Blogs from Atlantic, Oceans and Seas - page 65

Tuesday March 27th – Cape Town On the way to Heathrow Airport, Di asked whether I was feeling excited about the prospect of being away on St Helena for a year. My answer was that, at this moment, it feels just like going to the hospital for an operation. Farewells are difficult and painful, particularly if one is used to being part of a family and part of a couple. Once through the departure gate I felt things lighten up and I began to feel more positive about the (ad)venture ahead. The flight to Cape Town was, thankfully, uneventful – except somewhere hidden on my ticket must have been placed the instruction ‘Place this passenger in the nursery section’! Within a child’s plastic toy’s throw from where I was sitting there were 6 mewling infants who ... read more

Today started at 5:30am (Paris/Rome time zone) for us, getting ready to head to the airport. Our flight was not until 9:15 and the hotel is only a 5 minute shuttle ride away, but being unfamiliar with the airport and local check-in procedures, it was probably a good idea to give some room for error. The Holiday Inn Express buffet breakfast was satisfying as usual, although they didn't have the customary (in the US at least) cinnamon rolls that melt in your mouth. A quick check of the room, and then we caught the 6:30 shuttle to the airport. The return trip was scheduled slightly longer than the east-bound trip (because of head winds), but more concerning to us was that it is almost entirely in daylight, landing at DFW at 8:00pm on the same day ... read more

Geo: 13.4941, 144.79To get back to Manila we had to connect through Guam so, in the finest tradition of travelers with no specific place to be, we decided to stop in and have a look around. We had been forewarned that Guam was effectively a U.S. military base with all of the good and bad that comes with that much American influence. Nonetheless it was as though we had entered some sort of Star Trekian worm hole when we left Yap and arrived in Guam- worlds apart despite the proximity.And for anyone hanging on for a United Airlines sequel, they were only 2 hours late for the 2:30am Yap to Guam flight but given sleep deprivation and a tiny Yap airport that had us waiting in the parking lot/lounge, the unexplained delay was painful all the ... read more

Geo: 7.34378, 134.485You're never really in the neighbourhood when it comes to Palau but since we were now in Manila avoiding the rains in Malaysia we thought it might be a good idea to drop in on one of the smallest countries in the world. And believe it or not the single biggest motivating factor for making this detour was a lake that is reputedly filled with non-stinging jellyfish (at least that's what I told DH who has huge jello-phobia issues; they actually do sting but apparently it's imperceptible). Everybody else goes to Palau for the world class scuba diving... or they just got on the wrong plane.Our adventure started with booking our flights since, outside of Japan and Taiwan based airlines, only United (formerly Continental) flies to the island trifecta of Palau, Yap, and Guam ... read more

Geo: 10.0833, 99.83332ter Tauchtag.Da die Tauchplaetze am Morgen die besseren zu sein versprechen, entscheide ich mich dieses mal fuer das Vormittags-Boot, waehrend die 2 verbleibenden OWDler noch etwas bueffeln.Dieses mal geht es nach Southwest Pinnacle - ein etwas aussen liegendes Riff, dass viel verspricht und dann wenig haelt. Anja - gar nicht schlau - hat zum Fruehstueck ein Thunfisch Sandwich verputzt und als es schon um 11:00 das erste mal ins Wasser geht, bin ich drauf und dran den Tauchgang schon beim Abstieg wieder abzubrechen: mir ist uebel und das Sandwich bahnt sich seinen Weg nach Oben... Ich will eigentlich nur meinem Buddy Laura Bescheid sagen, dass es mir nicht gut geht und ich auftauchen muss, aber sie versucht unbeirrt mich ruhig atmen zu lassen und als wir bei miserabler Sicht auf 16 Metern angekommen sind ... read more