So, arrived in Cape Town. Wow, what a culture shock! Cape Town is a modern, western city, and it's wet and cold (in comparison). Of the 9 days, there's been three days of great weather and 6 days of so-so. It's about 16 degrees for the most part. While security is everywhere (fences, barbed wire, armed response signs, locked and barred storefronts with buzzers for entry) the city itself is safe during the day. You have to go out in pairs or take a taxi at night though. Even locals do. I've spent a fair amount of time recovering and making [View Full Entry]

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April 3 - April 8: Week One The Facilities Well, I woke up with the sunrise the first day, and man, what a gorgeous place! Just steps from our hut there is small cliff, with steps leading down to a fine, yellow sand beach - Half-Moon Bay. It's pretty much a private beach, just for the vols, and the swimming there at high tide is fantastic. The water is warm, but not too warm - 27 degrees, which would drop to 24 degrees by the end of the expedition (which, by the way, is number 37!!). The way the BV [View Full Entry]

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March 30 to April 1 So, Kat, Ralf and I were up at 5.30 getting ready for the transport, which was supposed to be arriving at 6.00 am. Also at the guesthouse was Al, the brand new, just out of the box, dive manager for the expedition. It was quite funny - we were asking Al questions about Andava and his response was "I don't know, I just got here. Please, let me wake up!" or something to that effect. And, like everything Al says or does, it is much more patient and pleasent in person (the new open water [View Full Entry]

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March 25 - March 28 Time to get started to update you on what has happened for the past two months. With luck I can get at least one blog entry done before I have to sign off and get something to eat. So, I left Canada on March the 25 - starting with a snowing, blowing and frankly awful drive to Pearson International from Grand Bend. There Mom and Dad (can I get a collective "aawwww" here?) paid for the KLM lounge so I could wait in comfort for my flight. And comfort it was. Thanks guys! The KLM flight [View Full Entry]

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Well, guessing by the volume of emails in my inbox, everyone is wondering where I've been since the last post. The answer: Madagascar! Home to chamelons, lemurs and baobobs, the spiny forest and huge freaking spiders. For those of you who don't know, for the last eight weeks I've been travelling and volunteers in a small village on the southwest coast of Madagascar called Andavadoaka (Andava for short - lots of names get shortened in Mad). This place is so remote, there aren't any phones there, let alone internet, and it takes a 12 - 36 hour camion (French for truck, [View Full Entry]

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Diving in the Galapagos Day 10 - San Cristobal Island I had a pleasant time waiting for the crew and passengers of Sky Dancer, a Peter Hughes Diving Inc. boat. While the sun was hot, it was a nice change from the rain of a few days ago. Soon enough I saw the 737s from the mainland arrive at the airport, and within an hour or so the bus arrived. I met Edwin, the chief guide and divemaster for this week, and the 15 other passengers for the week of diving. Sky Dancer is a beautiful boat. Custom built for [View Full Entry]

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Introduction Well, the travels continue! Just got back from two weeks in the Galapagos Islands. Computer access is a wee bit slow there, so I figured I'd update you once I got back to the lovely, warm (brrrr!!) Ontario heartland. So here goes: First off, this update will be in two parts. I spent the first week on a tour with Ecoventura, on their boat called the Letty. This was primarily and island tour - you'd go from island to island, have a tour on one of the islands, and perhaps a snorkel, and then motor off to the next. The [View Full Entry]

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Hey everyone! Just a quick entry to let everyone know that I'm back safely in Grand Bend. Wow, what a trip! My last day in Santiago on Monday was nothing special - just visited the cemetary. Seemed fitting to finish with Santiago's cemetary, since I started with Buenos Aires'. It wasn't quite as grand as Buenos Aires' was, but it was certainly worth the visit. The flight home, via Dallas, was long but fine. Dallas, by the way, has one of the better international terminals I've been in. Back home late yesterday, to snow and cold. But at least no wind! [View Full Entry]

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Well, my last full day in Chile. And it's hot, hot, hot! It's a lovely, balmy 32 degrees celsius, in the bowl that is Santiago. You see, it's built on a flat plain and surrounded by mountains all around. Tends to catch and hold the pollution. Which actually isn't too bad right now I'm told, because like Paris, Santiagoans leave the city in droves during their summer. Good thing too, because I got some pics of the surrounding mountains. This'll be a quick entry because there's not a lot happening. Got here yesterday and spent the day wandering the city and [View Full Entry]

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Felipe and I left the park on December 29, and after a good meal and rest (!) in Pto. Natales, I headed to Punta Arenas on the 30th. Felipe came with me, as he needed to get a new backpack and other gear. The 31st came around and as we were eating lunch just before he was to get on a bus back to Pto. Natales, we started talking and I ended up going back with him to spend New Year's with friend (i.e. Felipe) and his friends in Pto. Natales. It was a great time! On the 2nd, headed back [View Full Entry]

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