Southern Africa , November 2008:

Southern Africa 2008 (updated Dec 3/08):

1. 10 days cycling (mountain bike), "Cycleventures" trip, Botswana, Nov 5-14/08 details (click)
2. 5 days, 5 of us staying in a B&B near Capetown (...doing the typical tourist stuff)
3. 9 day coastal safari with "Drifters", Capetown to Durban.Nov 20-29/08 details (click)

..... personal impressions .... see: after at the last day reported

..... photos(click) best 20 of 547

.....Nov5/08 arrived on schedule,.... unfolding as it should,... just saw the news about Obama result. Not very warm today, staying at a pretty fancy hotel, 'The Peech' in Johannesburg

....Nov 4 did a one day tour of Jo'burg and Soweto, stopped at the Hector Peterson museum, met Frank Flatters for dinner

....Nov 5 met Greg the guide for the next 9 days and rode east for 4 hours to Mpulanga, and stopped over night at the Misty lodge

....Nov 6 started cycling on a rough road , and right away Jetje stumbled and twisted her ankle, but continued to ride. Did 30 Km because the last 10 were a bit difficult , .. so were met by Danie in the truck, and taken to the so-called "cottage" which is a beautiful place, as nice as Ive ever been, ..very luxurious.........

.........seems only rare occasions for Internet access.... Nov 9, 16,19,22, home Dec 1....revisions in red.

Nov 7 up for 7:30 breakfast...kind of cool, overcast,and Greg was worried we were under dressed for the coolness. Jetje decided not to go because of ankle, but came with Danie in truck for lunch. Was rather difficult uphill, even for Greg, but Trent (the local guide) did it.. Started to do single track (path of animals) with some difficulty when uphill, but kind of fun if level, ... you've got to get the rhythm.., and realize the bike is built to go over rocks. Brian became anxious and bailed out, but I was glad I continued. Greg stayed with Brian and went back to the cottage. At the lunch spot, after the 'staircase" ...very steep, had to carry bikes. we had lunch under the tarp/shade.Back to the cottage in the truck and did a short hike. Played snooker after dinner, for six players.

Nov 8 7:30 breakfast, Brian decided to rest for the day, but Jetje came. Uphills difficult, but gentle downhills are great !!!, lots of rocks, on kind of a jeep track. Stopped at ancient gold town and Greg looked after bikes as we went on excursion with Trent, as we entered a narrow mine shaft, we heard a "snort" and were taken aback, especially by Jetje who pretty much pushed me into the bushes in her haste to get out,.....turned out to be Greg's snort, ....all schemed by Greg (...there's no real need to watch bicycles). Since there was a fine mist we went back to cottage for lunch. Saw 100's of wildebeests, kind of running in every direction, in fear of us. Dinner was chicken, ...excellent.

Nov 9 Because it had rained overnight, we took the van to Pilgrims rest ... Had lunch at Harries pancakes, very good. Since we hadn't ridden, Greg stopped for some road ridding , about 10Km at "God's Window"....cloudy, rather cold.... not the sunny warm SA I was expecting. Stayed overnight at Royal Hotel ... went to dinner buffet, and the kitchen staff put on a African "music /dance" show, ... pretty good.

Nov 10 Drove 6 hours to Botswana border, 2 hours through an apartheid homeland (very poor, many shocks). At the border there was typical border stuff and crossed the dry Limpopo river and had sandwich lunch and met the 4 black Bostswanans, our hosts for the next for days.Saw a sign at the SA border that said, "no dumping of babies, call tel# and we will pick them up"...very strange. The Botswana border guard said..."We are happy you are visiting our country", leaving a powerful impression, Trent said I wish the SA guards were as welcoming.We met Joe the lead Botswanan, who gave us an intro and overview,...spoke perfect English. Greg wanted me to remove my white Nike shirt, ... strange, but he said white is kind of a "red flag" to wildlife. The lead guide, Joe, carries a big '438' (I think) rifle, as does the sweep. Charging elephants could be a real problem, since we are effectively in their path, and we quickly retreat, if there's any sign of danger. Cycled for hour to our camp on single track. Joe, the main guide in Botswana, 30, is impressive, speaks English very well, and has an impish sneaky smile. Camp was an impressive arrangement of six 2-man tents with cots. As Greg said it would be, it was hot 30C and sunny, that evening we saw several elephants 200m from the camp, just walking by. We had a perfectly acceptable makeshift shower, ...bucket of water suspended, shower head, tepid water, ...very refreshing whn it's 30+C. Everybody thought the water would be too little, but it was fine,... unsheltered nude, ...out in the wilderness breezes, standing on a flat rock in 30C temperatures.

Nov 11 Breakfast at 7AM and we cycled out at 7:45, although Jetje stayed behind, must have wrenched her back. .... gave her some of my supply of Costco Ibuprofen. We saw several elephants, and at one point the matriarch roared and we all quickly retreated. Dave tried "disappointment hill" and had a serious derailleur problem, and they replaced the hangar on the spot, and replaced/changed the derailleur later on. Trent did a successful run of disappointment hill (... the only one to do so). At 4:30PM we did a jeep drive and saw leopards, a cheetha (very rare). The cheetah had just made a kill, and was intent on feeding , so we had a good view,... from about 18m.

