Endangered

In the past few years, Kenya has been much talked about as the birthplace of Barack Obama's father. Animal lovers and wildlife enthusiasts, though, have had the country on their radar screen for ages - the Masai Mara Game Reserve (or simply The Mara) in Kenya is part of the Serengeti ecosystem and is the stage for one of nature's grand spectacles, the Great Migration. Getting to The Mara is not easy though: the last 2.5 hours of the drive go through the worst road I’ve ever traveled on (and I've been on bad roads but the stretch from Narok to The Mara takes it to a whole new level) and the dust is overwhelming. On the plus side, if you’re blond you’ll be able to see how you look with black hair after you go through that road.

Each year, over one million wildebeest and 300,000 zebra and antelope go on an 1,800-mile (3,000 km) journey in search of food and water, making it the largest migration on earth. From Tanzania's southeastern Serengeti in January, the herds move clockwise until they reach the Mara River around July/August, the final hurdle to the green grass of Kenya's Masai Mara. Getting there is not easy though - many will succumb to crocodiles or drowning when crossing the river. I wasn't lucky enough to witness a crossing, but saw the outcome of failed ones: you actually smell it before you see it and the number of carcasses on the water is overwhelming (not to mention the stench).

The herds remain in the northern Serengeti and The Mara until October when they start their trek back south, completing the migration cycle. And though more rain in the Serengeti this year has sent less migrating herds into The Mara, it was still a sight to see, countless wildebeest everywhere we went, looking at times like a brown wave spreading over the plains.

The number of animals migrating through Kenya is impressive, but the reality is that wildlife population in the country has declined drastically, with lions the most affected species: from 30,000 in the 1960’s, they number only 1,800 now. And they are not alone: elephants have dropped from 160,000 in the 1970’s to the current 30,000; black rhinos have gone from 20,000 in 1970 to 577 and the Grevy's zebra population (not found in The Mara) is now 2,000 from 13,500 in the late 1970’s. The cause? Loss of habitat due to spreading farms and towns, and poaching for their pelts or horns.

The issue of declining wildlife is particularly dramatic in The Mara which has lost more than 2/3 of its wildlife in the past three decades. It is no coincidence that over this period, the reserve area was reduced from 703 sq mi (1,821 km²) to 580 sq mi (1,510 km²), and cattle numbers have increased by over 1100% as villages grow around the reserve. As a result, wildlife is now competing with humans for land, and get killed either because they're viewed as pests or for profit. It is thus more important than ever to not buy any product that contains wild animal parts.

It is painful to imagine The Mara in another 10 years if nothing is done to protect its wildlife. In many ways, it'd be like one of the wildebeest carcasses that I saw - a lifeless mess. And it will show once more the stupidity of attempting to "conquer" nature without realizing it is to our own loss. Nature puts things in perspective, broadens our horizons by directing our attention to something other than our daily routine, reminds us of how small we really are. And in our age where self-absorption seems to be the rule, that's not a bad thing.

Suck It Or Stick It?

Transylvania – the name conjures images of a land enshrouded in foggy gloom, with bleak mountains, eerie castles and blood-sucking creatures lurking in the shadows. Or, as Bram Stoker described it in Dracula, “...away from this cursed spot, from this cursed land, where the devil and his children still walk with earthly feet!” The truth is that Bram Stoker never visited Transylvania, and borrowed the famous character’s name from Vlad Dracula (Dracul translates as dragon, and was the name taken by Vlad’s father as a member of the Order of the Dragon created to defend Christianity. Dracula translates as “son of Dracul” or “son of the Dragon”. Dracul, however, can also be translated as devil).

Vlad Dracula was the ruler of Wallachia (one of three former Romanian provinces) for three separate periods that totaled less than seven years in the mid-15th century. His reign was short, but his reputation spread far and wide - he became known as Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Ţepeş in Romenian) for his preferred punishment method. Practically all crimes, major or minor, were punished by death, usually by impalement on stakes, with victims left to die in public view in excruciating pain for hours or even days. One of his most notorious displays of cruelty was during a Turkish invasion in 1462: as the Turkish army closed in on the Wallachian capital, they came across a field 1.9 mile (3 km) long by 0.6 mile (1 km) wide filled with some 20,000 impaled Turkish captives, a sight that went down in history as the “Forest of the Impaled”.

