eating in public.

Saook Bay and the Grotto

2010-08-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

Our fourth day aboard dawned in Saook Bay. Some fellow travelers had seen a brown bear the evening before on a creek that enters the bay along a beautiful meadow. So of course we had to go tromping along the creek and across the meadow. Lots of salmon, flounder, and sculpins in the creek, and ravens and eagles in the air. But no bears for us this morning, just lots of forensic evidence of their activities. Case in point: this matted down "bear bed" in the meadow (our naturalist Karl is standing in it).

In the afternoon, we hopped into skiffs to explore the famed Grotto in Big Basket Bay (and, yes, there is a Little Basket Bay, we watched salmom there a bit earlier in the day). But first we enjoyed some distant looks at a momma brown bear and her two cubs running across the beach. The twins were a riot, several times running into the water to wrestle. Mom was a bit more serious.

The grotto itself was a gem, dripping with moss and lichens and little flowers. Very Garden-of-Edenish.

The Baranof Hot Springs

2010-08-25T18:46:00.001-07:00

On Sunday afternoon, we anchored in Warm Springs Bay on the east side of Baranof Island. Our goal: a dip in the rejuvenating, warm waters of the Baranof Hot Spring.

The real highlight, however, was watching schools of salmon swirl through the clear waters before attempting the waterfall up to Baranof Lake. Which looked insurmountable to us. Perhaps the salmon give it a go, realize it's fruitless, and then head elsewhere.

The tiny community welcomes travelers with a sign touting the properties of the famous hot spring. Unfortunately, they are its poisoning properties, not its healing ability.

What they don't mention is that the water is also really hot. As in 110 degrees Fahrenheit hot. As in the only water in recorded history that Esther declared to be too hot.

And the bottom of the hot spring? Sharp stones covered with slippery, heat-loving algae. Frankly, we were happy to get out of there alive. But at least we can check "bathe in hot spring" off the bucket list. And fondly remember the roaring waterfall and swirling salmon.

Red Bluff Bay

2010-08-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

One of the beauties of expedition cruises is that you often wake up in wondrous locations. So it was on Sunday the 15th, when we awoke in Red Bluff Bay. The earliest risers played a game of "spot the bear" with a young bear on the distant shore. Through binoculars from half-a-mile, the bear was little more than a moving smudge, but we were still excited: our first ever sighting of a brown bear.

Not, I hasten to add, a grizzly bear. It turns out that the salmon-eating coastal bears are called brown bears, while the inland ones are called grizzlies. Unless, of course, they are actually black bears. Which brings us to today's survival tip: If attacked (highly unlikely) by a brown bear / grizzly, play dead (unless you are a salmon). If attacked (also highly unlikely) by a black bear, fight back. Just don't try to judge based on color alone; plenty of black bears are really brown. And some are bluish-white - the much revered "spirit bear." So try to look for other details, like the length of the bear's claws. Long = brown, short = black.

But we digress. No bear photos this day, but the bay made for great kayaking--highlights include many salmon, a stunning waterfall, and a 20-armed starfish called a sunburst.

And several very cooperative eagles.

Sea Lions and Humpbacks

2010-08-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

The first day of our cruise proved to be a triple header. After kayaking with icebergs and seals in the morning, we spent the afternoon zipping around Sail Island. Which really ought to be named Sea Lion Island, for all its Steller's sea lions (pictured at right with a flock of Black Turnstones and Surfbirds).

George Steller, by the way, was the chief naturalist on Vitus Bering's expedition from Russia to Alaska. Bering managed to get a sea named after him, while Steller had a knack for affixing his name to critters. Besides the sea lion, there are the Steller's jay, sea eagle, eider, sea cow (extinct), and the presumably imaginary sea ape.

At dusk, we encountered a dozen humpback whales feeding. The humpbacks of southeast Alaska are famous for their bubble-netting technique, in which they surround a school of herring with bubbles, drive them to the surface, and then dramatically engulf them. They often work as a team (as we witnessed a few days later), but on this summer eve, they were working solo over a wide area. At times, you could look in any direction and see a humpback feeding or diving to begin again.

We photographers quickly learned that most humpback photos feature their tails as they prepare to dive out of sight.

Note: the middle photograph is by another fellow traveler.

Rivers of Ice

2010-08-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, we boarded M/Y Safari Quest, our home for the next seven days. Technically, we were on a cruise, but it bore little resemblance to traditional cruises. With just 21 passengers, the Quest can go places that 2,000-passenger ships can't.

Case in point: our visit to Dawes Glacier at the top end of Endicott Arm. Our voyage up the arm got off to an early start on Saturday morning, as an incoming iceberg forced the crew to raise anchor (noisily) at 4:45am. After that, we cruised amidst increasing numbers of white and blue icebergs, fresh from the glacier.

Dawes is a tidewater glacier--it reaches the sea, which melts the ice, often in dramatic fashion. Sometimes the front of the glacier falls into the water; such calving can send up large waves - a real risk for unwary kayakers.

Then there are the sliders, which fall off of the sides where the glacier meets the shore line. And best of all are the shooters, pieces of ice that come rocketing up from the depths from submerged parts of the glacier.

Here's John Muir (Travels in Alaska) on shooters:

But the largest and most beautiful of the bergs, instead of thus falling from the upper weathered portion of the wall, rise from the submerged portion with a still grander commotion, springing with tremendous voice and gestures nearly to the top of the wall, tons of water streaming like hair down their sides, plunging and rising again and again before they settle in perfect poise, free at least, after having formed part of the slow-crawling glacier for centuries.

Harbor seals seem to favor tidewater glaciers; we saw many of the skittish critters as we kayaked among the fresh icebergs.

Note: The photos of kayakers in front of Dawes Glacier and of seals on the ice flow are by fellow travelers.

Juneau's Natural Side - Shrine, Salmon, and Flume

2010-08-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Our second stop in the Juneau area was the Shrine of St. Therese, the patron saint of Alaska. The shrine is hidden in a grove of trees at the end of a small peninsula. The approach feels like something out of fairy tale, with the forest suddenly revealing a charming stone chapel.

On the way back from the Shrine, we were interested in seeing more salmon, so our cab driver Rod took us to the stream that runs by Juneau's fish hatchery. The stream was full of pink and chum salmon. Or, if you prefer, humpback and dog salmon (every Pacific salmon species has at least two names). You can see some of their backs in the photo as they work their way upstream by the gulls.

Pacific salmon die after they spawn. Their spent bodies provide a bonanza for the gulls, bald eagles, and other critters, not to mention the trees that absorb any remaining nutrients. At times, they also have a certain macabre beauty:

Once back in Juneau, our final activity to hike up from the city and then hike back down along the Gold Creek Flume Trail -- the remains of the wooden aqueduct that once supplied Juneau with water.

Sometimes it has six boards, sometimes four (photo), and sometimes only two.

Juneau's Natural Side - Mendenhall Glacier

2010-08-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Our goal on day two (August 13) was to see as much of natural Juneau as possible. First stop: Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongass National Forest.

We had barely entered the park when a black bear scampered across the road. A good omen for our nature viewing.

Even more exciting was a new sighting for us: a porcupine nestled high in a tree near the visitor center. Not a great photo, but we hope you get the idea.

We beat the crowds so we got to view Mendenhall by ourselves (reminding us of our visit to the Great Pyramid):

Mendenhall has receded markedly since Donald was here in 1988. For those of us from the lower 48, it’s tempting to conclude that contemporary climate change is to blame, but that’s not the whole story. Many of the glaciers in southeast Alaska expanded in the Little Ice Age (approximately 1550 to 1850) and have been receding ever since.

Along the trail, we also spied some excellent birds, including Wilson’s Warbler (which Esther described as "that warbler with the little mohawk") and Ruby-crowned Kinglet (perhaps the cutest bird in North America).

After a quick course in glacierology at the visitor center, we headed down to Steep Creek. After passing a luminous Townsend’s Warbler, we found Sockeye Salmon spawning in the creek. A great chance to watch these bright red salmon compete for nesting spots and mates. The females would turn sideways and wiggle her tail to clear out a nest. The male would track her and try to chase off competing males. And sometimes it seemed the female would fight off other females.

We didn’t see any bears at first, but it was obvious they frequent the area. The scat and a dead salmon provided some forensic evidence, but the real giveaway was the matted-down grass along the creek bank and in strategically chosen routes under the boardwalk.

Just as we were about the get back in our taxi, a woman asked if we had seen any bears. We said no, to which she replied "well there’s one right there.” And right she was. We followed (from the safety of the wooden boardwalk) the yearling black bear as he walked along the bear trails, under the boardwalk, sniffed the dead salmon, and then moved on to fish for a fresh one in private.

The bears pose a challenge for designers: If you build a boardwalk along a salmon creek in bear country, how do you keep the bears off of it? The answer is to put swinging doors at each end of the boardwalk – doors that swing out, which bears allegedly haven't figured out. Yet.

Gold in Alaska

2010-08-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

We've been working our way north in recent summers. In 2008, we traveled through Washington and Oregon. Last year, we visited pre-Olympics Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler. And this year, we headed off to explore the fjords and glaciers of southeast Alaska.

Gold turned out to be the unifying theme of day one of our journey (August 12):

* Perhaps not understanding the idea of vacation, Donald read about the gold standard while flying from DC to Seattle to Juneau (except when he was watching Date Night).

* We learned that Juneau was founded during the Alaskan gold rush. Indeed, Joe Juneau was a gold prospector.

* According to the City Museum (well worth a visit), earlier residents of the area had used gold to make bullets. Apparently many mountain goats and brown bears were shot full of gold rather than lead.

* Gold mining was once Juneau’s primary industry (now it's government). We were told several times that abandoned gold mines stretch for twice as many miles as Juneau’s surface roads (which famously do not connect with the rest of North America).

* We stayed in the Goldbelt hotel (which wins the award for fastest check-in ever -- under one minute).

* We discovered that downtown Juneau is rife with jewelry stores selling diamonds, tanzanite, and, yes, gold to cruise ship passengers.

John Muir famously traveled the fjords of southeast Alaska in the late 1880s. What he wrote about the the nearby city of Wrangell applies just as well to Juneau today:

The shops were jammed and mobbed, high prices paid for shabby stuff manufactured expressly for the tourist trade. … Most people who travel look only at what they are directed to look at. Great is the power of the guidebook-maker, however ignorant.

In the days that followed, we tried to get off the beaten track and see the real southeast Alaska.

Zipping Through Costa Rica

2010-01-09T12:37:00.001-08:00

Inspired by the monkeys (and the rest of our family who raved about it), we decided to head to the tree tops for some zip lining.

Exhilarating and fun.

And also a wonderful lesson in physics. In principle, you are supposed to be able to use one hand to control your descent and thus avoiding crashing into trees or dangling in the middle.

In practice, however, there seemed a consistent pattern.

On several runs, the light person (Esther) came up short of the landing area and had to be "saved" by a guide crawling out and helping her back. Meanwhile the heavy person (Donald) came in too fast on several runs, and had to be stopped by the guides. Meanwhile the middle person (Ken, aka Goldilocks) managed to touch down just right on each run.

By the way, the pictures don't really give you the full effect. Some of the runs were at least 200 yards, through the tree canopy, and 70 feet or more in the air.

Some Mammals of Costa Rica

2010-01-09T12:18:00.001-08:00

About 100 species of bats call Costa Rica home. Here is one: the Long-nosed Bat. These tiny fellows spend the day resting on the trunks of palm trees.

For all you Twilight fans, there are indeed vampire bats in Costa Rica, but we didn't see any.

The most visible mammals are the monkeys up in the branches of the trees. We mostly saw Howler Monkeys which, as their name implies, make a great whooping sound, particularly in the mornings. This photo isn't that great, but hopefully you can pick out the baby holding onto mom.