Nov 12 Did a bike ride much like previous day. After the coffee break Brian Jetje &Joe took the van, and I admit I had trouble keeping up in the last 10 minutes, .... so Greg lagged back with me. At 5pm we went with Joe to see lions (... and I was skeptical), but in the end we got really quite close, to 2 males and a female who joined, all close to an eland (their large kill of the day), ... about 10-12 meters away ..... clearly the highlight of the trip to date. Although the earlier section at the cottage was somewhat disappointing due to weather and trail difficulty (... the cottage itself was superb), I am now loving the Botswana camp experience (sunny hot, and many large animals). It rained at dinner time (customary) and I had a tent with a porch canopy, so Joe joined me to have dinner out of the rain and we had a conversation, a little forced, but he was well informed, ... eg about the G8, or G20 in his world, and the only time he asked what I meant was when I referred to the "GDP/pp" (not exactly an everyday subject in Botswana or Canada for that matter, ... so I was impressed with Joe, as would be Mel Lastman, no doubt.)

Nov 13 Kind of a rainy day so we decided to not go to the "baume" (sp? area surrounded by logs, open sleeping) since we would be sleeping under the stars. Trent and Earnest left to go back to Mt Andreson. So we did a typical ride, .... and it became sunny after the coffee break. I rode in the van with Jetje, and Brian back to the camp. Dave and Doug talked of the excitement of "riding/running with the wildebeest" heard on their quick ride back. In the van we saw a leopard and a leopard tail. Greg took a bit of a chance and had sent the crew to get the gazebo shelter from the "baume". At 5 pm we set out in the land cruiser but headed back when there was a heavy downpour,... thankfully Greg had sent for the gazebo (15 x 40 ft) but the rains were so intense (rising floods) we had to relocate the gazebeo to higher ground, as well as relocate the fire. We walked to the top of a nearby hill when the rain stopped,... was kind of a memorable moment, sunset re-freshed air, and all that rain/puddles etc. Dinner (the last in Botswana) was special, with a BBQ of beef fillet, impala sausage, and guinea hen, and maise with tomato sauce.

Nov 14 Last day in Botswana. Woke up early 5:40 AM to leave a 7am (6:38 in fact). Joe made a little ceremony to give us Tshirts and a decorative bicycle. By the way, I went to the open outhouse at 6:00 am (200m away) and heard a distinct animal grunt/snort, and Greg called me back, ...it was elephants, .... which can be a big problem, so although I had an important agenda of my own, I reluctantly headed back. Joe and Moussa accompanied us to the border and we bought CYCLEMASHATU cycle shirts (70US for 2) from Greg's border depot..... good value. As we drove 6 hours back, Greg relayed that the Rattray owner had bought both Mashatu (75,000 acres) and Mt Anderson, etc for 1 million Rand about 30 years ago... today,.... priceless!!!. Drove to Johannesburg, 6 hours, got the Kalula flight to Capetown, 2 hours, and were met by Nasi, 22, a Greek-origin guide for Southern Routes, ... drove us to our B&B, in Simonstown about 1 hour south of Capetown.

Nov 15, In Simonstown (near Capetown), with Nasi we did Signal Hill, Table mountain, the Victoria and Alfred waterfront, had lunch at Harries pancakes, , bought groceries at Superspar, and had salad/ chicken for dinner at our self catering B&B. Nice weather, sunny 20-23C, but sometimes very windy.

Nov 16, toured with Nasi to a False Bay beach (just to look), then Anura winetour 35km (very nice), then Stellenbach for lunch (beautiful university town), ice-cream, groceries, then self prepared dinner: salad with cold beef and ham.

Nov 17, went to Kirstenbach gardens (Heidi, a volunteer, was great guide, very enthsiastic), a muffin for lunch, then Robben Island, Mandelas cell etc ... a 4 hour tour, groceries, omlette for dinner.

Nov 18 drove to Capetown for look around, St Georges Mall (an outdoor kiosk type on a major street), Parliament buildings, Company gardens, then drove to Cape Point 2 hours, saw baboons, then dinner at Boulders restaurant, ... final meal with Brian who would be leaving for Victoria falls at 4 30AM

Nov 19, did a hike 4 hours near the B&B, ... turned out to be rather difficult (Jetje lost her hat 5 times, windy) ... climbed from 70m to 360m and terrain was so difficult, I realized Id bitten off more than I could chew. I joked ... "Day 1: Jetje twisted her ankle (so she could hardly walk, Day 2: complained that you could fry eggs on her back her burn was so severe, Day 4: wrenched her back so that she didn't cycle the next day, then Day 15: repeatedly threw away her hat for Dave to retrieve, and said "I'm not having any fun", ... the others laughed, .... Jetje:...not so much.

Nov 20 Nasi showed up on time 6:30 AM to take us over to the Drifters lodge in central Capetown, an 80 min ride (although they always say 45min). We helped ourselves to the breakfast buffet, and met the guide, named Christian, Afrikans, about 25, Jewish (despite his name). Doug and I were amazed to find out we were the only ones on this particular tour. We had a 14 passenger van rather than their big customized German Safari truck, ... and Im sure its not a profit-making operation with two customers, but they do have a "guaranteed departure" policy (apparently), and they have to get their truck back to Jo'burg somehow, albeit in a round about route. We then left on our 'Garden route' for Durban. The morning ride by the coast was interesting, but got a little dull as we headed inland. We stopped for a quick lunch (fish and chips). then onto the De Hoop nature reserve, but found that the route was water-covered, so our route was curtailed. Saw some zebras, 150m away, and used the optical and digital combination to get impressive 40X (for the first time). Christain said the next day to the manager:..."look at the powerful zoom that Gary gets on that camera". The nights stay was in a old style Dutch B&B farm site (separate building), where Christian built a wood fire on a waist high fireplace (meant for cooking). Effectively a nice change from what we'd been doing so far, now old style classic "Afrikans" experience.

