THE SERENGETI, A MAGICAL PLACE TO SEE WILFLIFE, Guest Post by Karen Minkowski

Female leopard with her cub, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

My friend Karen Minkowski has visited Africa many times and has contributed often to The Intrepid Tourist, sharing her beautiful photographs and insights about animals. She recently went to northern Tanzania, visiting four national parks: Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire. This is the second of her four reports of that trip. 

The Serengeti is magical, a magnet, one of the best places on earth. It seems at times, as the Maasai thought when they named it Siringet, that it really does go on forever and ever – infinity on earth. Here is some of what we saw.

Cheetahs.

These cheetahs may be brothers; we wondered if there were hiding from lions, as they remained reclining, partially obscured by grass, for a long time.

Later that afternoon, a clump of nine or ten Land Cruisers ahead alerted us to something interesting. A group of stopped vehicles is a common way of finding predators, especially, when driving through a wildlife area.

Two leopard cubs wrestled and snuggled and finally looked in the direction of their mother, who was not in our line of sight. When the cubs disappeared amidst the rocks and vegetation, our guide moved the vehicle to where we could see her perched high upon a rock. 

Leopard cubs.

Leopard cubs.

Female leopard.

It’s not common to see a leopard with her cubs, so we were lucky when they briefly joined their mother. We watched as one cub or the other, sometimes both, spent a few seconds in her presence, as though just checking in with her.

We’d seen five species of cats in just a few days: lion, serval, wild cat, cheetah and leopard. Our version of the Big Five! (Traditionally the Big Five are lion, leopard, elephant, black rhino and Cape buffalo. We did see all but the black rhino.)

A lovely giraffe in a woodland.

Zebras at the river.

Impalas.

Male impalas nuzzling. They eventually put their foreheads together and gently practiced fighting, skills they might one day need.

Practice fighting.

A couple of new birds for me: von der Decken’s Hornbill and the Coqui Francolin. (I was last in the Serengeti in 1971, so I may have seen these birds before and forgotten them.) Both are males.

Decken's Hornbill.

Coqui Francolin.

Kirk's Dik-Dik, a tiny antelope about 16 to 18 inches in height.

Hippos are common where there is water deep enough to cover their enormous bodies. Such sweet faces!

Hippos.

Lion drinking.

Lions Mating.

Wildebeeste migration.

We saw a little of the wildebeest migration heading north towards the Maasai-Mara in Kenya.  

Note: Next week will be Karen's report on her visit to Ngorogoro Crater National Park.

BEAUTIFUL BIRDS AT LAKE MANYARA, TANZANIA, Guest Post by Karen Minkowski

Yellow-billed Stork, Lake Manyara, Tanzania.

My friend Karen Minkowski has visited Africa many times and has contributed often to The Intrepid Tourist, sharing her beautiful photographs and insights about animals. She recently went to northern Tanzania, visiting four national parks: Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire. This is the first of her reports of that trip. 

I recently completed a wonderful safari in Tanzania’s northern circuit with three German friends. We ranged in age from 22 to 81 and travelled together very well; everyone was enthusiastic about everything we saw, and we had lots of great observations. We visited four sites over eight amazing, intense days that exhausted even the youngest of us! Our guide was excellent. He had a great sense of humor and worked hard to meet our requests.

Our first destination was Lake Manyara National Park. Human settlement has reached one side of the lake, and erosion of agricultural fields nearby may be the cause of the brown appearance of the water on some days. 

Heavy rains in the last years have resulted in a rise in the water levels, partially submerging many trees.

But birds were abundant. Below: Red and Yellow Barbet; Grey-headed Kingfisher; Little Bee-eater. The Barbet nests in termite mounds and feeds on termites (and other insects). The Kingfisher, despite its name, feeds primarily on insects on the ground and only occasionally fishes. The Bee-eater catches insects on the wing.

Red and Yellow Barbet.

Grey-headed Kingfisher.

Little Bee-eater.

Blue monkeys were common in the forested area.

Blue Monkey.

The next three pictures  show two female elephants greeting one another. The sequence lasted just a few seconds, and I know nothing of the context. It seemed like a very intimate interaction, perhaps an elephant version of a warm hug.

 

Looking from the Lake to the forested area.

Ground Hornbill.

Note: Karen's post about her visit to Serengeti National Park will appear next week.

A TUESDAY IN PORTLAND, OREGON - THE OHSU FARMERS MARKET AND ELK ROCK GARDEN Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Elk Rock Garden, Portland, Oregon.

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in August 2025.

Portland, Oregon

Or how the end of one trip provided the opportunity for another......

