One switchback after another took us higher and higher as the highway snaked up the mountain pass. The air became progressively cooler as green grass and forest gave way to rocky slopes blanketed in snow. In places, the highway was like a tunnel as we drove between three-metre high banks carved by snow plows. Stopping […] Read more
Robin And Arlene Karpan
Stories by Robin And Arlene Karpan
Take a spring prairie wildlife photo safari
Looking for a short break at this busy time? Grab your camera, hit the road and capture the wonders of spring. Wildflowers are emerging, wildlife is active and outstanding numbers of birds are ready to party in their finest mating plumage. If you like wildlife photo safaris, spring on the Prairies is hard to beat. […] Read more
Trekking through terraced-hill countryside of Vietnam
It was as if we were looking at a gigantic work of abstract art. Steep slopes of the mountain valley were completely covered in contoured terraces, a complex network of wildly sculpted land that is an engineering marvel. While we see scenic beauty, local people see it as the only way to make a living […] Read more
Are travel reward programs worth the effort?
The ads make it sound enticing. Collect these points and be-fore long you’ll be jetting off to some exotic corner of the globe. But is it really that simple? Effectively using points programs can reduce travel costs, often dramatically, but it’s seldom simple. Many programs are so complex that they make the Income Tax Act […] Read more
Friendly connections, scenery greet hikers in Ethiopia
Our hearts pound and lungs gasp with each upward step as we hike through oxygen-starved air at altitudes of more than 4,000 metres. But our discomfort is quickly forgotten with each breathtaking view: soaring jagged peaks, gorges galore and cliff faces dropping a half kilometre almost straight down. The Simien Mountains of northern Ethiopia are […] Read more
Beyond Cancun: exploring Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula
Although we’ve travelled to Cancun frequently over the years, we’ve spent little time in the mega-resort developments around the city and nearby Riviera Maya. Rather, we use Cancun as a jumping-off point to explore the Yucatan Peninsula. Only a few hours away, another world awaits: ancient Mayan ruins, historic colonial cities, nature reserves, traditional villages […] Read more
It’s all about the scenery in Narrow Hills Provincial Park
The landscape changes dramatically soon after we leave Smeaton, Sask., at the start of the Hanson Lake Road (Highway 106). The northern edge of the grain belt in eastern Saskatchewan gives way to the boreal forest of Narrow Hills Provincial Park. It is an exceptional place to experience the powerful effects of 10,000- year-old glaciers, […] Read more
Tranquil scenes nestled around prairie mountain
Our drive through the gently undulating terrain of forest, wetlands and lakes changes suddenly and dramatically as we approach the eastern edge of Riding Mountain National Park. A window opens in the thick forest and we gaze down over the patchwork of croplands some 400 metres below. Then the winding road sharply descends the Manitoba […] Read more
Ancient treasures of medieval Europe in rural Saskatchewan
It’s as if we’ve wandered into a medieval monastery. We gaze over a collection of rare, ancient books, some dating to the 13th century, everything from original treatises of philosophers and saints to handwritten decrees by popes and kings. Yet we haven’t travelled far to discover this age-old treasure, just a short drive south of […] Read more
Yellowstone National Park: wildlife, waterfalls, geysers
We watch from the side of the road as a female wolf gorges herself on an elk that her pack killed the previous night. When she leaves, she is so full of meat that her distended belly drags, making it an effort to walk. The wolf is likely taking food back to the pups at […] Read more
