Travel is with all of us as a fundamental part of being human. On our journey we occasionally come to bridges. We stop in the middle sometimes and look around, watch the water flow by, gaze at the trees and the sky, and look to the other side. This "Intermission" Episode lies between what was and what will be. We look to the side where we came from during Season 1. We look to the horizon on the other side. As much as we like to think we know what it will be like, we do...
A few random moments walking in Africa. From the tent to the main dining area unaccompanied by a Maasai guard makes you look extra closely for any sign of movement. Hornbills in Kileleshwa. A Maasai Warrior discusses the process of taking on another wife. And another. And another. A chance meeting at Ace hardware (although it's hard to meet a Maasai Warrior there). This 35th Episode of the Metamo Podcast is a bridge of sorts - like the monkey bridges over the Lunga Lu...
Birds are special creatures. While there are no bees in this episode, there are cheetahs. How about you....Do you have a spirit animal? And how about a spirt bird? On this episiode we visit again with our dear friends David and Ronah. We give them a surprise quiz to see if we can stump them. We then go on a story safari with them to hear of a couple wildlife adventures from the field and beyond. Get your binoculars and get ready for white bellied go-a-way b...
The winds of travel can blow you all the way around the world and back again. And again and again. They can take you to a cafe in Uttar Pradesh or on a wild rickshaw race from Rajasthan to Kerala in India. It can take you to a fashion show in Nairobi where you have to piece together your 'best' traveling clothes into the best combination you can comically muster up. You end up on a boat off of Lamu Island fishing with string line for lunch along the mangroves and getting sea sick only t...
When travel gets in your blood, watch out. Life will never be the same. 9 to 5's exist in that other world far away - you toss up grass blades to test the wind more often. If the wind is blowing toward the southern hemisphere, you may travel in that direction. When it blows north, you are inclined to follow it back. The wind might even blow you to a German bakery in Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges River in India. You heard about this bakery from other travelers also following the wi...
Pool is like life in many ways. You can make a great shot but if you aren't planning for what comes next, or use the wrong or too much 'English,' ... watch out. 🎱 On this episode we travel from the smokey pool rooms of yesteryear to a most interesting room in India. We find a rich landscape of characters as we find ourselves in places and circumstances we were not supposed to be in but in reality we were. The hidden depths are like the pool balls that drop into the poc...
Have you ever accidentally left a restaurant without paying your bill? Only to sometime later and quite unexpectedly have the unintended discrepancy righted without expecting it? Life can be that way. The best moments we don't always recognize until years, if not decades, later. We have a lot to learn. From a booth in the lost in time 'Eff' Restaurant in Nairobi off of Tubman Road (which no longer exists), we begin a story that one would never imagine being a story in the fi...
Hospitality goes back to our primordial roots - welcoming strangers who brought news from the distant lands. Today it can seem like a lost art - a transaction rather the sparkle of humanity. In this episode we explore hospitality's roots but also go to where it is thriving today, in East Africa. Some say it's something you can't teach. If that is the case, those in the safari industry at the lodges, tented camps, resorts and hotels, are born with a great gift. As a tra...
We travel. We love life. We get up in the morning and walk outside. We go through our day in wondrous ways. When we pack out bags for a journey out into the world - whether it's to our job or on a great adventure beyond our borders, do we consider what non-material things we need to pack and bring along? Of course we don't want to forget our passport or our underwear but we also don't want to miss out on the richness that lies below the surface of the material world that we ...
Have you ever got mugged but didn't know it? How about ending up in a Russian hospital and being told you might have to find a different way home to America other than how you got there? From a small abode in El Salvador to the birthplace of the Beatles, we have some fun and mix it up with our regular co-host Bob Spoerl about his travels and life lessons learned. Even Bob is surprised at how travel has almost unwittingly influenced everything from his work to his music. To shake i...
In this episode Greg flies solo for the first time and gives us an overview of where we are on our Metamo Travel Podcast journey now that we have passed 25 Episodes. We take a look at the concept of travel, with all of its twists and turns presented to us along the way. The episode gives us a forest above the trees look at why we travel and how it can add quality and perspective to our lives. For good measure and to keep our bearings, a few stories are sprinkled in along the way.&...
In our 25th Episode, Greg describes a "typical" ride on his journey across Africa which was full of surprises. We learn how to make a certain kind of traveler's stew, seasoned with a spattering of languages, thickened with a certain ingredient, and thrown against the wall until it sticks. We meet the wives of a certain and forgotten Zaïrois owner of a flatbed truck, experience light inside a glowing pumpkin, and come out the other side of night into a magical scene. Hold on to you...
John Wanyokie spent four years at the Nairobi National Museum but his mind and heart are in the forests of Kenya listening to the magical sounds or out guiding on safari in the bush. John shares with us today his passion for conservation, wildlife, and how birds affect his life. John discusses the importance of travel and how following his Mom to work one day when he wasn't supposed to opened up new pathways.
Deep in a bustling and vibrant market in Nigeria, Jenna Adeleke shares a transformational moment in her life. In an instant, she knows just what she will do. The humanity, the energy, and the vibrant colors permeate her very being. Jenna would never be the same. The story really begins in America when she first meets and makes an instant connection with the love of her life, "Leke." In this episode, Jenna travels to Nigeria to meet her African family for the very first...
In this episode Bob and Greg probe the waters of the topic of transformational travel. At the heart transformational travel is the realization that the journey we are on is not so much an external journey but an internal one. One goes out into the world to explore and seek exciting experiences but transformation cuts both ways: the people you meet can be influenced by you as much (or more) than you are by them. Metamo's mission is to provide a more fulfilling way to tr...
Each wildlife safari has its own magic to it. You never see the same scene twice. In this episode Bob asks Greg to share an example of a memorable safari he has been on. They end up on safari on the floor of Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, patiently watching lions hunt a notoriously ferocious beast known as the "widowmaker." Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most stunning wildlife sanctuaries in the world. It was once a massive volcano which may have been even bigger tha...
In this episode we continue our discussion with Maan Alyagout. Maan describes how he was able to escape from Kuwait during the invasion by Iraq in 1990 into Saudi Arabia. A great storyteller, Maan continues to describe his journey that led him from the deserts of Arabia to the redwood forests of Northern California. Using his wits and diplomatic savvy, Maan escapes with his life with dreams of returning to Humboldt County, where we speak with him today. Like this podcast? Fol...
Our interview with Maan Alyagout takes us on a journey from the deserts of Kuwait, to the redwood forests of Humboldt County California, and back again. A great calamity befell the Kuwaiti people in 1990. The invasion of Kuwait ensues and Maan finds himself in the middle of the morass. Using his wits and diplomatic savvy, Maan escapes with his life with dreams of returning to the redwood forests of Humboldt County California - where we speak with him today. Like this podcast? Follo...
Today, we have a very special guest. Debbie Archangels is the host of The Offbeat Life. A podcast where she interviews travelers who ditched their 9-5 to become remote entrepreneurs and digital nomads. Debbie is also the founder of Howtocreateapodcast.com, a podcast consulting agency where she helps serious podcasters gain authority and income through their show.Like this podcast? Follow us and leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or just about anywhere podcasts are found! Just search f...
On this episode we welcome back two special guests, David and Ronah Saunders. David and Ronah share with us just a few of their favorite stories in the wild. Ronah describes coming across a den of baby hyenas (she really wanted to bring one back home!). David recounts one of their most exciting safari experiences in Maasai Mara where smart wildebeest calf runs directly to their safari vehicle attempting to avoid almost certain death from a coalition of cheetahs surrounding it.&nbs...