Earth Day Blues

On one of our last days in Ko Ngai, Thailand, John and I were walking along a beach heading back to our cottage after snorkeling just offshore. Clara was trailing, picking up shells. I was thinking of what I had seen under the water and asked John something along the lines of, “What has our global/social/economic system produced that has been better than or as good as the environmental systems that were destroyed to make it?” His answer:”Nothing.”

Thai_Island_Andaman_SeaLet me explain: Continue reading

Where is Borneo anyway?

“Mom, is this mud or guano?” Clara asked as she put one foot carefully onto a slim wooden stair.

I was holding her hand as we headed into Niah Cave in Sarawak. “It’s hard for me to tell in this darkness, but given the smell I’d guess guano,” I replied. “Don’t touch the railing either so you don’t get bat poo on your hands!”

stairsThree weeks in Borneo during the monsoon months with almost no rain allowed us to travel easily. We took a five day trip to Gunung Mulu and Niah Cave National Parks in Sarawak. At Niah, the air was alive with bats and swifts, Continue reading