Boston and Cape Cod

Boston and Cape Cod

Flying into Logan airport via Montreal was fairly painless. Connecting via Montreal is a nice option as the slightly smaller airport just makes everything a little less daunting than connecting through larger airports like Toronto or Chicago. The airport is very close to the city and an easy taxi or, for the intrepid with not too much luggage, subway ride into town. We didn’t use it but there is also boat service to Commercial Street wharf in central Boston.

We had gotten a great deal at the Parker House Hotel (home of the Parker House roll) and well what’s not to love about an historic property 5 minutes from Boston Common and right on the historic walking trail. The Freedom Trail links the major sightseeing spots with an easy to follow red line looping around the city through among other things Faneuil Hall and the Old North Church where Paul Revere saw his famous signal. The North End has some great Italian restaurants as it is the centre of a vibrant Italian community.

We rented a car and drove out of Boston to Cape Cod. The contrast is sharp, Boston is very urban and congested and Cape Cod is very green and relaxed. We took the boat to Martha’s Vineyard for a daytrip and hired bikes. Ideal biking country, not too many hills, lots of things to see at short intervals and lots of pretty grassy spots to stop.

New Airline Seat Policies

More and more airlines are taking away your ability to book seats ahead of time and free of charge. Several years ago British Airways changed their pre seat assignment policy to online only 24 hours prior to departure. A few weeks ago BA amended that policy- they will now allow pre seat assignment but for a fee. This is great news for those of us that are willing to pay in order to make sure we get the seat we want. The basic cost is $30USD/direction. Yes, another cash grab by the airlines but they all seem to be going that way. Air Canada recently announced you can now book exit or bulkhead - previously only available at check in or for a preferred flyer- once again for a fee but at least it is possible. This brings them in line with Westjet who has already being offering their exit seats at a premium.

Canoeing with Hippos

Are you crazy? Your guides will have guns won't they? Don't you know that hippos kill more humans than any other animal in Africa? And so it went. I knew I would be paddling through hippo and croc infested waters but thought the experience totally outweighed any fears that may have crept in. Until we found an article written by a British travel writer who had done the very trip we were going to be embarking on detailing their experience getting chomped and falling out of the canoe. This prompted a letter to the tour operator requesting a comment re the incident. We were placated and put at ease! After our week long driving safari we got on a small plane that flew us over the Selinda Spillway, the waterway we would spend the next 4 days paddling along, and dropped us in the bush at the Motswiri Air strip to be met by our guide DF and our 2 other paddle companions from Capetown. We all hit it off immediately. It took us about an hour and half driving through the bush to reach our canoe put in. When we rounded a bend there were our lovely Canadian canoes all packed up with our camping gear and the most beautiful looking lunch all laid out with table cloth and cloth napkins sitting just on the edge of the spillway. We couldn't wait, for everything!

Very quickly we discovered that my travelling companion, although an avid paddler doesn't steer and I don't paddle or steer. I could see the look of incredulity cross our guide's face. I guess that was something we should have discussed before signing up for this trip! And we didn't know the challenges that would face us over the next couple of days where steering capabilities would really have been advantageous!

We spent the first afternoon zig zagging along the spillway as I was constantly oversteering. We were playing catch up the whole time. Once again I thought for sure our guide was just rolling his eyes and wondering what on earth the next 4 days would look like, and would we even make it to the end! That first afternoon on the water we came across a couple of young bull ellies playing in a pool and we just floated up to them. How magnificent! That was the start of endless sights that left me speechless and at peace. It was just us, under our own steam, the sounds of the paddles, the bird calls, a giraffe slurping water around the next bend, a zebra in the distance trotting along, a herd of ellies crossing the spillway in front of us. We had the steering down by day 2 and were all in harmony. We cooled off with cold beers and swimming in the spillway. We sat around the campfire at night after an amazing meal, revelling in our paddling accomplishments, the animals spotted and laughed alot. We curled up in our cozy duvets and tried to tune out the sounds of the roaring lions and grunting hippos nearby.

I was rather pleased with myself when we made it through 2 days without a hippo sighting. I thought we were going to get off scot free. How wrong I was! The next day was a series of chases, charges, swirling tails and faeces, cat and mouse games and pretty much pure fright! As sound really carries in the bush we had to rely on sign language that became more exagerated with each hippo event! We have all lived to tell our own hippo tales. It was truly a trip of a lifetime but it did push my fear capacity further that I needed.

Water is the life blood of all of Botswana, people, animals, flora etc. This was an exploratory trip on a brand new waterway. A waterway that hadn't been there fore more than 30 years. It was created by the joining of the Okavango Delta and the Linyanti River. Botswana experienced higher than ever flood levels this year which besides creating this spillway and providing new habitats, resulted in vary interesting and bizarre animal behaviours, perhaps even our atypical hippo behaviour! We knew it would be a unique trip on many levels and indeed it was.  But until we were actually there and experiencing life along the spillway, the magnitude of this rare event and the vast and varied beauty of this country had only been in words.

