Our Africa adventure began with a late start due to vagaries of the weather over Atlanta where we had to spend the night and get on another plane for Johannesburg the following day. We made good use of our unwelcome delay and visited the impressive Martin Luther King Jr. National Park and listened to his inspiring speeches and sermons as we wandered around the grounds. It’s June 12th. By luck and perseverance all seven of use were able to get a seat on board Delta Airlines’ once daily 16 hour flight to Johannesburg. Ellen had found us lovely lodging 20 … Continue reading
Category Archives: Trips
You may have heard that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fell in love in a safari camp in Botswana and are now married. I am heading off to Botswana to fall in love also—but not with a prince. I expect that I’ll be falling in love with the wildlife. The relationships will be at a distance and purely platonic. Why Africa? For years I have been receiving digital flyers from a woman called Deborah Stephens who leads customized trips that are designed specifically for small groups of people. She offers trips to various enchanting places where she has lived throughout … Continue reading
September 5th, 2017 The much anticipated departure date has arrived. Soon I will be rafting and kayaking the Salmon River in Idaho with a group of remarkable young environmental and socially-conscious entrepreneurs and visionaries. A few days before departure, a friend sent me a map of the fires and smoke in the Northwest. Idaho, like many of its neighboring states, was on fire and choking in smoke. The map looked ominous. Taking into account my sensitivity to smoke, I decided I would fly to Sun Valley and then make the decision whether to proceed or return home. September 7th, 2017 … Continue reading
Come join me for the last chapter of this odyssey. One of the Indian students who “interviewed” me asked what most moved me about the trip. Aside from the thrill of being of Antarctica, I was moved by Sir Robert Swan’s dedication over the past 30 years to the preservation of Antarctica and to raising awareness about climate change. His strategy is brilliant. He brings young change makers from all over the world to Antarctica so that they will see for themselves what is so painfully evident. I was equally moved hearing about the dreams and aspirations of the young … Continue reading
Have you ever imagined what the earth looked like in the beginning, before humans tinkered around with it? Antarctica offers us a glimpse into this primordial world. It is the last remaining truly wild place left on our planet. I can see why Sir Robert Swan, after skiing 900 miles across Antarctica over thirty years ago, vowed that he would devote his life to “saving” this majestic and wondrous place. … Continue reading
Come with me on a trip to the most remote and pristine wilderness on the planet—a frozen version of the Garden of Eden, a landmass the size of the US, Europe, and Australia, a place that has never known poverty or war, a place that is covered in ice—ice that is melting fast. The international treaty that protects Antarctica from exploitation ends in 2041—unless we can take actions that will extend the treaty for as long as humans walk the earth. Ever since Sir Robert Swan laid eyes on Antarctica after walking for 70 days to the south pole in … Continue reading
During a nine-hour wait in the DFW airport—lengthened by technical difficulties with our flight—I managed to attract three different people with medical problems. A man and his wife from British Columbia, seated next to me in the waiting area, began chatting with me. They had organized a running marathon on Antarctica—over ice, snow, and rocks—and had gone down there seven years in a row to oversee the event. The subject of Lyme Disease popped up because the man had suffered with the illness for nine years. Of course, I couldn’t help myself from diving right in. After the couple left … Continue reading
Soon I will be leaving on a trip to Antarctica. The idea of traveling to Antarctica originated with a knock on my door—the proverbial knock of opportunity—and then the mere idea became a real possibility after a series of unusual and unforeseen circumstances. One day last fall, I finished my work seeing patients at around five in the afternoon—about an hour earlier than usual. While in the kitchen chopping vegetables in preparation for dinner, I heard a barely audible knock on the door in the laundry room. The door leads outside to the carport. No one that I know uses … Continue reading
Day #4 at TECC—our last day with our beloved elephants. This day was extra special because we got to participate in making paper out of elephant dung and we got our certificates in mahout training. But best of all, we got to hang out with the elephants for another day. Apparently, the dung is so well digested by the beneficial bacteria in the elephants’ intestines, that it has no odor and contains no undigested food—only insoluble plant fibers—perfect for making paper. I imagine the street elephants’ dung would not qualify for making paper since they probably are forced to eat … Continue reading
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” ― Rumi Come with me and I’ll show you around this world of elephants. Stay tuned for the next post where you’ll see how the elephants earn their upkeep. Bye for now, Princess Prathida Devotée … Continue reading