Travelling without a cause
Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.Maldives – the Best Snorkelling
We form opinions and impressions places that we have never visited. In most ways, The Maldives were not as expected. The Maldives, a tropical paradise of pristine beaches, are an archipelago of 1,192 coral islands grouped into 26 coral atolls (200 inhabited...
The Seychelles – Unmet expectations
Our expectations for the Seychelles were only partly met. The Seychelles are a large chain of granite islands over 100s of square miles of the Indian Ocean. They have beautiful sandy beaches, mountainous areas, clear waters and coral reefs. They have a high per...
Craftsmen in Kenya
Intermission (!) Yes, I stopped blogging about midway through our trip due to two primary reasons, there were many other things to do on the trip, and I was starting to get a lot of video, which is impractical to post over ship's satellite based Internet service. I...
Mombasa – The beehive isn’t finished
The photo is an artisan, one of 300 (If I remember correctly) in an Artisan cooperative in Mombasa. He's polishing his elephant, which he carved from a chunk of wood; the next step will be staining it. Once finished, it will be placed in the Artisan Cooperative...
Zanzibar – A Most Enjoyable Day
Zanzibar has sun, beaches, crystal clear seas, islands, coral, rich and diverse vegetation, spices, giant tortoises, important history and landmarks in Stone Town, and the congeniality of Tanzanians. The Zanzibar island chain probably has something for everybody....
Tanzanians are happy
Tanzanians are happy. It starts in grade school. Children, in smart school uniforms, wave as tourists go by, they have big smiles on their faces. They just seem to be a happy country. They keep waiving at tourists as they go through teenage years to young...
Ports Cancelled and Cards Quarantined
Adversity at Sea, 2 ports cancelled and on-board health issues. The photo is one of a pilot who preferred to be taken off the ship by helicopter, rather than by Pilot boat, in strong weather. We had arrived Maputo Mozambique late due to adverse winds and faster...
Impressions of Maputo, Capital of Mozambique
The $800 million suspension bridge linking Mozambique’s capital city of Maputo with the other side of its bay, is being built by the Chinese, and jointly funded by the Chinese and Mozambique governments. When completed in April of this year, it will...
Odds and Ends – South Africa
Zulu Wedding Dance One of our Guides " Ok, Good People, Now I tell you more about South Africa..." Statue honouring Nelson Mandela. This is the prison from which he was released and walked away a free man. "Everybody, the beer is over there!" Cape of Good Hope,...
South Africa Grows on You
South Africa grows in admiration from a long list of impressive assets, it is a rich country. People - There is a Nelson Mandela spirit among its population of 58 million, reminders and statues of him at many locations. I find the South African spirit to be...
A Sampling of South African Wildlife
There's a double entente to the title of this post. Our cruise ship offered a sampling of four game animals for dinner this evening, of which two are pictured here and two are not. Wildlife is another of the treasures of this country. In addition to Kruger National...
What does $15,000,000 look like?
This wine cellar holds approximately 30 rows of 25 casks, stacked 4 high, which multiplies to 3000 casks. Each cask has a capacity of 300 litres, which represents 400 bottles of wine. At $10 a bottle, this room holds $12,000,000 of wine. At $15 a...