Columns

Latin America » Tidbits from Chile

Columns, July 2008 issue ⋅ Post a comment

Chile’s landscape stretches from the northern deserts of Atacama to the southern glaciers of Patagonia, adorning it with a diverse and alluring array of scenery that is catching the eyes of Hollywood filmmakers and setting Chile apart as a hotspot for movie-making.

The Garden Path » Chelsea Physic Garden

Columns, June 2008 issue ⋅ 2 comments

“Hans Sloane’s agreement ushered in Chelsea’s golden age as the world’s most richly stocked botanic garden,” commented Atkins as we strolled the garden’s quadrants in October ’07 under a sky threatening a downpour. “A new concept was taking hold: the treatment of disease rather than the chasing out of spirits. Physicians could not study medicine without studying botany.”

Adventure Travel » Cape Verde Islands

Columns, May 2008 issue ⋅ Post a comment

“When we commissioned the first edition of this guide in 1997 it seemed an almost impossibly obscure destination.” Even though 10 years had gone by since that comment was made, and although tourism there had probably grown, I expected that a trip to this rarely visited volcanic archipelago — off the coast of West Africa, some 600 miles south of the Canary Islands and scattered from 275 to 480 miles off the coast of Senegal — would be a fine source of “soft adventure.”

Adventure Travel » Exploring West Africa in 4-star comfort

Columns, April 2008 issue ⋅ Post a comment

There’s an apocryphal story, probably not true but fun to tell, about the establishment of The Gambia’s borders. When the British, during sailing-ship days, wanted to set boundaries for a country along the river, they fired a ship’s cannons in both directions perpendicular to the river, and where the cannon balls fell, that’s where the boundaries were drawn.

Adventure Travel » The controversy surrounding ‘Roots’

Columns, March 2008 issue ⋅ Post a comment

Haley’s book and the TV miniseries were wildly popular, presenting in a graphic and realistic way the horrors of the slave trade. The book was translated into 26 languages and sold 8½ million copies. Haley was awarded a Pulitzer Prize and won multiple Emmys for the TV series that riveted us to the tube with its 12-hour marathon presented over eight consecutive nights.

Focus on Archaeology » A week in Salvador da Bahia

Columns, February 2008 issue ⋅ Post a comment

I’m not sure how surprised the monks who lived here 400 years ago would be to hear the soft sounds of bossa nova echoing in the cloisters where they once lived and prayed. No doubt, chanting and church music would have been more familiar to them, but I suspect that bossa nova would not have [...]

Cruising World » Tips on snorkeling

Columns, December 2007 issue ⋅ Post a comment

by Lew Toulmin, (First of two parts, jump to part 2) Many cruise and expedition passengers enjoy snorkeling off beaches, Zodiacs or dive boats. Snorkeling is an easy sport and provides fantastic views of beautiful coral and fish. The sport is open to swimmers of any age. I have seen snorkelers from ages five to 85 [...]

Focus on Archaeology » The Plain of Jars in Laos

Columns, November 2007 issue ⋅ Post a comment

I stood on a hill overlooking a wintry landscape of dry fields stretching as far as the eye could see. All around me were stone jars. Enormous stone jars. Some stood six feet high. Some were no longer upright but tilted precariously. Others lay flat on the ground. My husband, Paul, moved from one jar [...]

The Discerning Traveler » Snippets of New Zealand

Columns, October 2007 issue ⋅ Post a comment

—The Discerning Traveler is written by Philip Wagenaar. (First of two parts) It was our third trip to New Zealand. We were on a 4-week Elderhostel (11 Ave. de Lafayette, Boston, MA 02111; 800/454-5768, www.elderhostel.org) tour of the North and South Islands. Our last journey, in 1984, had culminated in the county hospital in Nelson on the South [...]

All Aboard » TGV Est Premiére

Columns, September 2007 issue ⋅ Post a comment

—All Aboard! is written by Jay Brunhouse It is through flat, green, French countryside surrounded by fields of grain that my TGV train really flexed its muscles. Powering ahead, I didn’t feel any curves, and when I encountered slightly rolling hills, raw embankments rose high above my window. The level ride over the new Est européene [...]

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