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One of our favorite activities over the years has been international travel. Some of these trips were made in conjunction with the academic institutions with which Don has been affiliated. Others came through his national offices in Pharmacy organizations. In more recent times, we have taken trips on our own initiative. What follows is a catalog of some of our international travel experiences. | |
Directory
of Countries/Locations Visited
(Click on name of country for more
information)
We made an extensive driving trip
through Mexico to meet our children who had spent the summer in
exchange
programs arranged through their local schools in California. Sharon
spent
the summer in Torreon and Tom in Guanahuato. Once we retrieved Tom and
Sharon, we visited Mexico City including the Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology and then traveled to several the sites of the
pre-Columbian
civilizations such as Teotihuacan and Tula.
1971 - Chile & Other South American Countries
Don was invited to be a visiting professor of the University of Chile on Santiago under sponsorship of a Ford Foundation program that supported academic exchanges between the University of California and the University of Chile. We lived one month in Santiago during which time we experienced the culture of Chile and made many friends. We had opportunity to travel extensively throughout Central Chile during this time. On our way down to Chile, we toured through Peru and Bolivia. This included visits to museums and archaeological sites in the Lima area, Cuzco and Machu Picchu followed by a train ride through the Alto Plano to lake Titicaca and several days in La Paz, Bolivia. During our time in Bolivia, we had opportunity to visit the ancient site at Tihuanaco. Following our time in Santiago, we toured Southern Chile and Argentina, where we stopped for a day in Buenos Aires. We finished our trip with marvelous visits to Rio, Brasilia and Manaus. In Manaus, we took an all day canoe through the jungle flooded by the Rio Negro River and saw pink dolphins at the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Rio Amazonas.
We again drove through Mexico for three weeks. Don gave lectures in Mexico City where we again visited archaeological sites and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. We then drove south to Tehuantapec and then across to the East Coast to Veracruz. From there, we drove north and then looped back to the West Side of Mexico and finally reached Arizona. This enabled us to visit Oaxaca as well as many sites of archaeological interest.
1978 - Peoples Republic of China & Japan
In late August 1978, we traveled to the Peoples' Republic of China with a delegation from the University of Missouri that included the principal University officers as well as the health science deans and community leaders from the Kansas City area. This was even before relations between the USA and China were "normalized." We visited Guangzhou (Canton), Shanghai, Wuxi, Hangchow, and Beijing. Visits to the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, the Forbidden City, Mao's Tomb, the Great Hall of the People, the Summer Palace and other important sites were included. We were hosted in grand fashion and visited factories, communes, hospitals and other sites where we were given a "show and tell" of the progress being made as the country emerged from decades of Mao's rule. One point of interest to us that we had expected to be highly regulated in our activities. Such was not the case and we were allowed to wander about with little or no restriction on our nightly walks after dinner. Only once when we almost blundered onto a military base were we waved off.
China then, was very different from today and people mostly wore grey or blue clothing (Mao suits), rode only bicycles or walked and spoke guardedly about their future and the past. There was no direct connection passenger between Hong Kong and Canton and we had to disembark our train and walk across a covered railroad bridge to enter China. We then boarded another train and continued on to Canton. These experiences were one of the highlights of our international travel adventures through the years.
It was on this trip that we met Xu Jia Yu, a Chinese gastroenterologist at Shanghai's Jui Chin Hospital and the Shanghai Second Medical School, who was to become a dear friend over the years and eventually, we became the "American Parents" of his daughter Yvette. Yvette is now board certified in internal medicine and lives in New Jersey with her husband Patrick Zhou and daughter Willa Marie.
We concluded our trip with a 4-day stop in Japan where we visited Tokyo and took the Bullet train to Kyoto with an overnight stop at Mt. Fuji.
1980 - Portugal, Morocco & Spain
In late summer, we took a TWA Getaway tour through Portugal, Morocco and Spain. We started in Lisbon and then worked our way south passing by Gibraltar and on to Morocco where we toured to Fez and Casablanca and an old Roman city. We returned to Spain's Costa del Sol, then visited Grenada and drove through La Mancha to finally end up in Madrid where Don represented the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy at the International Pharmacy Federation Meeting and presented a paper during the meeting of the academic pharmacy section. Jacquie's mother Margaret, age 75, accompanied this us on this, her first-ever international experience.
We also spent a few days in Jamaica at Montego Bay during the late fall where Don represented the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy at the annual meeting of the National Pharmaceutical Council. We took time after the meeting to tour the usual tourist spots and enjoy some time on the beach before returning home.
1981 - Peoples Republic of China & Philippean Islands
In June, we again traveled to the Peoples' Republic of China as a member of a group of academic people touring under the auspices of the Edgar Snow Foundation which is based at the University of Missouri Kansas City. Our group included people in the medical profession, biologists, mathematicians, musicians, and historians. We visited Beijing, Shenyang, Harbin, Hangchow, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. In each city, we met with our respective professional counterparts and discussed topics of mutual interest. In Beijing, we visited many of the same sites we had seen in 1978 and were amazed at the changes taking place. People were more open, there were more consumer goods available and most of the blue and gray "uniforms" were gone. The Mao Mausoleum was closed and for the most part, his pictures and statues had disappeared. This was an enjoyable and informative trip. On our way home we stopped in the Philippine Islands where we visited Manilla and Bagio and then took a fascinating day-long drive from Bagio to Banoue through rugged and quite primitive terrain.
In late November, we traveled to Panama where Don represented the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy at the annual meeting of the Pan-American Congress of Biochemistry and Pharmacy in Panama City. We rented a car and drove to Vallé where we saw the famous golden frogs. We also took a one-day trip to the San Blas Islands, my ideal of a tropical island paradise! While there, we dined on locally caught lobster and had opportunity to purchase several of the residents' famous handcrafted mollas. And, of course, we also toured the Panama Canal and watched the opening and closing of the locks as a ship passed through.
1983 - Nigeria, Popular Republic of Benin, Kenya and Egypt
At the end of April, we traveled
to Nigeria where Don was to serve a month as a visiting professor at
the
University of Lagos. We had a layover day in London which turned out to
the May Day Holiday. We stayed in a hotel at the airport but took the
train
into London. Things were quiet because of the holiday but we took a
sightseeing
tour on one of the red double-decked buses and then returned to the
hotel.
