Catacomb in Rome
I visited one of the catacombs in Rome. I had previously visited a different one. Visitors were organized into groups based on the language they spoke. Our guide was from the Philippines and his name was Father Damien. Before he started the tour he asked the group whether anyone had visited any of the other catacombs. I was the only one and we began the tour. The tour was great and when it was done Father Damien pulled me aside and told me he wanted to give me a private tour of places not seen on the public tour. I agreed and off we went into the catacombs. We zigged and zagged through the catacombs (with poorer lighting since these were not the public tour areas) stopping at interesting sites where, for example, one could see original surviving frescoes. I had no idea of where we were. At one point we stopped at a room where the bones from people who were interred were still there. No bones are seen on the public tours. Father Damien started telling me more of the history of the catacomb and as he did he reached out and picked up a femur bone and handed it to me. The lighting is dim, I have no idea where we are, I’m with Father Damien (if you remember the movie The Omen you’ll recognize the name) and now I’m holding a 1500 year old femur bone. A little unsettling to be sure. When Father Damien finished his story we replaced the bone and went on to finish the tour. It was certainly a very memorable day.
On safari in Zimbabwe
I went on a small group safari in Zimbabwe organized by Wilderness Travel. The first game park we visited was Matusadona. We stayed in tents at a permanent camp site for tents on a dry part of a river bed. The tents were arranged in a line. My tent was at the end of the line and there was some low, scrubby brush between my tent and the previous one. Up the river bank from the first tent was where we met to have our meals and learn about each days adventures. The first night we had dinner was a clear night with a full moon. The guides decided that it was safe to let us go back to our tents on our own. I walked down the line of tents and came around the brush heading to my tent. And then I stopped – abruptly. A hippo had decided to graze on grass right in front of my tent. My first night on safari and I had almost walked into one of the more dangerous animals in Africa. It was only about 20 feet from me and huge. My brain started to ponder what to do – scream like a little girl and run like crazy? wait and see if the hippo moves off to somewhere else? go around the hippo to my tent (which meant getting between a hippo and water which is usually not a good idea)? Hmm … what to do? I chose to wait and see what happens. The hippo was calm, grazing happily and ignoring me. After waiting a bit I felt I had to do something. So I opted to slowly, very carefully walk out and around the hippo to my tent. The hippo continued to graze and ignore me and I made it safely to my tent. Whew!
On another night at Matusadona I was awakened during the night by a lot of crashing and noise from the forest up on the river bank. The noise stopped and I got up to look out the windows in my tent. With the full moon I had plenty of light to see and what a sight I saw. An enormous bull elephant was walking toward my tent. It was unearthly – as it walked it made no noise – almost ghostly in effect. It glided along right past my tent (I could have reached out and touched it) and out into the open dry riverbed in front of my tent. It stopped there in full profile – tall, big tusks and enormous. It sniffed the air and then wandered silently away.
In another park we had an elephant encounter of a different sort. We were out on a game walk in the bush which consisted of mostly low scrubby vegetation, a few trees and some clearings. We were passing a clearing when an elephant emerged on the opposite side of the clearing. It was not happy. It made a lot of noise and shook its head side to side vigorously. And then … it charged us. We are out in the bush and I have no idea of where we are but I do know that there are lots of things out there that can harm or kill you. When a full grown elephant is charging you your fight or flight instincts kick in – and fight is not an option. Our guide told us to stay calm and stay still. He moved into the clearing with his local guides and yelled and waved his arms. The elephant stopped and shook its massive head. Finally it decided it had made its point and moved away. The ground shakes and your heart races when an elephant charges you.
Native village in Fiji
My wife and I went on a scuba and sightseeing trip to Fiji. The scuba diving was the first part of the trip and the sightseeing trip the second. One of our sightseeing adventures was a jet boat trip up the Sigatoka River. We were the only ones who signed up so it was like a private tour. The river was beautiful and the guides were great. Up the river the guides stopped and took us to a native village that had not received outside visitors. They were very gracious and welcoming. We sat with the elders in their community center and asked and answered questions. It was fun. One startling question did come up from the elders once they knew we were Americans. They asked us “Where were you on 9/11”. Even in this remote village in Fiji they had heard of that infamous day.
9/11 in the Australian Outback
I went on a three week trip to Australia in 2001. I was in the Australian Outback visiting Uluru (Ayers Rock) and I was about as far from home as I could be. I learned about what happened on 9/11 from news coverage on TVs at the restaurant at the hotel in which I was staying. I had been out on tours during the morning and returned for lunch. And there the images were on their TVs – planes crashing into the World Trade Center and the towers collapsing. All flights to the USA stopped and phone calls weren’t going through. It really hit me how far away from home I was when I tried to mail postcards and the Australian post office refused to take them – no flights so no mail to the USA. The Australian people were extremely gracious – tour guides expressed their condolences, makeshift memorials of flowers popped up in cities across Australia and more. I wasn’t sure if or when I would get home. I still had almost a week of travel to go in Australia and fortunately the planes were flying when it was time for me to return. At least the planes to the USA – the airlines weren’t so sure I would get to North Carolina but at least I would end up in Los Angeles.
