just me ... in Maun, Botswana, looking forward to going into the Okavango Delta ...

No time to update ... too many things and not enough time.

I'll write something maybe in December ...

ha ha ha ha ha ...

Robben Island

Beautiful walk down to the waterfront Waterclock, at V&A Harbour. We line up inside the Robben Island Museum, wait forever, and after the security check, we walk back outside to the Waterclock, over a small bridge, over to the catamaran. Kinda silly line-up system, but hey, who cares, the waters are calm and we are going.

The boat takes about an hour to cross the 12 km. The tour takes around 2.5 hours, and we see the entire complex. Our guide is a former prisoner named Jama, who was from Port Elizabeth, and was sent there because he was a letter writer leader sympathetic to the anti-apartheid cause. That's about all we were told. We didn't find out whether or not he knew Nelson is his five years there, but he probably didn't. There were all segregated, depending on who they were. He was in Group Block F I think.

The group blocks, Groups D/E/F, is where prisoners stayed in blocks of 30 to 40. Then there were the solitary confinement blocks, Block A/B/C, where they were on their own in their own cells. We get to see the garden, where Mandela took care of the plants, and wrote his book "The Long Road To Freedom". By probably digging deep into the dirt, he somehow hid his autobiographical manuscripts in the garden, unbeknownst to the head honchos. These manuscripts were somehow smuggled out in 1978?? by others who were freed, ones who had served their time.

Mandela's cell is the only one with a bed, small furniture, and other little things. It is the fourth cubicle on the right hand side of Block B when you walk in. Very, very small. Not much to say, except of course it is a pretty surreal feeling. The pictures will most likely never get it justice.

After the block part of the tour, we left our beloved Jama, and went on bus tour of the entire island. The leper colony cemetery, the limestone quarries, and the village that today services the tours.

What a view looking back onto Cape Town with the imposing Table Mountain in the backdrop!!

Wow ... that's all there is to say. The boat back was nice and peaceful again ... another pretty much perfect day, except I accidentally stepped into a water hole before getting my picture taken with the scenic backdrop of Table Mt. behind me.  That's ok though .... my right shoe and sock are almost dry by now.

I'll wear sandals tomorrow .... I'll have a nice wander around downtown Cape Town tomorrow I suppose. Lots to see still from distant memory. It's very nice not to need a map around here, although I must say the amount of construction around the V&A Waterfront area is pretty staggering.  I thought they would have been done by the time the 2010 World Cup of Football/Soccer came around.

Wrong again.  Too bad.

Munich .... The flight down ... and losing my "Dignity".

No kids, it's not what you think ....

Munich is ... well Munich. All you need is one day, and all is well.

Caught the early train from Lucerne to Zurich to Munich and luckily across from the Munich train station was a cheap pension/hotel that was priced right. By 2:30pm I'm ready to roll, nice sunshine, but the rain was soon waiting.

One day is Munich for me always goes like this. After the obligatory trip to the Glockenspeil (Atle Rathaus/ Old Town Hall), head for the U-bahn and go straight to the English Gardens Park which is a massive, massive park almost as big as Stanley Park. Walk to the Chinese Tower for a beer and lunch at the massive beer garden and stop to think "Wow ... I'm back here AGAIN" Wow ... isn't this exciting ??.

Just as I arrive ... BOOM !!!  Massive rain storm. So the trick is to find a tree large enough to sit under to stay dry. Pretty tricky ...  bumped into a family whose sister when to Richmond High with my brother and sister. Small world ... the sister was Andrea something.  Luckily, the rain stops after a hour and a half, and brilliant hot sunshine comes back. Perfect ... thank goodness.

Next stop, .... U-bahn back tothe  Marienplatz where the Glockenspeil is and head straight another market, Viktualienmarket, (spelt - wrong, sorry) where there is yet another beer garden. But only for people watching, or course. Then realizing I have to walk off the first beer, I walk past the Hofbrauhaus and wander over to Maximiliian Strasse to see the fancy concert hall beisde a massive museum, and then way down the road is yet another massive monument I can't remember from long ago. So, I realize it is the monument for King Max-Joseph (duh ... it is on his street after all), then walk along a bridge, watching this local man flyfish on the river. Soon, I feel hungry again, so back to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. Another litre beer and a pork knuckle dinner with sauerkraut and a massive bread dumpling. That's when I bump into a local man and his young relative from New Zealand. So the three of us chat for about an hour, thoroughly engaging talk about all things. Walk back to the hotel ... nice warm night past all the major sites.

