“The Zim-Zam Shuffle” (Victoria Falls – May 23, 2008 to May 26, 2008)

Julie alerted me to a rather unusual scene in front of us. Two giant baboons were frantically running across the bridge towards us and it seemed like we were in the way…

“Nemo Found” (Far North Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, Australia – May 15, 2008 to May 21, 2008)

Now my head was really hurting at this point. I didn’t want to get out of the water because the scenery down here was as close to the Discovery Channel as I had ever seen…

“Disappointing déjà vu” (Brisbane, Whitsundays, and Central Queensland, Australia – May 10, 2008 to May 14, 2008)

Unfortunately, JC Slaughter Falls was bone dry! I knew it was a bad sign when we didn’t hear any water in the neighboring creeks. I guess it wasn’t meant to be despite there being…

“Bad Shortcut” (Central Coast and Northern New South Wales, Australia – May 4, 2008 to May 9, 2008)

Julie and I were nervous. Clearly darkness had fallen by now. The kangaroos and wallabies (who knows what else was out there?) seemingly conspired to jump right in front of our vehicle…

“An Amazonian Adventure” (Northern Peru – April 21, 2008 to April 27, 2008)

…back into the familiar toilet I was hovered over and before I could do any more thinking, I threw up into the toilet bowl. The barf was a nasty blend of papaya from breakfast…

“Los Ojos Son Rojos” (Cusco and Machu Picchu, Peru – April 19, 2008 to April 21, 2008)

“Honey. What happened to your eyes? They’re red?” said Julie. I was incredulous as I wasn’t aware of anything that could’ve made my eyes red. Immediately, I thought…

“Vog Heaven” (Big Island – February 22, 2008 to February 24, 2008)

Knowing that the weather wouldn’t be as much of an issue as the last four failed attempts at helicoptering, there was a part of me that couldn’t believe that today’s tour was actually…

“Snow Good Valentine’s Day” (Julian, CA – February 13, 2008 to February 14, 2008)

It was still rainy and chilly, but Julie and I were quite relieved as the only snow left was on our car. Both of us were also relieved about finally going to the restroom…

“Super Bowl Sogginess” (Big Island – February 1, 2008 to February 3, 2008)

I kept trying to tell myself that this rain must be good for waterfalling, but if there ever was a such thing as having way too much rain to go waterfalling, this was it!

“So Random” (Buenos Aires, Argentina and Miami South Beach, FL – December 28, 2007 to December 31, 2007)

Someone kept yelling “Johnny!” in the distance. Then, as the yell got louder and I looked up, I was shocked to see who was standing before me. “Oh, what?!?” I said in disbelief…

“A PAINeful Christmas” (Patagonia, Chile – December 24, 2007 to December 27, 2007)

It didn’t take long before the “trail” revealed the climb that was before us. “Oh my god,” said Julie incredulously. “We have to climb that?!?”

“Nothing in Patagonia is Easy” (Patagonia, Argentina – December 19, 2007 to December 23, 2007)

The taxi driver left us and so here we were at the start of our trip in the outskirts of a town unfamiliar to us with our luggage, no rental car, a foul mood, and our trip in serious jeopardy…

“Do You Have Your Vouchers?” (Angel Falls – November 18, 2007 to November 23, 2007)

It wasn’t long after when the small plane’s engine sputtered and then stopped. The plane then started to descend. Everyone in the plane except the pilot looked around wondering if this was it…

“La Catarata Loca” (Iguazu Falls – August 30, 2007 to September 3, 2007)

Screams were heard all around us as if we were in some rollercoaster ride. The Kiwi guy sitting behind me kept yelling to no one in particular, “To the extreme!”

“Á Leiðinni Heim” (Thjorsardalur and Southwestern Iceland – July 8, 2007 to July 9, 2007)

Julie and I thought he wanted to talk to us because he might have been the parking enforcement guy. After some futile attempts at communication beyond a sentence or two, I eventually asked…

“Mired in the Sights of the South” (Southern Iceland – June 5, 2007 to June 7, 2007)

I was determined to try to see the falls past the short narrow slot canyon with boulders wedged above. So I took off my socks, wore my chacos, and started wading…

“Jökuls and Sandurs” (Southern Iceland – June 2, 2007 to June 4, 2007)

By this time, passengers from both buses were watching like paying spectators. Our driver tried to help the other driver, who was a strikingly-dressed Madonna-lookalike female driver…

“Surprises Out East” (Egilsstadir, Seydisfjordur, and Eastern Iceland – June 30, 2007 to July 1, 2007)

…we went inside and checked out the displays. A guy eventually came out to us and guilted us into paying for museum admission, which we weren’t aware of until I noticed a sign…

“The Grand Canyon of the North” (Akureyri and Northern Iceland – June 27, 2007 to June 29, 2007)

In one stretch of road at Mývatn, we heard things hitting the windshield as if there was a gravel rain or something. It turned out that we had driven through a cloud of midges!

“Into The West” (Snaefellsnes and the Westfjords, Iceland – June 23, 2007 to June 26, 2007)

The receptionist was named Claus and he was an interesting guy in that he was German and it seemed that he was in the middle of learning Icelandic. Claus sensed that I was also…