Nov 21, woke up early to cloudy dreary skies, that soon changed an hour later to blue, sunny and hot. Went to the Cango caves, an hour visit,.... pretty impressive, main hall: ...97m x 60m x 20m high. Then onto an ostrich farm where it was boiling hot 38C, and we were warned that we could not ride the ostriches (... not that we wanted to.) Then a fairly long van ride to Knaysna where Drifters has one of their lodges, and we met another group Canadian soldier from Afghanistan, Australian honeymoon couple and a German woman, 35. Dinner was an ostrich goulash, ... excellent, and a gooy-good banana-caramel desert. We had separate basic cabins, using sleeping bags. Had an interesting conversation with Johan, the inn-keeper, who was remarkably blunt Afrikaaner, rather a redneck, who was frank about the lack of progress after Apartheid, and the african "give-me" attitude, Johan felt SA was condemned because it branded it as "Apartheid", whereas others (Australia, Canada) were just as bad, but just didnt brand it so.

Nov 22, a rainy cloudy day, 20C max, went to farmers market (very white) and then on a boat ride out to sea, with the Drifters Johan as the Captain..... then to lunch Harry Bs and the Internet, ... great for a rainy afternoon.

Nov 23 Drove to the TSI?? park and went for 3 hour hike along the rocky shore... then lunch close to the van. Then drove to a private orange farm for a two night stay. Stayed in round african huts with thatched grass roofs. Dinner was kind of a chicken stew.

Nov 24 Went to the ADDO elephant reserve, 164,000 hectares vs 33000 at Mashatu, saw many elephants =/- 50, kudus, buffalos, tortoises, antelope etc. Back to orange farm for lunch and a small kayak trip for Doug and Christian, then back to Addo for an evening elephant tour.

Nov 25 Dove to East London in time for lunch, then went on a 2-3 hour township tour with Sheppard. then dinner in restaurant.

Nov 26 Drove to Mahata ?, saw the Nelson Mandela museum. then the longest dirt road to the "Wild Coast", kind of the end of the world (eg no power, except local wind power).....will have to give more thought as to how to describe this place,, although the Wild Coast is a start....eg when we drive by, the kids come running out just to see and wave and see who is passing by. the Drifter's Inn was fine and there was a distinctly unfriendly heavy drinking Beglian group of 12.

Nov 27, went on waterside hike to a ship wreck BBC China, andd then to the waterfall.... and the flatest beach I've ever seen, cows chewing their cud on the beach,.... strange. Not really warm, maybe 23C and fairly windy...pretty much just rested in the PM

Nov 28, Drove 7 hrs to Durban, our destination, and to Drifters Dolphin seaside Inn... pretty nice place by the sea. Will leave on Sunday at 10:30 AM for flight to Jo'Berg, then 20:30 to Paris, 11:30 on Dec 1st to YYZ.

Nov 29 Colin, the inn-keeper, gave me a lift to downtown Durban and I walked to the USHAKA marine world, where I spent most of the day. Colin and a lady residents warning "to be careful", made me uneasy, made me wonder if I looked like an "easy mark". The Ushaka aquarium was very good, and I did go to see the dolphin and seal shows, although Ive always promised I would never would do that (... those who work there say you'd never go, if you know what went on). Took a cab back, 300R and went to the nearest pizza place for dinner, ... pretty good

Nov 30/Dec 1 all the flights were on time (35 elapsed hours) and seemed painful at the time, but in retrospect were OK.

photos, best 20(click)

Personal Impressions (to date, Nov 28)
.....Botswana was the clear highlight, sleeping in bush camp etc, ... seeing animals (elephants cheetah, lions), and closer (roughly 10-15m) than expected

...... Doug says: everything "exceeded expectations"..... but for me the mountain biking was rather too difficult at Mt Anderson, very rocky/steep and the weather there a bit too cool cloudy. The "cottage" itself of course was ultra-luxurious, and is probably best suited to the cream-puff crowd (like M&L W). The Botswana cycling difficulty level was perfectly fine though.

...... overall it has been a pretty "cushy" and a rather "white" tour... unfortunately not much sense of black Africa ...... It may be presumptuous for me to say:.... but Apartheid may be gone, but its "shadow" is large, .... though the few blacks we encounter seem happy and the white/black interaction that we see, seems cordial.

..... the three components 1. cycling Botswana/ 2. Capetown, kind of self-managed and self catered, and 3. Drifters, a kind of "Afrikans slice", all were complimentary, ... and I enjoyed the combination specifically.

the revisions are in red

Andalusia, Spain Sept 11- 26 2008

With Velo-Quebec Sept 11-26 2008, flying out of Montreal, with Air Transat, direct to Malaga.
For Velo Quebec website details (click)

Overall rating........... 7 stars/10 (ie pretty damn good):... dated Sept 28/08
Pros:........................... Velo Que is super well organized, many superior hotels (best ever for me)
Cons:............................ couple days a bit too tough, weather in second week was so-so, group didn't "gel" too well.

for..... photos (click)

Sept 12 – Arrival in Málaga, trip to Lanjaron. ....arrived in Malaga 210PM after stop in Barcelona, group of 28, (including Claudia from Cycleventures).... A fairly performance-oriented group, and I feel (and am) very much like the oldest. There´s only one guide, an Italian girl, about 30, who can speak English perfectly, but I´ve asked that we communicate in French.

Sept 13 – Looped route via Orjiva, Pampaneira, Pitres, Trevelez, Torviscon... kind of a struggle for the first day, jet lag and all, but was totally optional, so only did 56 Km ... very hilly, 30+C, and a bit cloudy. Roads although small back roads are well paved, kind of puts Canadian, (especially Quebec) roads to shame.

