T H I S+W E E K Veritable Venice By John Krich A summer resident savors the city's eternal spirit -- and contemporary contradictions Australia by horseback By Pippa Gordon Here's a novel way to see Queensland -- and to share a mother-daughter journey D E P A R T M E N T S Road Warrior By Don George Adventures of the Business Traveler The Surreal Gourmet By Bob Blumer L'eau de vie: Cognac with every meal > Mondo Weirdo Hippos in the night Readers' Tips and Tales Lost in the Sahara - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Your virtual travel agency - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LA S T+W E E K Tuesday, Sept. 16, 1997 Lost in the Sahara By Jeffrey Tayler A simple overnight trip becomes a battle for survival A N D Dunescapes By Pamela Roberson A desert portfolio A full list of all Wanderlust articles

in this week's Mondo Weirdo tales, readers rove from European bars to African tents. Send your amazing and amusing bedtime stories to wanderlust@salonmagazine.com. Sweet dreams! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hippos in the night I once slept in a tented camp (illegal, I think, and no, I won't name the safari outfitter) in a secret grove of trees on the banks of the Mara river in the Masai Mara reserve. After an elegant dinner eaten al fresco at a candle-strewn and wine bottle-laden river's-edge table, punctuated by laughter, bonhomie and great friendship, we retired to our tents, serried in ranks under the trees, each a few feet apart. The low, gutteral grunting cough of the lion and the high, rising whoop of the hyena made up our somewhat eerie bedtime serenade. At around 3 in the morning, I was awakened by a deep snuffling and the sound of something heavy and ponderous moving between the tents. A peek out the mesh of the tent-fly showed that some hippos, tails flickering and heads down, were moving between the tents, scant feet and a micromillimeter of canvas from my cot! I remembered the saying, "Never get between a hippo and the water," and the fact that hippos are responsible for more human deaths than any other African animal! My heart pounded, my breath was shallow -- I would have liked not to breathe or beat at all as the great behemoths moved through. But move through they did, lumbering past without incident, no doubt considering our tents to be great, oddly shaped rocks. We got no further sleep that night. -- Steven Hightower - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Off the map Did you know that rural bars in Europe often have at least one room available for rent? My wife and I often stay at such places. I suppose they are intended for inebriated customers, but they are cheap, and anyone can rent them. You have to ask; usually they are not advertised. Anyway, we rented a room at a bar in Switzerland and went to bed early, tired from a long day of alp-climbing. Then the locals showed up! They brought accordions and cow-bells and heavy dancing shoes. The door to our room opened directly into the bar, so there was no avoiding the loud music, but it was good! We stayed awake to listen. What else could we do? I even propped the door open with my shoe for a better acoustic effect. A Swiss lullaby!? On another occasion, we were driving on the autostrada along the coast from Genoa toward Pisa, Italy. As usual, my wife drove while I studied the map. I knew right where we were. I knew, for example, that we were not near a town or even near a highway exit. She announced that she was tired and ready to stop NOW, and said, "I'm going to pull off here," as she took a highway exit that was not on the map. We followed a little road through some hills to a village where there was a pensione. The place was solid marble -- the floors, walls, ceilings and roof were entirely made of polished marble (fortunately, not the beds). It was an amazing building, but I couldn't direct you to it because it is, well, not on the map. -- D. McCain - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Floating in and out of sleep Ketchikan, Alaska. The sky darkened ominously at about 7:30 p.m. My friend and I were tired after a full day of traveling from Prince Rupert, B.C. We decided to turn in early in order to get a good start the following morning. All night I dreamed that I was floating on a raft in the middle of the ocean. The sun was warm, but the water was very cold. It was quite pleasant basking in the sun, as long as I didn't let any appendages slip into the glacial waters. I felt like I had to curl up more and more tightly to avoid getting wet. When I awoke, I was floating on my air mattress, in water 4 inches deep, still in my tent. -- T. Murray Sept. 23, 1997 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - How about you? Do you have a weird travel tale to share? Send it to wanderlust@salonmagazine.com. And join our Table Talk discussion on travel and food.

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