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flans1.jpg
These are the dedications from a photo of the former band "Flans," a Mexican musical group very dear to me. Ivonne, Ilse and Mimy taught me how to speak Spanish. I liked their songs so much I bought all their cassettes as they were released and carefully copied down all of the lyrics.

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When you talk about Mexican musical groups, you aren't complete without Pandora. From me to left: Claudia, Isabel and Fernanda. These romantic women took my heart that day after their concert. Isabel, the kindest, sang for me personally a few verses of my favorite song by Pandora, "Cinco Minutos." Fernanda was so friendly and fun to be around. Claudia was going to get married so I resisted telling her that she was the sultriest, in the romantic sense! How satisfying to host three great musical artists, to give each one a rose, to chat and be kissed...

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Adalgisa (The lead female vocal of Juan Luis Guerra y el Grupo 440), in from the Republica Domincana (Dominican Republic) where I lived. Once we travelled together. "Ojalá que Llueva Café" and "Quisiera Ser un Pez" are two great tunes.

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In the Republica Domicana I had a few parties at my condo near the Mirador Park which overlooked the Malecon below. These were all my friends in a shot that accidently was double or triple exposed. I wasn't drinking....awww maybe a tiny bit!!

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On the Amazon River, the boat is Colombian but the ground Peruvian.

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In the Holy Land, the ancient Middle Eastern City of Jerico. This was a city 10,000 years ago!! It is the oldest known city of the human race. I have one toe in the famous spring of Elisha mentioned in the Bible (2 Kings Chapter 2) exactly on the spot where according to the scripture "019 And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. 020 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. 021 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. 022 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake." This happened after 011 "And it came about that as they were walking along, speaking as they walked, why, look ! a fiery war chariot and fiery horses, and they proceeded to make a separation between them both ; and Elijah went ascending in the windstorm to the heavens." I tried very hard to purify myself with that Holiest of Waters which was the scene where Elisa sprinkled the salt and saved the world from drought forever, where moments earlier, Elijah rose to heaven in his miraculous "Chariot of Fire", passing his spirit along to Elisha...

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If you think that customs is bad wherever you are...think again baby. I got stuck in jail over night here in Romania as I tried to leave, because police claimed I robbed the car I was driving. The great girls gave me a melon and held the train after my ordeal.

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This mosque in Lahore, Pakistan was the largest in the world for centuries, built by Shah Jahan in the 1600's or so.

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Once I went to Haiti. I cry for that arid rock in the sea of today, that used to be a tropical wonder. Rachel Carson, see you in the afterlife. You are right that "The lasting pleasures of contact with the natural world are not reserved for scientists but are available to anyone who will place himself under the influence of earth, sea and sky, and their amazing life."

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Just proof you don't have to go to far away places for the greatest and most exotic adventures. After watching Indy, I climbed through these falls in New Hampshire, USA and luckily didn't slip on the rocks and certainly die. Though it was good training for later Amazon trips, I don't recommend you try this. You can't see where the rocks are in the water, the height is deadly, and the only way I could clear the falls on the jump was to make like a board and pivot in free fall holding on by my toes, slowly getting spring in my knees and at the instant I was parallel to the ground, push forward against the slippery moss and water covered rocks. Never would have done it, but as sometimes happens, getting there was hard. Returning was impossible, so it was do or die. I calculated that if I waited for a helicopter, my chances were greater of slipping off and dying. Those were the days I was young!! (1987)

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Just a quick jog in the Costa Rican rainforest down the volcano, and now I return while a friend ate lunch. It is amazing how accessible these things are today. What a let down that will become as time goes on!

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I am from Miami, but moved before Hurricane Andrew totalled my parent's house. They were stuck in the bathroom alone as the roof was ripped off and the swimming pool erupted from the ground. I got the first flight in and helped clean the mess. Since I flew in from Boston, I brought some fresh lobsters and my camping stove and a full nutritious meal. While I am no chef, we loved it!

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These Colossi are on the way to Nubia, near the Nile, in Luxor, Egypt. I loved riding by that big 3000 year old cemetery they guarded. King Tut was there but I didn't bother. Why go somewhere you're not allowed to take pictures when there are other better places anyway?

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This was in Korea. I actually met four nice Korean schoolgirls and this Japanese tourist guy kept following me around because of that. The structure is an ancient observatory with all kinds of significances to its shape and orientation (12's, 365's, 4 seasons, etc.)

