Tag Archives: National Park We were in the doldrums. Quite literally. For three days, we chugged along slowly, never much more than a few degrees off the equator. Our last stop in ‘civilization’ had been in the village of Kwatisore on Cenderawasih Bay (see: Kwatisore Bay and Village). Fortunately, unlike the ancient mariners of poems, tales, and old history […]  There is magic in the rocks and trees of Haida Gwaii in Canada’s British Columbia (BC). The people of the Haida Nation have lived here for at least 13,000 years – although ninety percent of the population died in the 1800s from smallpox, thanks to the first European contact in 1774. The islands were important […]  It was a trip I’d been anticipating for a long time: an ocean voyage on a small ship to visit remote West Papuan villages and to snorkel in the marine-rich waters around Raja Ampat and the Spice Islands. The chance to swim with giant whale sharks was what had sold me on this particular itinerary. […]  We were starting out early: my Berber guide Mohammed was worried about the impact of the hot autumn sun on our steep climb from the trekking lodge (Azzaden Trekking Lodge) near Tizi Oussem in the Toubkal National Park in Morocco, to the mountain pass we needed to cross. I was worried too! I had found […]  There is something very special about Haida Gwaii. It might be the fresh air and abundance of old-growth and second-growth forests; it might be knowing that the Indigenous people here have spiritual and family connections to the land going back more than 13,000 years; it might be the breathtaking natural beauty. Whatever it is, these […] |
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