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Heart of Dampness

TRAVERSING VICTORIA FALLAS – ABOVE & BELOW

The rain intensifies as I cross the narrow hanging bridge. And by “rain,” I don’t mean your ordinary everyday drizzle, nor heavy rain, or even torrential rain. I mean someone-just-emptied-an-Olympic-sized-pool-over-your-head type of rain. The waterproof cap I’m wrapped in is useless. I am thoroughly drenched. Looking to my right, bright blue skies host a beautiful full-circle rainbow just 10 meters away. On my left, peeking between the massive drops, a gigantic water curtain – 1.7km wide, drops into the abyss in a deep resounding crescendo. Welcome to Victoria Falls.

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On a ride to nowhere

LA TO ARIZONA ON A HARLEY

It is 447 miles to Scottsdale, Arizona. We got a full tank of gas half-eaten energy bar. It’s blistering hot, and we’re wearing full riding gear – gloves, helmet, jacket, and boots. Let’s hit it!

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Best Black Blast!

WE TOOK A PORSCHE, A BMW, AND AN ALPINE FOR  A DRIVE IN THE BLACK FOREST. WHO WILL COME ON TOP?

I woke up at around 2am to the sound of a loud bang coming from out of the window. I’m not easily awaken – a capacity my wife had long detested – so it must have been going on for some time. I get up and open the window to a raging hurricane and a broken, thick wooden shade. I wrestle with it for a few long minutes. Finally, I manage to anchor it wide open against the outside wall of the castle. When we got to our hilltop hotel outside Baden Baden earlier that evening, everything was calm and pleasant. Naturally, we paid no heed to the “Hurricane-force” wind alert from our weather app. I fall asleep thinking, “did we park our Boxster, M2, and Alpine near a tree?
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Santa Teresa      

BEACH BUMMING COSTA-RICAN-STYLE

“Want some?” Asks me the host as I enter his hillside villa. The villa is a large wooden structure overlooking the grand Pacific Ocean – and what a grand vista it is. But my host wasn’t enquiring me about his residence. Holding a small vial containing white powder in one hand, and a tiny spoon in the other, he had something else in mind. Now, I always thought one needed a credit card to align Cocaine rows and a rolled-up 100 Dollar bill to snort it. Then again, perhaps I’m just being a traditionist. In any case, I politely decline, to my host’s complete bafflement. “You’re serious?!” he asks, almost rhetorically. I guess Cocaine just isn’t my scene. Besides, the place reeks of so much weed one can get high just from breathing in the thick, cloudy air.

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Last day of October

TAKING THE SLOW ROUTE TO CHAMONIX

I was told nothing in the whole wide world matches New England’s “Indian Summer”. That special period in autumn when the last rays of warmth wash the rolling mountains of Northeastern United States. That few short weeks when every leaf of every tree turns bright yellow and red just before it falls to the ground in preparation for the long, hard winter to come. The time the whole Appalachian range burns with surreal colors of Scarlet and Orange. Oh, dear. How wrong they were.

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Bling, Bling!

6 SHOWOFF PLACES IN THE CITY OF EXCESS

I once thought Las Vegas’ moto was the Dollar sign. I was wrong. When it comes to obscene opulence, nothing compares to Miami. In this Floridian town, spending cash IS a spectator sport. 25 years ago, a one-hit-wonder named Meja sang “It’s all ’bout the money.” In Miami, the description still holds true. Sustainability? Go to hell!
Now, let’s party!

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Crazy (not so) little thing called S500

INSIDE MERCEDES’ NEWEST UBER-LIMOUSINE

The phone rang in a middle of a meeting. Realizing it was from one of my best buddies, I excused myself for a minute and took the call. “I got the newest Mercedes S500 for a test drive this weekend. Want to join me for a ride to the north”. The invitation was the equivalent of receiving “an offer I couldn’t refuse” from the Godfather himself. Being the nice guy that I am, I said, “YES.” This is what I found out driving the best car in the world.

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Inside the lost city of Tikal

HAN SOLO, I PRESUME?

It’s 6am. The air is thick with moist. Although it too early to be hot, I’m sweating like a swine. We have woken up earlier to see the sunrise over the granddaddy of all lost Maya cities. Perched on top of Temple VI, some forty meters above ground, we see nothing. A thick blanket of fog covers everything but a pair of beautiful wild Aracaris that pose for photo-op smack in the middle of what should have been a direct view on the Temple of the Jaguar. Looks like spotting sunrise is not in the cards today. The ancient mega-police of Tikal will take more patience to reveal.

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Kakamayka and 7 other great bitches

BROKEN ENGLISH – SEYCHELLOIS-STYLE

White sandy beaches, lush green rain forests, and black towering cliffs. Seychelles ticks all the marks on the “exotic tropical paradise” checklist. The tiny archipelago is one of those tranquil places where the only risk you’re taking is being bludgeoned by a falling coconut. Still, you’ll be forgiven for missing Seychelles altogether. The island nation is just a petite speck of land in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean. It was first stumbled across by the Portuguese sailors some 300 years ago. Lucky for us, navigation systems had improved since. It took our 787 jetliner less than 6 hours to land on precisely the right runway at Mahe International airport (which shouldn’t be too difficult as there’s only one runway). And while getting around is easy, understanding the locals’ language could be a bit of a challenge. Lucky for us, we ended up at Takamaka Beach. Great hangout, by-the-way.

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