We also saw White-faced Capuchins, which are locally known as White-faced Monkeys. These guys are much more interesting that the howlers. Why? Because they are predators. Howler monkeys spend much of the day resting while their bodies try to digest pounds of leaves. But capuchins are usually on the prowl for lizards and insects in addition to fruit. Oh, and every once in a while they will hunt down a squirrel or pop the tail off an iguana (which will then grow another one).

Last, but not least, we also saw several White-nosed Coatimundis. Close cousins of raccoon, these fellows were often foraging around the hotel. (In Mexico, we have seen coatis in groups, but here we saw only individuals.)

Some Reptiles of Costa Rica

2010-01-09T11:59:00.001-08:00

Those black-necked stilts in the previous post share the river with these fellows. According to our guide, Costa Rica is home to the third-largest crocodiles in the world, after the Australian and the Nile. So we've now managed to check "see world's three largest crocodile species in the wild" off our bucket list.

Meanwhile, the trees along the river were full of green iguanas - except that the males had turned orange for the breeding season.

The river also hosted the Basilisk. No, not the evil serpent-lizard of the Harry Potter movie. The real basilisk, better know as the Jesus Christ lizard because it runs across the top of the water.

But the real reptile sighting of our Costa Rica trip--sorry no photos--was the Yellow-bellied Sea Snake. We got a great look at one--very beautiful and highly venomous--while cruising back from a snorkeling trip.

Some Birds of Costa Rica

2010-01-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

After a brief hiatus, we managed to get traveling again during the week between Christmas and New Years. Our destination? The Guanacaste region along Costa Rica's northern Pacific coast. What a beautiful area! Dry, tropical forest with lots of fun critters to track down.

Here are some highlights on the birding front:

Black-headed Trogon

Our favorite bird of the trip for three reasons. First, they are both beautiful and cute (our photo doesn't do justice to the orange chest and iridescent green-blue on the back). Second, they are quite active, continually tilting their heads this way and that as they hunt for food. Third, they don't mind putting themselves on display, unlike their cousins the Violaceous Trogons (which took days to find) or the Elegant Trogons (one of which we saw for about half a second).

Black-necked Stilts

A favorite anywhere, these stilts were spending the winter along the Tempisque River.

Orange-fronted Parakeets

Noisy, gregarious, and beautiful.

Squirrel Cuckoo

This guy didn't get the memo that cuckoos are supposed to be elusive. Its cousin the Mangrove Cuckoo acted more appropriately: it took us about 15 minutes to find one after hearing its faint call. And even then there was no way to get a photo.

Other great birds that managed to elude our camera:

A pair of Ferruginous Pygmy Owls

A nesting pair of Jabiru (the largest stork in the Americas)

Boat-billed Heron (picture a night-heron with a size 10 shoe sticking out of its face)

Bare-throated Tiger Heron

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Yellow-necked Caracara

Black Mangrove Hawk

White-throated Magpie Jay (some of which are addicted to packets of Splenda)

O Canada, eh?

2009-08-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

After a few months readjusting to normal life, we managed to escape for an August week up in British Columbia, visiting Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler.

Some highlights from our first few days in Vancouver:

* Chatting with native Canadian, who really do say eh, eh?

* Dining at Cielo in White Rock, BC (great food) with Esther's niece Alexa and her fiancee Jerry while looking across the bay to the United States.

* Enjoying the public art, in particular the painted eagles. (We've previously seen cows in Chicago, flamingos in Miami, elephants and donkeys in DC, and pandas, alligators, and fish in places we've forgotten.)

* Traveling on the aquabus -- tiny passenger ferries.

* Flying over the city in a float plane.

Mal de Disembarquement

2009-04-12T19:25:00.001-07:00

Have you ever gotten off a boat and felt that the land was moving? Your head is rocking, as though you are on the high seas, even though your feet are safe ashore?

If so, you'll be happy to know that the French have a wonderful phrase for it: Mal de Disembarquement.

After more than two weeks afloat, we wondered how long we might have MDD. Each of us had had brief feelings of rocking on our shore excursions. But this time we were lucky. Esther hopped off the ship and felt fine. Donald had a few unpleasant moments in a small, dimly-lit souvenir shop at the Tinga Tinga market. But some sunlight and a visible horizon in the distance cleared that right up. Much better than suffering for days, as some people do. And vastly better than a few, unlucky souls who get it for years.

Dar Es Salaam

2009-04-12T19:04:00.001-07:00

We've been back in the State for two weeks now. Remarkable how the demands of "normal" life have delayed blog postings about the last leg of our journey. We won't quite do Dar Es Salaam justice here, but then again we were very tired travelers when we docked there on the final day of our voyage on the National Geographic Explorer.

Perhaps the highlight of our visit was arriving in port as dawn was breaking. Dar has a very active port -- cargo ships, ferries, and many fishermen converging on the local fish market (photo) to sell their catch.

After saying farewell to our ship and its wonderful crew and staff, we had a quick city tour. We felt sorry for our local guide. She was brimming with enthusiasm to show us her city and relate its history, but her audience was (a) exhausted from weeks of touring and (b) had already learned much about Tanzania in Zanzibar the day before. Sorry. Still, we did learn a bit about the city, which appeared nicer than we anticipated. And we did enjoy the Tinga Tinga market and its unique, colorful art.

After lunch at the Kempinski Hotel, we headed off to the airport for our flight to Dubai (photos and blog coming soon!).

Exotic Zanzibar: Monkeys

2009-04-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

Zanzibar is famous for its spices, its old city, and its monkeys.

Monkeys?

OK, maybe they aren't as famous as the other attractions, but they still make for a great outing.

About half an hour from Stone Town is Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park, a reserve that encompasses beautiful hardwood forests, brackish mangroves, ferns galore, and two species of monkey: the endangered Zanzibar Red Colobus monkey (top and bottom photos) and the smaller Blue (or Sykes) Monkey (middle photo).

The monkeys didn't come quite as close as the Mayotte Lemurs did, but they put on a good show.

Highlights included several very young monkeys (of both species) and a colobus that reminded us of Einstein.

Exotic Zanzibar: Humans

2009-04-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

After a busy day at sea (and, happily, no sign of pirates), the breaking dawn found us in the second-to-last stop on our voyage: Zanzibar.

Just say the name out loud: Zanzibar. Doesn't that conjure exotic images?

Zanzibar is part of Tanzania -- indeed, it put the "Zan" in "Tanzania" -- but maintains an autonomous feel. Our visit began with a landing in Stone Town, where the mix of cultures -- African, Arab, Indian -- provides fascinating architecture spread through a maze of alleyways.

We particularly enjoyed the intricate carved doorways (sorry, no photos). Some doors had chain carvings, reflecting the history of slavery. Other had conical spikes which are allegedly traditional elephant protectors from India. Happily, there were no elephants running through the alleyways of Stone Town when we visited. The motor scooters and human-pulled carts were dangerous enough in the narrow passages.

Situated strategically in the midst of the trade routes, Zanzibar built its early success on spices, ivory, and slaves, the key commodities of the age. Tourism is the big draw today, but the spice trade is still going strong. Farms produce a wide range of spices -- on our visit we saw Cacao, Cardamon, Cinnamon, and Cloves -- and that was just the "C"s. There were also Kapok, Nutmeg, Black Pepper, and Ylang Ylang. (Not to mention the Banana leaves that could be twisted into spice carriers.)

Perhaps the most beautiful was the "Lipstick Tree" whose bright red fruit generates a tasty orange / red paste. You probably know it better as Achiote (if you dine Mexican) or Tandoori (if you dine Indian) or, perhaps, as Annatto Seed.

Piracy in the Seychelles

2009-04-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

Security was a significant consideration when we planned our grand adventure. Traveling in the Middle East carries risks, both real and imagined. But it was the Somali pirates that captured our attention. After they hijacked an oil tanker last November, we carefully compared their sphere of operations with the intended route of our Indian Ocean adventure.

That comparison made it clear that piracy was a risk once our ship was up near the waters between Tanzania and the Seychelles. Certainly not a big enough risk to forego the trip, but something to be aware of.

We therefore weren't surprised when some large, tattooed, crew-cut gents showed up on the ship for a few days to provide security consulting before we entered those waters. Nor were we surprised to hear that the Somali pirates did strike again, very close to the Seychelles.

But it did hit closer to home when we learned that the pirates struck in one of the exact places we had been -- just off Aldabra -- and that one of the victims was a ship we had shared moorings with.

When we visited Assumption on the National Geographic Explorer, there was one other ship at anchor, coincidentally named the Indian Ocean Explorer. Sadly, the IO Explorer and its crew were taken hostage a few days ago, one of several hijacking in a recent "spree". We hope everything turns out well for their crews.

Not surprisingly, the ship we had been traveling on has now changed its sphere of operations. The National Geographic Explorer is now located much further away, exploring the far eastern edges of the Seychelles. We wish we were with them.

Undersea with a $4 Disposable Camera

2009-03-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

We've taken most of our blog photos with a standard Nikon SLR, and in a few cases, we've used an iPhone. But neither of those gadgets mixes well with saltwater. To record our snorkeling adventures, we therefore had to spring for a new camera.

We opted for the $4 underwater disposable camera from Kodak. It uses film, which is a bit disconcerting for a digital enthusiast. You don't get the instant gratification (and feedback) of seeing the photos in real time. You are limited to only 27 shots. And you have to go to a photo store to get the film developed. But you do get to take it under water.

Well, we got the photos developed today, and we have to say that the camera did a pretty good job. It's hard to aim underwater, so sometimes our shots were a bit off. And sunshine doesn't penetrate that well, so some pictures came out rather dark. But we did get some decent shots.

The three photos here are the best from each snorkel spot:

Colorful coral and fish on the patch reef in Mayotte.

Esther snorkeling at Assumption Island, just before the rainstorm.

An Eagle Ray gliding in the with the tide at Aldabra.

And a bonus fourth photo: A green sea turtle resting on the bottom in about 15 feet of water just offshore from Aldabra. Dark, but you can tell it's a sea turtle.

More Flying Fish

2009-03-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

Photographing flying fish ... well, trying to photograph flying fish ... is an amusing pastime when sailing through tropical seas. Here are some more efforts as we sailed from Aldabra to Zanzibar.

Islands Recap

2009-03-31T07:03:00.000-07:00

Best Island: Aldabra
Runner-up: Lemur Island, Mayotte

Best Mammal: Mayotte (Brown) Lemur
Runner-up: Bow-riding Bottlenose Dolphins

Best Reptile: Giant Tortoise
Runner-Up: Green Sea Turtle

Best Fish: Black-tipped Reef Sharks
Runner-up: Giant Sweetlips

Best Bird: Madagascar (Aldabra) Coucal, trying to lure a mate with a gecko
Runner-up: Red-footed Boobies hitching a ride on the ship

Best Crustacean: Coconut Crab
Runner-up: Let's not get carried away

Best Snorkel: Drifting with the tide into the lagoon at Aldabra
Runner-up: During tropical downpour at Assumption

Walk: Circuit of the crater lake at Petite Terre, Mayotte

Least Pleasant Walk: Going to the airstrip at Assumption under burning tropical sun with no shade

Best Drink: Chilled Coconut
Runner-up: Extra bottles of water on Assumption

Unexpected Moment of Discomfort: On the crater hike, we encountered some Mayotte soldiers on a training march going the other way. As each passed, there was a brief moment in which their rifles aimed at our heads.

Sailing from A to Z

2009-03-30T04:24:00.000-07:00

Our Indian Ocean adventure stretched for more than 3,000 miles. As a result, our explorations were interspersed with some extended periods at sea, including three full days in which we never saw land. After saying farewell to Albadra, we had one of those days on our way to Zanzibar.