The next morning, we left for Lagos where faculty members from the
University
greeted us at the airport. We stayed in a newly finished guesthouse on
the campus of the medical college in Lagos. Because of crime problems
in
Lagos, security at the university was tight and there were armed guards
at the gate and high walls around the campus. We were escorted
everywhere
we went during our stay in Lagos. Don worked with the faculty of the
newly
established Department of Pharmacy and helped them get their academic
pharmacy
programs started. He also gave lectures to medical residents and
fellows.
The University provost, Dr. Deji Femi-Pearse, was a wonderful host and
included us in many of his daily activities on the weekends. As a
result,
we had exposure to many facets of the local culture. We attended art
exhibits,
met a couple of Obas (traditional tribal kings), attended a post exam
party
for a Ph.D. candidate, attended a going out party (wake), met a witch
doctor
(juju priest) and visited his temple, traveled to the Popular Republic
of Benin and did many other things of interest.
Following our time in Lagos, we went on a two-week camera safari in Kenya and then visited the ancient Egyptian archaeological sites along the Nile River including the Pyramids, Abu Simbal, Aswan, Karnak and Thebes. By the end of this trip, we both were suffering from a case of "information overload" from all of the wonderful things we had experienced and observed. We flew home via Athens and Rome but only saw the inside of airports in those cities. The most disconcerting thing that happened on the trip was being greeted by soldiers carrying automatic rifles and having our carry-on baggage searched before we could enter the terminal as we disembarked in Rome on our flight from Athens. Security there was very tight and made us feel apprehensive. A couple of weeks later, a TWA plane was hijacked in Athens and shortly after that the Achille Lauro was hijacked by terrorists.
1986 Peoples Republic of China, Tibet, Nepal, India , Singapore & Malaysia
We again traveled to the People's Republic of China with a group of former colleagues and friends from the University of Missouri Kansas City's Edgar Snow Foundation. We visited Beijing for the third time. Here Don had the unique experience of being treated for a severe back problem at the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine where he received a combination of physical therapy and accupressure and left virtually pain free! We next flew to Xian where we visited many interesting places including the site of the Ching Dynasty tomb where the emperor created a whole army of terracotta soldiers to accompany him into the after-life. We then briefly visited Chengdu in Sichuan Province and next flew to the top of the world, Lhasa ,Tibet. In Lhasa, we visited many religious shrines and viewed cultural performances by Tibetan people. The highlight was a tour through the massive Potala, once the home of the Dali Lama, which dominates the skyline of Lhasa. From Lhasa, we drove approximately 500 miles by bus over graveled roads to the southern border with Nepal. Along the way we visited Shigaze, home of the Panchen Lama, where a major religious festival was underway. We crossed several mountain passes with elevations between 15,000 and 17,000 feet. In Nepal we visited Kathmandu and the Gaida Game Reserve and then flew to Singapore via New Delhi and Madras. We spend three days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then returned home arriving just in time to see the July 4 fireworks display as we were landing in San Francisco.
1988 - Papua New Guinea & Australia
In December 1988, we flew to Papua New Guinea via Australia to participate as research assistants in an Earthwatch project. We stopped briefly in Port Moresby and then flew in a two engine Twin Otter to Wau which is located about 75 miles inland from Lae on the north coast of New Guinea. At Wau, we lived for two weeks at the ecology institute where we participated in an entomology research project directed by Dr. Larry Orsak. The project was studying the evolutionary adaptations of moths to avoid predation by birds and other insects. We learned about all sorts of interesting insects that are unique to Papua New Guinea and experienced a bit of the culture of this emerging nation. We personally were assigned to work on the spider-mimicking moth and were fortunate to find a connection between this moth and a predatory spider that lives on the trunks of certain trees in the forest. A highlight of our project was a trip to the remote village of Aseki where we had opportunity to view mummified remains of indigenous people deposited in caves high on the mountainside. This location has been described in National Geographic. Following our project, we enjoyed a few days sightseeing at Cairns in Australia including a visit to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree River.
This year we again escaped California's Central Valley winter fog and traveled to New Zealand's South Island to participate in an Earthwatch project that involved studying the behaviors of a small green bird called a rifleman. The project was conducted under the direction of Professor Ian McClean of the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. These little birds, about the size on a ping-pong ball, mate for life and have extended families. We spent our time mapping their family territories in a well defined "study forest" of kanuka trees. We stayed in excellent facilities at the University's marine biology lab in Kaikoura. In addition to our work, we had opportunity to have Christmas dinner with a local family and to enjoy a nightly round at the local pub in Kaikoura. We also observed many birds unique to the local area and took numerous hikes during our free time. Following our commitment to the project, we rented a car and circumnavigated the South Island. Our stops included Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound and other scenic spots along the West Coast. A high point was a helicopter trip that circled the summit of Mt. Cook landed us near the crest of Mt. Tasman on the Franz Joseph glacier. What a "high" to go zipping along only 100 ft. above the ice fields of the glacier and to disembark and walk around the snow fields near the summit! All this in brilliant sunshine with the blue ocean and white surf in the not-so-far distance.
This December, it was back to Papua New Guinea to again work with Larry Orsak on the moth project. We were the only two volunteers for the first two weeks of the project and basically helped Larry with preparing for subsequent groups to come later. Following the project we toured through the Highlands region stopping at Mt. Hagen and Tari. At Tari, we saw the famous Huli "wig men" and ended up in the middle of war between rival clans that had started over the theft of a pig. We actually were in no danger but it was a unique cultural experience. We then cruised along the Sepic River on the maiden voyage of the Sepic Spirit visiting several remote villages just emerging from a nearly stone-age culture. We brought home numerous woodcarvings and other mementos of our visit.
1990 - British Columbia, Yukon & Alaska
In July, we embarked on a seven-week driving trip to Alaska via Canada's British Columbia and Yukon Territory. We camped out along the way using the rear compartment of our GMC Jimmy as shelter. But, we did retreat to motels when the weather became too inclement which occurred only three or four times during the seven-week trip. Our travels took to many places including a long 500-mile drive north from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope. There, we were able to stick our hands into the frigid water of the Arctic Sea. It was too cold to camp out at Prudhoe Bay so we stayed in a "crew room" in The Caribou Inn, a hotel for transient oil field workers. We enjoyed seeing caribou wandering around the streets of the town, Deadhorse, and had a tour of the oil fields. After Prudhoe Bay, we visited Denali National Park, caught salmon in the Kenai River and halibut in Glacier Bay. We returned from Skagway, AK to Bellingham, WA via ferryboat traversing the Inland Passage amidst beautiful scenery that we seldom could see because of overcast skies and rain. Our Alaska trip was a marvelous adventure that we will not soon forget.
