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The Andes are a wrinkled mass of earth that if ironed out nice and flat would cover thousands of square miles. As they are currently laid out it is nearly impossible to simply wander around. A visit into these mountains requires planning and an understanding that you will touch ground in only a tiny percentageContinue reading “Machu Picchu – A Remarkable Place”

Once away from the city eastern and central Peru are a series of mountains and valleys. One thing to learn quickly is that the elevation drives everything. The higher you are the less oxygen and the more difficult it is to move about. Many people (visitors, tourists) feel the difference at  five or six thousandContinue reading “The Peruvian Countryside”

Lima is a real city. Many Americans seem to think that other countries are different; that cities, towns, and people are somehow different from us. In fact people are people pretty much the world over and cultures are adapted to location and need. But the underlying sense of being human, of having fidelity to countryContinue reading “Lima; A Second Look”

It is always a bit of a surprise to see that Lima is a very coastal city located on packed gravel/stone rising from the Pacific. The 300′ drop to the sea from the front rank of urban streets and parkland is walkable in a few places but a taxi is the best way back upContinue reading “Peru; starting in Lima”

Pine Creek; an instant home There are very few towns in the Northern Territory. Alice Springs in the middle and Darwin (and environs) in the north pretty much fill the bill. However, there are smallish communities that are quite endearing; Tennant Creek, Katherine, Timber Creek, and Pine Creek are four. It is no wonder thatContinue reading “Pine Creek, Northern Territory, Australia”

Outback Termites are Everywhere – and they are very cool I have read that there are 400 pounds of termites in the world for every human being. I can’t say that the ratio remains constant as human numbers increase and appropriate habitat for termites decreases; but it is an eye-opening number isn’t it? I thinkContinue reading “Outback Termites”

The mountains of Far Northern Queensland are tropical rain forests for the most part. They descend to the coast north of Cairns near the Daintree River and a regular feature of the eastern slope of the mountains from Cairns northward. The Atherton Tablelands are less than a mile in elevation and spread westward on aContinue reading “Far Northern Queensland – #1”

Southern Africa: South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia The opportunity to visit southern Africa was very exciting. Anticipation and planning were the order of the day. I was to be with a Smithsonian Journeys group for most of the time but I thought a day or two of birding prior to the trip would be in order.Continue reading “Some Southern Africa Birds”

Kudzu in North CarolinaThis energetic plant caught my eye while in western North Carolina  Kudzu is a member of the pea family that has found a home most anywhere it lands. In 1876 it arrived here in the United States at the Centennial Exposition. It was displayed in the Japanese section of the Expo andContinue reading “Kudzu in North Carolina”