Roald Dahl Museum

by Erik Olsen on

I heard a review of the new Willy Wonka film on the way in this morning that wasn’t spectacular. But it was
intriguing. I know I’ll see this film, but I will do so with reservations because Tim Burton has disappointed me more
than once in the past. Remaking Willy Wonka is like remaking a very
special part of your childhood, and for many of us who feel that way, the notion is that we have entrusted Burton with
a part of ourselves. He has been given the power to take this sweet, wonderful thing, and to refashion it for the
times. Whether he does so with sensitivity to all this is up to him. I guess we’ll see.

And so all this is a lead into a trip for Willy Wonka fans everywhere. Most people know that Roald Dahl was the
mastermind behind Wonka. But I’ll bet few know that there is actually a Roald
Dahl Museum and Story Center 20 miles northwest of London in Great Missenden. The museum celebrates Dahl’s
impressive (and often quite odd) body of work, including personal papers and his supposedly incredible “Ideas Book.”
Now, only a die hard Willy Wonka/Dahl fan would make such a trip, but my guess is that there are a lot of us out
there.

Friday Funny

by Erik Olsen on

It’s the End of the World as We Know it…but what’s your lede?

Today, though not entirely travel-related, we take you to the wonderful world of McSweeney’s for your
friday funny. Hart Seely’s hilarious send up of not just
the newspaper writer’s lede, but also of the media in general is the perfect quick and witty read as we slip, ever so
smoothly, into another summer weekend. If you do not read McSweeney’s often, I urge you to do so. Bookmark it and come
back. It as good as the Onion, and often more clever.

Up the Amazon

by Erik Olsen on

Years ago, I
took a trip up the Amazon River out of Belem (a
beautifully awful city) up to Manaus. I took one of those rickety river boats that seems to putt up river at about 1/2
mile an hour.

The Amazon is epic. Like no other body of water I’ve ever seen. There are places on this river where the water is so
wide, you CANNOT see the riverbanks in either direction. A river, folks. It’s amazing.

This piece in the Philly Inquirer
(subscription) takes a look at the Amazon, but with a focus on the whole ecotourism thing. The writer sees an
eco-lodge, hangs out with the monkeys, eats the local fruits and grubs (literally). It’s not bad. Gives a nice flavor
of the place. It’s a bit shallow as far as stories go, but if you’ve ever wanted to go, it gives a nice glimpse of what
touristy travel on the river is like.

Madagascar’s Charms

by Erik Olsen on

Consider the lemur. A cute furry creature with Marty Feldman eyes and a friendly disposition. They are relatives of ours, you know. Crawl back along the knotted, twisted branch of human ancestry and make your way down towards the trunk and there they are, all bug eyed and unevolved. Now consider seeing them in the wild. Hanging to with Lemurs, as it were, as if having a beer with an old friend you haven’t seen in 25 million years. That would be cool, right?

Well the only place you can do this, that is the only place these cute semi-primates live is the island of Madagascar off Africa. And that is where the author of this article went on vacation. Trekking around Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, one of the island’s few remaining primary forests, she encounters “luminous birds and fluorescent frogs”, exploding blossoms. The piece has its activist side, but it’s pretty good. Good enough, anyway, to make me consider Madagascgar as a potential destination.

The Death Valley Experience

by Erik Olsen on

It’s not the place that many people think of when it comes time to
plan vacation. But Death Valley is a great place to head right now. The diluvian
rains that fell on California this year, up to 6 inches of rain in some places, have given rise to a phantasmagoria of
colorful flora and fauna that experts say is unlike anything seen here in a century.

The
News-Leader.comcalls it
a “once-in-a-lifetime display” with so much exploding color that shutter bugs will get callouses on their fingertips.
So if Death Valley has ever been on the agenda, do it now. Get up there. Go, bring your camera and a tent and camp
under the stars. Or if you prefer, do the local hotel thing, and check out the following places. Try the
Furnace Creek Inn,
Furnace Creek Ranch, and/or the
Sunset Campground.