On a recent visit to Mérida, the capital city of Yucatan State, we opted for a side trip to the Reserva de la Biosfera Ria Celestun (Celestun Biosphere Reserve).

This protected, coastal wetland reserve and wildlife refuge encompasses over 147,000 acres and showcases their hugh flocks of vibrant pink Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber). The flamingo nesting area was one thing, but pink was not the only…

As I meandered along the tree-covered hills and winding roads leading to Rancho Valencia Resort in Rancho Sante Fe, California (U.S. News and World Report’s number-one resort in California,) my anticipation grew. I was not disappointed to see this lavish resort, set on 45 acres of gardens and olive…

Rio de Janeiro famously boasts one of the most spectacular natural settings of any major world city, a charismatic interplay of ocean with dramatic plunging hills (the most dramatic and reknowned, of course, being Sugarloaf and Corcovado). And though much of Rio has a prosperous…

In the middle of the 19th century, Dickens wrote his famous Tale of Two Cities about life in Paris during the French Revolution. Dickens contrasts the life of les misérables”(the poor) with the life of ceux de bonheur (those living happy lives).  In 2017, Paris once again presents to those who come to it a tale of two…

What’s it like to visit the world’s largest city proper (as opposed to greater metropolitan area, which is Tokyo)? A city on the mouths of the Yangtze and Huangpo River roughly midway along the South China Sea coast where the numbers boggle – 24 million spread across…

Remember the old saying about "building castles in Spain"?

No, I didn't build one but I did live in one for a week. My castle in Spain went by the grandiose name of El Castillo de Alarcón.

El Castillo is 200 kilometers from the capital, Madrid, and is set on a rocky promontory surrounded by a deep gorge through which the River Júcar flows.

It looks across the gorge to the rolling green, yellow and red countryside which characterizes so…

It all started in Belgium when culinary communications agency Hakuna Matata partnered with The Fun Group, an amusement park ride installer, to offer the first Dinner in the Sky in 2006.…

       photo: Freeimages

As the world's fourth largest island, widely considered to be an eighth continent of its own, Madagascar is a jewel in Africa. Its isolation is mesmerizing, with a variety of activities contained within this one space. From stately baobab trees, some of which are over 800 years old,…

Ilha dos Frades is an island named after a pair Franciscan friars, the sole survivors of a nearby shipwreck. A mere six kilometers long, this island shaped like a star with fifteen tips has all the ingredients of a perfect tropical paradise. Ilha dos Frades (Island of the…

Tokyo to Hakone to Kyoto is the most popular itinerary for first-time travelers to Japan.  As such, it is often called the “Golden Route”  It covers the modern vibrancy of Tokyo, the historic serenity of Kyoto, and the relaxing hot-spring resorts (onsen) with views of Mt.…