3 years 5 months and 14 days later, we returned
Been here before? Well, yes. Worth another visit? Most definitely!!! We always look back fondly on our first visit to Joshua Tree National Park, so we took advantage of a day off on the way to LA for a follow-up. The Joshua Tree, like something straight out of Dr. Seuss, dominates the landscape. In some […]
Vasquez Rocks!
Vasquez Rocks History As you drive the Antelope Valley Freeway from Santa Clarita Valley, north of LA the other-worldly Vasquez Rocks loom suddenly out of the landscape. The angles at which these mammoth rocks were forced up and out of the earth show the power that lies beneath the San Andreas Fault. You can see […]
Inspiration in Sedona
But the love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need–if only we had the eyes to see. –Edward […]
Sossusvlei: A Walk in Namibia with a Japanese Guide
We drove through Namib Naukluft Park on the way to our desert walk from Sesriem (gateway to Sossusvlei).This southern region of Namibia is dry, nestled between two deserts: the Kalahari and the Namib. The area of the national park spans 50,000 square kilometers, and comprises one of the largest conservation areas in Africa. Sossusvlei Dunes […]
Sandboard Namibia
Clearly Swakopmund is a tourist town. Hotel managers, activities instructors and shop-keepers all wait for the next crop of tourists to roll in be it on overland trucks or in group tours from Germany (most likely). Tourists are ripe for the picking, too, looking for adventure and ready to embrace a new experience. At the […]
Swakkie Parasail
Swakopmund is truly an adrenaline capital, and our trip optional activities included sand boarding, quad biking, fishing, sky-diving, sea kayak, etc. We chose para-sailing for our first activity. It was a great experience, though hiking up the dunes in a harness laden down with glider wasn’t easy. After a brief instruction from the pro, we started […]
Spitzkoppe Bushman Paradise
We spent the night bush camping near Spitzkoppe, a huge collection of boulders and rock formed by the collpse of a huge volcano and subsequent erosion. Spitzkoppe is now called the Matterhorn of Namibia. The landscape was striking, and reminded us a great deal of Arizona or southern Utah. There were some bushman rock paintings under one of […]
Okuhepa Is Thank You: Himba Village
The Himba are a semi-nomadic people who lived mostly in northern Namibia’s Kaokoland. They herd cattle and goats, moving from place to place with the seasons. The houses they build are left behind when they move, and sometimes reused when they return (if there is anything left of them). The Himba have fairly successfully resisted […]
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Tucson has more museums than one might imagine. One of the more interesting outdoor examples is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The museum is located 15 miles west of Tucson via Gates Pass through Tucson Mountain Park, adjacent to Saguaro National Park. It’s kind of a cross between botanical garden, modern zoo and hiking trail. A non-profit organization, […]