My travel Christmas card collection
Every year I develop one or more fanciful Christmas cards based on my travels. Here’s what those have looked like through the years: Christmas 2017 Christmas 2016 Christmas 2015 (My imagining Read More …
Category: Africa & Middle East
It’s World Rhinoceros Day!
Did you know that today is World Rhinoceros Day? First designated in 2010 by the World Wildlife Foundation in South Africa to draw attention to the world’s five species of rhino (two native to Africa Read More …
Happy World Penguin Day!
Everyone loves penguins, right? So today is a good day to show your love for these amazing creatures! Why today? Every year on April 25 a colony of Adelie penguins at McMurdo Station in Antarctica Read More …
A Bit of Benin at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
Intricately detailed bronzes from Benin allow visitors at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to peek into a very different time and place. Housed together in the intimate Benin Kingdom Gallery, these 15th and Read More …
Through the Back Door at the Riad El Yacout, Fès, Morocco
The Riad El Yacout sits outside the medina wall near the gate of Bab Boujeloud. Along the one side the scene is dominated by a large construction site that is becoming a new hotel. This Read More …
The Tannery, Fès, Morocco
Fès has been famous for its fine leatherwork for 1000 years. Even today the medina features locally-made leather items. Most prominent of these may be the gaily-colored babooshes – the pointed toe, open heel shoes Read More …
Donkeys in the Streets, Fès, Morocco
The ancient medina of Fès is said to be the largest urbanized area in the world that prohibits motor vehicles. (There were a few motorbikes around, so it didn’t seem completely non-motorized.) In some parts Read More …
El-Attarine Medersa, Fès, Morocco
The El-Attarine Medersa (the Medersa of the Spice Sellers) was founded in 1325 by Sultan Abou Said. A medersa is a place of learning – it is a college that teaches subjects like science, law, Read More …
Cascades d’Ouzoud, Morocco
The Cascades d’Ouzoud is the largest and most dramatic waterfall in Morocco. You may think, as a co-worker of mine did, that this isn’t saying a lot (Morocco isn’t generally associated with waterfalls). But that Read More …
The Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail in Meknès, Morocco
Meknès became an imperial city in 1672 under the sultan Moulay Ismail. He built the city’s imposing walls and enormous palace complex, using this city as his base throughout his 55-year rule. Indeed, this city Read More …