Beyond Tacos and Burritos: Mexican Food Globally

Mexican food’s popularity reaches far. Once, when traveling in Uganda, we were looking for a late night dinner in a town called Masindi. After a long day of traveling on dusty roads, we were absolutely ravished. Luckily we found a dark, little corner restaurant with barely two lighting fixtures, ordered some Bells (a Ugandan beer), …

She Stares at Me – A Confrontation in Dakar

She’s on the third floor, next to a statue from Cameroon.   She’s young and beautiful, just a girl really.  Her expression is difficult to interpret.  We pass a loudly chatting group of Senegalese women, all dressed in a medley of primary colors. I wish I’d understand what they’re saying, what they think of the recently …

Powerhouse Women of Kampala’s Literary Scene

I’m on the back of a boda boda, Uganda’s ubiquitous motorcycle taxi, worried about being late for a meeting.  In a traffic jam, my boda driver passes cars and other bodas in a way that should make anyone scared for their safety.  The drivers have helmets but there are none for the passengers.  I am …

High in Harar

The living room’s bright blue concrete walls glow under the fluorescent light. The air is full of cigarette smoke and the smell of coffee beans roasting. It’s Ramadan, Islam’s holy month. The old color TV transmits hypnotic praying live from Mecca. I’m in Harar, a historic Muslim town in Ethiopia, about 130 miles from the …

Lunch and Dinner at Opposite Ends of South Korea

In a tired haze the previous night — after a sauna and mineral baths combo following a day of hiking in the mountains — I had made a ridiculous plan to travel in one day from the Northeastern edge of South Korea to the southwest corner to the port town of Mokpo. I made the …

In and Around Yazd With New Friends

Traveling solo, friends of friends often come in handy. I’ve had the best of times through such recommendations in Addis Ababa, Moscow, Istanbul, to name a few. Most recently I had friends of a friend to thank for an excellent time in Yazd, Iran. This particular friend-to-be, Mansurah, proved the famous Iranian hospitality true even …

About Georgian Wines

 When I tell people I meet about the wine trips we organize to Georgia, I’ve heard may times the comment — “Georgian wines, really?” – with the accompanying tone of suspicion or ridicule. For sure Georgian wines still don’t have the same reputation as French, Napa Valley or Chilean wines, but from what I’ve seen, …