A Real wink-wink Indian Village

By Allan Brown:

We have done excursions on several tours where they take you to a local family or native village to…ah…well see how locals live, or how they used to live. We still laugh about the native village in Ecuador we visited that involved taking a canoe down the river, hoofing it across the sand bar to cross another river and then hiking to the village. As we sat in the sweltering heat Marla happened to pick the one seat where a laser beam of sunlight poked through the roof and melted her face like a wax candle. It was an awesome sight to see and it distracted us from the obliviously bored“native family” dressed in grass skirts sitting in their own hell while a termite nest burned smoking away the mosquitos.

Our Lady of the Rocks

By Allan Brown:

Before there was an island and before there was a church on an island it was a small rock of about 3 meters square sticking out of the water in an islet off the coast of Perast in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. Then things got weird, in 1452 some fishermen saw a vision of the Virgin Mary underneath the water near the rock so they needed to set her free. Or something like that.

The Accidental Tourist

By Marla Laine Brown:

I could feel an ever so slight breeze on this humid day as the café’s canopy shielded us from the setting sun. As we sat there sipping our evening coffees, we surveilled this little historic center of Málaga. Things are the same, yet different. I couldn’t quite place it. Maybe it was the tourists that drifted by as their guides directed them towards the Roman Theater while simultaneously pointing to the Alcazaba above. We used to be those people. But there is also a new police presence here and a larger homeless population than I remember. Perhaps I just never noticed. Where were all my beloved street performers?

Machu Picchu and the Lost Inca Empire

By Marla Laine Brown:

The oncoming coach could barely squeeze by as our own bus pulled closer to the edge. My thoughts of plunging down the ravine on this narrow unpaved road were undeniable. Latter I confirmed there had been fatal accidents on this stretch of the road.

As the bus continued to transverse up the numerous switchbacks, I thought of how the early explorers must have felt in their quest for this Lost Inca Empire. Thick foliage would have overtaken this abandoned city making it virtually impossible to see. Perhaps only a few indigenous people knew of its location. Or, maybe they thought its existence was only a legend.

City of Tenochtitlan

By Marla Laine Brown:

Once upon a time in the Valley of Anahuac there lived Indigenous groups who built grand temples to their gods. Then not so happily ever after in the 14th century these hunter-gatherers came to be dominated by a people known as the Mexica, otherwise known as the Aztecs.

The Aztecs had migrated to this “Land of Lakes” following their God of War Huitzilopochtli, who they believed had led them to their promised land. They erected magnificent pyramids and created islands in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

Why Colorado?

By Allan Brown:

Sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a faithful trip, it started with a Corvette top a top that would not fit…

A buddy and I had planneda road trip to Colorado to buy a top for his vintage Corvette. I was talking to my brother about possible routes and places to stay and he had suggested Glenwood Springs. Another friend had a time share there and it all sounded good until a sharp eye noticed that a photo of the Corvette top advertised was for a different year and wouldn’t fit. That trip was cancelled but the seed had been planted for Glenwood Springs.

Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park

By Marla Laine Brown:

When a ship anchors offshore, a tender is used to transport passengers to the dock. This was precisely our predicament during our visit to Bar Harbor, Maine. Fortunately, our tender arrived promptly, allowing us ample time to check in for our tour and visit the nearby Walgreens.

Our planned excursion stated it would whisk us off to explore Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Honestly, after a series of substandard tours, the “Bar” (no pun intended) was set low. So, after checking in, we wandered over to our transport vehicle, which turned out to be a brand-new luxury minibus. Ummm… are we in the right place I asked? Yes, you are, and please have a seat, the tour guide responded. Alrighty!

Lower Than but Not Less Than

By Allan Brown:

Prague has an area they refer to as Lesser Town but not in a disparaging way, our guide Jana didn’t like the term either. Lesser Town means it’s lower in elevation in its proximity to the river and more prone to flooding.

The area is also where most of the foreign embassies are located in beautiful old buildings. The streets are narrow and are made of cobblestones that give a unique yet comforting sound as cars drive by. You can judge the speed of a car by the pitch of the tires whining upon the cobblestones.

Good Morning Egypt!

By Marla Laine Brown:

It was nearly 5:00 AM when we awoke to a crowing rooster and shortly thereafter the Call to Prayer. This time the mesmerizing sound was different because not only could we hear the prayer from the local Mosque, but an accumulation of haunting calls from distant minarets. Our cabin was still dark as we laid awake listening to these melodies before they quietly transitioned into the clip clop sound of a man and his donkey. Good morning Egypt!…

Rift Raft

By Allan Brown:

After our Amazon rain forest walk we hopped back on the boats and cruised across the river to a sandbar where two balsa wood rafts were waiting. They were like it sounds, balsa logs tied together like in the movies. We sat on the edge of the rafts dangling our legs in the water and pushed off the bank into the river and about ten minutes later we all jumped in the water. This portion of the river was wide, smooth with no whitecaps and rated safe for doughy seniors.

Then the hard part came, a bunch of overweight and out of shape seniors trying to hoist themselves back onto the raft with lots of grunting and words of encouragement. Have you ever seen Shamu at Sea World slide up to the trainers for a fish? Then you can imagine a bunch of pale dad bods doing the same-without the fish. The boats pulled up and we had to now stand up on the raft and step over the side of the boat, one task was brute strength and this one required grace and balance, neither which most of us had.