Around 4 a.m., Jeff and I crept out of our open-air bungalow. Our little stray jungle cat with the crooked tail and orange fur—we called her Naranjica (small orange)—scuttled around our feet along the gravel path to our rented Montero. The phrase “It’s always darkest before the dawn” seemed so true as we jounced over…
Tag: world
People Power Will Save Mother Earth
Mother Earth has been calling me for many years. I haven’t always been able to decipher her messages. A few years ago I started to understand a little bit better. I traveled to the far reaches of Southern Patagonia where I learned the story of the aboriginal Yaghan people, and it was the first time…
A Direct Update From the Oceti Sakowin Camp at Standing Rock
The Oceti Sakowin Camp has been flooded with emails for months. Here are some key updates addressed in an email I received from them today. At this point they’re only really requesting monetary donations and FIREWOOD. Firewood is a priority since it’s not easy to find and transport in the northern plains. If you can…
Road to the Grand Canyon (Part 3): The Grand Finale
Around mid-morning I make my way to the Grand Canyon, about an hour-and-a-half west on the 40 and north via 64. I reach civilization in the form of some very generic restaurants and chain hotels that threaten to lead me into a tourist trap. There’s no hint at all that I’m actually approaching a gargantuan…
The Spirit of the Sea Turtle
I dipped into a hidden lagoon on the leeward side of Oahu, and right there, one of my dreams came true. Snorkeling in the coral, I felt something graze my leg. I looked over and found a sea turtle the size of Smart Car gliding by and saying “hey.” He had a much smaller friend…
Road to the Grand Canyon (Part 2): Welcome to Arizona
Eastbound on the 62, back on one of those idyllic two-lane highways surrounded by nothing but sweeping desert and distant mountains. A butterfly flutters by—what is it doing here? There are no colors to attract them, no wildflowers to suck sweet nectar from, nothing to even pollinate. It’s just a wanderer. I could stay on…
Road to the Grand Canyon (Part 1): Gateway Into the Wild West
When I see the windmills, it finally feels like I’m going somewhere. Leaving Los Angeles via the 10 Freeway is a monotonous precursor to the road ahead. Windmills seem like a highlight—a break from the picture of outlet shops and fast-food chains lining an endless interstate. The landscape opens to arid terrain—the first intimation of…
10 Things I Didn’t Know About Being an Omnivore
When I was 18 I started listening to Morrissey and Strike Anywhere—starkly different in their musical styles but similar in their stances on animal welfare—and went vegetarian. I wasn’t really thinking hard about politics or even the environment; I just didn’t want to eat animals because I didn’t support ending their adorable lives in the…
Endangered Baby: Northern White Rhino
In Vietnam, if you have a rhino horn, you’re (supposedly) a big deal. They’re worth up to $60,000 per kilo on the black market—more valuable than diamonds or cocaine. Sometimes they’re even ground up and snorted as a party drug. And some proponents of Asian medicine actually believe they can cure hangovers … and cancer….
Phase II: New Look, New Life
You know when you get caught up in someone else’s vision and you forget all about your own? That’s where I’ve been. All it took was a template change and I’m inspired again. (Seriously, this new-look everything is nature is giving me heart palpitations!) I’ve always believed that if you really want to make your unique…
Close Encounter with Coastal Giants
Mountain ranges cloaked in Douglas firs line a long, undulating road—California’s famous 101 Freeway—giving a glimpse at what’s to come. I’m never less than amazed each time I bear witness to the unparalleled natural landscapes here, and this time, on the 200 or so miles driving from San Francisco to the ancient forests of Redwood…
The Insane Solo Patagonia Adventure That Changed My World
My first welcome to Chilean Patagonia is a rainbow over the parking lot of the utilitarian airport at Punta Arenas. The wind whispers a song that’s somehow evocative of the tune that loops on the ice cream truck that passes my home in Los Angeles everyday. I guess flying for about twenty-four hours straight will…
everything is nature 