Despite his atrocities, Vlad is regarded in Romania as a patriot who contributed to the creation of a strong and independent Wallachia, a champion of law and order in lawless times, and a protector against the Ottoman Empire. His defenders argue that his methods were no more cruel than those of other European rulers such as Ferdinand of Naples, Cesare Borgia of Italy or Ivan the Terrible of Russia. That may be true, but the reality is that Vlad makes Count Dracula look merciful.

With the recent invention of the printing press, Vlad’s stories circulated in pamphlets with titles such as “The Frightening and Truly Extraordinary Story of a Wicked Blood-Drinking Tyrant Called Prince Dracula”. In fact, thirst of blood is the only thing in common between him and the fictional character as Vlad was never accused of vampirism during his lifetime. Vampires, however, were part of the folklore in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and vampire epidemics (?!) in the 17th and 18th centuries with soaring numbers of reported cases sparked a vampire craze in Europe. Travelers returning from the East would tell stories of the undead and against this backdrop, Bram Stoker’s Dracula surfaced.

My introduction to Transylvania could have come right out of Stoker's book. It was a rainy day, and as the train meandered through the mountains, I could only catch brief glimpses of trees through the heavy fog in the region. I seemed to be very far away from civilization, a feeling reinforced by the deserted and sometimes desolate stations along the way and the empty wagon was I in. Just to be on the safe side, I sprinkled some garlic perfume on myself, and though it may have saved me from some sneaky vampire, it was absolutely useless against other blood-sucking creature - the Romanian taxi driver. Be sure to always ask your hotel which companies are reliable.

Transylvania turned Dracula into a cash cow. My first stop was Braşov, a Saxon town close to Bran castle, more commonly known as Dracula's castle. The link to Vlad the Impaler is tenuous at best but that hasn't prevented a whole cornucopia of Dracula/Vlad souvenirs from springing around the castle: mugs, masks, capes, fake blood, whatever people can come up with. Sighişoara, Vlad's birthplace, is more discreet but also cashes in on him: the house where he was born is now home to a yellow restaurant where you can buy Vampire Coffee. I'm sure that if Vlad came back and saw what has become of his name, some new trees would appear in his forest.

But perhaps as colorful (or scary) as Dracula/Vlad stories is a train ride in one of the so-called Romenian "Personal" trains. Yes, the guidebook advised to avoid them but I didn't have a choice so I took one from Sighişoara to Sibiu, a 60-mile (95 km) trip that cost €3.50 and took 2.5 hours. It sounds terribly slow but you'd understand if you saw the train - it looked freshly rescued from a scrap metal lot and the symphony of rattles and squeaks could rival anything on your iPod/mp3 player. Some fellow passengers were likewise unforgettable...midway through the ride, a joyful group came in and proceeded to dance and picnic in the wagon before being thrown out at the next station because they had no tickets. As I looked at the crumbly mess that they had made and figured it would remain there until the train's kingdom come, two little mice showed up and cleaned everything at the blink of an eye. I've never seen such low-cost efficiency anywhere else in the world.

Weddings & Facelifts

Bulgaria is one of the oldest countries in Europe, founded in the late 7th century when Bulgars from Central Asia established an independent state called Great Bulgaria. Located at the junction of trade routes that linked Europe to Asia and Africa, Bulgaria was traversed by many ancient cultures and, as a result, Roman, Greek, Byzantine and Turkish influences are seen in the country's architecture, arts, cuisine and religious heritage. On the downside, Bulgaria's strategic position caught the eye of powerful states competing for land, and the country was often under foreign rule - the Byzantines from the early 11th to the late 12th century, and the Ottomans for 500 years starting in the late 14th century.

Bulgaria adopted Christianity in the late 9th century, and a boom in monastery construction followed. Many were destroyed during Ottoman rule, but the Turks did not attempt to convert all Bulgarians to Islam so the monasteries that survived became key in preserving the cultural heritage and identity of Bulgarians. Thanks to their efforts during the era known as the "Turkish yoke", many examples of early church architecture are found in the country to this day, and Orthodox Christianity remains the dominant religion, with over 80% of the population adhering to it. The Orthodox churches are quite impressive on the outside, specially on sunny days when their golden domes glisten in the sun, but I found the inside generally underwhelming, too somber and sometimes even oppressive.

