TravelStream™ news feed for member idarich on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/idarich en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:27:46 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/3/1199211300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/3/1199211300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/3/1199211300/tpod.html Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:27:46 -0500 Our brief escape from the festive madness to Dahab, Egypt

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Dahab, Egypt

Christmas is for kids and family, and if you don't have either in the UK, then you might as well do a "Bah, humbug!"At the end of 2007, we decided to give the crazy consumerism-fest that is 'Xmas' a skip, and headed for (what we thought would be) a safe hideout - the muslim country of Egypt. The idea was to catch some 'wintersun', as the Brits call it, and do some of our favourite things... diving, snorkeling, windsurfing, relaxing on the beach, etc.   So we embarked on our first-ever package holiday - yes, that's right, the hardened independent travellers succumbed to the charms of Olympic Holidays! Or to be more precise, we fell for the price. For the same cost as a return flight on a scheduled flight (around £800 during the festive season) we got the whole lot: flights, transfers, 4-star hotel with breakfast and dinner. All this was uncharted territory for us - we were anxious not to be herded and surrounded by hideous Brits-abroad behaviour (call us snobs) - but in the end, we were pleasantly surprised. For a start, only five other folk from our packed charter flight to Sharm El Sheikh boarded the small transfer bus bound for Dahab... everyone else stayed behind in Sharm, which is larger and more commercial. Most of the guests in our garden-style hotel, the Swiss Inn, were Swiss, German or Dutch, and the hotel was beautifully located beside Dahab's natural lagoon, a mecca for windsurfers. The buffet breakfasts and dinners were varied, and always fresh and tasty. We slept in a little on our first morning, Sunday the 23rd, as we'd only arrived at about 1am. After a stroll on the beach to check out all the watersports centres on the lagoon, Rich arranged his windsurfer hire for the week with Club Vass next door, and went out for a spin. I settled into what would become a marvellous routine - a few hours in the sun with my book, punctuated only by a swim now and then.On Monday morning we strolled into Dahab town, about 2km from the lagoon area and our hotel. The feature of this former fishing village, now holiday haunt of independent scuba-diving travellers, is a seafront prominade lined with little hotels and open-air restaurants. Many of Dahab's famed dive-sites are right off the prominade; we were totally blown away by the underwater paradise we encountered on our first snorkel at a site called Lighthouse. Having tucked into a delicious fish lunch at one of the seaside eateries, we headed back lagoon-side for an afternoon of windsurfing (Rich) and sunbathing (me).My sinuses were causing me problems due to a nasty cold - I couldn't equalise - so when we signed up at the Ocean College dive centre that afternoon, the dive master recommended I pay a visit to the hyperbaric chamber medical centre nearby. The excellent Dr Taher prescribed a regime of "local remedies" to clear my passages and get me diving. These included a nasal spray and herbal syrup, and flushing the sinuses with a saline-type solution... Rich became very good at pouring the stuff down my nose as I lay head back on the bed! After a slap-up brunch on Tuesday, Christmas Day, we paid another visit to Lighthouse for snorkeling, this time in the company of a South African couple we'd met at the Christmas Eve dinner the previous evening. In the afternoon, Rich did his check dive with Jo, the dive master, followed by some more windsurfing, while I kept up my sun lounger/reading routine... bliss!The Blue Hole is Dahab's most famous dive site, and also its most crowded snorkeling spot, as I found out on Wednesday afternoon. With Rich spending the day zooming along in 'Speedy', the outer lagoon area, I'd decided to join a Club Vass snorkeling trip to the Blue Hole - very busy but lovely nonetheless.By Thursday morning, Dr Taher's remedies had done the trick and I was ready to dive. At 9am we headed about 40 minutes south by Jeep for our first dive - Three Pools. Still not sure whether I'd be able to equalise my left ear, I took it easy in the shallows and was relieved when it finally 'popped'. After lunch at a beach cafe, the second dive was nearby Moray Gardens - neither of the dives were deep, but spectacular... and we simply enjoyed being back underwater again. And what a full day - we got back to our hotel at sunset.On Friday morning we headed north of the village for our first dive of the day at Eel Garden, followed by a second at The Islands. Both were breathtaking - Eel Garden takes its name from the 'field' of ghostly garden eels protruding from the sand and rocking gently in the swell. At The Islands, we swam through an enchanting underwater labyrinth of coral formations and encountered the resident shoal of baby barracuda. And so, our last day and evening had come way too quickly - we were desperate to stay on a few more days! A phone call to Olympic Holidays and quick search on the internet revealed there was no chance of changing our flight or buying a later departure... we reluntantly accepted that we'd have to leave on Saturday morning. Having been 'good' all week (and often creeping to bed at 10pm), we joined the South African couple on a night out to celebrate their becoming engaged the previous day. After a few drinks, we headed into Dahab village for a superb seafood meal at one of the waterside restaurants... before long, it was 2am and we still had to pack! Needless to say, with barely two hours of sleep under our belts, we looked a sad case when our transfer bus came to collect us at 5am! After what seemed a loooonnggg flight and even longer train ride from Manchester to Edinburgh, we arrived home absolutely exhausted but very content!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1168014360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1168014360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1168014360/tpod.html Sat, 06 Jan 2007 11:27:07 -0500 Christmas in the Canaries

