Never too old

AFRICA THE SUN GOES DOWN After two days in the guesthouse, we packed the Big Red bus and headed into the Namib desert. Towering red sand dunes dwarfed us. Six Rings, our new campground, was named for the Sesriem Canyon. This gorge was purported to be six whips deep, the number of thongs needed for the settlers to get water out of the pools of water in the canyon, thus the name Six Rings. After lunch, we began to climb one of the enormous dunes to capture spectacular photos of the sunset. The sunset walk proved to be too strenuous for me. Everyone scurried up the dune except me. I dragged myself up. I was alone. There was no trail, just a view of the top of the dune. I picked a path that looked the ... read more

AFRICA - OUR CARAVAN CONTINUES Of course, I knew Africa was vast, but our daily travel confused me. There were no street signs and few cities or towns. We drove for days on unimproved roads, mere sandy tracks. Our trip could be an episode of "Where's Waldo?" or "Where in Africa is Carmen Sandiego?" I was surprised by the constantly changing terrain. There were game drives through Etosha National Park in Namibia. Herds of animals grazed the flat, grassy plain. Then, huge granite domes rose out of the desert at Spitskoppe. We watched a dramatic sunset on a walk to Sossusvlei over the world's highest sand dunes. And we even visited the wild and rocky shore of the South Atlantic. During our two days in Etosha, we stayed in a campground with a floodlit waterhole where ... read more

AFRICA - CHOOSING ADVENTURE Day Two: I got up early. Locating things in a dark tent was a challenge. I had the 5' by 5' by 5' tent all to myself, and my belongings were strewn from corner to corner. I was late for the morning meeting, which explained the plans for the day. After breakfast and clean-up, Hubert and I met our driver in the parking lot. He drove us to the horse ranch. Hubert signed us up for ½ day of horseback riding. Neither of us was very experienced. Hubert was enthusiastic and excited but hadn't been on a horse since high school. Our guide took us over some basic riding skills and then led the way onto the desert. We rode through scrub brush and sand and went up close to several giraffes. ... read more

ON THE MEND Hawaii is a favorite travel destination for Americans. We were three older ladies, almost strangers, in a condominium in Hawaii. We had all been to Hawaii more than once. Recreational ballroom dancing was our common bond. After Covid, there were no venues open for recreational ballroom dancing in Kona. However, is there a more beautiful place to spend time relaxing and getting to know one another better than Hawaii? I was still recuperating from my broken clavicle, but I was gaining strength and mobility. As we got settled in we started finding more to do around the area. We went to a really nice public park on the beach. We shopped at a great little thrift shop, called Memory Lane. They had great low prices and sales and we went several times. We ... read more

PORTO RENDEZVOUS After leaving my hostel, I made several false starts to figure out how to exit Santarem. I even asked a policeman; he was unfamiliar with walking in the city. He gave me driving directions, which were of no help to me. I decided to have another breakfast and ponder the problem. An up-scale coffee shop called my name; I ordered and took my first bite. I realized in a panic that I had left my hiking sticks again! Leaving all my possessions behind, I raced back to the grocery store, where I had bought water and nuts for the day. There were the walking sticks leaning against the wall. What a relief! That’s the third time I forgot them in twenty-four hours! Returning to the café, I finished my sweet roll and tea and ... read more