Sofia, the country's capital, is known as the city that "grows but does not age". Growing it is – it now holds 20% of the country’s population. And it’s fighting aging through some much needed facelifts. However, like any such procedure, it doesn’t look very appealing until you see the end result. But in between cranes and construction fences, one thing is evident: Bulgarians love a wedding. I saw five in merely two days, with brides and grooms coming and going in big fancy decorated cars followed by crews of photographers and videographers.

More interesting than the capital are Bulgaria’s historic towns, of which Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo are worthy examples. Both these towns have old quarters with steep cobblestone lanes cutting through hills and filled with houses typical of the Bulgarian National Revival period (18th and 19th centuries), made with timber and with overhanging painted facades. Plovdiv is the best preserved of the two but Veliko Tarnovo has more character and sits on a more dramatic setting, with houses perched on the hills overlooking the river. In Veliko Tarnovo, the border between the old and the new town are blurrier, some artisans still practice old trades in the area known as the Bazaar, and locals call historic buildings home. True, some of them could use a facelift (a piece of a wall actually crumbled to the floor when I leaning on it while photographing…) but maybe that’s what makes Veliko Tarnovo charming – it’s unapologetically imperfect, and not overrun by tourism, a refreshing thing is this crowded, perfection-obsessed world.

Bridge On The Run

Located only 38 miles (~60 km) off the coast of Venezuela, Curaçao is the largest of the ABC islands, a group that also includes Aruba and Bonaire. Like the other two, Curaçao was part of the Kingdom of Netherlands since the first half of the 17th century and gained sovereignty only in October of 2010. The Dutch heritage is pretty evident, but is not the only one - Curaçao's population includes more than 55 nationalities, and the island's language, Papiamentu, is a blend of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, Arawak and African languages. Maybe such an ethnic mix explains in part why Curaçaoans are so friendly: give them 15 minutes and they'll tell you all the highlights and lowlights of their lives!

Unlike other Caribbean islands, Curaçao's economy does not revolve around tourism; oil refining has been the key economic activity since the beginning of the 20th century, accounting for as much as 90% of exports. Thus Curaçao is less commercialized than other Caribbean islands (it received roughly 310k visitors last year), a big plus if you're looking for a more authentic experience.

In the capital Willemstad, you'll find the main districts of Punda and Otrobanda. The former, called the "Amsterdam of the tropics", is the main shopping/business area and home to the pastel-colored Dutch old town, the subject of many a postcard and a UNESCO World Heritage site (legend has it that an early governor suffered from migraines and ordered the houses painted in pastel hues because white worsened his headaches). Otrobanda (literally "the other side"), an old workers' neighborhood now becoming a major entertainment area, is linked to Punda by the pedestrian Queen Emma, a pontoon bridge that sways as you walk over it so don't cross it when drunk! The bridge is known as "The Swinging Old Lady" because it swings open to let boats by. In fact, there's so much traffic in the canal that almost every time we wanted to use the bridge, a ship was passing by and there the bridge went drifting away...

The other famous bridge linking the two districts is Queen Juliana, one of the highest in the world at 185 feet (56m) to let tankers navigate through the canal. The bridge is so close to heaven that I'm surprised it wasn't designated a Rapture Point by doomsdayers prior to the fiasco.

Pretty tough as the capital is, beaches are the real reason why people come to the Caribbean. The best in Curaçao are found along the west side of the island north of the capital, in hidden coves along the coast where you'll find the azure-waters the Caribbean is famous for. Unfortunately, Curaçao is not your top choice if you're a beach bum because most of the beaches are narrow and coral ones, and it's a pain in the feet to get to the water. If you're into diving, tough, you'll probably love Curaçao because you can enjoy 68 dive sites, a marine park and an unusual feature: the sea floor drops steeply a few hundred feet from the shore, so reefs can be reached in a few laps. Which only reminds me that I do need to learn to dive!

