This West African country was a pleasant surprise. The people were very friendly, but it seems the world has not discovered Burkina Faso because we saw very few tourists. I was also drawn to the art of the Lobi and Bobo. While the capital, Ouagadougou (pronounced waga-doo-goo), and Bobo-Dioulasso are both worth a visit, I found the mud houses of the Kassena group to be a real gem.

Over the years I have visited most of the islands in the Caribbean. one place that I had not been was the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Cruise ships rarely visit there so when I found a trip offered by Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris going in May of 2011, I signed up. For the most part, our small groups of twelve people were birders. I have always liked birds but do not keep lists or go to great effort to identify birds. I certainly do not consider myself a bird photographer but have always photographed birds when the opportunity presented itself. The trip was a most pleasant experience made special by our tour leader, Edward Rooks. Edward grew up in Trinidad and not only knows the birds but nature in general. The island of Trinidad is about 16 times larger than Tobago so we stayed at Blue Waters Inn near the village of Speyside. Trinidad is only 10 degrees north of the equator and about 11 miles to the northeast of Venezuela. That means that the temperature is hot year round.

The three countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were a part of the Soviet Union for about fifty years. They have only been independent republics since 1991. While they share connecting borders, they are different in other ways. Estonia aspires in the direction of the Finnish and the Nordic countries. On the other hand, Lithuania to the south seems to be more of a part of Central Europe. Latvia sandwiched in the middle concentrates on the transit between Russia and the Western counties.

The Antarctic Peninsula is highly mountainous with its highest peaks rising to about 9,186 feet (2800 km). It has the mildest climate of all Antarctica so has the highest concentration of research stations. The peninsula is also the closest part of Antarctica to South America, thus the most visited. The jagged mountain peaks clad in glaciers, huge open skies, abundant icebergs and abundant wildlife will keep a visitor in a constant state of awe.

WOW! What a wonder place Madagascar is to visit. This fourth largest island in the world has been isolated from the rest of Africa for millions of years and is home to wildlife found nowhere else. About three-fourths of its species are endemic. Many people seem to go for its lemurs, and as fun to observe as lemurs are, there are many more unusual species of wildlife to see. Not only is the wildlife some of the most interesting in the world, I found that its culture was very rich as well. I have included only a sampling of the photos taken during my nineteen day trip in April of 2010 with Michele Burgess tours.