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Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, Spain and Canary Islands

So why would two hardened, independent round-the-world travellers, who've been to some of the world's most exotic places, choose to join Britain's 'wintersun'-seeking masses aboard a cheap flight to Tenerife? Well, for exactly that reason - because it's cheap. And because, after seven months back at the grindstone in Edinburgh, we figured we needed a holiday. Cautiously optimistic about our financial recovery after the wallet-draining gap year, we decided to book a week away over Christmas... well, last year we spent Christmas in Ecuador, and this year the Canaries would have to do. But no, we weren't headed for the crowded beaches and drink-all-you-like bars of southern Tenerife. We'd been told many times by like-minded travellers that the Canaries have so much more to offer, that the dramatic volcanic landscapes of the islands offered plenty of opportunities for hiking and other outdoor activities... and that it was indeed possible to get away from the madding crowds.  A little research threw up the name La Gomera - the second-smallest island in the archipelago, and a mere 45-minute ferry ride to the west of Tenerife. There are only two large 'international' hotels on the island (most of the accomodation is self-catering, in small cottages and apartments), so not a package tourist in sight. It all sounded very enchanting, just the place to relax and do a little light hiking and diving. And the island is beloved of outdoorish German hippies - a shrewd bunch to track if you're looking for a quieter, more interesting destination within easy reach of Europe. On Friday 22 December we took an early-morning Globespan flight from Glasgow, and arrived around 2pm at Tenerife South airport. After killing a few hours in the package-holiday-hell town of Los Christianos, at sunset we boarded the Garajonay Express ferry, which hops from Tenerife to San Sebastian, the main on La Gomera, and from there to Playa Santiago and finally Valle Gran Rey, our destination.Quite unusually for us, we'd booked a one-bedroomed apartment via email before leaving, and boy, were we grateful we'd done so - unlike everywhere else we've been, there were no accommodation touts hanging around the harbour. Our little apartment was pleasantly situated a ten-minute stroll from the beach in the hillside village of La Caleta in Valle Gran Rey, and had a little balcony with a view of the sea - we grew very fond of it in the end. On Saturday, a two-hour walk up valley wall behind La Caleta, towards the village of Arure, revealed the breathtaking topography of the area. From the ridge above Valle Gran Rey, a wide valley, we looked down upon scattered white hamlets and endless green terraces dotted with palm trees, all nestled in the folds of steep mountainsides. While the valley below was green with fertile, spring-fed terraces, the arid, windblown ridges around us were strewn with rock and home only to tough scrub and succulents, including graceful euphorbias.  On that first walk we met the Gomerans' livestock of choice, the hardy goat. The large bells around their necks clang constantly as they graze the arid mountainsides, so it's hard to miss these jaunty animals. I spent a good few minutes sneaking up to the old lady pictured here while she stood quietly in the shade of a euphorbia bush.    Over the next few days, our ramblings left us in awe of the immense variety of landscapes packed onto such a small island. La Gomera is only around 25km wide, but its round shape is carved into pie-like segments by deep gorges called barrancos. The dramatic, steep cliffs rising from the valley floors reveal the ancient volcanic origins of the islands in beautiful folds of pink and orange rock.   At the heart of the island, its highest peak, Alto de Garajonay (1,487m), rises from a central plateau covered by the largest remaining patch of relic laurel forest, called laurisilva. Before the last ice age, such forests once covered much of the Mediterranean. Today, La Gomera's laurisilva is protected in a national park which covers around 10% of the island. A marathon hike on Sunday the 24th brought us face to face with astonishing contrasts - between the cultivated terraces of the valley floors, the arid, rocky mountainsides, and the tangled green soup of the dense laurisilva forest. In the early morning, we took a local bus up and out of the valley to Chipude, at the edge of the national park. After getting a little lost while looking for the right footpath, we tackled the gentle ascent of Alto de Garajonay. Though it was a cloudy day, the view out over the laurisilva towards Tenerife was stunning. From the summit, we set off in the northerly direction towards Laguna Grande, a good two-hour walk through the enchanting laurisilva. Though it's commonly referred to as laurel forest, there are as many other species of evergreen trees here, including Canary hollies and distinctive tree heaths, easily recognised by their fine, heatherlike foliage and twisted trunks.  After a lunch stop at Laguna Grande, we headed back south through the forest and left the national park near El Cercado, where we picked up a path down into Valle Gran Rey. That steep downhill into the gorge was probably the longest, toughest leg of the hike, but very rewarding for the superb views of the distinct layers of volcanic rock that make up the mountainsides.   After eight hours of hiking through the most splendid, diverse scenery, we hobbled into La Caleta at sunset. After taking showers and relaxing with a beer on the balcony, it took some mustering to drag our aching limbs down into the village for a meal! Read on in the next entries for more about our La Gomera experience... 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1167368400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1167368400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1167368400/tpod.html Sat, 06 Jan 2007 11:00:34 -0500 Christmas in the Canaries