Sept 14 - Lanjaron, Pinos del Valle, Durcal, Padul, Otura, Ogijares, Granada... just 64Km but fairly mountainous, Granada looks interesting for tomorrow . Staying at a better class hotel, pretty much on the grounds of the La Alhambra,

Sept 15 – Free day or looped route in the Sierra Nevada. Every day is a sunny day, 30+C but no humidity, so its all quite bearable. Spent from 9am to 3pm in La Alhambra, (palaces of the Muslim kings), very impressive in a quiet subdued way, ... very peaceful and surprisingly cool.... noticed La Alhambra is listed in the book ¨100 places to see before you die¨. Noticed the thermometer is 38C at 5 :00 PM, and 28C at 10:00PM..... but it doesn't seem that hot. Arianna (the guide) drives back and forth offering water, ... thankfully.

Sept 16- Granada, Santa Fé, Chauchina, Valderrubio, Illora, Montefrio, Almedinilla, Zagrilla. This was a long hot day, 108 Km and had to check the detailed instructions every five minutes, it seemed. I was the first to arrive at the destination ( to the surprise of others), .... surprising because I'm not a fast cyclist, but was persistent. I was dead tired at the end, and slept solidly for 9 hours.

Sept 17 - Zagrilla, Luque, Zuheros, Dona Mencia, Castro del Rio, Córdoba. 90 Km and easier than the day before. Had dinner on my own because I find all those excited Quebecois- accented voices a bit irritating. It´s a very performance oriented group and many with very fancy bikes, eg Cervelo and usually carbon fibre (... which to me, is guaranteed pretty much obsolescence).

Sept 18 – Visit of Córdoba or looped route in the hills of Las Ermitas. Today I took an English guided walking tour, 30E, a bit expensive. The Mosque ( with a cathedral inside) is huge. In the year 1000, about 40,000 people went daily to pray, today about 40 individuals (not 40,000) go on a regular daily basis.


Sept 19- Córdoba, Almodovar del Rio, Fuente Palmera, Palma del Rio.... kind of a nothing town , but staying in an old beautiful monastery, San Francisco, ... dinner with group was excellent

Sept 20- Palma del Rio, La Rambla, Guadajoz, Carmona, Sevilla. 80Km (I forget really) and beautiful sunshine, saw a flamenco show with the group, was pretty good ( more emphasis on song and guitar than dance). I guess I´d seen a similar show some years ago when I was on a Club Med excursion near Cadaques.

Sept 21 - Free day. ... Sevilla is a big city, and strangely couldn´t find any internet.... did the walking tours of my ¨DK Eyewitness¨ guide, and refused to join the others who went to a bull fight, although I did go on a tour of the bullring-museum earlier in the day.

Sept 22 - Sevilla, El Arahal, Moron, Montellano, Arcos de la Frontera. was a long day 124 Km and thankfully fairly flat...... and what do you know!.....it rained for 20 minutes or so, fortunately had my brilliant yellow light rain jacket, .... stayed in a government Parador tonight (fairly fancy, dinner included). Generally the hotels we stay at are very high-class. I don´t quite know how Velo Quebec manages it, at about 170 dollars a day, (...allowing for the included flight). One couple noticed that the room they had was 180 E per night.

Sept 23 - Arcos de la Frontera, El Bosque, Grazalema, Benajoran, Ronda. a cloudy and rather tough day, 90 Km partly through the mountains (1,103m climb, from 25 in Seville), and my butt is beginning to feel the pain . The Reine Victoria hotel where we are staying is the ¨grande dame des hotels¨ rather deluxe, and built around 1906.

Sept 24 – Free day or looped route via Arriate, Torre-Alhaquime, Alcala del Valle. I´d never even heard of Ronda, (whereas Granada, Cordoba, Seville are all well known), but Ronda is turning out to be quite a charming place. The thing that surprised me most is reading what Hemingway had to say (very positive), and that Orson Wells was so enchanted with Ronda, he wanted his ashes distributed in Ronda.

Very few of the Quebec group seems to have cell phones, so Arianna, the guide, was anxious to make sure mine worked back on the first day, so tested it and it did, ...... so that at least somebody could call ...... if needs be. One of the women, 42, had a heat stroke on the second day, and had to be transported by van, and her husband, a radiologist from Quebec city, fell and got some nasty scrapes, but that's about it for accidents. In general, the Andalucia cycling is pretty tough, especially in the early days/in the east when the temp was 38+C, and probably even hotter in the sun.

Sept 25 - Ronda, Mijas. I was kind of concerned about 90 km through the mountains, but it worked out ok, and was not the most difficult day... climbed to 1200m. The scenery for first 20 km was the beautiful spaghetti-western scenery, literally, ... and the last 20 km we were still at 500 m and could see panorama of the concrete jungle that is the Costa del Sol

Sept 26 – Trip to Málaga airport and return trip to Montreal. ... unfolded as it should,
thankfully

Overall rating........... 7 stars/10 (ie pretty damn good):... dated Sept 28/08
Pros:........................... Velo Que is super well organized, many superior hotels (best ever for me)
Cons............................ couple days a bit too tough, weather in second week was so-so, group didn't "gel" too well.

Queen Charlottes, Kayaking July 2008

8 days through the Gwaii Haanas park (in Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), BC Canada) with Gabriola Cycle and Kayak, gck.ca, July 17 -24 2008. 8 kayakers, + 2 guides, ....... from TANU VILLAGE TO BURNABY NARROWS

Impressed by.......:(1) mostly sunny (much to my surprise).....(2) seas fairly calm (compared to Baja)......(3) walking through the woods (jumble of huge moss-covered trees) was remarkable !! ......(4) Jo Anne Haeger was an extraordinary guide, very expressive

July 16, Wed, Flight to Vancouver, then Sandspit, saw two men on the Sandspit flight that had distinct facial features like those on the back of the $20 bill.... assumed that was the "Haida" look. Stayed at Civas B&B with three others. Had dinner at the golf course with Stuart Agnus and Jane, all of Vcr. The rest of the group was two sisters from Ontario, and a younger Swiss couple. Oldest: 69, youngest: 28. plus two women guides.