1994 - Antartica, Chile, South Georgia and Falkland Islands
In January, we fulfilled a long-time dream of taking a voyage to Antarctica. We flew via Miami to Santiago, Chile where we joined fellow travelers on this Clipper Cruises adventure tour. While in Santiago, Don gave an impromptu seminar at the Faculty of Pharmacy where he had served as a visiting professor in 1971. We were able to have dinner with Professor Aquiles Arancibia who was out host during our earlier visit. From Santiago, we flew to Punta Arenas in Southern Chile where we endured a perilous landing due to a flat tire on our airplane. From there it was a short flight to Puerto Williams at the very tip of South America where we boarded the World Discoverer for our voyage to Antarctica. The next day, we rounded Cape Horn and sailed out into the very rough seas of Drakes' Passage and the "Roaring 40s." After a very rough day, we awoke to a relatively calm sea and the blindingly white landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula. We then cruised south and crossed the Antarctic Circle amid 90 percent pack ice. After toasting the crossing with champagne, we headed back north stopping frequently for on-shore visits to view the rich marine and avian life. Especially interesting were the antics of the several kinds of penguins that inhabit the region. During one of our stops, we finally set foot on the Continent itself and achieved the milestone of having visited all seven of the World's continents! After leaving Antarctica, we stopped at South Georgia Island to view the wildlife and visit the ruins of old whaling stations at Stromness and Lief. At Grytvikn, we visited Sir Ernest Shakelton's grave where we toasted his memory and his amazing accomplishments with Irish whiskey, his favorite. We poured a jigger on the grave for him as well! That evening, we had an on-board barbecue with the British garrison of Ghurka soldiers at Grytvikyn as our guests. In the Grytvikyn area, one can still see the scars of the war between England and Argentina. Following South Georgia, there was a brief stop in the Falkland Islands at Bleaker Island to to view rockhopper penguins following which , we disembarked at Port Stanley and flew back to the USA via Santiago and Miami. The total trip encompassed a bit over 20,000 miles.
Click here to view pictures for this trip
March 8 saw us traveling to Costa Rica to participate in another Earthwatch project under the direction of Dr. David McDonald. The project was located in the mountain town of Monteverde just a short distance from the national park of the same name. The research project involved studying the unique mating behavior small birds known as of long-tailed manakins. Much of our time was spent sitting in blinds in the forest waiting for manakins to engage in their courtship dances. When such occurred, we collected data on various aspects of their behavior. Our team lived in a comfortable housing on a working dairy farm. In our off hours we were able to visit the famed Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve as well as do a lot of birding on the study site. Jacquie and I were housed in a small cabin that seemed very attractive to scorpions and almost nightly, we had to remove a couple from the walls before we went to bed! We also frequently heard the rumbling of an active volcano about 10 miles to the east! Following the project, we traveled around Costa Rica birding and visiting various national parks throughout the country for another ten days. We returned home on April 2 full of many wonderful experiences.
On January 10, we traveled to the island country of Trinidad and Tobago to participate in an Earthwatch research project and a birding tour organized by Caligo Ventures. The Earthwatch project was conducted under the direction of Professor Bhawan Singh of the University of Montreal and was aimed at studying the possible beach erosion effects of global warming and sea-level rise. We lived in excellent accommodations at the Valsyn Villa in a suburb of Port of Spain, the capitol of Trinidad and Tobago. From there, we commuted to various research sites where we measured changes in beach contours, salt water in ground water and other indications of deleterious effects of the rising sea level. Following our 10 days in this project, we joined the birding tour. The tour began at the famed Asa Wright Nature Center where we stayed several days taking tours to various birding sites in Trinidad accompanied by Jogi Ramala, an experienced guide. We saw many species of wonderful birds under Jogi's guidance. We then took a 20-minute flight to Tobago where we stayed at the Blue Waters Inn and birded with our local guide, Adolphus, for an additional three days before flying back to the USA on January 28.
Click here to view bird list for Trinidad.
Click here to view bird list for Tobago.
The following October 19 we joined a tour of Turkey organized by the Grand Circle Company. We flew overnight from San Francisco via Lufthansa to Frankfurt where we changed planes for an additional 4 or 5 hour flight to Istanbul. We spent two days touring Istanbul including visits to the Topkapi Palace, the Dolmabahace Sarayi the Sultan Ahmet (Blue) Mosque, the Sulimaniye Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. We then boarded a luxury touring bus and spent the next 14 days making a loop through central Turkey and back to Istanbul via the Emerald Coast and the Bosphorus. Our stops included Ankara and Attaturk's Mausoleum, the underground cities of the Cappadocia region, the mausoleum of Melvana in Konya, and the ancient cities of Myra, Demre, Hierapolis, Aphrodisias, Ephesus, Pergamum and Troy. We spent a most-moving afternoon at the battlefields of Gallipoli where a half-million Turkish and Allied soldiers died during WW I. We also visited the modern cities of Izmir and Bursa. We concluded our tour with another three days in Istanbul where we visited the Ayasofia, the Underground Palace, the Spice Bazaar and the Chora and Military Museums. In addition to the marvelous sights and experiences, we delighted in the marvelous Turkish cuisine. We returned home on November 9.
On April 7, we took a long flight to Bangkok, Thailand via Tokyo where we participated in a tour organized by Overseas Adventure Travel. This included visits to many interesting areas in Bangkok plus a bus tour into Northern Thailand. We visited many famous Buddhist temples, toured parks and markets, had several riverboat rides and saw many things of cultural interest. Especially interesting was our visit to the ruins of the ancient city of Sukothai, where the Thai nation was born. We spent two days visiting the Golden Triangle area which included a one-day visit in Laos that required us to cross the Mekong River in wooden canoes. We also visited different hill tribes in this area and observed their culture. In Laos, we even had a chance to visit a back-yard distillery and share a cup of homemade rice whiskey with the residents. Our visit in Thailand coincided with Songkran, the Thai New Year, which is a time of renewal and purification. Everyone celebrates by throwing water on each other and on passersby including visitors to Thailand! We were doused several times in the process and quickly learned to wear appropriate clothing and to keep our cameras and other gear well protected in plastic bags. We concluded our bus tour at Chiang Mai where we visited the Old City and the magnificent mountaintop temple, Doi Suthep. Then, it was back to Bangkok for two more days of city tours.
