WoW vs. RL: Un’Goro Crater

Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania / Un’Goro Crater, Kalimdor I love travel in its many, many forms.  When I am not out traipsing about the earth in search of new and funny adventures, I will often turn to other forms of travel: books, movies, following other travel bloggers, and playing my favorite MMORPG, World of Warcraft.  …

Panoramic shot of El Teide on Tenerife

Featured photo: El Teide

Tenerife, Spain As you may know, I love volcanoes and warm weather nearly as much as I love camels.  So when Linda of Islandmomma offered to be my guide around Tenerife, I jumped at the chance!  It was a fine chance to test out the camera I'd won from the Cork Cycling Festival's photo competition.  …

Morocco: City of the Dead

Rissani, Morocco Among all of the amazing experiences in Morocco that I've been savoring (and oddly reluctant to share), the final day of camel trekking ranks right at the top.  It started with waking up in the Sahara, tracking where the "4×4" beetles had gone during the night, and walking barefoot in the gorgeous sand. …

Featured photo: mud volcano!

Cartagena, Colombia I must admit that, as a child of the 70's and 80's, the very first thing I think of when I hear "Cartagena, Colombia," is Michael Douglas's voice speaking the city's name in Romancing The Stone.  (Then I think of the scene with "…my little mule!" and try not to think of the …

Featured photo: Mt. Vesuvio

Naples, Italy As a big fan of nature, I dislike descriptions of volcanoes that include words like "fury" and "wrath." It's just nature, after all.  I mean, if you watch a cooking show, you don't focus on the tragic destruction of all those little wheat seeds, do you? No, you just look forward to the …

Featured photo: Stromboli

Stromboli, Italy Photo of a ship anchored off the volcanic island of Stromboli, with the Strombolicchio in the background.  The Strombolicchio is the "throat" of an ancient volcano, possibly the oldest in the region.  As I understand it, all of the Aolian Islands in Sicily are volcanic, with two of them (Stromboli and Vulcano) remaining …

Africa Redux: Lake Manyara

1 Jan. 2009 Lake Manyara, Tanzania   Woohoo!  SAFARI!  OMG!  REAL SAFARI!  I mean, the San Diego Wild Animal Park was freakin’ fantastic while growing up, but it’s not like you could easily get EATEN!  So exciting!  We could totally be on the menu — awesome!  :D Anyway, we left Moshi in the morning with …