We had worried that days at sea might get boring. However, we found more than enough to keep us busy. Writing blog posts and managing our photos and videos took a chunk of time (and even then, we are running more than a week behind on blog postings). Nature also presented diversions. Tropical seas may not be as rich in life as those in cooler areas, but we did have fun with the flying fish, boobies, and the occasional whales and dolphins.

Happily, the organizers of the trip also arranged various talks.

* We heard a trio of lectures from Tim Severin, an explorer and historian who made his name by recreating legendary voyages from the past. He spoke about sailing a leather vessel from Ireland to Newfoundland (suggesting that the Vikings could have done the same), tracking the travels of Alfred Russell Wallace (co-developer of the theory of evolution by natural selection) through Indonesia, and following the travels of Sindbad, sailing from Oman to China along the path of Islamic traders. His presentation on Wallace was particularly timely given all the attention to the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. It's a shame that Wallace doesn't get the credit he deserves.

* To help the many photographers (and aspiring photographers) on board, we heard from National Geographic Photographer Michael Melford. He explained how he usually took photographs (mostly on aperture priority), how he manages his photographs, and what he looked for in a good subject. This was a little like getting golf lessons. If you change your swing, the first thing that happens is that your scores get worse; but if you stick with it, things get better. The same is true with photography. The new tips provided new ways to mess up photos, but also ways to make them better.

* Finally, the trip naturalists gave talks about the local flora, fauna, culture, and history. A particular highlight was Ian Bullock's overview of the discovery of the Coelacanth, the "missing link" fish that had been presumed extinct 60 million years ago. The first Coelacanths known to western science were caught in the waters we sailed. Not surprisingly, we didn't see any live coelacanths on this adventure, but we did see a crumbling taxidermy of one in the natural history museum in Maputo.

A Three-Shower Day

2009-03-30T03:06:00.000-07:00

Showering at the end of the day is one of the great pleasures of adventure travel. You rinse off the grime and sweat of the day's activities and emerge clean again.

On particularly good days, you do this twice, once to recover from the morning's activities and then again to recover from the afternoon's.

But the best days require three showers. Such was our second day at Aldabra.

Hitting the Beach

The day began with a pre-dawn beach landing. The tide was so low that the Zodiacs couldn't make it to the beach, so we had to offload on a sandbar covered with reef rubble and walk (in the dark) to a second Zodiac to get to shore.

On landing, we found something we've always wanted to see: a female green sea turtle digging her nest. But it was bittersweet to see her; she was clearly having problems. Dawn was breaking, and she hadn't even begun laying her eggs. As the sun rose higher, she gave up and headed back into the sea, to try again another night. Apparently it's not uncommon for them to try several times before succeeding.

About a hundred meters down the beach, we found further evidence of the challenges of turtle reproduction. Crabs were feasting on eggs from a recent turtle nest.

The tortoises were a bit harder to spot this early in the morning. It's not that they moved; as best we could tell, they just lay down wherever they happened to be when sleep hit them. But moving tortoises are much easier to see than immobile lumps.

Lots of birds as well, with particularly good looks at the Blue Pigeon and another Coucal. The sun was already very hot by 7:30 (this is deep in the tropics), so we headed back to the boat for a pre-breakfast shower.

Drift Snorkeling

Activity number two was a drift snorkel. Aldabra, the second largest atoll in the world, houses an enormous lagoon whose waters rise and fall with the tides. As the tide rose in late morning, the Zodiac would drop us on the ocean side of the channel, and the incoming tide would carry us into the lagoon. Once it got too shallow, the Zodiac would pick us up and we'd do it again.

This is a great snorkeling strategy for at least three reasons. First, it's easy to cover a lot of territory. Second, the incoming tide brings clear water into the lagoon; visibility is much better than you would find doing a drift snorkel on the outgoing tide. Third, and most important, we weren't the only ones coming in with the tide. Predators came in as well, as the rising tide allowed them to reach the smaller fish, crabs, etc. that live in the lagoon. We saw large sweetlips, snappers, groupers, eagle rays, sting rays, a pair of sharks, a sea turtle, and legions of colorful fish.

Touring the Lagoon

After lunch (and a second shower), we emerged for the final activity of the day: a lagoon tour by Zodiac. The lagoon contains fascinating coral formations called champignons (that's French for mushrooms). You can see why.

The mangroves in the lagoon played host to many roosting Red-footed Boobies and their nemesis, the Great Frigatebirds (who make their living stealing fish from boobies). There were lots of other birds as well -- tropicbirds, terns, herons, egrets, etc. And a great view of lagoon fish, many of which we had snorkeled with earlier.

After baking in the 100 degree heat for several hours, we certainly need one last shower.

P.S. Our Aldabra adventure ended with a slightly gross image, but one that illustrates well the richness of the environment here. As the tide fell, our Zodiacs had to leave the lagoon, lest we be stranded by the falling water. As we zipped through the channel, we could see floating mats of material that the tide had brought out from the lagoon: rafts of tortoise dung.

Aldabra: Birds, Bats, and Other Critters

2009-03-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

If you can pull yourself away from the sharks and tortoises, you discover that Aldabra hosts all sorts of other critters.

First, there are the birds. Within a few hundred meters of our landing, we saw ten new life birds: Aldabra Rail, Souimanga Sunbird (pictured), Aldabra Fody, Aldabra Drongo, Madagascar Coucal, Dimorphic Egret, Crab Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Fairy Tern, and Comoro Blue Pigeon, as well as old friends such as Madagascar White Eye, Grey Heron, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Greenshank, Wimbrel, Great Frigatebird, White-tailed Tropicbird, Madgascar Turtle Dove, and Pied Crow.

We particularly enjoyed the male coucal: he had caught a gecko and was calling in hopes of sharing it with a lady friend.

The birds weren't the only ones aloft. Fruit bats (aka Flying Foxes) periodically skimmed the palms, and occasionally alighted for a snack.

On the ground were legions of crabs, ranging from tiny hermit crabs to gigantic coconut crabs.

We don't know if these giants can really open coconuts with their bare claws, but we wouldn't want to tangle with one.

Returning to the water at the end of the day, we discovered that the sharks weren't the only predators swimming in the shallows. They were joined by schools of Bonefish, Trevally (a type of jack), and Barracuda. We even caught a quick glimpse of a Permit (which they call Dart in the Indian Ocean).

It's not often that you can walk right up to a bonefish to take his picture.

Aldabra: Land of Giants

2009-03-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

Once you get by the sharks on Aldabra -- which can take a while -- you get to the tortoises. These fellows (and gals) are all over the place. As noted earlier, an estimated 100,000 of these giants call Aldabra home. That's five times as many as in the entire Galapagos archipelago.

Tortoises definitely have personalities (tortoisalities?). Some pull back into their shells if you approach. Some hold out their heads and hiss. And some stick out their heads and wait to be petted.

We didn't witness it, but apparently there's a behavior in which the Aldabra Rail (the only remaining flightless land bird in the Indian Ocean) will knock on the trailing edge of a tortoise's shell and, in response, the tortoise will extend its neck and legs so that the rail can pull off insects. Some researchers on the island use that technique to get tortoises to relax when they approach.

Tortoises are the largest critters on the island, so they fill many of the ecological niches that mammals hold in other areas. They even do their best to be giraffes.

Aldabra: Wading Through the Sharks

2009-03-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Aldabra teems with life; the contrast with Assumption could not be any sharper. Long protected from any development, Aldabra hosts the largest population of giant tortoises in the world; about 100,000 call Aldabra home, five times as many as live in the entire Galapagos. The only remaining flightless bird in the Indian Ocean lives here, the Aldabra Rail. Thousands upon thousands of sea birds nest here. The interior of the atoll is one of the largest lagoons in the world, brimming with fish. There's life everywhere.

To see these wonders, you first have to get to Aldabra. Getting the Zodiacs to the beach is a delicate matter, given the shallowness of the reefs and sand bars that surround the water. And then you have to wade through the sharks. Literally.

There must have been two dozen sharks cruising along the beach where we landed. Most were Black-tipped Reef Sharks, but there were a few Lemon Sharks as well.

These guys are essentially harmless -- they certainly have no interest in biting you. But they are curious fellows who will happily swim right over to check you out. We hope to post some of Esther's video footage once we are back in the States, but the photos should give you some idea of the fun we had with them.

Assumption Island

2009-03-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

Two days in the Seychelles. That was the great consolation prize we received because of the unrest in Madagascar. And not just any islands in the Seychelles - we went to two of the most remote: Assumption and Aldabra.

Our first port of call was Assumption, where Seychelles officials had specially flown to clear our ship into the nation. For reasons that are a bit murky, Assumption hosts a truly gigantic runway; you could land anything there, but few aircraft have any reason to. (Some speculate that one leader of the Seychelles wanted western countries to be able to send a large transport plane to evacuate him and his family in case of a coup.)

Assumption was super-duper hot. Many a traveler turned back before reaching the airstrip; we made it only by ducking into the shade of random Casuarina trees whenever possible. There's not much on the island today, either human or natural. It was once a thriving seabird colony, with rich soil (from the seabird guano) and lots of trees. Then guano mining took off, and much of the island was denuded. Mining ceased about 25 years ago, leaving behind rusty trucks and deteriorating buildings. The natural environment is rebounding, but only slowly.

Our bird species count for Assumption? Just four. Our new friend the Fody (this time the Aldabra Fody), Abbott's Sunbird, Red-whiskered Bulbul, and Greater Frigatebird.

The good news is that life still teems underwater. The patch reef is close, so we could snorkel off the beach. We again saw a host of colorful fish, plus a few larger predators like mackerel and trevally. We also were fortunate to be caught in a classic tropical downpour. The rain cooled us nicely and made a fascinating pattern on the surface of the ocean, but had no noticeable effect on the fish below. (We hope to have underwater pictures from our disposable camera once we are state-side.)

P.S. The idea of an economist being on Assumption Island which was once covered in guano does seem like rich material for an anti-economist joke. Take your best shot.

At Sea with Boobies

2009-03-23T11:45:00.001-07:00

Imagine, if you will, a humble flying fish going about its business as dawn breaks near the Seychelles. The flying fish hangs out near the surface, feeding on plants and small pelagic creatures. All of a sudden, a giant comes roaring across the surface of the ocean. What should the fish do? Well, if you are a flying fish, you swim away as fast as possible and launch yourself into the air.

That's a great strategy for getting out of the way of the ship -- the fish can easily travel a hundred meters or more. But there's a problem. Red-footed Boobies have figured this out. So as the sun rises, our ship is accompanied by a booby squadron. And when a flying fish takes off, the boobies dive bomb. Usually they miss -- flying fish have some evasive maneuvers up their, er, sleeves. But the boobies succeed often enough to make this a worthwhile strategy (or it may just be that they enjoying riding the wind above the ship).

P.S. Still hoping for a better flying fish photo; but at least we got one.

Leaping Lemurs

2009-03-22T04:48:00.001-07:00

After a much-needed shower, our Mayotte afternoon began with a visit to Lemur Island. (The official name of Mayotte's third largest island is M'Bouzi, but Lemur Island is much more appropriate; it's crawling with them. To be more precise, the trees are crawling with them.)

Lemurs are fellow primates (pro-simians to be precise) who split off from the simians (monkeys, apes, us) some millions of years ago. Most lemurs are limited to Madagascar, one of the reasons we and many travelers were disappointed when Madagascar got dropped from the itinerary. After our up-close visit on Lemur Island, however, we are feeling much better.

As shown in the pictures, lemurs are quite different from monkeys and apes. Their faces are rather dog-like with a noticeable snout and a wet nose. Your basic monkey, on the other hand, has a much flatter face (see, for example, the vervet monkey we saw in St. Lucia in South Africa).

As we learned first hand, the lemurs also have very soft paws and sharp nails. We had a chance to feed them bananas, which they adore. Several jumped on us in their enthusiasm. (Sorry, no photos of a lemur on Esther's shoulders -- too close for the zoom lens.)

