Initially, I lived in a suburb called Goregoan East in the Royal Palms area. While living there, I explored the suburbs Hiranandani and Andheri East which were close by. In Hiranandani, there was a really nice plaza-like section (not sure how to describe it) or outdoor mall type thing that had shops and restaurants on two levels with an open courtyard in the middle. I like it because of the stones and staircases which remind of me of some agora from long ago. Then I moved to Mahim near Matunga Railway Station which was really convenient as I was able to [View Full Entry]

---

---

landed in Mumbai on Jan 16 at 1:20am. Note that all international flights landing in and departing from India happen between midnight and 6am. This is so that the flight will land in/depart from the other airport at a normal human hour. Most other airports don’t have people working during these ungodly hours but in India, lots of people will work these hours which is why Mumbai airport was teeming with life when I landed. Got a map of Mumbai on the first day so learned the areas quickly. Stayed in Goregoan, roamed in Andheri East and Powai, got a rabies [View Full Entry]

---

---

The beaches I went to were Pereybere in the north, Belle Mare and Blue Bay in the east, Gris Gris, and Rivieres des Galets in the south, Le Morne in the southwest, La Preneuse and Flic en Flac in the west. I went snorkeling in Belle Mare, Blue Bay, Le Morne, La Preneuse and Flic en Flac. Pereybere was way way too crowded. It’s made up of several small beaches. Gris Gris has very big waves but interesting landscape and caves to explore for the very good swimmer who can swim in the big waves. But the undercurrent is strong and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Landed in Mauritius on Dec 30, stayed at Auberge de Rose Hill. It was the cheapest I found and it was $24 Cdn per night which includes breakfast of bread with butter & jam, tea or coffee, and tang (fake orange juice). There were no dorms, just room with bath. the bed sheets didn’t look clean and everything was pretty dingy. I found that the window could not lock and the room was on street level facing the street so anyone could have just come in and the window was pretty big, so I asked for another room. (all the rooms [View Full Entry]

---

---

Dec 23: went body surfing in the early morning in Strand. the beach was beautiful and the water not too cold. (well, I was wearing a very thick full body wet suit so it was all cozy) walked on the beach from Strand to Gordon's Bay. found a beautiful shell, a dead shark about 3.5 ft long, and touched a dead chiton which made my fingers numb. I wanted to take the chiton with me because it was so beautiful, white with green shades, about 4 inches long, 1.5 inches wide and 1/3 inch thick. the flesh was still attached so [View Full Entry]

---

---

I'm here in SA because a few years back in Toronto I met Alex Beeslaar, a colleague from work and we became friends and rock climbing partners. He returned to SA about 2 years ago and eventually settled in Cape Town. since I knew somebody here, had heard that it's one of the top ten places to visit in the world, plus that there's awesome rock climbing here, so I came. I spent Christmas with Alex and his partner Milda and they both had their family over (17 adults, 3 kids). the tradition here is to open presents on Christmas Eve [View Full Entry]

---

---

first, never hike alone because a, it's very easy to get lost as there are numerous trails and most are not marked; b, there are muggers in the mountain; c, the weather could turn nasty very suddenly, for example, so foggy that you can't see anything; and d, if you get injured, others can get help. The mountain around here is quite treacherous in many parts and the weather can change suddenly. it could be clear and very hot one minute and very windy (cold) or foggy the next. when the wind is blowing very hard, the cableway will shutdown and [View Full Entry]

---

---

I've been in South Africa (SA) for only a month so probably not entirely correct in my views but here's my 2 cents worth. the first thing is to get a cell phone which is very cheap as everybody here lives by cell phones and it's almost impossible to find residential land lines and sometimes hard to find a public phone that works. with a cell phone, you can hook up with people to go hiking, etc. since for safety reasons you would never do anything alone here, so you will need a cell phone to hook up with people. if [View Full Entry]

---

---

to hook up with people to go rock climbing in Cape Town, try the forum in climb.co.za, visit the indoor climbing gym City Rock, or send a message to the Mountain Club of South Africa Cape Town Section (or go to their facebook group and post something there). I found one guy to climb with through the Mountain Club (John Sterianos) and one girl from City Rock. for sport climbing, I went to Silvermine (Table Mountain) 4 times: Lower Silvermine, Pinnacle, Blaze of Glory and Main Crag. the best climb I did was the one graded 18 (5.10a) at Main Crag. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Correction for the info I gave previously about Gemini Backpackers in Johannesburg, they now charge R80 for a dorm bed. Get a copy of Alternative Route or Coast to Coast (both free) from any tourist place in South Africa (SA). they contain all the info for backpackers including accommodation, tours, safaris, activities, buses, etc. I stayed one night at Abreakaway in Muizenberg (southern part of Cape Town). this is a surfers place offering lessons for R250 (includes wetsuit & board) which is very cheap as surfing lessons go for about R450. Dorm is R100, includes breakfast of fruit and toast. [View Full Entry]

---

---