Program 633: Granada; Mount Ararat; Colombia's Rio Magdalena

Guides from Spain highlight the historical treasures you can find in Granada today, including the impressive Islamic art of its Alhambra palace. Rick Antonson tells us how he climbed to the top of Mount Ararat in Turkey and about its significance to nearby Armenians. And anthropologist Wade Davis explains how the flow of the Rio Magdalena helps define today's nation of Colombia.

• Madrid-based tour guides Javier Menor and Jorge Roman
• Travel writer Rick Antonson, author of "Full Moon Over Noah's Ark" (Skyhorse Publishing)
• Anthropologist Wade Davis, author of "Magdalena: River of Dreams" (Knopf)

• The Rick Steves online guide to Granada.
• Javier Menor offers guiding services and customized itineraries in and around Madrid, Toledo and Segovia.
• Jorge Román offers tours in Madrid, southern Spain (Andalucía), and Catalonia. He can be contacted through his "Traveling with Jorge" Facebook site.
• Rick posted a short video of the musicians he saw performing for tips at the overlook to the Alhambra.
• Rick Antonson is the author of "Full Moon Over Noah's Ark," and posts to Twitter "@InkRoadsRick". He recounts his adventure hiking an historic trail across Papua New Guinea in his book "Walking with Ghosts in Papua New Guinea," which he describes on Travel with Rick Steves program #594 in February 2020. He tells us he's working on a new book about the history of the Canadian railroad in the Rockies, due out later this year (2021).
• Wade Davis is a professor of anthropology at the University of British Columbia, and writes about his love for the country of Colombia in "Magdalena: River of Dreams."
• Wade's book "One River," which he mentions in the web extra, is about his work in scientific exploration of the Amazon rain forest of Colombia. It was named one of the 25 most important books about Colombia by the National Library of Colombia.