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What: #53 Go Fowling

When: May 9th
Where: Hamtramck
Why: Late last December, as I was looking for new things to add to this year's list, a fortuitous article was published, catching the eye of a few of my friends that know I'm always on the lookout for local adventures. This adventure was dubbed "Fowling"...a combination of football and bowling, pronounced "foe-ling" and taking up residence in a warehouse in Hamtramck, a 15-minute drive from my place in Detroit. Honestly, I wasn't sure this was going to be my scene, but I was willing to give it a try; at most I'd be out $10 and a half-gallon of gas.

The open courts for $10 unlimited play!

Wow, I underestimated how contagiously fun this game can be!! At first, I think everyone entering the gates is a little apprehensive, but an hour or so passed and I was hooked. I was working up a sweat, aiming my heart out, perfecting my form, and even mentoring new players as they arrived on the scene. The games got so intense, I'm actually still a little sore!

The five of us rotated in and out of the game, getting challenged by onlookers, one of whom even got a BONK on his first ever throw. Trust me, that was a HUGE deal.

If you are out in the Detroit area at all this summer, you should check this place out. In fact, you might even make it into the documentary they are filming about it!

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What: #17 Check off a country I've never visited

When: April 11th
Where: Qatar
Why: When booking the flights to Nepal, a friend mentioned that she had recently used Qatar Airways when flying to Nepal for her honeymoon. This turned out to be a great way to spend time in a country that otherwise never crossed my mind. On the return flight from Kathmandu, the scheduled layover in Qatar was about 14 hours, giving us time to venture from the airport into the city of Doha and spend an evening wandering around an incredible museum, followed by a pleasant stay in a nearby hotel. All of this was booked through the airline as a special transit for passengers with long layovers. The airline provided the necessary entry visa, transportation into the city, and our accommodations!

In a book my friend Brittany bought me - 1000 Places To See Before You Die - it writes about the amazing collection of Islamic art housed in the museum in Doha. Having spent a fair amount of time in Islamic countries the past few summers - and a few weeks in the Middle East last summer - I was excited to see the variety of art on display, especially now that I know more about the symbolism and techniques and historical significance of many pieces. And I was not disappointed!

See me?

The museum was laid out very well, with the art displayed in a beautiful space designed by the famous architect I.M. Pei. The information added to what knowledge I already had, and the current exhibits were really interesting. We spent a couple hours there, and I could have stayed longer. If you ever find yourself on the Arabian Peninsula, perhaps for the 2022 World Cup, I'd recommend a visit!

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What: #84 Swim with another wild animal

When: April 8th
Where: Sapana Village Lodge, Nepal
Why: On my 2013 list, I checked off "Swim with Dolphins" and have wanted to find a way to swim with something else ever since that experience. Mostly, I was looking at other marine life, possibly whale sharks in Honduras or manatees in Florida. It didn't cross my mind that swimming with elephants would be an option, but then I traveled to Nepal and that all changed.

In the region where we visited, it is common practice to take elephants into the forests surrounding Chitwan National Park as safari transport rather than jeeps; the elephant scent masks our own, and animals aren't bothered by them approaching closer than a jeep could get to them. After the safaris, the elephants are bathed to keep them healthy and clean. The lodge where we stayed had their own elephants, and we were welcome to join them in the river and help bathe them!

The sight of a huge Asian elephant rolled on her side and splashing in the water was not something I was prepared to see, but she loved it! I'd climb onto her side, she'd roll up to stand up and I'd have to scramble to stay on; on this matter, I was not always successful and ended up in the river a time or two. To get back on, she'd lay back in the water or let me climb up by raising her back foot for me to remount. On her back, she'd shower me with sprays of water from her trunk while I rubbed down her ears and her head and her neck. Her mahout gave commands for her to roll back into the water and I'd scramble again to stay on, eventually getting pretty good at it! It was definitely a great way to spend a warm afternoon in southern Nepal!

She rolled and I rolled off...I got better!

Let's be honest, there's no graceful way to do this...

Chhop!

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What: #4 Go paragliding

When: April 6th
Where: Pokhara, Nepal
Why: Skydiving seems to be on a lot of bucket lists. To me, that holds no appeal. I just imagine the anxiety leading up to it would override any thrill it might hold. I know that most people say that once they've jumped, they can't wait to do it again. So, I'll politely decline and keep the spaces available for their next descent. In the meantime, I did still feel a desire to be in the sky, and have thought about paragliding for quite some time. When the opportunity arose to go paragliding with a trained rescued vulture, I was completely sold and started making plans to make it happen.

As plans fell into place, we started seeing more press about the Parahawking Project, which was developed to raise awareness of the need for vulture conservation in Nepal and India, and was recently featured in the first episode of the PBS series Earth: A New Wild.

Kevin...in the car...

The day of our flight, we spent the morning training on the ground with an Egyptian Vulture named Kevin, and learning calls and how to handle Black Kites in a falconry lesson. Holding these birds close to my body (and a bit too close to my eyeballs for my comfort) was incredible! Getting to see them in the sky was even more impressive.

Selfie with Damu, my fearless guide

Just as I was about to run off the launch area in the afternoon, I was starting to get nervous. Luckily, this was a tandem flight, so I could fully trust my guide - Damu - with my life as we hurtled into mid-air and hoped for the right thermal currents to carry us. This is where Kevin - the Egyptian Vulture - comes in handy. Watching for him in the air, it gave me a distraction to take my mind off the height, and it gave me a completely unique and amazing view of what these birds can do in the air. Anytime Kevin found a new thermal (his eyesight is incredible), we followed him, then we would call him to feed him a treat as a thank-you for his help. Each time he came in for a treat, he landed on my gloved arm, then took off again with such ease and elegance.


The views, the feeling, the entire experience are all very difficult to put into words, especially now that my memories of the trip to Nepal are so bittersweet as I read about the destruction and widespread suffering after the April 25th earthquake.

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What: #92 Take a falconry class

When: April 6th
Where: Maya Devi Village, Nepal
Why: Part of the reason I love travel is that I am exposed to incredible people doing incredible things all over the world. One such group of people is raising awareness of the loss of vultures (and other birds of prey) in Asia. Without the vultures in the food chain, many new problems have arisen and advocacy groups have teamed with governments to try to save the vultures. As part of this program, we were able to spend a day learning falconry and working with some of the amazing birds who are ambassadors for their ilk.

Part of the program was learning how to tie a knot from the bird's ankle wraps to the perch and to the glove. After quite a few tries, it was something I could do with one hand in just a few seconds, which would come in handy when working with the Egyptian Vulture "Kevin," sitting a centimeter away from my face and getting a bit anxious about why I'm fumbling with his wraps.

Next, we learn about imprinting and the importance of this for working with birds, making sure they are always comfortable in their surroundings to help them relax and conserve energy for true flight rather than expending it on futile attempts to take-off from the glove. We also learned about how to keep birds at their "flying weight"...hungry enough to want to do what they do in nature to seek prey, but fed enough that they stay healthy; not an easy balance.

Finally, we were able to spend time working with Black Kites. These birds are amazing raptors, much larger than the Egyptian Vultures, but much lighter. When Goggles - the bird I worked with for the afternoon - would come in to land, her wings would always almost wrap me up with their span, brushing her feathers across my face as she perched on my outstretched arm. Her incredible grace and maneuverability in the air is amazing to see from the perspective I had, watching her skim the ground, then back-up at the last second to land on my wrist.

The entire experience was educational and awesome, and has helped me to understand more about vultures and seek out opportunities to work with birds of prey in my own area.