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Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, Spain and Canary Islands

Our final full day on the island, Wednesday 27 December, dawned with the prospect of another dive. This time, we arrived at the dive shop in good time so as not to irk the Divemaster! The group was bigger than that on Christmas Day, about six divers, but the conditions&nbsp;looked less than ideal - a strong wind and substantial swell had&nbsp;broken the warm, still weather of the&nbsp;previous days.&nbsp;&nbsp;So, unfortunately, we never went down. Ten minutes into the&nbsp;ride on Fisch &amp; Co.'s open boat, the&nbsp;Divemaster decided that the swell was simply too big... there were a few green faces around he boat already. We turned back,&nbsp;unloaded all our kit and had a coffee at the harbourside. After an hour, it seemed that conditions would not improve, so the day's diving&nbsp;was called off.&nbsp;Together&nbsp;with Sonja and Jello, a German pair we met on&nbsp;the&nbsp;dive boat, we decided to do a final walk instead.&nbsp;After returning to&nbsp;our apartments in La Caleta&nbsp;to don hiking boots etc, we&nbsp;headed downhill&nbsp;and caught a&nbsp;glimpse of the village plaza below - it was a hive&nbsp;of activity, with folks in traditional dress swarming around tables laden with food. Aha, that looked&nbsp;promising! &nbsp;Five minutes later, the four of us were&nbsp;slurping on&nbsp;chickpea and ham stew&nbsp;and helping ourselves to soft&nbsp;drinks and wines,&nbsp;egged on&nbsp;by&nbsp;the locals around us.&nbsp;As we looked around&nbsp;the plaza, it seemed we were the only tourists (and very conspicuous ones too, clad in shorts, hiking boots, sun hats) but we were made to&nbsp;feel very welcome, thanks in part, I'm sure, to the fact that Jello and I&nbsp;struck up little conversations&nbsp;in&nbsp;Spanish with those around us. &nbsp;It took quite a few enquiries to work out what, exactly, this fiesta was in aid of, but the broad&nbsp;explanation that&nbsp;emerged was that the municipality was hosting this party to celebrate the fact that the village had won an island-wide competition for best&nbsp;EU-funded development.&nbsp;Tables&nbsp;creaked under&nbsp;endless platters of paella, grilled tuna and <i>gofio,&nbsp;and&nbsp;bottles of wine. &nbsp;We tucked&nbsp;in,&nbsp;chatted and enjoyed a performance by local musicians in traditional black costume,&nbsp;before setting off for our hike an hour&nbsp;or so later. Rich was all too pleased when we finally decided to leave - even though we'd been made to feel very welcome, he remained reluctant to gate-crash the locals' party!&nbsp;Our walk that afternoon was probably the most dramatic of all. From the beach just beyond Vueltas, we headed up the narrow Barranco de Argaga, passing abandoned terraces before tackling a relentlessly steep scramble up the valley wall. Once on the ridge, we walked through Gerian, a quaint hamlet of white-washed and rough stone cottages, and continued up to Chipude, where we had enough time for a <i>bicicleta (as the Spanish call a shandy) before catching the bus back down to Valle Gran Rey just after 7pm. Jello and Sonja caused a stir in the bar with their heartfelt rendition of the German Christmas classic <i>O Tannenbaum beside an elaborately decorated tree. &nbsp;At 8am on Thursday morning, we boarded the bus to San Sebastian, and from there the Fred Olsen ferry back to Tenerife. We took a last look back at the rugged shape of La Gomera, filled with a deep sense of satisfaction and wonder at&nbsp;what jewels may be found a stone's throw away from the crowded resorts of package holidays. We hope to return again soon to explore other lesser-known corners of the Canaries. &nbsp;&nbsp;
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1167282000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1167282000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1167282000/tpod.html Sat, 06 Jan 2007 09:27:54 -0500 Christmas in the Canaries

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La Gomera, Spain and Canary Islands

