St Thomas US Virgin Islands: A New Way Forward for Island Paradises?

We arrived in St. Thomas US Virgin Islands in the middle of the night in early December, after months of rain in beautiful Brazil, lacking both sleep and luggage.  In the morning, gazing out at the clam-shaped white sand beach and hundreds of miles of perfectly clear but also brilliantly turquoise Caribbean Sea, we found ourselves unable to do more than gaze at the beauty all around.

Finally, we ventured in to Charlotte Amalie; and, though some of locals pledge gratitude for the cruise ships and role they play in sustaining the local economy, were disturbed by the grotesque ways in which they have shaped the fabric of the city -- turning it into a kind of a luxury goods outlet mall for those voracious floating cities -- (a pattern, sadly, that we subsequently saw replicated in many other islands we visited).  Knowing they often now carry more than 5,000 passengers, generate 50 swimming pools of waste per week, dump that waste just 3 miles offshore (destroying precious marine life in the process); sometimes hit, damage or even destroy the coral reefs they should be seeking to protect, and are shaping local island environments, economies and culture in ways that benefit the tourists they serve but not necessarily the communities they exploit and transform -- we were concerned to hear that St Thomas was considering expanding its port to allow more ships, and even bigger ships (grotesque "mega ships") into port.  So we were relieved to hear that in March of this year, the West Indian Company suspended plans for Long Bay Pier, the proposed new $65 million cruise ship pier in St Thomas Harbour, citing "potential negative impacts on the quality of life of Virgin Islanders". We hope this decision will mark the first of many similar such decisions, that put the environments of these pristine and ecologically important parts of the world, and quality of life of their local residents first.

Here's to travelling lightly and with respect in this world, and to such new beginnings for the world's islands, and her plants, animals and people.

Brazil: O Pais Do Amor e Magia

Brazil is, truly, a dazzling beauty.  With 60% of the Amazon rainforest, 1/3 of the world's unique species, more than 2,000 beaches and iconic natural and man-made wonders such as Iguazu Falls, the magnificent statue of Christ the Redeemer, exuberant Carnival, sultry boss nova, the iconic Copacabana, Ipanema and hundreds of other beaches, and endless other wonders, Brazil's beauty and diversity surprises and delights.

We were blessed to spend time in Florianopolis, and were awed by its more than 40 beautiful beaches, and the serene beauty of Campeche beach, ("our beach"), during "the blue hour".  In Curitiba, we enjoyed the beautiful gardens and extraordinary art in the Oscar Niemeyer Museum.  In Salvador, the centre of Afro-Brazilian culture in Bahia state, we wandered the cobblestone streets of Pelhourinho, stood slack-jawed in the baroque beauty of  Convento Sao Francisco, and absorbed the pulsing energy of the batuque drums on "Music Tuesday".  And in beautiful Rio, we gazed in awe at the statue of Christ the Redeemer, the sun and life of Copacabana and Ipanema, and the heart-rending view of the city beneath a pink-blue-mauve mist from our perch on Sugarloaf Mountain.

In Brazilian Journal, the memoir of her time in Brazil, poet P.K. Page asked: "Does place alter person?  Its like falling in love -- with the country itself."  And Designer Francisco Costa said: "Brazil is not what you see, but what you feel."  For us, Brazil's most dazzling beauty was this: the lovingkindness shown to us by wonderful Brazilian people who welcomed us warmly, generously shared their homes and life with us, and are now cherished friends, who we "feel with our hearts".

Here's to appreciating and savouring beauty, wherever we are blessed to find it, and treasuring the greatest beauty of all: love, and "the dissolving boundaries of our narrow human self."

Buenos Aires: El Tango, La Vida

In Buenos Aires "poetry came in search of us".  We fell in love with our serene pied-a-terre in the heart of Recoleta, and spent hours strolling the tree-lined streets, wandering among the beautiful tombs and walkways of Recoleta Cemetary, and watching the world go by from cozy cafés.  But it was the inimitable tango -- the pulse of Buenos Aires itself -- that taught us the lessons that Buenos Aires had to teach.

One rainy evening, we took a tango lesson at El Beso, and later learned that our beautiful and very patient instructor was none other than the marvellous Maria Plazaola, final partner of the late, great Carlos Gavita.  That experience was a lesson in grace, awe and humility.  But another tango experience had even more significant lessons to teach.

On a blustery Sunday, on our way up the stairs to the tango matinee at the famed tango dance hall La Confiteria Ideal, we paused out of respect behind an elderly gentleman struggling to walk up the stairs, and then gasped in amazement to see him glide with ease across the dance floor when the music began; a lesson in both passion and perseverance.  But life in Buenos Aires -- where to live is to tango, and tango just might save your life -- is like that.

Martha Graham once said: "Dance is the hidden language of the soul"; and, in the late-night milongas still active all over Buenos Aires, portenos wear their souls on their sleeves.

In honour of Buenos Aires, here's to living, really living, to discovering the hidden language of our souls, and to dancing, even when we don't think we can.

Chasing Neruda: Chile's Pure Poetry

Stretched between the Andes and blue Pacific, Chile is a country of soaring contrasts.  From the faded elegance and history of Santiago to Valparaiso's candy colours and shipping-container corrugated metal; from the salt plains of the Atacama Desert to the lush vineyards of Vina Del Mar and astonishing beauty of Patagonia -- at times, it seems as though "it is all here".

For us, Chile was, first and foremost, the birthplace and home of Pablo Neruda -- the land of "kisses and volcanos"-- the country that (eventually) loved its poet, whose poet loved it.

