Many tour companies can send you to the places that you expect to go and show you the things that you expect to see on a trip, but without contact with local people, and informative interpretive guides and resource people these experiences often feel as empty as if you had only viewed them on television.

Select from the index below to read what past participants had to say about TraveLearn's Learning Vacations.

MEMORIES OF ALASKA
A Cruise on the Inside Passage
By June Dempsey

My husband and I were two of 550 passengers on a late-spring Alaska cruise along the Inside Passage, the protected thousand-mile strip of sea and glacial ice that hugs the coast of Alaska and British Columbia. From May 19 through June 2, we sailed smooth seas, visited Alaskan coastal towns, toured gardens and saloons, and learned about the area's geology, wildlife, history, and art.

This casual, informational, activity-packed cruise was a TraveLearn tour, one of many throughout the year offered in cooperation with The University of Arizona Extended University. TraveLearn is an international sponsor of educational travel to destinations as unusual or exotic as the Galapagos Islands, Kenya, and China.

This was not the first cruise Cedric and I, both educators at The University of Arizona have taken, but it was by far the most interesting. The area is historic and spectacularly beautiful, the cruise itself is entertaining and educational.

This two-week adventure began May 19 in Vancouver. We embarked at ultramodern Canada Place Pier on the S.S. Universe, an 18,000-ton ship with seven decks, five lounges, a 200-seat theater, a fitness center, and a glass-enclosed promenade deck. During the academic year, the 550-passenger ship is headquarters for the University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea.

There were deck chairs, a masseuse, a well-equipped fitness room, a physician and several nurses, aerobic classes, a beauty shop, a 12,000-volume library. It was very common for people to leave their light reading at the library for the use of other passengers. The theater seats hundreds. There was a piano lounge as well as a lounge dedicated to games and card playing.

On the Daily Explorer, the on-board newspaper, we learned that Dr. Gary Ferngren, history professor from Oregon State University, would lecture on the Russians in Alaska. We hurried to the Commodore Lounge. Dr. Ferngren was up front and we hustled to get front-row seats. He was well prepared, and there were excellent graphic displays. On another day, Dr. Harry Corwin from the University of Pittsburgh lectured on Wild Alaska. He talked about the flora and fauna, the history of survival there, as well as present-day problems including the oil spill and other pollution.

The second day at sea, we discovered more of the ship's amenities. A closed-circuit TV system aired shipboard programs, educational lectures, and feature films in lounges throughout the ship. An orchestra played every evening in the Commodore Lounge for dancing and listening.

We were thrilled by the cultural programs, more classical than modern. One of the trip highlights was meeting the Ware-Patterson Duo. Richard Patterson plays classical guitar and Bettine Clemen Ware plays the flute. He had composed a beautiful piece for flute and guitar titled "The Inside Passage" that described, musically, the birds, the whales, the water.

We loved hearing pianist Rita Ling. When she prepared to play, she talked about the composer and presented information she had researched: why she played as she did, her interpretation, her understanding of the composer's intent.

On Day 3, the whirlwind touring began. Starting in Wrangell, one of the oldest and most colorful towns in Alaska, the tour proceeded to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Columbia Glacier, Valdez, Seward, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria in the space of only 12 days. Passengers landed in seaplanes on mountaintop lakes, had salmon barbecues, rowed float boats, saw 8,000-year-old petroglyphs, watched Stikan Native Dancers, visited gold-rush towns, walked on glaciers, experienced Russian culture, traveled by catamaran, and much more.

A full-time staff manages cruise activities. They do a wonderful job of briefing passengers on what's available in port, providing suggestions and advice about side trips. In meetings we learned about helicopter trips, floating trips, nature walks, and other opportunities. If we wanted, we could begin activities at 8:00 a.m. and go with no break until midnight. We had to pick and choose.

At Glacier Bay, all 550 passengers stood on one side of the ship for four hours watching the calving of the glaciers. They slough off like a six-story building; it's one of the most magnificent sights I've ever seen. A National Park Ranger talked over the loudspeaker about glaciers and calving, about all the birds in the area, about the seals and whales and otters in that part of Glacier Bay...and the sun was shining on it all, and instead of standing out there with frozen fingers as we expected, we were enjoying the warmth of the day. It was the highlight of the trip, a day filled with thrills.

There were two major calvings in four hours, with oohs and ahs at the thunderous sound of the calving and then the crashing of these huge ice chunks into the water. The captain made quite a to-do about it, glad that he was able to provide several whale sightings as well as the most beautiful day he had ever experienced in glacier Bay.

Spring on the Alaskan coastline can be unpredictable, but we found the weather agreeable and the sea quite smooth. Going to Alaska in mid-May, I took heavy sweaters and jackets, down mittens, all the things I'd take on a ski vacations When we landed at Wrangell the sun was shining and we ended up carrying our jackets around town. In the afternoon it warmed to the mid-sixties. In Juneau we took a city bus out to the Mendenhall Glacier. There were three teenagers swimming in a pool at the foot of the glacier. Most people were dressed in shorts and t-shirts.

We spent the final day in Victoria. There was a music festival, and the city was filled with hanging baskets of flowers. At night all the buildings downtown were lit. People boated right up to the front of the parliament building. The grande dame of hotels, the Queen Victoria, is at the end of the waterway.

All TraveLearn programs are escorted by university faculty who are well acquainted with the country being visited. Resident specialist lecturers also assist in most programs. Trips feature modern accommodations and transportation as well as comfortable paced itineraries.

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MEMORIES OF ANTARCTICA
Quotes from Larry Green - a participant on a TraveLearn program to Antarctica - Interviewed by Keith Williams 11/21/02

"Antarctica was the first place I wanted to see when I was a kid,"  "Visiting Antarctica was a wonderful experience," he said.

"The first thing you notice is the penguins," Green said. "There were thousands of them." 

When the ship's crew encountered two humpback whales being pursued by a pack of five killer whales (orcas). "Our captain decided we were going to save the humpbacks, so we turned the ship around and barged through this gangland thing going on and broke it up," Green said. 

"Maybe the orcas went hungry that night, but the humpbacks were saved, so there was a feeling we did something neat." Green said.

The group visited three research stations during its stay. "They were all happy to see us," Green said. "Sometimes it's months between the times they see other people."

"The other great thing about Antarctica," he said, "is its isolation." "There are no tourist stands, nobody trying to sell you beads. I felt sort of awed in this place," he said. 

"I loved the serenity of it," he said. "I loved the idea of sitting on a rock and knowing this has been this way for literally millions of years. It hasn't changed."

"I'm sure glad I went. There is no place like it."

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MEMORIES OF CHINA - I
This piece was written for "Coast," a Myrtle Beach SC Newspaper, by Linda Ketron, a participant in TraveLearn's Confucian Odyssey in April of 2005.

China…. there’s almost no way to prepare for it, and then almost no way to convey the experience after returning. Though I kept a journal and took many photos, supplemented by postcards that approximately what I was seeing, at the end of the twelve-day TraveLearn Site Selection Tour, my mind reels with specific images that are cast on a canvas like stars in space. And just about that scale. Vast. Enormous. Super-sized.

The hosting tour company had provided wonderful pre-trip materials, timelines, suggested readings, even a quick language study, but I arrived at JFK to meet the group blissfully ignorant. I planned to simply experience the country as it unfolded in our seven-city blitz of highlights and history: Beijing, Xi’an, Jinan, Qufu, Tai’an, Suzhou, Shanghai. A second goal was to see it all through my mother’s eyes. Without any formal introduction the culture, Jessie was attracted to it all (food, music, paintings, garden designs, architecture, couture, mannerisms) and her touches of Chinoiserie have accented her homes throughout her life. She had kept her notes from Dr. James Farsolas’ History of China class (which I’d offered in extended learning several years earlier) and shared them with me just before I left.

Superlatives and hyperboles became commonplace as we visited the requisite sits in Beijing:

	The vast, open Tienamen Square with its circling lines of country peasants waiting to visit the cryo-preserved Mao while their urban cousins circled the “Big Noses” (accepted label for westerners) with “Mao Rolexes”.
	The expansive Forbidden City where mental scenes of “The Last Emperor” would not be denied as we wandered its palaces, pavilions, waiting chambers and intrigues to a final exit sigh which stated, “The more you care for the palace the more it shows its splendor”.
	The Temple of Heaven, a perfection of Ming architecture loaded with symbolic significance (shapes, colors, numbers, animals, directions), where the emperor came in spring to pray for a good season and in autumn to pray for a good harvest.
	The remarkable engineering feat of the Great Wall (a 3,000 mile dragon curving along the mountain spine of China’s northern frontier), now choked like Gatlinburg with “made in China” vendors, through which we climbed straight up for a single panting, marveling mile.
	The rickshaw-navigate labyrinth of ancient brick housing (“hutongs”), that are on the 2008 Olympics’ chopping block to make way for modern high rise apartment.

And that was just the first two days!

From Beijing (China’s present), we flew to Xi’an (China’s past), where the Big Wild Goose Pagoda graced a city center garden and created a peaceful touchstone from every direction because its final tier established the height limitation for the entire town. The next marvel was the archaeological excavation site of the life-size terracotta army constructed by thousands of workers to create thousands of warriors who stand in silent sentry protecting the burial mound of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. A local farmer discovered this “8th Wonder of the World” only three decades ago while digging a well; we watched as he was rushed in the museum gift shop, like a rock-star, by scores of squealing autograph seekers.

