Don't Worry Be Happy

Like the good tourists we are, we decided to do a hop-on hop-off bus tour of the city this weekend. On Saturday we boarded at the waterfront and made the short trip to down town and Greenmarket square. Historically this was a vegetable market but today is crammed with hundreds of stalls selling trinkets, beaded items, drums, carvings, artwork. It’s a lively, energetic place and while we sat and ate lunch several musical/dance groups entertained us.  There’s a LOT of street music in Cape Town - some very young children dancing while their mother (?) drummed and sang, a troupe of older boys dancing rather suggestively, an older gentleman with a Louis Armstrong voice duetting with a guitarist performing songs from the 60s. The rest of the trip took us up to the Table Mountain cable car (we didn’t go to the top this time) and then out around Camp’s Bay which is a very popular beach area. Although surprisingly not many people were swimming because the Atlantic ocean is just too cold h...

Back when we were booking our trip to SA/Namibia I didn't think it would make much difference where we were at Christmas - after all it's just another day and you make it what you want. Now that it's upon us, and we're here far away from snow, gaily decorated trees and most of our family, something doesn't feel quite right. Christmas in Namibia is not a particularly spectacular event, like it is in Canada.  It's a holiday and it will be celebrated but much like any other holiday would be.  I think the thing I really miss it that all-encompassing joy that everyone feels at home, whether shopping, cooking large dinners or just chilling out, there's a certain feeling that's missing. We left Etosha Park today and unfortunately our high expectations of large cats and elephants was not met.  We did see PLENTY of wildlife however and although we didn't realize it, it's the rainy season.  The animals have no need to come to the waterholes at this time ...

Daisy is a tame springbok that roams around the grounds of the lodge we're staying at in Namibia.  She has a tendency to head butt visitors so her horns have been clipped. This brave ostrich tried to outrun our car. It may have been possible on these rough roads and 200 km from nowhere we eventually had in a flat tire that Ross and Scott bravely changed.  It's always handy to have a man about when encountering a flat or a big spider!  The lodge also has rescued some big cats that were in danger of being shot by the local farmers.  The female cheetah was quite tame although I was a bit shyer than Ross at approaching it. We also went in the cage with the caracals (African lynx) but didn't get close to them, and observed the leopard in its cage. Sossusvlei is an area of Namibia that has the highest sand dunes in the world - the largest over 300 meters high.  We could drive all the way except the last 5 km where we had to hire a 4x4. On the way in we had t...

[Note- we've now been in Namibia for a few days but due to being isolated I was unable to post this] If it’s not called the “Land of Emptiness” it really should be.  We travelled yesterday for 6 hours through mostly dry, scrubland on our way from the capital city of Windhoek to our lodge near Sossuvlei.  It was gravel/dirt road and to say there wasn’t much scenery to look at is an understatement.  These buck must manage to find enough to eat to survive but it never looked all that appealing! There was one town in 300+ km, aptly named Solitaire, with a garage and a rest lodge.  Things appear to be overrun up by the sand and desert here. Even though we’re not technically on safari we did see the following animals all along the way today: warthogs, oryx, goats, baboons, springbok and an african cat (maybe it was a caracal) which made it worthwhile. The oryx have beautiful markings and didn't show any notice of us. Tomorrow we head to the world...

It has the air of festivity that a soccer (football) match might have - people carrying flags, dressed in shirts blazoned with the same name, lots of groups singing as they walk along - and it is a celebration, a very special memorial for Mandela, taking place in the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town today.  Our apartment balcony faces across the street to the stadium and early this afternoon they started blocking off the roads in front and the crowds started streaming in. The view from our balcony as the setting sun reflected off the stadium: The stadium, built specifically for the 2010 World Cup, holds about 64,000 and all tickets were given away free.  It was hard to find out exactly what the program for the day was but it goes from 4:00 - 11:00 with performers such as Johnny Clegg and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. We can hear bits of sound wafting over the noise of the taxis and vehicles right in front. They even have their own mounted police. It's hard to imagine ...

The last part of our trip to Newfoundland has taken us up the northern peninsula to the spot where the Vikings arrived 1000 years ago .  Along the way we kept our eyes peeled along the side of the road for, of course, the fabled Newfoundland moose, of which there are 'supposedly' 4 for every square kilometre. The land was definitely moose country, swampy little ponds with stubby little trees - we would surely see many! In St. Anthony's we had jams and desserts made with 2 local berries I'd never heard of before - bakeapple and partridgeberry.  Bakeapple are similar to raspberries, although they are yellow when ripe. They grow on small plants in bogs, one berry per plant so very time consuming to gather and expensive to purchase. Patridgeberries are small, bright red, round. Both are delicious. As we were driving we noticed, for hundreds of kilometres, huge stacks of firewood, piled by the side of the road. We later found out that the wood is brought out in the winte...

There's one thing you can't help but notice when you visit the Maritimes - big, big lawns.  Every stately looking white clapboard house is surrounded by an enormous, grassy, park-like expanse of green which brings one thought to mind "who mows all this?" Well today we found out.  We were travelling through northern New Brunswick (near Shediac) into Pictou County in Nova Scotia. Most of the way we travelled the "Sunrise Trail" which follows the Northumberland Strait coastline. All along the way we saw lots of the red, white and blue of the Acadian flag; many houses had a large black or gold star hanging by the front door which is also a symbol of Acadian culture. Nowadays, Acadians can be found in several places in NB and NS as well as Maine and Louisiana. So it must have been 'lawn mowing' day in the Maritimes - everyone was out on their ride'm lawn mowers sprucing up their estates. We must have seen several dozen in just a couple of hours. Of ...

Although I don't know what the reason is. It's been exactly one year since I put down the pencil, closed the books and handed in my school keys. Except for the keys those are actually metaphors since it was all online - no pencils or books. Things that I do in my retirement -get to know all the people on daytime CBC radio -wonder what all those retired people who are so "busy" do all day -answer the phone to telemarketers who, somehow, aren't there -less multitasking - doing one thing at a time uses up more time -watch bread dough rise (not as fast as paint drying but equally as fun) Things I don't do in my retirement -read, at least not any more than I used to -clean house (I told my housekeeper I'm not one of those crazy people who retire then decide they can clean their own house.  The reason I had a housekeeper when I was working wasn't because I didn't have time to clean, it was because I DON'T LIKE IT.) -get fat (not yet a...