Boxing Day saw us up and out of our apartment by 8am, eager to try and arrange a hire car for the day. The previous three days - two of hiking and one of diving and beach-lazing - had given us some wonderful up-close experiences, but now we were keen to get a feel for the island as a whole.&nbsp;Though this Christmas week is considered a 'busy'&nbsp;one, it still seemed relatively quiet, and we were lucky enough to be able to hire a car easily. &nbsp;The rugged landscape and cliff-hugging, winding roads mean that, even though the island is&nbsp;only 25km&nbsp;wide, the distances are much longer than you'd expect. We set off&nbsp;north, starting the day&nbsp;with an hour-long walk in&nbsp;the laurisilva&nbsp;forest near Las Hayas, and then driving on to Vallehermoso. &nbsp;Like Valle Gran Rey, Vallehermoso is a wide, long valley&nbsp;dotted with stair-like terraces and whitewashed homesteads.&nbsp;At mid-morning, on&nbsp;the&nbsp;winding road that descends into the valley, we became the reluctant&nbsp;perpetrators of a hit-and-run... yes, we killed a kid, a dreadful act&nbsp;had not chosen to commit, but&nbsp;will never forget.&nbsp;Let me tell the story.&nbsp;As we entered a blind bend, a fast-moving figure streaked before us, and then disappeared into the bushes beside the road... that must have been the mother. Seconds later, as we rounded the bend, a small shape staggered around in the opposite lane, confused and helpless. Rich reduced speed to a crawl, and at first it seemed the kid was heading for the verge... but then, unexpectedly, it ran towards the car and launched itself right&nbsp;into our back wheel. Our hearts sank as we heard&nbsp;a faint thud. Despite massive head wounds, the tragic little victim was still alive, and Rich bravely put it out of its misery. &nbsp;Of course, you've gathered by now it was a goat, not a human kid. Still, we felt absolutely awful, not least for the farmer who would end up searching for his missing young animal. We&nbsp; debated the pros and cons of taking the little corpse into the&nbsp;village and&nbsp;owning up, but decided that it might turn into a&nbsp;whole day drama. So we laid it to&nbsp;rest at the roadside.&nbsp;We struggled to get the morning's events out of our minds as we toured the north of the island, where the valleys and mountainsides are much greener&nbsp;and frequently covered in swathes of laurisilva. At Juego de Bolas, the official&nbsp;national park&nbsp;visitor centre,&nbsp;small botanical display of endemic plants&nbsp;grows besides such&nbsp;familiar South African icons&nbsp;as Strelitzia and King Proteas. We felt right at home. &nbsp;For lunch, we headed into the hills above the village of Las Rosas to a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet, called Roque Blanco.&nbsp;The tremendous views&nbsp;down into the valley was complemented by a&nbsp;menu of traditional&nbsp;Gomeran&nbsp;dishes. This was our chance&nbsp;to try <i>gofio,&nbsp;a traditional flour made of roasted corn and barley. The version we ordered, as a starter, served the <i>gofio with pork crackling.... phew, so rich&nbsp;and heavy!&nbsp;Another local delicacy, watercress&nbsp;soup, was slightly fresher and lighter on the stomach.