After strolling along the City Wall and the banks of the Yellow River in Jinan, we visited Qufu, Confucius’ birthplace. Although often an optional side trip on China tours, Qufu was included in the TraveLearn itinerary and was one of my favorite stops. With one-fifth of the population claiming Confucius in their family tree, the small (by Chinese standards) town is steeped in historic significance. Although Confucius never lived in the Kong Mansion with its maze of 450 halls, rooms and building, he does occupy a burial mound in the Forest of the Sage (also known as Kong Lin and the Confucian Forest), along with 100,000 of his male descendants. In the late afternoon sun, golden light played on the light blue phlox blooming over the little hillocks and the stone sculpture guardians of Confucius tomb. There in front of his mound, a 20-year-ld descendant was whipping out paintings in five-minute increments of bamboo, goldfish and peonies complete with calligraphied wishes for longevity and the artist’s “chop”, while his mother collected 50 yuan each (about $6), scrolling and boxing the treasures in a blur of commercial activity.

Then off to Mount Taishan, the most revered of the five sacred mountains of China. From our cable car, which bypassed about 4 hours of steep zigzag climbing, we viewed the mountain scenery so prevalent in Chinese silk paintings with rock formations, surprising waterfalls, wild forsythia and cherry blossoms dotting the mountainside. Once at “base camp” we hiked the final 1780 (we counted!) irregular stone steps to the Dai Temple, where Qin Shi Huang held sacrificial ceremonies. From the top of the world, we surveyed the Shangdong Province, as had China’s first emperor, Confucius, and Mao Zedong in their day, while enormous incense burners received the pilgrims’ wishes for good health, prosperity and long life.

An overnight train and morning bus ride brought us to Suzhou, the Venice of the East. The combination of 187 private gardens (20 of which are now open to the public and nine listed by Unesco as World Cultural Heritage sites) and the canal system constructed more than 2,000 years ago as China’s main north-south artery, create an unforgettable ambiance. Visits to the Fisherman’s Net Garden and Lingering Garden brought clarity to the concepts of fen shui, yin and yang, and the Taoist principle of merging humanity into nature.

The serenity of Suzhou gave way to the palpable energy of Shanghai. With the World Expo coming here in 2010 (two years after Beijing’s summer Olympics), the growth and construction in China’s biggest city (17 million, twice the size of New York City) is phenomenal. The ever-changing Shanghai skyline, created in the past 15 years among the rice paddies and swamps across the river from the older Bund, resembles an architectural competition, except the models are larger than life. In the 1920s, Shanghai was a paradise for adventurers; it is now a paradise for 20,000 foreign investment companies. As China’s future, Shanghai is a magnet for immigration but surprisingly the crime rate is very low the freeway systems efficiently move the massive population, and urban parks, cultural venues, and 45 universities dot the city.

A couple of hours at one of the world’s great museums, the Shanghai Museum of Art and History, created the perfect conclusion to this amazing tour. In a single building, the masterpieces of Chinese cultural heritage, spanning from the Neolithic Age through Ming and Qing dynasties to modern times, were presented in galleries of bronze, ceramics, calligraphy, painting, sculpture, seal, jade, furniture, coins and the arts and crafts of the 56 Chinese ethnic minorities.

Unlike many tours, which bombard the traveler with date/name/place information, TraveLearn provides opportunities for interacting with the Chinese people by providing an excellent national guide who accompanies the group from arrival to departure, local guides who board at each city and offer insights into the local history and character, as well as “people-to-people” experiences that enliven, enrich and personalize each city:

	At the end of a twisted line of yellow-canopied rickshaws navigating the unrelieved dry, dusty grayness Beijing’s old town, our group reached a gracious retired postal worker who shared her home, her Four Harmon Courtyard and life story in the hutong;
	A demographer with the Chinese Academy on Social Science Policy explained the “One Child Policy”, its theory, practice, and impacts followed by a noisy visit with kindergarten children;
	A language professor at the Xi’an International Studies University explained China’s education system and then matched us up for a tour of the campus with students learning English for the tourism industry;
	A retired professor of the Confucius Study Institute at Qufu Teachers University presented the life and philosophy of Confucius (551-472 B.C.). Dominated by the concept of benevolence, Professor Li radiated the teachings of harmony and moderation which he had translated and published; and
	In Shanghai, we took a hillside walk in the moonlight to a suburban farmer’s home for dinner, visited a high rise where three generations live in a five-room apartment, and stopped at a community senior center where the “Old Mama’s Retirement Chorus” offered a touching fashion show and traditional dancing and singing.

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MEMORIES OF CHINA II

"What state you from?" the old man asked with a smile.
"What state you from?"
"Illinois," I answered.
"Ah, prairie state, prairie state," came the proud reply, and he turned to another member of our group, "What state you from?"
"Pennsylvania."
"Keystone state!" came the triumphant response.

It was one of those delightful moments when, as travelers to China in early 1995, we experienced the warmth and friendliness of people who were as interested in us as we were in them.

As members of a TraveLearn tour, we were learning about a country which totters on the brink of world leadership or perhaps something much more unsettling. No one knows at this point in time, but several weeks in this intriguing country provide much greater understanding of its problems and potential.

Our tour began in Beijing, the dynamic capital of China. First impressions: people and more people. Few cars; many bicycles. A major highway connecting the airport to the city but shepherds alongside it watching their flocks. Every other building (it seems) under construction. Bicycles used for everything, even moving a double bed.

We were no different from other tourists in Beijing - Visiting Tiananmen Square, climbing the Great Wall, exploring the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and Beijing Opera, devouring a dinner of Peking Duck. But TraveLearn tours also include the unexpected: a private meeting with a leading official on the "one-child policy" and a back-of-the-stacks visit to the national library where the librarian proudly showed us their new computer lab - all of 24 computers in a cramped room. This is the kind of "people contact" and educational stimulation which make these tours so special.

Our Chinese guides were professional and friendly - and very proud of the economic growth and the many "joint ventures" with international companies. For example, on our first evening in Beijing our national guide took us to the Hard Rock Cafe!

The growth is not without trauma. For example, traffic in most cities is overwhelming. Bikes, cars and buses clog the streets. One day we saw about 12 men get off a street car which was stalled in an intersection and push it through to the other side, so traffic could resume.

The countryside provides welcome relief from this hectic scene. TraveLearn provides a truly memorable visit to Weifang, Shandong Province, where small groups of travelers (4 to 5) visit with farm families and are treated to a home-cooked meal. Some 75% of China's 1.2 billion population live in rural areas, so this is a valued part of the trip. A visit to Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius, and lectures on his philosophy provide invaluable insight into Chinese culture.

Xian, approached through flat, green farmlands, is a 600-year-old city with a population of five million. Like most visitors, we are there to view the massive excavation of the Terracotta warriors, life size clay soldiers created 2,000 years ago to protect the tomb of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who also built the Great Wall. The soldiers, each different in expression and body size, stand at attention as if ready to advance into battle. Money is short so not all of the 6,000 clay figures have been excavated; even so, this site is considered a "must see" by most travelers to China.

Then it's on to China's largest city, Shanghai - back to the crowds of people, the smoke and dust of massive industry and our hotel rooms high above the noise and bustle. A day-long trip to nearby Suzhou and a boat trip on its Grand Canal is a pleasant change. Suzhou, know for its beautiful gardens and production of silk, has 800,000 residents and is growing, like every part of China we visited. Cranes and scaffolding stretch above the tall buildings of the city. Yet, the people along the canal seem from a different era. Women wash clothes and pots in the less-than-clean water. Families on junks loaded with grain and supplies steer cautiously though the crowded canal.

Those who participate in TraveLearn tours know that each is a special experience. This tour of China is no different. From the pre-trip reading list (Kristoff's China Wakes is a must) to the lectures enroute, there is support for the intellectual immersion that provides enlightenment. Add the people contact, the excellent guides and the visits to homes both rural and urban, and what the traveler has is an unforgettable China encounter.

And you might even learn your own state's motto. "What state you from?"

MEMORIES OF CHINA II
China - A Culinary Odyssey
By Edieann Biesbrock-Didham
Professor Emeritus Bowling Green State University

An American Tourist's Phobia

I contemplated TraveLearn's approaching China tour with a mixture of fascination and dread. A country with an ancient culture embracing culinary traditions thousands of years old and making use of animal parts and flora that western menus would never feature was a food challenge for me. What unusual and curious items would find their way to our table? I went to bed in the nights preceding our departure with visions of eels, chicken feet, fish heads, congealed animal blood and stewed seaweed marching though my head. Then there was the dreadful "ground goat", the Chinese menu euphemism to mislead naive tourists, that was, in reality, domesticated dog.

I dreaded devouring the slimy and slithery of the fauna kingdom. I fretted over my potential guffaws in Chinese table manners. Would I remember to toss my bones on the table rather than position them on my plate? Would I remember always to leave something on my plate to not imply that I was still hungry resulting in being served more additional food that I could possible eat? And I agonized over the impossible skills needed to manipulate small pieces of vegetable and meat to my mouth using two thin sticks.

My chopstick phobia was abated shortly after take off on the Japan to Beijing flight by a kindly, retired Chinese professor I met on the plane. She gently instructed me on how to pick up small items from an empty airplane seat with a pair of chopsticks she took out of her travel bag. I wondered if Chinese folks traveling abroad always carry chopsticks like Americans carry toothbrushes and traveler's checks. With her capable teaching, I soon learned to pick up a comb, a wadded sheet of paper, a lipstick and a rubber band. Perhaps this would feed a Billy goat, but unfortunately none of these items seemed edible to me; nevertheless, I was now less traumatized by the chopstick obstacle facing me on the TraveLearn adventure.