Aboriginal tour at Uluru
While in Australia at Uluru I went on a tour with a park ranger and an Aboriginal elder. It was a small group and the park ranger interpreted for the elder. The tour was fascinating and it was amazing to be up close to Uluru. At one point on the tour the elder demonstrated a spear thrower (also called an atlatl) used by Aborigines for hunting. They had set up a kangaroo shaped target. After he showed the group how to use it he invited the members of the group to try it. It was one lucky kangaroo or these were poor hunters as no one hit the target. I was the last to try and somehow it kind of felt golfswing-like. I nailed the target and the Aboriginal elder grinned and patted me on the shoulder. Maybe I won’t starve to death without a supermarket.
Turkish Rug
I went on a small group trip to Turkey with Wilderness Travel. It was an awesome trip – visiting Istanbul, sailing along the Aegean coast visiting historic sites and towns and more. Towards the end we stopped at a rug merchant near Kusadasi. They showed us how silk rugs were made and then tried to sell us rugs. The merchant had a cool collection of antique cars and motorcycles. I wasn’t sure about buying a rug but I needed a rug for a room at home (a large one). I saw one I liked and agreed to buy it. I expected to pay for it with a credit card like others were doing. However, my sales person pulled me aside and told me not to worry. They would ship the rug to me in the United States and then I would pay them with a check. This sounded a bit strange – ship a rug to the US without payment? I decided to go along and see what happened. Sure enough a few weeks after I returned home a shipping company delivered the rug. The rug merchant emailed me instructions on where to send the check. I sent off a check and for many years afterwards they would send me Christmas greetings via email. They still contact me when they have representatives in the area with rugs for sale out of their van. We still have the rug (I’ve had it for 16 years) and it still looks great to me.
Ocelot in Honduras
On a Wilderness Travel small group tour to Central America to visit Mayan ruins and local villages I met an ocelot. In Copan we stayed at a hotel named the Marina Copan. We had heard that a local ocelot included the hotel in its territory. One evening I turned a corner in the hotel and there it was coming down the hall toward me. I stopped and watched it as it padded down the hall hugging the wall. It ignored me and went past me on its way to other things.
Dolphin Encounter in Bermuda
When I visited Bermuda I signed up to swim with captive dolphins one morning. After I arrived I discovered that I was the only person who had signed up that morning and so I had all the dolphins to myself. It was an amazing experience being up close to such powerful animals in the water.
Scuba diving in Atlanta
My wife and I went to Atlanta for Easter one year. It was a good year to go because the terra cotta warriors from China were on display in a museum in Atlanta and the King Tut treasures were on display in another museum. One of the things you can do in Atlanta is to scuba dive in the main tank at the Georgia Aquarium. The main tanks has hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, manta rays, giant groupers, and lots of other marine life. As a diver in the main tank you get to view the people on the other side of the glass and wave to the kids. It was breathtaking to be in the tank with such large marine creatures close by. The mantas did barrel rolls while the whale sharks and the hammerheads cruised around in circles.
Cofradia of Maximon
On my trip to Central America to visit villages and Mayan sites we stopped at the Cofradia of Maximon in a Guatemalan village on Lake Atitlan. The cofradia is associated with the Catholic church but Maximon is a unique character. He has an image or kind of float which is carried by men through town during religious festivals. Maximon likes to smoke and drink and locals bring offerings of cigars and alcohol to the cofradia house and seek healing for various illnesses. Spiritual leaders of the cofradia (like a shaman) perform healing ceremonies. We were allowed to visit the cofradia (which was not on the tour). It was dimly lit with candles, lots of smoke from cigars and crowded with people. We watched a healing ceremony from the rear before moving on with the tour. It was a moving experience that showed that Catholicism in some parts of the world is accompanied with native rituals and deities.
Whitewater rafting in Patagonia
I went on a week-long whitewater rafting in Patagonia (southern Chile) organized by a tour company called Earth River. The rapids were up to class 5 and we had to where wet suits because the water was so cold. At the beginning of the trip they taught us what to do if the raft flips and how to get things right afterwards. And, they asked us to do a swimming test with all our gear on – wet suit, booties, flotation vest, helmet. This test was done by taking the rafts out onto the river and dropping us off on some rocks in the river. The task was to hop in the water and make it to shore downriver at an appointed place. We went down in the rafts to the rocks and everyone got out. After the rafts left and they went ashore downriver it was time to hop in and float down until we had to swim to shore. Everyone was hopping in but I noticed one young woman hanging back. I waited until there was only the two of us. It turned out she was a girlfriend of one of the local guides and spoke a little English. I found out that she was hanging back because … she did not know how to swim. With our gear on we would definitely stay on the surface but she was afraid. I told her I would accompany her and tow her in to shore. We hopped in and I kept a hand on her flotation vest. I had to time things right if I was going to get us both into shore at the right place rather than be swept downriver. It was hard work but I got us both to shore. Going on a rafting trip when you don’t know how to swim may not be the best idea.
