Top Travel Adventures

This weekend was a bit of a bust. I had really been looking forward to it too. I spent the first part of the week preparing (and stressing about) a talk I had to give at a bioethics conference on Thursday. Luckily it seemed to go ok. I attended the rest of the conference talks on Friday and heard some really interesting ones on the ethics of using 'scorecards' for hospitals and physicians. Afterwards I walked home through Headington Hill park in the sunshine and was so excited to spend the weekend snuggling with my overstressed thesis-writing husband. On the way though, my slight tension headache blossomed into a full-blown migraine. Luckily Mike was meeting me in the park and was able to help me get home, but our planned night of popcorn munching and movie watching was not to be: instead, I spent an hour lying awake in total darkness, and finally fell asleep around 6pm, only to wake up at 10am the next morning! Sixteen hours of sleep did not defeat the headache though... so instead of having fun and being productive and enjoying the Oxford spring, I've been moping around the flat all weekend long trying to rest so it doesn't come roaring back. So what better way to cheer myself out of this funk than to reflect on all the fantastic times we've had living and traveling abroad? So, in no particular order, here are some of my favorite adventures from the past few years:

1. Meeting Duma, a cheetah abondoned as a cub who was rescued and raised by the Mokolodi game reserve outside of Gaborone, Botswana. Mike and I spent a weekend there in the midst of his fieldwork and we had the privilege of meeting Duma. His fur was so soft and his manner so friendly, and I kid you not: just like the big cat that he is, he purred the entire time.

2. Landing on the Tasman Glacier in a prop plane while visiting Mt Cook National Park on the South Island of New Zealand. We traveled there for our honeymoon, and had the chance to fly up and over some of the most gorgeous mountains I've ever seen; we then landed on the glacier and had a chance to walk around and take photos. It felt like landing on another planet: the air was so crisp and clear, and the snow so pristine... I'd go back in a heartbeat if I could.

3. Almost being killed by hippos in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. Traveling through east Africa, it is not uncommon to spend the night in rest camps where there are no fences to keep out the wildlife. In such camps, you have to be extremely careful about going out at night, since lions and elephants and leopards can roam through the camp and cause trouble. The most dangerous African animal, however, is the hippo: it kills more people every year than any other animal. This particular night, we were nestled in our tent under a tree about 100 yards from the river. At about 2am, I woke up to a crunching, munching sound, and looked out the window of the tent and saw two hippos grazing about 20 yards away. I gently shook Mike to wake him because he hadn't seen hippos out of the water before, and I thought he'd be excited. We watched them for a few minutes, and then they started walking closer... and closer, and closer! Soon they were within a yard of the tent. I could hardly breathe I was so scared! These things are absolutely huge - they must weigh over a ton - and all it had to do was trip and fall on us and that'd be it. Mike was trying to keep me from freaking out (and he succeeded, much to his credit!) but the hippos kept on coming closer! I think we erred by pitching our tent under the tree - they seemed particularly intrigued by the blossoms that had fallen off the tree all around our tent. Perhaps this was their favorite snack, because they just would not leave us alone! One even brushed up against the side of our tent and I nearly died right there of fright. Anyway, eventually they ate up all the blossoms and left to terrorize some other tourists. We slept in the truck the next night!

4. Swimming with wild dolphins off the coast of Zanzibar Island in Tanzania. This was a thrilling experience, although it was also a bit frightening at times. Dolphins are much bigger when you see them up close, and I have to admit, I was a bit frightened of them and kept my distance. Mike ventured a bit closer, but he too confided that his heart was racing from fear as well as exhilaration. Dolphins are such magnificent animals, and it was absolutely amazing to share the sea with them for a hour. Even falling ill with seasickness on the return journey couldn't ruin this experience for us!

5. Encountering an elephant while brushing our teeth in the Ngorogoro Crater in Tanzania. (Ok, I can see a theme emerging here. It's no secret that I love animals, so it's probably not that surprising that so many of my favorite travel adventures involve animals. Please be prepared for more of the same!) We were camping on the rim of the crater, at the end of a safari through the Serengeti Plain. The night before we had camped on the Plain, and it was a frightening night because there was a large male lion that had been seen stalking around the camp. Every time we ventured out of our tent I had been checking over my shoulder. Thus when we arrived at the crater rim camp, which was swarming with dozens of people and Jeeps everywhere, I breathed a sigh of relief and remarked to Mike how nice it would be to spend a night in a place where I didn't have to feel like I was going to be eaten every time I left the tent. Voicing that thought was my mistake, for it was not five minutes later as we were brushing our teeth in the darkness that a guide starting flashing his torch and yelling at us to watch out! I glanced up to see a huge elephant lolling towards us - I turned and ran (and totally forgot to grab Mike - great wife I am, huh? - luckily he followed me!) and not two seconds later the elephant was standing right on the spot we had just vacated. Needless to say, that was a bit of a wake-up call! Lesson learned: never let down your guard when camping in the African wild!