Buoyed up for my first public battle with the chopsticks, I attacked the luncheon table on the first day in China with courage and whetted appetite. I stared at the vast array of hot and cold appetizers circling on the center "lazy Susan" as eager hands turned it to reach their desired dish. Steamed bok choy, a cold fish flavored with ginger, marinated green beans cut in bite size pieces, cold sliced squid, cucumbers laced with rice vinegar, toasted soy beans, deep fried shrimp balls and bean curd in soy sauce. My initial food choices were made solely on what I was able to pick up with my chopsticks.

After dropping only a few morsels on myself and nearby companions, I proceeded to the entrees being placed on the revolving table center by uniformed waitresses. I first sampled potatoes and beef in a spicy, garlic sauce. And then the sliced, crusty chicken, followed by a savory cooked cabbage, then the Chinese flat beans and finally a dish of slivered celery and pork in a spicy sauce. Interestingly, there was no bowl of steamed rice served with the meal; I soon discovered that rice is never served with formal meals (in contrast to the Chinese restaurants in the U.S.). Believe me, it was not missed!

I had managed despite ineptitude with the utensils to fill my belly effectively while pausing only to reflect upon the attractive presentations and savory flavors. Sesame, scallion, garlic and ginger were much evident the cuisine. Other flavors and spices you are likely to encounter in Chinese recipes include soy sauce, vinegar, rice wine, spring onion, cinnamon and red pepper. I discovered that when you dine in China, it really doesn't matter if you have food hang-ups and diet restrictions because there is always a huge variety on the table from which to make your selection. Typically a minimum of six appetizer dishes and six entrees were served to us, and sometimes fifteen or more appetizing dishes appeared during the meal. Variety in Chinese preparation and cooking methods is abundant in the mixture of stir-fried dishes, cauldron cooked meats and vegetable, and steamed dumplings and noodle dishes that appear at every meal.

The smiling young women who served the lunch offered us cups of hot tea and soft drinks, but they also offered us bottled beer. Chinese beer! I was surprised and pleased to find that the Chinese are excellent brew-masters, and that most regions have one or more local beers to sample with meals. Beer making developed in the era of European Concessions following the Opium War. The Germans established breweries, and the Chinese beer industry has been flourishing ever since.

Flavors of Chinese beers varied, but all the regional beers of the northern provinces that we sampled were predominately light in body and paler in color than most American beers. Another regional beer that we enjoyed while in Shanghai was a darker color and more full-bodied. I can state unequivocally that while in China, I never met a beer I didn't like. We also discovered that several areas of China produce fruits of high quality including grapes that support a growing wine industry. Several wines especially the sweeter ones that we were served during our TraveLearn journey were quite pleasant. Both the red and white wines we sampled in Shanghai were very good.

Near the end of the meal the waitresses brought a large porcelain tureen to the table filled with soup. Traditionally soup is served at the end of the meal and sometimes another tureen of soup or long noodles in broth is served midway through the meal. The soup provides additional liquid to the Chinese diet. For that reason, summer soups are generally thin and watery, while winter soup is usually thick and hearty. Our luncheon ended as many of our meals in China did with a platter of thin, juicy triangle pieces of watermelon. We were offered at subsequent meals, in addition to watermelon slices. Dessert choices of succulent oranges, grapes, apricots, lotus seeds in sweet syrup and occasionally, custard crowned with cherries. A sweet ending, indeed!

A Traditional Dumpling Banquet

In the Wei river valley of Shaanxi Province, the food staple is wheat rather than rice. A variety of steamed breads, noodles ranging from delicate wisps of starch to noodles as long and wide as a man's belt, and more kinds of dumplings that I ever dreamed existed are found typically on the Chinese family's weekly menu. In a hotel kitchen in Xi'an, a small army of chefs and assistants demonstrated the arts involved in preparation of traditional dumpling banquet. Flames shot five feet in the air, woks sizzled, choppers flashed and cauldrons boiled and bubbled. Small, floppy rounds of the dumpling dough shot across the table as we joined the kitchen staff in stuffing dumplings for a traditional Wan Nian style dumpling banquet.

If you are invited to a Wan Nian style dumpling banquet, be sure you fast for three days and take a huge appetite with you. A family preparing a dumpling feast may toil for days finely mincing and mixing the many filling ingredients and molding the dumpling dough into the various shapes of the classic dumplings. Our gargantuan spread consisted of a combination dish of barbecued meats for openers and eight varieties of cold appetizers, followed by sixteen varieties of steamed dumplings, one variety of deep fried dumpling, one variety of oven baked dumpling, one home made style dumpling, hot pot sizzling soup, and fresh fruits including the traditional watermelon triangles.

Served with this incredible banquet were tea, soda drinks and delightful sticky rice wine. The hosts assured us that it was not only good tasting, it was of great benefit to women. The traditional folk wisdom claims drinking sticky rice wine make women become more beautiful. Well, if beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, I'm sure a woman does look more beautiful to a man who has drunk his share of sticky rice wine.

The nineteen varieties of dumplings we consumed at our banquet were served in bamboo steamers, one variety at a time. Most of the dumplings had unique shapes often featuring the food item used in the filling. For example, the duck and sesame dumpling was molded into a duck with red eyes; the walnut dumpling was brown and was shaped and patterned like a walnut shell and a seafood filling was wrapped into a dumpling fish complete with fins and tail.

Other steamed dumplings included a little basket holding a chicken and mushroom filling, the double happiness dumpling (two joined little sacks, one filled with pork and the other with squid), the peony dumpling, the good luck dumpling, the full moon dumpling, the fortune dumpling, the Buddha's palm dumpling, the cherry and lotus dumpling, the honeymoon dumpling, the golden fish in pond dumpling and the phoenix dumpling. The tri-star steamed dumpling consisted of three separate compartments each holding beef or parsley or chestnut, while the happy duck was an open dumpling revealing yellow deviled egg with green pepper. Another steamed dumpling the golden dragon, was shaped like a conch shell shape and filled with shrimp, pork and bamboo shoots. We also enjoyed the red silk dumpling that was deep-fried and an oven baked dumpling called golden pond.

Near the end of the meal, we were served hot pot sizzling soup and taught the Chinese custom of fortune telling with the tiny pearl dumplings that appeared in our individual soup bowls. Chinese family members count their pearl dumplings and announce the number. Three, six and nine dumplings are lucky and bring much luck. One dumpling is a good number to find for travelers for it means safe landing. Two dumplings bring you double happiness. Four means money for the person; five is good luck with farming. Only seven dumplings are unlucky to find in your soup bowl for seven has no meaning. If you find your soup has no dumplings at all, it means you have nothing about which to worry.

Chinese Breakfast: More Is Better

Breakfast buffets make hotel morning an overwhelming selection process. A steam table of various congee pots, the traditional hot rice breakfast dish favored by the Chinese, offers consistencies from a thin, soupy gruel to a thickened porridge with many variations offering preserved eggs, meat or vegetable bits. An interesting option to scrambled eggs is Chinese tea eggs. Hard-boiled eggs are cracked but not peeled, and then they are soaked in a kettle of soy sauce and tea leaves for a brown marbled appearance and a delicious flavor.

Dozens of dishes offering meat and vegetables with steamed rice, stir-fried rice and noodles are offered each morning to the hungry tourist. Steamed buns and dumplings and European style pastries are heaped into tempting piles; little folded pancakes with jam or honey syrups be to be devoured; and at a hotel in Suzhou, we ate long fried crullers rolled into twin tubes of pastry with light syrup between the sections. Fruits are in plentiful array on the breakfast buffet from fresh sliced melons, dates and oranges to canned litchi nuts, plums, apricots, mandarin oranges, pineapple and mountain haws.

Speaking of haws, those small, reddish pink crab apple like fruits, are sold on the streets in towns such a Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius. Skewered in rows on long sticks and dipped in sugars, the sticks of haws are purchased by school children for treats. Eaten in this manner, the haws have both a sweet and tart taste not unlike commercial candies enjoyed by American children. Haws have been used for centuries in Chinese medicine and in moderation are a stimulant to the appetite. I peered in fascination one morning at the stock of dried bats, antelope horns and assorted powders in an upscale shop in Xi'an that sold medicine for whatever ailed you from impotency to gall stones. The mysteries of Chinese healing art often involve ginseng and other herbal remedies.

Picking Foods in the Markets and Streets

Although we were cautioned not to eat food from street vendors, there was always a tempting assortment of dumplings and steaming noodles as well as roasted yams available everywhere. Sellers wheeling metal cookers through the streets on handcarts or operating from sidewalk stalls make "fast food" dining easy for busy Chinese people. We did sample longan fruit that resembled golden, hard-shelled grapes on sparse bunches and tasted like heaven. After removing a single longan from the stem and peeling the rind, you popped the transparent fruit into your mouth and scraped the juicy fleshy part for the large center pit with our teeth.

The Chinese markets are abundant and colorful with fresh foods. Small stalls specialize in a single item such as pig's feet and fresh eels or fancy fruits. Rabbits, ducks, geese, pigeons, chickens and other poultry await buyers in baskets and cages; live snakes are sorted by species into wore mesh cages. Eels, crabs and turtles are crowded in water tanks, and large crabs have their pinchers tied with raffia for safe handling. All of the produce, freshly butchered animals, fish and wold game arrive on fleets of bicycles daily and are delivered directly to the market stalls. In Suzhou, a busy market exists on the Grand Canal where all food items are delivered and bartered from small boats.

Dozens and dozens of buyers for restaurants, hotels and family kitchens bustle among the stalls and crowded the busy markets scene. If you become a customer, you will want to know that you can buy an item such as an eel either live, freshly killed and cleaned. Or killed and dressed to your orders as you watch. The attractive displays of vegetables, fruits, mushroom, fungus and herbs are especially appealing, and in addition to the well known products of our supermarkets, you will find yard long beans, bitter roots, soybeans, mung beans, Chinese turnips, Chinese cabbage, malva and amaranth. While hundreds of items are available for purchase, from blood puddings to preserved eggs, there is a noticeable lack of cheeses and dairy products which are generally not part of the Chinese diet.

