Deadvlei Namibia

My jet lag is horrible. I always suffer after a long trip. Everything shuts down and refuses to calibrate. I'm hungry immediately after eating. Exhausted, I can't sleep and then I can't stay awake. We got home late Wednesday night. Thursday I felt like I was recovering from surgery and had a terrible hangover. I counted the hours until Friday when the symptoms began abating. Today is a bit better. I turned on my Mac (which I missed terribly) and downloaded a few photos.

In Namibia, we visited the great sand dunes at Sossusvlei and the famous Deadvlei. Famous because of a wondrous National Geographic photo by Franz Lanting of the 600-year-old dead Camelthorn trees scattered on an expanse of whitish clay pan known as a vlei. Here it is. Taken during the day, the photo was controversial because many thought it had been photoshopped but it wasn't. The effect is the result of lighting and timing. You can read about it here.

Richard took this photo of me standing by one of the trees. I stood in that one spot of shade waiting for him to complete his climb of Big Daddy, a huge sand dune, reputedly one of the biggest in the world.

I fiddled with the image on Lunapic—what else can you do when you're not thinking straight. With Lunapic you can try different effects with a single keystroke and remove them just as quickly. This was a little over the top.

 I replaced the day sky with a orange starry night for a strange effect.

I could probably improve this one with some work, but not today. 

Richard completed the hike up the Big Daddy dune. I gave up after four or five steps. My balance was so thrown by the shifting sand that I was afraid of ending up with a wrenched knee or back. This is a photo of a small party ahead of him. By the time he reached the top everyone else had quit. He had to slide down to the vlei (where I was waiting in the shade) on his butt—there is no other way, short of rolling—which some do. 

Later in the trip through Namibia when the subject of the dunes came up our fellow travelers expressed amazement that Richard climbed the whole distance. Most don't make it. He didn't think it was a big deal. 

Another Lunapic effect.

Time for another nap.

Sri Lanka

On a walking tour of Colombo, we met a delightful young Russian woman touring on her own. She takes photos of little Siamese cats she carries in a small box. She poses them in interesting or iconic locations. Here, we were at the Galle Face Hotel, the Grand Dame hotel of Colombo. The car is the first car Prince Philip ever purchased. Richard took the photo of me taking the photo of Daria taking the photo of her cats. Daria has been everywhere—spends all her free time on the road. She had some interesting travel suggestions for us, if a little vigorous for people our age. After spending so much time with old people, it was refreshing to be with her.

I loved the hotel with it's spare design. I know it's not comfortable but it was so easy on the eyes after so much visual stimulation and after feeling crowded and buried in clutter in our small cabin on the ship.

We were in Colombo ten years ago. You wouldn't recognize it as the same place today. 

Maldives Markets

Lifeboat Instructions

If all else fails, read the instructions!

Sailing

We're tugged into every port. As our room is at the extreme aft of the ship, they're usually right below our veranda. I enjoy watching them work.

The fishing boats are always loaded.

Apparently these Arabic sails have been around for centuries.

Hundreds, maybe over a thousand people boarded this ferry. People streamed on and off, carrying boxes, suitcases, babies, strollers, bales, briefcases. With our telephoto lens we could see they were crowded. Now, when a ferry sinks and hundreds drown, I can visualize how it can happen.

Too many people. Period.

Octopus

I had octopus carpaccio the night before I began reading The Soul of an Octopus, by Sy Montgomery. Do Not Read This Book if you ever want to enjoy eating octopus again. Today in the fish market in the Maldives, I was happily taking photos when I saw these poor white, ethereal octopus corpses. I had to work hard to keep from bursting into tears.

From the book, I learned they are magnificent creatures - with the ability to disguise themselves myriad ways, changing shape, texture and color and squirting ink. The author of the book has named some of their camouflage effects like "dappled sunlight", "rocks and stones." Their eight tentacles can each be engaged in separate and unrelated activities. Some researchers believe there is a separate brain in each arm. They lay eggs in long chains like strings of pearls and hang them from the ceiling of their caves, guarding them for months, grooming them, caressing them as they mature.

The author talks about watching an octopus in the wild, shape shift from looking like a screech owl, to a silken scarf, a beating heart, a gliding snail, an algae covered rock. After the display, the creature "pours itself into a hole, like water down a drain and disappears completely."

Each sucker on the tentacle can hold a lot of weight. Up to 42 kg for suckers of the Giant Pacific octopus, the biggest one of all. The suckers can carry out small, almost dainty movements, like untying knots. Even though some grow to a hundred pounds and eight feet in length, they can squeeze "through an opening the size of an orange."

Their personalities are different - some gentle, some assertive. They play and solve problems. They don't live long-a couple of years. They die suddenly.

Business is brisk at the fish market as batches of mostly tuna are bought and sold. If "The Soul of a Tuna" is ever written, I'm skipping it.

Sunrise Breakfast Namibia

The staff got us up well before dawn for our game drive. After what seemed to be a lot of shuffling around we boarded our jeep and left the camp without breakfast - just a cup of coffee they seemed reluctant to give us. We drove five minutes from camp to find a sunrise breakfast ready for us.

We're really out in the middle of nowhere. Overwhelmed. The food was delicious, the setting amazing.

The chef.

Pirates:Yo Ho Ho and a bag of knitting

As we've traveled through piracy country we've had to keep the decks clear at night and the drapes are drawn in the large gathering rooms. We heard today that this ship, the Nautica, was tracked and chased by pirates in this area a few years ago.

