Category Archives: Travel

“What did the Romans ever do for us?” I love that line from Monty Python’s Life of Brian and have thought it appropriate in many circumstances. Naturally, it came to mind when I was wandering through the magnificent Roman ruins of Jerash – Ancient Gerasa or Garshu – in northern Jordan. These extensive ruins, so […]

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Hocking Hills State Park, in the American state of Ohio, comprises 2,356 acres (9.53 km2) of caves, waterfalls, trees, and hiking trails. The park is known for the dramatic geologic features that, over the aeons, have carved themselves into the surrounding Black Hand Sandstone. Black Hand Sandstone is the name given to an early Mississippian […]

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Village visits in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia are like nothing I’ve experienced before! The region is still tribal, and each ethnic group maintains its own customs. What all the tribes have in common is a “pay-per-shot” mentality, meaning that visiting tourists pay for each picture they take. While I see this as entirely fair […]

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“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” ― Alfred Wainwright After living in the tropics for many years, I should be used to rain. But, this past week I’ve been trapped indoors as my portion of East Coast Australia has been battened down against heavy rainfall, gale-force winds, and the threat of […]

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There are always dilemmas around preserving age-old cultural traditions. One of the difficulties in safeguarding the unique practices and languages of the many tribal groups in Papua News Guinea is that their ritual dress relies heavily on indigenous birds, plants, and animals. In times past, the people living in small, relatively isolated clusters in the Papua […]

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