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A little jaunt in the rainforest between Marco Tabatinga, Brasil and Manaus. Walking barefoot isn't a great idea. There are lots of parasites and insects and other animals that like to get you. But nothing beats the weight of bare feet, especially when covered in mud, their ability to be cleaned. I did swing from some vines to cross gorges. I stopped that after I was tired out and hit a tree. The prize was a bloody (really wouldn't stop) foot to carry through the piranha and parasitic swampy jungle. Somehow I never got anything except a bad Conga bite. Then again, that could have stopped a Mac Truck.

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This is me with one of my heroes. Actually outside of fantasyland, Thomas Jefferson is my real role model, although Ben Franklin makes a far second. Here I am graduating with Ben from the school he founded in 1741. (University of Pennsylvania)

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I could never express this feeling I felt as I rode to a 2.5 mile high lake on Horseback in Silvia, Colombia. Silvia is just north of Popoyán, where the people are accused of talking funny.

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Have you ever been in a reality that was so unbelievable, you dreamed of being yourself again? I met Aushra on a Baltic Sea beach in Kaliningrad (Russia? I forgot). She was actually sunning topless with two girlfriends. I was hanging out with a new generation Russian entrepreneur who was stealing people blind on the black market. While I couldn't compete in that, he and his Russian friend was afraid to go over and strike up a conversation. So I had to do my patriotic US duty. Show those Russians... Anyway, it worked. Luckily she was Lithuanian from Kaunas. I had a stick to draw in the sand and three dictionaries, plus a vocabulary of 100 words and phrases memorized. I ignored the whistles of the Russians when she got up to talk to me and made a new friend. Later, on my birthday, I went to Kaunas, picked her up and got some jumping horses from a famed equestrian club. Aushra was a ballet dancer and very refined. We had a great time.

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If I said I slept in the same bed with all these women at the same time in Romania, by now you will think I am lying. Well, I wouldn't lie and I did sleep with all of them. That was because there was a shortage of empty beds. This was on the Black Sea near the Romanian vacation town of Neptuno during holiday time. There were no rooms available anywhere. So I made friends with these seven girls, who didn't mind an additional bedfellow. Flavia is the one next to me in the pic. It was so cool for them I got to stay for free. Such memories...

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This was in Russia on a train. The lovely babushka befriended me after physically ejecting some drunks from the train. I helped her. Next thing, I got clean linens and free food and someone to watch after me. Bless her, this fine lady.

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When I went to school in Pasadena, California (California Institute of Technology), I used to race and do marathon bike rides. Here I am with Ivan, a Canadian who was very arrogant. Of course this pic is from when I cleaned his clock in a "race" my best friend Pete took. Later Ivan denied it was a race, so we took him on a century (100 mile ride) up Mulholland Drive and everywhere. That shut him up good. I used to use snake skin biking shorts and all Campagnolo components on my Italian custom bike frame, but now I am older and fatter and wouldn't insult onlookers by wearing such a uniform.

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Everyone has a favorite city. The problem is deciding which one is exactly the favorite. Here I am in Cali, Colombia during the "Feria de la Caña". That year the band Guayacán won the annual contest to have the song of the Fiesta. Thousands turn out for it, mainly to drink aguardiente and dance Salsa! See you on the Quinta and Sexta!!

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Just an old shot of me in a Biscayne Bay, Florida condo making Piña Coladas from my own coconuts. After all, I am from Miami!

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This is actually where Vlad Dracul was born in Romania. The history of Vlad the Impaler and his son is very different from Bram Stoker's 1897 book, "Dracula." Believe me, if the real one was mad at you you would beg for the vampire. I think the town was Timisoara although I really don't remember if that was it nor how it is spelled. It is converted to a quiet restaurant and hardly anyone went when I was there. Above is a hill and a church built in the 1300's where many of his "victims" are buried. Or are they? You can check if you want...

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So, I went to Thailand near Chang Mai and rode elephants. I also visited a beautiful orchid and butterfly farm nearby.

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Ghoom, India is the highest rail pass in the world, supposedly, on the way to Shimla in the Himalayas. The track is narrow gauge and fun to be chief engineer.