Following our journey through Thailand, we continued on to Hanoi, Vietnam for a five-day tour. We were pleasantly pleased with the warm reception we received and tremendously enjoyed the culture and cuisine. We toured many areas in and around Hanoi including a visit to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. We especially enjoyed being able to walk around unescorted through the Old Quarter of Hanoi where we could observe and experience the daily activities of the residents. A highlight of the trip was a two-day journey to Ha Long Bay on the coast where we spent one day cruising among the scenic islands that dot the bay. Finally, we embarked for the long flight home via Bangkok, and Tokyo returning to San Francisco April 28.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities on the Thailand & Vietnam trip.
Click here for abstract of 2003 tour that included these two countries.
Click here to view bird list for Thailand, Vietnam and other countries of Southeast Asia.
1999/2000 - Ecuador & Galapagos Islands
For the millennium change, we traveled to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands leaving home on December 15, 1999 and not returning until January 11, 2000. The trip started off with a bang, or at least a big burp! Just as we were to land in Quito, Pichincha volcano erupted and our flight was diverted to Guayaquil. We eventually made our way back to Quito via an overnight bus ride. From there, we flew to Coca, a frontier town on the Rio Napo which is a major tributary of the Amazon River. A two hour ride up the Rio Napo in motor-powered canoes took us to the La Selva Lodge where we stayed four days hiking and canoeing in the jungle with naturalist guides. We lived in bamboo houses and swam in the lagoon whose residents included piranhas and caimans. After returning to Quito, we had a day tour to the famous Otovalo market and then it was on to the Galapagos Islands. We arrived on San Cristobal Island on Christmas Eve and boarded the yacht San Jose. We spent the next ten days cruising the Galapagos Islands. We usually had two on-shore walks and one or two periods for snorkeling each day. Snorkeling enabled us to see the extensive marine life of the islands. Ashore, we saw all of the amazing creatures that are ascribed to the islands including land tortoises, iguanas, 9 of the 13 Darwin's finches, flightless cormorants and Galapagos penguins. To welcome the new millennium, we arose before dawn and climbed an old volcano to view the New Years day sunrise. We then returned to Quito and flew to the old colonial city of Cuenca. Here we hiked in the Andes Mountains and visited the ruins of Ingapirca, once a northern capitol of the Incas. Following our return to Quito, we ended our Ecuador experience with a two-day trip birding trip to Mindo. We left Ecuador January 11, 2000 amidst a growing government crisis and a threatened general strike that ended in a coup attempt a few days later! In spite of that, we immensely enjoyed the country and people and would like to return there again.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities on the Ecuador & Galapagos Island trip
Click here to view bird list for this trip.
On February 22, we departed San Francisco International Airport headed for a safari in Zimbabwe and Botswana. We were accompanied by our daughter, Sharon, and grand daughter Liralen. Our route took us over the top of the world to London, a 10 hour flight. After changing airports in London and a 9-1/2 hour layover, we embarked on another 10-hr. flight to Harare in Zimbabwe where we arrived the morning of February 24. In Harare, we met our guide, Jane Irvine who is a birding specialist. Jane hails from Johannesburg, South Africa and was contracted by AfricanAdrenalin, our tour company, because of our special interests in viewing birds during our safari. On February 25, the four of us and Jane departed Harare in a Land Rover especially equipped for camping and game viewing. Our travels first took us to Nyanga where camped in the national park. Here we learned how to set up our tents and do other camp chores expected of us. We also experienced the first of many rain showers that are common at the end of the rainey season. The next stop was Bvumba where we birded in the beautiful botannical garden and enjoyed magnificent views from our hillside camping area. Then, it was on to Matobo National Park with its unique rock formations and Bushman rock paintings. Rain prevented us from entering areas of the park where the large game is located and we had to content ourselves with seeing only occasional klipspringers, a sable and a couple of kudus. We then crossed into Botswana via Francistown and drove to Nata where we viewed game and many birds in the Nata Pan and surrounding area. Next was the Nxai Pan with large concentrations of zeebra and springbok. At Naxi Pan we also saw cheetahs and wild dogs as well as a deadly black mamba and many other animals and birds. Following Nxai Pan, we drove to Maun and then flew to Oddball's Lodge located in the Okavango Delta. For the next four days, we looked for birds and game along the waterways and hiked various islands. Animals included hippos, Cape buffalo, red lechwe and impala as well as a myriad of water birds. We were fortunate to see and photograph a rare Pell's fishing owl. After flying back to Maun, we drove to Savuti National park where we camped for four days and then it was on to Chobe National Park for another three days. In both locations, we saw literally hundreds of elephants and many other animals including impalas, giraffes, tsesebee, waterbuck and wildebeast. In Savuti, we were able to observe a pride of lions as they assembled for their nightly hunt. We also saw a young leopard lounging in the sun in a tree after a rainshower. We were fortunate to see a rare Chobe bushbuck on our last day in that area. We concluded our trip at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe where we did a one-day canoe float on the Zambezi River above the falls. This included Don being bounced out of the canoe in a rapid and getting a thorough dunking in the river. He was out of the water quickly with the thought of hippos and crocodiles giving him added incentive! On March 20, we boarded a plane for the trip home and finally arrived in San Francisco in late afternoon on March 21. In spite of getting rained on a few times, we enjoyed our trip immensely. During our travels, saw 300 species of birds that were new to us and most of the big game animals of the area. Camping out in the parks enabled us to experience nature up close; there's nothing quite like having an elephant wander through camp as you are eating breakfast, hearing the roaring of lions at night and being joined by a variety of birds as you proceed with your activities.
Click here for an annotated schedule of this trip.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities on the Zimbabwe and Botswana trip.
Click here to view photos for this trip.
Click here to view bird list for this trip.
Click here to view animal list for this trip.