July 1 7 Thurs, woke up to sunshine and a 90 minute zodiac ride to Kunga Island, then a short 25 minute paddle to Tanu Village where Steve, a young Haida watchman, gave us an hour tour of the village (....just the foundation moss-covered remains).

July 18 Fri, kayaked to Windy Bay, where there was a 4km crossing. Somehow paddled out ahead fo the group by as much as 1km, not that I'm anything special as a paddler. Saw humpback whale, and followed him for an hour or so. Stayed with the watchman couple and in a longhouse cabin, ... since it was raining. Played RummyQue with the watchman's wife, and had homemade cookies.

July 19 Sat, went for a 2 hour walk in the tall woods, where Joanne, the amazing guide, carried Rolph, 40, 90Kg (200 pounds) Swiss guy, piggyback across a 20 ft stream. 2:30 departure for a two night stay across from Hot Springs,... weather a bit crappy. Did my Day 3 dinner, .... went well enough.

July 20 Sun, left at 11am (due to tides) for a short crossing to Hot Springs, winds were strong and slight rain, so at Joannes recommendation came back without doing the hot-springs. The back bay was busy, ...... other kayakers, 2 boats, seaplane.

July 21 Mon, leaving the campsite there was impressive intertidals (... large drooping colourful anemones) went over to Hot Springs, ....... pleasant, nobody else there, tried two of the hotsprings, pleasant.... then our longest crossing, 8km, over to Moresby.

July 22, Tues, longest paddle day to a real sand spit (for 2 nights) beautiful sunny day

July 23 Wed, paddle to Burnaby Narrows, saw a smallish 2 yr old black bear turning over rocks on the beach for at least 1/2 hour. After lunch, saw 3 Risso dolphins (2 big, 1 small) in the bay, ....a kind of tiring paddle back.

July 24 Thurs, a pick up by Wade of Moresby Explorers in the zodiac, 2 hours, then 1 hour in van to Civa's,... dinner at Dick Woks, ... food was pretty good.

July 25 Fri, taxi to airport, ..... flight a bit late but still made the Vancouver connection. On the flight south to Vcr, the route was over the interior, was struck by the size and multitude of the snow-covered Rockies (whereas the trip south had been over the coastal islands)

Overall..., I'd rate it as a...... 7.5/10. whereas the first Baja trip was an 8, the second Baja a 6.5/10. The big positives were the sunny weather and Joanne.

Camino, Spain May 2008

.... a ten day cycle trip, Spanish Camino with Gabriola cycle (gck.ca)

May 23 (Fri) Was raining quite hard (not the Spain I was expecting),... so 6 or so of us took the ¨free¨ bus to a big commercial shopping centre, where there was a big Decathlon store (sports store a bit like MEC, but much flashier). Since the rain seemed relentless there was a big interest in rain-wear, but I was more interested in the general stuff, so bought a super bright neon yellow breathable jacket and some compression top and pants at what are very good prices. Barb (who, with Les owns a bike shop in White Rock BC) said prices were half the Canadian level. Also bought a bell (to warn the pilgrims of my approach), and some interesting sports cereal bars at 6 for 1.5 euros, incredible.

Met the 20+ other cyclists at 5:30 PM Friday,(...most seem like strangers to each other) at the rendez-vous. My roommate. John Albright, is a champion cyclist (pursuit rider) from the 70´s, ... various medals (team and individual) in pursuit in track pursuit in Canadian Nationals. Ana did a good low key overview introduction. We´ll be cycling out tomorrow. Most of the group have rented mountain bikes so they are off to pick up their rentals. I am the only one with a road bike (other than Ana), so it will be interesting to see if I can cope with the camino (pilgrim's path) or may have to take the closest regular roads

May 24 (Sat)

First cycling day to Castrojerez and amazingly it wasn't raining (except for a couple minutes) and it was say 50% sunny. It was only 42 Km on the camino, but because of the previous rain it was very muddy in sections, and so after 10 Km I switched to the road, longer, 51km.... I was the first one in. When you are walking through 4 inches of oozing mud, I don't care what kind of bike you´ve got, its not very good. Where its not muddy, the rough gravel surface is OK for my roadbike, maybe not great but good enough.

Today I was happy mainly because the weather changed a bit ... fair bit of sun, but not very warm, say 15 at the max.... not the Spain I imagined. I was expecting it to be more sunny and warmer than France, ...not so. Maybe in the south of Spain it is, but not in the North.

May 25 (Sun) second riding day, to Carrios de Condes only a 48K ride, where we stayed at a monastery converted to hotel, ... rather posh. Kind of a short cycling day to my liking, but the sun came out and I fell asleep on a plaza bench at the destination, ...Ashley got a kick out of waking me up by jabbing me in the ribs. The town was celebrating corpus christi, with a half kilometer of flowers decorating the road,... much like in San Miguel in Mexico. A basic Perigrino dinner (pork, etc) for 9 euros

May 26 (Mon) no breakfast, other than a peanut butter sandwhich from the truck. A 76 Km road ride to Mansilla, and zero sun and a bit of rain (where I stood in the shelter of a barn's eaves)... so I appreciated my new tights that I bought at Decathelon, Burgos.

