Happy New Year

We don't know why but the comments we have made for the last couple of blog postings did not come through. It may be because I tried to put them between photos and it may be that we may end up being repetitive

So ....info on The Seychelles. We love this little paradise and would love to visit again.
There are 115 islands in the Seychelles and we have visited Mahe, La Digue and Praslin. We snorkeled yesterday at Coco Island and it was fantastic (not great for the hairdo as you can see) but a great time.

These islands are the only place where the coco de mer palm grows. The strange bi-lobed nuts are produced by the female trees and the male palms produce an equally suggestive flower (like a detumescent horse phallus).

We now have two days at sea as we head to the Maldives.

Praslin, Seychelles

La Digue in the Seychelles

Mahe in the Seychelles

Happy Winter Solstice

We are at sea, in the Seychelles. It is a little rough but no hurricanes (called cyclones in the Indian Ocean). The crew did an amazing job of Christmas Eve entertainment. The weather is perfect with 30 degrees and sunshine.
A different Christmas for us but enjoying it nevertheless. Merry Christmas everyone. We are off to dinner on the Terrace with Viviane and John from New Jersey.

Mauritius Island, December 24th

What a spectacular tour we had today. It was long and varied but we saw various cities, beaches, flora and industries.

Mauritius is an island of 1.3 million people, independent for 42 years, is generally clean and pastoral with multiple small towns. The infrastructure was built by the "Compagnie des Indes" with East Indian labour. It is a mosaic of blacks, Chinese and mainly east Indians who are its GDP champions. Religions share this mosaic with Tamils (see temple) Hindus and Moslims living in apparent harmony.

Reunion Island (Dec 23rd)

This island (named by "committee" - the Colonial Assembly) a Departement Francais d'outre Mer, i.e. part of France

This is a geologically unstable island. Slaves, when emancipated, moved into the volcanic craters where they still live. This is called the amphitheater by locals (photo below). The island is very clean, very beautiful and very French.

Our excursion climbing to the edge of the crater over crazy, narrow hairpin and scary roads on a large tour bus was nonetheless spectacular.

The flora was absolutely gorgeous and reminded us of Kauai, the garden isle of Hawaii. It is often compared to Hawaii because of it's active volcano.

Madagascar native

Rather than just hand over money, we did find ways to give it to them. This lady was so sweet and friendly

A Lemur

Madagascar mother

This young mother let me take her picture for a dollar

Nosy Be, Madagascar

Today we unprepared for the poverty and filth. Nosy Be "big island" is in a beautiful setting but is ravaged by unemployment (65%), by lack of education, by sloth and their polygamy and hordes of offspring. We were told that 75% of the population is under twenty-one years of age.
The smelly marketplace was quite a contrast from the day before in Mayotte. We almost lost our breakfast to the flies and odors of the market.

Mayotte, French Comoros

It was hard to get pictures today - the green sea turtles were underwater and the many dolphins only surfaced briefly and when I did manage a photo of them in the air, it was not in focus. Just as we arrived at a tiny islet to swim, the skies opened with a deluge so intense that it imprisoned us in our own little space with no visible land and buffeted by strong winds. It was fun and we were warm. We made it back to the ship safely.
Mayotte's official language is French and it is still a French protectorate. Muslim is the main religion (95%) We loved the marketplace - it was clean, open and the people very friendly. No US dollars - only Euros accepted. We are having a challenge on which currency to use on which day.
We are setting sail for Madagascar this evening.

The Mozambique Channel (Pirate Country)

At sea today in the Mozambique Channel - rolling deep blue to about 4 feet. This is pirate area and it was this ship and this captain that were attacked in 2008. We had a lecture today from the captain about pirate preparedness! Basically outrun them and use water canyons should they try to board. We are enjoying the African sun and great food.

Maputo, Mozambique

Corruption, poverty, AIDS and ignorance. Occasional insights and hope but mostly it is third world. It was very lush due to the recent rains, the beaches were gorgeous and everyone was very friendly. Our guide spoke English very well because he had spent several years on a scholarship in East Germany. He was extremely knowledgeable and realistic about what is necessary for his country to evolve. Our tour took us inland for two hours so we also saw some of the more rural area.
It was very hot in the tour bus and we were happy to be back on board.

Richard's Bay and a game reserve

We arrived into Richard's Bay early this morning and it was raining. It rained on and off all day a but it was still warm and the safari guide supplied us with a rain poncho. What a great day and we got some good photo ops. We especially love this one of Mr Giraffe but we saw White and Black Rhinos (one with her baby), elephants, antelope, warthogs, zebra and lots of birds. We are leaving South Africa Tonight and arrive into Mozambique in the morning.
Life is grand now that we have been able to send our blogs and emails.

Durban, South Africa & a Zula village visit

December 15th and it must be Durban. Durban is a very large city with a population of almost 4 million. Our excursion took us to a Zulu village about an hour outside of the city and at the Zulu's explained about the courtship and marriage oaf a young couple. The photo shows the bride and the groom. The grooms family must pay the bride,s family 11 cows. It is more if the bride is royalty. Polygamy is very common - the men often have five or more wives.
Zulu is one I'd the 11 official languages of South Africa.
From Durban we leave and cruise overnight to Richard's Bay.

A Visit with the Xhosa tribe

These nubile dancing girls of the family of Mama Tofu where part of our entertainment. While David and the rest of the men drank rum, tribal beer and explored the rituals of circumcision, Sandi and the other women learned how to keep their daughters virginal!

Robben Island

Nelson Mandela was incarcerated on Robben Island for 17 of the 27 years that he was a political prisoner. This is where he wrote his book, hiding it behind a plant in the garden while he was writing it. One of our guides was a passionate colored while the other had been a political prisoner on Robben Island for 17 years as well.

Cape town

Cape Town

This a view of downtown Cape Town with the famous Table Mountain in the background

Send-off by Chris & Bill

Chris & Bill (our good friends from North Van and also our Cruise specialists) met us at YVR and we went to the Flying Beaver on the Fraser River, for a farewell meal.

Happy Holidays

Hi friends and family.  We are really sorry to be away at this time of year - being Christmas and all but.....we are completing our bucket list and trying to figure out how to download pictures from our iPad to our blog.  This is a copy of the Christmas card that we sent out.

Still in chilly Oyama

We are still in chilly Oyama, learning to blog, shoveling snow and anticipating our cruise.