The Garden of Eden or The Seychelles

When our friends Harold and Coral looked at our itinerary, they told us how lovely the Seychelles were. Oh, did they understate. These islands can proudly claim to be Eden.

The people are a mix of European, African and Asian. They all speak English, French and Creole. Tourism is the main industry of the islands and, with their relaxed and friendly attitude, we could have easily stayed a while. Our three islands in three days was a wonderful taste of this paradise.

Mahe

We started our first day in the Seychelles with a bus tour of this, the largest of the three islands that we visited. The first stop was the Botanical Gardens, a place where native plants are shown off. We were also treated to a show by fruit bats, a large bat that flies around in the daytime. They inhabit one of the large trees in the garden. The symbol of the islands, the Coco d’Mer is an erotic shaped coconut, proliferates in the garden. After the garden, we were taken to an overlook built for Queen Elizabeth to use when she took tea while visiting the island. On to the white sand beaches and a tea plantation for tea and a snack then to the local marketplace and back to the ship.

In the afternoon, we wandered into town. Traffic on Mahe is busy and the city now has two stop lights. Cars drive on the left side making street crossing a challenge for those of us who are right-side conditioned.

The history of the islands is of European settlement, slavery, benevolent colonialism, and independence. The small History Museum graphically told the brutal story of slavery, then the history of independence and, briefly, amusing tales of treasure seekers looking for buried pirate loot.

Along with some nice local crafts, there are some excellent artists on the islands. We visited a wonderful gallery where, had we the space, we would have added to our own collection.

The local market was filled with colorful produce, fresh fish and aromatic spices.

Le Digue

We cancelled our ship tours of Le Digue and Praslin, electing to venture out on our own. La Digue is a tourist resort with many self-serve cottages. Transportation is by bicycle or ox cart. We boarded an ox cart for ten passengers and bounced along a mildly bumpy tour of the area. After passing through the small town, we entered Anse Source D’Argent, a former plantation with a spectacular beach. Granite formations, eroded by sand and sea, climb from the shallow waters. The beach slope is gradual and the water are warm and clear as a bath. The blues vary from aqua, to turquoise, to deep blue, all accented with tufts of white. The area is popular for snorkeling but we spent our time wading and photographing, cooling off with a local Sey Brew.

After a brief stop at an artists shop, we returned to town and wandered up the road past a very lush new resort and into the local cemetery. The tide was heading out when we waded on Anse Severe Beach.


Praslin

We waited on the ship for the morning rain squall to pass and then joined another couple on our “wild cab ride.” Riding in the back of the taxi is a bit harrowing reminding one of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Drivers speed, seem to play chicken and pass swiftly on roads with sharp drop-offs, yet the cars are in excellent shape with no dents or scratches. We enjoyed our tour through the national park with photo stops at beaches and shopping stops in small towns.

Were they closer, we would gladly return to the Seychelles for a holiday, especially the quiet paced and gorgeous La Digue. Unfortunately, it was back to the ship and an exerting two days of sailing to the next port.

Colonial Plantations

Reunion Island, a French Directorate, is quite a contrast from French Comoros. Fifty years ago the basis of the economy was cane sugar. When the sugar beet was introduced, the price of cane collapsed and the French invested a large sum of money in rebuilding a devastated economy. Today the infrastructure is very good and the towns are more European than tropical. Our excellent guide explained the European, African, Asian blend of the island and its high level of literacy and education. We heard that French Comoros will be a directorate next year and should profit from investment by the homeland.

The Catholic Church is predominate, but our first stop was at a Hindu Temple. Then we toured a vanilla plantation where we learned that vanilla is actually an orchid and must be forced to germinate. Vanilla is a major export on many of the islands. These plantations were developed by British and French citizens in the 18th century and are quite lovely. With vast land, mild weather and beautiful views, the island has been a destination for expats and vacationers.

Leaving the plantation, our van wound up hairpin turns toward the center of the island which is a dormant volcano. We stopped to see waterfalls that seemed to come out of the rocks. The mountain tops are steep, rugged and covered in foliage. After wandering through the tourist town of Hellbourg with its creole houses, we enjoyed a good lunch including a delicious chopped salad made from fresh shushu (see photo below).

Back on board, we had a romantic dinner for two in Toscana, one of the two separate restaurants on the ship. For some reason, there were small displays of fireworks in the town of which we had an excellent view. That added to the lovely evening.

