He was a racing camel “Tom Marley is a racing camel,” Ahmed said. “The fastest in all of the Sinai.” “Tom Marley?” I asked. “Not Bob?” Ahmed appeared somewhat surprised by my ignorance, but the stupidity of tourists is known the world over. Ahmed patiently explained that Tom Marley, the racing camel, was named after Tom… Continue reading A Camel Named Tom Marley Made Me Choose: Be Right or Be Happy?
Category: Travel
Raven and the Mango Roadtrip
Raven Series # 1 Raven drained her mango smoothie, wiped her mouth, and set her glass down. “Looks like it’s time to go, Popsicle.” I looked over the short cinder-block wall built on the edge of the roof. On the street, three men pulled masks over their faces. Two of them faced the street as… Continue reading Raven and the Mango Roadtrip
Tables and Chairs, Ravens and Beans
Raven Series #2 | Jump to Raven # 1 Raven steps off the night bus. I follow her out, squinting both ways into the darkness. The street is deserted. I turn back to the driver to ask ¿La plaza central? He points a finger then closes the door. Raven and I walk west toward the heart of… Continue reading Tables and Chairs, Ravens and Beans
Three Sorrowful Stories My Spanish Teacher Told Me About America’s ‘Bleeding Scar’
The perpetual crisis on our southern border It’s not often a New York Times editorial triggers me. This one, written by Jorge Ramos about the endless crisis on the US-Mexico border, that frontier Carlos Fuentes described as a “bleeding scar,” did. I grew up in California — in wine country no less — where I witnessed firsthand the xenophobia and… Continue reading Three Sorrowful Stories My Spanish Teacher Told Me About America’s ‘Bleeding Scar’
How to Almost Run into Massive Hippos (Hint: Be Drunk)
Also: pay no attention to where you are going Three of us lurched down the narrow path carved into the dense forest. Weaving our way from one side of the path to the other, we paid no attention to the various squawks and rustlings produced by the creatures surrounding us. Having consumed an intemperate number of… Continue reading How to Almost Run into Massive Hippos (Hint: Be Drunk)
Three Notes from Semliki
Non-scientific field notes from a chimp tracker Semliki Note #1 — Data Up early with the bats in a soft rain, I’m walking down a steep path to the climate station we’ve set up at the river. The forest is silent except for some restless insects and one or two birds. I raise the kerosene lantern high to… Continue reading Three Notes from Semliki
Tuskers, Ping Pong, and Spears
A travel memory from central Kenya, 1997 Three six-foot-plus Samburu warriors sat at the bar, their left hands curled around half-liter bottles of Tusker. Their right hands caressed the shafts of long, lion-killing spears. The bar was in Maralal, Kenya, which is where the pavement ended — about a days drive out of Nairobi. It was August and… Continue reading Tuskers, Ping Pong, and Spears
This is Why I Learned to Scuba Dive
My fins were in my left hand and my mask was on my face. The Red Sea was so warm I could barely feel it against my skin. Straight ahead across the turquoise waves the low hills of Saudi Arabia shimmered in the heat haze. I picked up my feet and floated, weightless. There was… Continue reading This is Why I Learned to Scuba Dive
Dusty Around the Eyes
Names change colors when you are dusty around the eyes. Watch a gerenuk at sunset while listening to a Walkman. These two odd sentences are mnemonics I constructed to remind myself of chains of thought that occurred to me while learning to do anthropological fieldwork in East Africa. Searching the forests of the Semliki Valley… Continue reading Dusty Around the Eyes
An Unsent Postcard from Ecuador
This is a postcard I wrote but didn’t send. Midnight. Cobblestones and red tile.Gargoyles, brickwork, and graffiti.Rain, a lack of witnesses. I beg you to forget about the trees.If you fell with no one nearby, or if I were to do it —Would we make a sound? © Copryright 2020 by Jim Latham Photo by… Continue reading An Unsent Postcard from Ecuador