You’ve seen Under the Tuscan Sun, right? You know, the one where a North American woman finds herself visiting Tuscany and decides to buy a property, then the hilarity of house fixing in a foreign land ensues. Yeah, that’s me right now, but in Lagos, Nigeria.
Oh, holly jolly, we ended 2023 with a family holiday. At the end of December, we left our place in Lagos to visit Chuck’s childhood home and celebrate the season with the fam. We spent eight days at the family compound in Okpofe busily entertaining family from all over the community… and beyond. And when … [Read more]
In early October, we booted it south in one looooong drive from Winnipeg to KC to spend a couple days in Kansas City. We went specifically to catch a Thursday night NFL game between The Kansas City Chiefs and their rival The Denver Broncos. All we knew going into KC was that we were going … [Read more]
Last June, we found ourselves happily basking under the sunny skies of Los Angeles. Chuck and I were looking forward to spending three-days in the golden state of California. It was my first time in LA and I didn’t know what to expect. But what I immediately fell in love with were the beaches, the … [Read more]
After the subtle hues and dusty drives of the Serengeti, we made our way over the Indian Ocean to visit Tanzania’s island paradise. Zanzibar island, just a few miles off the coast of the mainland, is part of Tanzania. It became one country in 1964. The mainland was originally named Tanganyika and when they united … [Read more]
“Tanzania is not a real place.” I uttered this pretty much every day, to every person, on every post, when we visited there in fall 2022. And a year later I am finally putting my thoughts down here and I’m now wondering, “was it all a dream? It was real, right?” Actually, it was both. From … [Read more]
After an epic first two days on safari, we bid farewell to Steven, our ranger in Lake Manyara, and hello to our Ngorongoro ranger, Joseph. He drove us through Tanzania for an hour or so until we reached the crater viewpoint… Yeah, breathtaking. Ngorongoro Crater Lodge We then drove along the crater’s rim until we … [Read more]
After a couple days exploring Lake Manyara, it was off to the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge for a couple of nights staying on the top rim of the world’s largest inactive, unbroken and unfilled volcanic caldera. Yes, I needed Google to get that description. But before setting off to safari down in the crater, our ranger … [Read more]
Take a ride on the wild side. Our first day of an eight-day safari had us vibrating with anticipation. Or was that the first stop, Lake Manyara National Park, where it seems to house all the ecosystems: lake, marshlands, saline flats, grassy plains, lush forests, rocky escarpments. All brimming with wildlife. Weeeeeee! Let’s do this! … [Read more]
It’s coming up on a year since Chuck and I went on safari in Tanzania… and I kinda forgot to write about it. Whoops. But if you’ve met up with me in the last year, I probably waxed poetic to you already about it, so please, feel free to continue on to another more interesting … [Read more]
In spring 2022 most of the travel restrictions had been lifted and Chuck and I were itching to hit the road somewhere. We thought a U.S. road trip to the south would be fun. Especially to our ears if we hit up some of the great music cities of the south. Think jazz in New … [Read more]
After exploring the history, the beach, the jungle and the village, the last bits of our Nigerian adventure I want to highlight is the large city of Lagos itself. The bad (traffic), the bold (flavours) and the beautiful (fabrics, Victoria Island). So, without further adieu… The traffic It’s insane. I.N.S.A.N.E. I can’t think of any … [Read more]
Cheers to village living! After a short flight from Lagos to Owerri, Chuck and I were greeted at the airport to be escorted to his home village of Okpofe in Imo State. For the next six days, we stayed in his family’s compound, which was a surprising delight. Like cabin life, but in extreme heat … [Read more]
The last few years have been hectic. HECK-TIC! My partner Chuck and I have been furiously renovating our new home, figuring out how to parent teenagers and also figuring out how to cohabitate with each other. That left very little room to ponder and write about my trip to Italy with my sister Sherri. But … [Read more]
Chuck loves goats. If you know him, you know this about him. They are like his favourite animals. He follows 100% Goats, because they guarantee 200% goats. And in late summer of 2019, we decided to spend our vacation following a few different kind of GOATs. And it was 1000% worth it. U.S. Open Our … [Read more]