The next day we went to Mauritius to visit a tea plantation. Major Guinbeau, a Frenchman who served in the British army, built a lovely large home which was turned over to the country when the last family member died. The house is filled with original furniture including treasures up in the attic. Bringing tea to the table is a labor intensive industry with leaves hand picked, hand sorted, machine dried and fermented and hand boxed. We walked through the plant on the plantation observing the process from start to finish and, to quote a fellow passenger, “I will have much more respect for my afternoon tea from now on.”

From the plantation we were taken to the obligatory tourist shop to look at local handcrafts. In this case, the visit was to a shop where model ships were offered for sale. You could buy anything from a replica of a Roman galley to the USS Constitution. Another guest, who we have become friendly with, did buy a small version of the Constitution, over much objection from his wife. Her comment was, “You don’t need that.” Sound familiar?

Our lunch was on the veranda of another plantation and included an outstanding fresh hearts of palm salad with spicy marlin and a chicken with vanilla sauce. After dessert, it was time to taste rum, another major export. Jerry found a rum with coffee that was to his liking. The straight rum was, as he explained it, strong enough to put hair back on his head.

We visited another Hindu shrine where a twenty-eight foot tall Shiva towers over the road with its special wide lanes for thousands of worshipers to march along during a major holiday. The nearby temple is on a lake filled with water from the Ganges.

After driving across a “questionable” bridge with a view straight down the canyon to the river, we went to the local zoo with crocodiles, giant tortoises, and monkeys (none of it impressive) although the children who were there enjoyed riding the tortoises.

A coincidence: while waiting for our onboard bridge game to begin, our opponents asked where we were from. Generally we just say Sacramento, bus this time we said Rocklin. A woman from the next table came over and said she and her husband were from Sun City Lincoln Hills, just a few miles up the road from us. We immediately made a dinner date with Lynn and Rab to compare notes and adventures.

Another one: a couple from Denver live two blocks from where Anna Lee grew up as a child. He was a doctor at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital and she an archeology prof at Denver University.

We know most of you are experiencing snow and rain, we send thoughts of warm air, mild breezes, blue seas and a very happy holiday to all of you.

Looking for Lemurs or Komba Cruising

When we looked at the itinerary for this cruise, we found places we had never heard of and thought this was a positive sign offering new insights and adventures. Mayotte, French Comoros, qualified as an unknown destination. Part of a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, Mayotte is a French protectorate while its neighboring islands are independent. Tourism is the main industry of the island, second is the export of essences used in fine perfumes.

We cast anchor surrounded by lovely green islands. We took the tender to town to wander the market filled with clothing, household goods and wonderful produce and spices. We were impressed with how clean the market and streets are. The country is primarily Moslem but most of the women wear colorful dresses and scarves. Only a few are fully covered.

We then took a van tour of the small botanical garden; a perfume still (yes, just like the stills used to make illegal whiskey) formerly owned by Guerlain and a resort whose resident lemurs captured our attention. We learned that the still takes about 50 kilograms of flowers and distills them down to about a pint of oil that is the basis of perfume. We were told that the pint sells for about 200 euros. After meeting and photographing a number of lemurs, we returned to the ship for travel to our next destination.

The next morning, our view of the early anchorage off Nosy (Island) Be (Big), Madagascar was filled with handmade fishing boats, dugout canoes and catamarans floating on the beautiful quiet blue sea. We boarded our tender to Nosy Be where we descended rotting iron steps to get on a boat with a motor desperately in need of an overhaul then onto a small craft towed to the beach of Nosy Kombo (Island of Lemurs).

The village consists of rock, root and dirt trails from the beach that meander up hill to lush vegetation. Lining the trail were shops selling embroidered linen, baskets, vanilla and wooden masks. Children and young women wearing colorful clothing and white makeup sang and clapped.

At the end of the village, lemurs filled a tree grove. The brown ones are female and the darker ones are male. Anna Lee touched the tail of one lemur and reported that it was very soft. This group is accustomed to humans and expect fruit offerings. The lemurs are wide spread throughout the island and many farmers consider them pests who eat the crops.

We also saw vivid green chamaeleons, large turtles and boa constrictors. Our quest for animals was satisfying and our visit this village quite an experience.

We are posting this report half-way around the world from our home, as far as we travel on this voyage and we still have the other half to do.

A bit about our ship

The Nautica is fairly small by today’s standards, only 630 passengers. While Americans are the largest group, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany and the Netherlands are all represented. This makes for some interesting and enlightening conversations.

This is our third cruise on the Nautica, previously we sailed in Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Many of the passengers have sailed ten and twelve cruises on this ship. Over 80 are continuing from the previous voyage of Western Africa and some will stay on the next cruise.
Oceania, the parent company, does not schedule a lot of day time activities. There may be a lecture on local or world issues. We are taking intermediate bridge lessons and playing duplicate. Our trivia group consists of Canadians and Americans and is doing only okay on the obtuse questions asked by Dottie, the cruise director.

