GUATEMALA 2026: TIKAL NATIONAL PARK

 March 19, 2026

The next morning we had to be checked out of our charming ecolodge and ready to go by 4:50 a.m. We were picked up at 5:00 a.m. by a driver/guide named Roney, someone Bob had selected based on his reputation for birding expertise. Supposedly he is the best guide in northern Guatemala and we were lucky to have him as our guide in Tikal, our next destination.

Tikal was the #1 reason I wanted to travel to Guatemala. As a college student, I spent a summer on a study abroad in Mexico City. One weekend a group went on a field trip to Tikal, but I went with my friends to Acapulco. When the other group came back with their stories (but no photos as this was long before the digital camera), I was jealous and made the resolve that I would go to Tikal someday. That "someday" had come.

We got to the park just as the sun was rising, and long before we got to the archaeological site, Roney was scanning the treetops for birds, of which there didn't seem to be many. We spent a lot of time staring into the branches.

Not having binoculars, I had to be content with nature that was closer at hand. The red mushroom-looking thing below is a Helosis cayennensis (like "cayenne" pepper but not related except in color), a parasitic flowering plant.

GERMANY: TORGAU

 May 17, 2025

Torgau is a smallish town in eastern Germany on the Elbe River that today has a population of about 20,000 people. Probably its biggest claim to fame is that it is the place where the US and Soviet armies first met at the end of World War II on April 25, 1945. Eventually, Torgau became part of the region controlled by the Soviet Union and known in the United States as East Germany.

But that was not our interest in the city. We had planned a few days in this area of Germany--Saxony--to become better acquainted with the religious reformer Martin Luther, who established Torgau as a key center for the Protestant Reformation. Luther traveled here more than 60 times from his home in nearby Wittenburg to consult with princes and theologians, and Torgau was where he consecrated the first church intentionally built as a Protestant church.

Our first stop was at the Hartenfels Castle, which was built in the 15th century, making it the largest completely preserved early Renaissance castle in all of Germany. 

One of the most interesting things about the castle is that is has a moat surrounding it that is full of greenery and logs rather than water.

That is because the moat is home to two brown bears. This tradition dates back to the castle's origins. After a pause beginning in the 19th century, the bears were reinstanted in the 1950s with a gift from the Leipzig Zoo. Benno and Bea, who are brother and sister, are the latest residents, having lived here since 2013. We only saw one of them, but I can't tell you which one.

TUNISIA, DAY 1: TUNIS, SIDI BOU SAID, HOTEL ROYAL VICTORIA

 March 20, 2024

Tunisia was never on my list of Travel Dreams, but it has been on Bob's for a while.

We have traveled in Morocco and Egypt, Israel, and Jordan, so I suppose it was time to hit a central North African country. It is, in fact, the northernmost country of Africa.

Here is a zoomed in view of the map that gives perspective on the relative size and location of Malta.

According to Wikipedia, Tunisia is about the size of Wisconsin but has twice the population (11.7 million compared to 5.9 million). After a revolution in 2011 that overthrew the president of 24 years, Tunisia became the only democratic state in the Arab world in 2014, and that lasted until a bit of slippage in 2020, but it is still considered a "hybrid" regime. It has one of the highest per capita incomes on the African continent.

The flight from Valletta to Tunis was only about 40 minutes long--about the time it takes to take off and land with a few minutes of flying in between. 

One note on getting cash: We usually withdraw money from an ATM in the airport in the local currency. At this airport, we were only able to withdraw 200 dinar--about $70. Chris and Stan couldn't get their card to work at all, so we withdrew dinar for them as well. This is a trick we learned about in Indonesia. If you can only withdraw relatively small amounts, you'll have to withdraw funds more often, which means you'll have to pay their bank fees more often. Very annoying.

We were picked up at the Carthage Airport by the local man who would be our guide for the next three days, Feker. We quickly discovered the Feker likes to take photos.  The first thing he did was line us up in front of the terminal for a picture.

PORTUGAL: BOM JESUS DO MONTE BASILICA

 June 30, 2022

We got on the road around noon for our two-hour drive back to Portugal and our next destination outside Braga, another pilgrimage site, Bom Jesus do Monte, or "Good Jesus of the Mountain." (We kept irreverently calling the place "Bomb Jesus" and giggling.)

We had eaten an extensive and delicious breakfast buffet in our hotel, so we weren't ready for lunch, but we did pick up some nutritious snacks for the drive. I didn't know Magnum made anything but ice cream bars! What a wonderful surprise! And the Sumol Laranja drink on the right tastes just like one of my favorites: Orangina.

We had zero interference crossing the border into Portugal. Everything we had read online about tight Covid restrictions in Portugal were either out-of-date or overblown.

Bom Jesus do Monte turned out to be one of my favorite churches in Portugal, in spite of the fact that the road to the church is a series of hairpin turns up a very steep mountain.

Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, the extensive property (64 acres) is stunning. The UNESCO document notes that "the landscape evokes Christian Jerusalem, recreating a sacred mount crowned with a church. . . . [It] illustrates a European tradition of creating Sacri Monti (sacred mountains), promoted by the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in the 16th century." The rest of the UNESCO description is one of the most lavish documents of praise I have read on their site, and I wonder what took them so long to name Bom Jesus a World Heritage Site. 

Many churches have existed here, beginning in the 14th century, but the current  one was started in 1784 and consecrated in 1834. A zig-zagging series of 577 steps leading from the town of Braga up the mountain to the basilica were built between 1723 and 1837, and it is these stairs and accompanying artwork and landscaping that make the basilica such a special and unique place, which is why over 1.2 million people visit it every year.

PORTUGAL, LISBON: CITY VIEWS AND THE CASTELO DE SAO JORGE (ST. GEORGE'S CASTLE)

 June 22, 2022

Feeling fortified by an excellent seafood meal, we continued what had turned out to be a much more lengthy and difficult "walk" to the St. George Castle than we anticipated.  Suddenly stops along the way to take in the view seemed unusually appealing. Of course, how could we say no to this view?

The large dome on the left is the Church of Santa Engrácia, one of the many churches we never made it to.

One of the building walls near the view area had this azulejo (glazed ceramic tile) depiction of Commerce Square, the large plaza facing the ocean we had seen at the beginning of our walk.

The bougainvillea was in bloom all over town. I'd like to copy this look in my backyard, right down to the real bird on the edge of the birdbath.

Still going uphill, we reached another large plaza with a large statue at the center.