Destinations
Borneo – Indonesia
After an overnight stay at Anara Hotel in Jakarta’s International Airport, we flew from the domestic terminal to Pangkalan Bun. We were met by Arif, the founder and owner of Orangutan Applause, a boutique tour boat company. His smile and…
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New Zealand – South Island
After a three-and-a-half-hour smooth crossing from Wellington to Picton – South Island, we headed for Kaikoura, a small coastal town. Like most small towns in New Zealand, the wide main street is home to a variety of inns. We checked…
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New Zealand – The North Island
The moment our plane broke through the puffy, cotton wool clouds, we were struck by the beauty of Auckland, which snuggles between the Hauraki Gulf and the Tasman Sea. It has a total of seven islands, in addition to inlets,…
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Lisbon – Portugal
On a sunny spring day early in May, we arrived in Lisbon and checked into the charming Hotel Madalena Beautique Hotel on Rua da Madalena, within walking distance of the Alfama, Baixa, Chiado, and Bairro Alto neighborhoods. The Art Deco…
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Trancoso and Belmonte
Trancoso is a tiny medieval village built within the walls of a castle. Today cars have access to the cobbled streets; however, the majority of the web of ancient lanes are so narrow that cars can barely squeeze through them.…
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Costa Rica – A Ten-Day Trip
Twenty-seven years ago, Costa Rica was a little-known tourist destination. Other than the Pan American Highway, the majority of roads beyond San Jose were bumpy dirt roads. We bounced along, reveling in the landscape, a color of green that I named Costa…
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