Category Archives: Nature Bavaria. When I think of Bavaria, I think of buxom blond women in dirndls (traditional white blouses, laced bodices, full skirts and aprons), and moustached men in lederhosen (leather breeches). I think of medieval castles, charming villages, and beer in copious steins. But, it is also home to expanses of dark forests that stretch from high up in the Bavarian Alps down to the […]  Namibia is big. And dry. Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, which makes for clear skies, cold nights, and – even in winter – searing-hot days. Deadvlei (“Dead Marsh”), in Namibia’s Namib-Naukluft Park, almost 400 hot, bumpy kilometres from the capitol, Windhoek, must be one of the driest places in this big country. During a period of drought, some 700+ years […]  Ever since reading Heidi as a child, and “studying” Switzerland in Grade 3 Social Studies, I have dreamed of walking in the flower-filled meadows of the Swiss Alps. When my husband and I planned to visit some Swiss friends last year, I thought my chance had come. Alas, being geographically challenged as I am, I didn’t realise […]  The Tiverton Canal Co. calls it: “The Fastest Way to Slow Down!” I think they are right. Being transported up a canal, towed by a slowly plodding shire horse, makes one imagine English country life as it must have once been. Scenes from Thomas Hardy novels spring to mind. It was towards the end of July – the last […] In Deadvlei, deep inside Namib-Naukluft Park in Namibia, the dead trees have a character all their own. They stand like sentinels in a surreal landscape of red sand and parched white clay that could have been imagined by Salvador Dalí. I’m in Namibia, in Southern Africa at the moment. The stars are low and bright, the air is cold […] |
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