Travel Post Monthly

Stakes and Leg-irons in Toledo, Spain

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:50:49 +0000

By David Elliott
Four hundred years ago it would have been the smell of grilled heretics rather than croissants wafting to my nostrils in Toledo’s Zocodover Plaza. The spirit of the Inquisition has never completely left.

Peer into an Eagle's Nest at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:49:51 +0000

By Janette Jones

Established in 1933 as a stopping point for migratory birds following the Atlantic Flyway, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, just south of Cambridge, MD, currently encompasses more than 27,000 acres of rich tidal marsh, freshwater ponds, and mixed evergreen and deciduous forests.

Heads Up in Corfu: Pottery Flies at Easter on the Greek Island

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:45:21 +0000

By Sandra Laurin

The smell of lamb roasting on outdoor BBQ spits... streets filled with choirs, bands and religious processions... and clay pots falling from the sky. These are the sounds and sights of Orthodox Easter on the Greek island of Corfu. Every April, hundreds of Corfiots return to their homeland to participate in the biggest celebration of the year.

Heading North -- To the Polar Bear

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:44:20 +0000

By Barnaby Davies

At 80 degrees north, aboard the Professor Molchanov, nobody spoke. The 25-year-old hull creaked in the ice. Camera shutters whirred. Expedition staff and passengers alike were spellbound. A gargantuan male polar bear stood, flat-footed, only a few feet beneath us on the Norwegian pack-ice. Had I leant just a little further over the ship’s rail, we could have shaken hands. Or rather, I could have lost my video camera and the arm holding it.

360 Degrees of Eagles, Islands, and Waves: All Aboard S.V. Shawmanee

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:41:01 +0000

By Dawn-Marie Hanrahan
My chilled glass of Pinot Grigio carefully set on the starboard rail of the S.V. Shawmanee barely shimmied as the 65-foot ketch silently sliced through Washington’s coastal waters in Bellingham Bay. Designated the “office photographer” for the August outing, I’d skittered fore and aft capturing each of the 42 mates onboard, and now a large harbor seal bobbed its nose playfully in front of my camera.

Ormiston Gorge: Jewel of the West McDonnell Ranges

Mon, 04 May 2009 22:37:42 +0000

By Claudia Riley
A Perentie lizard moves ponderously across the riverbed, its forked tongue flicking in and out, tasting the air, looking for food. The quiet whir and click of digital camera shutters is the only sound on a breathlessly hot afternoon as tourists capture memories of a day out in the Australian bush. Ormiston Gorge is Central Australia at its unbeatable best.

Hold On to Your Panama Hat… This is One Exhilarating Ride

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:24:52 +0000

By Mary Anne Lonze
In Ecuador, Most travelers hop on the 40-minute commuter jet from Quito to the coastal city of Manta, but we chose the more adventurous 7-hour overland route. Through the Andes mountains. In a taxi. After all, why come this far and take the easy way out?

A Trip to the Mayan Underworld… and Back

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:23:20 +0000

By Mark Campbell
The skeleton was on its back. I wondered how the woman would have felt as she was led—willingly? fearfully? proudly?—through the black cavern and sacrificed to appease Chac, the god of rain.

“Actun Tunichil Muknal means cave of the stone sepulcher,” our guide had explained as we stood before the dark hourglass mouth of the cave 45 minutes earlier. “To get to the skeletons we must swim into the entrance. Then we must wade. Sometimes the water is waist deep, sometimes chest deep. There are bats.”

Pleasant Surprises in Bogota, Colombia

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:21:01 +0000

By Ifang Hsieh
A few years ago, my colleague returned from her business trip to Bogota, the capital city of Colombia, and mentioned that she was accompanied by at least one bodyguard whenever she ventured out of the hotel. My recent visit was unplanned, and in place of a bodyguard, I spent a day touring the city with a personal guide and a driver recommended by the hotel. Bogota turned out to be such a delightful stop that it has since become one of my favorite destinations on Earth.

Fez Goes Global in Song at The World Sacred Music Festival

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:16:22 +0000

By Anita Breland and Tom Fakler

Boujloud’s blue and green tiles glint in the setting sun. Place Pacha el-Baghdadi, the immense square outside the ancient medina gate, swarms with people jockeying for position along its brick ramps to view a free concert.

Adventure, Archaeology Found in the Lost Castle of Alara

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:12:09 +0000

By David Elliott

There can’t be many places left on the planet where you can act out your cherished Indiana Jones fantasies, but Alara castle in southern Turkey is one of them.

It is not signposted, despite being just a five-minute drive inland from the modern coast road connecting the large resort towns of Alanya and Antalya. Five minutes if you know where you’re going, that is. It took me almost an hour to negotiate the labyrinth of lanes and dirt tracks, until I suspected that its location must be a closely-guarded secret.

Winter Wandering in the Swiss Alps

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:21:53 +0000

By Tom Fakler

Sitting sipping coffee at Berghotel Schwarenbach, located 2,061 meters above sea level in the Swiss Alps, you look out onto snow-covered mountains as the sun peeks over the ridge.

Boston’s North End: No Time, No Reservations, No Worries!

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:20:35 +0000

By David Barabani

After paying your fare, you slide out of your cab and embark down the famous Hanover Street in Boston’s version of Europe -- the North End.

Time Stands Still in the Everglades

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:19:35 +0000

By Suzanne LaBerge
Flung like a silk scarf across the western sky, the purple and orange sunset reflected off the walls of the dining room at the Everglades City Rod and Gun Club. The year could have been 1922.

Wildlife and Luxury: On Safari in Tanzania

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:17:40 +0000

By Dan Reich
Photos by Ellen Goldstein

The imposing buffalo glared, his angry eyes and horns lit by our Maasai escort’s flashlight.