&nbsp;Our main dishes were a&nbsp;meat-lover's delight - two huge <i>chuletas de cerdo (pork chops) for Rich, and a whole roasted <i>conejo (rabbit) for me. Yes, the carnivores were defeated!!! We gave up halfway through and asked for the rest in a doggy bag. &nbsp;Our onward drive took us through the heart of the laurisilva once more, past impressive volcanic pinnacles called <i>roques, and back south, to Playa Santiago. Not much to see there. &nbsp;Our last stop, just before sunset, was a walk down to the last remaining dragon tree (<i>Dracaena draco) on the island, a majestic specimen in a small barranco near the village of Alajero. These prehistoric-looking treelike&nbsp;shrubs (actually closely related to Cordylines) are found&nbsp;throughout the Canaries, Azores, Cape Verde and parts of Morocco. This last one on La Gomera is several hundred years old, and in good health. One&nbsp;can just imagine how much more unearthly this aird landscape would have&nbsp;been if&nbsp;dragon trees were still dotted all around. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1167109200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1167109200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/gomera_2006/1167109200/tpod.html Sat, 06 Jan 2007 08:26:15 -0500 Christmas in the Canaries

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Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, Spain and Canary Islands

The eight-hour hike on Christmas Eve had taken its toll on Rich's knee - he complained of excruciating pain on the slightest downhill incline - so good thing we had an underwater planned for Christmas Day. Nothing like a bit of weightlessness and a regulator in your mouth to stop&nbsp;the &nbsp;moaning.&nbsp;The Canaries are certainly not known as the best dive destination in the world, but with our dive addiction firmly in place, we feel compelled to take to the water whenever and wherever we can. So on Christmas morning we joined two other customers for a dive with Fisch &amp; Co., a German-Swiss owned operation based in Valle Gran Rey. We started the morning on a less than friendly note with the Divemaster, having arrived 15 minutes late for the kit-up.... typical!&nbsp;The water was warmer than we expected, in the region of 22 degrees, but nevertheless we kitted up in full suits and hoodies. A little wave of panic swept over me when I first went down, mainly because my mask kept filling with water thanks&nbsp;to some stray hairs, but once that was sorted out, it&nbsp;felt like coming home... that wonderfully&nbsp;tranquil&nbsp;and awe-inspiring feeling of witnessing life in another medium. &nbsp;The seas around the Canaries do not have coral reefs, but the spot we dived in had large boulders and rock formations with a beauty of their own. Our sightings included a number of different eel species, a burrfish and a large cuttlefish, as well as shaols of trevally. All in all a pleasant, blissful dive though nowhere&nbsp;as colourful&nbsp;and abundant as our tropical experiences.&nbsp;We spent Christmas Day afternoon on the black-sand beach, lazing, swimming, reading and sunbathing. In the mid-afternoon, we strolled over to the harbour, Vueltas, where colourful fishing boats bob on their moorings beneath sheer cliffs.&nbsp;The small black-sand beach here was sheltered from the wind, and we spent another few hours relaxing with our books. We had our Christmas dinner in the evening, at a charming little restaurant down the road called El Mirador... the owner gave us Frangelico on the house because we're such a&nbsp;"happy, smiley couple"! Feliz Navidad!&nbsp;&nbsp;
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1147840740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1147840740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1147840740/tpod.html Tue, 23 May 2006 11:22:20 -0400 Thirty-somethings' gap year - going around the world before we're too old and settled!

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Edinburgh, United Kingdom

When the plane landed at Edinburgh on Wednesday 5 April, I cried...that's it, it was ALL OVER. The trip we'd dreamed about and planned for so long, the 10 months we lived to the full and immersed ourselves in a medley of exotic new places, colours, flavours, people, sensations... it was over. I asked myself: how will we ever be able to adjust to familiarity and drudgery of daily life again after having experienced SO MUCH?We've been back in Edinburgh for five weeks now, and back in our 'wee hoose' that was rented out while we were away. What a weird sensation waking up in the same bed every morning: comfortable and familiar, surrounded by all our stuff, but basically dull and predictable. A far cry indeed from the life we led just two months ago, waking up in a different place every morning with a day of discovery and exploration ahead of us. When we first arrived back, I struggled with the fact that, almost instantly, it felt like we'd never been away. London, then Edinburgh, looked just the same as it did when when we left, though we ourselves have undergone a fundemental shift in perspective. It's as if the last ten months have been spent in a time warp, a parallel universe: our true selves went out into the wide world and experienced everything in technicolour while the shells of our daily identities stayed behind and just got on with life as usual. It just seems wrong that what felt like a lifetime's worth of experiences could be over and done in a blink of the cosmic eye.Over the last five weeks, things have slowly returned to 'normal'. We have a car again, and we're earning an income. Our bodies have re-acclimatised to the chill of Scottish spring. We spend our weekends catching up with friends whose company we missed while we were away, and invariably end up drinking too much red wine in the process. We go cycling in the countryside, plan weekends away, watch Desperate Housewives. But with the creature comforts of every day life comes an inevitable drudgery. The thought of it fills me with a bleak, nagging depression. Yes, we feel displaced, out of sorts... and sad. We're grieving right now for the loss of an extraordinary life that allowed us to look at the world and our lives in a fresh way. We know that, as the months pass and we settle back into the daily grind, this sense of 'sharp focus' will fade and eventually disappear. The question is, do we want it to? And how can we keep hold of it?I'd like to think I will continue to keep alive and put to practice the seemingly simple realisations this fresh perspective gave me. The true value of friends and family, and of respecting and understanding others' beliefs and ways of life. Andt he utter uselessness of material goods: us humans are slaves of our possessions, we feel bound to them and are continually surrouding ourselves with more and more <i>stuff. Yet on our trip we carried with us only the bare minimum, we made do and couldn't care less what we were dressed in. And that was liberating. I plan to keep my life simple from now on, and focus on the important things.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1145336220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1145336220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1145336220/tpod.html Tue, 16 May 2006 07:39:18 -0400 Thirty-somethings' gap year - going around the world before we're too old and settled!