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

It wouldn't be fair to write of the Chinese cuisine sample on the TraveLearn adventure without mentioning those incredible culinary highlights I still remember and crave. My favorite dishes in China were all new experiences for me. I love the caramelized potatoes we ate in the Xi'an area that were cooked in a wok over extreme heat until the sugar liquefies and coats the potatoes. Your chopsticks trail long stands of caramelized sugar as you eat the hot potato pieces. I adore the long noodles in soup from Shaanxi Province and the regional cabbage and bean curd dish from Tai'an. Real comfort food!

Despite my initial hesitation, I learned to worship the strange, ugly looking squirrel-fish served whole on a platter and decorated with fruit ornaments that provided a honey sweet, melt in your mouth goodness. I also learned to love a most unusual recipe featuring the leaves from the toon trees, which were dipped in a batter and fried tempura style. I discovered that I love the marinated and pickled cold vegetable appetizers such as chopped celery, diced yams and cross sections of lotus root with fresh ginger. Also worthy of praise are chopped and pickled carrots, cucumbers, green beans and cabbage. Another great appetizer are the fried tofu balls that are crunchy outside with a smooth, warm interior of blended bean curd, peppers and other vegetables.

I drool even now thinking of the crispy stir-fried, shredded potatoes with hot peppers in sesame oil. I also covet a masterpiece made of sautéed, shredded pork with spring onions and soybeans as well as another equally appealing dish with pork short ribs and black mushrooms in broth. And I long for the squares of baked seaweed and breading that taste a little like breaded oysters-delicious and slightly crunchy. I still lust over the hot spicy Sichuan peanut and chicken dish that put fire in my mouth. And I crave the flat millet bread which unfolds like sashes that you fill with chopped, pickled vegetables and roll up to eat. You lick it up and eat it as a filled tube, if you can bite through the many layers of dough and vegetables like a giant Chinese burrito.

You cannot travel to China without trying the famous Peking duck at least once or twice. You may even be able to settle the regional controversy of which choice is better, the world famous Peking duck or the extremely tasty duck of Shandong Province. Shandong residents insist their ducks are less fatty and hence higher in quality and better tasting while Beijing folks adamantly vote for the Peking fowl. Presentation by a master chef of either variety involves carving the duck into two hundred small pieces. The pieces are arranged on a serving platter and served with small pancakes. You place small pieces of duck and the crispy crust of skin onto a pancake and add chopped scallions and sweet bean sauce. Roll up the pancake and eat it like a sandwich. I could not decide whether Shandong or Peking Duck was superior; I predict it may take me at least a dozen more ducks and hundreds of little pancakes before I can reach a decision.

If you long to be part of the exciting China tour offered by TraveLearn, but have concerns about your diet in China, do not hesitate a minute longer. Register today! China is a land of never-ending culinary treasures-a rich banquet of exotic and savory offerings to tempt the eye, nose and palate. From Peking duck to honey-fried eel, from sautéed shredded pork to sweet and sour fish, from steamed hairy crab to chicken stewed with ginseng, Chinese chefs proved daily that calligraphy and cloisonné are not the only arts honed to a high level of perfection. You will not be sorry you journeyed to China, and you certainly will never be hungry!

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MEMORIES OF COSTA RICA
by Tripp Baltz

As plumes of steam and ash suddenly began to billow forth from the nearby volcano, our tour guide dashed for the travel bus and hollered "Avalanche!" – prompting one question to flash through my mind.

Am I about to be buried under a volley of scorching lava and rocks?

I relaxed the moment I saw our tour guide, Jeff Otico, return with his camera and point it in the direction of the volcano, which was now stained russet by the setting sun. He smiled broadly and announced we were witnessing a "pyroclastic flow," a geologic event that occurs less than once a year.

My smile broadened, too, as flecks of ash appeared on my white T-shirt and those of my companions on a TraveLearn tour in Costa Rica. As bruised clouds streamed forth from Arenal Volcano and darkened the sky, the voluminous amount of steam in the air caused two rainbows to form over our heads. While the sunset show went on, we reflected back on our day spent in this fresh, tropical land.

Like Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica is teeming with activity and wildness. On this tour we learned much about this nation of peace-loving people, great bio-diversity, living rainforests, murky cloud forests, Caribbean and Pacific coasts, mountain ranges, and active volcanism.

Volcanism plays a soothing role at El Tabacon Resort Hot Springs, which are heated by Arenal’s lava flows. The night before the avalanche, we relaxed in the steaming water as orange ribbons of light streaked down the nearby, hulking cone.

Earlier that day, during a boat trip in the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge, anhingas, cormorants and herons sat perched on snags and logs lining the banks of the Rio Frio (Cold River), watching us as we floated by. Jeff bellowed into the jungle and received an answer from howler monkeys hanging by their tails from tree branches high over our heads. Our pilot wheeled the boat around and pointed under a tree, urging us to look for several mammals hiding there. Like a line of ink splotches, several bats clung to the tree’s underside, staying away from predators as they waited for night to fall. Later we saw a caiman hungrily eyeing a basilisk lizard, dubbed the "Jesus Christ Lizard" by natives because of its ability to skip across the surface of water.

TraveLearn prides itself on its knowledgeable in-country guides, and Jeff was no exception. Ask Jeff a question about volcanoes, and he doesn’t just tell you they are beautiful conical-shaped mountains that spew forth lava and are pretty to watch at night, he gives you a history lesson that covers lava domes, calderas, and nice little Italian villages being wiped out in 79 AD.

He and our friendly bus driver, Carlos, frequently stopped the tour to point out a caracara, turkey vulture or red-lored parrot. Their eyes were sharp. Once they pulled us to the side of the road and motioned into the jungle at a light green tree with hand-shaped leaves. "Donde? Where?" I asked Carlos, peering repeatedly into the dark foliage. Carlos patiently pointed to a crux in the branches where finally I saw a two-toed sloth, sitting perfectly still.

TraveLearn tours also come with deluxe accommodations, like the elegant Tilijari Resort, a country club along the San Carlos River. Resort owner James Hamilton, who came to Costa Rica with the Peace Corps in 1968 (the same year of Arenal’s last major eruption) gave us a tour of the grounds, where nearly all of the plants provide some fruit or medicinal benefit—banana, dopa (used to treat victims of Parkinson’s Disease), hearts of palm. We were careful around the cashew tree; however, the nut of which is highly poisonous until roasted.

The "Comida Tipica" – regional cuisine of Costa Rica – was a delicious feast for us as we motored our way through the country. For breakfast, we dined on huevos (eggs), tortillas and gallo pinto (literally, spotted rooster, a mixture of rice and black beans), augmented by native fruit juices such as guanabana (a light-colored, sweet grapefruit flavored drink) and pineapple.

For lunch and dinner we had our choice of dishes built around bistek (beef), pollo (chicken) or pescados (fish), usually with a mixture of rice, beans, tortillas, sauces, plantains and palmitos (hearts of palm). Traditional postres (desserts) included flan and mazamorra, a pudding made from cornstarch.

At and between every meal Costa Rica’s superb coffee was always available. Ticos, the name Costa Ricans give themselves, drink coffee all day, and it is excellent and quite inexpensive. I brought back several bags of beans, at about $4 a pound.

I came to Costa Rica hoping to learn more about rain forest preservation and how the nation is handling its eco-tourism boom. In Monteverde, I gained respect for the early residents, who resolved nearly 50 years ago to set aside the nearby pristine jungle for future generations. Now the 10,500-hectare Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve contains over 100 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 120 species of amphibians and reptiles, and a whopping 2,500 species of plants!

On a walk under the thick canopy of vegetation, we stopped to peer at a strangler fig, which Jeff identified using a red light pointer in the murky half-light of the thick jungle.

The fig, unable to stand on its own, was working its way up the trunk of another tree, which it eventually will suffocate after it is ready to hold up its own weight. Bromeliads sat like potted plants on the branches of other host trees; their long leaves streaming down the forest floor. Vines hung from practically every tree branch, and a cool mist lingered in the air.

I hiked with a few companions to Costa Rica’s Continental Divide, where a white bank of clouds rose from the Caribbean to meet a thick mist rolling in from the Pacific. At the top we saw some "Poor Man’s Umbrella" plants, with wide, roundish leaves and stalks as thick as broom handles.

In Monteverde we stayed at the delightful and rustic Hotel Fonda Vela, carefully tucked into the foliage of the rain forest. A key part of the hotel’s environmental focus is its ongoing reforestation project. In compensation for tree removal for construction, the hotel concentrates on re-planting Costa Rican trees. The Cloud Forest is a short hike from the property and some 60 different species of migrating birds can often be seen around the hotel. Jeff told us he has occasionally seen the Resplendant Quetzal, a dazzling, multicolored bird with long green tail feathers, flying around the rooftops at Fonda Vela. We didn’t spot the elusive bird, but hummingbirds flitted about our heads and we could hear woodpeckers and toucans in the woods nearby.

Fonda Vela, true to Costa Rica’s emerging tradition of eco-tourism, was built on a small and intimate scale. In contrast with mega-resorts popping up elsewhere in Central America and the Caribbean, Costa Rica’s hotel industry has worked closely with local people and the environment to the benefit of all. As a result, our visit to Fonda Vela and Monteverde was friendly, intimate, and peaceful.

