Looking inland

 

On a wander through Kalinago Territory

 

Live, from Dominica

 Oh, hello there! Welcome to an all new episode of this crazy wandering life. 

As some of my 2.7 readers may or may not know, I am the luckiest of ducks and received a travel fellowship from the college I went to, which will help allow me to spend the next year+ pursuing the project I proposed… which is to visit four small island nations around the world for 2-3 months each in order to have conversations with women who don’t have children, with the ultimate goal of writing a book about how women without kids in cultures around the world cultivate community and keep meaning and purpose in their lives into old age without the structure of kids and grandkids. Whew! That elevator pitch is really begging for a sentence break. 

I have now arrived in the first of four countries I am focusing on: Dominica! Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, Dominica is nestled down here in the Eastern Caribbean, between the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. 

I’m here for about two months so there will be plenty of time to drop more tidbits of info along with photos. For now, I’ll start you off with the view I get to enjoy when I go for a stroll from the spot I’m staying at for the first two weeks, a locally owned little B&B in Kalinago Territory. 

Like I said: Luckiest of ducks. 

Barbados

 I’m going to be spending the next two months in the Caribbean, and since my primary destination (be patient till the next post!) is interestingly difficult to get to and I was going to have to transit through another beautiful Caribbean island to get there anyway, I decided to start things off with a weekend in Barbados. 

Turned out to be a fabulous decision. What a friendly, relaxing country! People were so kind and chill and I started to get into the spirit of slowing down, which I’ve not been particularly good at the past six months. Forty-eight hours on Barbados was not enough—I would gladly return for more sometime—but swimming with sea turtles (not pictured) and figuring out public transportation and listening to five songs simultaneously, all blasting from different shops on market row, was a fun start to this next adventure. Which is a big one. More on that in my next post. For now: Barbados!

White Desert

 An absolutely amazing end to an absolutely amazing trip: two days and a night of camping in the White Desert near Bahariya Oasis. 

Traveling with my niece was total joy. I hope it was just the first of many trips together. 

And I’ll be back here soon from a different point on the globe. You’re not going to be able to get rid of me this year!

Old Town Cairo

 We transited back through Cairo and were so thrilled to stay at a hotel in old town. The noise and the crowds and the life! All so vibrant and beautiful and special. There is so much ruckus on the streets into the wee hours that the hotel provides ear plugs next to the beds. Just when it all quiets down near dawn the call to prayer echoes loudly throughout the old city walls to remind you once more that you’re in CAIRO!

R&R Hurghada

 After a week+ of somewhat frenetic travel (certainly never a full night’s sleep), almost 48 hours of chilling on the Red Sea coast was blissfully restoring. 

Now we’re ready to tackle the final leg of the Egypt adventure…

Temple correction

Remember when I said a few posts back that the temple of Abu Simbel made all the others feel like child’s play? That might have been premature because we spent several days after that visiting glorious temple after glorious temple. They’re all mind-boggling. 

Kom Ombo

Edfu

Mortuary Temple of Queen Hapshetsut

Karnak

Luxor

Luxor West Bank by balloon

 My first time in a hot air balloon! Twas plain magical. 

Valley of the Kings

 Um. Wow. Got to go in four of the 30+ tombs that have been discovered (so far?). Mind blown.

Nubian Village

 It was a real kitschy, Epcot-like model of a “traditional Nubian village” but MAN was it picturesque! And a lovely small boat ride from Aswan…

Abu Simbel

Making the other temples feel like child’s play! This masterpiece was totally worth the predawn departure to drive nearly 4 hours south of Aswan, almost to the border with Sudan. Completely, totally stunning!