UKRAINIAN EASTER EGGS a Yearly Tradition

 

In Ukrainian Orthodox churches, Easter in 2022 will be celebrated on April 24th, a week after the celebration in Protestant and Catholic churches. That is because the date for Easter is calculated by two different methods. Easter as it's commonly celebrated in the United States falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox (always between March 22 and April 25), while Orthodox Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon after Passover (between April 4th and May 8th.) 

As I do most years in the days before Easter, I make Ukrainian eggs, this time with my granddaughter. Her egg is on the left in the above photo. Mine is a more traditional design. I added mine to our collection of eggs through the years. This year the eggs take on a special meaning. 

I became fascinated with the beautiful designs on Ukrainian eggs when I was growing up in Northeast Minneapolis. The local Ukrainian gift shop gave demonstrations of egg making in the days before Easter. They also sold egg making supplies. I started to make Ukrainian eggs myself when I was a teenager. The designs are drawn on the eggs in wax with a stylus (kistka) and the colors are added successively. The eggs can be kept year after year because the inside moisture simply evaporates over time.  (The designs are made on raw eggs. The eggs are not meant to be eaten but used for decoration.) Some of the eggs in the bowl below were made by my children when they were much younger, others by me. Every year we choose a different combination of dyes. Getting the eggs out at Easter time is a well-loved family tradition.

 

MADEIRA, PORTUGAL: Islands in the Sun, Guest post by Steve Scheaffer and Karen Neely

Promenade frente mar, Funchal, Madeira

My brother Steve and his wife Karen recently returned from a relaxing vacation in Madeira. I have never been there and I had to look it up on a map! It is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, an archipelago situated in the Atlantic Ocean, just under 400 kilometers (250 miles) to the north of the Canary Islands and 520 kilometers (320 miles) west of Morocco. 

City of Funchal Azulejo (blue and white tiles typical of Portugal)

The capital of Madeira is Funchal, located on the main island's south coast. The region is noted for its famous namesake wine, delicious food, historical and cultural sites, flora and fauna, dramatic landscapes including the laurel forests that are classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its embroidery artisans.  

TWA Hotel at JFK

Steve and Karen did a package trip to Madeira, flying from Seattle to JFK in New York, staying overnight at the TWA Hotel, then flying the next day via Azores Air to Madeira. 

Balcony of Savoy Palace in Funchal, looking eastward.

They stayed for two weeks at the Savoy Palace in Funchal, Madeira, doing day trips in the city and the surrounding countryside.

Monte Palace Garden, part of an imposing estate constructed for an 18th-century consul and now home to over 750,000 square feet of botanical gardens filled with native and imported plants.

Shortly after arriving, they sent this email: So far this is a fun place to visit. Lots of tourism and weather that's better than Winter. So far the food is really good and different. We took the gondola up to Monte today to see the garden up there. It's 550 meters high and the clouds lowered as well as the temp so we rode the lift back down. 

Wicker basket sleds--quickest way to the bottom of the hill.

On Sunday we might go back up so we can ride down in a wicker sled. Lots of folks from the EU here.

Ribeira da Janela–Northside

Steve and Karen have graciously offered to share a few of their many excellent photos of Madeira. In some ways the landscape reminds me of Hawaii (all the volcanic rock and steep cliffs) but it seems even greener. And the architecture makes me think of Portugal. I think you will enjoy the pictures as much as I have. Madeira is now on my bucket list for future travel!

Ponta do Sol, west island.

Market stall with red peppers.

Igreja da Nossa Senhora, Monte

Madeira Island Laurel Forest “Laurissilva”, UNESCO site.

 

The Laurel forest up in the middle of the island.

Typical route to interior of the island.

Cabo Girao. View straight down from glass bottomed walkway 580 meters above sea level.

One of two rivers in downtown Funchal.

Jardin Botanico, Funchal.

Karen and Steve

11th ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTREPID TOURIST: Celebrating My New Book KEEPER OF THE LIGHT, Inspired by a Trip to Angel Island

Ferry landing at Angel Island State Park, San Francisco Bay, California

This week is the 11th anniversary of my first post at The Intrepid Tourist, a report of a family trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I have continued to post a new article once a week since then. I still love to travel and sometimes, when I least expect it, a travel experience becomes the source of an idea for a new book.

I am dedicating this blog anniversary to the celebration of my new book, KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog, that comes out this week and which was inspired by a visit to Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay ten years ago.

Tram ride around Angel Island

In July 2012, Art and I took a ferry from Tiburon to Angel Island to meet friends, who had sailed their boat from Alameda across San Francisco Bay to the harbor at Angel Island. We had a delicious lunch on the boat and then took a tram ride around the island, narrated along the way with historic details about the buildings and the people who once lived on the island, when it was the site of an army post, immigration facility, and a light and fog bell station. 

Point Knox, once site of the light and fog bell station. The giant bell remains.

