International Travel – Chapter 2
Europe, Africa, and Canada, eh!
The ups, downs and over...
The plan...
It started with Scotland, and over to Nepal.
The reality...
It just went a different direction, as all true travel should be... simply an adventure.
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Europe
England
A starting point. A base camp. A visit to the homeland. A visit to the sites of London.
Norway
Where to start really. OK. How about Bergen. A lovely town. A return visit and just enough to get my feet wet. Then scoot across and down to Oslo. Fond memories. A quick change and northward the journey begins. A short hop and it's into the land of the midnight sun. You have to see it to truly appreciate it. The Lofoten Islands. Peaceful. On up the coast to Nordkapp. Head south young man. OK. How about sideways?
Finland
Very enjoyable. A weird feeling heading south back to the land of sunsets. Helsinki turned into a fun temporary base of operations.
Estonia
A quick hydrofoil scoot across the Gulf of Finland to Tallin... the old city of course. Of course the Soviet era apartment block architecture was never too far away.
Russia
Only a few days in St. Petersburg. But incredible time. The Winter Palace was an incredible day out. The Hermitage lit up in the morning sun... hard to describe.
Sweden
Mostly Stockholm, while sleeping on a ship. Pretty cool. Great friends. Happy times. A side order of Göteborg just for good measure.
Norway – round 2
Sometimes you are driven by the calendar, before things close up or shutdown. The plan is to explore some of the many fjords in the area. So beautiful. In some cases it was literally catch the last bus (of the season). Other days things went without a hitch, or at least it seemed that way. You never get tired of this scenery.
England
Back again they say... Another stop over before cruising through the Chunnel.
France – déjà vu
A high speed pass across the country, only slowing down to change trains or maybe for the border patrol.
Switzerland
The birthplace of some crazy idea. Actually, just the vocalization of that crazy idea that was born years ago. Visiting good friends. Plenty of day hiking, and some cycling (do you see a foreboding theme happening here).
France
Is this like physics whereby if you end up in the same place you haven't done any work?
England
Back again to home base on the European front. Lots of sites to see and lots of planning to do. Booked the Africa trip. Now the mad scramble to get everything ready. Plenty of film for that massive slide show forever more.
Greece
OK. It really was just the airport at some strange hour in the early morning.
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Africa
Kenya
The beginning. A nice start with a visit to a good friend. A little history by visiting the home of Karen Blixen and Joy Adamson. Having a spot of tea on the porch in the morning by Lake Naivasha and watching the giraffe lumber on by... what else can you really say?
The beginning of the overland trip. A great group.
The Masi Mara. The road is not the road. So much wildlife.
Uganda
Camping on a roundabout. Watching the flow of the source of the Nile. Making a group decision about venturing into a possibly strife ridden part of Africa.
Zaire
What was a hostile place. Truly amazing people. Skidding on a rain soaked road in the dark.
A firsthand look at the refugee camps as a result of the Rawandan genocide. Hard to take it all in.
Seeing the result of how nature shapes the land with lava.
Standing amongst the Mountain Gorillas. A sensation that no words could possibly describe.
Tanzania
A minor detour around Lake Victoria. A mis-turn that took us over a rusty old bridge, until the road just ended in the middle of nothing. Back across the rusty bridge. Whew?
The Serengeti... breaking down, sucking diesel fuel with a beer chaser, watching the Wildebeast, and so many other animals. Ngorongoro Crater, a microcosm of amazing animals.
A slight detour off the truck to the top of Africa at 5895 metres. Breathless, literally. Truly amazing sights and views.
A wild bus ride to Dar es Salaam. Has that goat has landed yet? How appropriate was it to have The Gods Must Be Crazy as the inflight movie. Say no more. Pushing the pick–up taxi into the gas station... no hesitation, as if we all expected that to happen.
Zanzibar
Is this not part of Tanzania? Stone Town is very interesting and a great spot to chill after visiting the top of Africa. Getting burnt to a crisp out on Prison Island. Watching the sunset from Africa House. Can it get any better?
Tanzania - did we ever leave?
On the beach. The stifling heat of Africa.
Malawi
Beach life. Christmas. Presents wrapped in banana leaves.
Zambia
Tracking White Rhineoceros through the bush with twenty people. They're big, but we outnumbered them.
Botswana
Elephants and more. A few days in the Okavanaga Delta. A walkabout with the wildlife. Who's stalking whom?
Zimbabwe
Victoria Falls. Beautiful. Magical. What the heck, I'll. jump off the bridge attached to a bungee cord... 111 metres. New Years.
A weird feeling to have the overland trip come to an end. Saying goodbye to the group of friends after 10 weeks was almost sureal.
South Africa
The beginning of another chapter in these travels. Travelling now with only two of us. Driving on the left side. Kruger National Park. Bluff charge by an Elephant. Awesome.
Swaziland
Shut down by a strike. Interesting. The rain storm to end all rainstorms.
South Africa - again
To the coast. The ocean. The crocodile warning signs. Never a dull moment.
Along the coast and inland to the Drakensberg Mountains. Breathtaking.
Lesthoto
A day trip through the country. Beautiful people, beautiful place.
South Africa - again (really)
To the coast (again) for the Garden Route. Cango Caves. Pay attention to the sign saying "you need to be able to fit through this space".
Cape Town. Another world. Table Mountain. Unique.
Cape of Good Hope. Is this the end of the world? The shipwrecks. Another beautiful spot.
Wine country. Say no more.
Another organized trip for a couple of weeks, but only five people now.
Namibia
Fish River Canyon. Almost the biggest. Desolate and beautiful. Sossusvlei dunes. A world of contrasts. The Etosha Pan.
South Africa - yet again
This is the end of many months on this continent. Wow.
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Europe
Greece
Out of Africa. Hey, somebody should make a movie about that. Back to Athens and out of the airport this time. But it is only a layover so no justice done to the city.
England
Base camp number one. A chance to change gear.
France
Just passing through.
Switzerland
Another base camp.
Italy
Venice. Getting lost. Milano. Firenzi. The Duomo. The Uffizi. Tuscany. Pisa. Incredible.
Austria
Just passing through.
Germany
So much to see. So much to do. Biergartens.
Czech Republic
Prague. Incredible place. Amazing to explore.
Germany
We're back.
Netherlands
Amsterdam. Say no more.
Switzerland
On my own again.
France
Nice is nice.
Monaco
Passing through the world of the rich.
France
Why is it that I am always "just passing through"?
Switzerland
Back to base camp.
Austria
Another beautiful part of Europe.
Germany
So much history. Neuschwanstein. Munchen. Koln.
Kleve, visiting my uncle's war grave. No words.
Netherlands
Kuekenhof Gardens. Brilliant. Refreshing.
Belgium
Dare I say "just passing through"?
England
Basecamp and pack up to head back home.
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North America
Canada
An off-hand comment in Switzerland to a friend. A letter received while in Africa. A reality check and scaled back plan. A cycle trip across part of Canada. Simple.
Onwards and upwards to Tobermory, Manatoulin Island, and on to Sudbury. A few days on the train to Jasper. Then cycling down the Icefield Parkway (we won't say how fast in some parts). At Lake Louise it was time for a right turn to head West. That road sign of twenty minutes to the top of Roger's Pass... well, maybe a bit longer on a bike. But then a sweet 25 km downhill. So many other great little spots. But when you have to pedal downhill to beat the wind, it's just not fun. All the way through to Whistler. 1600 km in just over three weeks... priceless.
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