Suzan’s Blog

  • NEW ZEALAND PART TWO 

    NEW ZEALAND PART TWO 

    South of Rotorua was the charming coastal community, Napier. British overtones permeated this classic little seaside village. The entire city was demolished in the 1931 earthquake and rebuilt in fine Art Deco style. I appeared at their most delightful yearly event, Art Deco Weekend. I had no knowledge of this event until I landed in…

  • New Zealand, Part One

    New Zealand, Part One

      I spent almost two months traveling both the north and south islands of this beautiful country. I have countless photographs of rolling hills and prairies dotted with grazing herds of sheep and cattle, pristine lakes nestled in pine tree forests, abundant seaside villages each with a different ambience, miles of picturesque coastline, glaciers and…

  • Removing My Clothes     in New Zealand Part Three

    Removing My Clothes in New Zealand Part Three

    Not very often do I remove my clothes in front of men I don’t know and then hand one of them a camera, but I did just that in Kaikoura, New Zealand. Three tours were available to me: swim with the dolphins, feed the albatross or visit the baby seals.  I chose to feed the albatross…

  • Nepal Part three

    Nepal Part three

    This is the third and final part of my series on Nepal as I wrote it in 2009.  I loved my six weeks there.  The culture, the people and everything I experienced then will stay with me for a lifetime.  It truly is a very special place on the planet and I hold it in my heart…

  • Nepal, Part two

    Nepal, Part two

    My volunteer experience in Nepal included a wonderful stay at Manjushri School in Pharping, Nepal.  This is an excerpt from my journal during my stay in 2009.  I miss my wonderful friends in Nepal and hold them in my heart always. Pharping village is rustic, timeless and there is absolutely no rush to go anywhere, with…

  • Nepal, Part one

    Nepal, Part one

    I have a special place in my heart for Nepal since my visit six years ago.  My thought was it would be a brief stopover on my way to India, but I was greatly mistaken. I spent six weeks here and had some of the most wonderful adventures of my life. This story is about…

  • Duba Plains, Botswana:  Sleeping With the Lions

    Duba Plains, Botswana: Sleeping With the Lions

    Maun, Botswana was as friendly as any small community and easy to navigate, though it is a township. The residents would like to change their status to a city and under those regulations, they would have to eliminate the free-roaming dogs and…donkeys!  Driving is a bit precarious at night.  I saw a dog rummaging through…

  •  I Left My Underpants on the Nile 

     I Left My Underpants on the Nile 

    I was new to Egypt and had only been traveling as a tourist for a few days. I was on a Nile cruise and enjoying the sacred temples beginning in the south at Abu Simbel and moving north through Philae, Kom Ombo, Aswan, Luxor, Hapshepsut, Dandera and Qena are a few stops along the amazing Nile…

  • Maasai Tribe Kenya

    Maasai Tribe Kenya

    By far, the greatest attraction in Kenya is the Maasai Mara game reserve.   The park encompasses over 1500 sq km of vast savannah, which hosts the annual wildebeest migration.  Every July and August, huge herds of wildebeest migrate over 960 km from Tanzania’s Serengeti through the Masai Mara grazing on the rich plains only to return in October and November. Accompanying…

  • Connecting with Wildlife in Africa

    Connecting with Wildlife in Africa

    I turned fifty in Africa, and it might have been my age which caused me to think about where I was in life and where I was on the planet. As a numerologist, I understood that five is the number of change, expansion, and freedom. Africa was by far the most astounding continent. Some believe…

  • Be Careful What You Ask For: My “Almost” Shipwreck

    Be Careful What You Ask For: My “Almost” Shipwreck

    I never knew was I passionate about the sea until I spent 72 days on it.  My oceanic voyage began in France on board the La Traviata, a 900 ft ship that sailed me through the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, across the Indian Ocean to South China Sea and the journey home again. Be careful…

  • Life on the Sea-Aboard a Freighter

    Life on the Sea-Aboard a Freighter

    This is an excerpt from my journal traveling from Europe to China aboard a 1,000 foot freighter: I am relieved to say that I have nothing whatsoever to do with running this ship.  My contribution is to sit in awe of this magnificent vessel and the ease with which the expert crew seems to navigate…