While breakfasts are traditional and the same everyday, lunch has some variation. Dinner is the most innovative, with dishes like ostrich (it tastes like beef, not chicken, and is good). There are two “reservation” restaurants, Polo and Toscana, where we will dine three times in each on this cruise. With open seating, we enjoy meeting a variety of table mates each evening.

Because of its history with Somali pirates, we attended a unique lecture on the story of the attempted hijacking of Nautica, the ship we are on, two years ago by Somali pirates. The Captain, who was in command that day, described the “business” of Somalian hijacking, the boats used, other ships safety procedures, and Oceania’s safety measures which includes an Israeli security detail (truly a comfort to us).

Our ship is much faster than the pirate boats, has a deck too high for them too reach and has many safety devices in place should an attack take place. There are some people who are on board now who had been on the Nautica during the 10 minute attack two years ago and don’t seem concerned. The captain did a good job of easing our few concerns.

More Game

We spent the first three days of our cruise going from game reserve to game reserve. Starting in Port Elizabeth at Inkwehkwezi, a private reserve, we boarded open sided vehicles that carry over a dozen people. Just getting into them is a trick of giant steps, leg swinging, and hand gripping. Once settled inside, we tucked blankets around our laps and set off on a cool (temp) ride. This reserve is still growing (after twenty years) and keeps most of the predators separate from prey. Our best sightings were of both impala and nylla with young. Tawny and white lions docilely relaxed behind a gated fence.

Our next drive, in Tala near Durban, was disappointing in both animal sightings and human guides. At Richard’s Bay, our cold rainy trip in Hlulhuwe (pronounces shushlulu), the oldest park in South Africa, was much better. We had chances to see wart hogs, giraffe, zebras and more. Vultures spread their wings to dry out in nearby trees and hidida (sp) ibis called raucously overhead. We dried off over a tapa-style lunch and then continued our search for big game culminating with a very large elephant crossing the road right behind us and then disappearing in the trees.

These drives probably represent the future of animals in South Africa and gave us more chances to see game up close but do not come close to the “real thing” of the Kalahari.

After wearing jackets and keeping warm on the eastern coast of South Africa, the blast of heat and humidity in Maputo, Mozambique, was a shock. We took a morning walk to the railroad station designed by Eiffel of tower fame and then to the market filled with produce, hair products, household goods, and hundreds of hawkers vying for our attention. After a couple of hours, the heat drove us back to the comfort of the ship where lunch, books and naps waited.

Cape Town

Our trip to Cape Town included a Land Rover ride, a Cessna 210 flight, an Air Botswana flight, a British Air flight and a cab ride. We started at 4:30 am and crashed (figuratively) at 10:00 pm. The next morning we joined a small group tour of the Cape Town Peninsula. Our guide Helmut gave an excellent tour to his six German and four American passengers (Kay and Barbara, the other two Americans are from Houston).

We have always thought Highway 1 along the Pacific Coast was nonpareil, but the drive along the Atlantic shore south of Cape Town far surpasses Hwy 1. The water is aquamarine in all its rich shades. The coast varies from smooth beach front to fatally dangerous rocky shoals. Waves crash sending up tall sprays of foam. It was Sunday and the miles long walk way was filled with runners, walkers and cyclists. The beaches sprouted umbrellas and lunch baskets.

Our first destination was Cape Point or Cape of Good Hope, claimed as the confluence of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. While a place of great beauty, its original name of Cape of Storms was apt as gale force winds threaten to blow away visitors who come to admire the view. Fortified by a delicious lunch at the park’s restaurant, we chose the gondola as safer than the stairs to ascend the peak where a lighthouse guards the point. The reward was a strong wind and a spectacular sight.

Our next stop was The Boulders, home to a colony of Jackass (now African) Penguins. They arrived in the 1980s and settled in right behind some very fine homes. The area now serves as a rookery for a large number of our favorite birds

Our tour ended at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. The gardens are lovely, even this late in the spring, but what was most pleasing were the crowds of people enjoying games, picnics, and music on the vast grounds. There was a sold out concert later that night and the line for seats was very long. Either there was piped in music during the day or we heard the band practicing, whichever, we enjoyed our music enhanced stroll around the garden.

Back on the Nautica, we met the first of the many enjoyable people with whom we will live for the next 34 days.

