There are few animals – and offhand I can’t really think of any birds – with quite the mystique of the iridescent emerald-green denizen of southern Mexico and Central America known as the resplendent quetzal. Since they’re fairly rare (officially “near threatened”) and even more elusive, you’re very…

I’m standing on the deck of a mighty wooden treasure ship, 170 feet long and 495 tons, watching tourists amble and poke about – but I admit, in my mind's eye I’m picturing pirates, sailors, and skeezy, barnacle-encrusted zombies from Davy Jones’ locker slashing, parrying and whizzing through air filled with flames and…

In February 2009, Martinique and its sister island Guadeloupe took an unaccustomed turn in the world's headlines with heated general strikes over inequality and the cost of living, resulting in the first ever cancellation of Martinique's Carnival. The poobahs in Paris responded by raising salaries and other concessions, President Nicholas…

Upon turning from apartment building to hotel back in 1971, the Athenaeum

instantly became the latest and greatest in upmarket if buttoned-down hostelry swank in Britain's capital, attracting top celebs of the day. Inevitably, plenty of other properties have …