A trek into the Great Plains to hunt nature’s most elusive predator

By Jenna Blum

OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL EVENING it is in the Oklahoma Panhandle, five miles west of Guymon. The sunset blazes orange, cattle graze on yucca flowers, prairie grasses wave serenely toward the horizon.

At least, on one side of Highway 412.

On the other, a massive Supercell thunderstorm rotates low over the land.

Black and purple, with a bright green heart of softball-sized hail, the circular storm bears uncanny resemblance to an Independence Day spaceship. Vans, Doppler-radar trucks, and emergency vehicles zoom along its periphery like ants rimming a giant carousel.

On the storm’s underbelly, ragged clouds start twisting into a drill bit. Over the CB, on “chaser channel” 146.520 MhZ, meteorologist “Dr. Bob” Conzemius tells four vans of hopeful listeners, “It’s reorganizing.”

Sure enough, the drill bit elongates into a crooked finger pointing toward the ground. All along 412 breath is collectively held. If that snaky green funnel touches down, it’ll become the Great Plains’ most feared and destructive weather phenomenon: a tornado. (more…)

Though Chile is known for its laid-back attitude, it doesn’t take long for one to discover its vibrant culture.

By Matt Stabile

Let’s just say I was already feeling a little light-headed before I found myself thousands of feet in the air, looking out over the Andes Mountains. Buenos Aires is not exactly known as a sleeper-friendly city, and the last five days for me there were no exception. So by the time I got to the Airport for my 5:45 flight to Santiago, Chile — after only heading to bed a few hours before — my head already felt like I had been aloft for several hours.

I was initially going to spend my entire trip in Argentina, but after finding out that my friend’s brother was living and teaching English in Santiago, I decided that I might as well try to see as much as I could in the time I had in South America. There are plenty of daily flights between the two capitals but no discount airlines operating in either of those countries, so I booked a ticket through the large Chilean airliner LAN for US$250.

On a bus ride back from San Antonio de Areco to Buenos Aires I met a trio of girls from Colorado who’d been backpacking around the continent for the last three months. The girl sitting next to me began showing me pictures on her camera and we came across some incredible shots of the Andes from her flight to Argentina. I told her I was flying out the next day and she recommended getting a window seat to get the best view. So the next day on my early-morning flight when the stewardesses disappeared behind the first-class curtain before takeoff, I sneaked into an empty window seat in the bulkhead aisle and promptly leaned my head against the window and shut my eyes, avoiding any impression of impropriety. (more…)

Young travelers are flocking to Buenos Aires to experience its non-stop nightlife and vibrant culture, at a fraction of the cost of other cities

By Matt Stabile

Let’s face it, in the last year or so, travelers have been talking more and more about Argentina: the best place for nightlife, the best place to visit with a weak American dollar, the best place to see before it’s overrun with tourists. Not one for putting things off too long — and with winter just around the corner — I booked a flight to Buenos Aires to find out first-hand what all the talk was about.

Back in August, while exploring various sites, I came across an unbeatable deal — US$550 — on a flight to Buenos Aires from New York on American Airlines. (After taxes and various other fees that his particular web site tacked on, the fare came out closer to US$800, so instead I booked directly hrough American’s web site and nabbed a ticket for US$750.)

I landed in Buenos Aires on a Friday morning after an overnight flight nonstop out of JFK. I grabbed my suitcase, waded through the crowd of drivers gathered near the airport exit, and hopped into one of the yellow cabs waiting patiently on the street. About half the price of a car service, my ride in a slightly beat-up taxi cost about 75 pesos or US$25 (the exchange rate has been hovering around 3-to-1 for the last few years). (more…)