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James Cook wasn’t a youngster when he entered the Royal Navy (British that is). Born in 1728, Cook was not from a seafaring family. He was an older teen when he started working (as an apprentice) for John Walker on barge-like boats ferrying coal between Newcastle and London. He studied and gained experience and inContinue reading “Cook’s Boat and Australia”

Please consider the images to be copyrighted and use only with my permission. Thank you. DEClapp. The hippopotamus is a chunky animal with a wide body and short legs. They can weigh up to two tons and big males often more than that. An average weight might be about 3300 pounds (about 1500 kilograms). TheyContinue reading “Hippos, Rotund African “River Horses””

There are few things as humbling as seeing how water, over time, can shape the earth. The Zambezi River passes over a cracked and crazed bit of old volcanic rock and eats its way through these cracks to shape and reshape itself. The floor of this part of the world was a smear of lava.Continue reading “Victoria Falls”

Please treat the images as copyrighted and do no use them without my permission. Thank you. The fourth largest river in Africa flows from northwest Zambia and Angola to the Indian Ocean; creating portions of the borders of Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique. Along its 2200 mile run to the sea the ZambeziContinue reading “Wetland Creatures of the Zambezi”

I have been to Africa many many times and to East Africa at least forty times. I have now found the best lodge ever; really! Now you must remember that nothing is cheap in East Africa because of the difficulty in building, locating materials, training staff, and solving a myriad of logistical problems. You can’tContinue reading “Tanzania, Ruaha, & Jabali Ridge”

I am a bit pressed for time but wanted to at least put out a teaser blog about this latest trip to Tanzania. Finally I have reached the Selous Game Reserve and the Ruaha National Park. Fran has been able to accompany me and we’ve had a ball. We have had typically (or better thanContinue reading “Tanzania, The Selous, & The Rufiji River”

Well, let’s go back to East Africa, along the northern Tanzania safari route. This won’t be your usual animal parade, it will be a bit more earthy than that. It will show a few safari moments and then the same for a Maasai market which occurs weekly near Tarangire National Park; at the corner where youContinue reading “Tanzania; safari fun and a Maasai market”

Aquaculture is huge business; salmon, oysters, shrimp, catfish, and dozens of other edible species are raised by the ton all over the world. Norway has become something of a specialist-nation when it come to raising Atlantic salmon. They say that over 14 million Norwegian salmon meals are eaten every day around the world; that requiresContinue reading “Norwegian Salmon”

Much of Norway is rural. Quite rural in most areas. The second home boom that has infiltrated untracked forests and coastal headlands in the US has been accomplished differently in Norway. Most of the second homes are clustered around ski areas and places where winter sports are enjoyed. A second home just for the viewContinue reading “Norway; remote and comfortable”