Next day, the day I fly out to Cape Town, and the rain is relentless ... so only one thing to do. Shop, all the teams eliminated from the World Cup have their jerseys on sale at 50% off, so I get suckered in ... and then of course go back to the Hofbrauhaus and the Viktualienmarket ... just to double check the beer is ok. Hey, things change you know ...

The airport in Munch is special, so I had heard. They are right. They had this massive stadium seating area for a public viewing for the upcoming Germany/Brazil match, right beside this massive tent area, right beside, yes you guessed it, a beer garden. Little did I know that two hours after my flight would leave, the locals would be whooping it up, with 5 goals in the first 30 minutes of the first half. When we got the news on board the South African Airlines flight, we thought is was some practical joke or something.

The 10 hour flight to Joburg was pretty good .... I may have had 3 hours sleep or so. But the chaos of Joburg's airport is a bit silly. Upon entering, even if you have a domestic connecting flight, you MUST go through this huge line up for customs, and then pick your baggage, then check in again at the counter. If you have 3 hours to kill like I did, no problem. But if you don't ... boy, you're screwed big time.

The two hours to Cape Town was smooth and enjoyable ... after all, it is just two hours. Just up and down ... no problem. My tour guide buddy Conrad was there to pick me up. Nice change. It's one of the very few times in my life when someone is actually waiting for me and in the crowd watching me come into the arrivals area. We get to the hostel, which has this absolutely stunning view of Table Mountain. It's very nice, to say the very least. Close to a lot of very useful places ... grocery stores, banks, etc. That means a lot .... \

So, today. July 10th ...

Wow ... that is all there needs to be said. Perfect weather ... not a cloud in the sky. Not one ... so there's one idiot-proof conclusion. I am heading up to Table Mountain. Just like in 2007, but this time with a decent camera. My taxi driver isn't a local, a young man named "Dignity" who is from Joburg, and I try to figure out when I should be back from the cable-car ride. I say 3pm ... without realizing the line-ups to get tickets and then getting up and down the Swiss made cable car are a killer. But anyway ....  it's worth all the hassle.

The view is right up there with the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, the CN Tower ... but better. Better air, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans .... Robben Island in the backdrop, and a gorgeous city underneath. Wandering around for 2.5 hours goes by in a flash. At 2:45pm, I head down ... but the lineup going back is long of course. I get back to the taxi area, but at 3:20 ... Dignity is nowhere to be found. Oh well, too bad ... so instead of getting ripped off on the taxi fare, I walk all the way down to the hotel. Downhill all the way of course .... 40 minutes, piece of cake. That savings helps pay for dinner.

I've meet all the girls on the trip, from Inuvik, both very nice. Tomorrow ... the other biggie. Robben Island. I have my breakfast cereal and milk for the morning, I have dinner too, leftover BBQ chicken and Greek salad. All I need is calm waters for the ferry ... that's all I ask ...

Wish me luck ... my luck has been on a pretty good roll the past week. Let's keep this going.

And where is my Dignity??  Hopefully safe at home with his family !!!

First you're old ... then you're young again ... now back to being old.

Sometimes it's not really your vacation, you are merely representing about 25 people. You are supposed to know everything about everyone, and then after a few days, it's your vacation again. Repeat as necessary.

One of the curious things about coming to Switzerland, is that although I haven't been here for awhile, for the most part, everyone else hasn't been here either. So whether you like it or not, you represent the extended family and will tell everything you know to everyone. And if you don't know each detail, you immediately feel pretty useless. I've been here now seven times ... I am supposed to be the giver of all the knowledge.

Too bad ... now for the good part.

Urs' big 75th Birthday party on Saturday was really nice. It was nearby in a place called Eigenthal, right behind the Pilatus mountain close to Lucerne. But it felt a world away. Fresh mountain air, warm weather, not a spot of rain in sight.

We had to hike up to a restaurant lodge for about 20 minutes, with Vreni and Urs' family. This includes their oldest daughter Caroline, their son Lorenz who I've known very well since 1987, and my one and only same age Swiss cousin, Renate, who like me is the baby. Caroline's two kids were away at a scouts camp. Her husband, Marcel, stayed back because he was triple booked that weekend for b-day parties, but I finally got to meet Renate's Spanish husband Antonio, and their three kids. Agatha, Marlon, and Silvio. Maria and Hugo of course are there too, and we gossip a bit more, as the day before was nowhere near long enough. I wish I could mail them both home and let them live with our extended family. That's how special these relatives are.

