My trip commenced April 4 with a long 9 hour drive from Tucson to the town of Van Horn in West Texas, which sits between 3 National Parks; Big Bend, well to the south, and Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns to the north. The first evening I cracked a tooth while munching on popcorn; I … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I last reported on travel through southern Australia, from the Nullarbor Plains to Victoria. My final morning in Chiltern I drove again to two of the better sites, the ponds which had a lovely Yellow-billed Spoonbill and the forest where I had located one of the Regent Honeyeaters nests – never enough photos of the … Click to View Photos & Read More →
On Saturday, Oct. 14, I departed Esperance to drive north and then east across the great and daunting Nullarbor Plain to enter South Australia. The first day I drove the section of road called the longest straight highway in the country – probably the world; for 147kms (92 miles) the two lane Eyre Highway runs … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I last reported from Jurien Bay, just north of Perth; since then I have traveled on south to the cape, through the wine regions, tall tree forests, and a number of mountainous national parks. On the drive south to Perth I stopped for a large flock of Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos, a threatened species. I must … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I last reported from Broome where, for the second time, I had to go to a McDonalds in order to find internet with broad enough band-width to upload my photos. Internet just is not generally available at the caravan parks or restaurants outside the southeast coast, and when available, dreadfully slow or limited to a … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I currently am writing this from Broome, on the north-west coast of Western Australia. I last reported on Darwin and Kakadu upon my arrival in Katherine, located in the middle of the Northern Territory, at the cross-roads to travel north, south or west, with the branch going east cutting off further south. Although I found … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I departed Tucson on August 12. From locking my front door on Saturday afternoon to checking into my hotel in Darwin in the Northern Territory on Monday afternoon the journey consisted of a grueling 30 hours of travel, but included a day entirely skipped from crossing the international dateline. Each of the three flights was … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I last reported from Salamanca, where I spent 6 days eating and drinking too much. I traveled by train on Wednesday north through Valladolid, and then on to Santander on the northern Atlantic coast. From there I took a local bus the short distance south into the mountains to the tiny hamlet of Puente Viesgo. … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I last reported from Merida, one of the great ancient Roman cities of Spain with the best preserved structures. From Merida last Sunday I traveled north to Caceres in Extremadura, the region which was home to most of the best known Conquistadores of the New World. Caceres preserves what is known as the Monumental City, … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I last reported from Ubeda. From there I traveled 9 kilometers, just over the hill, to its smaller sister town, Baeza; together the two towns share UNESCO World Heritage Site status for their remarkable Italian Renaissance style edifices which dominate the ancient town cores. As I previously noted, the town nobles through the first half … Click to View Photos & Read More →
Leaving Tucson early Sunday morning April 30, I arrived in Madrid early Monday morning May 1 – total travel time about 19 hours but with a 9 hour time change. Jet-lag always hits me much harder when traveling east, and I really just recovered by Friday. This trip I tried a different hotel in Madrid, … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I last reported from Manizales in the Andean Central Cordillera (range). From Manizales I traveled February 5th by private car down through the Cauca River Valley, which runs between the Central and Western Cordilleras, and up to Jardin which lies in a central plateau on the Western Cordillera. Jardin is a small town with brightly … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I last reported after just arriving in Cartagena on the Caribbean coast. Cartagena, the Spanish version of the name for ancient Carthage, is listed as a World Heritage Site for its 500 year old walled port city from which Spain shipped much of its plundered New World gold and silver. The old walls still completely … Click to View Photos & Read More →
I flew from Bogota to Barranquilla, the third largest city in Colombia, on December 27; my earlier flight from Leticia, in Amazonia, to Bogota was held on the tarmac for 40 minutes as we waited before liftoff for a rainstorm to subside. My flight from Bogota also was delayed on the tarmac for an hour, … Click to View Photos & Read More →
December 10 I flew from Bogota to Leticia, the capital of the Amazona Department. Leticia is situated on the northeast bank of the Amazon River at the point where 3 countries meet, Colombia, Brazil and Peru. From my hotel I simply can walk a few blocks southeast and pass into Tabatinga, Brazil – no immigration … Click to View Photos & Read More →