Okavango Delta September 16 to 21

We had a fleeting visit to Dubai enabling us to see a stay with our good friends JB and Fred (thank you again!) as well as Scott, Jim and Kate, Pip and Joe and Peter. I managed to catch up with Mariann (too short), Jess (and the ever growing Marsh), Nic and Suman too.

We flew out of Dubai on the mid morning Emirates flight to Johannesburg arriving early in the evening, practically the length of the African continent. We were pleasantly surprised to find that our hotel (10min from airport) was a quiet haven set in well manicured gardens. That evening we had a drink with Kevin, a friend from Dubai, when he got in his car to leave informed us he did not stop at any traffic lights after dark which confirmed what we had heard about J’burg that it was the closest thing to a war zone with car jackings, shootings, and muggings a common occurrence for travellers.

We took an Air Botswana flight to Maun (the entreport for The Okavango Delta) and were swiftly transferred on a very small aircraft which after a short 25 minute flight dropped us in the heart of the Delta. The Okavango Delta is the result of the 18 billion cubic metres of water being emptied out of the Okavango River onto the flat plains of Botswana. The result is a maze of lagoons, channels and islands spread over 16000 sq K. It is a unique Eco system that supports a very varied collection of animals, birds and insects. It is a Twitchers Delight with over 450 types of bird....

Our camp was made up of a number of tents, a dining area, and game viewing platforms. It was situated on the water’s edge nestled in the reeds. From our tent we could hear the hippos snorting and munching, the elephants moving in the forested areas opposite and the intermittent cries of the wonderful Fish Eagles.

That evening we had our first trip in a Mokoro, the flat bottomed punt that is the traditional means of transport. Each of the guides make their own Mokoro when they are young men and that is sufficient for their life. Hollowed out of the hard wood trees it takes a mighty effort to construct.

We glided through the reeds and across the beautiful lily pads in the soft evening light. The polers follow small channels; they can see most of what is going on around them, whilst we are below reed height and thus enjoy the sky, the reeds, lilies, insect and bird life.

That first evening we stepped onto a small island dominated by a 10 foot high termite mound an were entertained by seeing painted reed frogs, water striders, squacco heron, egret, lechwe, impala, elephants (mum and baby), fish eagle, hippo tracks, zebra tracks, wild sage, palm nuts, (marvel of recycling), Jesus bird (so called because it appears to walk on water), pluvver, comorant, and dragon flies.

As the sun began to set we heard the whooping baboons and in the coolness of the evening the hippos became more active cavorting in the deep water channel and munching their way though the lush reeds.

We were up early the next morning ready to set off in the Mokoro with our guide Kitsu for 2 nights of camping in the wilderness. Kitsu lives in the nearby village he is about 6ft 2ins bald with a goatee. He had a love of nature and believed passionately in conservation. We could not have done better as his English was also very good.

Weighed down with all the usual camping gear plus food the top of the Mokoro was a mere one and a half inches from the water. Approaching and crossing the 20metre deep water channel was akin to running across a 6 lane highway....cautiously Kitsu looked both ways to see if there were any crocodiles or hippos around and then with a huge stab of his mokoro pole he whizzed us across to the comparative safety of the shallows on the other side.

We reached our campsite after about one and half hours, and put up tents, bush shower and much to our delight a loo seat was provided. We were surrounded by shallow water and Kitsu cautioned us not to stray too far from the camp. In the evening we skimmed along to a nearby island and walked around spotting elephants. Kitsu proceeded to imitate a type of owl by whistling and after about 2 minutes a variety of feisty small birds arrived to investigate, apparently the owl specialises in raiding the nests of the small birds and they were there to see off the owl...

In the evening we had a delicious stew washed down with water straight from the stream.

We were up and poling by 6.45am glad to be out and about as the night had been very cold and our Dubai sleeping bags struggled to keep in the warmth.

We beached on a land mass some 20 minutes from the camp and set out by foot, the guide had only a radio for emergencies, no firearm, no knife, then again I guess he only had to outrun one of us and being built like Usain Bolt helped in that department. He told us that if a lion came towards us (which was very possible) we were to stand still and stare into its eyes!!! And if it got aggressive we were to grab its tail!! Anyway all was well and we did not see any sign of lions but we were blessed in seeing a yellow tailed kite, a herd of impala, 18 elephants led by 2 old grandmas, warthogs running off with their stiff little flag pole tails, wildebeest, giraffe mum with 2 youngsters.

Kitsu showed us a warthog hole at the base of a tree and said never stand in front of the hole as the warthog revs himself up deep in his hole and bursts out at top speed!

We were shown "an elephant's bedroom" they sleep together around the base of termite mounds which affords warmth and a half sitting position.

We stalked Zebra and giraffe getting within 25m it was a truly memorable experience and whilst we did not get as close as when one is in a 4x4 the walking safari holds a frission of danger which is missing in a Land cruiser.

The next evening we went to find hippos, as we all know they kill more tourists than any other animal so again we were a bit apprehensive.

The snorting crashing and munching gave away their location, Kitsu informed us that he could also see a couple of large crocodiles. Imagine our consternation when he proceeded to hurl palm nuts at the hippos, his throw was excellent, standing up in a mokoro is one thing throwing palm nuts without rocking the boat is another, a palm nut is the same size as a baseball and he was throwing them about 40m...to hit the hippos so they would lift their heads out of the water! They were too intent on having their dinner to look up.

