A rooster’s sharp caw breaks through my dreams and soon I am awake, mulling over how best to murder said rooster. I grumble as I squint my eyes in the early morning light, the sun hasn’t even risen yet. The rooster keeps at it. This rooster must be faulty, or sadistic, I decide as I… Read More Racing the Rain with Hari’s Horses on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua
It has been ten days since Kane and I returned from Malaysia and I think I’ve let my complicated thoughts and feelings percolate enough to put fingers to keyboard and write some musings on our time in this complex country. When we booked our flights to Kuala Lumpur (KL), I really knew nothing about Malaysia.… Read More Musings on Malaysia
Sunlight glints off the surface of a tranquil lagoon, its glassy surface the most pure of turquoise, except for the ubiquitous dark patches that hide a cornucopia of life just below. Spangled emperors, flamboyant parrots, boisterous damsels…the fish here are a sight to behold. Snorkelling the inner reef of the Ningaloo is a lot like… Read More An Ode to the Ningaloo
Foamy green algae floats in a thick film across the stagnant pond, concealing the depths from prying human eyes. I stand close to the fence, idly resting one hand on the chain link fence separating me from the contents of the lake. Our guide for the day, a gregarious man with a morbid sense of… Read More Camping with Crocodiles
America is in love with youth. We see nubile faces splattered across billboards selling everything from sports cars to hamburgers, their sex appeal being bartered for higher profit margins. Yet, once that pretty, young face gathers some smile lines here, some crow’s feet there, she is discarded, thrown aside in favor of the newer model.… Read More A Campfire Wake: The Grey Nomads of Australia
If you saw Erika on the street you wouldn’t take much notice. She barely passes 5 feet, her diminutive stature common in the highlands of Guatemala where we met, but do not underestimate this middle-aged Guatemalan woman with red flowers in her hair, she has nunchucks in her purse and she knows how to use… Read More Lessons From My Salsa Teacher
Our canoes dropped heavily into the green tinted water as our Rastafarian guide David pushed us on our way down the Macal River, just east of San Ignacio, Belize. Smoke curled up from the first canoe as David’s unnamed co-worker lit a pre-river cruise joint. I laughed to myself, and hopped into the second canoe… Read More A Canoe Trip to Remember in Belize
The gun sounds and we are off. The motley crew of helmet clad runners shoots past us fumbling foreigners, leaving us to follow their grass stomped path down to the gravel road. The gravel road quickly diminishes to a gravel path, then, after about 500 m, we are on a single-track trail that is more… Read More Running on Empty in Argentina: An adventure trail race abroad
There are two places in the world that have the cheapest rates for a PADI Open Water Course, Koh Tao in Thailand and Utila in Honduras. Getting PADI certified in Utila will only set you back around $330 USD and most dive shops will include accommodation for the duration of your course. As we would… Read More Getting PADI Certified in Utila
The sun shines bright on Rottnest Island, the water is a crystalline turquoise that beckons me to its warm embrace, but there is only one thing on my mind, a small, approximately one foot tall marsupial called a quokka. I, like so many others before me, have ventured to this little island about 25 km… Read More In Search of Quokkas on Rottnest Island