No trip to Chile would for us be complete without making a pilgrimage to Neruda's Santiago, Valparaiso and country homes; so, making the pilgrimage to La Chascona, La Sebastiana and Isla Negra we went.  And, though Neruda's homes, more than most, reflect the peculiarities and eccentricities of their owner, they also contain much that reflects Chile itself -- unique treasures, contrasting settings, shapes and styles, and a peaceful, eternal reference to and reflection of the sea.

Neruda famously said that "poetry came in search of him"; recognizing the poetry in these places, with Isla Nedra his favourite, he said: “Bury me at Isla Negra/in front of the sea I know, in front of every wrinkled place/of rocks and waves that my lost eyes/will never see again.”

Here's to having poetry come in search of us; and, whether that be the case, or not, to find it -- in ourselves, in the people we love, and in our cherished corners of this beautiful world.

Costa Rica's Pura Vida

We were blessed to travel to Costa Rica earlier this year, and were thrilled to do so -- because of what we understood about both the country's singular beauty, and it's record of environmental protection.  After all, Costa Rica is the birthplace of both modern eco-tourism and the "pura vida" lifestyle and approach, right?

The country's extraordinary natural beauty -- green parakeets flying from tree to tree, a whole family of howler monkeys warning us to keep away from baby, and climbing up into the tall trees, and two green turtles mating in the big blue Pacific -- was indeed both humbling and inspiring.  Sadly, beginning on the plane ride home and since, troubling details about CR's environmental stewardship (or lack of same) have started to emerge:

-- A new documentary film appears to provide troubling evidence of shark finning organizations operating with impunity in the country;
-- A report in today's "Tico Times" raises concern about the Government's decision to green-light the export of hammerhead shark fin (a species on the Red List of Endangered Species) to Hong Kong;
-- More troubling still, a report in today's Guardian indicates that in May 2013, 26-year-old environmental activist Jairo Mora was murdered; and, since 1989, the murder of 10 environmental activists have gone unsolved. 

Margaret Mead once said: "We won't have a society if we destroy the  environment."  It's not fair to ask Costa Rica to do more than its fair share, but is hard to imagine a country whose economy is more closely connected to and dependent on, the fate of this beautiful planet and its unique marine and land species.   And, as home to six per cent of the world's biodiversity, Costa Rica's environmental stewardship is something on which we all depend.

We are indeed all interconnected, to each other, and to every other living thing; now, more than ever, we need leadership based on that critical fact.  Here's to recognizing our inter-connectedness and the fragile state of our ailing planet, and finding ways to support each other to save the planet, and save ourselves.

Time To Heal and Create

I am way behind on the "documenting and reporting on places and travel" that I had intended when I started this blog.  But some mysterious force keeps pulling me in and down to some previously unknowable place -- even as I look out, with amazement, at this magnificent world.

When we embarked on this journey, I had a deep hunger for time for healing, time for prayer for people and this world in need of healing, and time to create.  And each day, I am seeing the very close, even intimate connection between these three.

In "The Artist's Way", Julia Cameron says; "Art may be the finest form of prayer....In the art of creation, the Creator reveals himself to us, and we too are revealed to ourselves as something of the divine...The heart of creativity is an experience of the mystical union."

In her iconic poem "Summer Day", Mary Oliver suggests that even the act of taking note, of marvelling at this fascinating world, is a form of prayer: " I do not know exactly what a prayer is/But I do know how to pay attention/How to fall down in the grass/How to kneel in the grass/How to be idle and blessed/Tell me, what else should I have done?/Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

I am deeply moved by these comments, and by the experience of finally starting to create; and am hoping the act of doing so may serve as my prayer and offering for the world.

So here's to finding time to take note of this beautiful world, to falling down in the grass, to being idle and blessed, to being fully present in this wild and precious life, and seeing the spark of the divine in it, and in all of creation.

Bluetrue Baja

We spent the first weeks of our journey (outside of Canada) in a place that we love and have been dreaming about for years: beautiful Baja.

Baja is the blue true dream -- the place where electric blue sky meets aquamarine Sea of Cortez, which marries the brilliant blue Pacific at El Arco ("Land's End").  It is "La Frontera" to the locals, "the world's aquarium" according to Jacques Costeau, and one of Dr. Sylvia Earle's top "hope spots" -- critical to the health of the ocean, "Earth's blue heart".

Baja is the place where, with limited means but great heart Francisco Mayoral ("Pachico"), managed to protect the magnificent gray whales and San Ignacio Lagoon by reaching out to fellow fishermen and to poet and environmentalist Homero Aridjis.

It is the place that inspired John Steinbeck to say, in "Journal of the Sea of Cortez: "....all things are one thing and one thing is all things -- plankton, a shimmering phosphorescence on the sea and the spinning planet and an expanding universe -- all bound together by the elastic string of time."

We left Baja in August with full hearts, and some concern about the fragile state of its oceans, and developing communities.  Two days ago, we were heartbroken to learn that a violent hurricane tore up the peninsula, leaving devastation in its path.

We know two wonderful organizations whose work will be critical to Baja's healing and regeneration.  The Todos Santos Palapa Society (www.palapasociety.org) believes the future of the pueblo resides in the education and welfare of children, and provides scholarship, educational, medical and environmental programs for local children and families.  Mission Blue (www.mission-blue.org) is working to save the world's oceans by creating "Hope Zones", a network of protected marine areas similar to our land-based National Parks, starting with zones in The Sea of Cortez.

So this is our love letter to and prayer for beautiful Baja -- that we will work together to help her to heal and rebuild, by supporting the good work of these and other wonderful organizations, and that she will recover fully, and be a blue true dream, Earth's blue heart, for generations to come.