Birds of the World in Lilongwe

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in Lilongwe, Malawi when Bern asked me if I was interested in birds. His daughter had told him about a bird sanctuary nearby so he thought I might like to see it. Since I had taken him to some activities when he was in Washington, I think he felt a need to show me around Malawi. While I am not particularly into birds, I thought this might be a good opportunity to take some…

Andrea Survives Tent Life in Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

It was a wet morning when we left La Fortuna. We got all our luggage in the bus and started the journey to Sarapiqui. On the way, we stopped at Mi Cafecito Coffee Cooperative to have a tour of their small coffee plantation. We had a very kind and knowledgeable guide who walked us through the steps of growing and harvesting coffee. While I expected to taste coffee during the tour, we instead tasted alcohol. Twice. I wasn’t complaining, but…

Andrea Hikes, Cruises and Zips in Costa Rica

Last summer, summer of 2021, I had booked a trip to Costa Rica. Everyone I knew that had been to Costa Rica had nothing but wonderful things to say about it. It’s a country full of nature and adventure. However, Covid wasn’t done ruining my travel plans and to much disappointment, the trip was canceled. Now here we are, a year later, and I can finally say I’ve been to Costa Rica! Part of the appeal of the trip was…

Olympic Peninsula: Sequim Spit and Salmon Spawning

On a beautiful, sunny Monday, we were going to backtrack. Sequim is a town between Port Townsand and Port Angeles. It is probably best known for its fields of lavender. However, we had other places in mind to explore. We drove past it on Saturday evening, but today we would return and explore its wonders. The first thing we did, however, was have breakfast. I had read about a great breakfast place in Sequim. Since breakfast is my wife’s favorite…

Enjoying a Garden, a Lighthouse, and Hanalei Beach

Thursday we were ready to travel north again to Hanalei. After being thwarted on Tuesday, we now knew when the highway would be open. We had everything timed out, and we were ready to go. Our first stop of the day was the Na ‘Aina Kai Botanical Gardens (Lands by the Sea). Like many gardens, this one began as a private garden. Joyce and Ed Doty moved to Kauai in the late 1970’s and began to create a garden. As…

Washington’s Unique Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

Traveling on I-5 from Seattle to Portland can be a long drive. If you are looking for a break, you will find one just over an hour from Seattle at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. One might expect a wildlife refuge to be a long way from a major freeway, but it really is just off the freeway. In fact while we were at the refuge we could see the cars driving by. I had driven by the exit on many…