May 27 (Tues) a 72km tride to Astorga, the weather cleared up, turned sunny but still cool. Stopped in Leon after 18Km (pop 500,000) for half hour, had breakfast, and went into the cathedral, just popped my head in for 90 seconds. Was the first to arrive in Astorga and shared a BBQ chicken in the restaurant beside the hotel, while they prepared the rooms. The sunny weather helps my disposition, .... big time. Srong armed Barb Rainville Calgary into buying her flight to Bilboa on the Internet, and she saved almost 100 euros, ... but in the end I think she thought I was trying to pull a fast one.... was very timid about the Internet, was always looking for an excuse to get away, the bathroom, dinner arrangements, any excuse to avoid the Internet. Ashley and Dave appreciated it though

One thing about Camino, is a large part of the satisfaction maybe comes from the religious experience (not for me), or for me maybe the historical significance, because the riding itself is a bit plain, a bit like through the Canadian prairies (.... not that I've ever done that), impressive but kind of the same, although it might change when we cross into Gallacia. So far the distances have been easy (70K and flat) and a lot of the customer base seems to think that's a lot. The Camino on the first day had oosy mud due to rain , about 2 inches for long stretches, so Ive switched pretty much to the road, although they tell me the Camino gravel+stone is drier now

May 28 (Wed) a 700M climb to go over the Montes Leon range, at 1505m to get to Molinsecca. For some of the group its a bit of a challenge, but I´m kind of used to it. Cold, maybe 8C (even lower) at the top and drizzly. In theory the scenery is dazzling but at this temp and wet,.... it's really not pleasant. Stayed at a huge private home converted to Bed and Breakfast, where the common room was once a barn for horses with a huge fireplace high roof, and rough stone floor. The breakfast was laid out buffet style (the only included meal in the whole trip) for self preparation. I cooked my own eggs, a first, ... were good.

May 29 (Thurs) a short 30+ Km ride to Villafranca, 50% on Camino , and the sun did appear ever so briefly. Saw some Canadian flags on backpackers. We see about 100-300 per day walking, and you never see USA flags, but Canadian and Australian flags are seen occasionally. Europeans don't seem to show flags much, and Americans are probably ashamed/scared.

May 30 (Fri) a 65Km VillaFranca to Samos, the place where there was a monastery and a kind of old fashioned hotel, day when we crossed into Galacia, and climbed to 1335m, cold and drizzly ... had lunch with Ashley Ana Camila, excellent lemon mousse .... sun came out a bit, just a bit.

May 31 (Sat) a 62 KM ride to Portmarin, kind of a nice place on a lake. Tried Les´ laptop, without success. Tried Ana's ASUS laptop and it worked fine for a while, ... was the first night when I didn't have dinner, having had a pizza at 3pm. There seems to be an exhaustible interest in 'happy hour', but I find them rather tedious, .... maybe that´s a function of not drinking, ... lots of women talking about shopping or silly stuff, ... Peter seemed to bring a more elevated 'tone' to Happy Hour.

June 1 (Sun) a 65 K ride to Aruza, a "nothing" place the Suiza hotel....my route was a bit farther than the Camino because I took the highway 540 over to the 547 which added 6 km. Had lunch , garbanzo bean soup, with John in the hotel and there was sun for the happy hour and we sat outside. Barb from Calgary left a day early for her daughters graduation in Victoria. No dinner again, not really hungry, .... and read the travel book on South Africa. Used my Skippy peanut butter to good advantage in the morning, as a supplement to breakfast, which are otherwise pretty skimpy (toasted bread and coffee).

June 2 (Mon) a short 40 K ride to Santiago, and although I started and finished on the Camino I found the short section that I did on the Camino really quite hard, and switched to the road. Met some Montrealers in the tourist office, pleasant conversation in French. Packed my bike with ease, and because Ana reminded me about taking off the derailleur, .... made the box closing much easier. Had lunch with Sue Alan Laurie Theresa. Walked to the bus station just be sure my Internet ticket and passport were all that were needed, seemed fine. Ana had a long story about some conflict with her air ticket, so is ending up taking the bus (with Camila) from Burgos to Paris, 14 hours, partly I think to avoid the excess weight charges. Gave Ashley an envelope with a $100 tip, .. because she did a great job for 3 trips, and told her she made it "fun for me" .. she did.

June 3 (Tues) took the bus to Bilbao (to avoid excess luggage charges by air. through away my air ticket), turned sunny, actually enjoyed the 12 hour trip, lots of scenery, choice of Hotel "Bilboa Jardines" (over Internet) 57E, ... was great, very central.

June 4 (Wed) Lufthansa to Frankfort, no trouble checking in bike, Air Canada to Toronto, ... AC did a great job, served delicious lamb. When home: weight: 181 pounds, exactly the same as when I left Apr 25.

1690 km total km for the three trips

"Rating" the recent trips, scale of 10
Provence I... Apr 27-May 7 .....8.5 ..... lots of sunny warm days
Provence II ... May 9- 23.......... 7.0
Spain Camino May 23..June 4....3.5 .... Note A

Note A not a bad trip, could have been an 8 , but low rating mostly due to the crappy weather, mornings 12C rising maybe to 18C, 90% cloudy, occasional rain ... and it has a lot to with expectations, I expected Spain to be sunny and 30C, ... and it wasn't).

Provence, May 2008

Two French trips (Provence)and
a Spanish trip, following post
with Gabriola (gck.com) April 25 to June 4/08
..... click the links in My Agenda (next post down) for specifics