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Another shot of a fantastic time in the mountains of Silvia, Colombia. The little girl (Jennifer) was so pretty and smart.

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Your standard camel ride across the desert. I happen to be passing the great pyramids in the background, so I guess it is a bit south of Cairo.

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Virginia was a great traveling companion. She worked at the state run hotel I stayed at in Lithuania while I taught at the University of Vilnius, Lithuania. Here we are at a café in Riga, the capital of the Baltic Republic of Latvia to the north. Later we stole across the border to Russia.

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This is the basement of a 1400's monastery in Romania. All the monks' skulls are kept there and painted with their name and deathdate. The skull I am holding was painted 1792, and the monk's name was written in Cyrillic characters. During that time, the Russians had invaded and changed the alphabet from the Latin one (Romanian is a Romance language) to theirs. I met an Austrian anthropologist there who went ballistic when the monks let me in, saying that one "American" will bring thousands of tourists like cancer. I told him I was sorry I showed up in his fantasy but could keep his secret. The monks later took me in an I lived in the monastery a few days. Eating was fun...like right out of the middle ages in a hall. I got to cook on the elaborate ancient stove for us. What the Austrian didn't know was that the monks wanted me to spread the word of their existence, and enjoyed my hopeless attempt to speak Romanian to them. But, I liked keeping his "secret", anyway.

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This shot was taken when I was 14 years old. I am on my first motorized vehicle, which gave me independence to travel. You can see the adventurer in me trying to break out of the child: Very sophisticated electronic treasure locator disassembled in the box, and my Estes model rocket builder's t-shirt with bars completed to skill level four of five.

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The Mexican Navy is a very hardworking, patriotic and friendly group. I wish they had some more money to update their vintage World War II ships. I am here wishing to be one of them in Veracruz.

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Here I am with a friend in the Kargan Valley north of Islamabad, on the way to the Kashmir, to the north, where the best sapphires in the world are found....and lost....At that time I was too young to appreciate his clothing - Chalwar, Kamis and Chople. Now I would put one on, too.

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With Virginia at the Rossia Hotel in Saint Petersburg. This hotel was $200 a night and a sty for legal foreigners. Well we certainly didn't pay that. Ah! The benefits of American ingenuity together with Russian creativity, a CCCP red passport and a gold and blue eagle one (in pic).

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Here I enjoy the High Atlas Mountains together with a friend who is descended from the lost white tribe of peasants living there in Northern Africa. They are a mystery but date way way back in time. I am in traditional Ber-Ber clothing, including the red shoes. I am not emulating Star Wars, though I see the resemblance. It was fitted to me in a small Moroccan town by a nice seamster. Later in Marakesh, I wore it proudly but lots of Arabs got mad since they don't all like the Ber-Bers. The cosmopolitan fellow I try to be, I switched to their garb, and had no further problems.

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When I went to Bangkok, I couldn't miss these temples. Sinbad showed his face on that journey but that's another story.

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This was a very nice Romanian girl I met in Sibiu. Again, finding a place to stay was difficult and she and her friend let me stay with them. I love kind people. I shiver to think that this is all changing and now only realized in dreams of the past.

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Again in Luxor, Egypt on a walkway of sphinxes which was a couple of miles long in the desert a few thousand years ago, connecting Luxor with another nearby important place. If you really think about this you realize what a wonder of the world must have been!

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Any flag that is red white and blue can't be that bad, can it? Hey...When in Rome do as the Romans. It never has let me down and I am a much better person for it...This is in Russia, for those who don't recognize the flag I am respecting.

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Couldn't have an adventurous lifestyle and not visit the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India. This is really a profound love story, and I hope someday you get a chance to know it, if you don't already.

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My Polish travelling partner on the way to the nuclear spring town of Katowice. I never stop appreciating the beauty expressed by our genes even in the most polluted environments in the world. You know what I am talking about if you have been anywhere near there. The Sun's disc barely is discernible through the perpetual sooty cloudcover. It is a muted fiery red color and the disc is perfectly round and impotent.

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Stopping by to see some proud Ukranians play their lovely folk music. They can dance!

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Over the town in a famously eerie and intricate old clock tower with all kinds of interesting moving parts, where Dracula was born in Transylvania, Romania (but at that time, part of Hungary). I think it is Timisoara, the town, or something like that. Need to take some Gingko for better memory in my old age.