Capturing the Moment

  I've always been fascinated with the giant shipwreck grounded on the shallow reef on the windward side of the island of Lana'i in Hawaii. The channel here is almost always windy and wavy, which means that you can't easily get to the wreck. You especially can't get close to it. But every once in a while the winds will shift... and today was one of those days. So I grabbed my crew and we headed out to explore the wreck with our small boats. The sun came out, really showing off the rusty red color of the hulking ship. It was a self propelled, Navy fuel barge, made out of ferro-cement. It is very strong, hence why it is still here. The ship was contracted out to a company that was supposed to scuttle it in the mid 1950's, but instead they lost control of it in the channel, and it washed up on the shallow reef of Lana'i, where it sits today. It looks like a ghost ship, and even more so when you get up close. The color of rust is everywhere on the ship. Steel rebar ...

  In awe of the glacial blue   It is the middle of summer which means Alaska is heating up, both in temperature and in wildlife sightings. And with all the kids being on summer vacation it is a great time to expand their world view with a trip to the Alaska wilderness. The Safari Quest is our smallest vessel in the fleet, with 22 passengers and 10 crew, making it perfect for an extended family vacation. The last three weeks have all been private family charters on the Quest. Not only has it been amazing to see families spending such amazing quality time together, but getting the kids unplugged from wifi and internet means the wilderness experience can really take hold.    Exploration Time   This week we had 9 kids on ranging from 17 to 5 years old. The activities ranged from bushwhacking past piles of bear scat, skiffing up rivers into glacial lakes, to kayaking around ice while watching a tidewater glacier calve into the water. Each activity p...

Le Conte Ice Gardens        A huge ice field forms in southeast Alaska’s coastal mountains due to an immense amount of precipitation coming in off the Pacific Ocean. This prolific snowfall produces the southernmost tidewater glaciers in North America. Le Conte Glacier is located near Petersburg, Alaska. Due to its high level of calving events the twelve and a half mile fjord heading back to the glacier’s face is often too choked with icebergs for vessels to reach it. However, reaching the glacier’s face was not our goal this trip.  For a look at my first visit to these ice gardens and more places where nature sculpts works of art in ice check out these other posts: * Le Conte Ice Garden * McBride Ice Garden * Mendenhall Ice Caves  What drew us to this area is an area I like to call Le Conte Ice Garden. The terminal moraine left behind when the glacier retreated creates a very shallow bar that often traps big pieces of ice inside the ba...

  After six straight weeks of leading adventure trips in Hawaii I was ready to head out for an adventure of my own. I was headed farther south than I had ever been before, to the tip of the South American continent, Argentina. Here awaited the southern-most city in the world, the fabled wilderness of Patagonia, the bottom of the Andes Mountains, and of course a little steak and wine. Mimosas and on my way Buenos Aires from above   First things first. I needed to scoop up my girlfriend in Buenos Aries after a winter storm rerouted her from Vermont. I flew United on miles, 30K each way, and luckily had a first class lounge pass leftover from my United credit card. There is nothing quite like kicking back in a airport lounge and drinking mimosas during a layover. And pretty cool having your girlfriend waiting for you at baggage claim 8,500 miles from where you started. Neighborhood vibe in Buenos Aires Entrance to Solar Soler B&B    ...

   The blog has been quiet for the last week because I have been traveling on assignment well outside of WiFi zones aboard UnCruise's Safari Endeavor in Baja, Mexico. I spent seven days aboard the luxury small ship with 37 other passengers documenting and photographing the amazing places, wildlife, and connections along the way.    With countless scenic coves, half moon bays, sandy beaches, and deserted islands the landscape screams for adventure travel. The life aboard the Safari Endeavor made adventure seem like luxury as the hikes and snorkels were spaced out with gourmet food, fine wine, and complementary massage. The fact that the crew to guest ratio was nearly 1:1 also made for a fabulous feeling of being well taken care of.    Luckily the weather cooperated, some key wildlife showed up, and the sunsets that I had been hearing so much about did not disappoint. More pictures and stories will emerge but lets just say it was a successful and prod...

Your Best Source of Local Info No Swimming Allowed   I just returned from one of the most dangerous surfing spots in the world. Reunion Island has crystal clear tropical water with ultra-consistent waves, however the world class waves like St. Leu are going unridden. There are the typical dangers of powerful waves breaking over a razor sharp shallow reef (I am still  nursing a few scrapes and cuts), but this is not why thy lineups are empty. There have been 19 shark attacks since 2013 along the west coast of Reunion Island, and surfers seem to be the main target. Residents, surfers, and concerned politicians have tried everything from shark nets to enforcing an all-out ban on surfing. Lifeguards now act more as beach monitors, making sure no one goes into the water. Surfers however, are surfers through and through and will still find ways to go out. After a short respite from the attacks the surf community was rattled again a month ago as a surfer lost an arm a...

 The Pull of Africa Back for the animal encounters    After three '100 day' self driving safaris across 10 countries in Africa over the past 10 years I still havn't seen enough of this beautiful continent. I have taught baseball in Kenya, slept under a baobab tree in Tanzania, hiked with the gorillas in Uganda, and fell through a tree in Zambia. I've surfed at Jeffrey's Bay , scuba dove off Zanzibar Island , listened to lions roar outside my tent at night, and watched the sunrise from the summit of Kilimanjaro . Yet I still havn't seen enough of this continent.   So I'm back. This time I have nearly six weeks to spend which means big decisions to be made. I was lucky enough that my girlfriend Heidi also managed to get this time off which makes the decision a little easier because now it must include diving for nudibranchs! Always looking for a good camping spot    To narrow things down we first decided to focus on Southern Africa instead of ...