Finding Nature in New York City

I was born and bred in NYC. It pretty much defines me as a person - if I have to describe myself I would say New Yorker, animal lover, runner and everything else (all the way down to procrastinator and possible slacker)....I remember the New York of my childhood not being very green. Yes there was central Park abd Prospect Park but I don't think they were very safe in the 70's - or at least that's the impression I got growing up (and I think that was the time of NY's lowest period when it was actually unsafe to go to a park)...

I remember my parents driving me to see trees and forests - day trips out to the Island, upstate NY (Sterling Forest, Bear Mountain), and New Jersey come to mind. Hours spent driving well worth the drive to catch sight of a bird, a few bees or maybe a deer - I cdidn't care - I lived in Brooklyn where the only wildlife were the stray cats that I fed each day.

So it was with a new fascination that this weekend trip to NY to run the NYC half marathon turned into a micro safari of NYC green spaces - and oh what a difference a few decades make!

My friend Tobey and I woke up bright and early on saturday to grab a bagel and head up to the NYRRC, located on 89th and Fifth. Afterward, we decided to walk through Central Park, grab tickets for Shakespeare in the Park that evening and head onward for lunch. We stopped at the Shakespeare Garden - mostly because we were drawn in by the smell of flowers. Bees were getting drunk off of pollen - their little fat bodies full of the yellow grit. Pinks, oranges, purples - all the colors of the rainbow were there in a blaze of hues. We then walked to the Belvedere castle and turtle pond where we were greeted by - turtles! Strolling off the beaten path we encountered, dragonflies, squirrels, robins and waterfalls - was this Central Park? Beautiful!

Then next day after the half marathon we strolled over to the Highline. The Highline is about 10 blocks of old elvevated train tracks that were rusting and overgrown. A partnership was formed to turn this into yet another greenspace for the city and again we relished the warm air and the wildness of the daisies and vines that appeared wild and free amongst the brand new concrete paths still being laid and perfected.

I rounded out my experience at The Cloisters up in Ft. Tryon Park at the northern tip of Manhattan. Can I tell you that I had never been there - if I had I would have remembered it. The Cloisters are medieveal cloisters that the Rockefellers had shipped stone by stone to New York and reassembeled on the cliffs of upper Manhattan - such hubris! Such a blatant display of uber-wealth! Such genius! I have to say I'm not a museum person - I feel constrained - don't touch, don't speak...but walking through the gardens with little monk music piped in while I watched the bees and the trees and the gentle breezes was intoxicating!

Then as if this weren't enough, my friend Tobey and I topped my last evening in NY with a picnic in Central Park that evening along with a summer outdoor showing of the Sex and the City movie. Again - nature stepped in - well, more like pounced. She unleashed a microburst storm that actually demolished over 200 trees within that 30 minute freak storm. We certainly were intimately aware of nature that evening.

I love NYC - and what I love best is that even in the largest city in the world you can still find green (and I don't mean the Wall Street variety).

Latte Oasis

Jack and I had spent the last five days in the Kenyan Bush. Sleeping in tents, walking with Maasai, following cheetah tracks. This was the adventure I had always dreamed of – everything was perfect – a dream come true. Good simple food made with love, a gin and tonic at sunset, watching elephant families turn to tiny dark specks on the horizon, the sharing of two different cultures over a good fire. Abundant game to watch over the endless Kenyan savannah. Perfect, and yet…..my addiction started kicking in…Even though there was good strong Kenyan coffee every morning and afternoon tea, british style with cream and sugar, I couldn’t help jonesing for a latte. Damn you, Starbucks – your siren song encroaches even in the middle of my Out of Africa fantasy. I mentioned this nagging sensation for frothy milk to Jack- he looks at me like I’m a complete and total nutbag and says “no Starbucks here, my love” with a hint of glee in his eyes. Sometimes I think he would rather be married to a raging herion addict than the starbucks beast that he just legally attached himself to (hey a girl has her flaws – at least I use deodorant and shave my legs)…
I try to quell this latte fever by drinking lots of coffee. We are getting ready to fly to the Masai Mara this morning – it’s a two hour drive to the airstrip where we will get the prop plane to the Mara. We get to the airstrip and are told that our plane is having some mechanical difficulties and we have to wait for the afternoon flight…would we like to wait at the café? Café? Café? Did I hear….cafe?
Well shut my mouth – at this particular airstrip in Nanyuki, Kenya on the Equator there is a coffee bar and café named Barnie’s – respendent reggae music wafting from speakers and an entire menu of coffee drinks. Turns out that the British Royal Airforce has a location on the other side of the airstrip so this little Nanyuki airport is quite a busy hub. I order a latte and savor each rich frothy delictible sip. Ahhh….sometimes the Oasis comes to you….