Near an overlook on the south side of the island we heard about Juliet Nichols, the light keeper of the Angel Island lighthouse at Point Knox, who, during the summer of 1906, when the bay was filled with supply boats after the devastating San Francisco earthquake, heroically rang the fog bell by hand for more then twenty hours before the fog lifted.

Card catalogue, Oakland Public Library.

Juliet’s story intrigued me. It sounded like the perfect subject for a book. I began to research Juliet’s life and the history of Angel Island. I searched the internet. I went to the Oakland library to read newspaper articles and other items in the archives. (Juliet grew up in Oakland and lived there after she retired.) I looked up Census records on Ancestry.com . 

Angel Island Light House log book, 1904-1912. National Archives, Washington, DC.

I visited the National Archives in Washington, DC, to read Juliet’s lighthouse log. I went back to Angel Island several times. Although her house is gone, the giant bell can still be seen at Knox Point.

Keeper of the Light Illustration by Rachell Sumpter

It took me eight years and many rewrites to tell Juliet’s story, then two more years to see it published. I am thrilled that the book is now available and I can share it with the world. Keeper of the Light: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog is published by Cameron Kids/Abrams and is illustrated with beautiful watercolor paintings by Rachell Sumpter. It is available at many book stores as well as Amazon and other online sources.

TSAVO NATIONAL PARK, KENYA: Not Your Typical Safari, Guest Post by Owen Floody

Tsavo River, Tsavo National Park, Kenya

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Our friend Owen Floody has recently returned from an unusual safari in Kenya, a walking trip across Tsavo National Park. Owen has been to Africa numerous times and taken incredible photos of African wildlife (see his other posts at The Intrepid Tourist) but this trip was a first on foot. I thank him for providing a new perspective and sharing it with The Intrepid Tourist.

Most African safaris exploit vehicles for their ability to move people quickly and easily while not scaring the wildlife.  But some may think this approach too easy or unnatural.  If this is your view, have I got the safari for you! 

It is modestly called The Great Walk of Africa and is the creation of Kenya-based Tropical Ice.  Even it devotes some time (1-2 hours late most afternoons) to game drives.  But the safari revolves around a hike of approximately 100 miles across the two divisions (Tsavo West then East) of Tsavo National Park in southern Kenya.  The hiking is concentrated on 10 days of the 14-day trip, for an average daily distance on those days of 10 miles.  However, the actual daily distances varied between 5 and 14 miles.

Galana River, Tsavo National Park, Kenya.

The route follows the Tsavo and Galana Rivers as they flow through the park.  This coincidence has at least two major consequences.  First, it results in a relatively flat route and relatively easy hiking.  Or it would result in this in a normal season.  Unfortunately, our February 2022 safari encountered atypically hot conditions and I can tell you that hiking 14 miles in temperatures at or above 100 degrees is not easy.  Given the locations of park roads, a second consequence was the placement of the hiking route and nightly camps on opposite sides of a river.  This added 14 river crossings to the hiking, further increasing the trip’s variety and challenges.

Elephants along the hiking route.

Because of these and other factors, one would want to choose such a trip with completely open eyes. One obvious thing to be aware of is the effort the trip requires.  Perhaps less obvious but also worth considering is the fact that walking across African plains and rivers can create conflicts with animals, conflicts that may stress the humans but could terminate the animals (we were accompanied by armed guards at all times).  In fact, every effort is made to avoid such conflicts and to peacefully defuse any that do arise (e.g., the elephants were angered by our presence, but they trumpeted, we trumpeted, and everyone went away a winner).  Still, no system is perfect.

Given these issues, why choose to tackle the Walk?  First, the difference in perspective is huge.  On a typical safari, you’re always a human tourist viewing animals.  On the Great Walk, you are essentially one of the animals, moving on foot along game trails, looking out for other animals, and constantly in intimate contact with your environment.  You are not going to come away with photos comparable to those you get from a photo blind on wheels.  But you will come back with some photos and a large number of indelible memories.   

Napping lioness.

For me, one unforgettable experience (and one of which I do have a photo) was that of sneaking up on a lioness peacefully snoozing under a bush roughly 50 ft away (above image).  This didn’t last long, and the lioness was off in a flash as soon as she detected us, but the experience was unique and powerful.  Still, my most memorable experience was that of watching a group of 20-30 elephants amble across our path, only 30-40 ft ahead.  Just fellow animals out on a stroll.   

Second, it is not just the animals that you view differently while on foot.  The differences across the habitats we passed through were striking.  For instance, the two rivers are very different (see typical views of Tsavo and Galana above.)  

Three views of vegetation away from the river.

Likewise, the character of the vegetation away from the river changed radically over the hike, as seen in the images above, taken toward its beginning, middle and end^.

What all this suggests is that what we lump into one park is, in fact, much more varied and complex.  Perhaps even complex enough to deserve the close inspection you can better provide on foot. After all, can one fully appreciate animals without some awareness of where and how they live?  And plants slapping you in the face would seem to convey this awareness incomparably better than plants slapping your Land Rover in the face.

Note: You can use the search function to find Owen's many other excellent posts at The Intrepid Tourist, including other trips to view African wildlife.