There are many reasons to travel. This trip to Malawi was not a trip as a tourist. Because of that II didn’t stay in the usual tourist type accommodations. Instead I stayed in a large walled in compound. The compound was originally built for American missionaries. However, there are none in the compound at this time. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not in use. In fact it’s a pretty busy place. The compound is probably about the size of a…
Destinations
A Sunday in Malawi
Since I went to Malawi to teach, getting out to see the sights was not a top priority. However, my one Sunday between teaching did make for an interesting day. It began with participating in a worship service from which I learned a lot about Malawian church culture. The day ended with a quick trip to the best known tourist area of Malawi, Lake Malawi. It was definitely a good day. The church I attended was on the campus where…
Discovering Malawi, a Red Bricks World
I didn’t go to Malawi as a tourist to travel through the various parts of the country. I went to teach. Most days I never even left the compound where I stayed. However, I did get out a few times, and from that I want to share some impressions of this lesser known country. When I mention going to Malawi, often the first question people ask is, “Where is that?” Malawi is in the southeastern portion of Africa. It is…
Palms to Pines Road Trip
A fellow blogger Mike in his travel blog often talks about the value of just wandering in a city with no particular plan. This was about to happen to us. After realizing we were not going to go up in the Palm Springs Tram, we cast about for a way to spend out final day in Palm Springs. We ended up wandering through the nearby mountains traveling what is known as the Palms to Pines scenic byway. It had never…
The Delights of Joshua Tree National Park
One of our priorities when we visited Palm Springs, California over Christmas was a trip down to Joshua Tree National Park. With the nearest entrance only about an hour away, it makes for a great day trip to get you out in nature, nature that is quite unusual. Joshua Tree National Park is a large park in the desert. It actually covers two desert environments which have distinctive flora in them. The Joshua trees are not all over the park…
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Palm Springs Impressions
This past Christmas our family decided we wanted to do something different to celebrate the holidays. Hawaii was at the top of the list, but it is so expensive to go there at Christmas time. After some discussion we settled on Palm Springs, California. None of us had spent any time there, and we thought we would enjoy some warm, sunny weather over Christmas rather than the typical cold, wet, gray skies of Seattle. While we did stay in Palm…
Two Interesting Day Trips Beyond Las Vegas, Nevada
Most people go to Las Vegas, Nevada for gambling, drinking and partying. However, if you grow tired of these activities or are just not into that sort of thing, it doesn’t mean you have to sit in your hotel room. Here are two options of things you can easily do in a day or even in an afternoon. However, they are on opposite sides of the city so it is probably not the best to try to do them on…
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Autumn in Pinnacles National Park
Pinnacles National Park is a newer national park. It only became a national park in 2013. Perhaps because it is newer explains the reason why many people aren’t even aware of it. While it is located just 80 miles south of San Jose, it is the 13th least visited national park in the United States. Only a little over 233 thousand people visit in a year. Compare that to the 4 million who visit the popular Yosemite National Park just…
Exploring Angel Island
While visiting my daughter in San Jose, she decided we needed to explore Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. She and a friend had ridden bikes around the island and enjoyed it. She thought it would be fun for my wife and me to explore it as well. To get to the island was a journey in itself. We had to drive about a half hour north to catch the BART light rail system. After a half hour ride, we…
Discovering Australia’s Animals at Taronga Zoo
It was our final full day in Sydney, and we decided to go to Taronga Zoo. We had originally planned to take a train up into the Blue Mountains and do some hiking in this well-known region. However, age had caught up with me. After all the walking we had done, especially the Bondi to Coogee walk, my wife convinced me that hiking was probably more than we could handle at this point. She didn’t get much argument from me.…
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