Unexpected Treasures

Posted by Evelyn Kanter Aug 22, 2006

One of the great joys of travel is the adventure of discovering an unexpected treasure.

I don't mean finding a 12-carat diamond on the sidewalk, or going on one of those newly-popular geo-caching trips with a GPS device and a list of hints. I mean the moment and the people that make a trip memorable, perhaps even the beginning of another journey entirely.

These are some of mine -

Hiking around Lake Titicacca in Peru, one of the world's largest lakes, my guide explained that "titi" and "cacca" are the ancient Inca words for rabbit and puma. The Inca recognized that as the shape of the lake, he said, a fact that was confirmed in the 1950s by the first satellite photos.

Shaking my head, I asked him the obvious question. How did they know? The Inca, he said, were able to rise out of their bodies and view the world from above.

Under a full moon in Anguilla, dozens of us, both residents and tourists, gathered on the beach to watch - and help - hundreds of endangered sea turtles hatch from their protected nests and scurry across the sand to the water. Many had brought flashlights to light their path to the sea.

I learned that the tiny turtles, small enough to fit in your hand (although nobody picked one up or touched one in any way), are genetically programmed to head for moonlight reflected on the water. The flashlights were aimed to light a path to the water, to prevent the babies from heading inland, toward the lights of the beachfront hotel and death in the sand. Each time a tiny turtle reached the gentle surf and paddled away, we cheered.

In Bangkok, I attended a dance performance by school children who charmed me so thoroughly that I had to thank each and every one of them with the traditional greeting of a slight bow and my hands clasped with palms facing one another, like they are at the end of applauding. The children returned the greeting, giggling and smiling, charming me to tears.

Driving across a broad valley in Wyoming, it was the rainbow that stopped me. No ordinary rainbow. This one was a double.

Hiking by myself along mountain path above St. Moritz, toward the famous Heidi hut, I turned a bend in the trail and came face to face with a cow. She was sticking her snout through the fence, maybe to get a better view of the people passing by. I stopped to talk to her. Then I started to laugh. Here I was in the in the middle of Switzerland talking to a cow.

Okay, those are some of my memorable moments that have turned my travel experiences into true adventures.

What are yours?