The Perfect Sunset

I was going through some pictures today and I've found that, as many of us probably do, I have a huge amount of sunset shots. I have sunsets over Miami, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Kenya, Orlando, New Orleans, Bermuda, The Bahamas and more. I have good sunsets and not so good. Sunsets with people silhouetted in the foreground and sunsets with giraffe and elephant silhouetted in the foreground.

I have sunsets that are green and sunsets that are blueish. I have purple, red, yellow and orange sunsets. I even have video of the sun going down into the horizon from Mallory Square in Key West and from atop a hillside in Nanyuki, Kenya with Mt. Kenya in the distance.

What is my (our) fascination with sunsets? Well, I'll tell you my theory. As much as I hate to think that I might not be immortal, I might not be. There is the distinct possibility that we have only a finite time on this planet and that the time that we think is so abundant really is limited. We all get sooooo busy - working, going to the grocery store, paying bills, commuting. I suspect that there's not a place on this earth where people don't get caught up in the minutia that is day to day living - caring for children, spouses, pets.....working at jobs that are either unfulfilling or too stimulating - doesn't matter what we do - we're usually too busy to stop and look at the incredible miracles that happen around us every day.

So when we do have the chance to go somewhere and look at the sky turn yellow and purple and pink. We hope the conditions are perfect (there's no rain or tall person with a hat in front of you or loud screaming drunk or child ruining the moment). And we have a moment to stop and breathe and look and take it in.....
A sunset is the oldest and simplest miracle on earth - Ancient Egyptian Priests prayed each sunset to the Sun God Ra to bring back the sun the next day. The ancient Romans built temples to sun worshipers. The Aztec and Mayans worshiped the sun. There is something so primal, so natural about looking at the sunset.

A picture that no human could replicate is painted by nature each and every day. And maybe there is some primal instinctual fear in our darkest lizard brain that this could possibly be the last sunset we will ever see that makes us stop in our tracks and watch. And hope this sunset that we're witnessing is pink and orange and red and yellow.....the perfect sunset. The one to go on.

The Monkey Doctor and the Fancy Hotel

When we were in Nicaragua, we stayed in quaint little haciendas and bed and breakfasts. Each one was small and cozy with good food and cold drinks - everything you could want and nothing that you didn't need - just the way it should be. Jack and I tend to shy away from the large chains - I mean when you stay at the large chains you forget where you are in the world and why you're there - Jamaica turns into Cancun which turns into Costa Rica which turns into Miami which turns into Orlando - same towels, same pool with "yellow bird" being piped in, same, same, same. I think the entire purpose of going to another country is to really immerse yourself in the local ways - to eat in local roadside stands, to stay at a local b&b, to meet the people and to give money directly to the community instead of the Hilton family....

But, I did hear about this really cool hotel in San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua - a hotel set into a hillside, each room resembling a cave. Not a chain but a "western" hotel with lots of pools, bars, etc. So our last night in Nicaragua, after spending time on Ometepe Island with giant spiders, howler monkeys, cows, thousands of frogs and one very poisonous coral snake we decided to travel to the "touristy" town of San Juan Del Sur and stay at the Pelican Eyes hotel.

Nicaragua surprised me on many levels - it charmed the living daylights out of me - and the roads for the most part were smooth and well signed. Until we turned off for San Juan Del Sur. We turn off the beautiful Pan American Highway at the sign for San Juan Del Sur - 50km. Well, that's close....not! The roads were nothing short of red clay and rocks just large enough to break the axle on a rental car. After what seemed like forever on this really dusty hot road, we stopped at the ice cream man (see picture of the ice cream man and his ice cream bike). and had a delicious cold treat.

We finally get to San Juan Del Sur and the Pelican Eyes Hotel. Beautiful hotel set into a hillside cliff with the most amazing vistas of the bay of San Juan Del Sur and the Pacific Ocean. We get the keys to our hacienda - which is beautiful. What is disturbing, though, is that directly in front of out door there are some little howler monkeys on harnesses. Further investigation shows me a little boar in a cage, some chickens and some ducks. Animals in cages? A mini zoo? I run to the front desk to confront these people - if they have monkeys for the benefit of tourists I am so outta there! So the woman at the front desk see this American hellcat in front of her as I confront her about the monkeys. Yes - that is our rehab facility, she replies. For our veterinarian. Would you like a tour of our animal hospital? That shuts me up as I nod yes.

I am escorted down some rock steps to what I would like to refer to as "my waking dream" - kittens and chickens and monkeys. Dogs and birds lying together, walking around, healing. I am greeted by an volunteer who shows me around. I spend the day there and the following day I am introduced to Maya. Maya is a six month old howler monkey orphan. She will be raised by hand and loved until she is about two or three, when she is sexually mature. She will then be released to have her own life and family back in the wild. Male monkeys, however, cannot be released - they would be ganged up on - hence the monkeys on the property.

