Salem: The Town that Paranoia Built

August 19, 1692. Rev. George Burroughs, a Harvard-trained minister, stands on a ladder perched against a tree in Salem, Massachusetts, with a noose around his neck. He begins to say the Lord’s Prayer in a strong sure voice. His very life depends on a perfect recitation since it’s believed that real witches are incapable of saying this prayer without making a mistake.

Burroughs gives a faultless delivery. The crowd begins murmuring in concern. Some are moved to tears. But Burroughs is hanged anyway. Another Puritan minister, Rev....

Travelling with my autistic son is both fantastic and formidable

I knew we were in trouble when a group descending the rain-forest trail we were struggling up were wearing helmets.

“It’s really steep and there are loose, falling rocks,” the guide explained, noting our bare heads.

Oops. We’d also forgotten to bring any snacks except for a half-eaten bag of tortilla chips, or an extra litre of water in what felt as though 40-degree heat. Our family jungle trek at Mayflower Bocawina National Park in Belize was threatening to turn into a major parenting fail....

SEAWEED SEASON

Sea vegetables are among the most nutritious plants on earth – and we are literally swimming in the stuff.

Go out to almost any island beach at low tide and you’ll see electric green sea lettuce and dark purple laver clinging to the rocks, fronds of frilly brown alaria (a.k.a. wakame), and salty sea asparagus at the high water line. Vast forests of kelp shelter small fish and other ocean life just off shore, and their wide flat blades and bulbous floats are often found washed up on the sand after a storm.

For the uninitiated, it can all seem like...

CHANTERELLES EARNS ITS NAME

Authenticity – and mushrooms – at this gem of a restaurant in Newfoundland

Bright orange chanterelle mushrooms seem to light the shaded forest floor before me like the flames of a thousand candles. The trail up Burnt Hill, a 260-foot-high bump at the end of Norris Point, is littered with them. Norris Point a small seaside town surrounded by Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Newfoundland’s western coast. I’m here for the views of the ancient mountains, the wilderness and the sea all around, so I didn’...

SAILING TO GOD’S ISLAND

We’re skimming the waters of Frazer Bay in Ontario’s Georgian Bay in a forty-nine-foot sailboat named “Summer Breeze”.

The quartzite LaCloche Mountains, their rugged slopes white as a February snowfall in the afternoon sun, reach skyward off our starboard quarter. Far astern we can see Killarney Provincial Park and Baie Fine.  Royal blue decorates the bay, mirroring the sky but for whitecaps scattered like lace collars across its wind-riffled surface.

Those landmarks inspired numerous paintings of the Group of Seven. No surprise there:...

Living on Cuban time: Island has its charms, challenges and breathtaking beaches

"No problem," our taxi driver Rodolfo says cheerfully and as he pulls the 1981 Lada we're riding in to the side of the road. The sputtering and clanging is just another unholy sound coming from the belching rattletrap of a car - seemingly held together with Bondo and wire.

Holding up his index finger, he gestures and says, "un minuto," and grabs a pair of blue mechanics' coveralls from the trunk to put over his clean clothes.

My husband and I look at each other a little amused -...

The ultimate list of aprés-ski spots in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains

Gliding through fresh powder, inhaling crisp mountain air and soaking in epic views from the top of a peak are par for the course at the world-famous ski resorts in Alberta, Canada. It’s no wonder the Rocky Mountains attract adventure seekers from around the world, even luring Europeans away from their own grand ranges to tackle our scenic and sometimes challenging trails.

But let’s be honest. As fun as a day of making fresh tracks is, many of us unapologetically look forward to the aprés-ski part even...

Adventure travel: petting wolves at Quebec's Parc Mahikan

Is it crazy to want to kiss a wolf?

I have no fear as I enter the enclosure; I've been waiting for this moment for most of my life.

Created in 2009 by Gilles Granal, a Frenchman who raises sled dogs, Parc Mahikan (Cree for "wolf") is an eco-adventure park in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec, in Canada, that offers a unique experience: interaction with wolves.

"I think all people who have sled dogs love wolves. It's a mysterious animal," says Granal, who, with his tattoos of the animal and...

Vancouver volunteer uses past skills as a cook to assist refugees

When my friend Laurie Cooper asked if I’d consider volunteering at a refugee camp, I didn’t hesitate. I wanted to do something for the Syrian refugees coming to Vancouver, but I couldn’t offer accommodation or much money. It never occurred to me that I could help at a camp on Lesvos, Greece.

I’m not a medical professional, translator or house builder, but I had plenty of experience cooking in restaurants and had started my career, coincidentally, at Yanni’s Taverna on the Greek island of Ios. It was...