HeadlineJanuary 20, 2010

Every year is Year of the Tiger at South Africa’s Tiger Canyons

Acclaimed wildlife author and photographer Daryl Balfour was in the tiger’s den at South Africa’s famed JV Tiger Canyons five hours after tiger Julie gave birth to her five cubs, including a white cub.
Story by Daryl Balfour Guest Contributor Photos by Daryl and Sharna Balfour

I spent two hours in a tiger’s den this week, watching her nurse five hours-old newborn cubs — including the first white cub born in the wild in more than 50 years.

Culinary AdventuresNovember 28, 2009

Too many cooks? Not at this table

When eight East Bay culinary divas stir the pot and spill the beans, what you get is a sizzling stir fry of raucous musings, candidness, collaboration, ebullience and deliciousness.
By Wanda Hennig — See full story in Oakland Magazine, November 2009 and Alameda Magazine, November 2009
They met around three tables pulled into a rough circle at Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland. During the roundtable discussion, the women talked together, talked over each other and talked totally off-topic — more like being at a good dinner party where wine and conversation flow freely. But there was no wine, just coffee beforehand and slices of carrot cake with walnut at the end.

HeadlineNovember 15, 2009

Tembe has Africa’s biggest tusker and web-spinning spider plus tiny suni

Isilo could be the world’s largest elephant; the suni is one of Africa’s smallest antelope; and scientists thought until recently that nephila komaci — the female spider has a leg-span of five inches — was extinct.
By guest Africa correspondent Graham Linscott Photos by Wayne Matthews

TEMBE Elephant Park, a wilderness in the remote north-east of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, offers visitors the opportunity to step back 200 years into unspoiled pre-colonial Africa.

It also offers the opportunity to spot southern Africa’s largest tusker, a giant bull elephant named Isilo who is about 65 years old …

HeadlineNovember 3, 2009

Oakland and South Africa connect. So what does Cheetah Outreach have to do with it?

Vicki Gutgesell loves animals and she loves to travel. She goes to see wildlife, birdlife and marine life au natural wherever she can. On a […]

HeadlineSeptember 10, 2009

Alive in South Africa: When an expat goes ‘home’

What is it like to return to your roots, your soil, for the first time after you’ve emigrated and made a new life in Australia? […]

California TravelJune 10, 2009

Best Beaches Northern California: Flavors of Capitola and Santa Cruz

Which beach is best? Capitola with its cocktail cuisine has a party flavor — plus family appeal. Santa Cruz main beach has sea lions alongside the wharf, surfing beneath the cliffs and the famous Boardwalk.
Story and photos by Wanda Hennig All travel has a culinary flavor, given that one has to eat. True culinary travel, however — I’d say what defines it is the focus. It’s about eating the specialties of a place. Learning about the food traditions of the people. It doesn’t imply eating lavishly, isn’t necessarily about haute cuisine, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Visiting a farmers market and creating a picnic from the produce stall … Read more

California TravelMay 22, 2009

Insider guide to Fort Bragg: 20-plus delicious reasons to go there now

Could this be wine country’s new culinary hot spot?
Story and pictures: Wanda Hennig Fort Bragg a hotbed of conscious creatives and sustainable agriculture activists? That wasn’t how I remembered it from previous visits. Good camping, yes, at the MacKerricher State Park three miles north on Highway 1; and the legendary Glass Beach that’s more interesting to read about than to visit; and unmemorable meals in the quaint harbor; and Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout at the North Coast Brewing Company. But now a foodie friend was telling me about their active Slow Food group and saying things like, “I went to Italy and saw what they were doing with agritourism in Tuscany and thought …

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