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London, United Kingdom

We'd hardly found our feet back home in Edinburgh when it was down again to London for the Easter weekend. Mum-Jen and Dad-Pete were over from South Africa, so this would be a true family-oriented long weekend. Easter, just like Christmas, is all about the kids, in this case little Jake, 16 months, who is obsessed with being out in the garden and kicking balls. For much of Good Friday he was 'in training' for his first egg hunt - Jen and I hid little play balls under plant pots and encouraged him to find them, a game he cottoned onto really quickly!On Saturday, cousin Julia, Gary and kids Callum, Dylan and Caitlyn joined us at Sue and Pete's for a barbeque. We were amazed at how the children had grown, especially Callum, who was now a lanky pre-teen, but ever so helpful and polite. Caitlyn had become a cute, precocious little miss. Needless to say, the house and garden were transformed to one giant playground as all four kids raced around noisily... phew, what a laugh but just too much for folk like us without their own little people! In the evening we escaped to Louise and Sean's for dinner - a welcome catch-up with good friends who are due to move back to South Africa shortly. Easter Sunday saw Jakey undertake his first-ever egg hunt... and what a good job he did! The little squeal of delight he let out every time he found one had us all in stitches. A tasty roast lunch with Pete's parents Doreen and Bill followed. Well, by now our nephew had certainly crept into our hearts with his cheeky little face and lively personality. On Monday morning, the boys played golf; and Sheila and David came over to Sue and Pete's place in the afternoon for one last family barbeque together (yes, it's true, South Africans spend just about all their leisure time cooking over open fires!). In the early evening we wished everyone goodbye and Pete raced us to Gatwick to catch our flight to Edinburgh... arrived home absolutely exhausted after so much over-indulgence!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1144145340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1144145340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1144145340/tpod.html Mon, 15 May 2006 12:22:15 -0400 Thirty-somethings' gap year - going around the world before we're too old and settled!

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Cape Town, South Africa

What a treat to be spending time with our American cousins again! Having enjoyed a fabulous few days together in Great Brak the week before, we met up with Shaun, Soly, aunt Sheila and kids at the Waterfront for lunch on Thursday. In the late afternoon, we all returned to Jen and Pete's place for a braai and a final bit of time together - Sheila and Mum-Jen were flying out that very evening and the four Americans were due to leave the next morning. Both of us have grown very fond of charming, curly-haired Kylie and super-happy baby Nathan, who just never stopped giggling, so we lapped up the last bit of quality time with them.Over the next few days we made the most of seeing friends - Friday I spent a lazy afternoon at a cafe with Sue while Rich went drinking with the boyz; in the evening we met up with Adri and Jaco (awaiting the birth of their first child) and old friend Nix at a posh Vietnamese restaurant. Early Saturday morning we headed to Constantia for a brunch with Rich and his new wife Leigh, and then raced back to prepare for the evening's big event - a gathering of 14 or so mates at HQ in Hout Bay for much chatting, drinking and a seafood 'potjie'.Simon and Gill, having travelled from Pringle Bay, stayed the night and on Sunday we drove out to Somerset West to join them for a braai at their newly purchased pad - a proper, grown-up family home in an established secure estate, with marvellous views of Table Mountain, False Bay and the Helderberg Mountains behind. They hadn't even moved in yet so Rich and I took along a fish, some camping cutlery and crockery and Dad's barbeque... literally a 'bring & braai'! Si's sister Melissa and her boyfriend joined us. Wow, what a special afternoon in the company of our good friends and their bump!Our final full day in SA came around just too soon. In the afternoon we went to see my good old friend Liane at her new house in Wynberg, and then joined the parents at the Baxter Theatre for a show - mum's choice, Amadeus. But first, the five of us tucked into a yummy buffet meal at the Baxter - Liane joined us. It'd been <i>so special catching up with my trusty old friend with whom I share so many school and varsity memories!A visit from Rich's cousin Ali brightened our very last morning in Cape Town. The weather had cooled down and the skies were grey - very apt for a sad day of farewells. And then, all too soon, it was time to go to the airport. But we had one last little reunion to look forward to...My sister Charlene, husband Gerhard and baby Stefan came to meet us on Johannesburg Airport during our stop-over. How pleased we were to see the little chap again, even though he was fast asleep for much of the time! The four of us had a few drinks and a meal together - though we'd seen Charlene two weeks earlier in Cape Town, this was our only chance to catch up with Gerhard. A very precious couple of hours indeed.The flights and stop-overs in Amsterdam and London passed in a blur, as if in a dream. When the plane landed at Edinburgh on the afternoon of Wednesday 5 April, I started crying - that's it, it was ALL OVER. The trip we'd dreamed about and planned for so long, the 10 months we lived to the full and immersed ourselves in medley of exotic new places, colours, flavours, people, sensations... it was over. I asked myself: how will we ever be able to adjust to familiarity and drudgery of daily life again, having experienced SO MUCH?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1143803220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1143803220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1143803220/tpod.html Thu, 11 May 2006 14:14:58 -0400 Thirty-somethings' gap year - going around the world before we're too old and settled!