6. Whitewater rafting on the Zambezi River. I've been lucky enough to raft this river twice now; once when I was studying abroad in 2003, and this time with Mike on our overland tour in 2007. We had a fantastic time. Poor Mike earned the distinction of falling out of the raft more than anyone else! Because he's a strong paddler, he had to sit at the front of the raft, which is always the most dangerous place, and he paid for it: he spilled out at least five times, on every Grade 5 rapid and even once when there was a crocodile near by! I only fell out once, but it was quite a wipe-out: on one of the worst Grade 5 rapids, our entire raft flipped over! I'm not going to lie: it was quite scary when that happened, but overall, the day was amazing! I'm glad we had this amazing adventure, but I think I'm getting a little old for all this adrenaline to be coursing through my veins: we've agreed that we've had our fill of Grade 5 rapids... from now on, we'll stick to Grade 4 and below! (That's Mike, holding the paddle, on one of his many spills)

7. Fleeing from fish as we snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. Yes, as much as I love animals, I have a strange phobia of fish: for some reason, I just can't stand the thought of brushing up against them. They don't even have to be scary, spiny, poisonous fish: anything with scales will do. So, it was a bit of a battle for Mike to convince me to go snorkeling on the Reef. Of course he was right - it was an incredible opportunity to see some of the most amazing marine species in the world, and I'm really glad I conquered my fear and went, but my phobia did lead to one hilarious moment. We were snorkerling together, not far off shore, when a beautiful surgeon fish, no bigger than a salad plate, seemed to take an interest in me. I think it saw my engagement ring flashing in the light and thought it was a tasty treat, because it started swimming towards me with purpose and seemed to have no intention of veering off. I tried to escape but I'm not the best swimmer and it kept gaining on me! Finally I just shrieked and started thrashing around and paddling away as fast as I could... it must've been quite a hilarious sight - Mike nearly drowned he was laughing so hard!

8. Riding out a rainstorm in northern Wales. I don't know why this is one of my favorite traveling adventures: compared to our other harrowing stories, this one seems downright tame. We were traveling through Wales in late December, and we had made our way up to Snowdonia where we were planning on spending the night at a B&B. It started pouring rain (or "tipping it down" as the Brits say), and we finally pulled into the B&B and rushed inside, getting soaked in the process. Somehow, we were the only ones staying at this place that night, and the innkeeper was so lovely: he cooked us the most amazing sundried tomato and goats' cheese pasta dish, and then he and his wife sat up and chatted with us late into the night. Afterwards, we spent an hour snuggled up in an incredibly comfy four-poster bed in a tiny, toasty warm room and just listened to the rain pounding on the roof. It was such a lovely night... full of warm Welsh hospitality!

9. Being pampered at the Ritz Carlton in Doha, Qatar. Mike and I are budget travelers - we are always looking for the cheapest flight, the least expensive room, the best deal. But when we stopped over in Doha for a day and a half en route from Nairobi to London, there were no budget accommodations on offer, or at least none that we could find. So we figured, just once, let's splurge! And we did: we stayed at the 5-star Ritz Carlton (which actually only cost us about $200 for one night, so I guess we didn't splurge that much). They pampered us like we'd never been pampered before! It was so luxurious we started feeling a bit guilty... the room we stayed in was practically bigger than our whole apartment! The bathroom had a crystal shower stall and a sunken tub, plus special bathrobes and slippers for our personal use. The staff greeted us with two kinds of freshly-squeezed juice plus a fruit basket! There were four pools and a waterfall for us to enjoy - there was even a bar inside the pool! Seriously, there were barstools under the water and everything. If it hadn't been Ramadan, we could've sipped drinks in our swimsuits while lolling in the water!

10. Lounging in the thermal baths in Budapest. Budapest is famous for its thermal hotspring bathhouses, and we visited one that looked like a giant yellow palace! There were about twenty different pools, ranging from tepid to piping hot! In the middle of December there we were, running about outside in our swimsuits, hopping from one bath to the next as the steam trailed up from the water into the frosty air. It was the most relaxing afternoon...