Beth Arnold

Need A Dose of Nature? An Exotic Spa? Try Wildfitness in Kenya

Image by angela7dreams via Flickr

Crossposted at the HuffingtonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

We took off our running shoes and walked barefooted along the path, which included the bed of a clear stream of water that I would call a creek. Smiling women in colorful dresses, balancing bundles on their heads, and men and giggling children met us along this liquid footpath. The rivulet was a sidewalk that nature made, not that I would've ever known it if I hadn't been led there and experienced it myself--if I hadn't seen others using it for what likely might be a daily trek.

I've traveled a good bit around the world and usually find something captivating about the places I visit. Like others who have wanderlust bred in their bones, I find that seeing new vistas and cultures expands my sense of self, as well as of the world we live in. It nourishes me on what I believe is a cellular level, and self-nourishment was why I had come to Africa. It was the reason I had found Wildfitness for a fitness/spa holiday. But until I got there, I had no real idea of how sustaining and expanding Kenya would feel to me.

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Letter From Paris: Paris Plage

Image by Pierre Numérique via Flickr

Paris Plage
July 20 - August 20
from Quai du Louvre to Quai des Celestins, Right Bank

If Parisians can't go to the sea during summer holidays, then the seashore comes to them.  Palm trees and sand are placed along the Seine along with mounds of comfy lounge chairs.  From fishing, swimming, and dancing to sun-bathing, petanque and Tai Chi, Paris Plage comes to life each year with fresh design and energy.  Cafes and kiosks offer refreshments, and bicycle newsstands are pedaled up and down the rue to tempt sunbathers with newspapers and gossip mags. 

Don't we all love a trashy beach read!

Letter From Paris: Men in Skirts

Image via Wikipedia

The August vacation has begun.  Masses have fled their Parisian homes for the country or for beaches more exotic than their own.  It's looser in Paris in August with the city emptied out.  Are the museums less crowded?  It would seem so--as the whole city does.  One can almost imagine hearing a pin drop on some streets, especially and most delightfully on Sundays.

While the cats are away, the mice will play, up and down the rues--with some even setting out their dinner tables on the street, when a light breeze blows their way.  And sometimes one will find men, or in this case, male mannequins in skirts.  These were on the rue Tiquetonne: