The witch doctor sat with human skulls at his feet. My guide said they were the bones of his father and grandfather who had also been witch doctors, and he receives messages from their spirits to help him diagnose his patients' ailments. I was on my first African safari, and meeting a medicine … [Read More...]
Sacred Canyons of Arizona
The Four Corners area of the USA (where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet) is rich with ancient cliff-dwellings, rock art, dramatic canyon vistas and native spirits. You can experience all these features in one place if you stop at Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d'SHAY) National Monument, … [Read More...]
Barkerville Celebrates its Chinese Heritage
The glow from hundreds of candle-lit paper lanterns provided the only light as we paraded up the dirt street into … [Read More...]
Tampa Bay Wildlife Safari
The giraffe's enormous tongue gently plucked a green leaf from my outstretched hand. "Prehensile," our guide … [Read More...]
Hidden Treasure in Australian Rainforests
When the first European explorers came to Australia in 1788, they viewed the aboriginal residents as so uncivilized that … [Read More...]
Transformed by a Maya Medicine Woman in Belize
The Maya medicine woman smeared a handful of green, aromatic mud onto my forehead, binding it with a strip of cloth, as … [Read More...]
Hunting Tigers in India
The man with the sickle was passing sheaves of long grass to the thatcher on the roof, but the dozen tourists on the … [Read More...]
Spirits Of Slain Enemies Protect Borneo Headhunter Village
KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA - Nine generations after a Kadazan warrior named Monsopiad became a headhunter, the spirits of … [Read More...]
Peru Beyond Machu Picchu
Although Machu Picchu is the highlight of most trips to Peru, it is certainly not the only destination. When my wife and … [Read More...]
Green Luxury in a Belize Rainforest
Was an enormous lion howling outside my thatched cottage? It sounded more like a T-Rex. I might have been worried if I … [Read More...]
Pisac, Earth Mother Temple in Peru’s Sacred Valley
I would love to go back to Peru, but on my next trip I wouldn’t necessarily return to Machu Picchu. The places that … [Read More...]
Why I Believe in Fairies
Maybe it’s Shakespeare’s fault, or perhaps the brothers Grimm are to blame, but fairies – like witches – have an image … [Read More...]
What is a Pilgrimage?
A pilgrimage, for me, is what differentiates a tourist from a traveler. While a tourist is happy simply to get away, … [Read More...]
Kosrae, Pacific Island of Mystery
"The Mysterious Paradise Island" said the sign above the airport terminal door. I had just landed on Kosrae, one of the … [Read More...]