In the summer of 2025, in an airport baggage claim area, my husband and I found our suitcase, but its telescopic handle was stuck in the retracted position. The back of the suitcase had a shallow dent, as if a baby elephant had sat on it. So after we got home, we took the injured suitcase to a luggage doctor in Portland, namely Fink’s Luggage & Repair shop. We chose to pay $85 to replace the whole mechanism assembly thingy, rather than $300 to $1,000 to replace our aging suitcase, even though it will still have one missing zipper pull and wheels that make a racket because their rubber tires wore off last century. No sentimental attachment here, only personal values that favor fixing things over throwing them away. 

OHSU Farmer's Market

Market performers' tent.

After taking care of business, we drove to the nearest farmers market for lunch: the OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University) Farmers Market, open on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from June through September. We drove past the market vendor trucks and parked in the hospital “Patient and Patient Visitor” structure, for free!

Chinese food.

Coffee.

We walked back to the market tents outside of the Medical School Mackenzie Hall. From the menus at the tents offering bagels, boba drinks, Chinese food, cookies, food from Ethiopia, Myanmar, Mexico, tamales, Vietnamese coffee, and wings, we sampled Chinese chowmein from LoLo S. San Xiang, plus one sausage (soft, boldly seasoned with a herbal hint and a spicy kick) and one chicken wing from Juicy JV’s Wings, and a coffee, drip-brewed over ice and sweetened condensed milk, from Vietnamese Coffee. The longest line was a strong recommendation for Tamales Poblanos, but we didn’t want to spend that much time on lunch. We appreciated the sustainable metal forks and ceramic plates, to be returned at a clearly labeled spot for washing and re-use. We sat on the shaded, clean grass, to eat in view of the trickling fountain and guitar player.

After this fun and yummy lunch, we used the impeccable restrooms in the Auditorium building adjacent to the market. We didn’t buy any produce, flowers, meat, candles, extra large scrunchies (hair ties) or anything else. Many lunch patrons were medical staff members and students in scrubs, wearing identification cards on lanyards, a reassuring sight in case of indigestion, as was the emergency room we had passed in the car.

Elk Rock Garden.

For a post-lunch adventure, we visited Elk Rock Garden. This estate is the former home of Peter Kerr, a Scottish immigrant and entrepreneur. After he purchased the land in the late 1800s, he spent a lifetime developing the garden as a manicured “wild” landscape full of Scottish and Pacific Northwest plants.

Today, the non-profit Elk Rock Garden Foundation owns and maintains the property. The house is not open to the public, but the Foundation uses it. Visiting the garden is free, with an opportunity to drop a donation in a box.

What a pleasant place for an hour-long stroll in cool shade on a warm afternoon! In the Visitor Center (a tight spot under a rooflet with no walls on three sides), we signed the guest book, noticed the binder of info about the garden plants, and took a photo of the garden map. Then we set out on the path that essentially loops around the perimeter. We skipped the other paths, across the middle. 

On the way to the uphill side of perimeter path, I took photos of the fairy tale woods (above and at the top of this post). Soon something bluish-gray appeared on the left, through the trees down the steep slope. What could it be? Water? It was so big! It was water—the Willamette River.

Fish pond.

After reaching the farthest point, we headed back along the downhill side of the perimeter path, past the fish pond.

Lawn.

From the lawn, we saw the house, on the other side of which we had parked initially.

Mount Hood.

Beyond the river, we saw Mount Hood, the highest peak in Oregon, more than once. For visitors in a contemplative mood, the place is quiet, in part because no dogs, picnics, or lawn games are allowed. If I’m lucky enough to go back some day, I’ll spend time at the Visitor Center to look inside the binder of info about the plants.

 

AMONG ELEPHANTS IN BOTSWANA AND ZIMBABWE, Guest Post by Owen Floody

African elephants, Zimbabwe.

With many thanks to Owen Floody, a frequent contributor to The Intrepid Tourist. In 1971, Owen and my husband Art participated in a field course in animal behavior in Uganda. The descriptions of the animals in Owen's post below bring back many memories of that first trip to Africa.

A few months ago, I traveled in search of one charismatic mammal, the mountain gorilla.  What better complement than a September 2025, trip focusing on a second large, highly intelligent and charismatic, mammal, the African elephant?

The Great Elephant Migration Safari was run by Wilderness Travel and expertly led by Vusa Ncube.  It began in Botswana but quickly shifted to Zimbabwe, where it covered a lot of ground, in part by replacing two long drives with charter flights.  Most of our time was spent in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park.  At first glance, this seemed too dry and overgrazed to support large elephant herds.  

Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.

But appearances can be deceiving, as the elephants certainly were there.  One factor contributing to this abundance must be the large number of human-maintained waterholes that dot this part of Hwange.

Vultures, Chobe National Park, Botswana.

My first few days were spent in Botswana's Chobe NationalPark.  An elephant carcass provided an early focus, as it was scoured, first by lions, later by a flock of fractious vultures.  

