What We Loved This Week: Bajofondo, Rattlesnake Cake and Leaf Peeping

Travel Blog • World Hum • 10.10.08 | 4:31 PM ET

World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

David Farley
Having not been in the States for the last couple autumns, I’ve missed the foliage-changing spectacle that takes place in October. So last weekend, I rented a car and headed north, stopping in Lake Placid, New York and getting a room at a lake front hotel (the High Peaks Resort) that happened to offer rooms with great views of the burnt-orange hills. But little did I know there’s a name for people like me who have traveled in order to look at pretty colored trees: leaf peepers. I might have been the only leaf peeper in Lake Placid last weekend who didn’t require a cane or who went to bed before 8 p.m., but I was proud to join the leaf-peeping ranks for a few days.

Eva Holland
This week I headed into the Gatineau Hills to check out some new zipline courses for a story. I’m not a fan of heights, so I stayed on the ground—but I did love the drive in through some fabulous fall color.

Jim Benning
I’ve been enjoying Bajofondo, short for Bajofondo Tango Club, which I only just discovered, though they’ve been around for several years. They’ve been variously described as South American fusion and tango-electronica, though I’m not sure either description fits all that well. Guests like Elvis Costello, Nelly Furtado and Julieta Venegas sing on tracks. Gustavo Santaolalla, whose haunting film compositions I love, is a member. They were recently featured on NPR’s World Cafe. Here’s video of a song called “Perfume”:

Lola Akinmade
I loved rediscovering Idealist.org all over again. As I started compiling my ever-expanding list of possible 2009 volunteer locations (now at letter “M”—Mongolia, Mozambique, etc.) for some photojournalism work, I needed a one-stop shop to help centralize my search efforts. Opportunities offered through the site range from volunteering as photographers with local Red Cross satellite offices to executive management of nonprofit and aid programs across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It fed my wanderlust—and served me a heartwarming spoonful of service and volunteerism.

Julia Ross
This morning I attended Taiwan’s “Double Ten” National Day celebration and watched a parade of Chinese lion dancers, American-style cheerleaders, hip hop dancers and marching bands troop past the Presidential Palace in Taipei. A curious scene but emblematic of Taiwan’s openness, good humor and unique cultural mix, which is what makes this island so wonderful. Happy Birthday, Republic of China.

Joanna Kakissis
Rattlesnake has never topped my must-eat-before-I-die list. But last week, the parents of a very good friend took me to the Red Lion Restaurant in Boulder, Colorado, which specializes in wild game dishes. Our meals were a carnivorous spread of wild boar, buffalo and elk, but I was especially intrigued by the “rattlesnake cake” appetizer. It looked like a giant crab cake, but tasted oh so much spicier. And, yes, it was very, very yummy.

Michael Yessis
Flaming Lips tourism. Steven Kurutz toured the band’s “compound” in Oklahoma City, which he describes as a “do-it-yourself version of a Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie House.” It’s singer Wayne Coyne’s home, and it’s exactly the kind of place I envision an experimental guy like him living. It contains, for instance, a pink rubber floor. It’s not open to the public, but fans apparently do make pilgrimages to pay tribute to the man who leads some of the most extravagant and imaginative music shows I’ve experienced, as evidenced by this clip with the giant astronauts and the dozens of dancing Santas.