Route of the Maya, February 2012

Temple of the Great Jaguar, Tikal

Harnessed up for zip-line

Scarlet Macaws

Our minibus

Copan ruins, Honduras

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Lamanai ruins, Belize

Howler monkey

Typical cemetery, Guatemala

Restored image, Lamanai

Cathedral, San Salvador

Our search for the famous Mayan ruins of Tikal and Copan took us to El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize.  Our group of 16 weathered rough roads, a humid climate, malarial swamplands, and a risky water supply...but the remarkable Mayan ruins and our zip-lining experience made it all seem worth it.  Zip-lining begins by donning a harness and climbing to a point high enough to let gravity do its work.  It’s really not done for the scenery; you’re moving too fast and are too intent on applying the brakes.  But what an experience!  The horseback ride to a Mayan village was memorable as was a visit to a local school and a home dining experience.  But when we look back on this trip in the future, we’re sure to remember most the grandeur of the Temple of the Great Jaguar at Tikal and the excitement of zip-lining. 

Antarctica, December 1-15, 2011

When we saw restraining straps on our beds in the vessel taking us to Antarctica we realized this trip would be different.  This came soon after learning that, for many of our fellow travelers, this was their second, third, even fourth bid at launching this trip (mechanical difficulties or damage occurring during crossings are not uncommon).  But we were lucky.  Not only did we embark on schedule but our ear patches successfully prevented sea sickness during the notoriously rough two-day crossing of the Drake Passage.  Nine landings featured penguins by the thousands, fur seals, an abandoned whaling enterprise and a British research station.  Typically, once a scout boat could assure that an avenue to a landing point could be found through icy seas, zodiac boats would ferry us ashore eight at a time.  We were briefed to allow penguins to approach us, but not approach them or use their pathways.  Our visits were almost surreal.  Surrounded by icebergs and a forbidding landscape, we walked the rock and ice-strewn habitat of creatures not seen elsewhere on earth, or we visited the ruins of abandoned human efforts to capitalize on this unique setting.  We took many pictures, but share the belief that no camera can faithfully capture the fierce, epic grandeur of an Antarctic summer experience.

Danube Cruise, October 2011

Our goals for this excursion were to introduce Claudia to Lew’s favorite city Vienna and to find out if river cruising would be OK when health begins to limit us.  It worked on both counts.  Vienna’s giant Ferris Wheel (the Riesenrad) gave breathtaking views, and the White Chimney Sweep Restaurant rendered the best dining experience of the trip.  And you couldn’t ask for a better river cruising experience than our journey from Romania though Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia to Hungary on the not-so-blue Danube.  Budapest presented unparalleled beauty, particularly while illuminated at night.  In fact, it was our most memorable scene.

Excursions along Owens Valley and US 395

We paid a brief but exciting visit to California’s Owens Valley in late August and September.  Highlights included horseback riding in the High Sierra above 10,000 ft, and excursions to the ghost town of Bodie, Mono Lake, filmdom’s Alabama Hills, Devils Postpile, Rainbow Falls, the Bristlecone Pine Forest, and a gondola ride to the 11,053 ft peak of Mammoth Mountain.  Bishop was our base and the weather was perfect.  To pick a favorite in this wondrous area is too challenging, but the ancient 4,100-year old forest of Bristlecone Pines would be hard to beat.

The bears of Alaska and more...

The most exciting part of our 13-day tour was the float plane excursion to Katmai National Park to see grizzly bears feeding on migrating salmon.  A platform protects viewers at the main waterfall site, but rangers often need to guide visitors away from bears wandering elsewhere.  We took the opportunity to tour nearby Valley of 10,000 Smokes, the eerie site of a catastrophic 1912 eruption larger even than the record-setting Krakatoa blast.  

Then by a combination of rail, ferry, rental cars, and tour boats (Claudia did all the planning) we visited Valdez (terminus of the Alaska pipeline), the abandoned Kennecott copper mine complex in the Wrangell-St Elias National Park, Cordova, the “Million Dollar” bridge, and a host of awesome glaciers.  Wildlife was plentiful--humpback whales (one even breached like you’ve seen on TV), cute and playful sea otters, moose (or whatever its plural is), Stellar sea lions, Dall sheep, bald eagles and more.  The blue-white glaciers were exciting to watch as they calved giant blocks of ice, particularly if you approached by small boat.  First, if you were lucky, you would see the block break loose, then you’d hear the rifle-shot report, followed by a wave forcing the boat to rock.  

Such a visit reminds us once again that the American West (including Alaska) has a beauty riveling anyplace in the world.  We recommend it.