Lemurs weren't the only critters on the island. There was a cute black-and-white cat, who appeared to have reached detente with the lemurs. There was also a healthy population of bright red Madagascar Fodies. We had never heard of the fody before, but they are common in the this part of the world. The males looked like a cross between a finch and a scarlet tanager.

After spending an hour with the lemurs, we headed off for the first snorkel of the trip. We explored a patch reef a few hundred yards off Lemur Island. As you might expect, we saw all sorts of beautiful fish: brightly colored Butterflyfish, Surgeonfish, Wrasse, Parrotfish, Fusiliers, Trevally, Sergeant Majors, etc. We even found the day's "prize fish" -- the pipefish. Pipefish are basically three-inch sea horses that have been straightened. Very cute. (Sorry, no photos yet. Once we get back, we will post anything usable from our disposable underwater camera.)

Add it all up and it was quite a day: crate lake hike, hanging with the lemurs, and snorkeling with Indian Ocean fish. We slept well that night.

A Bit of France in the Indian Ocean

2009-03-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

The best day of our voyage (so far) was at little-known Mayotte in the Comoros, northwest of Madagascar. Unlike the other major islands in the Comoros, Mayotte has chosen to remain part of France. (The rest of the Comoros claim Mayotte, and in the past, a majority of the U.N. Security Council agreed, but a French veto kept Mayotte part of France.) So, much to our surprise, we found ourselves spending a day in the EU.

And what a fine day it was.

We spent the morning hiking around the Dziani Crater on Petite Terre, the smaller of the two main islands. (Quick quiz: What's the name of the main island?). This proved to be the first semi-strenuous part of our cruise -- mostly because of the sun and humidity. We are now deep in the tropics, a long way from the temperate climate of Cape Town.

As we circled the rim, we looked down on the canopy of trees and the green lake at the base of the crater. A particular highlight was seeing large Fruit Bats (also known as Flying Foxes) flying across the crater. Much larger than the bats back home, they are rather cute, in a winged fox kind of way. We also saw White-tailed Tropicbirds, Madagascar Bee-Eaters, bright red Madagascar Fodys, two endemics (the Mayotte White-Eye and the Mayotte Sunbird), Madagascar Paradise Flycatchers, and African Palm Swifts, amongst others. We also spied a Kestrel, none of which are listed as occuring in Mayotte, so maybe we had something new there. (Sorry for the grainy kestrel photo; the zoom lens was back on the ship.)

On the way back to the ship, we did a quick beach stop. We saw many trails of sea turtles crawling up the beach to lay their eggs. The female turtles usually come at night, so we didn't see any in person. But their trails -- which look like tracks from a four-wheel offroad vehicle -- show that they are about. Maybe we will see some later in the trip.

Answer: The main island is called Grande Terre.

Mozambique Recap

2009-03-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Best bird: Green (Red-billed) Wood-Hoopoe

Best mammals: Melon-headed Whales, Spinner Dolphins, and Transtropical Spotted Dolphins (all spotted in the Mozambique channel)

Best fish: Flying fish (still trying to get a photo)

Most interesting visit: Ilha de Mocambique

Least interesting visit: Maputo

Most useful Portuguese phrase: Bom Dia (Good Day)

Most disappointing news: Civil strife will prevent our scheduled visit to Madagascar.

Most encouraging news: Instead, we will visit the Seychelles.

Ilha de Mocambique

2009-03-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to be in Madagascar today, but civil strife prompted a State Department warning against U.S. tourists going there; quite reasonably, the tour operators decided to take us elsewhere. So today we found ourselves on Ilha de Mocambique, the island that gave Mozambique its name. The island has a rich history as a port, boat building center, and Portuguese settlement. It served as the nation's capital until 1898 (when Maputo became the seat of government). It is now primarily a fishing village.

Despite being a World Heritage Site, the island gets only a little tourism. A few Europeans have begun to renovate homes into small hotels and restaurants, but we saw few other tourists (other than fellow guests on the ship) during our visit. According to our local guide, our ship was the first to visit since 2005. And before that, the last two visits were in 2001. So the arrival of the National Geographic Explorer was a big deal. When we came ashore, our group was welcomed by an enthusiastic throng, including some lovely women dancing and singing. We then walked the length (3km) and breadth (0.5 km) of the island.

The highlight of our tour was a visit to the Palace and Chapel of Sao Paulo, originally built in 1610. The Palace, which served as the governor's quarters, is decorated with remarkable pieces from France, England, India, China, etc. It even has statues from the New World. Exactly what you'd expect on an island that was so strategically placed on the trade routes between Europe and Asia.

Outside is a statue of Vasco da Gama, who originated the trade route from Europe to India. He reached Ilha da Mocambique in 1498 (in those years the Spanish generally went west -- finding the New World -- while the Portuguese went east). Of course, as we have often been reminded on this journey, Da Gama was hardly the first to sail these waters. Arab traders had plied the Indian Ocean for centuries, as had the Chinese.

Live Water, Dead Water, Live Water

2009-03-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

A quick ecology quiz: Is there more life in cold waters or warm waters?

Our journey has provided some wonderful empirical evidence on this question. When we set out from Cape Town, water temperatures in the Atlantic hovered around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. When we reached Richards Bay in northeastern South Africa, the Indian Ocean clocked in somewhere in the 70s. And as we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn off the coast of Mozambique, the mercury was up around 80 degrees.

So, where did we see the most marine life? Around Cape Town. The ocean is cold there, because it is fed by upwellings from the deep ocean. That deep water is cold, but it is also full of nutrients. As a result, the water around Cape Town is rich with sea birds, Penguins, Fur Seals, and our friend the Great White Shark.

The waters around Richards Bay, on the other hand, appeared virtually devoid of life. The jetties at Cape Town were crowded with cormorants, gulls, and terns. The jetties at Richards Bay were empty.

This pattern is not special to South Africa. The richest marine environments around the world are concentrated in places with cold, nutrient-rich waters -- places like the Arctic, the Antarctic, Georges Bank, the Galapagos, the southern Sea of Cortez, etc.

Happily, warm water doesn't have to mean no marine life. As we moved further into the tropics off Mozambique, we began to see more critters. Flocks of sooty terns diving on shoals of bait driven to the surface by predatory fish. A fairly rare pod of Melon-headed Whales (photos). And several pods of Transtropical Spotted Dolphins and Spinner Dolphins. There's still not as much biomass as down near the Cape, but there's enough to keep things interesting.

Punta da Barra

2009-03-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Our second stop in Mozambique was at Punta da Barra, a quiet stretch of beach just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. We saw some fun birds on shore like the Red-billed Wood Hoopoe and the Whimbrel (sorry, no photos). But the highlight was watching the local fisherman setting and pulling in their nets. As shown in the photo, the fishermen use pairs of dhows to set the net, along with a team of men and boys who shuttle between the shore, the two dhows, and the water to make sure the net is set right and to drive fish into it. A real National Geographic moment. (That's our ship, the National Geographic Explorer in the background.)

Maputo

2009-03-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Our first stop in Mozambique was the capital city of Maputo. Maputo has the feel of a city that was in long decline and has only recently started thinking of the future. As one traveler put it, there's an awful lot of deferred maintenance. Relatively modern buildings from the late colonial period are abundant, but they look like they haven't received a coat of paint since the Portguese suddenly pulled out in the early 1970s.

There a few interesting sites -- a steel building designed by Eiffel, a lovely railroad station, the local market, and the derilict building where thieves live (don't drop in) -- but nothing particularly striking. There were some signs of new development, particularly along the bay front, but we took it as a bad sign when our local guide said that politicians own the most expensive houses.

The Little Five

2009-03-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

The fine folks on our ship held a contest the other night to see which guests could name the Little Five -- the more diminutive African creatures that share names with the Big 5. We were one of two cabins to get all five.

The prize was a bottle of wine. Since we aren't oenophiles, Esther sweetly asked whether they could substitute a stuffed animal. And look who showed up in our cabin.

The Little Five

Elephant Shrew
Ant Lion
Leopard Tortoise
Buffalo Weaver (which we saw in Namibia)
Rhinoceros Beetle (which we also saw in Namibia)

South Africa Recap

2009-03-17T05:07:00.000-07:00

Biggest natural surprise: Plethora of birds at Joburg airport hotel.

Biggest man made surprise: Discovering someone using an acetylene torch to cut a hole in the side of the ship next to our cabin - while we were at sea. (The ship has some ventilation issues.)

Least pleasant experience (Donald). Trying to put on a 7mm wet suit that was too small.

Least pleasant experience (Esther). Exercising on the ellipse machine while cruising in heavy seas (resulting in uniquely unpleasant motion sickness).

Best bird: Saddle-billed Stork. (Runner-up: African Penguins.)

Best mammals: Baby Hippos. (Runner-up: More Baby Hippos.)

Best reptiles: Nile Crocodiles.

Best site: Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. It's stunning (and a great birding spot to boot).

Important warning: "Baboons are dangerous and attracted by food."

Most intuitive warning: "Keep your hands and feet inside the shark cage."

Least intuitive warning: "Don't hold the handrail." (The gondola to the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town rotates during the ascent and decline, so you can't hold the handrail; one wonders what it's for.)

Hippos, Crocs, Monkeys, and Other Critters

2009-03-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

The trip organizers called an audible the other day, deciding to spend some extra time at Richards Bay in northern South Africa before moving on to Mozambique. This was a great decision for us, because we used the time to visit St. Lucia, a lengthy estuary that houses the largest population of Nile Crocodiles in the world, plus Hippos, other mammals, and water birds.
Lady Luck also smiled on us: Many hippos had recently given birth, so we got to see week-old (or even younger) baby hippos hanging out with their moms. Very sweet.
Baby hippos would, of course, be a tasty morsel for the many crocodiles, but the crocs know better than that. The momma hippos have gigantic, sharp teeth that could easily chop a croc in half. The same goes for people of course. Many are the warnings that the hippo is the most dangerous animal in Africa, and that it kills more people than any other animal except the mosquito. (Note: Snakes kill many more people than hippos, but you get the idea.)

Hippos weren't the only mammals around. We also saw Bushbuck, Waterbuck (which allegedly taste so bad that crocs leave them alone), a Water Mongoose, and a troop of frolicking Vervet Monkeys.

Our feathered friends also put on a great show. Standouts included the Saddle-billed Stork, which towered over all the other birds except the Goliath Herons, and the African Fish Eagle. Other highlights were the Giant Kingfisher and the Yellow-billed Stork.

The Big Two-and-a-Half

2009-03-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Don't even try to pronounce Hluhluwe; you won't get it right (it's roughly "shish louie"). All you need to know is that it was the first national park in South Africa, founded way back in 1894, a few years before the more-famous Kruger. It's a Big 5 park, meaning that Elephants, Lions, Leopards, Rhinos, and Cape Buffalo all call it home, as do a host of other animals. But, of course, there are no guarantees, particularly with the predators.

We toured the park from roughly noon to 6pm on our visit. This is not the greatest timing; it would be better to arrive much earlier, but that didn't work with the ship logistics. But we did manage to see some critters. For starters, we racked up two-and-a-half of the Big 5. We saw several Elephants, including one that met us just outside the park gate. And we saw a herd of Cape Buffalo (distant) and a solo buffalo up close. And we saw several pairs of White Rhinos. That's where the half comes in. It turns out that the White Rhinos are relatively mellow fellows. So picky people believe that only Black Rhinos belong in the Big 5.

As noted in our Etosha report, we aren't really obsessed with the Big 5. We liked seeing the 2 1/2 (and would like to see the other 2 1/2), but we enjoy other critters as well. In fact, the best sighting of the trip (by some folks in other vehicles) was a pack of Wild Dogs bringing down a Nyala.