We departed San Francisco December 10, 2001 on an overnight Lufthansa flight bound for Frankfurt, Germany. In Frankfurt, we changed to a flight for New Delhi, India and arrived about 1:30 AM. We were met by a representative of Overseas Adventure Travel and transferred to the Taj Palace Hotel for a short night’s sleep. We met our sixteen fellow traveling companions and guide Neel Pratap the next morning at a briefing session. The rest of the day was spent touring Delhi including a stop at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, a bicycle rickshaw ride into the old city to see the Jama Masjid mosque, a visit to the Qtab Minar and Laxmi Narayan temple and many other interesting places. The next morning, we departed Delhi in our small bus bound for the Shekhawati District in Rajasthan where we stayed in the old Mukund Ghar Fort now renovated as a hotel. This was the day that terrorists attacked Parliament in Delhi but we were on our way out of the city when that occurred. The next day we continued on to Jaipur stopping along the way to visit the Samode Palace and its beautiful Durbar Hall with its walls inlaid with mirrors and semi-precious stones. The day also included a short stop at Nawalgarh to observe the fresco paintings, havelis that adorn the walls of the older buildings. In Jaipur, we paid a morning visit to the Amber Fort and Palace that included a short elephant ride up the mountain to the gates of the palace. Later in the day, we visited the marvelous Jantar Mantar astronomical and astrological observatory built in the 18th Century. Its two large sundials maintain an accuracy of plus/minus 20 seconds and two seconds respectively regardless of the time of year! We ended the day by having a home cooked dinner in the home of the Singh family where we were able to experience some of the local culture.
The next stop was the Rathambore Tiger Sanctuary where we spent a day searching for wild tigers but saw none. We were able to see many wild game animals that inhabited the sanctuary including nilgai, sambar and chital. In addition, we toured the ancient hilltop Rathambore Fortress that dates back to the 10th Century. We continued on with our journey driving through Rajasthan and along the way spent a night in a tent camp where we rode on camelback through the farmlands and visited a local village. After a visit to the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary and to the Moghul ruins at Fatehphur Sikri we arrived at Agra. Of course, our stop at Agra featured an early morning visit to the magnificent Taj Mahal. It is even more impressive in real life that in the many photos we have seen. We continued on to Khajuraho where we toured the site of the temples of the Chandella civilization. The Chandella Temples are best known for the erotic statuary that adorns their exterior walls however, they are very beautiful and majestic in their own right. Our India trip ended in the ancient city of Varanasi (Benares) which at 4000 years, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. We took a morning boat ride on the Ganges where we watched the pilgrims engaged in their morning rituals.
We continued by air to Kathmandu in Nepal for another five days. The highlights of our stay in Nepal were a visit to the old city of Bhaktapur, a Christmas morning scenic over-flight of the Himalayas including Mt. Everest and a two-day stay at a mountain lodge in the village of Nagarcot. We had magnificent views of the snowy Himalaya peaks from the hotel and during the walks we took through the surrounding farming communities. We departed Nepal on December 27 and arrived in San Francisco via Frankfurt at mid-day on December 28 having crossed 15 time zones along the way. Our trip gave us a wonderful opportunity to see what life is like in rural India and to see many of the important cultural sights of North Central India and Nepal. We thoroughly enjoyed the cuisine and came home with many fond memories and experiences.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities on the India and Nepal trip.
Click here to view bird list for this trip.
Click here to view photos from this trip.
2002 - Kamchatka (Russia) to Seward, AK via the Aleutian Islands
We flew to Anchorage, AK on June 7 where we joined approximately 65 fellow travelers for this Clipper Cruises adventure tour. From there, we took a Magadan Airlines charter flight to Petropavlovsk on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. At Petropavlovsk we went directly to the harbor area where we boarded the Clipper Odyssey and by 2:30 AM we were on our way out to sea cruising north along the Kamchatka Peninsula. Our first stop was at the Zhupanova River where we were fortunate to sight several Steller’s’ sea eagles, the world’s largest eagle. Our next stop was Bering Island to view a Northern fur seal rookery where we briefly were stranded on shore when strong winds made it unsafe to return to the Odyssey. We also visited the village of Nikolskoye on Bering Island. We cruised through the Aleutian Islands for the next several days in often-stormy weather. We made zodiac landings on various islands where we observed the geology, flora and fauna of the area with the assistance of our on-board naturalists. This included viewing immense colonies of sea birds whose numbers were almost beyond comprehension and marveling at the myriad plant communities of the tundra. Marine mammals abounded and we had frequent sightings of harbor seals, Steller’s sea lions and sea otters as well as not so frequent sightings of humpbacked and minke whales and Dahl’s porpoises. We saw 63 different species of birds. Bald eagles abounded and by the end of the trip, they ceased to create much excitement. We experienced the chilly, damp and gloomy weather of this "Birthplace of Storms" throughout the trip and marveled at the isolation of this remote area of the world. Visits to Attu and Adak Islands recalled memories of WW II and we wondered how the soldiers, sailors and airmen functioned in such a hostile environment. Yet, there is a magnificent beauty to this country in its many shades of gray rock, green vegetation, white snow and gray to green to blue water that varied in appearance with the almost constantly changing weather conditions. We eased back into civilization toward the end of our journey with stops at Dutch Harbor and Chignik . We also cruised along the Alaska Peninsula with a stop at Geographic Harbor in the Katmai National Park where we were fortunate to see several huge brown bears foraging close to the beaches shortly after they had emerged from hibernation. After 12 days of enjoying this smorgasbord of sights and experiences, we arrived at Seward and disembarked from the Odyssey. After an overnight stay in Anchorage, we flew back home to California on June 21. It had been a most memorable experience and one which we will never forget.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities on the Kamchatka to Alaska trip.
Click here to view bird list for this trip.
