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 […]
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Sudan: Pyramids!
December 18, 2016
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 […]
Moscow’s Gulag Museum
January 26, 2016
Moscow’s Gulag History Museum has moved to a new, larger, building with new exhibits and a new narrative. The building’s exterior is deliberately stark and austere, even forbidding. The interior exhibition space has been given a distinctly prison-like style. It is mostly one large multi-level hall, with many side rooms for specific topics. The […]
Harbin Ice Festival 2016
January 19, 2016
I’m in Harbin, China, for the annual Ice Festival. This includes various fine ice sculptures, etc. But the highlight is the gloriously insane collection of giant ice buildings at the Ice and Snow World. After dark they are lit from within, to stellar effect. This year the collection included buildings loosely modeled on St Basil’s, […]
The Imelda Marcos Shoe Collection
January 15, 2016
I’m at the Marikina Shoe Museum, in Manila. It’s a modest affair, in one large two-level room. It extols the shoemakers art and boasts a central column decorated with wooden shoe lasts accompanied by a giant boot. But that’s not why people come. The undisputed draw is the Imelda Marcos Shoe Collection. The great lady […]
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