For us, the other highlights were some funky-looking birds (e.g., the Hamerkop and Pin-Tailed Whydah), our first Vervet Monkey, and our old friends the Warthogs, Zebras, and Giraffes. Oh, and we just missed a pair of lions who were reportedly stalking the lone Cape Buffalo that we saw.

Cage Diving with Great White Sharks

2009-03-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

The water off Gaansbai was 9.5 degrees Celsius -- that's 49 degrees Fahrenheit. And a Great White Shark was circling the boat. Time to hop in the water!

Have you ever seen video of Great White Sharks going airborne in attacks on baby fur seals? Well, our small boat was anchored a few miles from "Shark Alley", where much of that footage has been taken. Unfortunately, as so often happens when chasing large fish, we had arrived at exactly the wrong moment. The fur seals pups won't take to sea for a couple more weeks, so we wouldn't be witnessing any acrobatics in Shark Alley. And the cold water had made the sharks lethargic in their alternative haunts along the beach. (Note: According to one staffer, the best time to visit is in May, when visitors typically see 7 to 10 sharks per trip.)

Despite the odds being against us, our boat did manage to attract several sharks over the course of three hours of chumming (i.e., ladling chopped up fish into the water). The first three sharks came and went pretty quickly. But the fourth one was more agreeable, giving several of us (including Donald) enough time to jump in a shark cage to see it from underwater. Visibility was very poor, but we did get one good side look at the shark as it chased a tuna head. And the 7mm wetsuit provided reasonable protection against the chilly water.

Now you might expect us to find the shark scary or beautiful or impressive or something along those lines. But our first reaction was that the shark was cute. He was clearly just a yearling, perhaps five or six feet long, and not at all terrifying. (Sorry for the poor quality of the picture -- clearly we need to get a polarizing filter.)

We will have to come back in May one year to see him when he's grown up.

Penguins, Tennis, and Mandela

2009-03-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Doctor we had an extra day in Cape Town. Rather than join the main tour group for a visit to South Africa's wine country, we joined up with one fellow guest (Tom) to visit Robben Island.

The island is most famous for its prison, which held Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners for many years. But its history goes back much further, including stints as a leper colony and as a gun battery in World War II (although the guns weren't actually finished until after the war). The island was much larger than we anticipated -- the official tour involves circling the island by bus before visiting the prison itself.

The island tour is striking for the contrasts. At one moment you are looking at the limestone quarry where prisoners worked in stifling heat. And the next moment you are gawking at penguins, rabbits, deer, sea birds, and the other critters that call the island home.

For the prison, our guide was Glenn, who was a prisoner there for more than six years. Needless to say, he provides a uniquely informed view of how the prison worked. From the cells to the menus to the routine, Glenn gave great insight into prison life. Most surprising to us was the importance of tennis. Each cell block had its own tennis court, and prisoners took advantage of that opportunity for exercise (they also played soccer). Of course, the prisoners also looked for ways to put the tools at hand to good use. One method of illicit communication: slitting a tennis ball open, inserting a message, and then flinging it over the wall to another cell block.

The Doctor Was Out, But Now He's Really In

2009-03-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

The mercury hit 40 degrees C (that's 104 degrees F for Americans) on the day we arrived in Cape Town. Why so hot? Because the Doctor was out.

The Doctor is the wind that regularly cools Cape Town, blowing away pollutants and oppressive heat. Wind plays a big role in Cape Town's climate. In addition to cleaning the air, it has a huge effect on the overall climate. Most important (and most surprising to us) is that the wind causes the ocean around Cape Town to be colder in the summer than it is in the winter; this moderates the seasonal swing in air temperatures. Apparently the prevailing winds blow out the warm water in summertime, allowing cold waters from the deep to rise to the surface.

The Doctor returned with a vengeance two days later. Winds hit at least 70 knots, well into hurricane range. Ships -- including the National Geographic Explorer, which were scheduled to board in the afternoon -- were unable to enter the harbor. So the Doctor left us stranded. We ended up sailing a day behind schedule. That means we will miss one stop along our scheduled itinerary. But, as we will discuss in our next blog posting, we also got to squeeze in some additional sightseeing around Cape Town.

Namibia Recap

2009-03-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Best natural feature (non-living): The red dunes of Sossusvlei.

Best natural feature (probably living): Fairy circles. These are circles, several meters across, in which nothing grows; their perimeters, however, are well-vegetated. There's apparently some debate about their origin; we think the underground fungus story makes the most sense.

Best bird: It's hard to beat the Lilac-Breasted Roller or European Bee-Eater for sheer beauty. But we will still go with the Goliath Heron, the world's largest heron, which is a much rarer find.

Best antelope: Hard to beat the cute little Dik-Dik, the world's smallest antelope, which apparently mate for life. But Greater Kudu are pretty stunning.

Most impressive mammal: Seeing a Giraffe step out of the bushes in front of you is quite a sight. They are really, really big.

Biggest surprise: How little exercise you get on safari. You aren't allowed to walk in Big 5 country, so much of the day is spent in sitting in 4x4's driving through the park. You see a lot, but you aren't getting much exercise.

Best Namibian phrase: n/a. We didn't learn any fun phrases on this leg of the journey. We did notice, however, that the proper morning greeting is to ask how you slept.

Best traveling companions: David, Diane, Carolyn and Chuck, Sinclair, Sue, June, Betty.

Critters of Etosha

2009-03-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Many tourists go on safari to see the Big 5: the Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, and Rhinocerous. These five animals were originally viewed as the most dangerous to hunt, since they could ... and would ... fight back. But today they are marketed as the key sightings on an African safari.

So, how many of the Big 5 did we see in our two days at Namibia's Etosha National Park? Zero. We saw some footprints from lion and elephants and we saw a good deal of, er, elephant dung. But we didn't spy any of the critters themselves. And you know what? We weren't disappointed in the least.

There were mammals and birds everywhere. In two days of game drives (and we mean drives -- you aren't allowed out of the vehicles), we saw the following:

Mammals

Giraffe (including several pairs of males fighting)
Plains Zebra (some very pregnant)
Greater Kudu
Impala
Wildebeest
Oryz
Springbok
Steenbok
Duiker
Dik Dik (world's smallest antelope)
Red Hartebeest
Black-backed Jackal
Warthog (who feed while down on the knees)
Tree Squirrel
Banded Mongoose (a family of several dozen)
Golden Mongoose
Bat (species unidentified)

Birds

Goliath Heron (world's largest heron)
Yellow-billed Stork
African Spoonbill
Egyptian Goose
Comb Duck
Southern Pochard
Maccoa Duck
Cape Teal
Red-billed Teal
Lappet-faced Vulture
White-backed Vulture
Brown Snake-Eagle
Red-billed Francolin
Helmeted Guineafowl
Blue CraneKori Bustard
Red-crested Korhaan
Crowned Lapwing
Blacksmith Lapwing
Common Greenshank
Grey Go-Away Bird
Lilac Breasted Roller
Purple Roller
European Roller
Grey Hornbill
Yellow-billed Hornbill
Red-billed Hornbill
European Bee-Eater
Swallowtail Bee-Eater
and dozens of more species

Other

Rock Monitor Lizard (deceased)
Turtle (species unidentified)
Giant Millipedes (at least 10 inches)

So, why did we see so many birds and mammals but miss the Big 5? Well, it's been very wet of late, so the Etosha "pan" is full of water. That attracts legions of birds. But it also allows the mammals to spread out. If we had been here in the dry season, the mammals would have concentrated around scattered watering holes, making it much easier to see them, including the elusive Big 5.

Cruising Walvis Bay

2009-03-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

After a brief, fog-induced pitstop , we made it to Walvis Bay, one of the relatively few estuaries in Africa. The bay hosts myriad birds, including Greater Flamingoes, Black Oystercatchers, Swift Terns, and, our favorite, Great White Pelicans. These pelicans are absolutely ginormous, with beautiful pink and yellow on their faces. A wonderful bird.

Thousands of fur seals also live in the bay. Most of them live their lives in the usual fur seal way -- basking on the beach, hunting for squid and fish, and barking at intruders. But eight of the seals have figured a way to get extra fish from the humans. We met four of these fur seals -- Robbie, Fluffy, Sammie, and Google. Robbie, who hangs out at the main dock, has learned to jump up into the tour boats in return for free fish. So tourists gets to pet a 100 kilo fur seal before they even leave the dock. The other three live somewhat more normal lives -- hanging out on the beach with the rest of the fur seals. But they come over when the tour boat pulls up. Fluffy (who is, inevitably, enormous) and little Google both jump up into the boat to get free fish. Surfing Sammie (in the photo) has a different strategy. Instead of coming into the boat, he surfs on the prop wash just outside the transom. You might wonder how you get the fur seals out of your boat. Well, it's pretty easy. Toss a handful of fish over the side and then hit the gas once the fur seal jumps over the side.

There is a slightly Sea World feel to these performances. But the fur seals are charming, and it is fascinating that only a tiny fraction of them have adopted this approach to free food.

Bonus photo: A wreck in Walvis Bay.

Ceci N'est Pas un Cactus

2009-03-07T12:08:00.000-08:00

Things don't always go as planned in the world of adventure travel. When fog socked in Walvis Bay, we made an unscheduled stop in Arandis, Namibia. We predict that no one reading this blog has ever been there (or, for that matter, heard of it). Arandis is out in the middle of mining country -- including one of the world's largest uranium mines.

You have to make the most of these opportunities, so we all started wandering around the nearby landscape. We added several new birds to our life lists (the Brubru and the surprisingly-named Fiscal Shrike). And we also found the cactus-looking plant in the picture.

As our guide David explained, it's not a cactus. It's a euphorb. In Africa, some species of euphorb have evolved to fill the niche that cactus fill in the new world. An excellent example of convergent evolution in which entirely different species have evolved very similar ways to live.

Another example: In the new world, we have hummingbirds with long curved bills that are perfectly adapted to drink nectar from deep flowers. In Africa, they have sunbirds and sugarbirds with similar bills who play a similar role.

Big Daddy

2009-03-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

The tallest dune in the Namib-Naukluft Park -- and, allegedly, the world (but we haven't fact checked that) -- is Big Daddy. Naturally we had to climb it.

And you know what? Climbing dunes is hard. You need to walk along the ridge the forms the edge betweem the windward side of the dune (called the slope side) and the leeward side (called the slip side). The slip side is steep and incredibly soft -- don't walk there unless you're a beetle with six legs and little mass. The slope side is flatter and provides enough support that you can make some progress. But it still gets your heart pumping.

The dunes are beautiful in the morning light.

The Big Three ... and Then Some

2009-03-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

We rose at 4:25 on Monday morning. You need an early start to avoid the worst of the heat. And early morning brings the best light for photographing the dunes. The drive to the biggest dunes is about 60 kilometers, so we had plenty of time to look for critters.

Our primary objective was to complete the "big three" of the Namib: springbok (which we had already seen), oryx, and ostrich.

As you can see from the photos, we succeeded. Seeing the oryx was a particular thrill; they are beautiful creatures.

By the way, our guide emphasized that ostriches are not to be messed with. With strong legs and sharp feet, they can put you in a world of hurt if you anger them. Another random fact about ostriches is that you can see them a looong way off, at least in against a red desert.

Of course, the big three aren't the only critters. We saw more jackals in the early morning, a cape rabbit, numerous birds (including more thick knees), lizards, a gorgeous sand snake, a gerbil, and lots of speed-walking beetles. The desert is a tough place to make a living, but there is still plenty of life.

Among the more unusual sightings during lunch were a large number of desert mice, and a lizard and a cape sparrow fighting over some fruit.

Welcome to the Namib

2009-03-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning we flew from Johannesburg to Windhoek, Namibia (map). We then boarded a Cessna Caravan to fly to the Namib Naukluft Park, where the Sossus Dune Lodge would be our base for the next two nights. The park is located at the edge of the Namib desert - a series of red sand dunes that stretch about 120 kilometers toward the Atlantic.