Very shortly after that a juvenile crocodile leapt across the front of the mokoro.

We arrived back in our base camp and had a well deserved drink...

Our final morning was spent tracking a pride of lions on foot....they were very close as the baboons were calling in alarm and the impala were on ready alert. Kitsu himself was very excited with quickened step and flared nostrils. The paw prints were very fresh unfortunately the lions out tracked us and doubled back behind us. So we did not see them but the one and a half hours we spent was an adrenalin rush.

Just before our flight out of the camp we were fortunate enough to witness a herd of elephants cross the river about 20 in all, the little ones hanging onto their Mothers tails to avoid being swept away, the lead Matriarch pointing her trunk to the sky like a periscope to show the way.

Denmark July 27 to August 10, Portugal August 12 to 19, New York August 26 to September 3 , UK to September 13

A busy month and a half seeing friends and family all over the place!

In Denmark we were treated to: an overwhelmingly generous stay with Torben and Lene, after which we had to de-tox; a Copenhagen sophisticated lunch with Niels Eiler at the Angleterre; a stay at the family inn near Vibourg and welcoming the new son-in-law; an unforgettable family welcome in Jutland with a formal toast from Gunhild, a lovely two days and great game of golf with Tove and Finn, a relaxing 36 hours swimming, eating and picking fruit with Birgitte and Martin. Polished off with a grand dinner and easy lunch with Lisbeth and Kirstine.

In Portugal we played golf, walked on the beach, saw the local sights, relaxed and sweated with Mum and Dad!

In New York I had a small and exclusive uni reunion with Kate, Issie, Sophie and Kirsty – some of us had not seen each other in nearly twenty years but thankfully in most cases it was less than 5! Nick joined our jaunts and we managed to fit in a lot of sight-seeing with good eats, cocktails, manicures, pedicures and of course shopping (not Nick on these last 3 activities). It was great to catch up with Paul, Mo and Todd as well. At the latter end of the stay my sister Mattie joined us from Miami and we pounded the Met, 5^th Avenue and Ellis Island as well as a few pubs – what fun.

By the time we got back to London we needed a long rest!

We were so fortunate to have been able to stay with Barry and Pam in London their generosity knew no bounds and we felt like family after lodging with them on and off for 4 months....thank you again Pam and Bazza.

We caught up with Nigel and Soheila down in Hove for a memorable Ashes winning lunch! We stayed with my cousin Paul and his half woman half hippo wife Julie and were royally entertained by the talented stand up comedian Simon.

Barry also arranged a reunion lunch for us to catch up with my Uni friends in the Cotswold, gosh we all look so old....It was also great to have a drink in London with my old GLC mate Phil Ashton.

Bella and Bugs, Lindsay and Ross friends of Nikki’s were happily conveniently located a short bicycle ride from Barry and Pam's home in Teddington. We also saw Richard, Kyla, Lynn and Jonathan as well as Alfie, Jack and Courtney in Blackheath but sadly did not manage to spend long enough with them.

Greece July 9 to 24

After a brief interlude in Teddington with the Houlston family, during which we explored their new allotment, and did essential maintenance such as haircuts, we left for Greece. We won’t bore you with a day by day account of lying on the beach and eating delicious food but will leave you with a Hellenic sampler.

Appetiser: Athens, where we were met by Michaeli, my stepbrother and his wife and Svetlana what a lovely couple! Staggeringly intelligent, enquiring of mind, quick of wit, and generous of spirit. We visited the new Acropolis Museum which had been open only one month. The fascinating exhibition, although a little light on detail, even included a space reserved for the Elgin Marbles, poignant in its emptiness given that they have been residing in the British Museum since Lord Elgin’s agents spirited them away some 150 years ago. The Museum itself is light and airy like a temple, with glass floors through which (at the lower level) one could observe the archaeological diggings and if you looked up, you could see the museum visitors in the floor above (note to the ladies ...wear trousers).

In the afternoon (5pm by Greek standards) we went to the coast for a fresh fish lunch and a peek at how the Greek upper classes live, before catching our delayed flight to Skiathos, in the Aegean Sea.

Entree: Skiathos, an uncharacteristically green Greek island in the Aegean which found fame from the Greek poet Papadiamantis in the early 1900s and most recently from Mamma Mia, which was filmed there and on neighbouring Skopelos. It is a real renaissance story as the open air cinema has been reborn with bi-nightly performances of the Abba movie complete with beers and disco lights, while the houses in the busy but neat little town gleam in their whitewash, now proudly applied annually as the holiday and day tourists flock in.

We stayed with my father and stepmother in their 11 room bed and breakfast nestled in a steep hillside overlooking the tourquoise sparkling Aegean Sea. Our daily routine consisted of some time in town, lunch at a cantina on a secluded beach (sometimes with Suzie, an old friend from Cape Town but really part Skiathian), a couple of long swims, feeding the cat (Plume) and her kittens and a late dinner on the balcony star and moon gazing. The routine was broken only by walking the dogs from the nearby dog shelter, sailing to Skopelos on the one windless day in fourteen, and treating ourselves and Katarina to a night of Mamma Mia at the outdoor cinema – not to be missed!

Desert: Alonissos, the largest and least accessible of the Sporades islands equals very few tourists and a lot of natural beauty. We spent two days here in a small fishing village just to get the taste of old Greece back, eating delicious fish overlooking the small harbour and deciding on which fishing boat we would buy.