Author Darlene Nastansky
Combining my love for the outdoors and medicine, I have practiced Orthopedics as a Physician Assistant for 11 years.
In 2009, I left to pursue my dream of travel and adventure.
I packed up everything and left for a 12 month jaunt around the world, with time to volunteer in third world medicine, publish articles, climb peaks and rent motor-scooters.
My experience continues to open more avenues, I find myself speaking at fundraisers, packing for a return voyage to Ethiopia for a specific medical cause, freelancing ....
The flood gates of my dreams have opened!
No one would have guessed 23 years ago, as a teen parent, I would have pulled myself from the throes of poverty into the dreams of a lifetime.
As a young girl nurtured beneath the Arizona sunshine, I found my way to the Northwest where climbing, mountain biking, back country skiing and trail running were never far away.
My newest quests include sultry twilight passages, unfamiliar utterances, chaos, foreign soils and trading medical knowledge with the third world.
Please feel free to contact me at info@elephantcloud.net
October 19th, 2009 by Darlene Nastansky · 1 Comment · Africa, Morocco
“Shall we find a baguette?” I asked, ducking into the covered market. Avoiding another sting, I strayed from the bee covered pastries and sweets, past the cones of colored spices, beyond the buckets of honey and oils. My eyes fell upon hundreds of chickens. Each stall fronted a runway with scratching white feathered chickens. On […]
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Tipping back the last of their red wine, eyes gazing from the window on Portland’s drizzle, she whispered, “Would you climb the highest peak in Northern Africa with me?” The apartment already barren, furnishings gone, their belongings bursting from two backpacks, “Should we sacrifice a goat first?” he smiled. Months later, her bag filled with […]
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October 10th, 2009 by Darlene Nastansky · 1 Comment · Africa, Morocco
Chez Amy, our home away from home, our Casablanca Command Center, checking in between every significant excursion. You wont find this one in the Lonely Planet. Just a block from the Maarif Mosque and market, this is the cleanest place in all of Morocco and the best place to find wine, popcorn, bookshelves, internet and […]
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September 29th, 2009 by Darlene Nastansky · 4 Comments · Africa, Morocco
Hotel LaMamounia in the heart of Marrakesh was once royal grounds, now an elite compound where Churchill’s suite can only be viewed by select residents. We weaseled around automatic gates blocked by suited guards in dark sunglasses and earpieces. “A visit?” Jay inquires in french. “No visitors, reservations only.” “A Cafe?” we questioned. “A cafe?” […]
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