Still Gravity

Sir Richard Burton portrait and signature in the book - Image: Public Domain.  Wanderings in Three Continents is a fascinating book for those who like travel, exploration, and adventures.  In this text, Sir Richard Burton recounts his trip to Mecca disguised as a merchant in 1853, the journey through Somalia and Ethiopia in 1854-55, the expedition searching for the source of the Nile to Lake Tanganyika from 1856 to 1859, a trip to Utah in 1860, his adventure in the old kingdom of Dahomey and Congo in 1863, the incursion to the interior of Brazil in 1867, and the archaeological venture to Palmyra, Siria, in 1870.   The Victorian globetrotter had a life of amazing adventures, being many things at the same time: traveler, erudite, adventurer, writer, translator, geographer, soldier, spy, and also a controversial soul.  What a résumé! And add that it's said that Sir Richard Burton spoke twenty-nine languages. If true, this alone would be an amazing accomplishment.    Like the preface

Entrance to the western side of the Southern Glades Trail, Florida - License our images  here .                          Unplanned stop at the trailhead of Southern Glades Trail halfway between Homestead and Key Largo. We dismounted the bikes and explored first the eastern side. A wide gravel trail - a dirt road - shadows the C-111 canal up to the sea. This was the Aerojet Canal, the one that company built in the 1960s to transport on barges the big rocket engines produced at their Homestead facility - now abandoned. Two miles later, the trail ends at Manatee Bay. The point was covered by trash left by the fishing crowd.  We returned to the trailhead and rode one or two miles on the western side. In that direction, the Southern Glades Trail runs for 13 miles - 26 round trip. It ends near the entrance of Everglades National Park. This route travels through Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area, a remote