The next day was a sea day and we slept in until 6ish (remember those 4:30 wake ups). We got familiar again with this ship we previously sailed on in Asia and the Eastern Med. The bridge coordinator seems good and we plan to take some lessons. Anna Lee even was willing to play duplicate and we didn’t embarrass ourselves. The entertainment is typical of Oceania, okay but not great. The food continues to be quite good though not varied.

We continue meeting new people whose conversations we are enjoying.

Botswana

On Wednesday afternoon, our Cessna 210 landed in the middle of nowhere. We were greeted by Russell, our guide for the next four days, and boarded our open air Land Rover for the drive to Kalahari Plains Camp. We were taken to our room which was a raised tent with a king size bed, salted water shower, and a view out forever over the vast Kalahari.

The people who arrived with us were the only other guests in the camp, Sam (female) and Steve (male) from Minnesota. She is a corporate headhunter and he an architect who designs playground equipment. Sam has been to Africa many times and is quite knowledgeable about the animals and birds. Steve was a first timer like us. Russell is a Afrikaner who has been a guide for about twenty-five years. He revealed his love of the area as he explained the land and the animals that roam there.

After settling in and enjoying welcome drink and appetizers, we took our first of five game drives. The Kalahari is a desert plain that covers 85% of Botswana. The flat land goes from seemingly barren to brush to grove. Stretching across the desert is Deception Valley, a now-dry river bed that is home to most of the animals we saw. Unlike the more populated north, animals here are fewer but still wonderful to behold. We drove through clouds of butterflies as this is brown veined white butterfly migration season. On our drives we saw herds of Springbok and Oryx, many of the big eared Steenbuck, a few hartebeest and wildebeest. We also had some dramatic views such as the cheetah who strolled in front and beside us, the pride of five lions, another cheetah with her three young cubs and a “delight” of ten giraffes grazing the tops of the acacia trees. We saw several honey badger, lovely to look at with their sleek fur but unbearable to smell.

The area has an abundance of birds. Several flocks of ostrich and their fluffy young. The Khoury Bustard is the largest flying bird in the world at over 40 pounds, though we primarily saw it walking through the grassland. Anna Lee’s favorite was the Korahn with its flat top and striking black, white and red plumage, its clacking noise when in flight, and its “helicopter” type landing. Our sightings are too many to list here.

Instead of a drive, one evening we took a bush walk with Xhanakwe of the Xukuri tribe. Wearing a springbok horn headpiece and loin cloth, he demonstrated his tools for hunting, trapping, fire making, and signaling. He is of the first generation to receive a western education and still practice his tribal customs when he is at home (he works at the camp as a waiter). After his bush walk, at night, Jerry was selected to lead us back to camp. It is a good thing that Xhankwe was with us or we would still be wandering the Kalahari.

Our daily routine consisted of a 4:30 am wake up call by Russell standing outside our tent and calling our names until we responded. Since guests are not allowed out in the dark because you don’t know who may be wandering through the camp, Russell returned at 5:00 a.m. to escort us to breakfast. After breakfast, it was on to the Land Rover for our game drive. Russell has a reputation for going out far and coming back last, so our morning run was about six hours long with a coffee/tea break in the middle. Our own “nature-calls” were met with the “men’s” in the front of the jeep, and “women’s” in the rear. On one occasion, we were honored by using a “George” bush and a “Laura” bush. Upon our return to the camp, we enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch consisting of lasagne, veggie torte, quiches or pasta. Then it was siesta time until we had tea in the late afternoon. Our evening drive was about two to three hours long, ending with the spectacular desert sunsets. Dinner included curried lamb, fish and beef followed by very tasty desserts.

Each evening, Russell again escorted us to our rooms. After spending the first night swatting bugs, we learned to keep the outside light off and minimize the interior lighting. The days were quite hot and the evenings only slightly cooler. The room was kept comfortable by opening the one wall covered by a screen and by a fan whirring on high overhead,.

These photos are but a tease of the many wonderful shots we have to remember this amazing experience.

Off we go

The Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum has been on our “to see” list for quite a while. The fact that it is located at Dulles airport instead of the National Mall is a drawback since that area is a long drive from D & Cs house. Our leaving from Dulles across the Atlantic gave us the perfect opportunity. The floor and ceiling of an old hanger are filled with planes. Among the most famous are a space shuttle that didn’t fly into space, a Concorde, the Enola Gay, and a “stealthy” SR71. A Pan American Clipper was something of a good luck charm for this trip considering the name that we have chosen for this blog. The exhibits are quite good and we learned a lot from the labels and the docents.