2003 - Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar)
Our trip began on March 24 with a long flight from San Francisco to Bangkok. "Joe" our guide for this Overseas Adventure Travel tour of five countries in Southeast Asia met us at the airport. Joe's actual name is Manope Sutumsirinugoon, a collection of vowels and consonants that is almost unpronounceable by us. We soon met eight others who would be our companions on this journey. The theme of our tour was "Lost Kingdoms" and we spent our time visiting archaeological sites and museums but also had plenty of opportunity to observe things of contemporary interest and the life styles of the people. Sampling the excellent cuisine in each of the countries was an added benefit. Our first stop in Thailand was at Ayutthaya with more than 40 sites where there are relics of shrines and temples from the 14th ? 16th centuries. After visiting several important relics in the Ayuttaya archaeological zone we then moved northward to Sukothai, the location of the earliest capitol of what now is Thailand. We paid visits to the Wat Mahathat as well as to Wat Si Chum, Wat Cahang Lom and other sites of interest. Next on our itinerary was Luang Prabang in northern Laos with visits to local markets and villages in the area. We also toured the Royal Palace and Wat Xieng Thong which is considered to be the most beautiful temple in Laos. Additional stops in Laos at Vang Vieng and Vientiane were cancelled because of terrorist activity along the road between Luang Prabang and these destinations. We flew from Luang Prabang to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) was a last minute substitute for Hanoi because of the then-developing SARS epidemic. We found this to be a good trade-off since we previously had visited Hanoi in 1999. In HCMC, we visited the Museum of Vietnamese History, the Emperor Jade Pagoda, the Reunification Palace and The War Remnants Museum. Tours to the Cu Chi Tunnel Network at Nhuan Duc Village and My Tho on the Mekong Delta provided a chance to see the countryside and the way of life outside the city. Our next stop was Siem Reap, the gateway city to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. We visited Angkor Thom, the capital city of the Khmer Kings in the 9th ? 16th centuries and the nearby temple, Angkor Wat built if the first half of the 12th century. There also were visits to several other temples in the Angkor archaeological zone including Bantey Srei and the Pre Rup. During our stay at Siem Reap, we also made a visit to a very interesting floating village on Ton Le Sap Lake.
From Siem Reap, we flew to Phnom Penh, the capitol city of Cambodia. We visited the Royal Palace and Museum on our first day and made an interesting stop at the Central Market. Our second day was devoted to visits to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, site of the infamous S-21 prison, and the Choeung Ek Memorial at the site of a "killing field" where as many as 17,000 persons were executed by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. This was a sobering experience and one that we will not soon forget. Half of our tour group returned to the United States at this point while five of us continued on for a marvelous visit to Myanmar. In Myanmar, we visited Yangon, Bagan and Mandalay. The feature event in Yangon was a visit to the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda with its huge golden-domed stupa and many gilded spires. We also participated in the Myanmar New Year celebration and got thoroughly drenched with water as part of the festivities. In Bagan, we toured through the archaeological zone that includes more that 2,000 shrines and pagodas, many of them in excellent condition after hundreds of years in existence. Outstanding among these were Mingalazedi, Gubyakgyi, and Ananda. We also paid a visit to a local village and had a cruise on the Ayearwadey River. Our final stop was Mandalay where we visited the Royal Palace, the Mahamuni Pagoda and the Shwenandaw Monastery. We also visited Mingun, the site of a huge unfinished zedi that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1838 and Inwa, which was founded in 1364 and served as the royal capitol for 400 years. We returned to Bangkok on April 21 and early the next morning, we departed for home via Hong Kong. WE found the airport in Hong Kong to be nearly deserted and many flights cancelled because of the SARS epidemic. Our flight home was uneventful and we in San Francisco mid-day on April 22. Like so many or our previous international trips, this was another memorable experience.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities on 2003 Southeast Asia trip.
Click here to view bird list for this trip.
2003 - Journey to the North Pole
We departed Sacramento on July 16 and flew to Newark, NJ where we overnighted at an airport hotel. We boarded a SAS flight the following evening headed for Oslo Norway. We arrived in Oslo the following morning where our flight was welcomed by two fire trucks spraying long plumes of water as we taxied to the terminal. Our initial reaction was fire but, it turned out to be a welcome and a salute to the pilot of our flight who was retiring after many years of service with SAS. A local guide met us at the airport and facilitated our transfer to the Grand Hotel in the downtown area. That afternoon, we had a city tour of Oslo that included a visit to the Maritime Museum and the Olympic ski jump. That evening, we met our fellow travelers at a reception and dinner hosted by Intrav, the company that organized the tour. A 3-1/2 hour charter flight the next morning took our entire group of about 90 passengers across the Arctic Circle to Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen Island. The latter is part of a group of islands collectively known as Svalbard that are governed by Norway and lie just below 80 degrees North latitude. That afternoon, we were flown by helicopter in groups of 22 out to the Russian icebreaker Yamal which was standing by about 30 miles off the coast. The Yamal is nuclear powered and was not allowed to dock in the port at Longyearbyen.
We weighed anchor that evening and headed for the North Pole, approximately 750 nautical miles distant as the crow flies. Because of especially heavy ice conditions that prevented the most direct approach, our journey would be considerably longer. We entered the polar ice the next afternoon not far from Franz-Josef Land and for the next four days, we had to break our way through ice that often was often six or more feet thick. The Yamal is one of the world’s largest and most powerful icebreakers and is one of the few surface ships capable of reaching the North Pole. Our days were spent in looking for wildlife, watching the Yamal as it broke its path through the ice and attending three lectures each day given by an excellent staff of naturalists and experienced seamen who accompanied us. We reached the geographic north pole at approximately 3:30 AM on July 25. Since there was 24 hour daylight in the far north, the celebration could begin immediately. All passengers gathered on the ship’s bridge as we approached the pole to toast the event with champagne. Shortly thereafter, the gangplank was lowered and we disembarked onto the ice to take photos and further celebrate our achievement. A few hardy souls even took a plunge into the frigid polar water under the watchful eye of the ship’s doctor. They all were tethered to a rope just in case they had difficulty and nobody stayed in for more that a minute or two. The Yamal then began the journey back out of the polar ice pack. This took much longer than expected since much of our "ice road" broken open on the way up had closed and/or moved as much as 8 miles under the effect of the ocean currents. This caused us to have to abort a planned stop at Franz-Joseph Land. This was only a minor disappointment for we had achieved our primary goal of reaching the North Pole. And along the way, we had sighted of five polar bears including a female with two first-year cubs and another bear feeding on a recently caught seal. We also saw several new species of birds including ivory gulls that only can be seen on the polar ice. We arrived back in Spitsbergen about 15 hours later that planned. But we did manage to catch our return flight from Oslo to Newark so all ended well. This was one of the most unique experiences we have had during our travels. While the polar region is very flat and consists only of ice, snow and occasional puddles of melt water and leads of open sea water, it has a unique beauty that we will long remember. Watching the crew of the Yamal maneuver the ship through the thick ice was itself an entertaining and educational experience.