While there we met Marvin Rockwell, one of the original members of a community of Quakers who left the U.S. in protest over the military draft and founded Monteverde in the early 1950s. Marvin told us stories of his adventures traveling through the Central American isthmus to reach Costa Rica, and the challenges that faced the early Monteverdians as they worked to establish a home in the Cloud Forest. I asked him if back then he ever envisioned the eco-tourists who now come to Monteverde to stroll through its protected forests. "Never," he replied, an incredulous look on his face. As Marvin spoke to us we were treated to a phenomenal pink sky above the misty veil of the Cloud Forest, glowing crimson as the sun set over the distant Pacific.

Because of its philosophy of natural protection, Costa Rica now enjoys an immense diversity of wildlife and wild areas. I learned that although the country covers a mere 0.03 percent of the earth’s surface, it contains over 5 percent of all life forms on the planet. And roughly one-fourth of the country is set aside in special conservation areas.

Back in San Jose, the nation’s capital, TraveLearn arranged for us to meet Rodrigo Carazo, former president of the country. Carazo detailed the economic and political challenges facing his land, including the social tensions caused by waves of Nicaraguan immigration in the wake of the ceasing of Contra-Sandinista hostilities.

On our last night in the country, TraveLearn set up small-group dinners with local families, a welcome opportunity to learn about the Tico lifestyle. The peace-loving Costa Ricans, who voted to abolish their military in 1949, fit nicely within the backdrop of their country’s many wild and natural areas and the pristine beauty of its living rain forests.

Together the Ticos and their tropical land demonstrate love of the "Pura Vida" – pure life, the makings of an unforgettable TraveLearn adventure.

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MEMORIES OF EGYPT

The sun hung in the crimson sky over the Nile. Feluccas with tall pointed sails darted around Elephantine Island. Music wafted from the verandah; on the distant shore, the Agha Khan Mausoleum stood watch. We were in the elegant Old Cataract Hotel, sipping high tea and reflecting on the day's events: a visit to the quarry which provided granite for towering ancient obelisks, a boat ride to the lovely Temple of Isis, and a stop at the Aswan High Dam which holds back the water of the Nile River, forming Lake Nasser. As the sun set on the Nile, we could see why Agatha Christie came here to write her book, Murder on the Nile.

We were nearing the end of our Egyptian Odyssey and there was much to reflect on. Pyramids, temples and tombs dating back thousands of years - our small group had seen them, and much more. We had ridden on camels and visited shops and museums in Cairo. We had cruised the Nile and seen villages where women still wear caftans and veils and men wear turbans and gellebiyyas, where donkeys and camels work in the fields and children run along the banks of the Nile, waving and shouting at passing boats.

Had it not been for TraveLearn and our guide, Mohammed Shata, an Egyptologist and former curator of the Pyramids at Giza, the complexity and variety of our tour may have felt overwhelming. Thanks to them it was easy. They scheduled lectures (what it's like for women in Egypt?), entertainment (have you ever seen a whirling dervish?), and even shopping (for carving, carpets or a cartouche.) They also made sure we did not overlook one of the most fascinating treasures in Egypt: the Solar Boat.

The 142-foot Solar Boat belonged to Cheops, the Pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid in Giza. It was meant to ferry his remains across the sky. Until its discovery in 1954, the boat lay completely disassembled beneath the sand in a 150 foot pit covered by 42 huge stones. It took nearly 15 years to reassemble its 650-pieces with approximately five miles of rope, no nails. Shata himself was a member of the team which undertook the task. His intimate knowledge of Egypt and his passion for its history brought an added dimension to this visit and the rest of our tour.

What other wonders awaited us? The stunning Temple of Karnak with carved columns and obelisks so massive that most of us fell silent in awe. The isolated temple of Dendera, where we walked among pottery shards left by worshipers thousands of years ago who came to honor the goddess Hathor. The Valley of the Kings. The Tomb of Tutankhamun, the boy king whose treasures astounded the world when they were discovered just a few decades ago. But one of the most unforgettable sights came near the end of our tour.

A short flight and a bus ride took us to Abu Simbel. We descended a gentle path, turned to the left, and suddenly there they were: four colossal figures of the great King Ramesis II (1304-1237 BC) seated at the front of his temple, gazing regally to the east. The 60-foot high stone figures represent Ramesis at four stages in his life.

Abu Simbel is remarkable for two reasons. The first is that this massive monument was built by hand on the Nile near Aswan more than 3000 years ago; it took more than 20 years to build it. Equally impressive is the fact that in the 1960's it was relocated some 150 miles away. In a feat that took four years and millions of dollars, it was dismantled and each piece was marked, moved and reassembled at the new site. Amazingly, not a single cut can be seen on the reconstructed temple, which escaped the deep water fate met by many other ancient monuments as the High Dam was built and the water of Lake Nasser covered them.

Those who participate in TraveLearn's Egyptian Odyssey are sure to enjoy other wondrous sites and pleasures. You'll marvel at temple walls covered with intricate murals of men and women, row upon row, each with their left foot forward, huge eyes staring ahead, especially as Shata tells their story. You'll see statues of Cleopatra, Nefertiti, Sobek the crocodile god, Horus the falcon, and Ra the sun god. You'll enjoy gracious hotels and cruise ships, wonderful meals and the company of other adults who enjoy learning as they travel. As for me, I'll never forget this splendid Egyptian temple, proudly overlooking the lake which almost destroyed it.

And who knows, I may return to the Nile one day to write my own book.

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MEMORIES OF GREECE

The silence is overwhelming. No motors. No horns. Not even the humming of electric wires. Just silence. It sinks into your soul and your body feels it -ahhh, yes! The peace of complete silence.

We are standing in the courtyard of the Monastery of the Transfiguration atop a formidable rock pinnacle, only large enough for this one building. The location: central Greece where our 14 member TraveLearn tour is visiting Meteora, home of the astounding 24 Byzantine monasteries that were built about 600 years ago on the top of almost inaccessible perpendicular rocks. Today, five remain open with only a handful of monks in each, still reveling in the sanctuary of solitude.

We are on the third day of our tour to classical Greece, and this rainy visit to Kalambaka, some five hours by coach from Athens, to see the mountainous and breathtaking beautiful countryside is cut short by a dense fog that rolls in on short notice. Helen, our guide, is apologetic that we have only had a short time to view what one brochure calls "these gray stalagmites rising towards the sky ... nature's gift to the pious who, driven by faith, have opted for solitude and a life of worship." There are places in the world that simply inspire, and Meteora is one of those places. It would be on my "must see" list for any visit to Greece, if only for a short glimpse such as we have had.

There are many other "must see" places on this tour, which like all TraveLearn tours has the advantage of a small group, an incredibly knowledgeable in-country guide and interaction with Greek residents who are as interested in us as we are in them.

Our stepping off point is Athens, a crowded city that has managed to preserve its antiquities although unrelenting smog and the multitude of tourists may shorten their future, according to our concerned guide. Our hotel is near the Plaka, the quaint shopping area where we find dollars are easy to spend, but it is the well-known Greek treasures such as the Parthenon and the Acropolis that we are eager to see.

During our first evening, we are treated to a lively lecture on Greek values and culture. Dimitri Monos is an American-educated professor from the University of Athens who not only keeps his jet-lagged visitors awake but also entices a group of us to join him for dinner at a nearby tavern after a magical walk below the beautifully lit Acropolis. It is an auspicious beginning for a tour that will remind us repeatedly of the great influence Greece has had on western culture.

There is something about being there. Yes, we had heard about Delphi. But to stand in the spot where even the great sought answers from the Oracle and to realize how the natural beauty of the site enhanced the spiritual messages, or to actually take a short run in the stadium at Olympia where the first Olympic games began-those are the experiences that enhance this tour. Helen, our in country guide, opens our hearts to Greek history, art and culture. We learn about the Greek gods once again, and now the stories come to life. We learn about what Greek life is like today. In the mountainous countryside, there are groves and groves of orange, almond and olive trees (olive oil is their largest export product), deep green valleys dotted with small villages, farmers riding on donkeys or small tractors, and scores of sheep. In one small village we have a lunch of potatoes, artichokes and lamb raised by the owner of the restaurant. Even the yogurt and honey dessert has come from his farm. Delicious!

In the beautiful seaside city of Nauplia, the first capital of Greece, we dine with a group of local professionals who are delighted to meet and talk with us. Nick hosts our table and tells us how he and his wife both worked in Athens, but when their first child was born, they moved to Nauplia because of the "quality of life." In Athens they had a three hour commute and polluted air. Nauplia has neither. As always, this people-to-people contact is one of the highlights of our tour.

Our tour also includes visits to Mycenae, Messini, Tripolis, Epidaurus and Corinth, ending with Athens once again where we visit the famed National Archeological Museum - seeing the valued artifacts from the sites we have visited during this week of discovery. We admire the ability of Helen, our guide, for we find we have remembered much more than we thought we would! TraveLearn has done it again - provided a travel experience that has touched our intellect and our soul. There can be no greater combination for the thoughtful traveler.

MEMORIES OF GREECE II
Mystery of the ancient Greeks revealed
By Gloria Calcina del Vecchio
Bucks County Courier Times  - October 7, 2002

I have a poet friend who once told me about a trip to Greece he had made. "I had it," he said, "I had it for just a moment - the mystery of the ancient Greeks: I understood them and what made them so great and unique; but, before I could express it to myself and others, this insight was gone and I have never found it again."

A few months ago, I made my own journey to Greece. I think of my father, now, who had an eighth-grade education and who worked in a factory, and I remember how he educated himself and mail-ordered magnificent books on history and archeology, and how, as a small child, I would sit for hours reading these books and looking at the pictures of the Parthenon and the Lion Gate at Mycenae, the stadium at Epidaurus and Delphi on the side of Mount Parnassus.

How I wish my father were still alive so I could have taken him to Greece, or at least told him that I had seen all these classical wonders, and most of all, Delphi, where the gods are still there - where their presence is all around you!

