At this morning's gathering onboard the River Rhapsody somewhere in France, we happily learned that we would have half a day in Strasbourg, far too little a time, but at least we would get there on this trip. Busses arrived to remove us from Breisach am Rhein to take us to Strasbourg. I was not the only one who was elated by this news. The journey took an hour and a half; instead of an orientation walk we toured the city by open canal boat, reminiscent of the canal boats in Amsterdam. This was fun and informative; I usually prefer to explore on foot, but certainly not following behind some of the very very slow elders who are on this tour. It took at least a quarter hour for our group to board a canal boat, ... read more

Two and a half weeks ago I returned home after travelling in Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Slovenia, but it just occurred to me this morning that I had confused two different funiculars in two different countries, combining them into just one! And, of course, sent out a blog post while these mixed memories were happily playing in my head. So this entry is a retraction, an apology for not only allowing two different countries to synthesize into one, but in reporting things that happened in two different cities as if it were a single occurrence. I think we all adjust our memories, changing what happened to reflect more kindly on ourselves or others, dulling and smoothing the sharp edges, and over time I have read that these enhanced memories become what we believe truly ... read more

I am looking out my window at an expanse of the beautiful Adriatic Sea. How I was lucky enough to get such a fantastic view of the Adriatic from my room is a mystery, but I am so thankful for it. Flat and calm, reflecting the variably cloudy sky, a few pleasure boats are scattered here and there on this calm, early Sunday morning. I've already been on a walk along the Lungomare, a mostly paved promenade that stretches for miles alongside this part of the Adriatic, connecting little resort seaside towns. At first my walk was peaceful and quiet, but as I strolled along, enjoying the gorgeous views, more and more people appeared and music began to be broadcast from the many hotels along this route. I prefer quiet, especially when most others' choice of ... read more

Geo: -17.93, 25.84 Last night we slept in civilization again, enclosed in a very pleasant hotel with all its attendant (and undesired) amenities: windows that don't open (monkeys could scamper inside), television, sounds of traffic, a refrigerator humming on and off, outside lights shining all night long, and an annoying fresh paint smell because our rooms have been recently renovated and there is no way to dissipate the foul air in these sealed rooms. I'd rather be in the bush any day. But the staff here at the Rainbow Hotel is lovely, accommodating, friendly, courteous, and seemingly happy, as are all of the Africans we've met on this trip. And so today is our last full day here in Zimbabwe, here in ancient Africa. It will be enormously sad to leave this continent. I need to ... read more

Geo: -15.1305, 25.7849 Early Sunday morning was chilly in the still dark of 5AM. I thought about getting up, but it felt almost cold outside of the blankets. So I stayed in the warm bed under the snug duvet for another hour until it became impossible to lie there any longer. During the night I had heard a crashing through the bushes immediately beside my cabin, followed by a large splash into the river --only a few feet away; a hippo had brushed right by! Even though I am usually an avid night-walker in the woods, and routinely use a red cover for my flashlight so as not to disturb wildlife or anyone's night vision, no one at OAT had mentioned bringing along a red cover for our flashlights. So, with only a relatively powerful small ... read more