islands. Calvin, Charles and Polly also travel to other places in some of the novels. Gaea - a fictional island off the coast of Portugal, where the O'Keefes live as far as possible from the recently developed tourist area, represented by a new hotel owned by Typhon Cutter. The island, which consists largely of sand dunes, grasses and jungle trees and vines, is filled with light, and with colorful birds and butterflies. It also contains a circle of standing stones, with a stone altar in the center; a small cemetery, and a village of Gaean natives with their own language and customs. The younger O'Keefe children (e.g. Johnny and Rosy) were born on Gaea. The name comes from Gaea, an "Earth mother" figure from Greek mythology. Benne Seed Island - off the coast of South Carolina, a few hours' drive from Charleston, South Carolina. The O'Keefes move there about a year after the events of The Arm of the Starfish. They live in a converted hotel at one end of the island; at the other end is the village of Mulletville and the pink three-story mansion of Beau Allaire, home of Maximiliana Horne. The O'Keefe and Mulletville children attend school in fictional Cowpertown on the nearby mainland. Benne seeds are another name for sesame seeds, as used in Southern cuisine. Osia Theola, Cyprus - site of conference attended by Polly in A House Like a Lotus. Literally means "holy, divine speech." Said to be where a woman named Theola had a vision in a cave, "early in the Christian era"; a church was built over the cave and the village there was named for the woman with the vision. Lago de Los Dragones (Dragonlake) - a fictional lake in Venezuela, home of the fictional Quiztano Indians. The Quiztanos live primarily in "round, airy straw houses with peaked roofs" raised on stilts over the lake. Two larger buildings on shore constitute the Caring Places, the Quiztano equivalent of a hospital. Oil wells stand at the other end of the lake; that part of the lake is polluted, with cases of mercury poisoning reported. Puerto de Los Dragones (Port of Dragons), nearest port to Lago de Los Dragones in Venezuela, toured by Calvin O'Keefe in Dragons in the Waters. Port of Dragons, described as being "near the border" and having "a sizable band of Cubans in the hills", is a jumble of