Israel, Egypt, and Tanzania
UMRA member Paul Letourneau takes us on a safari in northern Tanzania and Brenda Knapp-Polzin shares photos and insights from a 2023 family trip to Israel and Egypt.
Israel, Egypt, and Tanzania
Wed, Nov 20, 2024, 10am
UMRA’s next Armchair Traveler program will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 20, via Zoom. Paul Letourneau will take us to Tanzania, and Brenda Knapp-Polzin will share photos and insights from a 2023 family trip to Israel and Egypt.
“Our cruise to Israel and Egypt in August-September 2023 included my 92-year-old mother, Virginia, and my husband, David,” Brenda says. “We travelled from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and then on to Egypt, including Cairo, Gisa, Luxor, Valley of the Kings, and Aswan. Shortly after our return, Hamas attacked Israel. I look forward to sharing highlights of our trip and will try to provide some insights into the unrest and displacement of refugees from this region.”
Here is how Paul describes the two-week trip he and his wife, Carol, took with two friends in 2009, visiting five national parks in northern Tanzania: “In the care of our driver-guide Wilfred, we drove across the savannah and into bush and woodlands to see, up close, the large mammals and beautiful birds that are highlights of African wildlife. We also visited a village of the Maasai people, who lead a pastoral life herding cattle and goats. My images and short videos will provide a brief summary of our safari.”
A Zoom invitation will be emailed to all UMRA members a month before the program and a reminder will be sent a week before. I hope you can join us.
—Lynn C. Anderson, Armchair Traveler program chair
Upcoming Events
"Third Wednesdays in the West Wing" is a pilot program for spring 2026.
The UMRA Breakfast meeting on Thursday, April 16, will be a discussion of technology for older adults: what works best, what is confusing, and what are the best resources for seeking help.
UMRA’s Book Club I will discuss Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean when it meets via Zoom on Friday, April 17. Diane Madson-Kay will lead the discussion.
On April 20, we will welcome guest leaders Bion Beebe and Linda Bjornberg from Twin Cities Hiking Meetup, to show us their favorite trails from the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge trailhead in Bloomington.
The satisfaction of eating food that you grow or tending a plant that gives you beauty is nourishing in every way. And, according to Terry Straub, the guest speaker for UMRA’s April 21 workshop, we can have this satisfaction throughout our lives, our changing abilities, and wherever we live.
Across 15 years, Ilene Dawn Alexander has made at least a dozen visits to England and Wales, all with longer sojourns in Manchester and Liverpool. Each journey has disproved the dismissive description of Manchester as “the armpit of England.” Join UMRA’s Armchair Traveler program on April 22 to learn what Alexander has discovered what these outside-of-London cities have to offer.
Ever wonder what goes on behind the shiny walls of the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus? What its mission is, and how the museum staff and its collections relate with our community? Join us for UMRA’s April 28 luncheon forum at Midland Hills and hear Weisman Art Director Alejandra Peña Gutiérrez explain it all.
May 4 is a beautiful Urban hike around Minneapolis’ Cedar and Brownie Lakes.
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Peter Moe, retired University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Director and UMRA member, will lead this hike.
Third Wednesdays in the West Wing" is a pilot program for spring 2026.
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Michael leads this hike at Afton State Park.