The Most Sublime Sunsets In The World

Sun salutations: MSN ran my advice on the best places to linger at twilight.

Land-Cruiser ad-hoc bar, near Joy's Camp, Samburu, Kenya. Image copyright www.amandacastleman.com. 

The Globe's Most Spectacular Sunrises

Morning glory: welcome dawn at ten stunning spots I covered for MSN.

Taipei 101 – now the world’s tallest green building (LEED Platinum) – rockets up from Taiwan’s cityscape.  Image copyright www.amandacastleman.com.

Towel Day and Britain’s Sci-Fi Festival Scene

Brits have deep historical roots, but many just can’t stop looking at the stars, as my latest Yahoo article explores.

Two weeks after Douglas Adams' death in 2001, readers began drying their tears with a show of solidarity. Now, they fly their towels each May 25. Image courtesy of Jill Furmanovsky and www.douglasadams.com.

The Zen of Cruising New Zealand's Coastline

Not every journey needs hardship to have meaning. In fact, seafarers have more often sought out good luck and still harbors. I grip my greenstone fishhook pendant, a gift from a Kiwi friend. Hei matau, the Maoris call it. A symbol of safe passage across water.

Read more of my spring Travelgirl feature on cruising New Zealand: pdf or via the magazine's digital version, pages 54-62.

My latest Travelgirl feature covers the 14-day Holland-America New Zealand Discovery cruise, which includes Milford Sound and Napier, the world's Art Deco capital.

Happy Trails In The Sonoran Desert

Today I groomed a horse until he blissed out and scratched his face on my belly at Tanque Verde Ranch near Tucson. Then we hit the arena, slaloming, doing barrel turns and even loping (well, a few steps, at least). Slowly, slowly, the tension from being bucked off two years ago, while on a cattle drive in the Cascades, starts to fade like an unambitious dust devil.

I may not be pirouetting like the Harmony With Horses Instructor Lisa Bedient – one of the finest riders and teachers I've ever seen. But I still bowleg out of the corral ready to enjoy, not just endure, rides again.

Harmony With Horses Instructor Lisa Bedient at Tanque Verde Ranch near Tucson, AZ.
Image copyright www.amandacastleman.com.

Lake Monster Mania: 80 Years of Nessie

The super-awesomest quote that sadly didn't make my Yahoo piece on the 80th anniversary of the first modern Loch Ness Monster sighting: "I took my boys -- aged 9 and 13 -- on a two-week expedition. We had a wonder-filled time," says Loren Coleman, director of the International Cryptozoology Museum. "Then they both went back to school that fall in Portland, ME, and had to write a 'What I Did Last Summer' essay. 

"The oldest son's teacher called up and said, 'I believe we have a mental health problem here. He thinks he went monster-hunting.' 

"And I said, 'no, that's really what we did'."

Cornbread And Saguaro Blossoms in Tucson

I rode a chestnut gelding along Saguaro National Park at sunset, then hit a cowboy cookout at Tanque Verde Ranch. This dude abides...

Dinner in Cottonwood Grove, near Tucson, AZ. Image copyright www.amandacastleman.com

Sunny Service In Phoenix's Historic Distric

Revving up for a research trip at Shine, a micro-cafe in the Willo...

Shine fledged from a 1957 Airstream to a brick-and-mortar spot on 10 W. Vernon Ave.