Lourdes Odette Aquitania Ricasa loves to play the piano, paint, and write. She is a world traveler who has been to 257 countries and is one of the prolific writers of our time. Explore-in-depth coverage takes you beyond the classic cities into the heart of the islands of Indonesia's verdant green and purple hills of Tana Toraja, the Dani tribes of Wamena, Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), the splendor of Iran and Turkmenistan. The excitement continues almost to the North Pole, polar bears at Svalbard in the Arctic, and to the penguins at the bottom of the earth, Antarctica. On to Lake Baikal in Siberia and to the remote islands of Reunion, Rodrigues, Cape Verde, St. Pierre and Miguelon. She resides in San Clemente Beach, California, and is currently working on her sixth book. Cover design by Rica Rudio.