June 2011

My husband, Earl, and I took the 18-day “Patagonia Frontiers” tour from Odysseys Unlimited (Newton, MA 888/370-6765), March 22-April 8, 2010. The price was $9,990 for the two of us (international air not included).

After three nights in Buenos Aires, we flew to Ushuaia and drove to Tierra del Fuego National Park. We walked through the beech forest and could see lakes, the Beagle Channel and the snowcapped mountains of the Andes. This is where the Pan-American Highway ends, 11,090 miles from where it starts in Alaska.

The lonely, obscure islands in the 878,000-square-mile Bering Sea — situated between Alaska and Russia — had always drawn me, but the difficulty and expense of visiting them had kept me from making the trip. However, when I discovered that Seattle’s Zegrahm Expeditions (800/ 628-8747) was offering its “Wild Alaska” trip, which included many of these islands, I signed up for the June 18-July 2, 2010, cruise.

After reading “1,000 Places To See Before You Die,” our hearts were set on going to Morocco. Because Sarah Tours was so highly recommended by the author, in mid-August 2009 I called Hamid Mernissi, the owner, and our conversation about his tour certainly enticed our decision that Sarah Tours was the way to go.

My wife and I took the tour “Highlights of Spain and Portugal,” Sept. 18-Oct. 1, 2010, with Trafalgar Tours, having booked it through our AAA agent. Including our round-trip airfare, Cleveland-Atlanta-Madrid, the 14-day/13-night tour cost $6,000 for two plus another $1,300 for the optional tours.

Our group numbered 48 people on one bus. The main destinations were Madrid, Cordoba, Grenada, the Costa del Sol, Torremolinos, Seville, Lisbon and Porto, with the tour ending back in Madrid. The distance covered was some 2,000 miles.

Along with primatologist Dr. Biruté Galdikas, up-close interactions with orangutans in Borneo are featured with three sailings to Indonesia by Orion Expedition Cruises (New York, NY; 877/674-6687).

Dr. Galdikas, who founded the Orangutan Foundation 40 years ago, is guest lecturer, and passengers may spend two days at her base in Tanjung Puting National Park.

by David Patten, St. Petersburg, FL

What is a sense of place, and how might I capture it in the photographs I take on a trip? These questions were uppermost in my mind on a trip to Morocco with Insight Vacations, June 3-12, 2010.

The border battle between Cambodia and Thailand escalated to artillery shelling during April. The disputed area centers around an ancient temple (known as Preah Vihear in Khmer and as Prasat Khao Phra Fiharn in Thai), but the battles have moved eastward as well. The temples should not be visited at this time.

A subway station bombing in Minsk, Belarus, killed 11 and wounded more than 100 on April 11. This was the first bombing in Minsk since the Soviet Republic days. No group claimed responsibility, but local government blamed political opposition parties.

It is the unanimous opinion of US scientific experts on the ground in Japan that, while the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains serious and dynamic, the health and safety risks to areas beyond the 50-mile evacuation zone are low and do not pose significant risks. This includes the cities of Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, etc.

Even in the event of an unexpected disruption at the plant, harmful exposures to people beyond the 50-mile evacuation zone are highly unlikely, and there would be a significant amount of time to assess steps to be taken.

• In northwest South America, unusually heavy rains during April caused floods and more deadly mudslides, killing 20 in Colombia, nine in Venezuela and at least 10 in Brazil.

• In Bolivia, roads continue to be blocked periodically by protesters, causing frequent delays. The street protests and blockades have been occurring primarily near the cities of La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and Tarija.