It was way too hot to do anything on our arrival, so we retired to our bungalows and waited for the cool of late afternoon. We then did our first drive through the desert, spotting such critters as the springbok, black-backed jackal, and some excellent birds. The highlight was seeing a pair of spotted eagle owls, in their rare rufous color. (Pardon the poor quality of the photo; it was getting quite dark). We then enjoyed sunset over the desert.

All in all, a great start to our Namib adventure.

Eight lifers in fifteen minutes

2009-02-28T10:46:00.000-08:00

What do the Hadeda Ibis, African Sacred Ibis, Southern Masked Weaver, Cape Sparrow, Cape Turtle Dove, Karoo Thrush, Speckled Mousebird, and Cape Wagtail have in common? They are birds that we added to our life list in just fifteen minutes walking around the grounds of our hotel in Johannesburg.

What's particularly striking is that our hotel, the Southern Sun, is right at the airport. We are not out in nature; we are at a classic layover hotel -- less than five minutes from baggage claim (and, we hope, from check-in). But the little ring of green around our hotel has attracted a nice mix of birds. (We also saw Common Mynas and, of course, Rock Doves, as well as some swifts and swallows that we couldn't identify specifically.)

Of course, it's much easier to rack up lifers if you travel really far from home. Even the most common birds here are new to us. It also helps to travel near distinct geographic features. Just as lots of birds in the Galapagos are called the Galapagos this and the Galapagos that, so are many birds here named the Cape this or the Southern that.

Jordan Recap

2009-02-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

Best Tomb: The Treasury at Petra. But the Monastery is close behind.

Best Temple: Temple of Artemis at Jerash (where you can rock one of those gigantic Roman columns).

Best Mosaic: There's an amazing mosaic at Mt. Nebo depicting the evolution of human life; but you can only see photos at the moment. So we will stick with the map at St. George's Church in Madaba.

Best Arabic expression: Insha'Allah, which translates as "God willing". A typical usage would be: "When Donald and Esther get to Namibia, Insha'Allah, they will see amazing dunes and wildlife." It's similar to knocking on wood when you make a statement about the future. (The best Arabic expression from our Egypt trip, which has now been added to the Egypt recap, was yalla beena, which translates as hurry up or, in Spanish, vamanos.)

Best food: Fatoush (salad with crunchy fried bread)

Best drink: Lemonade with mint

Best creature: Yellow-vented bulbul - a cheery bird we saw all over Jordan.

Biggest surprise: The hail storm on the way to the airport.

Best guide: Omar (former badminton champion of Jordan)

Best driver: Khalil.

Precarious but cute

2009-02-28T10:17:00.000-08:00

We are big fans of the mourning doves that visit our bird feeder back home in the States. So we were pleased to discover that Egypt and Jordan have a very similar bird, the laughing dove. Laughing doves appeared at most of the sites we visited, including our final stop at the Dead Sea Spa.

As we were resting after our dip in Dead Sea, we noticed a laughing dove gathering material for a nest. We followed it and discovered the dove couple building their nest ... in a ceiling fan (click on the photo for a bigger picture). Here's hoping that their brood fledges before the Dead Sea Spa turns the fan on.

Layover in Dubai

2009-02-27T14:37:00.000-08:00

At night, the Emirates business class lounge in Dubai is like a hospital. Every hour or so, a young woman in uniform wakes you up for no discernible reason. Well, that's not completely fair. They check boarding passes periodically to make sure you don't sleep through your flight. But that does prevent any semblance of serious rest for the myriad travelers who have late night layovers.

For example, we landed at 9:30pm and will be heading on to Johannesburg at 4:25am. When we arrived, we had our pick of couches to rest on in this gigantic space. But now (at 3am), the place is packed. Uh oh, here comes another uniformed young woman to tell us to put our feet down so they can squeeze in even more weary travelers.

1385 Feet Below Sea Level

2009-02-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

The Dead Sea tastes terrible. Nine hours later, relaxing in the spacious Emirates lounge in Dubai, we can still taste the salt from the world's lowest place.

Of course, we were warned: "Do not let sea water going to your eyes & mouth" read the sign. "Swimming on your back is more save." Though slightly fractured English, the message was quite clear -- keep your head away from the water, if you could. But that's not really fun. If you are going to swim in the Dead Sea once in your life, you really ought to swim, just to get the full experience.

The buoyancy is exactly as people describe -- that's Donald floating in the picture. And the salt does really sting. But some guidebooks go a bit far. One suggested, for example, that it isn't possible to swim in the Dead Sea. That's preposterous. Donald did the crawl out to the buoys and back. However, it helps to be gingerly about it. Don't splash. Otherwise the sea water going in your eyes & mouth. Backstroke is definitely more save.

We missed our chance to roll around in the famous Dead Sea mud when a thunderstorm rolled in bringing high winds, rain, and, later, some hail. The first precipitation we've seen in three weeks. Happily, we got out of Amman before the snow came.

On the plus side, our aches from climbing through Petra and Jerash disappeared after 30 minutes of floating. So chalk one up for the healing powers of the Dead Sea.

Readers may remember that Donald and Esther visited an inland salty sea earlier in our sojourn - the Salton Sea near Palm Springs, California. The seas have some similarities -- they are far below sea level and have salt levels much higher than the ocean. But the differences are stark. The Dead Sea is truly dead. The only things we saw swimming in it were Russian tourists and plastic bags. The Salton Sea, however, is full of fish and the birds that eat them. A good reason to make sure that the salinity of the Salton Sea never rises to Dead Sea levels.

Old Statues and an Unsung City

2009-02-27T11:28:00.000-08:00

Petra is a tough act to follow. But we folded our achy bodies into the car at 7:30am on Thursday so we could drive up to Amman (about three hours) to do a quick city tour, lunch, and then visit Jerash about thirty minutes to the north.

Our Amman tour was relatively brief -- a visit to the Citadel overlooking the city plus a visit to the Roman theatre nearby. The theatre was fun, particularly because it's still in use despite being built more than 1,800 years ago. The Citadel provides great views of the city, including one of the world's tallest flagpoles. But the highlights are the small treasures in the museum there. Most famous are the portions of the Dead Sea scrolls, written on leather, papyrus, and bronze. But our favorite were statues that are apparently the oldest statues of humans ever discovered (in Ain Ghazl-Amman in 1985). More than 8,000 years old, the statues reminded us of ET. The two-headed ones are believed to represent the idea of husband and wife coming together to form a single person.

After a yummy barbecue lunch, we headed out to Jerash. To be honest, we had never heard of it, but we are glad our guide recommended it. Jerash is one of the largest remaining Roman cities. The grounds are immense, with Hadrian's Arch, a Hippodrome, temples, tombs, houses, columns, fountains, theatres, yet another amazing mosaic, and a cathedral. Not to mention acres and acres of ground yet to be excavated. Among the high points are the Tomb of Artemis, which contains some of the few columns that have remained standing since the original construction, and the South Theatre, where you can (somewhat incongruously) be serenaded by bagpipe players.

The Rose-Red City

2009-02-26T09:49:00.000-08:00

What can you say about Petra? Carved into the sandstone hills by the Nabateans - the masters of desert, water, and trade -- the rose-red city lives up to all the hype. And then some. We have always known about the Treasury (made famous by Indiana Jones), but we hadn't appreciated the extent of the city. After eight hours of exploring the sandstone tombs, temples, and churches, we were fulfilled, but exhausted.

The first photo to the right is our take on the classic view of the Treasury, the first great tomb carved into the sandstone. You approach through a narrow canyon -- the siq -- and eventually get glimpses of the building. Of course, it isn't actually a Treasury. Instead, it's a tomb.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a picture of the Treasury without any pesky tourists in front of it? (Hint: Crowds thin near the end of the day.)

The long climb to the Monastery is worth it. If you can survive the climb, the animal waste, and the occasional run-away donkey, you are rewarded with another stunning tomb carved into the sandstone -- plus some outstanding views.

The sandstone is beautiful, with blues and yellows joining the predominant reds.

One highlight in the siq is the larger-than-life carving of a camel caravan. In this photo, you can see the outline of one camel, its feet, and the lower body of a man leading it. You can also see Petra's one great weakness. Sandstone erodes over time, so it's almost impossible to get a sense of how the tombs and temples originally looked.

Finally, we should mention that Petra also has a lovely mosaic. We are particularly fond of the giraffes shaped as camels (or are they camels colored like giraffes?).

Mosaics and the Promised Land

2009-02-26T09:01:00.000-08:00

We should have spent more time in Madaba, the mosaic Mecca of Jordan. Like many visitors, we spent a good chunk of time studying the famous mosaic map of the Holy Land. But, in retrospect, we should have visited other mosaics as well -- they are quite stunning.

The mosaic map was constructed back in the Byzantine era (second half of the sixth century), and is now housed in St. George's Church. Back then it was common to construct maps oriented so that up = east and down = west. With that orientation in mind, the photo shows a portion of the Dead Sea and the Jordan river, with Jordan to the east (above) and the promised land to the west (bottom). Jerusalem is in the bottom right; Jericho is toward the bottom center. (You can see more detail if you click on the photo).

There are many nice touches in the mosaic -- e.g., the fish in the Jordan River trying to swim away from the Dead Seas (where it would die). Also of interest is the blur of tiles toward the upper center. That was originally a lion chasing a gazelle, but at some point it was destroyed as part of an anti-icon effort. That's a recurring theme in our visit to both Egypt and Jordan. Either for reasons of religion (e.g., opposition to icons) or politics (e.g., desire to destroy images of past kings), many great statues, carvings, and mosaics have been defaced.

Near Madaba is Mt. Nebo, believed to be the resting place of Moses. Mt. Nebo provides a great view of the promised land. It was a bit hazy the day we visited, but that's the West Bank over there (with the Dead Sea off to the left), and if it were a clearer day you could see Jerusalem. Moses' fate was to be able to see the promised land, but not reach it. Thus, he passed away once he reached Mt. Nebo.

Egypt Recap: High Points

2009-02-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

Best adventure: Being alone in the Great Pyramid.

Best tomb: Nefartari, in the Valley of the Queens.

Best temple: Tough call, but we'd go with the Temple of Hathor in Dendara.

Best statue: The four Ramses II at Abu Simbel.

Best god: Horus (the falcon god).

Best goddess: Hathor (the goddess with cow ears)

Best creature: A monitor lizard swimming in the Nile (which set off a brief, vigorous debate on whether crocodiles might still exist north of Aswan).

Best plant: Papyrus.

Best food: Sweet potato with cream, coconut, and caramel (dessert served at a private home in Cairo).

Best Arabic expression: Yalla beena, which means hurry up. A typical usage would be "Yalla beena Esther." (This item added February 28.)

Best guide: Hala

Best co-travelers: Joe and Bette, Michael and Mary Ann, Gene and Linda, Jim and Martha, Robert and Jenny

(Obviously, the Cairo bombing stands alone at the top of the list of low points.)

Six out of Seven

2009-02-23T12:54:00.001-08:00

When we think of Asia, we usually think of Japan, China, India, Thailand, etc. But you know what? Jordan is a card-carrying member of Asia as well.

Our arrival in Amman today thus brings our lifetime continent total to six. Clearly, we need to visit the penguins and leopard seals in Antarctica one of these years.

The Bombing at Khan el Khalili

2009-02-22T13:49:00.000-08:00

Today's bombing at Cairo's Khan el Khalili market is a sad reminder of the challenges that still remain in Egypt.

Our previous post discussed some of the security arrangements involved in our Nile cruise. Security was also apparent in Cairo itself -- we had an armed guard on our tour bus and had to go through metal detectors at the hotel -- but we never felt any specific risk.

We spent Sunday touring old Cairo to learn about Islamic architecture (quite beautiful, particularly if you like geometric patterns) and to visit the Khan al Khalili market. (The attack occurred a few hours after we left the market to return to our hotel). The market is a maze of narrow alleys, crowded with tourists and shopkeepers. With so many people pressed close together, even a relatively small bomb could kill and injure significant numbers of people.

