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Stories by James Michael Dorsey

Mali: my almost nomad wife

In my capacity as a travel writer, I journeyed through much of Mali's Sahara Desert with the fabled Blue Men in the years before it was desecrated by Al-Qaida. For two thousand years, Tuareg nomads ...

Magic lives in Kanas

It doesn't get much more foreign than here.

Magic lives in a remote corner of China. In the northwestern corner of the country, where a bony finger of land divides the land from Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia, the traveler will find myth, legend ...

Leopard Lessons from the Maasai

A tribal education in the Kenyan bush.

Spending time in Kenya with my Maasai friend Moses was an education in animal behavior. Wandering through the bush around his village together, he would point out tracks and scat, patiently explaining to this greenhorn ...

The Fetish Market in Lomé, Togo

One-stop voodoo shopping.

The fetish market in Togo, Africa, is a one-stop shopping paradise for witch doctors and medicine men – as well as a must-see for tourists. This dusty lot in the center of town covers an ...

Caution: Whales at Work

Up close and personal with gray whales in San Ignacio.

Our whale-watching excursion in San Ignacio, Mexico, turned into a close whale encounter in the literal blink of an eye. On the Pacific side of the Baja peninsula, there is a large lagoon where gray ...

Riding with the King in Burkina Faso

I had been photographing for about two weeks in Africa when I heard about a king. Africa has many kings, and I've met more than a few, but had never before sought one out. Africa's ...

Cambodia's Khmer Legacy

Beyond the tourist sites are Buddhist shrines hidden in the jungle.

The temples of Cambodia arguably stand alone as the finest blending of art and architecture in the world. Most people are aware of the monumental achievements in building championed by the Greeks, Egyptians and Mayans. ...

A Priceless Photo in Timbuktu

Posing as a Tuareg nomad.

When you travel far enough for long enough, sometimes very cool things happen that sound like a far-fetched story to many. I have traveled both long and far enough. Photographing in Mali, West Africa, I ...

Cambodia's Creepy Crawly Market

A "Bizzare Foods"–like quest in Siem Reap.

While on a recent visit to Siem Reap, Cambodia, to see friends, I got to know my tuk-tuk (taxi) driver rather well and relied on him to take me places most tourists don’t get to ...

Tanzania: Meeting the King

On safari in Tanzania, a close encounter with the king of beasts moved from a wonderful experience, to an ordeal, then finally a funny story. Spotting a pride of lions, our guide parked us within ...

Kanas, China: Following Genghis Khan

See ancient monoliths erected by Khan's Mongol army.

In the northwestern corner of China, where a pointed finger of land pokes into Russia and separates Kazakhstan from Mongolia, the last physical remains of the army of Genghis Khan stand watch. The area is ...

Groovin' with Bob in Ethiopia's Danakil Desert

After a week of photographing remote volcanic lakes in the desert of Ethiopia, Irene was tired and elected to stay with the vehicle while I went to shoot one last thermal pool. Assured of her ...

Xi'ian's Silent Army

Once in a great while, the simplest of acts, even performed inadvertently, can have far-reaching effects. In Xi'an, China, there is a massive army that has stood in silent formation for more than two-and-a-half thousand ...

How to Hunt a Lion

(As told by Moses, a Maasai tribesman.)

After two years of invitations, I finally made it to Africa to visit my friend Moses, a Maasai elder, at his village in Kenya. That first night, while sitting around a fire, he offered to ...

Moscow's Love Lockdown

There is an old Russian folktale that says that in days gone by, young married couples were locked inside a granary shed for privacy during their wedding night. True or not, it’s a story that ...

Giving Face in Kashgar

It was my final day in Kashgar, China. I had all the photos I needed and was ready for a good meal before catching my flight out, when I noticed a tiny man sitting outside, ...

Benin, West Africa: Begging for an Education

In the first century A.D. a Christian mystic named Augustine said, "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read but the first page." Those words have guided a great deal of ...

Tonlé Sap, Cambodia: What's in a Word?

Winston Churchill once said the Americans and British are two peoples separated by a common language. The more countries I visit, the more this seems to be true around the globe. For better or worse, ...