Great Travel Writing Always Surprises

I'm always in the mood for a great travel read, and of course I have my favorite travel writers -- Rolf Potts and Bill Bryson are at the top of my list.

And I love it when really good travel pieces show up in places I don't expect. For example, I recently read a great travel essay in Golf Magazine.

Now, I'm not much of a golfer. In fact, I'm not a golfer by any stretch of the imagination. But I picked up the piece, called Adios Fidel Hello Tiger, because it featured a rather large photo of Che Guevara golfing.

I was alerted to the piece by a follower of my other blog, Che Spotting, which showcases pictures of Che from all over the globe submitted by travelers. It's a sort of Where's Waldo web site, except the travelers are looking for Che not Waldo.

Anyway, the Golf Magazine article was a very well written piece about the state of golf in Cuba. Currently, there are only two golf courses in the country. Foreign investors, however, would love to up that number.

But of course (as the author even said in the story) no article about Cuba can discuss the future without discussing the past, and so first he chronicles the history of the island's golf courses.

There actually used to be a whole bunch, and the PGA even held tournaments there, but then Fidel played a round against Che, lost and got so mad he bulldozed all the courses except one.

Anyway...if you're interested in golf, Cuba or travel writing and have got some time to check out the essay, I recommend it.

Taming El Tigre in Nuevo Vallarta

One of the great things about being on a press trip is that you get behind-the-scenes treatment.

For example, today I got to pet a real, live, cute and cuddly baby Bengal tiger!

The tiger -- Junior -- lives at the "El Tigre" golf course in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. He's about a month old right now.

He was rejected by his mother, which is why he now hangs out in the golf course offices.

The golf course's director, Jesus Carmona, has a fondness for tigers and a flair for raising them.

A couple cages on the golf course house adult tigers Carmona rescued from bad situations. When those tigers breed, Carmona tends to the cubs until they are large enough to be transferred to a zoo that can care for them.

So far, about 70 Bengal tigers have been born at El Tigre golf course.

If you go golfing there, you can stop along the way and take a peek at the tigers. Or, if you're vacationing in the Puerto Vallarta-Nuevo Vallarta area, you can head to El Tigre for it's Sunday brunch and then see the tigers once there.