On Monday morning I leave Austin for the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Once we arrive there, via Kuala Lumpur and Penang, my father and I will trek into the jungle for a couple of days and seek out orangutans in the wild. I'll be blogging while I am away, but only on topics related to my present travels.

Then again, if I wanted to blog about primates I could stay home and write about the GOP presidential primary, although that might be an insult to primates the world over.

I do hope I'll have time to revisit Lake Toba, but father and I have left our itinerary open except for our time around Bukit Lawang and a visit with some friends in Malaysia (an old Australian army vet I met in 2008) and pals from Singapore.

In the interim--two weeks to be exact--there will be at least one guest editor and we'll have a prize for best diary post while I am away. So, getting your typing fingers ready. More on the guest editor(s) once the slot(s) are finalized.