Published in: Red Deer Advocate - February 7, 2017

Corocodile Rock

Costa Rica's 111-kilometer long Tarcoles River is one of the most polluted water bodies in Latin America. Plastic and paper litters the brown water's edge and is embedded in the muddy banks. When seasonal floodwaters recede, ribbons of trash demarcate high water points. Sewage from interior cities and towns drains into the river. It is a horrible place to swim.

But if you are a crocodile the warm, nutrient-rich water are a feeding bonanza. Dozens of American...

Published in Red Deer Advocate, December 14, 2013

I always thought bird poop was something you wiped off your car or clothing as fast as possible. I never knew it was worth money, but for a few years in the late 19th century 80 percent of Peru’s income was derived from seabird droppings or guano.

Peru has been described as the ‘birdiest’ county in the world. With over 1800 species it rivals Columbia for most species, but Peru has more endemic species and more species counted in a single day.

Not only are the birds a visual delight, they are...

Published in Get Lost Travel Magazine, April 2014

The piercing scream is sudden and unexpected, stopping us in our tracks on the muddy trail. An ugly confrontation is in progress nearby, but only the gnashing and growling makes it beyond the impenetrable wall of bamboo. Moments later, the prize we’ve been seeking for days stumbles out of the forest. It’s dirty and bloodstained, fresh from a brutal mating battle, but it’s the real deal: a rare giant panda.

We’ve come to the wilds of central China – the Foping Nature Reserve, high in the Qin Ling...

Published in Montreal Gazette, July 14, 2014

Rik Dow apologizes. He’s guided us up the highest mountain in the American northeast for a panoramic view, but we’re shrouded in pea soup.  “I’m disappointed for you folks that the clouds aren’t cooperating for scenery,” he says.  “But they’re cooperating to show off the weather we’re famous for.”

At 1,917 metres, New Hampshire’s Mount Washington sits in a magical kingdom of peaks and valleys. Wild rivers course through.  Shades of green escape counting.  It’s so jaw-droppingly picturesque that painters (...

Published in the Globe & Mail, November 1, 2011

Where sustainable meets sybaritic    Eco and luxe have always sounded as compatible as granola and caviar. But Mustique, the Caribbean’s most glamorous private island, has become a leading destination for green luxury. We go behind the scenes to find out how they do it

M ustique Island is so fashionable British designer Anya Hindmarch created a custom canvas tote emblazoned with “Mustique Green.” On this small private island, part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, eco-friendly is the new glamorous. But, in...

Published in Western Living, April 2013

Former Fairburn Farm chef Mara Jernigan has decamped to remotest Belize, where she’s cooking up an eco-tourism and culinary retreat for chocolate, coffee, rum and fly-fishing connoisseurs.

I'm at Willy Wonka’s jungle lair: a spice farm in the lush Belize rainforest, under a shady colonnade of pepper trees, with Mara Jernigan. “I’ve been a chef for 30 years and I’d never seen what some of these things look like, where they come from,” marvels Jernigan, one of a handful of foodies who brought the ...