The main event of 2013 and the 2nd: Santiago de Compostella

Just to catch up and get ready for the new trip.  The adventures have not only not stopped but my life has taken a completely unexpected turn.

After a frustrating 3 weeks in the States trying to negotiate the sale of a house I inherited, I was happy to get back to NYC to board my "home", QUEEN MARY 2, on June 1st.   I had decided to go back to work, which was also frustrating - trying to teach English to adults who had no interest but had been ordered to improve - for 6 months and travel for 6 months. 

The first evening, I was assigned to table 311 in the Britannia dining room.  This had been .my table for weeks, with wonderful companions and I was sure it would be a letdown to I decided to go the first evening and beg off for the rest of the week.

When I arrived, there was a woman already there, a bit reserved but friendly.  Then 2 men joined and shortly before we were to order, a third man came, tall, shy, somewhat reserved with a Scandinavian first name.  Swedish or Norwegian?  Swedish.

The conversation flowed and we all found ourselves comfortable with each other so I did not mention leaving the table.  Towards the end of the dinner, I was asked what I did if I did not go to the shows staged aboard.  I replied, "Dancing in the ballroom".  The tall, very handsome Swede said that he liked to dance!  Surely a gift from God!

Later, we met in the ballroom and spent the following 7 days mostly together - tea, dinner, dancing, disco with a live band until 00:30 and then we walked around the deck, at first to get the cigarette smoke out of our clothes and hair and then because we really liked each other.

He left the ship 2 days before I did and we arranged to meet 8 days later.  Since then we have not been apart more than a week and do not intend to do that again.

After very careful deliberation and a stroke of fate which put a small house with a small garden in my path, I have moved to Sweden, although maintained an address in Germany.  And, he has changed his schedule and we will do the 116-day World Voyage on QUEEN VICTORIA together. 

Before that, some photos from April, taken at Santiago de Compostella.  It does not count as a pilgrimage since I arrived at Vigo by ship and at Santiago by bus but it was definitely spiritual.

 I thought this sign said no "flash photos" so I took the following.  Later, I read the sign.  Sorry.

 

NAMIBIA 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

baby sidewinder

 

 

chameleon

 

 

 

 

 

magnetite

 

 

13 April 2013 - NAMIBIA

­The Living Desert  – my camera broke as the tour began so there are no photos from me – sorry.  When I realized that, I made up my mind not to “marinate” and ruin the day and the day was wonderful. 

 

The Little „5“ – actually the little „4“.  A convoy of Landrovers, led by Tommy Collert, Andrew and 2 other drivers

As a licensed guide Tommy is allowed to lead tours through the _____________ National Park.  We drove in Landrovers about 20 minutes from the terminal to the park where the drivers first deflated the tires – necessary for driving over the sand, especially over the dunes.  The wheels have special rims which bear the weight better than normal ones.

There are plants scattered around but generally it’s sand, sand and more sand.  The most important plant is the dollar plant – dollar bush.  It’s a succulent, generally low and broad and full of brackish water which has an unpleasant taste but will keep you alive.

The desert is dependent on the thick fog which rolls in almost every morning.  There is a beetle which stands on its head, with its rear end up in the air to catch the moisture.  The name in Afrikaans is most descriptive.

 

Then the safari began – over dunes ad gravel bits.  The desert is many things; in this case, lots of sand as well as gravel tracts, full of mica.  My shoes glistened after only a few minutes.

The first of the little creatures was a baby sidewinder – as dangerous as an adult, painful but not deadly venom.   The rangers had seen a very pregnant sidewinder a couple of weeks before and this was one of the results.

 

 

Tommy had positioned large rubbish sacks at the back of the each of the vehicles.  Whenever he saw anything which didn’t belong there, he stopped and put it in the sack.

­­Last year, I saw a sign on the highway:

                        THIS IS YOUR DESERT – KEEP IT CLEAN.

We did our part.

The chameleon Tommy found (and he knew exactly where to look for each of the creatures, often under the few bushes which provide a hiding place and refuge from the sun) was ¾’ grown and about 10 inches long.  True to form, the eyes operated independently and very well – according to Tommy, if a plane passes over, thousands of feet high, the chameleon will look up with one eye to make sure it’s not a bird looking for lunch.

 

Every animal we examined was very carefully caught, examined, shown around and returned with the same care.  After a couple of hours we began to recognize some of the tracks – a hare, a mouse, “Ferrari” beetle named because of its speed and a sidewinder.

We also examined a shovel-nosed lizard, which Tommy induced to clamp down on my ear lobe so I had (briefly) a living earring.  To this point, I have not found anyone who took a photo of it so you will just have to believe me.  There is a photo of a man with a lizard hanging from his ear at www.livingdeserttours.com.na.

The morning clouds disappeared and was replaced by very hot sunshine which made the animals more difficult to find.  The air temperature was about 75° but the sand was 100° F – temperatures rising all day.

We saw a Palmato gecko – beautiful but no eyelids.  It licks its eyes to keep them moist.  Along the way we passed the remains of an ostrich – a few feathers and bones.  This one had probably died of a disease or injury and was carrion. 

Then, we encountered what looked like a cement floor.  It was river sediment from a flood in 1934, sediment which has been baked for the last 70 years to a petrified state.

 

 

 

 

 

The desert is full of magnetite which Tommy collected using a strong magnet – just like the iron filings in high school chemistry.

 

 

Although all the drivers, armed with industrial-strength tweezers, looked for a scorpion, they didn’t find one – too hot.  Ok by me!  The best tour ever!!!!!

 

 

More photos to follow

 

 

 

 

First birthday dinner - March 8, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freo continued

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freo

We should have been in Fremantle at 08:00.  It's now 13:50 and we are turning around - that is a sight - in the harbour, with a clearance of only 25 meters, getting ready to dock.

The reason for the delay was a storm last night into this morning.

 

Only the 2nd time in my life that I have seen the entire rainbow.