Joie D'Être Blasé

Ah, Paris! What more can be said about Paris? The most visited city on the planet is way on the beaten path, but it is there for a reason. Everyone knows of its romantic aura, its grand boulevards, its ubiquitous cafés, its exquisite cuisine, its impressive museums and monuments, its cranky residents. To be fair, Parisians look not so much cranky but rather afflicted by a chronic case of ennui. Maybe that happens when you live in one of the loveliest cities in the world (yawn!) but I can think of a suitable remedy: les Parisiens ennuiés should all be sent to Somalia. I bet l'ennui would vanish before they could scream "Au secours!"

Paris wasn't always so charming. Like many ancient cities, Paris grew without a plan and by the mid-19th century, it was a maze of narrow winding streets lined with wooden buildings where population density reached 250,000 people/sq. mile (100,000 per sq. km) and sewage went into gutters that ran down the middle of the street. It was said that you could smell Paris before you ever saw it. It was fertile ground for disease and a 6-month cholera epidemic in 1832 killed 20,000 people in the city. Changes were needed to relieve the over-population and hygiene issues.

It took an authoritarian government, that of Napoléon III, nephew of the famous Bonaparte, to actually get it done. In 1852, he commissioned Georges-Eugène Haussmann to modernize Paris and in less than 20 years, Haussmann completely transformed the city into what we see today - countless long straight, wide boulevards lined with cafés and shops, and open spaces. He did so with a heavy hand through a program of expropriations, razing and strict building regulations (for instance, floors in neighboring buildings had to have the same height, their façades main lines had to be the same). It's estimated that 60% of Paris buildings were impacted.

It is argued that the primary goal of the Paris redesign was not so much to improve living conditions but to more effectively police the capital. In a city long known for street revolutions, wide straight avenues would facilitate movement of military troops and hinder barricades. While this is likely true given that it came from a Napoléon, sanitation and social conditions did improve in the end. And nobody can deny that Paris turned out to be one of the most stunning cities in the world as a result. So was this a work of evil turned into a work of genius? Perhaps. But one thing we can say - if the main goal of the reshaping of Paris was to hamper protests, it was a miserable failure. To this day, protests and strikes are part of the French culture and happen with quite some frequency. In fact, the French are so fond of them that even their national soccer team went on strike during the World Cup 2010, a miscalculated move to say the least.

But strikes and protests were the last things on French minds this early spring. Not even the intervention in Libya, kicked off by the French, gave rise to one. And since I didn’t get the chance to experience a genuine French protest, I decided I should take to the other Parisian tradition – look blasé. So there I went strolling nonchalantly around with a 11-lb/5 kg rucksack (don’t ask…) trying to look as blasé as I could with that hunch on my back. Seven hours later I was so bent that I no longer needed the backpack to look like Quasimodo...I didn't look blasée, I looked blessée. So the following day I figured I should just do what the French do best...rien. Armed with a genuine French baguette (perhaps the only food in Paris that doesn't come in chipmunk portion), I joined dozens of locals sprawled through les jardins de Paris, and pretended to be as ennuiée as only a Parisian can be. And I felt so good doing it that maybe my next stop should be Somalia.

Got My Eyes On You

I confess to my ignorance...I barely knew a thing about Malta except that it was a tiny island in the Mediterranean. And that wasn't quite right either. Malta is actually an archipelago covering only 122 sq. miles (316 sq. km) with a population around 400,000 people. The archipelago comprises two uninhabited islands (Cominotto and Filfla) and three inhabited ones - Malta (the largest and the administrative, cultural and commercial center of the country), Gozo (more rural) and Comino (with a permanent population of only 4 people but boatloads of daytrippers who come to the Blue Lagoon in high season).

Malta's history goes back 7,000 years, and due to its strategic position in the Mediterranean, many peoples had their eyes and hands on the islands - Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards, and more recently, the French and the British. As a result, Malta is a cultural mélange but the group that most influenced the country were the Knights of Saint John. The Order had its origins in the Crusades as a hospital and guesthouse for poor pilgrims operated by monks in Jerusalem. As the Order grew, more hospitals were built along the pilgrimage route to Jerusalem, and knights who had been treated showed their gratitude by donating money and property to the Order.