Outside the Security Zone

2009-02-22T07:21:00.000-08:00

Most Nile cruises stay between Aswan and Luxor, a stretch of river that is heavily protected by Egyptian security forces. Egypt took a big economic hit in 1997 when the Luxor attack scared off tourists, and the government is determined that this won't happen again.

But some outstanding historical sites are north of Luxor. The Temple of Hathor at Dendara, for example, has fascinating carvings, a nifty crypt, a zodiac, beautiful views, mellow vendors, and, some would argue, images of the world's first light bulb.

If your boat heads up there, the river is much less crowded, and the residents are extremely friendly (photo above). But security does become more of an issue.

In our case, there were three new layers of security. First, courtesy of the government, several heavily-armed members of the security forces came on board. Second, also courtesy of the government, we picked up an armed escort in a small boat (photo). Third, ground travel occurred in convoys of buses led by a military escort.

All this trouble is worth it, because the sites north of Luxor are amazing (even for a group suffering "temple fatique"). But the security situation can provide some unexpected moments.

In our case, the most tension occured on the return bus ride from Dendara. We were the last bus in the convoy. About halfway back to the dock, the vehicles all had to slow down to cross some railroad tracks. The military vehicle made it across, as did the first four mini-buses in our convoy. But just before we could cross, the crossing master pushed down a barrier, preventing us from crossing the tracks. Other vehicles pulled up behind us, of course, so we were completely blocked from moving. And then we sat there. No one did anything threatening, but our tensions rose as no train appeared. We looked across the tracks and could see that the rest of the convoy, including the military vehicle, hadn't stopped, leading to much discussion of whether that was appropriate convoy protocol. We are all in this together, until we're not?

Happily, it didn't really matter. We weren't going to be the victims of some imagined ambush. Instead, we were merely the victims of an overly-conservative crossing master. After six or seven minutes, a train did emerge -- at great speed, we should note -- and once it passed, we were on our way.

Three Facts about Electricity in Egypt

2009-02-22T06:47:00.000-08:00

1. Some people believe the ancient Egyptians invented the electric light bulb.

The ancient Egyptians were an innovative bunch. Among other things, they are credited with inventing polytheism, monotheism, boomerangs, bread, beer, wine, and the Christian cross (a derivative of the Ankh). But we were particularly intrigued to hear the hypothesis that they invented the electric light bulb.

The evidence for this claim comes in two forms (that we heard -- Google can probably provide more). First, there's the question of how the Egyptians were able to see what they were doing when they made carving deep inside a tomb or enclosed temple. There are apparently places in which the nearest natural light was 100 yards or more away. Mirrors were used in some cases, but have limited reach. Torches could been taken even further, of course, and often were (as indicated by the soot covering the ceilings at the temple of Horus, for example). But there is no soot in some deep temples and tombs. So how did they see what they were doing? Perhaps electric light is the answer.

The second piece of evidence comes from carvings, such as those at the Temple of Dendara, that appear (to some) to show electric light bulbs. As the picture to the right shows, however, that interpretation is, shall we say, aggressive. Is the cobra in the elongated space really a filament in the first light bulb? You be the judge. (Maybe he's an electric eel?)

2. Street lamps are a substitute for headlights.

Driving through Cairo our first night, we noticed a peculiar (to us) fact: most cars don't use their headlights. Our tour guide explained that Cairenes feel that they shouldn't waste their batteries and headlights, as long as streetlights provide at least a little light to drive by.

Those drivers would probably be shocked by the growing trend in Europe and the U.S. to use headlights even during the day.

3. Voltage matters.

For the modern traveler, the mystery of electricity is how to get juice for your favorite devices. How do you keep your iPhone, Vaio, Kindle, Flip, and Nikon happy? Woe to the traveler who confuses an adapter (which gets the plug right) and a converter (which adjusts voltages). Happily, the cords for the Kindle, Vaio, and Nikon have converters built in, so all you need is an adapter. And you can charge the iPhone by plugging it into the Vaio.

But then there's the Flip, which runs on AA batteries. Being a good environmental steward, Esther brought rechargeable batteries for the Flip and, of course, a recharger. Too bad it works only with the 110 volt power we have in the States, and not with the 220 volt power here in Egypt. Not realizing this, Esther ran an impromptu science experiment. Result: A loud pop, sudden darkness, and a defunct battery charger. Oops.

Welcome to Alaska

2009-02-21T06:33:00.000-08:00

Vendors are aggressive at Egyptian tourist sites. The most aggressive place scarves on your shoulders, hand you trinkets or "gifts", and try anything to engage you in conversation. We sometimes found this tiring, but we did enjoy many of the opening lines we heard. Our favorite, as we stepped off the launch to the Temple of Philae:

Welcome to Alaska. Happy Birthday.

The Alaska line must work well, because we heard it repeated at several other temples. Sadly, no one else wished us a happy birthday.

Other popular opening lines included:

Obama good. Yeah Obama.

Don't I know you?

Come look, my friend, everything free.

And the hardy perennial:

One dollar. One dollar.

Partly for fun and partly from fatigue, several of us tried to deflect the vendors by pretending we didn't speak English. This strategy was a bust, however, because many vendors had opening lines in multiple languages. Thus, a typical exchange might be:

Vendor: My friend, postcards, one dollar.

Donald: No, grazie.

Vendor: Ah, Italiano! (Stream of Italian words, unintelligible to Donald)

Color

2009-02-21T06:16:00.000-08:00

Our journey began with ancient pyramids that were largely devoid of ornamentation. We then visited Greco-Roman temples covered in hieroglyphics telling the stories of kings and queens, gods and goddesses. Those hierogylphics were once colorful, but the several millennia of exposure have left only the carvings, not the color (see, for example, the carving of Horus, the falcon god).

There have been occasional exceptions. At the Temple of Karnak, for example, some hierogylphics had been shielded from the elements and thus retain some color (second photo). Still, the predominant theme has been carving not painting.

That changed with our visit to the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Over the centuries, the kings and queens of Egypt had learned that pyramids were not a secure place for eternal rest. Indeed, building a pyramid was tantamount to hanging a "rob me now" sign over your tomb. So they innovated. And the key insight was that you could build your tomb into a mountain side, where it would be much better protected from tomb raiders and the elements. Hence, the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of Queens, which are located on the western side of the Nile at Luxor. (The Egyptians associated West with death because the sun sets in the West.)

We saw several colorful tombs, including those of Ramses II and King Tut. But the highlight was a private tour of the Tomb of Nefartari in the Valley of the Queens. Nefartari means "the most beautiful" and the tomb certainly lived up to its billing. It's amazing to see all the hieroglyphics -- Horus, Anubis, Ra, cobras, papyrus, and on and on -- come to life in vibrant reds, greens, blues, and yellows. Too bad we can't share the view with our readers (photography is forbidden in the tombs -- we even saw one tourist get his camera confiscated). But we did find one photograph over at Wikipedia.

Karnak

2009-02-19T01:32:00.000-08:00

We are proud to have gotten this far into our Egyptian journey without mentioning Steve Martin or the Bangles. But we can't ignore American culture any longer.

We spent the past two days in Luxor, home to the Karnak complex, the largest religious site in Egypt and, perhaps, in the world. Everyone who is anyone -- Ramses II, Tutmosis III, Hatshepsut -- added their own special touch to the complex. Temples, obelisks, colossi, sacred lakes, statues of scarabs, you name it.

This is amazing place, full of things to explore not only during the day but also during the nightly Sound and Light Show. The show is kind of cheesy (think dramatic music -- Dun-dun-DUN -- and weird narration -- "the waters of the Nile spurt from my sandals") but it's great to see the looming buidings bathed in colorful light.

Still, if you are an American of a certain age, you can't help being reminded of Johnny Carson in a turban holding an envelope to his forehead. Johnny spelled it differently -- Carnac the Magnificent -- but that doesn't mean that Americans of a certain age don't immediately think of him when they come here. (And no, Donald and Esther aren't yet "of a certain age" -- just reporting what we hear among other voyagers.)

Creatures Along the Nile

2009-02-19T01:29:00.000-08:00

We have seen half-a-dozen crocodiles so far on our trip. Too bad they were all mummies.

We've heard competing views on the presence of crocs in the Egyptian Nile. One school of thought is that there are no crocodiles remaining north of the High Dam at Aswan. The other school is that a few sneaky crocodiles remain, but you will only see them when it's too late.

What we have seen are birds -- herons, egrets, ibis, lapwings, cormorants, stilts, gulls, kites, gallinules, ducks, and geese. Our favorite? The Pied Kingfisher. These striking birds appear everywhere along the Nile, perching on reeds along the river bank or hovering above the water hunting for dinner. Charmingly, they appear almost always in pairs.

Of course, the dominant creatures along the Nile are livestock. Donkeys (which have remarkably cute faces), water buffalo, and goats are most prevalent, but they are joined by the occasional domestic goose, dog, or, rarely, a camel. So far, the only wild mammal we've seen was a fox chasing little egrets along the water's edge.

Soaring Above The Valley

2009-02-18T04:44:00.001-08:00

Today started with another great warning: "When we come in to land, face away from the direction we are traveling, grasp the white rope tightly, flex your knees, and place your forehead against the cushion. We should bounce a few times before we fall over. No pregnant women please." Thus went the preflight briefing for our hot air balloon trip over the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

Up before dawn, we joined 25 other brave souls in our balloon basket and at least 20 other balloons soaring above temples, tombs, and colossi, not to mention the houses, cell phone towers, and burning sugar cane fields. It was cold before dawn, but the flame heating the air did a good job keeping us warm until the sun rose.

And the landing? Well, the warning applied to what our captain described as a "British" landing, with the basket flopping on its side. "American" is when you land upright, after several bounces. But we landed "Egyptian" style, nice and smooth.

A Morning in the Museum

2009-02-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

Lots of hieroglyphics and art on today's adventures, particularly at the Egyptian National Museum. Which makes sense -- all the beautiful objects were either looted from the pyramids and other sites or were moved to museums. The museum opens at 9am to the public, but our tour group got in at 7am. We tour artifacts from all of Egypt's history, but the big event is King Tut. The boy king is famous not for his achievements as king (slim), but because his is the only complete, unlooted tomb ever discovered and preserved. And all one can say is Wow! For starters, imagine yourself opening the tomb to find a giant gold box, the size of the tomb. You open the box and find ... a slightly smaller gold box. Open that and find ... another gold box. Open that and find ... a fourth gold box. When you open that final room-size box, you then find lots of treasures and the famous golden coffin in King Tut's image. Open that and find ... a slightly smaller golden coffin. Open that ... and another golden coffin. Open that ... and find his mummy and head mask. The items from King Tut's tomb take up multiple rooms in the museum, leaving one obvious question: If the Egyptians did all this for a minor boy king, what must the tomb of a great king -- e.g.,, Ramses II, have looked like?

We finish King Tut at 9am, just in time to see the chaos of the official museum opening. A sea of humans enters the ground floor, and a few intrepid souls sprint up the stairs to find the boy king. Good strategy. Most of the mob crowds around the exhibits near the entrance, so the sprinters can get a few minutes of calm up on the second floor.

We wander the museum on our own and luck upon the perfect exhibit for us: animal mummies. These run the gamut from scarab beetles to Nile crocodiles. Cows, cats, and falcons appear to have been popular, but we particularly like the mummified cobra and crocodiles.

We then head down to Memphis to see the statues of Ramses the II. Then on down to Sakkara to see Zoser's step pyramid, which our guide describes as the first free-standing stone building in history. Sakkara is at the edge of the Sahara. It is striking to see the vast expanse of barren sand stretching out from the nearby groves of date palms.

