Dead Sea Float

by Erik Olsen on

There are some who say you  haven’t lived until
you’ve floated in the Dead Sea. I’m not so sure. I was in Israel for my honeymoon several years ago, and we
stopped off to do a Dead Sea float to see what the hullabaloo was all about. The hullabaloo, dear friends, smells bad.
Yes, despite all of the proclaimed therapeutic effects of Dead Sea water for your skin and sprit, the simple fact is
the water smells like rotten eggs and well, other stuff that I can’t quite remember, but which I think have something
to do with garbage.

Now, all that said, floating in the Dead Sea is also fun. It is. The salt content in the
Dead Sea (really a big salty lake…well, a big SHRINKING salty lake) is so high, that the water is more dense than
regular water. That means when you put your body into it, you actually don’t sink as far down into the surface. That is
a very interesting experience, let me tell you, to have your body "elevated" a few inches higher in the water
than you are used to. Makes you wonder a bit whether Jesus was just a really light guy and maybe they were talking
about the Dead Sea when they said he walked on water. Dunno, just a thought.

And since we’re on the subject
of the Dead Sea and floating and health, well, here’s
an article about that very subject.

Africa Travel: Swaziland

by Adrienne Wilson on

Beyond going to Africa to
experience the big game, more than anything I would just love to be a fly on the wall and people-watch. For me Africa
is all about culture an diverse tribes and peoples from country to country. Every year a major ceremony called Umhlanga or the Reed Dance takes place during a week at the end
of August or early September. Women of marriageable age gather at the Queen Mother’s residence to set out in parties to
gather reeds. After a few nights pass they will return with the reeds to prepare elaborate costumes like the ones seen
here for dancing. To our advantage one needn’t be a fly on the wall to have the opportunity to view or photographer the
festivities. So long as you register at the Tourist Office one can experience this unique glimpse of Swaziland.

Swaziland is one of Africa’s smallest
countries located in Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa and of of the last three with a remaining
monarch. For additional info on Swaziland and their traditional ceremonies visit their tourism site here.

Survival International & Baka Beyond

by Adrienne Wilson on

Survival International is an organization that has long helped tribal
people defend their lives, land and determine their own futures. Together with a group of Baka musicians from the Cameroonian rainforest they are hoping to spread the word
internationally about the forest dwellers who are being overlooked and persecuted by local and global organizations.
The Baka’s music is apart of everyday life where the villagers are often woken by women singing
"Yelli" to bring animals from the forest for successful hunting. When they bathe in the river there
seems to be music too. The opportunity to witness Baka Beyond during their upcoming
tour in April-May is one that shouldn’t be missed. Come for their intricate sounds, learn of the people, their
situation and lend your hand in their struggle.

As of right now all tour dates are solely in the UK,
beginning April 30 in Westonbirt. For a full tour listing click here.

Bangkok's Charms

by Erik Olsen on

I lived
in Bangkok years ago, and I have to say I have mixed feelings about the city. On the one hand, it is a sprawling,
polluted, congested, smelly, sin-addled place. On the other hand, it can be one of the most exotic and interesting
cities you will ever visit. I lived up Sukhumvit road and lived among a bunch of Thai middle class folks who generally
worked for the government or for the nearby oil company, whose building was tucked away behind iron gates, and whose
gleaming glass facade was totally incongruous to the huts that squatted next to it. Then there was the guy selling
roasted cockroaches right outside the new McDonalds. Or was it Burger king? I forget, but you get the point.

Alas, such are Bangkok’s charms. And so it’s always cool to read about others’ experiences in that
city, for example, in this piece over at the Globe and
Mail, wherein writer Guy Nicholson waxes positive (with reservation) about Bangkok’s charms. It’s funny too.
He returns to Bangkok with his wife after ten years since he had last visited it. I did almost the same thing. I
returned with my wife, as well after about eight years. And I do have to say that the city changed a lot. But it also
didn’t change that much. It was a wee bit cleaner, and the new train really seems to have helped the traffic
situation. But the cockroach sellers are still there and the city still had a decidedly rancid Third World fragrance.
But I remain a fan, and probably always will.

Checking in on Tom Haines

by Erik Olsen on

One of my favorite young travel writers around today is
Tom Haines, who does the travel writing thing over at the Boston Globe. He was a winner of the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award…last year, I think…and I thought the Crossing Divides series he did for the Globe was
absolutely killer. As a video journalist myself, I would have jumped on that gig in a second. Good for the Globe, too,
to send someone out to take on such an expensive, but fascinating and valuable endeavor.

Anyway, we’ve
blogged about Haines’ blog before, but we thought
we’d check back in with him. Seems he’s been spending some time lately in Latin America, with visits to Mexico and Chile. I was especially intrigued by the
Chile posts, since I lived there for a little while and had been the Pablo Neruda’s place myself, which Haines blogs
about. So pay a visit to Haines’ lil spot on the Web, and tell him we sent ya.