A swarm of jet skis masquerading as race cars zoomed across sapphire waters in the Turks and Caicos Islands, their wake causing our captain to shift course as our boat glided toward Little Water Cay. It was my first experience with these water-bound speedsters and...
“Authentic experience.”Those were among the words our tour operator used to distinguish Taytay Bay island-hopping over the far more popular tour offerings at El Nido, the widely known tourism hub on the north end of Palawan in the Philippines. The description struck me as particularly...
Our banka glided across a protected cove toward rock drapery spilling from the forested cliff above. From a distance the cave entrance appeared merely as another fold in the rock; but, as we slipped into its darkness, our boatman’s headlamp revealed a tunnel that opened...
Couples and families clustered along granite boulders at the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, Maine, soaking in residual heat as the sun poured the last of its golden rays across the waters below. Silhouetted evergreens anchored the foreground as the gold faded...
Blue water lapped across my feet, squishing white sand between my toes as I strolled down Playa Dorada beach on my first evening in the Dominican Republic. Golden rays highlighted lush forest on the shore across the cove. A cool breeze tempered the heat of...
Our group stood quietly in the forest trying to ignore the mosquitoes buzzing incessantly as our guides played a softly-repeating whoop-like call over their loud speakers. We all listened as they paused the audio, straining to hear the faint response of a Gray-fronted Quail-Dove. Our...
I could barely see over the ferry railing at the age of 5 or 6 but I remember feeling the sense of freedom the Statue of Liberty represented as I gazed at her across wide-open water. Once on New York’s streets, I clung to my...
A wall of rain made it nearly impossible to see the sign for the Palm Beach Bookstore just across the street as I pulled into a parking spot. I turned off the engine and picked up the copy of my new book, Wild Florida: An...
Liguus Snail (Liguus Fasciatus) Darkness envelops me as I step from the brightly lit marsh into a tree island, a pocket of hardwood hammock within the Everglades. I wait for my eyes to adjust, then begin scanning trees for arboreal snails. These terrestrial mollusks once glistened...
Bromeliad-laden trees arched across the highway as my cab ferried me from Singapore’s international airport. A lusciously shade-dappled park with intermittent benches and exercise equipment ran along one side. Median plantings, neighboring walls, and even some of the buildings themselves were meticulously landscaped with botanical...