As said in Firesign Theatre.... it's the stinking desert! There are those of us who prefer the verdant greens, the lush vegetation, abundant colorful flowers, and a plethora of animal life. While we have come to enjoy these types of venues, we also love to admire the desolate, bleak, stark and wind-swept environs of the desert. This seemingly inhospitable environment possesses its own beauty but displays it differently. Sunrise and sunset are particularly enjoyable. Now, this is one dry desert. Wait….what does that mean? Well, technically by definition a desert is an area of land that receives less than 10 inches (25cm) of rain per year. Pretty dry, yeah? Well, the Atacama is the second driest desert in the world, bested only by a patch of land in Antarctica. The Atacama Desert is the result of ... read more

A relatively short flight took us to Santa Marta, the first Spanish settlement in Columbia and the second oldest in South America, where we were met by our guide for the hour plus drive to our next stop, a lodge just outside Tayrona National Park. Colombia has some 59 national parks, which makes up about 14% of the total area in this diverse country, which is impressive. Of course, you are going to need a fair amount of space to support all the flora and fauna this country has to offer. We arrived after dark and after checking in, made our way across a small pedestrian suspension bridge to our room. Luckily, we had someone take our luggage as the first time you traverse the swinging bridge, it can challenge your sense of balance. The lodge ... read more

In Search of Juan Valdez After the hustle and bustle of Bogota, it was time for something completely different…a trip to the countryside to embrace the flora, fauna and famous coffee of Columbia. This beautiful nation offers an endless supply of birds, butterflies, flowers and trees. In Colombia, you will see things you cannot see other places as this is one of the most diverse countries out there. Think we might be exaggerating just a bit…well…try these statistics on for size. For a nation about the size of Portugal, Spain and France combined, Colombia has over 1800 species of birds, 470 species of mammals, 520 species of reptiles and more than 750 species of amphibians. And to boot, 10 percent of the world’s plant species grow here as well. That….is impressive. And then of course, there ... read more

Newfoundland gives one a sense of calmness and serenity. The easternmost Canadian province has soft winding roads with one stunning vista after another. Even though we had studied what we might find once we arrived, we were surprised by the number of lakes, streams and rivers. We’d call it "the land of 10,000 lakes" but Minnesota already has taken that name. Acres of trees landscape your drive, so many in fact that we decided to look up the abundant varieties in these dense green forested areas. They include many birch trees along with black spruce, white spruce, junipers, white pine and balsam firs. Seems the white pines were heavily harvested for use as sawlogs and ship masts at the turn of the 20th century. This and an infestation wreaked havoc with the species, but they are ... read more

Cheticamp Upon departing Prince Edward Island, we again crossed the Confederation Bridge into Nova Scotia where we stopped for a few more photos. It is a beautiful piece of concrete. They will be paying off this bridge for a while….at over $50 Canadian per vehicle maybe it won’t take that long. So, we took our fair share of pictures and then some more. Perhaps better planning would have had us taking the ferry and perhaps shaving some time, but by the time we realized this, there were no reservations to be had on the ferry at a time of our choosing. Pushing on, it would be several hours until we reached our next destination, Cheticamp, a town at the base of the Cabot Trail in the Cape Breton National Park. Once we checked into our motel, ... read more