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Showing posts from 2007

Closing out the year with King Mango

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In January of this year, I resolved to start a blog where I would document my travels or my adventures, as I prefer to think of them. With much encouragement from my friends and family (Roland, Julie, Laura and Susie, I'm looking at you), I actually stuck to that resolution and amazingly, the blog will soon be entering its second year. It has been great fun and I want thank all of those who have stopped by the site and especially Shawn, who although a reluctant commenter has been an essential part of most of my adventures. Now what better way of ending '07 than with some photos from yesterday's King Mango Strut , Coconut Grove's light-hearted look at the year's most newsworthy events (not that the stilt-walkers were actually offering any timely political commentary, per se, but they were just really, really good and I liked the way the photo turned out). I wish you all a fan-fricking-tastic New Year's Eve and nothing but joyous times in 2008

Holidays are for the birds (and for the butterflies, too)

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At least, they are almost over. So instead of short-circuiting at the mall, I have opted for posting some tranquility-inducing photos from our recent visit to Coral Spring's Butterfly World . Hope they make you feel better, too. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Murders, Rocks and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

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December's adventure has taken me to none other than the lovely town of Marienthal , Kansas. Unlikely as it may seem, I understand that some people may not be familiar with this destination, so let me quote what is quite possibly the shortest entry in the history of Wikipedia : Marienthal is an unincorporated community in Wichita County , Kansas , United States . The post office was established March 18 , 1902 . Its ZIP code is 67863. The town was founded in 1892 by a group of immigrant German Russians from Marienthal , Russia . Marienthal now consists of roughly 100 people, a Catholic church, a post office, an acclaimed organic flour mill , a bar and a CO-OP grain elevator That's it. That is the entire entry. I just wish that I had read it before going because although I saw the church, drank at the bar and most likely met all 100 people, I had no idea there was an acclaimed flour mill to see (organic or otherwise).

As promised..

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.... here are some more photos from my visit to Akagera National Park earlier this week.

Back in Akagera

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This past May , I had a chance to do a one-day safari in Rwanda's Akagera National Park and it was fantastic. I believe I even posted some pictures that meagerly attempt to show just how special that park is. On that day I saw everything that I had hoped to see, that is, with one significant exception. In all of my safaris (including South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and of course, Rwanda) I have always wanted to see a hippo out of the water and I have always failed miserably. Consequently, all my hippo pics look suspiciously like photos of gray boulders peaking out of the water. Even the best of all the photos inspires the thought "Wow, that rock almost looks like a hippo". So, with that in mind, some stubborn determination and a lot of wishful thinking, I headed back to Akagera two days ago. So, how did it go? Well, I think it is unseemly to brag, so I will allow this photo to do it for me, but suffice it to say that I was very giddy that day. I have some other cool

Halloween hijinks

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Here you have Shawn looking quite handsome as a beer bottle and me modeling the latest in asylum-wear. Can you guess what we are?

Exactly whose fantasy is this?

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I just returned from Key West, where the annual Fantasy Fest celebration is in full swing. During the week-long festival, there are a series of theme nights (ie. red night, plaid night, toga night), but somehow they all amount to one thing, people running around in various states of undress. This in principle may sound like a good thing, but trust me, it is not. When you see a man in a loin cloth or a woman wearing nothing but body paint, and your first thought is "Where are his/ her grandchildren and why did they not stop him/her?", or when you find yourselves searching for a sharp stick with which to poke out your eyes to make the vision of the wrinkly woman in the thong go away, it's a bit of a problem. Yet despite all this, it is still Key West and it can still be counted upon to provide awe-inspiring sunsets, wonderfully off-kilter locals and crystalline waters. Visiting only makes me want to go there more often. Only I think I will wait until the body pa

Changing of the Leaf

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Just returned from Portsmouth, NH, where they are supposed to be in the midst of the glorious "changing of the leaves" that everyone raves about. In hindsight, I probably should have checked before boarding a "leaf watchers" cruise, to see if this was actually taking place. I also really, truly should have checked the weather. That way I would have known that (1) for the most part, the leaves are just as green as they have been all summer (I swear the exceptions in the photos above smelled suspiciously like spray paint) and (2) the temperature in Portsmouth is nothing whatsoever like it was this summer (read bone-chilling, Happy Feet kind of cold). Live and Learn.