Category Archives: Close Calls
Finding English speakers can be a little hit and miss in Oman. While some locals speak perfectly, others struggle to even understand our very basic attempts at pronouncing place names in ‘gringo’ Arabic – but it’s not for want of … Continue reading
The Shipwreck Drowned My Homework [Semester-at-Scream] |
In 1963, my wife and I set out on a round the world cruise with over 500 undergraduates in an old tub converted to a floating university. We approached Alexandria, Egypt in a storm so nasty that all the other … Continue reading
How to Survive a 1,000-Foot Fall [X Marks the Splat] |
He fell off with his ice axe tied to the back of his rucksack. “I remember at the start of it, from when I first slipped, trying to slow my speed; trying to slow myself down so I could hopefully stop. Every time I started to slow myself down I would go over a cliff and pick up speed again and as this process continued, I just kept going.” Continue reading
Grand Illusion [The Unfriendly Skies] |
My wife and I went to Vegas for our March break and decided to tour the Grand Canyon by helicopter. We took off from Boulder City and things were going great. The pilot was giving us the history of the … Continue reading
Ambulance, South America-Style [The "Doctor" Will See You Now] |
While on a family vacation in Porto Viejo, Ecuador, my 3 yr old daughter got sick. On the third day of our trip, in the middle of the night she started going to the bathroom out of both ends, if … Continue reading
I am a geneticist who was invited on a medical mission to Saigon. On day three of my month-long trip, I stopped on a remote mountain road to photograph a beautiful valley below. Taking advantage of the solitude, I stepped to the cliff’s … Continue reading
Pee Tree Dish [Water Water Everywhere] |
It all started with a drive. A drive consisting of 20 people packed into a fairly impressive 16-seater van. I found myself sandwiched between a frail granny buried under a load of groceries and a teenage boy whose cool demeanor was significantly reduced … Continue reading
The Death Grin [Surgical Tourism] |
The dentist grinned at me. He was missing teeth. Several teeth. He stood in front of a small, sturdy building in a dusty town in southwestern China, sharpening some kind of crude metal tools on a stone wheel. Like his … Continue reading
“Oh yes, we have Ciprofloxacin,” says the woman behind the drugstore counter. “You have typhoid?” “Not yet. There’s always hope.” I’m a little cranky after a bone-cracking day in the back seat of a bus crossing southern Tanzania, followed by … Continue reading
Reaching the top of Sanetsch Pass, long used for trade and warfare, it became impossible to find the Via Alpina until we dropped into a dairy farm for directions and found a sympathetic ear. The farmer, dressed in her white … Continue reading