Our enrichment lecture today was appropriately on piracy. Dr. Roger, the lecturer, is rather a Jack of all Trades and give talks on history and culture with particular emphasis on things naval. He began by saying that should we be pirated, the British government would be willing to give the pirates three million pounds to keep us - the amount the government would save on pills once a boatload of old farts were removed from British Health.

He spoke about many of the famous pirates including a few females who were particularly vicious. We laughed at his suggestion that the famous pirate saying: "Yo hoho and a bottle of rum," might be changed to "Yo hoho and a bag of knitting." Grace OMalley, as one example, was an Irish pirate with a number of children. One fell overboard. He attempted to reboard the Mother Ship, getting his hands over the sides to hoist himself up. Grace used her scabbard to cut off both of his hands, stating that a son of hers stupid enough to fall overboard wasn't getting back on. So there! As Dr. Roger pointed out parenting is quite different now.

Some merchant ships in the Indian Ocean took aboard Ghurkas for protection. The Ghurkas had to draw blood if they pulled out a knife. If it wasn't an enemies blood it was their own. They were serious.

A couple of my personal pirate myths were shattered. Dr. Roger says there is a record of only one instance of "walking the plank" executed by a female pirate known as "Sadie the Goat." There is record of only one skull and crossbones flag. You'd have to be pretty stupid to announce to the world that you were a pirate ship.

Carping

We met a S. African woman on board who is recovering from the mysterious virus affecting many of the
passengers. She'd been in the ship's hospital, required oxygen, and had seen the doctor a few times. All she wanted to do was go home. Her husband felt the same way. He said he'd swim home if he could.

She went on to tell us they'd come on the cruise on a whim. There's a water shortage in Cape Town - a serious shortage. Water has been turned off in neighbourhoods that overuse. This woman told us she and her husband were totally stressed by having to limit their usage. On the ship, they can bathe all they wish without feeling guilty. Because this cruise left from Cape Town, they made the brilliant decision to join it. but most of the cabins were sold out, so they bought an expensive suite - one with a butler.

She began complaining. First, it was about the ports...which were in S. Africa for the first six days. The couple wouldn't get off the ship because the ports were places they'd avoid as they drove around their own country. Sort of like us, avoiding the Port of Long Beach or San Pedro. But, duh....we thought. You knew that when you signed on.

"The butler is really annoying," she said. "He's always there hanging around." What?? I thought.
"And the food isn't very good and the ship, well....nobody really likes it," she said. "Other Oceania ships are better."

The conversation made me realize how tough this business is. People are carping about everything you can think of. Today another woman told me she was "so tired of eating lobster." No kidding - she actually said that. And she added that with all the ports, you had to do soooo much planning. You can't please all the people, but most (not on the ship) would agree this is a fine ship with world class food and service. Makes you wonder.

Richard enjoying tea, which is served every day from 4 to 5 with delicate finger sandwiches and delicious pastries. A string quartet plays (I hear people saying the musicians aren't good enough, the sandwiches aren't cut properly, the sweets are too big or too little or too tempting). The room is too hot or too cold. Gawd.

More Seychelles

Aldabra tortoises typically live between 80–120 years. There has, however, been exceptions to this. Currently, the record for the oldest animal in the world is held by Jonathan – the 184-year-old Aldabra tortoise. Before this, the record was held by Adwaitya – also an Aldabra tortoise – who lived to be around 255 years old.

These are kept as pets by an individual living in Victoria. Groups are called "herds".

I could post hundreds of beach photos. We couldn't stop taking them.

Coco de Mer. Looks like, well..... The largest one on record was 42 kg.

From Wikipedia: New legends about the coco de mer came into existence after 1743, when the real coco de mer trees were discovered. Fruits of coco de mer are developed only on female trees. Male trees have long phallic-looking catkins. Because of these unusual, erotic shapes, some people believed that the trees made passionate love on stormy nights. According to the legend, male trees uproot themselves, and approach female trees. Apparently the love-making trees are rather shy, and the legend has it that whoever sees the trees mating will die or go blind. The fact that even now the pollination of the coco de mer is not fully understood, is one of the factors behind the legend.[7][8][9]

Seychelles

Everyone loves the gorgeous Seychelles. The stuff travel posters are made of the islands have stunning views and pristine beaches. The boating must be fabulous as many large, luxury yachts were anchored there.

The cemetery is beautifully sited and colourful. It's all plastic but looks good when views as a whole.

Our ship carries around 600 passengers. A peewee compared to modern cruise ships but it looks gigantic here.

Camouflage Cat

A perfectly camouflaged cat in Mombasa. Formatting blogs and sending them over the ship's internet is almost impossible. Maybe one photo at a time will work?

Sea Sick

I've never been sea sick. Today I couldn't figure out what was happening. My head felt clamped around the forehead and my mouth was dry. Queasiness set in and I realized I was sea sick.

In our cabin, I opened the veranda and sat in the doorway, fixing my gaze on the horizon. The sea sickness passed in an hour or two; now I'm looking forward to a good long sleep.

I felt like the zebra...half dead and half alive.
I'm sure my complexion torqued through all these lion colours as the ship lurched and rolled.

Everything was annoying, like I imagine this man's pants were to him. He was our guide at Fort Jesus; he'd mumble something unintelligible (meant to be guiding) and kept hitching up his pants which obviously didn't fit.

We found little to like in Mombasa. Dirty and crowded, the city is noisy with menacing-looking knots of youth hanging anywhere you could hang. The tour guide told us "people like to sit around in Mombasa." With forty percent unemployment, what else is there to do? If they asked me, I'd suggest cleaning up the place for a start.

We always attempt to look past the crummy stuff, wherever we are, to something interesting. Here, we found the traffic amazing-not something you'd come back to see again.