Elephants in Chobe River.

But the live elephants were even better, socializing near or frolicking in the Chobe River.

Ringside view of nighttime visit of elephants to waterhole at Nehimba Lodge, Zimbabwe.

Our first stop in Zimbabwe was Nehimba, a lovely small lodge perched on the edge of a waterhole calculated to attract animals in the day and night.  

Napping lions.

Lions again proved very entertaining, as they worked over an old carcass and then recovered from their labors as only cats can.

Rhinos at rest at Camel Thorn Lodge, Zimbabwe.

From Nehimba, we traveled by train (The Elephant Express) to Camel Thorn Lodge, in the shade of a Camelthorn tree. Here, we had to be cautious moving on or near the grounds.  The surrounding community is creating a preserve for endangered white rhinos and the area's first two residents seem to love napping at the lodge.  It's not everywhere that animals as rare and formidable as these can be approached (carefully) on foot!

Elephants at waterhole near Camel Thorn Lodge.

A waterhole near Camel Thorn provided my favorite elephant-viewing opportunity.  This was memorable partly due to the large number of elephants that showed up.  But even more compelling was the obvious glee exhibited by the young elephants as they frolicked in this waterpark of their own creation.

Young elephant and herd at waterhole near lodge at Jozibanini.

Our last and most isolated stop was the tiny lodge at Jozibanini.  This provided a variety of entertainments, most focused on the lodge's waterhole.  By far the most thrilling of these was the opportunity to view elephants from a ground-level blind adjacent to a favorite water source.  This provided a dramatic perspective along with the opportunity to view huge and highly charismatic animals at a range of inches.  Our trip couldn't possibly have concluded in any more dramatic and satisfying fashion!

RUTH ASAWA RETROSPECTIVE: Spectacular Hanging Wire Sculptures and Much More

Wire Sculptures, Ruth Asawa Retrospective, SFMOMA.

When I was in Oakland in August, I took BART to San Francisco to see the Ruth Asawa exhibit at SFMOMA, just before it ended. The exhibit, a retrospective of Asawa’s life’s work, will open in New York at the Museum of Modern Art on October 19. It is an amazing show, featuring not only Ruth Asawa's unique wire sculptures, but a wealth of her other work--drawings, paintings, and other media. 

Photograph of Ruth and her young son in front of a sculpture in San Francisco.

Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) began her art career at Black Mountain College (BMC) in North Carolina in 1946. In 1949 she moved to San Francisco with her husband, Albert Lanier, an architect, who had also been a student at BMC. They had six children! Ruth spent the rest of her life living and working in San Francisco and was active in the art community.

Meander, ink on paper, 1948-49.

The exhibit is arranged chronologically, and fills twelve rooms of the museum, beginning with her student work at Black Mountain College.

Ruth had a job in the college laundry. This design was created with the stamp that marked the college linens.

Folded paper design.

Throughout her early works you can see Ruth’s fascination with repetitive motifs, from folded paper, fabric designs, to pen and ink drawings.

 In these two pieces, one chair is defined with positive strong black strokes, the other by negative space.

Detail of chair. Created by repeated dabs of a felt tip marker.

Ruth’s first wire works were baskets, inspired by a trip to Mexico in 1947 where a craftsman showed her how he made egg baskets by looping wire.  

Early works--baskets.

But what has made Ruth Asawa famous are her hanging wire creations of all sizes and shapes--some with shapes nestled within one another, some exploding outward, some resembling giant teddy bears, others like tear drops or space ships, some elegant, others whimsical, and some even calling to mind an extraterrestrial! In room after room the hanging sculptures were the center of attention in the SFMOMA exhibit. Although suspended by wires from the ceiling, they seemed to float in space.

One large room of the exhibit reproduces the living room of Ruth Asawa’s Noe Valley house in San Francisco, which was filled with hanging wire sculptures and other works of art, both hers and those of friends. Many of the same pieces seen in the photo were displayed in the room at the museum.

 

Photograph by Rondal Partridge of Ruth Asawa's family in her living room.

Ruth loved her garden. Among my favorite pieces in the room were watercolor paintings of a geranium and a detailed drawing of a sunflower.

The exhibit is huge, with more than 300 works of art. Truth be told, my friend and I only looked closely at half the exhibit, spending the first two hours in the first six rooms looking at each and every item. By then we were starving for lunch, and walked quickly through the remaining six rooms in order to exit through the gift shop, stopping briefly to look at just a few pieces. We had a tasty lunch in the museum café on the fifth floor. We could have reentered the exhibit after lunch, but would have had to stand in a long line, so decided not to. In any case I felt I had a good experience and I knew I would enjoy the exhibit again and again as I looked at my photos at home.

Casts of Ruth Asawa's hands.