At any rate, these are mostly my cousins in my own generation. Finally, real human beings who are roughly the same age as me and my siblings. Hooray for keeping this connection alive ... it's our job now, or else. In addition, Urs' brothers and sisters came along too, who I had never met before. Their English was fantastic and they seemed extremely keen to practice the language with me.

When us second-cousins are together, it doesn't really matter if we are in our 40's, have kids, etc. Since their parents are still around at the same party, and we are the younger ones, it almost feels like we are still 15 or 20 again. Luckily my mother's cousins children, like me, still look the same so it's easy to ignore the fact we are now old -- minus the grey whiskers on the beard or the baby strollers. As soon as everyone says hi, and everyone arrives, they wants to know "How is ... fill in the blank ...??". If you don't know the person well, or have some juicy information, you mid as well shouldn't have come.

Fancy first course, fancy main course, fancy dessert. Not much food, but I bet the party still costs a fortune. The kids create a fancy sing-a-long song for their mother and father, instead of long speeches. Lorenz admits singing is much easier than talking. I think he's right ...  I must join in too, of course, plus shake the tambourine and impeccably sing the idiot-proof Swiss-German chorus. Just like the dessert ... it was a piece of cake.

The walk back is just as nice ... Urs is in a hurry, we must get back in time for the World Cup football matches. Brazil is playing after all ... Their kids come back to the house in Lucerne too, except for Lorenz who lives in Zurich, and we catch up a bit more with the girls. Renate and I have a special connection, being the same age. I once found her by chance in Rome while on vacation in 1995, and we still laugh about that. She always likes to have a separate private chat on how things are doing with me and the family. She is very interested in all of us and how things in Canada are similar or different. Her kids are adorable, but a huge handful. They get back to their grandparents house and immediately want to watch cartoons on youtube. Hexe Filli the magic dragon/dinosaur or something like that ... just like my sister's kids when they were younger. On leaving, her son Marlon is convinced the driveway needs to be watered ... all of it.

Today was an equally special day. I got to visit with my mother's adorable cousin Alice Inwyler. She is about my mother's age, and is always 100% excited to visit with anyone from Canada. It's like Christmas for her, and she always makes sure she has her Bible with her at all times (German-English Dictionary of course). I meet her and her husband Dolf at the beach waterpark immediately below where the Ineichen's live, so that's very, very handy. Another lovely cousin Marlies, who I stayed with for a few days back in 1993, joins us and she is also very excited about the surprise CDN visitor. And the rules are simple ... talk slow, use simple words, and consult the Bible whenever necessary. Four hours goes by very quickly, and we talk at a shaded table right beside the lake of Lucerne, with the most gorgeous view of the mountains. We laugh, talk about the good stories of my grandmother (Alice's aunt) and all the family members she knows so well. It is too bad the four hours needs to end, but they need to leave by 4 pm, and I need to buy my train ticket for the morning trip to Munich. Pictures and hugs all around. I get to do the talking, but 20+ people are shadowing me back home waiting for news of this chat. Yes ... I'm a lucky guy. I don't get too excited about too many things. Seeing little Alice is one of them. The fun part is, I get to see how excited she was. You can't put a price on that.

After dinner, before the thunderstorm hits, I have this need to walk back to the old town of Lucerne. I need to take more unnecessary pictures of the Lion Mounument, the Käppelbrücke bridge, the Lake, just to see them again at night, in the warm evening air. I soon realize something simply unbelieveable. In all the times I've been here, I've never been down here at night. The colours are so different at dusk, the lights on the bridge make it transformed .... the lion seems strange without the 1000's of tourists coming and going from the daily dose of large buses. The grey lion's pictures seem sharper at dusk, and I'm always trying to find a different angle to take a picture from. But the clouds are getting darker ... the thunder is coming, I soon must get outta here. The walk back to Gerlisberg mountain takes 30 minutes. Twenty minutes after I arrive back .... BOOM !!! ... the inevitable rainstorm hits. A bit late for me ... that's perfect.

Onto Disneyland tomorrow. When I say Disneyland, I really mean Munich.

So don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for awhile .... I can smell Cape Town as much as I can taste tomorrow's German beer.

Stay thristy my friends.

Here, There, and Everywhere ...

Still in Lucerne .... and fighting a cold. But it is ok. I have Ricola and tea to the rescue.

Lots has happened, but lots has not.  Wednesday, as predicted by the weather man, it rained and rained. I tried to phone some relatives, but no answer. Until I got to the relative who has better English than I have. Victor Blaser. His wife Bettina is a semi-distant relative, but who cares, we take anyone!!

