Author: Nancy

We caught an early morning flight on Bhutan’s national airline, Druk Air, from Bangkok to Paro. The flight was scheduled to make a short layover in India but much to our delight, the stop was cancelled. We were fortunate to be seated on the left side of the aircraft; as we approached Paro we could…

Bangkok is our staging site for Bhutan. We arrived in Bangkok about 11pm and although we could have taken the Druk Air flight to Bhutan early the next morning, we were advised to spend a day in Bangkok just in case. Only two airlines fly to Bhutan; the numbers of flights in and out of…

Now that we’re home, I am pausing before becoming too consumed with everyday life, to reflect on this journey. I am awed by its scope – we circled the globe, traveled more than 32,000 miles, visited twelve countries (yes, I am counting the Azores) on six continents, toured eleven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, three Wonders…

Enroute to the U.S., we had one more stop that was planned but not well understood by us in advance. We landed in Terceria, Azores for refueling and security screening. So technically this brief stop in Portugal enabled us to visit six of the seven continents as we journeyed around the globe. I did a…

Last stop on our around the world journey before heading back to the U.S. is Marrakech, one of my favorite cities. We arrived in the early evening and checked into La Mamounia, a Moroccan art deco styled hotel with a hundred year history of accommodating royalty, celebrities and politicians. We had a fabulous dinner in…

We celebrated our final night in Jordan with a Beadouin feast! The event was held inside the atrium of our hotel due to the cold temperatures but fabric was hung to simulate dining in tents. Dinner consisted of a variety of salads, vegetables, lamb and chicken but the most delicious food by far was kanafa!…

Couldn’t have ordered better weather for our day at Petra. It’s clear, sunny and although cold enough for winter coats now, the sun will warm us as the day goes on. Per the hotel staff, the prior few days had been cold and overcast with intermittent showers but today there was not a cloud in…

It was a bright, sunny day, and as our plane approached Aqaba, we had clear views of the surrounding mountains and desert. Aqaba is Jordan’s southernmost city and sits on the northeastern tip of the Red Sea. As the country’s only port city, it plays a vital role in commerce and transportation, but Aqaba is…

Our intruder from yesterday still had fruit and chocolates on his mind! He figured if we were dumb enough to leave our patio door unlocked yesterday, we might do it again today. As soon as he heard the patio door slide, he hopped on the deck for a closer look. We were camera ready but…

We were on the road at 4:45 am, well before sunrise.  It was an hour drive to the field where we would meet our balloon pilot.  This gave us a chance to do an informal ‘nocturnal’ game ride. The Serengeti park service only permits outfitters to operate vehicles for game viewing one hour before sunrise…