Sunday, December 11, 2011

More of my latest travels.....

We are just leaving The Seychelles, a group of beautiful islands in the Indian Ocean.  The beaches are white sand, but it's the water that is especially stunning - all the marine colors you can imagine:  green, blue, aqua, aquamarine, purple.  And so clear you can easily see the fish swimming around the coral.  And the fish, too, come in a wide variety of colors and patterns.

Here is where the giant coco de mere palm tree grows.  The huge nut that is shaped like - now do NOT giggle - butt cheeks is actually an inedible double coconut seed.  It grows nowhere else in the world and we were thrilled to see so many of the trees which are now protected by the government.   We also gaped at the giant tortoises, friendly big beasts whose shells are about 3 feet long.  I fed them grass and palm leaves and patted their very rough shells.  When he looks at you the tortoise seems very wistful.
And we saw fruit bats!  These are real bats, but they look like crows when you see them flying high above you.  Like the coco de mer and the tortoise, they're huge!
In order to get up to the best viewing spot on the capital island of Mahe and on another island named Praslin, we had to drive up some very high hills with some very winding and tortuous switchbacks.  When one looked out the window, all that could be seen was the water far below.  But what a spectacular view when we got to the top!!
Off Mahe they are reclaiming land from the sea and "building" a new island, a very expensive island with unbelievably expensive houses. More later...

Friday, December 9, 2011

My travels! From Dubai to India.

Hello Crew!


Your friendly captain is sailing from Dubai to India. Please enjoy my latest Ships Log entry!


Just to share with you what a great time we're having, I'll give you a few highlights:
In Dubai I took the world's fastest elevator to the observation deck of the world's tallest building.  It was an unbelievably smooth ride.  And the view was outstanding.  At the Mall of the Emirates I saw the indoor ski slopes.  Seriously, people were taking the ski lift up and skiing down on man-made snowl.  There was even a sledding slope for kids.  The crew and I watched from a window in the restaurant, and it was like staring at a Christmas card!
We wondered why virtually all the houses in Oman were painted a brilliant white.  It turns out that it's the law!  If you want to paint your house a different color you have to pay a very high tax.  Our guide says it would cost him $700. to get permission to paint his house a different color.  It does make for a pretty picture and it seems to cool things down a bit.


In Mumbai, India, we stared at the Outdoor Laundry.  This is a huge area, as big as 10 football fields, that has dozens of huge laundry vats (enormous sinks) and probably 1,000 clotheslines.  Hospitals, hotels, restaurants send their linens and uniforms to be washed there by hundreds of men who do them all by hand!  Then they hang the pieces out to dry in the hot sun.  It's an amazing sight:  thousands of tablecloths, sheets, pillow cases, and shirts all fluttering in the breeze.


The traffic in Goa, India, is unbelievable!  It's heart-stopping to watch the way the cars and trucks pass one another, with barely an inch to spare.  The roads here are very windy, and when you look ahead and see a truck bearing down on your bus in the same lane, it's pretty scary!  Fortunately we've had great drivers!


The ship is holding up well thanks to this remarkable crew! We're having a marvelous adventure. Will report more tomorrow!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

I'm starting to like Thanksgiving much more than Christmas.


Thanksgiving is cooking and eating. It lasts for one day. No gifts are involved and football reigns.


Christmas is great if you have kids - to see their footed PJ's tippy toe down the stairs to see a mountain of gifts is true joy. But other than that, it's a month and a half of the same songs, crowded stores, and the same questions over and over "are you ready for the holidays?" "have you finished your shopping?".


Thanksgiving is pure. Just being grateful and eating - a lot.


If we really want to get back to the spirit of the Christmas Season - we should only give food and money to those in need. Wouldn't you much rather give $25 to a homeless shelter than spend it on a Chili's gift card for  your boss? And let Christmas day be an even bigger feast than Thanksgiving. That would be perfect.


But what do I know? Maybe I'm just jealous because there is no song called "Deck the Dock".