2026

Today’s trip brought us home, mostly above the clouds, but there was one brief moment over Oregon where we could see the mountains below.

This week has been filled with work and conference activity, but I had an opportunity this afternoon to take a drive along Skyline Drive. I took a brief hike in the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve.

I’ve just arrived in the Bay Area for a work trip. I was treated to some fun cloudscapes as we descended into San Jose.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Today we took the first of two flights that will bring us home. It’s 12 hours from Cape Town to Paris. We were treated to views of the Namib Desert, the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and another plane flying beneath us in southwestern France.

There is no easy way to talk about today. I received some difficult news about a close family member late yesterday. I had already booked a trip to Robben Island for today, which seems an appropriately somber way to reflect on challenges both personal and global.

We are back in Cape Town for the remaining time we have in South Africa. The weather forecast was nice today, especially in the afternoon, so we decided to explore the Cape itself and Table Mountain.

As if one game-watching tour was not enough, we were invited back to the jeeps at 6am sharp for a morning excursion. Of course I went!

No trip to South Africa is complete without a big-game safari adventure and so, of course, we made time for one! We set forth from Cape Town this morning for the 2½-hour drive to the arid Karoo region.

Today we said goodbye to Casa Tumi. Our host, Mary, suggested we stop by the Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village on our way back to South Africa. This national monument offers a chance to see some of Lesotho’s history and culture.

Our host informed us that we really must see Maletsunyane Falls, about 60 km / 35 miles south of our inn. We made the trip today and it was indeed a spectacular sight.

We arrived at our AirBNB after dark last night, so we didn’t really get to appreciate our surroundings. When we awoke, we found ourselves in a stunning mountain retreat:

“There is a border nearby … I must cross it!” I might have to ask that this be engraved on my tombstone. It is so me.

Today I left the conference a bit early to go exploring.

As I mentioned yesterday, we’re in Stellenbosch for a few days so I can attend did:unconf Africa.

For our first few days here in South Africa, we’re in Stellenbosch so I can attend did:unconf Africa.

When Lisa and I met almost five years ago, doing big travel adventures was one of the things we most wanted to do together. We’ve had some excellent adventures together, but they have all been in North America. (OK, there was that one excellent adventure in Puerto Rico early on …)