New US Passport Laws go into effect June 1, 2009!

http://ow.ly/9GyA

Earth Day is a few days away and Space Goddess and friends are celebrating by attending the Lifetime Fitness Green Living Weekend tomorrow and Sunday, April 18 and 19. We’ll be at the Lifetime Fitness Club in Overland Park, Kansas. See you there!

I admit it—-this city girl (okay–suburban girl) has morhped into an adventure-travel afficianado! To be honest, I am a lover of “soft” adventure—where I can soak up the beauty of nature, all types of flora and fauna, as well as being able to sleep “off” of the ground, take a hot shower, and eat yummy food!

I’ve traveled through:  Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia—in the footsteps of Captain Cook; Antarctica; Alaska; Costa Rica; Peru; Ecaudor; the Galapagos; Argentina; Chile; Egypt; China; Indonesia; India; Fiji; the Amazon; Kenya; Tanzania; Botswana; South Africa; Zambia; Zimbabwe (when it was safe); Mauritius; Colorado; Arizona; New Mexico; northern Wisconsin; and southern Missouri (actually slept on the ground on the canoe trip—years ago!). 

I’ve sampled many wonderful adventures and now I want to let you know about one of our exceptional partners, Natural Habitat Adventures. NHA knows adventure—from soft to adrelin-flowing! They follow the same philosophy as Great Getaways, which is “Cookie cutter vacations are great if you are a cookie cutter!” We both specialize in experiential travel and both companies are committed to sustainable travel. NHA guides are experienced, well-trained, knowledgeable and professional.

The trips they offer are unique! Let me give you an example: I’ve been to the Galapagos twice and hope to go back again soon. Both times I was on a wonderful expedition ship with great naturalists and guides. What I’ve discovered is that I like “small” and that is what Natural Habitat provides. The yacht they use for the Galapagos holds a maximum of 20 people and they offer something quite special and unusual—you can elect to spend the night in the highlands of Santa Cruz in a safari tent or “tree house” amid an area known for its giant tortoises! Another special offer from NHA is their new land-based Galapagos expedition, in which you stay on 3 different islands, almost unheard of, don’t you think?

This year they’ve added a few new adventures—including the Wild Colorado, Alaska’s Secluded Southeast Coast, Yosemite and the California Coast, and the remarkable San Juan Islands.

Next month I’ll tell you about an exciting opportunity to win a journey to visit the Polar Bear Capital of the World, Churchill, Manitoba, courtesy of NHA, Great Getaways and Lifetime Fitness!

So, if you are an adventurer of any kind, from soft to rugged, contact me today to experience the amazing journeys we create with Natural Habitat Adventures!

Okay, I have no excuse for not blogging since we returned from our safari! Well, actually, I have several excuses but none are valid (except for the one about waiting for the stars to be aligned with the orbit of Jupiter—that, my friends, is a very valid reason!).

I will try to upload a movie I made of our safari to Botswana and Zambia. It was our 5th safari in 9 years and we loved every minute of it! Thank you, thank you, thank you to our friends at Wilderness Safaris! We had an amazing adventure! To whet your appetite: we saw a buffalo tree a lioness, a hyena stalk one of Legadema’s cubs (Legadema, a leopard,  is the star of a National Geographic film that chronicled her life), and two starry-eyed humans celebrate their 10th anniversary with a private candlelight dinner a deux at Vumbura Plains (that would be yours truly and Michael, of course!)

Next post I’ll update you on White Knight 2, the mother ship for Spaceship 2. She’ll be unveiled in 2 weeks to the press and I’ll see her a month from today. That reminds me, have you reserved a seat on Virgin Galactic, yet? What are you waiting for? Trust me, the stars have definitely aligned with Jupiter!

No matter what day you think it is, while reading this post, pretend today is June 8th! Unlike Toto, we didn’t hate our version of Oz! We loved our safari and the friends we made along the journey. Like Toto, we came back on June 8th to Kansas! I believe a well-balanced life of a traveler consists of planning glorious journeys, taking the journey, happily returning home, and, best of all, savoring the memories!

As soon as we get our photos together, I’ll post a link to the Picasa website to share with you!

Now, it’s Sunday,June 8th, in the late morning and in Mauritius it’s 9 hours ahead. My body is here in KC, but my body clock tells me I’m still many thousand miles East of here. Jet lag and all, it’s great to be home!

NOTE: For those of you who faithfully followed my directions in my original “pre-Safari” post back in May, bravo! I must admit that I am now totally confused because I am writing this and envisioning myself being back from our journey AND I haven’t yet left! Since I didn’t take my laptop with me, I pre-entered my posts as if we were communicating from Africa. Confused yet? I’m dizzy! I think I need a vacation!