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VagabondsUSA "TRAVEL IS FATAL TO PREJUDICE, BIGOTRY AND NARROW MINDEDNESS." MARK TWAIN

Trip: The World Part 4

There are [535] stories from my trip: The World Part 4


JEDDAH

SAUDI ARABIA | Friday, 30 Jan 2026 | Views [22]

  Our final day on the bus was relatively short—just over six hours from Al Bahah to Jeddah. I calculated the road distance between the cities that we visited from Riyadh to Jeddah at around 2000 kilometers. Adding in all the side trips and ... Read more >


THE HERITAGE VILLAGE OF THEE AIN

SAUDI ARABIA | Wednesday, 28 Jan 2026 | Views [23]

   The thirty-kilometer drive from Al Bahah to the Heritage Village of Thee Ain took us more than an hour this morning. The vertigo-inducing road has 25 tunnels, countless switchback turns, crosses 60 bridges and descends nearly 1500 meters ... Read more >


YANBU TO AL BAHAH

SAUDI ARABIA | Tuesday, 27 Jan 2026 | Views [20]

  Yesterday was pretty much a fill-in day—some swimming and snorkeling followed by an overnight in Yanbu on the Red Sea. Connie and I skipped the swimming—it was quite comfortable in the shade on the boat. There was nothing formal planned ... Read more >


MEDINA

SAUDI ARABIA | Sunday, 25 Jan 2026 | Views [20]

  It was bitter cold this morning when we gathered for a group photo before starting the long drive to Medina. Along the way Yannis organized a brief stop at an isolated station on the Ottoman-built Hejaz railway, interesting only because a similar ... Read more >


OLD TOWN AL’ULA, MARAYA THEATER AND SOME OTHER STUFF

SAUDI ARABIA | Saturday, 24 Jan 2026 | Views [18]

  In 1983, with the mud-brick buildings crumbling around them, the last inhabitants of “Old Town” moved to the new Al’Ula city center. Much of the old town is still crumbling but a few of the buildings have been restored for tourists.... Read more >


HEGRA

SAUDI ARABIA | Friday, 23 Jan 2026 | Views [21]

  The Saudi Arabia trip really began for me in Al’Ula, an oasis that encompasses both the old and new towns of Al’Ula, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hegra and a few attractions we weren’t aware of. Think of it as Canyonlands ... Read more >


CARVED IN STONE

SAUDI ARABIA | Thursday, 22 Jan 2026 | Views [19]

  The UNESCO World Heritage Site at Jubbah may be the largest petroglyph site in Saudi Arabia but all it did was whet our appetite for AlUla. As with rock art we have seen around the world, the the artists will remain forever unknown and the meaning ... Read more >


BURAIDAH CAMEL MARKET

SAUDI ARABIA | Wednesday, 21 Jan 2026 | Views [18]

  Ushaiqer Heritage Village, about 120 mies north of Riyadh, is one of the oldest towns in the Naid region of Saudi Arabia. In its day Ushaiqer was a major stopping point for Kuwaiti, Iraqi and Iranian pilgrims on the way to Mecca to perform Hajj.... Read more >


SAUDI ARABIA: RIYADH

SAUDI ARABIA | Monday, 19 Jan 2026 | Views [9]

  As the plane banked over the airport it looked like we were landing on Mars. Brown—pretty much what I had anticipated. Welcome to Saudi Arabia. Connie was here with the Air Force twenty-five years ago but this is a new country for me, #173.... Read more >


KHALĀṢ

EGYPT | Thursday, 15 Jan 2026 | Views [7]

            (This is for those who think we’re “Living the Dream” every day.)   “Khalāş” is my go-to reply in Egypt. Enough! It works with touts, begging kids and even dogs. And it sums ... Read more >


MASHA ALLAH

EGYPT | Monday, 12 Jan 2026 | Views [5]

  The overnight Emirates 777 flight from Accra to Dubai was packed. I felt so terrible that I strapped into my middle seat, put in my earplugs and slept the entire way. With less than two hours for the connection to Cairo it was up to Allah whether ... Read more >


THE DREADED ENDANGERED ATEWA RANGE

GHANA | Saturday, 10 Jan 2026 | Views [5]

  After a five-mile walk in the Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary where we saw few butterflies and even fewer birds—only Tessman’s Flycatcher was new, we continued on to the tiny town of New Tafo on Thursday where we spent two nights. There ... Read more >


LARABANGA ANCIENT MOSQUE

GHANA | Wednesday, 7 Jan 2026 | Views [6]

  The trip itinerary had us detouring three hours on a notoriously terrible road to see the Egyptian Plover, a highlight for most birders. I thought Richard would hug us when Connie said we had seen the Plover in Cameroon. Even so, it was along ... Read more >


A WALK IN THE PARK

GHANA | Tuesday, 6 Jan 2026 | Views [5]

  James continued his battle with hoards of tsetse flies as we hiked along the park’s dirt roads early this morning—even with Richard’s chauffeuring we’ve been walking six miles or more each day. None of the safari vehicles ... Read more >


MOLE NATIONAL PARK

GHANA | Monday, 5 Jan 2026 | Views [5]

  Pity Poor Richard. He was behind the wheel for eleven hours on Sunday and he will have to drive us more than 500 KM back on Wednesday. But for now he is ferrying us around Mole National Park, Ghana’s largest. No more humid rain forest, Mole ... Read more >


WHITE-NECKED ROCKFOWL

GHANA | Saturday, 3 Jan 2026 | Views [4]

  Yesterday we retraced our route back to the Rain Forest Lodge, stopping again along the Gold Coast at the World Heritage Cape Coast Castle to look for the West African Crested Tern. This time we were lucky and Connie added another bird to her ... Read more >


ANKASA RESERVE

GHANA | Friday, 2 Jan 2026 | Views [3]

  Richard had another long day of driving. We broke the five hour, 150-mile trip along the Gold Coast with a stop to look (unsuccessfully) for the West African Crested Tern but were rewarded with distant views of UNESCO World Heritage Elmina Castle.... Read more >


Notes from Ghana

GHANA | Wednesday, 31 Dec 2025 | Views [5]

# If Rain Forest Lodge is any indication, our accommodations here in Ghana will top every sub-Saharan country except South Africa. # Chips (fries) are not made with potatoes but with plantain. The pineapple could be the best we’ve ever tasted ... Read more >


On the Loose in Ghana

GHANA | Tuesday, 30 Dec 2025 | Views [4]

  James, the head wildlife guide for Ashanti Tours, and Richard, our driver, picked us up on Sunday morning, manhandled our luggage into the Toyota 4X4 and whisked us off to Shai Hills, the start of our Ghana birding. Or they would have whisked ... Read more >


Going, Going . . . Ghana

GHANA | Thursday, 25 Dec 2025 | Views [6]

  Our flight left Heathrow on Christmas Eve at about the same time Santa started out from the North Pole. Rather than take the non-stop British Air flight from London to Accra, we saved $400 by flying Royal Air Moroc and spending the night in an ... Read more >


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The Vagabonds at Cobh, Ireland

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