I’m at Cape Sounion, near Athens, visiting the Temple of Poseidon. In ancient times its splendid white marble columns were visible from far at sea and it was a very welcome landmark for sailors returning to Athens. The surviving columns and base are still an impressive sight. Poseidon has been kind to California recently, […]
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Temple of Poseidon
May 7, 2017
Vietnam: Cu Chi Tunnels
March 11, 2017
I’m at the Cu Chi Tunnels museum outside Saigon. This area was a Viet Cong stronghold during the “American War” with a network of over 200km of low-tech tunnels. Most tunnels entrances are tiny and well hidden. And the tunnels themselves extremely narrow. But my guide showed me one tunnel entrance that was poorly hidden […]
Addis Ababa: Red Remnants
December 29, 2016
From 1974 to 1987, Ethiopia was ruled by a ruthless Marxist-Leninist regime known as the “Derg”. They renamed themselves in 1987, but were only finally overthrown in 1991. There are still odd traces of them in Addis Ababa. The statue of Lenin is long gone, toppled in 1991. But a striking Soviet-style obelisk, known informally […]
Sudan: Pyramids!
December 18, 2016
Greetings from the Pyramids! No, no, not the Egyptian pyramids, the Nubian pyramids! I’m in Karima, in Northern Sudan. I’ve been visiting various Nubian archaeological sites, including three sets of pyramids. They are much younger (7th – 3rd c bc), much steeper and much smaller (40 to 60ft tall) than their Giza brothers, but they […]
Hawaii: Kilauea Lava Lake
November 3, 2016
For the last few weeks the level of the lava lake at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has been unusually high, meaning it’s visible from the Jaggar Museum viewpoint, 1.1 miles away. This is as close as the Park Service will let you get. So I seized the moment and visited. Unlike Nyiragongo, Kilauea was merciful and […]
Tanzania: Mara River: Wildebeest
August 10, 2016
Last year in the Masai Mara, I managed to see 1 (one) wildebeest swim the Mara River. So this time I was back on the Tanzanian side, hoping to get a better view of the Great Migration. The wildebeest came through for me. The rains have been late, so wildebeest herds were crossing both ways […]
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