Yet the "mystery" is still there, too, the secret that my poet friend saw out of the corner of his mind's eye - only for a brief second. It came to me when I least expected it. It did not come from a powerful voice of Apollo or from a glorious beam from heaven shining dramatically over those silent and motionless ruins. It did not come to me for any of the books I had read or from the placards in museums, or from the lectures of our very fine and gracious Greek guide.

Rather, it came in seemingly unimportant everyday incidents and moments, like a very playful Pan-like goat that was frolicking on the road outside our hotel in a rural area - how it scampered and leaped after a few bewildered sheep and jumped in the air in joy! It came in the vivid anarchy of wild-flowers asserting themselves out of thousand-year-old stone walls It came as the strange at Epidaurus - who suddenly appeared at the center of the stadium and recited in French a speech from Euripides: and even though I couldn't understand all the words, it was obviously poetry...passionate and exquisite.

It came very early one morning as I walked in the old part of Athens near the Acropolis. I heard chanting and then, bells, and entering a narrow alley, saw a black bearded, Greek-Orthodox black-robed priest pulling the bell-rope in front of a tiny Byzantine chapel, where beside the door sat - also all in black - a hooded, hunched over figure - an elderly Albanian woman, a crone who seemed very confused and lost. I watched as Greek women came out of the chapel and tended to that very old one, calming her, caressing her and giving her honey cakes.

What then, you may ask, is the "mystery," the secret? It is very simple, so simple that we dismiss it, or lose it, like my friend did. It is Life. Both the ancient Greeks and Modern Greeks - no matter what may come - express and celebrate the flow and dance of life - and did you know that the word, "Zeus" means just that - "Life"!

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MEMORIES OF IRELAND

"This sepia-type Connemara marble is around four hundred million years olds!" exclaimed Ambrose Joyce, owner of the Connemara Marble Company, showing a piece of it to his attentive TraveLearn group. Because the supply is almost depleted, it is used only in jewelry making and not in church floors." It was only a half hour later that we visited the breathtaking Cathedral of St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Galway City. Built in the 1950s, it was the last church to use Connemara marble. "What a twenty-four hours it had been!" I thought as our bus pulled up in front of the Great Southern Hotel in the center of bustling Galway City.

The previous afternoon, our small group had arrived at world-renowned Ashford Castle, with time to walk the grounds; or walk into Cong, the village where The Quiet Man was filmed; or as some of us did, take a cruise around Lough Corrib. Then there were the nods of approval and murmurs of "Don't we clean up nice!" as we gathered in coats and ties and dressed (the first time for many of us) in the salon before what turned out to be a gourmet dinner. We then retreated to the "Dungeon", where we were treated to stories, harp playing, and song. With a bit of encouragement, a couple of TraveLearners took the stage to sing, dance, and recite. A week earlier, we would have cringed at such a invitation, but having been to a couple of seisuns during that early period, we realized that in Ireland it is not how you perform, but the fact that you do that brings approval.

The next morning we were off, traveling deeper into the rugged Connemara country, where more than three hundred years earlier Oliver Cromwell had driven the native Irish. It is a place about which one of Cromwell's generals said, "There is not enough wood to hang a man, not enough water to drown him, and not enough ground to bury him." But on a sunny day there is a beauty to its barrenness, with small, flowing creeks and stunted trees and stark hills dotted with the ever-present limestone boulders. We went through Leenane, where The Field was filmed, at the mouth of Ireland's only fjord. British ships were repaired here, during World War I. There are now experimental mussel farms sprouting up in the fjord. All this information flowed from either our in-country guide/driver or our faculty escort, both of who not only knew their facts, but also complemented each other as if choreographed. We stopped for a picture shoot across the lake from Kylemore Abbey, once a magnificent castle and now a world-famous boarding school for young women. Then it was on to Clifden, the chief town in western Connemara, where we were treated to lunch and a lecture by one of Ireland's leading archaeologist, who took us back to the origins of this land, origins that he and his company are redefining. And then there was the relaxing ride into Galway City, interrupted only by our visit to the marble company. What a twenty-four hours-and this day was not over! Several of us took a walk before dinner through Ireland's fastest growing town and center of arts and found ourselves (on purpose, of course) at the internationally known Kenny's Bookstore, housed in a five-hundred-year-old building, with buskers (musicians) playing on the sidewalk outside. Inside is a book lover's dream. Walls and floors of books-history, literature, archaeology, language, and on and on-and maps and prints, all overseen by Mrs. Kenny. In the back is an art gallery, and we were treated to a glass of wine and a poetry reading by a poet who took time out from her lecture schedule at nearby Galway University. I did not think I had enough energy to sample the night life, because in the morning we were to set off to the Aran Islands and another full day.

What a trip it has been. This was only thirty hours' worth. Now the memories flood back of Dublin, its museums and galleries and Trinity University, where we saw the beautiful Book of Kells, and the famous Abbey Theatre, where we were treated to one of Brian Friel's plays. Then there was the five-thousand-year-old tomb at New Grange-a tomb that predates Stonehenge by more than one thousand years. I could go on a long time, and I know I will when my photos are developed and I take the time to read the copious notes I took. We saw so much, and there is still more to do. I know that I'm coming back to spend a week in Dublin. A few others have indicated they want to come back to spend time in the west. It is so much more than we thought. We had heard that the people were friendly, but we were not aware of the phenomenal growth of the economy and the employment of technology side by side with antiquities. And then there was the food, the wonderful food-and the new wardrobe I will need before next trip.

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MEMORIES OF KENYA
"Do you have any questions? Do you understand the role of our warriors?"

The earnest young Maasai guide turns to me. I nod. Our group from TraveLearn is visiting a Maasai cultural center where we have heard how Kenya's most renown tribe is determined to maintain their traditional way of life.

Suddenly, a masked, shouting figure leaps out from behind a wooden fence. We jump back, startled by the cries and whoops which accompany this intrusion, then relax as we see the smiling, mischievous faces of the young warriors...

I begin again, the third try at writing my memories of Kenya. What is wrong? I cannot seem to find the words to describe my impressions of this country where I immediately felt a deep connection - not only with the people, the land and the wonderful animals, but also with the other fifteen people on this TraveLearn adventure.

Kenya had been high on my list of "must see" places. Along with Egypt, my first TraveLearn tour, Kenya represented travel to the past - to ancient memories and time-honored traditions that seemed to echo in the depths of my being. Upon my return to the States, I view my slides and prints, and the wonderful impressions and the reflections that Kenya brought to my consciousness begin to return.

What was it about Kenya that intrigued me? Was it the beauty of a land that seemed to change its landscape so frequently that we appeared to be on a different continent each day? Was it the people, friendly and interested in us, curious and polite? I looked in their eyes and saw my own humanity reflected - as well as the hardships of the life which included too much change perhaps, for Africa is going though as much change as the rest of the world but with less capacity to deal with it effectively, it seems.

Aaron Latham in his book The Frozen Leopard comes to the conclusion that Kenya evokes in visitors the impression that they have returned to their origins- the place where it all began for the thinking, feeling humans we have all become. At the National Museum in Nairobi, we hold a replica of the two-and-a-half-million-year old skull found at Lake Turkana. There Louis and Mary Leakey's archeological discoveries on the origin of man are housed. We were honored to learn that our museum host was Meave Leakey, wife of the Leakey's oldest son Richard, who headed the Kenya Wildlife Federation for many years. Mrs. Leakey, also an archeologist, shared some of her own discoveries and showed us the fossilized remains of Homo Habilis and Homo erectus. I study them closely. Did they worry about change or were those small brains merely concerned with survival?

And is that what our old brain, buried so deep in our skull that we seem to ignore its actions, still reflects - the need for survival? Kenya not only connects us to our past but also to the world of nature and the pastoral peoples whose lives are shaped by the forces of nature. From the first sighting of an elephant to the thrill of seeing a pride of lions sunning themselves on an early morn, we marvel at the beauty and complexity of this world that we seem to have forgotten. Our visits to two Maasai villages bring us face to face with these friendly, sincere people who live in simple harmony with the land and animals entrusted to their care.

There are other special moments - a singing welcome from the 160 youngsters at Boystown, a residential school for abandoned boys rescued from the 30,000 who roam the streets of Nairobi; an unforgettable balloon ride with champagne brunch on the Serengeti Plain; lunch at the home of Alan Donovan, jewelry designer and manager of African Heritage Ltd. where we view his huge collection of African art and artifacts.

Yes, the TraveLearn tour of Kenya is a very special tour. There are the usual amenities of every TraveLearn tour - first class accommodations in beautiful lodges, the most knowledgeable in-country guides, visits to the "can't miss" sites,--- and the added educational components and personal contacts that make these tours so memorable. The thoughtful planning that TraveLearn provides is everywhere apparent.

Most people travel to Kenya to view the wildlife but after a TraveLearn trip to Kenya many say they will return again because of the people. Kenya takes us back to the heart of who we are as human beings. I returned to my home near Chicago renewed again.