The Stones and Waves clinic is unique in that this beautiful hotel funds part of the operation and gives them much needed property. What a wonderful idea. In countries like Nicaragua, animals are not treated kindly. Like the story of one of the monkeys on the property that almost had his arms and legs macheted off by a drunk. Or the stories of boys throwing rocks at monkeys for fun. Or the poisoning of cats and dogs. The vet at Stones and Waves is not rich, In fact he joked that he's still paying off his student loans - and he's middle aged. What a wonderful man. What a wonderful place.

I still think about beautiful Maya - her baby breath that smelled of banana and mango. Her teeny little hands touching my ear and her little tail wrapped around my neck as she fell asleep on my shoulder. I think about this perfect little creature and how there are people in the world that would want to harm her. But there are also good, good people who would give up a big house, a new car every few years and creature comforts to live in a poor country to help save her and her kind. I think of Maya, who by my calculations should be ready to be free to make her own monkey babies in the Winter of 2009. And I think that one day, as she plays with and grooms her own sweet baby monkey, she will tell her child about people and how some of them can be good.

Please visit http://www.piedrasyolas.com/swvc_eng.htm for more information on this wonderful clinic and to donate much needed money to their efforts to build a new monkey enclosure for the monkeys that are rehabilitating and those that cannot be released into the wild again.

Zebra on the Runway

On our trip from Nanyuki to the Masai Mara, our little airplane was grounded due to mechanical problems. This happens all the time everywhere (I should know - I'm married to a pilot). So our short 45 minute flight to the Mara turned into an air odyssey around Kenya.

We took off from Nanyuki to Samburu Intrepids and then Samburu proper. Two stops on two airstrips. Just fascinating to watch - flying into the Abadares, watching the rather forest like Nanyuki turn to desert by air, flying so low that you could see the ancient volcano craters, long extinct, turn to green velvety valleys. Giraffe and elephant turned to toys, marching across the plains.

From North (Samburu) we headed back to Nairobi where we had a few hour layover and were treated to lunch for our troubles at the Safarilink lunch counter (a delicious curry vegetable plate and mango juice, thank you very much..). I tried my best to turn into ugly American Tourist and raise hell that our entire day was shot....but I absolutely could not be angry with anyone in Kenya - the people are so gracious, so polite, so well mannered at the airport. They apologized first, sent cars for us, changed our return flight to the afternoon so we would have a day on the back end and offered me a coke light so how in the world could I ever be angry? Nope. Life is good, I am in Kenya, I am surprisingly happy for a long layover and several hundred miles of travel north to go south....

We finally make it to the plan to the Mara. This, of course, entails another four stops before our airstrip. We take off and head for the Lake Navaisha area. We fly over the Kibera slum in Nairobi - tin roofed shacks after tin roofed shacks..then the well manicured lawns and English gardens of Karen - the home of Karen Blixen of Out of Africa fame. Out of the Nairobi airspace we enter the Great Rift Valley - home of some of the most important discoveries of the origins of man. Indeed, this really looks like where the origins of mankind should be. In fact, it's strange but setting foot on African soil, you feel some primeval force telling you you are home. Call it your molecular cells remembering the air, the smell, the way the sun shines on this enormous land stretching out to forever, but you do feel like you have come home. Go to Africa and experience this yourself.

We pass more extinct craters, hills and lush green valley. More beautiful than can be imagined is this land. Coming upon Lake Navaisha - a beautiful lake, actually smaller than my imagination of it. We make a final approach and there it is - a freaking ZEBRA trots on the runway just as we are getting ready to touch down! Now I have the dual fortune and misfortune to be married to a pilot - because when he's calm I know everything is good - but then again if he even so much as flinches and lets down his "captain" guard for a nanosecond, I know we're screwed - and Jack flinched and pulled up on the imaginary yoke - just as the pilot flying this prop plane did the same thing - causing luggage to fly, people to be jostled and plane to go straight up to avoid messy and bad head on collision with said Zebra! Whoa - I'll say one thing about the US - we have no Zebra hazards on our runways.

We approach for another landing, this time Zebra free and drop off a British honeymoon couple, take off quickly (before the Zebras come back - they're watching at a safe but close distance just off the runway - perhaps there are some delicious plants growing off the runway but clearly they're waiting to reclaim their spot on the dirt runway.

Back in the air(Zebra free) , we head for the Mara, Porini Lion Camp and LIONS!!!!


Never have I seen anything that just makes me hang my jaw down stunned and floored by the sheer beauty as I have in Kenya. Can you fall instantly, hopelessly, in love with a land that you've only know in your dreams? Yes, but only if the reality meets your incredibly high expectations. The expectations of a child dreaming of wild animals and endless vistas. Kenya not only exceeded my expectations, but brought me right back to that little girl who dreamed of meeting Elsa the Lioness. I am now, and forever will be, in love with Kenya.

