I have travelled to some of the top wildlife destinations in the world such as the Galapagos Islands, South Georgia Island and the Serengeti. Midway Atoll can easily be included in this group. The three islands of Midway were important when the first telegraph lines crossed the Pacific Ocean to Asia and again in WWII. The Navy used it until 1993 for a refueling base but now it is mostly a sanctuary for birds. Midway is located about 1200 miles from Hawaii or about halfway from the USA to Asia. Nearly three million birds call it home for much of each year, including the world's largest population of Laysan Albatrosses, or "gooney birds". Many other birds including terns, tropicbirds plus Hawaiian monk seals, green sea turtles and spinner dolphins frequent Midway. It is not an easy or inexpensive destination to reach. One must go with a group of no more than 18 people who use a weekly charter flight from Honolulu. Once there you can walk, use a bicycle, or a golf cart to get around the small island. I have had no other experience like it.

Sometimes things just work out for the best. Margaret and I had been to Egypt several times but we had never sailed on Lake Nasser or the Nile River. We had signed up for a Vantage trip to Egypt that was to begin November 20, 2011. As the time grew nearer the unrest and demonstrations grew more intense in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Tourists were cancelling their trips to Egypt as our time to depart the USA grew closer. Our research revealed that most of the unrest was in Tahrir Square and not the entire country of Egypt. We were proved right. Only within a few blocks of the square and on the nightly news were there any signs of danger. Our flight to Cairo was only about a fourth full. We each had three empty seats. Our Vantage group was only about twenty people. Often we were the only group at a historic site. Our deluxe 5-star boat, Omar El Khayam, on Lake Nasser had only eleven additional passengers instead of the 140 or so it should have had. The MS Crown Jewel on the Nile River had few passengers as well. Bottom line; we had Egypt almost to ourselves. Nowhere did we feel unsafe and only from top of our Sofitel El-Gezirah Hotel in Cairo could we see part of the unrest in Tahrir Square.

Beginning September 17, 2011 we boarded the Star Clipper in Piraeus near Athens, Greece for seventeen days sailing the Aegean Sea. The Star Clipper is a true sailing clipper ship with motor power as well. When full it can carry 170 guests. This was our first experience on such a ship. Some of our ports of call were Monemvasia, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Bodrum, Patmos, Kusadasi, and Dikili. Finally, we sailed through the Dardanelles to our final port, Istanbul.

Our overnight Delta flight, July 16, 2011, took us to Nice, France. The following day our group had a short bus ride to Arles, France, and there we boarded the MS Rembrandt docked on the Rhone River. The MS Rembrandt is a very nice river boat operated by Vantage, and would be our home for the next two weeks. We followed the Rhone River north through the heart of the Rhone Valley, which produces some of the best French wines. Vineyards lined the river in many places. One stop of interest was Avignon. The Avignon Festival is today one of the most important contemporary performing arts events in the world. Every year in July, Avignon becomes a city-theater, transforming its architectural heritage into various performance venues, majestic or surprising, welcoming tens of thousands of theater-lovers of all ages. Farther to the north the Rhone is joined by the Saone River at Lyon, which is a wonderful city to walk and explore. We continued to follow the Saone to Chalon-Sur-Saone and where a bus took us to Paris for our flight home.

(pronounced u’swaia) is the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego and the southern most city in the world. Note: Punta Arenas, Chile is the southern most town in the world. Ushuaia is located on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego in a wide bay that has the Beagle Channel to the south and the Martial mountain range on the north. It is a good walking city if one does not mind walking up and down the hill. I believe it is the contrast between modern buildings and wooden-sheet metal houses with vivid colors that give Ushuaia it’s character. Ushuaia is generally the most popular “jumping off place” for Antarctic expeditions.