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MEMORIES OF KENYA & TANZANIA
by John Donaldson - Kenya & Tanzania October 2005

Preparations
Going on safari in East Africa was a marvelous adventure.  Before going, however, there was much to do in preparation for the trip.  Choosing a tour operator that offered an appealing itinerary at a reasonable price was the first step; this was done in January when we received a flyer from Montgomery College promoting a "learn while traveling" tour operator. It looked like a good choice, and the resulting experience proved it in fact to be a very good choice.  Shortly after making that decision, we settled on trip insurance.  Over the following months, we--Christopher, Donna, and I--all did background reading--fiction and non-fiction-- to enable us to get the most out of our travels in Kenya and Tanzania.  We decided what health precautions were necessary and proceeded to get enumerable shots and a supply of anti-malaria pills.  My passport was renewed, and visas obtained.  Research on clothing and insect repellents was completed and purchases made.  (I bought a safari hat that did a good job the whole trip shading me from the equatorial sun.)  Cameras were readied, and an extra large supply of rechargeable batteries was gotten just in case the difference between our electrical system and the local systems caused problems recharging.   We did some internet surfing to get an idea of the places where we would be staying and got excited with the anticipation of some very nice places.  Finally I spent hours on the internet seeking the best flights.  With this done, and after months of preparation, we each packed our one bag allowed, and we were ready to go when the day came in October when Cindy drove us to Dulles.

Getting There
Nairobi is a long way from Washington in any case, but it is made longer because you go by way of Europe.  In our case we flew KLM and thus connected in Amsterdam's airport.  Each flight was about eight hours long, and so with a four hour layover, it meant about 24 hours door to door.  The KLM flights were good considering we were flying tourist class.  Even though we enjoyed the flights both going and coming, we were tired when we arrived.  This was compounded by having to adjust to a seven hour time difference.  In a few days though we were fine and, aside from some restless nights, we proceeded feeling good and excited with anticipation.  We were not disappointed.

On Safari
Over the course of the three weeks, we must have seen just about every kind of animal there was to see.  A list is attached. All of what we saw was captured in the more than 3500 digital images taken by Christopher and Donna.    While these images capture and record the animals so well in their habitat, there were occasions that merited being elaborated.

On one of our first early morning outings we came upon a pride of lions enjoying their kill with one lioness on each of the two wildebeest carcasses.  On the sidelines watching were stalking hyenas trying to decide how best to get their share.  Ultimately one hyena approached from one side, drawing the lioness' attention and eventually her wrath as she would lunge after it.  At this point from the other side several hyenas came racing in, tearing away some flesh, and rushed off to enjoy it out of sight.  This was repeated several times.  More patient than the hyenas were the two jackals that stood even further off to the side apparently waiting for all of them to be done and gone.  The pecking order was thus clearly established.

The male lion though leader of the pride is not always in sight and does not participate in the kill.  He comes along after the lionesses have done their work.  We saw this at another kill site.   lionesses had done their work, bringing down a water buffalo and had enjoyed some of the meal, when along came the male who took over the carcass and proceeded to rip and devour the flesh even to the point of sticking his whole head into the entrails of the dwindling remains.  Meanwhile other lions lay around in various stages of rest and satisfaction awaiting their chance to return after he had finished.  In other instances we happened upon mothers and cubs lying quietly, some sleeping and some playing.  We could drive right up to them, and they were not fazed.  Evidently the king of beasts is not too threatened by lesser beasts including us, as long as we stayed in the van.

While the many lion sightings were exciting, seeing leopards and cheetahs seemed even more special.  The leopards were special because they are so difficult to spot.  Generally you look for them perched on a low over-hanging tree branch, but it takes an eagle eye like Christopher’s to spot them.  He did so on several occasions.  While the scene was tranquil as the leopard hardly moved, the rarity of the experience made it more than exciting.  We learned too to appreciate the cheetah and its majesty.   We had the good fortune to see cheetahs several times.  Once we saw two brothers sitting high on a mound, each surveying the surrounding countryside alert for prey.  Another time we watched a cheetah on a river bank.  When we first saw him, he was sitting just looking around.  Then he lay down.  Then he walked around.  He looked across the river contemplating perhaps a crossing, but seeing us maybe thinking the better of it.  Gradually we began to hear some noise growing louder coming from down river.  The noise clearly drew the cheetah's attention.  As the noise grew louder, we saw the beginning of what proved to be about sixty baboons making their way to the side of the river.  Finally as they approached, he could stand it no longer, and the cheetah fled off into the bush in the opposite direction.  He was no match for that band, and he knew it.

Elephants also exhibit highly developed social behavior.  We were fortunate to be on safari when many elephant mothers were shepherding their young along with them.  Some were still nursing.  These very young were always in the middle when the herd took to moving on or crossing the road.  Certainly there always was a mother between us and her baby as they crossed by us.  Nothing could demonstrate elephant behavior better than the mating ritual.  During the night when we stayed at the Ark, which flood lights its surroundings, a herd of more than a dozen elephants visited the watering hole.  While they were there, a young male came along and responded to a young female who appeared ready to receive him.  There was considerable jockeying around, moving from place to place, but ultimately nothing came of it.  The herd's matriarch had all along been observing the goings on, as had the rest of the herd, and it may well be that she decided to call the affair off.  Whatever the signal was, the young male, the dejected suitor, wandered off unsatisfied into the bush.  So goes young love.

    A phenomenon not to be forgotten was the sight of the migrating wildebeests and zebras.  Every year thousands of these creatures move one direction or the other on the Serengeti, going into Tanzania or back to Kenya, depending on where there is water and the grass is green. In the process of the migration, crocodile infested rivers must be crossed.  As the story goes, the wildebeests rely on the zebra to determine if there are crocodiles waiting to strike as they cross, and the wildebeest let the zebra go first, at least so the story goes.  We had the truly good fortune and good safari guide (more about him later) to arrive at the right place at the right time, and we got to see a river being crossed by this endless stream of mostly wildebeest with a few zebra mixed in.  The river lay down in a gulley.  The herd reached the edge of the gulley and just milled around for a while.  Finally some animals started down and began to cross--we didn't see who was in the lead.  Shortly however some of the animals got second thoughts and stopped in the gulley reluctant to enter the water, even though the preceding animals had made it across and up the other side without a hitch.  So they stood around on the edge, and the rest of the herd stopped well back from the gully’s edge.  The animals up top clearly had no desire to proceed, and the few zebra standing around did not seem any more anxious to go ahead than did the wildebeest. It was an impasse.  There was no evidence of crocodiles down below, but those animals down by the river's edge were not going to go anywhere.  Then suddenly as mysteriously as they had stopped, they started.  The animals in the gulley cleared out and across; the animals up above seemed finally to get the idea and began to follow.  This part of the great Serengeti migration was once again underway with no hint of what had caused it to stall.

Something we were told early in our safari adventures was that every outing would be different.  Every time you went out, you would see something different.  Sometimes the differences were subtle, but they were there.  Each time we got into the van we did so with anticipation of what we might see this time.  Even on our last day, after three weeks, we experienced new things.  We paused to watch two lionesses stalk prey.  During our picnic lunch out by the lake in Ngorongoro Crater, Christopher watched as a bird snatched part of his sandwich from his hand.  We saw a usually wary hyena sound asleep right next to the road.  Finally there was the tire going flat while we were watching the lions.  Earlier we had been told that your safari was complete only after you had experienced a flat tire.  And so it was for us.

Accommodations
The safari tent in the bush was considerably better than the traditional romantic image.  Even when we stayed in so called "tent camps", these were luxury places.  We never had to rough it.  In fact, it was the opposite.  All the accommodations were outstanding with two being better than that and only one less so.  A list of the places we stayed with a few comments about what made each one special is attached. In general these places were better than the places we stay when traveling in the U.S.

While each had its own personality and those things that made it special, all of the places shared some common characteristics.  All were constructed of stucco, stone, or wood in such a manner that we knew we were in a place with its own architecture; for us we were able to feel we were lodging in Africa, not in some non-descript  international hotel so that we did not know where in the world we were.  The dining rooms were in a central facility, built with high beamed ceilings, usually open to the outdoors, sometimes circular.  Frequently the meals were buffet style with a wide range of foods from which to choose, including both international and local dishes.  One time we tried crocodile, and it was awful.  Many places had a chef cooking to order over an open grill; in the morning this was for the eggs, and in the evening it might be for pasta with individually prepared sauces, or some meat cooked to specification.  Meals were good.  Generally we had a table assigned to us and we ate with our guide and the others traveling with us.  Most places had a nice bar, a gift shop, and some had a computer that Christopher was able to use to download the digital images on to a different storage medium to free up space on the camera memory cards, or else how could he possibly amass all those images?  The sleeping quarters were in buildings separated from the main complex, most of the time, being individual units, but sometimes the rooms were in clusters.  In all cases these involved a walk from the central facility, and it seemed we were always at the end of the line.  It became almost a joke that we always seemed to have to take the longest possible walk.  (Donna trooped on gamely with her bad knee making for a challenging journey to and fro.)  Since our days were spent in the safari van, often this was our only exercise so we really did not mind too much.

Activities and Events
We have much to remember that was not seeking and observing animal in the wild.  We visited three villages where the people are living very much of a traditional life.  We visited a Samburu village where we were entertained by singing and dancing with us joining in the dancing.  We saw the huts and how they lived including their traditional method for making fire and the blacksmith’s crude processes.  We had a similar tour of a Maasai village, and learned that many of their customs were similar to those of the Samburu with the major exception that the Maasai kept their cattle and sheep right in the midst of their walled in village, while the Samburu maintained their cattle and goats in their own penned in area within the village walls.  This made for some difference in the level of sanitation found at the two villages.  The third village we went to was a fishing village on the southern shore of Lake Victoria.  While we saw much  that was traditional in the huts in which the villagers  lived, the boats from  which they fished, and the buckets filled with water taken from the lake  carried by the women on their heads, there were some aspects of the contemporary world such as beat up pool tables, outside bars, and a few very small food shops.