Click here to view bird list for this trip.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities on the Journey to the North Pole.
Click here to view photos from this trip.
2004 - The Nazca Plain, Peruvian Amazon and Rain Forest
Our trip began on March 25 with a long flight from San Francisco to Lima, Peru. We transferred to the Hotel Condado in Lima's Miraflores District and after a short night's sleep we attended a briefing where we met Anna Zamolla, our Overseas Adventure Travel tour guide, and twelve others who would be our companions on this journey. We spent the afternoon touring Lima and seeing sights of historical and cultural interest. In the evening we enjoyed a get acquainted dinner at the Bocca Loco (Mad Cow) Restaurant on the ocean beach. We ate chicken!
We were up at 5:15 AM the next morning to catch a 45-minute Aero Condor flight to Ica where we landed on a "one lane" macadam airstrip and found the control tower to be a little bamboo building with a thatch roof. We transferred to a small 6-passenger Cessna and flew south to the Nazca Plain where we viewed the images laid out on the desert by civilizations of long ago. They truly were a fantastic sight. Also fantastic was the experience of flying over the totally arid countryside of coastal Peru. Virtually nothing green is to be seen except along the river valleys, which stand out like oases against the stark landscape. The irrigated area around Ica produces grapes, asparagus and melons as well as fruits and vegetables of all kinds. We also visited a marvelous anthropology museum at Ica that featured treasures recovered from the burial sites of pre-colonial civilizations.
The following day, we flew over the spine of the Andes Mountains to the city of Iquitos located on the Amazon River in Northeast Peru. We were greeted here by Johnny Balarezo and Rosario Fernandez, guides for Jungle Expeditions, our host for our stay in the Amazon River Rain Forest. Following a short tour of Iquitos, we transferred to the riverboat Esmeralda, our home for the next six days. The Esmeralda cruised upriver for approximately 200 miles. Along the way we explored various tributary rivers and oxbow lakes in small boats while observing the fascinating wildlife that included many species of birds and monkeys. We also hiked into the rain forest, visited villages of the "river people," fished for piranhas, had lunch in the home of a village family, had an audience with a shaman, attended "market day" in the riverside town of Nauta, and did many other interesting things. The climate was hot and steamy but at the end of our various excursions we always were able to return to the air-conditioned comfort of the Esmeralda and wonderful meals served by the chef and crew. In between our excursions, the upper deck of the Esmeralda provided a shaded open-air platform from which we could enjoy the scenery along the river and hear the sounds of the nearby jungle. In the evenings, while we sipped a pisco sour and reflected on the day's activity, we often were entertained on the upper deck by an impromptu folk-band formed by several crew members. And, there were the beautiful tropical sunsets to be enjoyed as well. Our week went by all too quickly and eventually, the Esmeralda headed back down river to Iquitos. We then embarked on the long journey home where we arrived on April 4.
Click here to view bird list for this trip.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities on the 2004 Peru trip.
Click here to view photos from this trip.
2004 - Alaska's Inside Passage
We visited Southeast Alaska via a one-week Clipper Cruise Line tour with the theme "Hidden Fjords and Glaciers of Alaska's Inside Passage." We left home early Saturday morning, May 28, and drove to Sacramento where we caught an Alaska Airline flight to Seattle. A quick change of planes ensued and by about noon, we were on our way to Juneau where we arrived in early afternoon. We dropped off our luggage at the A..J. Dock where the Yorktown Clipper was moored. We could not board the ship until 4:00 PM so we walked to downtown Juneau to kill some time. We canvassed the usual souvenir and curio shops but the highlight of the afternoon was a visit to a local bar for a beer. The bar was filled with local citizens who had obviously been there too long for their own good. It was dark and smoky inside but somehow, it seemed to fit our image of Alaska as a frontier place. We returned to the ship by 4:15 PM and were checked on board. The Yorktown Clipper departed Juneau in the very late evening and we were cruising into Glacier Bay by the next morning. During the ensuing hours, we cruised the length of Glacier Bay finally stopping in front of the Grand Pacific and the Margerie glaciers. We were fortunate to witness several huge icefalls from the face of the latter. We also enjoyed the wildlife that abounds in and around Glacier Bay. The next morning found us at the community of Elfin Cove, a very small and secluded village. We disembarked and enjoyed walking around the harbor and shopping in the small stores operated by the residents. We then cruised back through Icy Strait where we saw numerous humpbacked whales and fulfilled a long-time dream of seeing several of them breach with their huge bodies coming entirely out of the water in the process. We also enjoyed the myriad of gulls, kittiwakes and bald eagles that were fishing in these nutrient-rich waters. The following day was spent at Skagway and included a ride to the summit of White Pass on the White Pass and Yukon Railway. Next on our itinerary was a visit to the community of Haines, Alaska. Our visit coincided with the lowest and the highest tides of the year. The range between high and low tides was about 26 ft. compared to the usual of about 15 ft. We floated a tributary of the Chilkat River looking for bald eagles and other wildlife but without a lot of success. From here, it was on to Sitka during an overnight cruise that took us through very narrow channels which could only be navigated at slack tide. We were greeted in Sitka by dozens of bald eagles perched on the jetty and scrounging food along the low tide line. Jacquie and I located the grave of her great grandfather in the Old Pioneers Cemetery thanks to the help of Mr. Austin Inman, the groundskeeper at the Old Pioneers Home. We spend the rest of the day walking around town. This included a visit to the Sitka National Historic Park with its interesting exhibits of the Tlingit culture. Late in the afternoon, we walked a short distance to a local Indian cultural center for a program that featured dances of the Tlingit People. Our final day found us cruising into the Tracy Arm and few miles south of Juneau. This 25-mile winding fjord progressively narrowed as the ship cruised toward the Sawyer Glaciers at its end. Along the way, we enjoyed the spectacular scenery of thousand-foot high sheer rock walls, a myriad of waterfalls, and abundant wildlife that included a large colony of Stellar's sea lions. At the terminus of the Tracy Arm, we enjoyed the sight of the glacier with its vivid-blue ice. Dozens of seals, including some with newborn pups, were hauled out on the ice floating in front of the glacier while bald eagles soared overhead. We returned to Juneau at the end of the day and prepared to disembark early Saturday morning. The trip home was uneventful and was completed by about 4:40 PM on June 5.
