Volcanoes, Pygmies, and M23

I was worried I might need to cancel my field trip in the eastern Congo, and the Foreign office travel advisory was less than reassuring: We advise against all travel to eastern and north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The only exception to this is within the towns of Bukavu and Goma, where we advise against all but essential travel. In Bukavu and Goma we advise against travel at night and to avoid travelling alone at all times.

A Short Walk in the High Sierras

The mountain Sequoias are the most massive trees on the planet, with a deeply furrowed scaly bark of a beautiful red. They tower over two hundred feet and an old postcards shows a carriage driving through a hole cut in a tree a hundred years earlier.