AnimaMundi

Thailand’s Islands - and a Bustling Bangkok The trip from the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia to the mainland involved piling 7 people, with at least as many bags, into a little dingy with a very fast motor, the “captain” convincing some to get in by telling them they were headed for a bigger boat (not true). Nervous smiles and laughter were passed around as we crashed into waves, water soaking me to the skin every where but my hips which were squeezed between two other passengers and water tight. A few days earlier, Bryan and I had met a couple from Canada named Audrey and Andrew and the goal for the four of us was to head for the Tarutao National Marine Park in Thailand. The park consists of 51 large and small islands in the ... read more

South Africa - Wine, Waves, and Wanderings We are often asked by those we meet on our travels what our favorite place has been. This is a difficult question to answer, because each country has its own flavor. But we usually say there have been two countries that have struck a cord in our soul by their immense natural beauty. One is Switzerland, and we’ll hold our Swiss Alps hike as a forever favorite. The other is South Africa. Neither Bryan, nor I, was prepared for the rugged coastline, beautiful parks, soaring mountains, green valleys, and diverse culture. Cape Town, dubbed by our guidebook as “…one of the world’s most beautiful cities”, was a welcome sight after our long bus ride from Windhoek, Namibia. We settled in the suburb of Sea Point, very near the coast, ... read more

Can ‘Ya Say Kenya? I have broken through my writer’s block. My apologies for taking so long to report home. I hope the “time lag” does not take away from the “telling of the story”. Also please note, when you get to the end of the blog there is a second page of pictures that does not show unless you hit page 2. Thanks for all the support from home. We miss you! Arriving in Nairobi, Kenya in the middle of the night, our first task was to apply for our visas in a large room on the second floor of the airport. As I reached for the health form on the counter, where others were busily writing, I noticed a nice size cockroach walking across the stack. “Hmmm,” I thought, “this is going to be ... read more

Although we were geographical “right next door”, it took us 2 days to reach Bodrum, Turkey, via ferry from Sifnos Island to Siros Island to Kos Island to Bodrum. We thought island hopping our way there would be fun and since the ferries traveled at night, we could save some money on accommodations. At 3 PM, we rode our scooter down to the Sifnos dock and turned it in, a little worse for wear. We had several hours to waste before the 7 PM ferry to Siros so we sat in an internet café and watched the restaurant owners bring in their umbrellas as the wind swiftly began to pick up. The three weeks we spent on Sifnos had been beautiful with blue skies the whole time, so we joked about the approaching storm and how ... read more

We spent all night on a most uncomfortable bus riding from The Pink Palace hostel on Corfu Island to Athens, Greece. My knees suffered from the sumo wrestler look-alike in front of me that pushed the reclining seat feature to its limits as he snored peacefully through the night. I had injured my neck earlier, having crashed into Bryan while body surfing a big wave, and found it impossible to find a comfortable position. Although Bryan managed to sleep a little bit, he readily agreed with my complaints as we waited outside a mini-market at 4:00 AM in the morning on those that needed a potty break. We arrived in downtown Athens at about 7:00 AM and our first priority was to find some strong coffee and breakfast. We walked several blocks before finding a little ... read more