Key West - The City at the End of the Country

I LOVE KEY WEST. I love driving to Key West. I love the freedom I feel every time the Florida Turnpike ends and I start the drive south and west on the Overseas Highway. Key West is everything that Miami lacks. Let me first say that I do like Miami. I don't love it because how can you love something that really has no soul and no identity? Miami and Miami Beach are the supermodel of cities - heartbreakingly beautiful, put together, lovely to look at, wonderful for a one night stand but try to talk to her about art, or culture.....and.....? Yeah. I know that Miami is really trying to have a great art and culture scene. I give props to my friends who work hard at having Miami being taken seriously as a cultural capital but after all the galleries, the concerts, the happenings - Miami Social comes along and kills any good press with a swipe of a perfectly french manicured fingernail.

But enough of Miami....I want to talk about Key West. Strangely enough, a lot of my South Florida acquaintances think Key West or the Keys, for that matter, is really a euphemism for the Tiki bar in Islamorada - NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!!!!! Stop! The Keys and Key West is so much more than that! Let me explain.

For me, the drive on the Overseas Highway is nothing short of the drive to freedom. Best done in a convertible (alas, my little LeBaron died), any car will do in a clinch. For the drive it is a requirement to put on the Margaritaville channel on Sirius radio (a Jimmy Buffet or Bob Marley CD will work fine, too). Leave your attitude in Miami or Weston and drive. I like to drive slow, stopping for a wonderful conch chowder at The Island Grill http://www.keysdining.com/islandgrill/, This, by the way is part of the real Islamorada - not the Tiki Bar. And it's not that I'm getting old - I always hated places that reek of pre-mixed pina coladas and vomit. Always have. Even at 20.

After a satisfying pitstop to refresh and have a little chowdah....it's heading south. This is where the scenery turns brilliant. take the time to stop at a parking spot and look down into the water. You'll be treated with manta rays, grouper and lobster - fantastic! I love to look at the old railway tracks and stop at the Hurricane Memorial in Islamorada, just south of the Cheeca Lodge.

Before the Seven Mile Bridge, I like to stop into The Island Fish Company for a brewski (just one - another 50 miles to go) and some conch fritters. Yes - this trip is all about eating, drinking and walking. Soon we're on the famous seven mile bridge - where I still marvel at running it on foot. But you can drive - most people do. Then we get into kitschy territory - The Dolphin Research Institute, The Turtle Hospital (complete with turtle ambulances), and the giant pink shrimp mobile (i don't know....I just don't know).....

My next favorite is the Key Deer sanctuary area. We always pull off the road to look for these amazing little dog-sized creatures. And we always spot one or two. So beautiful.

More bridges, more islands....the islands getting smaller and the bridges more and more frequent in the lower keys. The Gulf on your right and the Atlantic (really Florida Straits) on your left. Until...Key West!

We always stay at the same Bed and Breakfast, The Popular House. It feels like home to us - large and pink with cedar walls and funky decor. Our room has a giant fake Gauguin oil as a headboard. In Key West, there is of course Duval Street - known for bars, bars, and.....bars. But there is so much more in Key West.

Look at the houses - nearly every one is a historic site with a story. There is the Little White House the vacation home of Truman. The lighthouse, The Audubon House (OK - Audubon never lived here....but he might have)....The Hemingway House where you can see and play with Ernest Hemingway's famous six toed cats.....The Southernmost Point (only 90 miles to cuba), Mallory Square with the Sunset Celebration and the amazing acts that perform every day (tips are really appreciated and well earned). You can have a margarita at the original Pan Am building, (Now Kelly's a restaurant owned by Kelly McGillis), an incredible meal at Michael's (my favorite posh spot), or go looking for ghosts (my personal favorite thing to do)....

I love Key West. I like picking a side street and getting lost among the scent of honeysuckle on a warm summer night. I like finding a new restaurant (like The Cafe) and hunkering down to a Nice lazy lunch. I like listening to a cover band at Sloppy Joe's, knowing I am walking in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams. I like visiting the cemetery and shouting a hello - half waiting and half dreading a reply. What is it about Key West that attracts the strange, the artistic, the eccentric and me? Maybe it really does feel out of touch with the rest of the country - anything goes here - the politics and the social moires of the rest of the country don't matter here. Maybe because there is sea air from everywhere and gentle breezes blow eternal. Maybe because it is so different...yet so welcoming.

And so, after a boat trip to see dolphins, some absolutely amazing clam chili at Alonzo's Oyster bar and a sunset ale, it's time to drive back to Miami....Back to life, back to reality....