Year End Newsletter 2010

Our accommodation in Camps Bay, Cape Town, South Africa --
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As 2010 draws to a close, we would like to send our greetings, update you on our lives, and find out what has been happening in yours.

We write to you from Thailand where we are spending 4 weeks at a time-share beach condo north of Phuket, into which we have traded from our home property in the California desert near Palm Springs.

Cape Town's Table Mt

This is our 3^rd consecutive year here; we like the gentle Thai people, the weather, the culture, and the exotic geography.

Cape Town's 12 Apostles Mts

Life here moves much more slowly than the Western world, and even though the Thais have less materially than the West, they seem a whole lot happier. Quite an irony, we find.

The entrancing Winelands of Cape Town

We began this particular trip in October, when we flew to South Africa, into stunning Cape Town – with its glorious nearby Winelands and Cape of Good Hope regions - to meet up with San Diego friends to begin a 16 day tour of that beautiful country.

Hungry hippos in the Zambesi River

The tour included most highlights of the country plus sights in Swaziland and Zimbabwe - where we did an evening “sundowner” cruise on the famous Zambesi River, watched warily by hippos, crocodiles, buffalo and colourful birds.

The Zambesi R pours over Victoria Falls

We also helicoptered over magnificent Victoria Falls, wondering what Stanley and Livingston must have thought when they stumbled on this mystical place.

Warthogs trim the lawn, Victoria Falls Hotel

Warthogs wandered the lawns of the majestic colonial Victoria Falls Hotel. Zimbabwe, as a whole, has been driven into ruin over the past 30 years, but we tried to picture it - as we lunched, gazing out over the Falls and the Zambesi Gorge - when it was proud Rhodesia, created by Cecil Rhodes a century ago. Hopefully, South Africa will not also tilt in this direction with its present problems increasing rather than moving to solution.

Long shadows at Kruger National Park

We took in 7 game safaris including several at the famous Kruger National Park - one of the largest in the world at 7500 sq mi - and Chobe Game Park in Botswana, renowned for its large herds of gregarious elephants. And... we saw the "Big 5": rhino, elephant, lion, buffalo and leopard. Amazing.

Our "Zany Zebras" safari group at Kruger

The trip was a glimpse into a world of breathtaking beauty, and historical tribal ways that still make life complicated for the African continent. Beyond all of it, we were totally charmed by Cape Town where we spent an extra 2 weeks on our own, and would advise all to visit there - it is the most beautiful city and surrounding region we have ever seen.

Because we were so far away, we took advantage of the opportunity to cruise an exotic itinerary on a new ship for us, Azamara’s “Quest” which easily surpassed our other special cruises. The ship excelled in all categories essential to a fine experience - and at recessionary rates!

Yet another safari

Embarking from Athens, we traversed the Mediterranean to ancient Alexandria, Egypt, and were bussed down to Cairo, and to adjacent Giza where we visited the miracle of the pyramids – including the Sphinx. We are still baffled by the unwillingness of the current Egyptians to clean up their garbage-strewn streets and waterways.

Omar and friend

Don with his dark colouring on his camel ride looked every part the Arab, and I looked merely a pretender! For days afterwards, shipboard friends were still calling him “Omar”.

A rough ride for our gunboat

We transited the Suez Canal into the Red Sea (as in the Bible - unbelievable!), and headed for Dubai, all the way around the bottom of Saudi Arabia, and tucked into the Persian Gulf across from Iraq. For the final 4 days of cruising, we were accompanied by an escort gun boat manned by British ex-marines prepared to deter Somalian pirates - a serious risk in this part of the world.

Dubai skyline

The ship took other precautionary measures, too, which raised onboard excitement somewhat, and enabled us smooth sailing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Perhaps there was someone else there protecting us too.

East meets West: Starbucks in Arabic!

Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, was our next stop: a city more unlike Cairo we cannot imagine. Its daring architecture, its insistence on cleanliness, its reliance on a vision of New York in the Desert, carried out with vast sums of money, made it seem like a theme park when it was actually reality. Lots of fun there sightseeing, and shopping- and, yes, I did buy shoes - I had to - Dubai = Do Buy! This is also a place to revisit.

The ultra-luxe Burj Al Arab

Dubai currently has the highest building in the world - the Burj (meaning 'tower') Khalifa at 800 metres - that's 1/3 of a mile high, more than twice the Empire State building (which is still #15). It has 162 floors with an observation deck on 124 - where the view is as if from a plane, and the Palm Isles can be seen aerially. Dubai also has the only (self-proclaimed) 7 star hotel in he world, the Burj Al Arab; rooms start at $1400 per night; we did not stay there.

Mumbai's Dhobi Ghat outdoor laundry

Mumbai, India, next stop. Poverty and a dense population were the most noteworthy factors here. Many locals were friendly and happy though, unlike Egypt.

Homeless in Mumbai

James Bond Island near Phuket

When the ship docked for a day in Phuket, we ventured up to the startling geology of nearby Phang Nga Bay - location of several James Bond filmings.

Last stop, the amazing world of Singapore where a vision again successfully implemented resulted in this inspirational Asian centre of business. Rules here are strictly enforced: no litter, no gum, no pedestrian crossings other than at intersections, regulated car numbers downtown... and plainclothes enforcement. People behave civilly here, and the sloppiness of Western dress is rarely witnessed - except on some visitors. It is the largest freight port in the world, and thoroughly monitors the cargo content moving through its port unlike our frightening freight ports’ lax checking system.

Ahhhhh...Mai Khao Beach, Thailand

Singapore is half way around the world from Ottawa, and only a 2 hour flight from Phuket – and it IS snowing at home – so Christmas and New Year`s Day in Thailand seemed a perfect addition to this trip.

A busy day in Hilton Head

Some of our friends laugh at how much we are away. Having worked hard for years in happy careers, we are now seizing the opportunity to explore as long as time, money, and health permit. Earlier in the year, we had a month of work and play in beautiful Hilton Head Island, SC, at the vacation rental house we bought there 2 years ago, and another springtime month of happiness split between cottages in the quintessentially English seaside town of Budleigh Salterton, and the impressive and important university town of Cambridge. As we age, and as we see more of the world, we reflect increasingly on our good fortune of birthplace and of parentage.

This is why we keep coming back to England

Maintaining our house - and cottage for the summer months – as well as the Hilton Head property, is a challenge, to be sure, but it is still fun and rewarding, and we love having new and old friends visit us in these places during the year. Thank you to all who continue to maintain these ties.

Please let us know what you have been doing, and what your plans are for the New Year ahead. We diligently do our email, so it is easy to communicate with us. How fortunate that for our retirement years, electronic communication is so widespread and fast allowing us to stay connected no matter where we are. Isn`t it amazing that all this technology can occur with such ease, and yet some countries still cannot responsibly control their populations or clean their cities of garbage? Hopefully we will find new ways to stop these age old problems from completely destroying this beautiful, suffering planet, our only habitat.

May the upcoming year bring you joy, and good health. (Remember when it never occurred to us even to think about good health? Those days are gone!)

Fondly,

Colleen and Don