We went to the National Museum in Nairobi.  Representations of area archeological discoveries were prominently displayed including a re-creation of Mary Leakey’s “footsteps” and a model of the Turkana boy skeleton.  We learned that Joy Adamson, the author of "Born Free" et al, was also an accomplished artist; hanging in the museum was her series, commissioned by the British government,  of tribal portraits, one for each of the 41 tribes of Kenya, as well as many beautiful renderings of indigenous flowers and trees. Perhaps best of all were the colorful male and female bird displays.  Every species of bird found in Kenya was represented.  We were lucky for the timing of our visit; the following week the museum was closing for two years of major renovations.

Back in 1992 a tour visitor like us was considerably distressed when he realized how many poor children were living, with or without families, on the streets of Nairobi.  He returned a few years later to start Boystown Africa in the countryside outside the crowded city.  We saw the result of his efforts.  Today there is a facility where 148 boys live in dormitories, are fed regularly in the dining hall, attend classes, and participate in various activities such as acrobatics, singing, and dancing.  We got to see them do all three as they put on a show for us.  We saw too the classrooms and the library.  The gentleman from New York, D. A. Niermeyer,   has accomplished a great deal.

We also saw the same native acrobatics performed by professionals, once at one of our hotels and once at a cultural center, but neither rivaled the enthusiasm and earnestness of the boys.  We visited a crocodile preserve and were shown their speed and strength in menacing a prey; growing to as long as 18 feet, they can be incredibly intimidating.  A visit to a preserve where a rhinoceros, injured as a baby, now lived a safe life as an adult.  While he had been raised in captivity, one could get too close to him with a false sense of security, at least that is what Donna thought when she realized how much faster he could move than she could.  This same preserve had a wonderful visitors’ center with exhibits that encouraged us to touch the hides, the bones, and other souvenirs of the natural environment.  We did.

Cynthia Moss began her work to preserve elephants in the early 1970’s.  She established a work site in what is now the Amboseli National Park, and it remains there today as an active research station still directed by Cynthia Moss and staffed with dedicated local peoples.  We received a briefing on past accomplishments and current research from the project manager, a lady from the local Maasai tribe, now with major responsibilities for community relations among other things.   Well spoken she convinced us of the importance of their work.  We saw that daily life was not easy for the staff who lived in safari tents requiring a long walk to sanitary facilities and without protection from wandering wildlife.  We were truly of the fringe of the bush.  Christopher bought a wooden elephant carved by one of the local boys working at the station.  We thought the Elephant Trust’s sponsorship was going to worthwhile ends as we watched the herds of elephants parading by off in the distance.   

Everyone has heard that water swirls down the drain in one circular direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere.  Not too many people have heard what happens to draining water on the equator; at least we had not nor had we thought about it.  Guess what!  It pours straight down.  We reached the equator, and we stopped where some enterprising young men were demonstrating the Coriolis principle twenty yards either side of the equator and on the equator itself using a plastic bowl with a hole in the middle.  Afterwards as we were driving down the road, Donna noticed several other groups of young men offering the same demonstration; she asked how they can do this when we have left the equator behind us?  (We learned later that the answer lies in how the water is poured not where it is poured.)

Three places in Tanzania are the basis for very special mention. Olduvai Gorge was where Louis and Mary Leaky did so much to expand our knowledge of our origins.  Standing on the edge of the gorge was almost a religious experience with its feeling of so much history in this place.  Not too far from there was the Ngorongoro Crater which is really a caldera created millions of years ago when the second highest mountain in Africa erupted, imploded, and fell in on itself.  Today it is a huge crater that one can spend the entire day driving around in, as we did on our last day on safari.  If Kilimanjaro is not the most recognized name of a place in East Africa, then the Serengeti is.  Sitting on the terrace of the lodge looking out over the plain was perhaps the ultimate African experience; in this place we were truly in Africa.

On the Road
A recollection of the safari would be incomplete without some attention to the safari van, the roads, and the driving.  The safari vans were amazing vehicles.  While we were in a different vehicles in Kenya and Tanzania, both were indestructible Toyota vans.  That they never broke down was a tribute to Japanese engineering.   The roads in Kenya are terrible, and while Tanzania showed us more decent road surface, it too has its share of rutted, wash boarded tracks.  In Kenya in many instances the roads were so bad we drove off the road on the side where the people walked.  Then there were the unimproved roads....If there was any down side to our time in East Africa, it was the ride between destinations where one did not have the distraction of looking for animals to get his mind off his bouncing bottom.  Moreover, when looking for animals, we generally went slowly, whereas there was an effort to make time when going to the next destination.

Because our groups were small, we had plenty of room in the van and could spread out.  Much of the time when traveling we had to keep- the windows closed because of the dust which further contributed to the discomfort of the long haul rides.  In contrast when looking for animals, the van had a roof that could be elevated about three feet protecting us from the sun, but when standing giving us a 360 degree unobstructed panorama.   Christopher and I spent many hours standing and peering out.  With his excellent eyesight for spotting a well camouflaged figure or a distant silhouette, and with my excellent binoculars, we were many times encouraged to continue looking in spite of the tiresome bouncing over track and open space.  Our driver/guides did an incredible job of driving the vans over and around obstacles, through holes, and over streams, while searching for an animal. They also did a masterful and thoughtful job, once an animal was sighted, of positioning the vehicle so everyone could get the very best view and picture.

The People
There were the people we traveled with, our diver/guides, and those with whom we came into contact.  During the Kenya portion of the safari, we were five of us with the other two being a mother and adult daughter.  The mother had an eagle eye, like Christopher, and was intense in her concentration to catching sight of the next animal.  Her daughter was eager and enthusiastic, adding to the general feeling of optimism and pleasure.

Our driver/guide in Kenya was called "Magic"; his name was Amarjeet Bilkhu, but he lived up to his nickname.  He was great; he made the trip the total success it was.  He was intelligent, knowledgeable, thoughtful, conscientious, and anything else you could hope for. Above all, he was totally friendly, so that he gave us the sense that he was sharing our pleasure.  For two weeks we had more than a guide; we had a good friend.  In Tanzania, Boniface Plasidi was a good guy too, but being younger his efforts on our behalf were well directed and successful, but they were not quite like those of Magic.  Both made the time wonderful, but Magic was in a class by himself.

We met Samburu, Maasai, the people who staffed our lodges, but we really did not meet the people.  The Samburu were warm, friendly people.  The Maasai, on the other hand, were serious people who did  not show joy or pleasure with the exception of one  young  Maasai man who gave us a talk and was educated and was therefore more worldly than the average Maasai. The staffs with whom we came into contact were all very nice, but they can hardly be assumed to be representative of the people.  The fact is we never got out to mix with the people on the street or in the local stores.  My suspicion is that we would have found them to be open and warm, but we will have to go back to find out if that is really true.

Epilogue
We went to East Africa to see the wildlife and that we did.  There is much to be seen, and it looks very healthy in its natural habitat.  Kenya and Tanzania are to be given much credit for setting aside enough natural habitats to make this possible. Neither country is wealthy in natural resources other than  the wildlife.  This they are preserving for the world, and for this the world owes them something in return.  The contribution made by the tourist probably helps, but given the standard of living in the two countries, it is not enough.  We in our affluent homelands are deeply indebted to these fine people and should find a way to make good on this debt.  

Accommodations
Safari Park Hotel:  This hotel is on the outskirts of Nairobi.  We stayed here three times.  Upon arrival, as at all lodges, we were greeted with a cool fruit drink and a wet cloth with which to wipe away the dust of the journey.  The Safari Park is large with many separate buildings, well cared for gardens, walking paths, a sprawling swimming pool, a variety of restaurants, shops, and a casino.  Like most places we stayed, it had a large central building with reception, offices, and a bar.  Guest rooms were in two story outlying buildings.  Food was good, service congenial, and rooms large with an unneeded mosquito tent over the bed.  The ambiance was high quality African.  A fragrant flowering gardenia bush will be foremost among the many pleasant memories of the Safari Park.

Amboseli Safari Lodge:  Vervet monkeys frolicked on the terraces and challenged the young Maasai tribesmen who were there to keep them under control.  The terraces provided vantage points for looking out from the tree dominated environs of the lodge to the open areas where baboons could be seen parading.  A walkway from the central building took us to our room well down the way past the gently curving single story structures.  Our room inside had curved walls, somewhat like one might find in a Samburu or Maasai hut, and the walls were decorated with silhouetted figures of the nearby animals. At night we could hear hyenas howling to one another.

The Ark:  This was the most unusual place in which we stayed.  It was nestled in its own pocket of wildness, so isolated that in order to maintain it that way, visitors were bussed in once a day, and once in we did not stray from the premises.  Unlike the other lodging, everything was contained within the one building which looked like an ark.  Rooms were simple and small as on a ship.  The 100 or so visitors were nicely fit into a small dining room where excellent food was served.  What made this place special were the huge glass windows and outside viewing verandas that overlooked a watering hole popular with the local wildlife.  Flood lights were trained on the area at night, and when something special came along, an alarm signal sounded to alert/wake us in our room.  The signals were coded to indicate how special was whatever was to be seen. This was where we witnessed the mating ritual of the elephants choreographed under the lights as midnight passed.  Earlier a bird feeding station was filled at five in the afternoon providing an unexpected treat of seeing many bird species up close and personal.

Shaba Sarova Lodge:  The buildings here were African in motif though reflecting a different tribal approach to construction.  The lodging was in two story wooden structures, very dark in color, with again large windows to look out on visiting wildlife.   Christopher's room on the second level involved ascending a regal wooden stairway.  The lodge was on the edge of a river where well below we could occasionally see a crocodile or two.  The dining area was open air on the second level; it gave the effect of being in a tree house.  The pool though small did attract Donna enough that she went swimming.  At night we enjoyed sitting on the terrace adjacent to the bar at the cliff edge overlooking the river.  We could not stay too late, however, because the next morning was an early one as most of them seemed to be.

Sweetwaters Del