We spent the rest of day flying over the Pond, stopping in Dakar for fuel and then spending our first night on African soil at the Peermont Metcourt Suites at Emperors Palace, a very modern style hotel near the airport in Johannesburg. It is adjacent to a Reno-in-its-better-days-style Casino. We enjoyed a buffet dinner including our first taste of barracuda and then sampled the slots taking out more than we put in.

This posting is made from the airport at Maun, Botswana. The man sitting next to us was reading Noam Chomsky

Holiday Time

Ben’s Chili Bowl is an internationally known hot dog and hamburger joint. Opened in 1958 on “Black Broadway,” it has served diners famous, infamous and just plain folks heartburn inducing dinners. Presidents from Reagan to Bush (2) to Obama have enjoyed the famous “half smoke”. We went with Cheryl, Dave and Dave’s brother Joe’s family and some of us even enjoyed heartburn later in the evening.

After dinner we went to The National Zoo which is all ablaze for the holidays. We froze as we wandered through colorful animal-themed decorations.




This banner promotes one of Cheryl’s current project.














Continuing the holiday theme, on Saturday we drove to Middleburg, VA, a small town in the midst of horse country. The streets are lined with shops, bakeries, inns and restaurants. We met C and D’s friend Jeff and his friend Bob and enjoyed lunch at an inn that served as Jeb Stewart’s headquarters during the Civil War, and dates back to the 1700s.


We then wandered the main street of the town checking out the various shops and especially the bakeries. Jerry’s baked apple was unique and delicious.

The Newseum

The Newseum, as its name implies, is dedicated to the media. The outside wall is decorated with the wording of the first amendment and the exhibits extol the virtues of the four freedoms. We started our day here with a docent led tour that gave us a good overview of this interactive museum. The displays honoring winners of the Pulitzer Prize in Photography gave background on such iconic pictures as those of Vietnam, Iwo Jima and Columbine. A photo from the sports section was also very important. Can anyone other than Harold name the player????


The museum has an actual section from the Berlin Wall with graffiti on the western side and totally blank on the other.

Newsbooks (the earliest form of newspaper dating back to the 1400s) and newspapers dating to the 16th century have been scanned for visitors to read. One we were interested in was the San Francisco Examiner, Call Bulletin, Chronicle from April 17, 1906 telling about San Francisco having been destroyed. Another interesting one bore the headline “Dewey beats Truman”. Acknowledging media error, plaques in the bathroom quote embarrassing mis-writes.

The most striking point in this excellent museum was that we remembered most of the “history” reported; radio and tv coverage began not long before we were born.

The National Botanical Garden is decorated each holiday season. This year the theme was great structures from antiquity. Model trains chugged around the Taj Mahal, Great Pyramids and other buildings.


The Tackle Box is one of our must visit restaurants. A funky place where every sits together on wood benches creates wonderful seafood dishes and sides. We enjoyed our dinner and the company of one of Cheryl and Dave’s friends from Hawaii.

Walking the Town

Everyone has scattered. Jeff flew back to Albany on Saturday. Sunday Dave went off on a bike ride, Cheryl went to swim, and we went on a Volksmarch through the zoo and around Embassy Row. The weather was lovely and it felt good to be out and about.

We continued the “scatter” with Dave and Cheryl off to work and Jerry and Anna Lee on another volksmarch, this time through the grounds of the National Cathedral with its Bishop’s Garden where a few flowers still remain, even in December. We continued along Embassy Row with the colorful national flags fluttering. For lunch, after our walk, we were welcomed with a warm hug by the server at Spices, a wonderful Japanese restaurant that is on our “must eat at” list when we visit DC.

Our favorite museum in DC is the little known Renwick, a small art museum that is part of the Smithsonian. This time we went to see an outstanding exhibit on wood turning. Jerry was captivated by the quality of the work. At the same museum, we saw The Art of Gamen created by Japanese internees during WWII.

The works consist of everyday items and art objects. Some of the sketches are the only “pictures” from the first days after they were rounded up and put into temporary camps such as those at Tanforan Race Track. Having recently read The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Anna Lee found their art even more poignant.

We furthered our museum visits first enjoying a collection of pop-up books at American History then at the Arcimboldo collection at the National Art Gallery. His portraits, painted in the 1500s using fruits, vegetables and fish to make up the figures, are enchanting. It is amusing to learn that these were all the rage with 16th century royalty.

































Cheryl and Dave have added to our cultural experience with more theater. To celebrate Mark Twain’s birthday we enjoyed a lecture by the editor of his newly published autobiography.


The next night we saw the play Walter Cronkite Is Dead, a two women production taking place while waiting to catch planes during a long storm. We spend non theater evenings getting humiliated in card games. Dave and Cheryl let us win often enough to keep us coming back for more punishment.