Thick with cool mist and rolling countryside, surrounded on all sides by coffee but not itself a coffee town, the little mountain pueblo of San Rafael del Norte is one of my favorite destinations and one of the towns that best evokes for me the spirit of Nicaragua's rugged north. As we wrote in Moon Nicaragua, to know San Rafael del Norte is to know Nicaragua's history. General Cesar Augusto Sandino made this wild corner his home for a while as he staked out positions against the US Marines and formed his philosophy of rugged determination, nationalism, and independence. That his philosophy and name were later co-opted into the basis of the Sandinista party is another story, one that the locals certainly would not be much interested in hearing.

If I had to point to my one favorite place in all of Benin, I'd draw your attention to a place that doesn't show up on any maps, isn't mentioned in any travel guide, and a decade from now probably won't even still exist: our paillote at the edge of the Atlantic. Unassuming, uncomplicated, and thoroughly authentic, the paillote has been a place of refuge and of reflection since approximately our arrival in 2006.

I am extremely proud to announce the 3rd edition of Moon Handbook Nicaragua is already available for pre-order, and will be on the shelves of book stores everywhere shortly. When co-author Joshua Berman and I set out to write a guidebook to Nicaragua, we resolved to make it the book we’d have wanted to use ourselves when we first arrived in Nicaragua in 1998. To our great pleasure, our book has become just that - the authoritative voice on travel in Nicaragua and the best and most concise resource for planning trips throughout this growingly popular travel destination.

I'm happy to announce that "Travel Hacker," a travel writing aggregator, has chosen my website among its list of top 100 travel writing sites. This site is not about travel especially but rather about the nexus of travel, economic development, and technology. And being selected is quite an honor.

See it here.

Also see www.randymon.com chosen by TravelBlogs in 2007.

If you were to send back only one photograph from your trip to Benin, it would be of Ganvié. A lacustrian stilt village of fishermen, floating markets, and long, wooden canoes, Ganvié is in many ways, amazing. "The Venice of Africa" the pamphlets say, home to 20,000 who make their living by fishing and trading, and a lively market daily on board the graceful wooden pirogues that provide transport from the mainland.

Abomey’s reputation is larger than life, where you can still catch a glimpse of the throne set on human skulls, or the palace walls painted red with human blood. But in the kingdom whose kings descended from the son of a princess who slept with a panther, what impressed me most was left unspoken.