April 25 to May 7 2008
It was an Air Canada flight over; via Munich to Marseille, then 150 Km on the train to Monpellier. THE BIG PROBLM was that my luggage + bike didnt show up in Marseille, ... and I ve been on trips when some have gone the whole trip and their luggage NEVER shows up. Fortunately at 11:20 PM .... was fast asleep ....and the front desk woke me up to tell me luggage was at the front desk..... I guess I slept better knowing that. Also on the positive side, I didnt have to schlep? that luggage onto the train and then to the hotel, Lufthansa (Air Canadas points partner) did it for me...... kind of a good thing. Looks like a good group of 19 cyclists.
April 26 (Sat)
Lufthansa from Munich to Marseille.... then the train to Montpellier, about 100 minutes, then a cab to the hotel, (didnt know about the tram). Met Ana in the lobby, and was mostly anxious about my absent luggage and bike. Took the local tram into town to see what was going on .... place is hopping
April 27(Sun)
Set up my bike (30 min) .... faster than taking it apart (90 min). Took the tram into town and again for dinner with Doug Ashley Francois etc .... Ashley took forever to decide her menu choices (5min with the waiter tapping his foot) I asked her if .... "pregnancy brought on indecision".
April 28 (Mon)
First cycling day to Vezenobres, about 75Km, stopped curtesy of Francois efforts and had a good lamb stew lunch, and waiter seemed pleased to have us.... eg came out wondering if we really meant to leave a tip.
April 29 (Tues)
Onto Orange about 75 Km. Finding a lunch spot turned out to be difficult, but after separating from the main group had lunch with Richard and Janet, .... pretty darn good. We took a gamble that there would be a crossing of the Rhone on the most direct route, there wasnt, ...... so a bit of a detour to get around, ..... and Janet wasn't too happy. Richard said: when she gets witin 20 yards let's leave, I cant stand her wrath"
Apr 30 (Wed)
A break day in Orange ..... an unusual rainy day; .... so we went to see the soldier memorial in the Roman amphitheatre, roughly 500 troops..... quite impressive but it poured, looked for the internet, ... skies cleared, had pizza for dinner. Took the 13 min train to Avignon, spent a couple hours and came back, ...worth the visit .... the papal palace and the pont.
May 1st (Thurs)
Onto Apt about 70KM, nice flat vinyards to start, ... then scenic hills into the three quaint towns, I only went to the first, Saplet?, and a group picnic lunch on the way, curtesy of Ashley and Ana. The group seems to like pack riding altogether (.... strange, in my opinion), ... but I dont. Met 2 Backroads guides, .... girls, and they agreed their prices were pretty hefty. Had dinner in a brasserie and although they called it a filet mignon, it was excellent pork tenderloin and with appetizer and veggies was 9.50euros, .... what value. The cook came out and jokingly hit on Ana (La Mexicaine), and reluctantly sold Francois/Doug a jar of homemade sauce piquant, after much pleading
May 2 Fri
A rest day, in Apt so went with Bill and Shirley to Aix en Provence on the bus. Bill and Shirley seemed to really like it, and the bus trip (2 hours) was not onerous at all, .... quite pleasant in fact. Spent at least an hour in the Aix Decathalon, bout two tubes, cap, and bright lime green shirt for 6.90 euros
May 3 Sat
A ride to Isle sur Sorgue, to a modern type French hotel, kind of nice.... bamboo covered terrrace and a Super U next door bought some gin tonic (only using symbolic trace amounts of gin) ... went to town for dinner by the river, faux fillet, tarte citron, ... about the best dinner so far, 14 euros.
May 4 Sun
Rode to St Remi 50Km with a stop in Les Baux, although I didnt go in to the castle/ramparts (since Id been there recently) was a near perfect day ..... rode pretty much on my own.
May 5 Mon
A 50 Km ride to Uzes, via Pont du Gard. Sunny and probably into the 30.s C in the sun
May 6 Tues
A rainy day(first since Orange), so a good day to have a day off, .... although we have a winetasting at 4:30 and a group dinner in town. Spent 4 hours in the internet.... The dinner seemed to confuse people, Bill especially, ... I guess because it was a 4 course set menu. The owner-staff was not not particularly friendly, nor helpful
May 7 (Wed)
Rode 89 km to Montpellier to a airport "efficiency" hotel (bathroom so small is like a airliner). This was the only day of route-difficulty, ...... took 90 extra minutes to find the hotel, .... none of the locals seem to have a clue about the surroundings. Rory and Rennee left at 7PM and I complemented Rory as a great roommate because he was perfectly silent sleeper, also a practical, non-pretentious guy, and seems to have a good joking rapport with Camila. Dinner at a Mexican restaurant for 18, heavy on the protein... I liked it, but it wasnt everybodies cup of tea.
May 8 (Thurs)
Another holiday-day in France, ...not sure why. Spent time in Carrefour (immense WalMart-like) and researched my train trip to Burgos join the Camino trip on May 23..... 30 euro discount if bought 10 days early. A group of 12, most from the first group went to the Medditerranan seaside marina in taxis ... many had excellent paella, for13.50 euros incl wine and dessert
May 9 (Fri)
A day off in Montpellier as the second group begins to arrive. Bought my train tickets today from Montpellier to Burgos, Spain on May 20th, about 10 hours on the train (3 different trains, overnight in Bordeaux)., and trains are pretty high speed, for 76 euros, quite cheap having bought 10 days in advance and qualifying for "loisir =vacation" class.

Decided to take an 8 day gck.com kayak trip July 16-25 (I'm with gck cycling now) in the Queen Charlottes.... everybody says they are great even though the probability of rain is high..... those are the trips where everybody has got to take turns of provisioning and cooking dinner for the whole group, .... not everybody would like that formula.
May 10 (Sat)
First cycle day with second group, to Vezenobles, turned out to be nice weather, ......unlike forecast. A guy called Peter Harrower, 57, fell a couple times, and got admitted to hospital and more tests for Sunday. Ashley, after this experience, said she could become an ambulance driver. Dinner (chicken and fig sauce) in this was the best, for the second time, of the whole trip, .... and I told the proprieter so.
May 11(Sun)
Another nice day to Orange, was able to ride shirtless,..... except it rained toward the end. It was a slightly different route than last time, and maybe marginally better. Dinner, a stuffed chicken leg, was good.


