Tag Archives: animals

This is a long way from the Southern Spanish beaches of the Costa del Sol that are favoured by crowds of Northern European visitors who want to sit in the sun! Here, at the opposite end of the country – in Asturias, Northern Spain – stunning craggy mountains rise up in all directions. The wilds are […]

View full post »

I love a good zoo – and Singapore Zoo is one of the best. I know there are ethical concerns around keeping animals in captivity, and I’ve talked about these before (see: A Tale of Two Tarongas). Singapore Zoo ticks all the positive boxes: it actively works towards wildlife protection and conservation of biodiversity, it […]

View full post »

Every society that has been studied by history, anthropology, or sociology, celebrates the passage of its individuals from one social or religious status to another. The ceremonial events that mark these rites of passage can take very different and colourful forms. Many are private affairs, with elders initiating others into secrets that are not shared […]

View full post »

Sometimes Facebook ads get it right! I am always looking for walks in interesting places. And, I had been wanting to study a language again. But, I honestly can’t remember if I saw the ad in the corner of my consciousness before I decided on studying Spanish, or if I had decided on Spanish first… […]

View full post »

The Kazakh people of Western Mongolia practically live on horseback. For hundreds of years, Kazakh nomads had been roaming across the Altai Mountains – between what is now Mongolia and Kazakhstan – riding their small but hardy Kazakh horses (similar to Mongolian horses, but daintier), herding their fat-tailed sheep, horses, cattle, goats, Bactrian camels, and […]

View full post »