Tomorrow we are off to Abu Simbel and then Aswan to start our Nile cruise. Too bad this requires a 1:45am wake-up call!

Taken for a Ride

2009-02-12T08:48:00.001-08:00

This blog is supposed to document lowpoints as well as highpoints, and here's our first one: the ultra-touristy camel ride. Esther always wanted to ride a camel. Donald was less enthusiastic. But a combination of peer pressure -- look, even the people who didn't enter the pyramid are doing it -- and the opportunity to rely on the tour guide to haggle with the camel drivers convinced him to say yes. Well, let us tell you that it is pretty darn scary when that camel stands up! Particularly if you got the camel that doesn't have stirrups, so you are just holding on to the saddle horn for dear life. Once you get comfortable (well, less uncomfortable), it is amusing to imagine yourself riding through the desert approaching the pyramids. But still, you are mostly looking forward to getting down. Until, of course, it comes time to negotiate with the camel driver about letting you down. In our case, the driver very nicely let Esther down, but then started demanding his tip while Donald was still aloft. Esther made clear, however, that no tip would be forthcoming until Donald was safely back on the ground. Happily, our tour guide had told us how much to "tip", so we could ignore the ten-fold exaggeration of his opening request. (According to our guide, standard tip is one dollar. His request: ten dollars.)

Pyramid Power

2009-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

Today we did the usual stops in Giza: Pyramids, the "solar boat" museum (a 150 foot boat that was reassembled from pieces buried more than 4,000 years ago), and the Sphinx (who looks surprisingly tiny next to the Giant Pyramid).

The best part of the day came with the biggest warning label. "If you have claustrophobia, back problems, knee problems, heart problems, a fear of heights, or aren't in good shape, you probably shouldn't enter the Great Pyramid," warned our guide. Her pep talk dissuaded most members of our tour group, but we decided to take the plunge. And through lucky timing, we ended up having about ten minutes as the only two people inside the Great Pyramid. The ascent lived up to the warning -- it was dark, narrow, steep, and required a couple hundred yards of crouching. Donald even crawled for part of it. But it's worth it to visit the burial chamber in the center of the pyramid. There's almost nothing there -- an empty sarcophagus which you can see if you bring your trusty, high-BPP Brookstone flashlight -- but it's pretty darn cool to be in the center of a gigantic pyramid that was built more than 4,000 years ago. The pyramid builders weren't into hieroglyphics or art, just impressive architecture.

One fascinating aspect of pyramids is the history of technological innovation. It all began with the mastaba, a simple one story tomb for ancient rulers. Think square building. But as the centuries passed, some innovative pharaoh thought: hmm, I am a big deal, why not add some additional levels? So you get step pyramids. Think five or six levels, each somewhat smaller than the previous one. And then another enterprising pharaoh says: hmm, I am a bigger deal, why not have the levels converge to a single point at the top? So you get the idea of a complete step pyramid. But reality is difficult and builders of the first one either miscalculate, run short of money, or lose enthusiasm. Whatever the reason, the only way to have the levels converge is to flatten the slope of the pyramid partway up. So you get the bent pyramid. Then another pharaoh comes along and he has a good architect, enough money, and enough longevity to pull the whole thing off. So you get a complete step pyramid. And then another pharaoh comes along and says that whole step pyramid thing is old school, I want smooth sides. And so you get the ultimate in pyramids, where they build a complete step pyramid and then encase it in extra-nice stone to create smooth sides all around. (You can see the remaining casing at the top of one pyramid in the Sphinx photo.)

Another fascinating aspect of pyramids is the sheer logistics of constructing one. The Great Pyramid -- which is comprised of more than 2 million hand crafted blocks -- took more than twenty years. Researchers estimate that as many as 12,000 workers were involved at one time, not to mention all the folks providing logistical support (food, water, etc.). The Egyptians showed genius in construction methods -- imagine fitting together 2.3 million pieces into a perfect pyramid -- but they must also have had some genius in organizational management. (And no, the pyramids were not built by slaves.)

Why Not?

2009-02-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

When we approached the Cairo baggage claim, we saw a prominent list of passenger names. Happily our names weren't on it, for these were people whose luggage missed the flight and would be arriving later (one hopes). We felt their pain, however, since American misplaced our baggage a few days earlier on our return from Palm Springs. We wasted 30 minutes waiting for bags that didn't even make it on the plane.

Why don't U.S. airlines follow the Cairo example and let passengers know their luggage is delayed? In this age of bar codes and tight security, they should be able to match bags to passengers. Why not post a list at the airport to prevent wasted waiting? Or go further and notify passengers while they are in the air? You could fill out paperwork about where to deliver the luggage, if necessary, without wasting time waiting for bags that will never come.

(The title of this post comes from a column (and book) of the same name by Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff who ask "why not" about things that could be better.)

Key Travel Metric: BPP

2009-02-12T08:35:00.000-08:00

We have a long journey ahead, and we hate lugging around unnecessary weight. Thus, our packing regime tried to get as much benefit per pound (BPP) from items as possible.

Some items with high BPP:

* The Kindle. This slim device allows you to carry the equivalent of dozens of books -- more than you could ever possibly read on your trip. But there is more to be done. The holy grail of BPP would be a Kindle that does justice to travel guides and nature books. We are carrying seven of these (five guides, two bird guides) and, unfortunately, are planning to jettison them as excess weight once we no longer need them.

* The Brookstone Microbeam flashlight. Lots of light at virtually no weight. Perfect for finding your way in unfamiliar hotel rooms at night, reading while your spouse sleeps, or navigating pyramid tunnels.

* The iPhone. Portable stereo, notepad, camera, etc. Too bad we can't seem to make it work as a phone over here ...

As we travel, we look forward to discovering what other items have a high BPP ... and which low BPP items we regret bringing.

Wow ...

2009-02-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

The TED conference certainly lived up to expectations. We returned full of inspiration and new ideas.

The format generates a remarkable amount of insight in a short time. Each day the program was packed with 20 to 30 brilliant speakers and performers, each of whom had only 3 to 18 minutes on stage. The pace and quality of ideas was amazing.

It's impossible to do justice to the experience in a few blog postings, but we should mention a few. The first two are already up on the TED website; we hope that the others are released in the future.

Bill Gates drew the most attention with his talk on malaria and education. For the malaria portion, he (in)famously released mosquitoes into the audience. His talk, rich in insights, is here.

Elizabeth Gilbert's talk on creativity and genius was the first big hit of the conference. Well worth 18 minutes, her talk is here.

Hans Rosling gave a talk on AIDS in Africa using his famous graphics. That talk isn't on-line yet, but his previous talk on world development nicely illustrates the power of his graphical approach.

Other stand-out talks were by Willie Smits (describing his remarkable reforestation efforts in Borneo), Bonnie Bassler (describing how bacteria communicate), and TED prize winner Jose Antonio Abreu (describing the dramatic success of his music education program in Venezuela).

Of course, there were many more great talks. Not to mention the performances by Herbie Hancock, Regine Spektor, Eric Lewis, and Jamie Cullum.

We are now packing for our trip overseas. If all goes well, our next post will be dateline Cairo.

TED Delivers on Day 1

2009-02-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

Some highlights from the opening day of TED:

* Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, lays out his vision for the next big thing: Linked Data.

* P.W. Singer documents how technological advances are transforming warfare.

* Jake Eberts and Jacques Perrin demo Oceans, the ultimate in nature documentaries.

* Bill Gates lays out a vision for combatting malaria and strengthening teaching.

* Pattie Maes previews how humans can harness a sixth sense, with technology feeding us information in real time about the people, places, and things we encounter.

* Regina Spektor wows the crowd with her dark, beautiful songs.

* And Jason Hackenwerth unveils his vaguely unnerving balloon sculpture Spectronomic Photoluxe.

All in all a great opening day.

A Windy Start to TED

2009-02-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

Alternative energy is an emerging theme of our current adventure. On Sunday we rented a Prius. On Monday we discovered geothermal power plants on the edge of the Salton Sea. And today we visited the WinTec wind farm.

Together with about 30 other TEDsters -- fellow attendees of TED@PalmSpring -- we got up close and personal with the almost 700 MW of wind power in the valley just outside Palm Springs. Here's what we learned:

* Just outside the city, there is a pass between two tall mountains. As one of our guides explained, that means one thing: every mode of transportation will want to go through that pass. And, sure enough, you have a major highway, a railroad, a natural gas pipeline, and electric transmission lines all sharing the same narrow passage through the mountains.

* And you get wind. The temperature difference between the desert and the sea creates strong, steady winds through the pass, particularly in the summer. As a result, the valley is lined with wind turbines, some newly built and others 20 or more years old.

* Perhaps the most striking aspect of the wind farm is how much land is unused. At this particular facility, the wind turbines are located are about 1500 feet apart. Why? Because each turbine (a) uses up wind power and (b) leaves turbulence in its wake. As a result, you need to leave space -- equal to perhaps 10 times the diameter of the turbine blades -- between the units. The obvious economic question is what to do with all the space. In some areas the land is used for grazing, but that doesn't work in the desert. Perhaps solar power would work, once the economics get sufficiently favorable.

P.S. Look carefully at the photograph - do you see the people standing at the base of the wind turbine?

So That's Where the Name Comes From

2009-02-03T20:42:00.000-08:00

Imagine the stereotypical desert oasis: a small island of trees and precious water in the midst of an arid expanse. A glimmer of green amongst the rocks and sand.

Such oases do exist. And today we learned their origin. Aquifers often stretch below deserts, their life-giving water trapped by layers of impermeable rock or clay. But those layers sometimes break -- e.g., in an earthquake -- and water pushes its way to the surface. When that happens, cue the trees -- you've got yourself an oasis -- an oasis of palms growing around springs.

In short, Palm Springs owes both its name and its existence to the San Andreas Fault.

230 Feet Below Sea Level

2009-02-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we visited one of the lowest places in the world. An oasis in the midst of desert. A land of salt-encrusted rocks, obsidian promontories, gurgling mini-volcanoes of mud, and geothermal power plants. You almost feel like you've traveled to Mars. Except for the thousands upon thousands of birds.

Welcome to the Salton Sea.

Saltier than the Pacific, the Salton Sea is Palm Springs for western birds. Pelicans -- both white and brown -- savor the free tilapia buffet. Avocets, stilts, and sandpipers promenade along the shore. And legions of snow geese and cranes find refuge from the harsh winter to the north.

The Salton Sea has long been hailed as a birder's paradise ... and it lives up to that billing.

Highlights: A field full of Long-Billed Curlews. Hundreds of White Pelicans. Thousands of Snow Geese. A field of squawking Sandhill Cranes. Black-Necked Stilts and American Avocets. Gambels Quail and Desert Cottontails. Greater Roadrunners.

Missed Connections: Mountain Plovers (MoPlos) and Burrowing Owls.

Palm Springs, California

2009-02-02T20:45:00.000-08:00

Palm Springs, California is the first stop on our travels. We are here for the TED conference, which starts on Wednesday, but we came early to explore a bit.

Our first impressions when we flew in yesterday afternoon:

* Is this the golf capital of the world? When viewed from the air, the number of golf courses is stunning. And the number of golf bags at baggage claim? Overwhelming.

* Wow, we may well be the youngest travelers in the airport. We are hardly young, but the dominant tourist demographic clearly skews older.

* Look at all the palm trees.

Additional impressions once we settled into our hotel room:

* Palm Springs is Las Vegas without the glitz and without the grit.

* The city worships stars of the past -- Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, Marilyn Monroe. Our hotel does a wonderful job of honoring that timeperiod with a modern touch. For example, each room contains pictures of Marilyn and a 1950's Cadillac. Very cool in their way.

Welcome!

2009-02-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Donald and Esther's Travels! We have just embarked on two months of exploring the world, and we look forward to sharing some highlights (and, perhaps, lowlights) of our adventures.