I phone him Wednesday morning, and after he answers and hears this strange voice, he has one thought in his mind. Who is this person, and what is he trying to sell me? I hate these annoying people. Luckily, since there is no language barrier with Victor, I soon explain myself, tell him my aunt and uncle are Bette and Bill Cahill, all is forgiven. The only snag is, the last time I saw his family it was 1993, and he had no idea that I was coming to Switzerland. I tell him, me too!!  I didn't know when I could be here either ..... He quickly puts my name and face together as we have a good chat. It is later I find our they get these annoying phone calls from Microsoft imposters or other scammers literally all the time. Yay for our modern society.

Victor used to work for a very, very high profile company selling heavy industrial machinery and cars around the world. They had very high profile clients. In fact, he had to deal with Walter Kissenger, Henry's brother back in the 1970's, when he was in his 20's. He told me some very interesting stories that I shall not repeat here. Anyway, he speaks many languages, and has seen the world many times over. I first meet his family in 1993 when they visited Vancouver, and I spent some time with them when I came over to Switzerland a few months later.

So, he tells me he has Russian language lessons from 11am to 1pm, but we can meet at 2pm. He picks me up at the Lucerne train station, and since it is pouring rain, we head to their family house in nearby Kriens.

We literally talk in the living room over tea for 2.5 hours, talking about the world, its places, and lots on international politics. It is the type of amazing conversation you do not get everyday, so I'm like a sponge. Hooray for massive amounts of normally useless information. We talk until his wife arrives back from her work. She is a nurse who works with many diabetics. She remembers me right away, luckily I sort of look the same from the good old days. After a lovely dinner, they drive me back to my cousins house overlooking the lake.

The next day arrives on Thursday .... and the amazing weather is back. My master plan to head for the Alps comes to fruition. I take train to Interlaken, then Grindelwald and a few other places in between. Wow ... that is all there is to say. 100% Wow ...

Not a cloud in the sky. The mountains are full of glaciers, and the mighty Jungfrau is sitting up there for all to see. From Interlaken, not many other mountain peaks can be clearly seen. From my memory, I thought you could see more, but the old memory fails me again. So, off to the next logical place. Up to Grindelwald, and you fell like you are on those TV shows again .... Great Swiss Train Journeys.

From Grindelwald, it's a different story. So many majestic peaks can be seen from their growing village. The town is almost unrecognizable since my Aunty Rosly took me here in 1993. There are construction cranes everywhere, building chalets is akin to printing tourist money, with tourist arriving year-round. Cha-ching cha-ching is right!! I look to see how much more it is to take the train to higher peaks. Only $200 more ... cha-ching cha-ching once more !!  I laugh at that idea, and just fell content with a simple wander around and give the camera a bit of a workout.

After 8 hours on trains, and walking around, and the sun, my body slowly breaks down. My throat is killing me, my ears are all pluged up from going up and down in altitude all day long. My sinuses are congested . But I am stuck in paradise, so not all is lost and you put up with it. I was to go home on the 8 pm train back to Lucerne, but I leave any hour early, so I have time for the dinner of Champions ... Burger King in the train station. The walk back along the Lake Lucerne esplanade is one for the ages .... a perfect.

Today was more simple ... sleep, lunch at my mother's cousins house near Zurich (Maria and Hugo Jeker). It is so nice to see them again, but I will see them tomorrow again anyway. My cousin Melanie phones, as she can not make a short visit in person, so we have to be content to talk over the phone. She sounds the same, it is like all the years haven't passed at all. After the wine, the dessert, and of course the schnops, Vreni and Urs take me to a scenic drive through Canton Schwyz to visit the grave of my dear Aunt Rosly. She died last August and is buried beside her sister. It is so good to see, and such a lovely spot for a cemetery. Beautiful views of the moutains way out in the distance .... and the warm air from the south feels nice walking around. That is the famous föhn from Italy

We then visit the oldest standing house in the country that is something like 700 years old. It is closed by the time we arrive, which is just as well. I wouldn't have fit well inside. But the outer facade was still in perfect condition. .... not like in North America where if the house is 40 years old, they just rip it down and build a mega-house. But I digress ....

Tomorrow ... lunch in the mountians for Urs' birthday party. I hope the weather improves as we had thunderstorms briefly tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed .... as I type this line, another lightning flash went by.

Ciao for now.

Day 2/3 -- Made it to Switzerland. It was a good day, pretty smooth all the way around.

My brother in law´s sister-in-law, (sorry for the confusion) who is very, very lovely was luckily working the flight to Toronto as a flight attendent, so the flight was nice and short and we had a good long chat. She spoiled me rotten, and gave me a free meal!! It's who you know baby, it's who you know !!

