Heading deep into the jungle on a tributary off the Marañon River in the Northern Peruvian Amazon.
We are floating on a giant water salad. Thick, green plants that look like bok choy surround our dugout canoe and stretch infinitely before us on a small tributary off the Marañón River in the remote Peruvian Amazon.
Read MoreDawn on the Marañon River, Northern Peruvian Amazon
Within the last six months, five oil spills from a single pipeline have contaminated the indigenous Kukama communities of the Northern Peruvian Amazon. Last month, we attempted to visit two of these sites in order to document the effects and to tell a more complete story of the true cost of oil extraction in the rainforest.
Read MoreRafting down the Colorado
Hiking out of the Grand Canyon — 8 miles, 5,000 feet — felt like re-emerging from a quiet haven inside the earth to stand again atop the soil of civilization. Back up here it's a hot and crowded mess. Everything feels excessive. Everyone seems oblivious. The chaos is distinct after having been so deeply peaceful and disconnected. It feels like I’ve been gone for months, yet it's only been seven days.
We saw so much in those 90 miles rafting downstream.
Read MoreDriving across the southernmost coast I realize that New Zealanders are clean orderly people and that there are not many of them (just 4M compared to 37M in the state of California alone). There is no trash strewn about, there are no garbage cans in public places (not even gas stations), and there are recycling bins, even in the most remote hard-to-get-to locations such as Milford Sound. This observation is shocking considering that a developed city like San Diego does not even have a recycling program.
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