In addition to sighting many species of wildlife, we were treated throughout the week with views of snow-capped mountains, dense forests, and secluded coves and beaches. The tour more than met our expectations and left us with many memories of the flora and fauna and the beautiful scenery of Southeast Alaska.
Click here to view bird list for this trip.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities traveling Alaska's Inside Passage.
Click here to view photos from this trip.
2004 - Shanghai, Yunnan Province, Gansu Province and Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Peoples Republic of China
We departed San Francisco on September 5, 2000 on an Air China flight bound for Shanghai. Bad weather caused us to miss a connecting flight in Beijing so we over nighted there and continued on to Shanghai the following day. That day, we visited our long-time friends Xu Jia Yu and wife Lubing and had dinner with them and daughter Yvette Zhou. The next day we flew to Kunming in Yunnan Province. The following morning we flew on to Dali and enjoyed touring the Chongsheng Monastery, Xizhou Village, Dali Old Town and other locations. The following day we drove on by private auto to the city of Lijiang. The visit to Lijiang and surrounding attractions was one of the highlights of our China experience. Especially interesting was Old Lijiang, also known as Dyan Town, and the Naxi minority people who are its primary residents. We also visited many other attractions including Jade Dragon Mountain, Ming Dynasty murals at Baisha Village, Black Dragon Pool Park and the Yufeng Temple. While in the Lijiang area, we took a two-day drive to Lugu Lake following difficult mountain roads through magnificent scenery. At Lugu Lake we had the most interesting experience of visiting a Muosuo village and touring on the lake in "pigtrough boats." The Muosuo people are a matriarchal society whose customs we found to be very interesting and totally different from anything in our previous experience. We journeyed on from Lijiang to Shangri-La in northern Yunnan Province. Shangri-La lies near the border with Tibet and the influence of the Tibetan people and culture is very strong. The countryside is beautiful and mostly devoted to cattle grazing and farming crops such as hay, barley and potatoes. We spend part of a day visiting the magnificent Songzanlin Lamasery, a very important site to Tibetan Buddhists. We then flew back to Kunming where we paid a quick visit to the Stone Forest, a unique karst formation about 60 Km. outside the city. That evening we flew back to Shanghai for a day of rest before embarking on the next leg of our trip to the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
On September 18, we flew from Shanghai to Jiayuguan via Lanzhou. We were joined on this part of the trip by our close friends Yvette and Patrick Zhou as well as by six of their friends and relatives. Whereas Yunnan had been heavily wooded, very green and almost constantly threatening rain, we now found ourselves at the edge of the Gobi Desert in one of the driest regions of the world. Jiayuguan is at the western end of the Great Wall and we spent half a day visiting the magnificent fort that once blocked entry into China at this point. We also enjoyed the sight of the snow-covered Qilin Mountains looming across the southern horizon. That afternoon, we drove by bus to the oasis town of Dunhuang, an important stop on the old Silk Road. A major attraction at Dunhuang was a visit to the magnificent Mogao Grottoes which were carved from solid rock and painted with intricate frescoes by Buddhist monks over a period of several hundred years. We also paid visits to Yangguan Pass and to the Yumen Pass where we saw remains of a Han Dynasty defensive wall that was in excess of 2000 years old. We next flew to Urumqi and then on to Altai, a small town in northern Xinjiang very nears the border with Russia. That flight was followed by a 200-mile bus ride into the mountains to Kanas Lake. We drove through areas inhabited by Kazak nomads who live in yurts and maintain large herds of sheep, goats, cattle and dromedary camels. We also were treated to beautiful sights of fall foliage as aspens and larch were turning brilliant gold and red against a backdrop of dark green conifers and snowy mountain peaks. After a short visit at Kanas, we returned to Urumqi and spent our last day visiting the Turpan depression where we toured the ancient city of Gaochang, visited Grape Valley, and observed ancient karez systems that still bring snowmelt water to this arid valley. We returned to Shanghai that evening. Following a day of rest, we flew back to San Francisco where we arrived on September 26. Our experience was extremely informative and enjoyable and stands out in our minds for the diversity of experiences. Finally, we would be remiss if we did not comment on the tremendous changes in China that have occurred since our last visits in the early 1980s. The reader will find comments about this in our log of daily activities.
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities traveling in Yunnan Province and Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
Click here to view photos from this trip.
2005
- Copper Canyon and the Sea of Cortez with Whale Watching in Bahia
Magdalena
We departed Sacramento on March 2, 2005 and flew to Houston. We
rendezvoused in Houston with other Clipper Cruise passengers
participating in the Copper Canyon pre-trip extension and then flew on
the Chihuahua in Mexico. The next day we drove by bus to the Copper
Canyon area where we spent time seeing the spectacular canyon country.
Then, we were off on the Chihuahua & Pacific Railway riding down
from the crest of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the old colonial city
of El Fuerte. The following day we toured El Fuerte and then motored on
to Los Mochis where we enjoyed a folk dance performance. We flew to La
Paz on Baja California Sur that same evening. We boarded the Yorktown
Clipper at La Paz and then we were scheduled to spend three days
cruising the Sea of Cortez. But, the last day
was occupied by a medical emergency that resulted in Jacquie's
hospitalization in La Paz for acute pulmonary edema subsequent to a
snorkeling activity. But, that resolved within a few hours and we were
able to rejoin the Yorktown Clipper at Cabo San Lucas. Both of us
then were able to enjoy watching the grey whales at Bahia
Magdalena. We flew home via Los Angeles on March 17. The
trip was informative and very enjoyable in spite of the momentary
"speed bump" we encountered during the trip. But, our snorkeling days
probably are over forever!
Click here to view Don's daily log of activities traveling in the Copper Canyon Country, the Sea of Cortez and Bahia Magdalena.
Click here to view photos from this trip.
Return to DirectoryClick
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to view Don's daily
log of activities traveling in Jordan
and Israel.
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here to view photos from this trip.
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Return to DirectoryClick here to view photos from this trip.
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here to view photos from this trip. (To be added)
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here to view photos from this trip. (To be added)