Pearson Airport in Toronto is just totally different now, I almost do not recognize the place. 20 years ago is a lifetime ago when I knew the place inside-out while at UBC. Made the connecting flight to Zurich, but Holy Cow, what a rip off it is to buy food there. $13 for a tiny sandwich?? You gotta be kidding!!

I pretty much got the last seat and I got some decent sleep towards the end of the flight. That was a huge help and we land early. We get out of the gate and have to take a short train ride to the other parts of the airport to collect our bags. A three minute ride full of stereotypical Swiss sounds on the PA system. Cow bells, sheep and cow sounds, yodelling chants, alpenhorns, you name it, it was there. You had to smile .... you just had to smile.

My relatives weren't home in Zurich, so I took the train striaght to Lucerne, which was nice and only an hour away. It's just so pretty on a nice day and I look to store my bags in the train station while waiting for my mother's cousins to be home. The cost for storage? 10 Swiss Francs per bag ($12 each and I have 3). I don't think so ... so then I go to the lock and key storage lockers .... 9 Swiss Francs ($11 CDN). Ok then .... I am carrying them for 5 hours ... piece of cake.

So, I wonder around the old city (Altstadt) for 5 hours. The Watertower and the Chapel Bridge are the same icons I had seen in my house since I was a young boy. But now I have a decent camera to finally take sharper pictures of them. I wander up to the Lowenplatz to see the famous Lion Monument which comemorates the Swiss guards during the French Revolution. Nice place to be in the shade for an hour or so, and drop my heavy bags. I meet a lovely older couple from San Francisco and to celebrate Canada Day, I am of course mistaken as an American by them. But that is more than fine. I tell them I'm from Vancouver, and we talk for maybe 30 minutes. The first thing they talk about is how lucky we are with our medical system. For all it's faults and problems, that conversation almost always comes up when talking to older Americans. They insist I help them eat their cheese, bread and fresh cherries, as they have bought too much. Ahhhh to be back with the Swiss food!!!! I had to smile, just minutes before I wander over to the Lowenplatz I had thought about lunch at a restaurant and saw a fondue place. I started to salivate, until I saw the price ... 66 francs ($80) ... my hunger disapated toute de suite. Until they offered their extras ... good call Dino. It pays to be cheap sometimes.

Four o'clock rolls around and I head up the hills of Gerlisberg where my cousins have this amazing view of the town. It's a tough walk uphill with my three bags and backpack, but I could use the physical workout. After 26 years, I still am in awe of their panaromic view of Mt. Pilatus and the surrounding hills & mountains. Even on a clouldy and rainy today like today, it's still impressive. And it is still free of charge.

Urs and Vreni are 75 years old now, and looking very good for their age. Urs just had his birthday and the timing could not be better. Just like in 2006, when I had a short visit, all the cousins will be together this coming Saturday for the official party. It's up in the local mountains, so that should be gorgeous, if the weather is decent. Fingers crossed.

We have a light dinner while we watch the big football match between the Swiss and Argentina. Just before we think we are destined for penalty kicks, Argentina finally scores to win at the end of extra time. A drum, way out in the distance, is beating the entire game, as their is a local game viewing party not to far away. The drum still beats well after the game is over. I guess he or she wasn't hungry enough to eat after the disappointment. The Swiss almost tie it up at the end, but the header hits the post. It was still a valiant effort, but there is little joy in the tiny confederation.

If the weather improves later, I might take the train to Interlaken. But it isn't looking good ... might try to find my other cousins on the other side of the family who also live here. Wish me luck, little Alice is usually tricky to get a hold of.

Stay safe ... I am ... the only danger I see is getting used to the altered keyboard. Where is the zed key again ??... it is switched with the y key. And where is that question mark key????  Ahh ... Found it again.  :o)

I remembered my nail clippers ... I knew I'd almost forget .... keeping my proud tradition alive since 1993.

Sleep for 5 hours ... then off to YVR. That strange feeling is coming back. Those bloody questions race through the soul once more!!!   :o)

What the hell is going to happen? What am I in for .... who will we meet? What unforeseen problems will emerge without even trying? Is German beer still good? Will I resist the temptations of Swiss wine and chocolate?

Why was it called the Holy Roman Empire ... it wasn't holy, it wasn't Roman, and it wasn't an empire.

Why is it called Victoria Falls ? .... did the Old Gal ever approve of something she never saw?

Do people at Nosy Be have big noses??

Do these questions really need to be answered?

Good night. I hope.