Features

January 2011 issue | Appears on page 20

Creating lasting memories on a family trip to Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar
The perfect beach on the Indian Ocean outside Zanzibar’s Baraza Resort.
Most people thought my wife and I were crazy for taking a nine- and a seven-year-old to sub-Saharan Africa. What could we be thinking? But off we went to Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar for three weeks on what was to be our best family vacation ever.
January 2011 issue | Appears on page 38

Cruising Australia’s Kimberley coast
A Zodiac inflatable boat at the headwater of the Horizontal Falls.
I was among a group of 81 Australians and two Americans who arrived in Broome, Western Australia, in June 2010 eager to embark on a 10-day expedition cruise along the Kimberley coast to Darwin aboard the MV Orion. The <em>Orion</em> is a purpose-built ship, capable of exploring the bays and inlets of this dramatically beautiful, unspoiled coastline, home of saltwater crocodiles, pearl farms and Aboriginal rock art.
January 2011 issue | Appears on page 54

St. Pierre and Miquelon – finding a touch of France in North America
Mostly abandoned structures on Île aux Marins.
Tucked less than 10 miles below Canada’s Newfoundland, where the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean meet, several very small French islands with a rich legacy await visitors. The eight islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon are mostly ignored by Americans. A few Canadians visit them, and some cruise boats plying the gulf stop there briefly, but those making the effort are rewarded with a touch of France in North America — the sound of church bells, the aroma of freshly baked baguettes, fishermen in slickers tending dories, boys playing pelote Basque (a version of jai alai) and French uniformed gendarmes.
December 2010 issue | Appears on page 6

Thailand, Cambodia and Laos — Seeing SE Asia through the camera’s eye

by Judi Purcell, Pensacola Beach, FL

I had dreamed of a trip to Thailand for 45 years, so when I saw that Karl Grobl of Jim Cline Tours (San Diego, CA; 877/350-1314, www.jimclinephoto workshops.com) was leading a photography trip there, I immediately signed up. My husband and I had gone on a photo trip to Peru with Karl three years before and had a wonderful and enlightening experience, so I knew this trip would be good.

Karl and Jim are professional photographers who lead...

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December 2010 issue | Appears on page 18

Discovering the archaeological and culinary delights of Sicily

Sicily was an easy country to navigate. The drivers were aggressive but no worse than those elsewhere in Europe. Driving in the large cities was not much fun, but the freedom of having a rental car everywhere else made up for it.

by Richard Berner, San Diego, CA

“What is that strange symbol?” my wife, Martha, and I kept asking each other.

As we drove around Sicily in March 2010, we frequently saw this unusual icon: three bent legs radiating like spokes from a woman’s head....

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December 2010 issue | Appears on page 34

A grand voyage — sailing the Mediterranean and Black seas

by Larry Hughes, Houston, TX

Long cruises have a certain appeal, and Holland America Line offers several. Labeled “grand,” these voyages are in excess of a month in length — some lasting as long as 100 days.

My wife, Phyllis, and I have been on two such cruises. One, titled “Voyage of the Vikings,” began and ended in Boston and followed a route across the North Atlantic and back, with stops in Canada and Europe.

The other grand voyage we took, and the subject of this...

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December 2010 issue | Appears on page 46

Searching for answers to the mysteries of Bolivia’s Tiwanaku

by Jeff Houle, McLean, VA I was in Tiwanaku in western Bolivia, 44 miles west of La Paz and close to the border with Peru, when I began to understand why some people would think that aliens constructed the ancient walls found there. Not even my site brochure would fit into the mortarless joints that separated the monstrous monoliths, whose journey to this place is not easily explained.

The site

The pre-Columbian site of Tiwanaku sits 13,000 feet above sea level in the dry...

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November 2010 issue | Appears on page 6

Magnificent Madagascar
Madagascar, the land of lemurs and baobab trees, wasn’t even on our short list of places to visit. Furthermore, we don’t like group tours. Yet my husband, Jerry, and I traveled to Madagascar as part of a group of 10 from May 16 to June 9, 2010. Why? When an e-mail arrived in my inbox from Galapagos Travel announcing a trip to this fascinating country, we realized that, unlike the itineraries of most packaged tours, this one provided three or four nights at most locations, and the 3½-week tour would give us an opportunity to see quite a bit of the country.