Wedged between cattle country and sheepherders is an oft overlooked patch of land at the base of the Crazy Mountains where the elementary school in Melville, Montana stands as one of only 60 rural schools still open in Montana. With a density estimate of one person per square mile, Melville easily fits the label of rural. It might sound like I’m bragging, but I attended second and third grades in Melville’s two-room schoolhouse. My mother taught grades fifth through eighth in

The Diamond S Ranchotel is more than a place to me. It’s a character in BOOTSTRAP. Surrounded by creaky floors, dusty carpets, and aged wood paneling, I learned to navigate adult challenges that, up until I was sixteen, were unbeknownst to me. Located three and a half miles south of Boulder, Montana, the Victorian ala mission-inspired architecture once attracted politicians, wealthy businessmen, and celebrities to its natural hot springs. The three-story building was built, e

While practicing the dog trick, Leave It, with my seven-year old pup, I unexpectedly learned to regulate my own impulsive reactions and...

Read the poem here.

For one day out of the year, Incans from all four corners of Peru journey to the Moray in Sacred Valley and pay homage to Mother Earth,...

Before last week, I had never been to an insane asylum. Maybe I still haven’t been to one. Much has changed since my grandfather was...

On the first day of Camp Nyota, our awareness is high. We want to learn everything we can about the Maasai people in Tanzania from our...

Unedited Concert Review If there was any doubt Fleetwood Mac could pull off another great concert tour without their original lead...

Ten minutes after we’re met by our driver, he pulls the jeep over to show us a mother and baby elephant feasting on an acacia tree....

Our lives are in danger every time we step out of our tent past 6 pm without an Askari, Maasai escort. The unassuming protector wears a...

We happened upon another pride not related to the Rekero Brothers or the Minoka Ladies. Altogether four prides rule the more than forty...

The story of Naboisho Camp’s lions begins long before this Spring when these mating videos were taken. Camp Naboisho’s managers, Andrea...

Not all Giraffes are good kissers. Edd, the large male and sire to any offspring born at Nairobi’s Giraffe Center, uses a lot of tongue....

He’s with the Amahoro Gorilla Family and he lives in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. As a juvenile, he’s full of fun and games. This I...

The Rwandan jazz performer sings the American classic, “Stand by Me,” to the twenty tourists and business people sipping drinks at the Kigali Marriott Hotel Bar in July of 2018. I’m struck by the irony of her heartfelt melody. On April 6, 1994, no one in the world except 10 Belgian soldiers and 2 United Nation groups from Ghana and Senegal stood by Rwanda as one million, many of them women and children, met their brutal deaths. At the time, the United States still reeled from

Leo (our chow mix) knows something is up. The suitcases are out. He doesn’t care that we’re leaving. He wants to leave in the car too....

It’s Labor Day and we’ve been on our computers all day. Dave is taking a break from mapping our twenty-one-day journey in Eastern Africa...