When Islam conquered Jerusalem in 1291, the Order moved to Cyprus, then Rhodes from where they were again expelled by the Ottomans in 1523. Charles V of Spain then offered Malta to the Knights for a nominal rent of two falcons per year. They ruled until 1798 when Napoléon captured the island, and left a huge imprint that includes the capital Valletta and many of the buildings that exist in Malta today.

Religion is another major legacy of the Knights: roughly 95% of the population are Catholic, there are 365 churches on the archipelago (you're guaranteed a church nearby wherever and whenever you decide to sin in Malta!), and religion plays such a major role that to this day divorce does not exist in the country (a referendum is scheduled for May 28th to decide whether divorce passes into law though). Furthermore, the Maltese have religious celebrations unheard of in other parts of the world – March 19th is a public holiday in honor of St. Joseph, and the town of Rabat had a festival that was actually quite fun even for non-Catholics as dozens of people (including me) waged paper fights along the town streets.

Malta is a country filled with history and tradition, and it’s keen on preserving both. Although Valletta, the capital and crown jewel of the Knights’ era, is the focal point of any visit to Malta, several towns around the island offer a glimpse at life pre-Knights. Just outside Valletta, an area called The Three Cities (Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua) where the Knights first made their home border the Grand Harbour and offer extensive views of Valletta. Just note that road signs refer to the towns as Birgu, Isla and Bormla, the ancient names…either the Maltese are really into tradition or this is their way of confusing potential new invaders.

Further out and back in time, Mdina, the old capital of Malta, has its origins traced back to 700 BC. The citadel has been wonderfully preserved behind its protective walls and nowadays is called the Silent City as traffic is limited and less than 400 people live in town. You can always find a little quiet corner in its narrow and shady streets. And if you really like going back in time, Malta is home to the oldest free standing structures in the world, megalithic temples built between 3600 and 2500 BC. The closest to the capital is the Hypogeum, an underground temple carved out of the rock. Prebooking is required and must be made some three weeks in advance – I tried to book 2.5 weeks in advance and it was sold out!

But Malta’s past is not only seen in its ancient towns and temples – it’s also found in the country's means of transport. Traditional Maltese boats are still used by fishermen today and also take tourists on short cruises along the Grand Harbour. They are painted in bright blue, yellow and red with the Eyes of Osiris on their bows to ward off evil spirits, a symbol thought to have been brought by the Phoenicians. The best place in Malta to see these little boats is Marsaxlokk. And last but not least, the Maltese bus, an attraction in its own right. Whenever you take a public bus in Malta, you’ll likely end up in a 1950s vehicle that will rattle all your bones out of their sockets. It's a quintessential Maltese experience but you wonder what will fall apart first - you or the bus...

Till The Cows Get A Tan

St Lucia pics

St Lucia has a double personality. It was only colonized after 1660 when the French signed a treaty with the local Carib people, and then it changed hands no less than 14 times between France and Britain over the following 150 years. The result is that nowadays St. Lucians have English as their official language but speak Creole (a French dialect) at home, drive on the left hand side of the road and live in towns with French names. All with a distinct Caribbean flavo(u)r.

And distinct St Lucia is. Unlike many of the other Caribbean islands that are mostly flat, the island’s volcanic origin gave rise to mountains, hills, valleys, a dense rain forest that feeds on the fertile volcanic soil, and the so-called world’s only drive-in volcano. The latter is actually a tourist trap - the “drive-in volcano” is nothing more than sulphur springs with boiling mud, with not even the hint of a crater in sight. Save yourself time and money and don’t go there. Stick to the beaches, the rainforest, and the Piton peaks (the Gros Piton and Petit Piton mountains, the landmarks of St Lucia).

The island is still not overly touristy – last year, it received 330,000 visitors, a mere 1.4% of the 23 million who visited the Caribbean in 2010. Touted as a wedding/honeymoon destination, St Lucia has more to offer than romantic elopement and resorts with sun loungers by the water. I actually view St Lucia more as an activity than a beach destination - besides the usual water sports, there’s also hiking, mountain-biking, zip-lining, horseback riding and you can also climb both Pitons. But if you feel like me, are tired of shoveling snow and want no more than do absolutely nothing, just laze away on the sand till the cows get a tan. Don’t know what I mean? Then check the photos on the link above.