Editor's note Ok, better late than never! It is now September, and I am just finishing my blog from my May trip to Europe. Out of sight, out of mind. Follow along, as I depart for my 2 month fall trip to India, departing Oct 12, 2010. ... Enjoy, Mike May 18, 2010 - Dubrovnik to Lubljana We left Dubrovnik at 8:30. On the way out of town we stopped for a photo opp at the top of the hill. Dubrovnik really is a stunning place. Its hard to believe that just 15 short years ago it was attacked and was under shell attack by the Serbs. Who would want to destroy such a beautiful place, and why? Its hard for us to imagine, living in Canada where everything is so civilized. In my generation's lifetime, ... read more

Saturday May 1-3, 2010 - Lisbon Portugal Diogo (From The Varzea The polo club in Portugal) emailed me yesterday to invite me to play a game at the club at 11 am. I was up early, grabbed a bite to eat, then rented a car. I had a rough idea of how to get to the club, since we passed it on Day 1 of the motorcycle trip. I made it to the field with 5 minutes to spare. Diogo informed me that this was one of the first practise games of the season and that he had arranged for me to play six chukkers. One thing you learn in polo, is that when you are traveling, and play polo on strange horses, you never know what to expect. Of course, I asked for safe ... read more

Wednesday, Nov 4 - Cape Town Well, Rob left yesterday and I'm on my own again. He was great company and I am going to miss him, as I miss all of my kids. This morning I caught my flight from Nairobi to Cape Town. Who would have guessed that it was an 8 hour trip - 4 hours to Joburg, a 2 hour lay over, and a 2 hour flight to my final destination. Africa is a big continent!! My friend John Jesson, our tour guide on the motorcycle trip with Ayres Adventures met me at the airport. I did not book a hotel in advance, so John took me down to the waterfront area to look around. I ended up staying at the Breakwater Hotel that I had read about in the Lonely Planet. ... read more

Oct 14 - Flew to Nairobi from Joburg and met up with Robbie Oct 15 - Spent the day in Nairobi. We thought we would be clever, and walk from our beautiful hotel, The Fairmont Norfolk, to the downtown business center, get some breakfast , and do some shopping. Before you know a local approached us and struck up a conversation. We engaged with him and asked him where some stores were. He took us to a street with many local stores. Two more locals then approach us to try to get us to go to their stores. The 3 of them followed us around for a while, so I told them that we just want to get a decent breakfast. They escorted us to a nice place - the Nairobi coffee shop. The first one ... read more

South Africa--Botswana--Namibia Wednesday, Sept 30 - High 28, low 16 - Nata to Kasane, Botswana 320 kms Last night was our first night in Botswana. Botswana has a population of 1.6 million people. It peacefully gained independence from Britain in 1966. Shortly thereafter, diamonds were discovered making it the fastest growing economy in the world every year for the next 20 years. After breakfast at Nata Lodge, we headed out on our bikes. We had been warned that on route to Kasane, we might encounter ostrich, giraffes, baboons, and possibly elephants on route. Sure enough, shortly outside of town, we see our first wild animal, an elephant at the side of the road making a meal out of a good size tree (see photo). We pulled over probably about 100 feet from him. It was just ... read more