Later on this trip we returned from an overnight hike up to the Tree House Camp (where we slept in interconnected tree houses). The way to get back across the river was a zip line with a little twist. You couldn’t ride the zip line all the way across unless you wanted to go splat against the rocks where the line was anchored. The trick was to let go of the zip line when you were over the river and swim to shore. It was a blast! I let go when I was about 20 feet above the river. It was a cold landing but still a lot of fun.
Chiang Mai, Thailand
My wife and I went on a combined scuba and land trip to Thailand with a group from the local dive shop. We started in Phuket with some sightseeing and then scuba diving from a liveaboard dive boat for a week. Our next stop was Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. I had a free day to explore the city while my wife and several others in our group attended a Thai cooking class. I walked through the city and stopped at many Buddhist temples. It was an awesome experience. At one temple I was approached by a nicely dressed local man. He was at the temple with his wife and son because his son was taking classes from the monks. He decided to speak with me as I was clearly a visitor to the city. He spoke very good English and I learned that he was the chief of the traffic police in the city. He gave me his card and told me to show it to any taxi or tuk-tuk driver and it would guarantee I was treated well and got a fair price. It’s good to meet the right people when traveling!
Adventures in Egypt
When I lived in Italy a group of Americans I worked with organized a group trip to Egypt. We went to Luxor (the Temples of Karnak and Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s temple); cruised up the Nile to Aswan stopping at places like Kom Ombo and Edfu; visited sites in Aswan and sailed on the Nile in a felucca; traveled further south to Abu Simbel; and ended our journey in Cairo (the Great Mosque, Giza and the pyramids, Memphis, Saqqara). While we were in Aswan we attended a Son et Lumiere (Sound and Light) show at the temple of Philae on an island in the Nile. The sky was clear with so many stars and it was a deeply moving experience. On a humorous note we had a few laughs when we visited Abu Simbel. You have to fly to Abu Simbel from Aswan. While we were waiting in the airport at Abu Simbel to return to Aswan (there was no air conditioning in the little airport) one American woman spoke up. “It’s so hot here. It’s like we’re in Africa or something.”
Parking ticket in Nice, France
Another time when I lived in Italy I went by myself for a holiday on the French Riviera in early January (Epiphany is a holiday in early January for some countries in Europe). I drove to Nice and used Nice as my home base for exploring. I stayed in a hotel near the waterfront and parking was tricky. One day I found a parking ticket on my car (which was an Alfa Romeo Quadrafoglio Oro). I took the ticket to the main desk of the hotel and asked what I should do. The man at the desk spoke English and he looked at the ticket. He said “You are an American temporarily living in Rome with an Italian car registered in Italy. I would throw it away.” And, so I did. I wonder if I can ever go back to Nice.
Wine Festival in Marino, Italy
There is a small town outside of Rome named Marino. In the fall there is a large festival in honor of the grape harvest. I attended the festival with some friends one year and it was fun. There is a procession through town with people dressed as people from the past and icons (kind of like floats) carried by men. The highlight of the festival is when everyone gathers around the town fountains and the town pumps white wine into them. Cups of wine are filled at the fountains and passed back into the crowds. You just snag one that comes along and pass others on. It’s not every day you get wine from a town fountain!
Kissing a horse in Argentina
On a visit to Argentina my wife and I visited an estancia (ranch) outside of Buenos Aires. The estancia tries to give visitors a taste of the gaucho culture in Argentina (gauchos are similar to American cowboys). We rode horses, ate lunch, listened to music, watched dances and other things. There was a demonstration of gaucho horsemanship where the gauchos show off their skills on a horse. One game is for them to try to snag a small ring off a post at a gallop. If the gaucho succeeds he decides which lady in the crowd to give it to. If that lady has a husband or boyfriend with her then they have to kiss the horse. The gaucho chose Lucy and I got to kiss a horse in Argentina.
Business trip to Japan
My first trip overseas was a business trip to Japan. IBM sent me to Japan to support a large customer as they started to implement a new function. I was joined by another man from another product that was part of the solution. The customer was Matsushita (Panasonic) in Osaka. Japan was amazing – the crowds, the pachinko parlors, the anime cartoons and comic books, the Asian squat toilets, the food, the British way for driving and walking (forward on the left – not the right), the subways, people sleeping on the subway and waking up at their stops, vending machines on the street which sold hard liquor, and on and on. I was in Japan for two weeks with most of the time in Osaka and a few days at the end in Tokyo. During our time in Osaka two men from the local branch office took us to Kyoto one Saturday to visit temples, shrines and gardens. Kyoto is spectacular! We visited Kiyomizu temple where there is a spring you can drink from. The legend is that you will live forever by drinking the water. We’ll see if it works for me. We took the bullet train (Shinkansen) from Osaka to Tokyo and saw Mount Fuji from the train. It was an amazing trip. Food was not so good for me and by the time I stopped over in Hawaii on the way home I had lost over 9 lbs. I went to Pizza Hut first thing after arriving at my hotel in Waikiki. Since then I have always carried food with me on my trips overseas.
Glen Klamer 