The Andes Mountain Towns Near Machu Picchu

When you’re focusing on climbing, hiking, or touring Machu Picchu, you might not even  realize that all the mountain towns on the way there build up to the excitement. Climbing or hiking “Old Mountain” which is the Quechua word for Machu Picchu, are...

A Morning with the Garifuna Tribe in Belize

Drumming, dancing, medicinal gardens, kayaking and homemade rum comprised the excursion waiting for us with the Garifuna in Belize. We had already hiked up the Maya temples in Xunatunich. We ate the street side barbecue and drank fresh lime juice in San Ignacio. We...

The DABDAR of a Dying Piano

I received news today that I never expected to hear. Faithfully, every year or so, I’ve had my heirloom piano tuned for its posterity and longevity. Knowing one day I’d pass the piano on to one of our three sons, we invested in it yearly by having it...

Milos, Greece; The Warrior Island

The recent darling of the Cyclades islands of Greece is Milos. All these years that the show ponies, Santorini and Mykonos, pranced and galloped for all the tourists to see, there was Milos quietly reveling in her volcanic ash and obsidian glory. To personify this...