Erik Trinidad

Dragons may usually be creatures of fantasy, but after docking at Indonesia’s Rinca Island and setting foot beyond its boardwalk, my friends and I found ourselves in the presence of not one, but two. And as if this wasn’t already a fortunate chance encounter, what happened next was even more astounding...

Hiking down a rainforest trail in Indonesia’s Tanjung Puting National Park, it wasn’t long before I spotted in the distance the creature I had journeyed all the way to Indonesian Borneo to see. An orangutan mother was carrying her infant on her back and walking down the boardwalk of a research camp in the middle of the jungle...

Considered by some to be the “Real Africa,” less-visited Zambia offers numerous excursions, from fishing in the Zambezi River to swimming at the edge of Victoria Falls...

Woody vines — like the ones in a Tarzan film — dangled from the canopy as we hiked up the bog, the soles of our boots caking with mud on each step.
Adventures in central Africa’s rainforests are not known for cleanliness, but trekking up the sloppy foothills of the Virunga volcanoes — with the heat, humidity and bugs — was well worth the effort. At the end of this morning hike in northern Rwanda, we were rewarded with the presence of a family of mountain gorillas...

Curious eyes peered at me from just above the surface of the river. Behind them, a wiggle of wet ears spattered water away. The features moved slowly and cautiously toward the boat I was floating in, its engine off so we could hear the sounds of nearby African frogs and kingfishers. And then, those lurking eyes and ears raised to reveal the entire head of a hippopotamus: first, its round, protruding nostrils; then, its massive mouth — the largest mouth of all land animals. Suddenly, its jaws ...

The Loire Valley is known as the “Cradle of the French,” as its vineyards and fairytale scenery are a classic representation of the French countryside. The valley’s green landscape, nurtured by the waters of the Loire River, was as much a draw for the royalty of a former era as it is an attraction for tourists today...

When I was biking in Spain along the Senda del Oso — Spanish for “Trail of the Bear” — I thought it was just a cute name for a casual path through a scenic valley. I didn’t realize that on this trail I would encounter an actual bear — the Cantabrian brown bear — namesake of the greenway...

When I signed up for a day excursion that included a visit to a farm in the tropical countryside of Thailand’s Chiang Mai province, I knew our midday meal would be a true farm-to-table experience — a trend already popular in eateries outside farmland. However, when Nu Hanupongsamartsim and his young daughters Nadia and Jija met me and my friends on the side of the road...

Centuries ago, before Old World Europeans knew of civilization across the Atlantic Ocean, the Canary Islands were considered the “edge of the world.” This volcanically-formed archipelago, now one of the autonomous regions of Spain, has a unique geography, geology, history and, above all, culture — especially in its food. It’s a hodgepodge of heritages, fusing Spanish, North African Berber and, surprisingly, Cuban and Venezuelan, now that the New World has been “discovered”...

“Get ready to shred the red!” said George Miraval, a mountain biking maestro of the auburn desert landscape of Sedona, Ariz. If not for the gray streaks in his ponytail, I might not have guessed the age of this youthful and enthusiastic septuagenarian. Part Berkeley hippie (he studied there in ’69) and part extreme adventure enthusiast, Miraval has Native American blood — and thus has ties to the sacred Native lands of Sedona. He was the perfect guide to lead me and a group...