May 12 (Mon)
Took the 35 minute train to Arles, famous for the roman colliseum, 100AD, kind of a 50 percent cloudy day. Im not sure what the others are doing, probably resting. Today is another work holiday, Pentcoste (whatever that is) the third holiday in the 2.5 weeks Ive been here..... in Canada it takes half a year to get three holidays

May 13 (Tues)
A pretty close to 90km cycle to Apt, and the weather turned out pretty fair, some sun in the AM. The hills after lunch (sandwhich in Venesque)were pretty easy grade, and since I was almost there by 2:00. Eight of us ended up at Le Palais (same as last time) and had a pretty good dinner, ... this time with live music. I saw Peter H (earlier admitted to hospital in Vezenobres) cycling during the day, so I guess he's not too badly off.
May 14 (Wed)
Anther rest day and rather than climbing Ventoux (Jim and Rick did it), after shopping at Leclerc (bought a lime-green safety vest), went to Aix again on the bus,..... more as just something to do. Theresa got sick on the bus and decided to go back from Pertuis (half way).

May 15 (Thurs)

65 Km Ride to St Remy, really motored along and got threre by 12noon... kind of silly since you should stop and smell the roses. Went to dinner with Penny Doug Ana Ashley Camila, ... a better than average place. Booked my Jun 3 flight online from Santiago to Bilboa June 3, with Spanair.

May 16 (Fri)

A rest day in St Remy, went for a short ride to Millaine ( wrong direction by mstake) and then Les Baux, .... but returned when it started to rain. Had dinner with Jim at a Chinese Veitnam place where the service was slow Bruce and Lee checked out when we still didnt have the main course , ... but the food itself was delicious
May 17 (Sat)
Ride to Uzes with a brief stop at the Pont Gard, when it began to rain. It was a heavy rain. Had dinner in the same Italian restaurant as last time, the waiter remembered us (... not sure thats a good thing)
May 18 (Sun)
Nice sunny weather day in Uzes. Cycled alone to Nimes, about 58Km, was quite a big city compared to Arles. Camila organized a ping pong tournament, and Camila and Alan 220+pounds, put on a syncronized swimming show.... not bad. Went with Doug Ana Penny to the Uzes square and had a cook it yourself (pierreade) dinner, on a hot stone, ... kind of fun. Camila,11, who likes to complain about Rory (from the first trip) and says that now she's a "small woman" (her words) she doesnt appreciate his playful attention. Camila in a candid moment however, said Rory was "buff", ... quite a compliment, for a guy who wears white pants (photo proof available).
May 19 (Mon)
Cycled to Montpellier, 77 Km and Doug was quite concerned about his written directions to the hotel, ... went fairly smoothly compared to getting to Premiers Classe. Jim had a minor fall and managed to rack up more than 100Km having got lost. Went to downtown with 5 others, strolled the Montpellier sites ... they liked it.
May 20 (Tues)
Train 4.5 hours to Bordeaux, quite a pleasant ride. With two heavy cases, it's quite a chore to go down/ up the staircases to get to the right track, but 3 out of 4 times, when I left one case at the top (to carry the bikecase) someone else actually carried the other,.... I was impressed. Staying at the Ibis hotel overnight, and onto Burgos in the AM.

May 21 (Wed)

Train to Burgos Spain was fine, and very few passengers on just 2 train cars, compared to the throngs in France .... I was the only one to get off in Burgos. I had a four course meal on the train, ... quite good, .... and the only other diners while was eating were the train staff, ... cremea de verduras, and a kind of beef bourginon, vanilla pudding, and a beer. Then in Burgos, the taxi was only 5 euros, the Hotel Espagna was well situated near the Cathedral, and its bloody well raining (.... shit!, ...... should have stayed an extra day in Bordeaux). It was hard to find dinner at 7:30PM so had a Turkish doner (shaved chicken), ..... was very filling and pretty good.

May 22 (Thurs)

Had breakfast in hotel and met Les (owns a bike shop) and his wife Barb, then went ambling the streets of Burgos, and bought a collapsible umbrella (... so the rain must be bad). Met Ana and Ashley at 5 PM , who seem to not had an easy time flying to Burgos via Paris and Madrid, and missing the bus to Burgos. I was horrified at the huge charges they had to pay for their excess luggage, so Im thinking of throwing away my Spanair ticket and just taking the bus from Santiago to Bilbao on June 3, just 49 euros and takes 12 hours.

Honduras, Scuba Jan 2008

Returned Jan 25/08 from Honduras, Island of Roatan, Fantasy Island, Jan 18/25

Why....Got a Christmas card from Mississauga Diving Shop, promoting this trip. Remembered that an Air Canada pilot in San Salvador last year thought Fantasy Island was great,.... so decided to give it a try.

Great direct flight... Skyservice Toronto/Roatan .... which was nice. The resort called "Fantasy Island" is a bit like a rather tacky Club Med. .... http://www.fantasyislandresort.com/

• the group of 17 (incl. 2 non divers), mostly from Toronto who pretty much know each other, had a high proportion of heavy people [BMIs well over 30] .... not like a cycling group.
• the group had several rather experienced divers, .... several who act as diving instructors (divemasters) back home .
• The Honduran crew was a bit casual, and rather minimalist on safety..... but OK, I guess, in view of the group's relatively high experience .
• The actual diving was somewhat better than (my) average
• found that my new equipment Scuba Pro Knighthawk BCD, MK25 / G250 regulator served me well, .... pleased with it. Maybe should buy a new set of fins and mesh gear bag. Found that I was cold on the second dive with my 2/3 wetsuit, water temp: 81F
  
• tipped the boat captain and divemaster $40 combined, or about 14%
• had one night dive, Jan 22, which was quite good {.... normally, I'm not crazy about night dives}
• went on a 4 hour van tour of the island on the last day,.... most islanders speak English, maybe because Roatan was a British colony in the 1850s. GG