The Molori Safari Lodge Experience “If you need anything your butler’s name is Isaac. “Butler?! I have a butler?! It took me a moment to realize he wasn’t kidding. Toni Watson, my host at the Molori Safari Lodge in South Africa’s Madikwe Game Reserve, smiled and opened the massive wooden doors (think Game of Thrones worthy) […]
If you’ve never been on a safari, chances are you’re not really sure what takes place a game drive is like. Sure, you know you go out into the wild looking for animals, but there’s no way to say exactly what happens, mainly because it’s never the same. And THAT’S what makes the experience so […]
“Here they come!” Racing toward us was a huge pod of dolphins eager to play in the cruise ship’s bow waves, their dorsal fins slicing through the Sea of Cortez like hot knives through butter. Propelled by the swell, they weave in and around each other with the deftness of a con man’s shell game. […]
There are moments when the stars align and everything comes together and this is one of them. Above us, lounging in the crook of a sprawling jackalberry tree, an adult female leopard is bathed in golden light and to my delight, she knows how to work the camera. I can tell, it’s going to be […]
As the sea lions swim past me––banking, rolling, diving, zooming around in loop de loops like Hotwheels on a track––I am sure of one thing, even if this UnCruise adventure sucked (which it doesn’t), the trip would be worth it for this one hour. The Island of Los Islotes We are at the base of […]
It’s mid-morning, and I’m crossing the long, raised boardwalk leading to the island, my excitement building with each plank left behind. I’ve come to Duba Explorers Camp in Botswana, part of the Great Plains Conservation portfolio, one of the best camps in the Okavango Delta, and one of my first stops on an eight-day safari. […]
The idea of swimming with whale sharks made me nervous. I wanted to, a lot, but I couldn’t forget my bizarre reaction to a spinner dolphin in Costa Rica a few years ago. I was afraid I’d humiliate myself again. At the time, I’d been completely and utterly irrational. I was in the water near […]
Except for the gentle lapping of water against the hull, all is quiet and I am as content as I could ever hope to be. I’ve spent the afternoon dining on lobster with new friends, on a deserted beach no less, and now we’re being treated to a beautiful sunset. Susan Land, another guest — […]
It was as if I was saying goodbye to a dear friend. I plopped my expired passport–the one that has traveled with me on all my adventures over the last 10 years—into the waiting envelope. The time had come for me to give up my faithful, dog-eared companion. It was the end of an era; […]
She’s walking straight at us. Her long, powerful strides putting her well within the 50 meters (164-foot) safety range. Even if I could run, what’s the point? She could outpace me in seconds. I look down the line of fellow photographers to where Andy McPhearson and Rob Watson, two of our three Churchill Wild guides, […]