FLASHBACK FRIDAY – YOUNGEST PERSON EVER AT THE NORTH POLE

April 22, 1990. This is my son Brandon, age six, happily atop a small pressure ridge of sea-ice at 90 North Latitude, the geographic North Pole. I started leading expeditions to 90N in 1978. This was my 12^th, and the best weather there we’d ever had. A glorious day at the very top of our planet, and a glorious memory for both father and son.

If fortune favors you with the opportunity, have grand adventures with your children or grandchildren when they are young. They will treasure the memories so much they will someday tell their grandchildren about (more…)

MANICHEAN MOMENTS

Most often, there are valid perspectives on either side of a dispute, not a simple divide between good and evil with no gray areas in between.  That was not the case in Afghanistan in the 1980s.  The Mujahaddin you see here were fighting a morally just war against immoral atrocity.   The war waged by the Afghan Mujahaddin to liberate their country from Soviet Russian conquest was a Manichean Moment.

There is another Manichean Moment taking place right now in Ukraine.  Once again, Russia is attempting to subjugate an innocent country with bombs and immoral atrocity.  This is good vs. evil (more…)

THE TIBETAN KINGDOM OF LO

This is one of the magical places we experience on our Himalaya Helicopter Expeditions. An independent kingdom for 650 years in the remote Mustang region of Nepal, it is one of the last places of traditional Tibetan culture on earth, unchanged for centuries. There are sky-caves here – apartment complexes carved out of vertical cliffs 2,000 years ago – Drok-pa nomads in the high pastures, spectacular sacred ceremonies, all in a mysteriously beautiful setting where the Himalayas meet the Tibetan Plateau. We’ll be here again soon. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #86 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

PRINCESS RING ISLET

This is real, it actually exists as you see it.  Princess Ring Islet is a small collapsed volcanic cone with a circular sunken crater.  Talk about an awesome swimming hole.  It’s several hundred yards off São Miguel Island in the Azores – and is just one of the many totally cool places we see in our exploration of  Atlantic Paradises.

At that time of year, the ocean around Princess Islet is filled with migrating whales and dolphins.  The Azores are one of the world’s greatest whale-watching sites.  You’d be very hard-pressed to find a cleaner, safer, more peaceful, more benign, (more…)

THE LEG ROWERS OF INLE LAKE

The men of the Intha people living on Inle Lake in Burma have a unique way to fish. Using their large conical nets, they row by standing on one leg on the prow of their canoe, and paddle with their other leg. They feed their families this way. Burma (Myanmar) is one of the most picturesque, historical, and serene places on earth. We hope you can join us when we plan to be there again sometime soon. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #27 photo ©Jack Wheeler)