literature

Travel literature includes guide books, travel memoirs and the curious experiences that happen when you seek adventure.

Life and Death in the Extraordinary Makgadikgadi Pans
This photo was taken in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park in Botswana. It is a remarkable, remote place that lies southeast of the Okavango Delta and is surrounded by the Kalahari Desert. Following rain, the Makgadikgadi Pans become an important habitat for migrating animals and the large predators that prey on them. A dry, salty clay crust most of the year, the pans are seasonally covered with water and grass, and are then a refuge for birds and animals in this very arid part of the world. Most of the water in this area comes from the Nata River which starts in Zimbabwe near Bulawayo. A smaller amount of water is supplied by the Boteti River from the Okavango Delta.
By Helen Cannon5 years ago in Wander
Life as a Cloud
As a child, she would look at the sky and wonder what it would be like to be a cloud. To float on the breeze, fluffy and free - to see the whole world from so high above.
By Rebecca Massek5 years ago in Wander
Filming Elevator Idol & Where the Dancers live?
With the Alaska rule in full effect I was stuck on permanent night shifts fiming the onboard events and bar the scenic crusising once a week this was all I had to film for 6 months, so I could either half ass it like many senior videogs or go all in.
By Neil Gregory5 years ago in Wander
Afloat
If you are reading this that means I survived being Stranded at sea and lived to tell my story. My name is Maria and here is the story of the time I was stranded at sea.
By Vanessa Marin5 years ago in Wander
Diarist: John Ashbery
I discovered John Ashbery at Barnes and Noble in Ala Moana Mall. Of course, I had heard his name and wasn't the first person to "discover" Ashbery. But I had only heard his name in the genre of poets I should have already known, poets who were so important my ignorance was unheard of. I walked the two miles from my ship to the closest bookstore along Nimitz Highway, losing myself in the bright Hawaiian heat and my thoughts. The industrial, dusty ports turned into downtown blocks turned into the border between old and new: Kaka'ako, Ala Moana Beach, and the mall opened into new beginnings. When I arrived at the air-conditioned entrance to the bookstore I felt a marked difference between where I had come from and where I'd arrived.
By Joe Nasta | Seattle foodie poet5 years ago in Wander
The Remains
The sea was calm and Captain Hayes was relaxed as he took in the beautifully clear and sunny day. The last few days had been cloudy and unpleasant. The good turn in weather had lifted his spirits as well as the rest of his crew’s. They had been on the water for 40 some-odd days now, and they were grateful simply to be able to enjoy the good fortune in weather on their long journey to treasure cove.
By William Dean5 years ago in Wander
A Lamb Among Lions. First Place in Fairs Winds Challenge. Finalist in 2023 Vocal Writing Awards - Young Adult Fiction.
Her father kept her hair short, her face muddy and her clothes loose and dirty. He told her never to speak, never to make eye contact with the other men on the ship. If they ever found out she was a woman, there would be hell to pay.
By Nicole Deviney5 years ago in Wander
Patience
A colorful parrot flies high above Jack. “There it goes – the only color this island had,” he said. “This island is nothing but brown. Even the plants look faded.”
By Derek Evers5 years ago in Wander
Good Boy
The boy sat perched on the main mast overlooking the vast ocean. From the crow’s nest he had a 360-degree view of the merchant ship from about twenty-five feet above. “Three masts,” and “Darkness on the horizon,” he calmly repeated to himself, two bits of advice the Captain told him before sending him up the rigging for his first night watch. Since then, the boy had taken this advice to heart and was now on his third straight night incident free. Not bad for being only his fourth night ever on a sea-going vessel in his fifteen years alive. He was very green, and the last thing he wanted to do was let his Captain down. So, the boy repeated the advice and attentively did his job.
By Lane P.5 years ago in Wander
A Dream at the End of the Earth
1. Crocker Land: On First Sight It was 1906, the Arctic Circle. Admiral Robert Peary, explorer in round goggles, scuffed reindeer parka, snow and ice a mile thick under his feet and caked in his beard and eyebrows, had destiny and the end of the world behind him. He had come close to the North Pole, but his dash an exit across miles of rough sea ice, escaping the vast melting shelf with twenty-six dogs, four Inuit mushers, fourteen crew men, and his life, but without seven of his toes. It was another foiled attempt at reaching the pole.
By Beth Jones5 years ago in Wander
A Man By The Sea
Each evening, I sit here. Witnessing the golden sun, as it prepares to sleep far in the distance. Lighting the sky with a fiery orange and red glow. I hear the horn of the cruise ship "tooting" goodbye as it sails to the next port. Three times, as dictated by maritime tradition. In contrast, I notice an old sailboat that sits quietly in the horizon, small to the eyes, making its way slowly, gliding through the waves. It used to be a party boat years ago, full of life and music. Now, it just sails from one side of the island to the other. A ghost ship. Drifting away, every day. That's the passage of time, the passage of life. The wind guides it towards its destination. The same wind that, as a light breeze, brushes my face whispering a tropical melody.
By Marina Fortuño5 years ago in Wander
The Sailor's Song
"The Heart of the Sea, Trapped in time, I'll sing you back to me, Love of mine..." I see you, Sailor. Your endless search for me. That is perhaps the cruellest part of her curse. She allows me to watch you... want you. So close, yet just beyond reach. Our tether pulls me wherever you go but her curse holds me under. Never allowed to breach the surface.
By Jessie Waddell5 years ago in Wander