I am struck by the irony that, on the eve of, arguably, the most controversial presidential election in the history of the United States that is being closely followed all over the world, we are watching the results from our suite on Nautica, in the Gulf of the Suez Canal, one of the most volatile…
Continue reading →Côte d’Ivoire. What an exotic name for a country that I have only read about in the news, usually shrouded in mystery and conflict. Yet, here I am in Abidjan, known as “The Paris of Africa”, a modern skyscraper-studded former capital of Ivory Coast, the country’s economic and business center, and the most populated West…
Continue reading →When I listen to NPR on the radio, I am always intrigued by the foreign correspondents from around the world, reporting from exotic sounding places like Paris, Brussels, Rome. And then there’s Ofeibea Quist-Arcton (what a great name that is!), who always closes with bravado and a dramatic flourish at the end of her story…
Continue reading →We docked at the deep port of Maura, a city in the tiny sovereign state of Brunei Darussalam on the north coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Sarawak state of Malaysia and, with a total population of about 421,000, Brunei…
Continue reading →As I’ve mentioned before, this journey has been a great lesson in geography and culture, not the least of which includes the island of Borneo, which seemed like an almost imaginary place until now. It does indeed exist and on the island is the city of Kota Kinabalu, the Malaysian state capital of Sabah province,…
Continue reading →