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Pringle Bay, South Africa

After a pleasant evening and scrumptious brunch at my uncle and aunt Theus and Ona's in Sedgefield, we continued our road trip in the direction of the Cape on Wednesday morning, with a break at Mossel Bay to say a final good-bye to grandparents. Next stop was Pringle Bay and a welcome reunion with good old buddies Simon and Gill, recently relocated to South Africa from Edinburgh. En route, we received an interesting call from Cape Town friend Ryan, an intrepid open water swimmer, explaining that he'll be attempting to swim across False Bay the very next day. And would we mind joining him as support crew? Well, yes! Sounds <i>fascinating! Luckily for us, the start point of the trans-bay swim was Rooi-els, another beach settlement just round the corner from Pringle. Wow! Gilly met us sporting a bump even more voluptuous and obviously pregnant than we'd imagined. Radiant and healthy, she'd clearly been soaking up some rays and her English rose complexion was changing to a more sun-kissed Capey one. Just to explain: Gill and Si got engaged the week before we left, and in the ten months we'd been away, they'd gotten married, conceived and moved to SA. Yup, getting on with life while we were acting like a pair of gap-year hippies!A pleasant evening of braai and chat followed, with several phone calls and texts to/from Ryan regarding the next day's swim. The start would be 4.30am, and it would take about 10 hours... in the end I decided to give the marathon boat ride a miss, but Rich was enlisted to drive a vehicle and boat trailer around to the other side. So off he went well before dawn on Thursday morning, while I was still sleeping off the previous night's red wine. But by 8am he was back... what had happened, we all wanted to know? Well, as it turned out, the guys started swimming as planned just before dawn, then had to turn back two hours later due to the wind and swell increasing. Ah well, worth a try!After a frolic in the sea with Gill, we headed on to the Waterfront, where we met up with Sheila, Shaun and family for lunch - one last chance to spend time together before their return to the States the next day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1143716700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1143716700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/idarich/rtw_2005/1143716700/tpod.html Thu, 11 May 2006 11:49:34 -0400 Thirty-somethings' gap year - going around the world before we're too old and settled!

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Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Well, so far it's been babies, babies, babies since we returned to the bosom of friends and family in the UK and South Africa. We'd marveled at how Jakey and Ella (both 16 months) had grown since we'd last seen them; we'd been introduced to new arrivals Naomi, Stefan and Nathan. In Port Elizabeth, yet more kids were standing by to impress us. We arrived at Chris and Odilia's home at about noon on Sunday to find that Michael (two years and three months), whom we last saw when he was three days old, has grown into the most delightful little chap with a penchant for singing. He treated us to a technically superb rendition of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, the South African national anthem, sung at the top of his voice, accompanying himself on 'drums' (ie his toybox) and naked from the waist down. And we don't even know the lyrics beyond the first verse...On Monday evening we headed over to Mike and Debbie's home for a braai. We last saw Holly, now a year old, just a few weeks after her birth. She's a bubbly, friendly baby who went straight to bed without a problem, giving the grown-ups plenty of time to chat and catch up.On Tuesday morning we headed back in the direction of the Cape, spending the night at tannie Ona and Oom Theus in Sedgefield. Along the way, we stopped off to pay a R500 (£50) fine we'd been issued.... ah, now that's a story I haven't told yet. The long and the short of it is that, while we were driving up to PE very early on Sunday morning, we got to a straight bit in the road with a solid no-overtaking line, yet no curves... and no traffic. So Rich decided to overtake the slow van in front, only to find that a fresh-faced police-woman was waiting in a lay-by just beyond! Clearly a very cynical money-making scam on the part of the traffic police. Anyway, we we payed our fine like good tourists (the locals all told us they'd just never pay!).
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