Rock climbing: One of the guys I climb with in Toronto is from Mumbai and he hooked me up with climbers in Mumbai. The climbers I met here belong to an outdoor club called “Adventurers and Explorers” and they do hiking, trekking, rock climbing and all kinds of outdoor stuff depending on whatever the members are into. Every January, they hold a rock climbing training course for beginners which is spread over 2 weekends (5 days ). I was only able to go to the first weekend (long weekend with India’s Independence Day). For the first day, we went to a bouldering area somewhere in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Kanheri (Borivali Railway Station). We got there at 7am and for the first time in Mumbai, I actually felt cold. This is when we went ... read more

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 take the train to go everywhere. I explored the Churchgate Terminus area, the VT (Victoria Station) area as well as Colaba. My most touristic venture was in Colaba where I went by the Taj Mahal, ... read more

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 shot at the Hiranandani hospital for $14.50 Cdn. Moved to Mahim near the Matunga Road Railway Station. Roamed Bandra and the Churchgate, VT downtown areas. Took a lot of auto-rickshaws, some taxis, walked a lot ... read more

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 might take you out so better be careful and stick to shore or not go out at all. The area is very beautiful and worth a visit. Rivieres des Galets looked really nice and was ... read more

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 seem to have 2 beds: a queen and a single) the 2nd room had burglar proof windows and didn’t smell bad like the first one but the bathroom stank to high heaven so I used ... read more

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 I decided not to take it. I'm regretting it now. got to Gordon's Bay and walked around. I immediately loved this place. If I had to live in SA, I'd be here. found a small ... read more

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 and have a feast for lunch on Christmas day. Alex made gammon (pork roast), his mother brought rump roast (lamb), everybody brought stuff and in general, there was too much food as usual. I had ... read more

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 you will have to walk down the mountain which is time you may not have considered into your hike (and you end up hiking in the dark which is very dangerous even with a flashlight--it's ... read more

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 you're travelling alone, talk to people, make friends, get connected as you will need to know people for safety reasons: whatever you're doing, always tell somebody where you're going, what you're doing and what time ... read more

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. it has a 2 star rating in the book but I loved it. there are many 3 star and 4 star routes at Main Crag and one 5 star one, but most routes are over ... read more