Whistler Cornucopia 2009

This weekend I went up to Whistler with my friends Elaine and Damian to partake in this years Cornucopia. We left after work on Friday and drove up in what seemed like no time at all to their condo in Whistler. The highway is now finished and it was great to have no road closers or construction, I was amazed at how they have landscaped along the way making the road even nicer than I thought was possible.
After arriving at the Regan’s condo we stopped for a nice glass of wine before heading out to Hy’s for dinner. We were greeted at the front door of Hy’s by the manager who promptly had us seated at a very nice window seat. We all ended up ordering the same meal which was a set menu of Caesar salad a 8oz steak and desert. This was all for a flat rate of $49.99 as Hy’s is part of the dinning experience of Cornucopia. It was a great dinner, good wine and lovely company.
Off to bed we went and we had a great sleep in until 9:30am when we got up to head off to the village to try for the final phase of the Olympic tickets. We set our selves up in the Blenz coffee shop that had wireless available. There was an excitement in the air as there were many other people setting themselves up with their laptops as well. We were there from10:00am until 12:30pm and we had no luck getting through to the site. It seemed that everyone else was in the same boat except for one couple that got right in got their tickets and were out the door. During this I time I made phone calls to my daughter and sister in Vancouver, who were having no luck either. Later in the day, talking to my sister she finally got in around 4:30pm with hardly any choices left for tickets.
Elaine and I after giving up on getting any tickets wandered through the village checking out the different stores but not really finding anything that we wanted. We also checked out the art stores and saw some beautiful paintings and carvings. It was fun to just wander around and not feel in any rush to do anything. We went to Ingrid’s deli for a late light lunch in preparation for the big wine tasting event later in the day.
Getting back to the condo and having a little nap we were ready to head out for dinner at the Rim Rock restaurant. We had an amazing dinner. The menu is quite extensive with a wide variety of items to choose from. I picked the Gorgonzola salade, fish cakes and sea bass. It was a great meal that was beautifully presented; the portion size was perfect and the taste excellent. Our server certainly gave us lots of attention making for a perfect dinner.
After dinner we headed back to the condo so that we could take a cab down to the Grand Wine tasting event at the conference center. As we arrived at the event there were throngs of people arriving in evening attire. The crowd was a mix of young and middle age with the most popular item of clothing being the little black dress.
The room was set up beautifully with wines from regions all over the world. We sampled many wines and marked them off in our booklet so we could remember which ones we were enjoying the most. The room was packed with people and the atmosphere was one of excitement and fun. There was also a sampling of cheeses that went very nicely with the wines. We also had a treat of Rogers Chocolates giving out samples. They were very nummy.
We left about 11:30 and headed back to the condo and relaxed before heading off to bed. We got up late and Damian made some great poached eggs. After breakfast we all got into gear and got the condo cleaned up for departure. We left in the early afternoon stopping in Squamish for lunch. In no time we were back in the city and reality set back in.

On Safari

After four planes and 36 hours of flight I found myself in the middle of the Botswana bush. Throwing my backpack in the land rover, off we went and after barely having time to catch my breath, peel off a few layers of clothes and get my camera out we came face to face with giraffes, zebras, ellies and antelope...WOW. What a start to what was an amazing adventure that had us speechlees, awestruck, in hysterics, frightened, in panic mode, hyperventilating, swearing profusivley, elated, at peace and the list goes on. The welcome mat was out in full force at Chitabi when we drove up and were met with Dumalang! After a quick freshen up, some tea and the best Lemon Meringue Pie, we were off on our first game drive of many. The highlight was sundowners at the hippo pool, much activity as the sun set, pretty amazing and so the journey began...We spent 8 days flying to 3 remote camps boasting different habitats and terrain. From wetlands to grasslands and Mopane bush, the game was diverse and plentiful. Tracked a leopard, improved my bird identification, saw survival of the fittest in it's pure form and met some amazing people along the way. The apparent ease with which these luxury camps operate is astounding as the logistics I am sure are emmense. The camp staff went out of their way to make each of us feel like we were the only ones there and made our stay a very special and unique experience. The camps are small, from 10 to 20 people at any given time. Days were spent on game drives with siesta time in between, evenings were spent at the dining table with the camp hosts, as guests regaled each other with their game spotting adventures from the day. Early to bed and early to rise.

Flying between camps was it's own treat as we flew low over water holes with herds of elephants and zebras. This also gives you an amazing perspective of the vastness and uniqueness of the Okavango Delta. As the camps are on private concessions they allow only 3 vehicles at a sighting at one time and rarely did we experience this. So no chance of being part of 20 land rovers all staring at one sleeping lion! You also truly felt you were in the bush as all animals have the right of way in camp! Which we found out as we were charged and chased on more than one occasion by elephants and baboons. We even had to send an SOS with our flashlight through the bush to get help! I could go on and on with stories but I won't. Going on safari in Botswana is truly a unique experience and a trip of a lifetime.. stay tuned for canoeing with hippos!

Puerto Vallarta

For an easy one or two week get away from Vancouver I think Puerto Vallarta is one of the best spots you could choose. The charter airlines offer non stop flights of 4 ½ hours and even if you have to make a connection it is still not a long flight.

There is a huge choice of accommodation. The major hotel zone is just north of the town near the airport, there are lots of great smaller properties in town and further north Marina Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit offer other choices.

I stayed at the San Marino in town because it’s close to the nightlife and beaches I enjoy. The San Marino is a smaller 3 star Mexican hotel with some quirks, there was a cracked tile in the bathroom and it took a couple of tries to get a TV remote that worked so if these are things that are going to drive you crazy then it isn’t the spot for you. What it does have going for it is a great location right on the beach, it’s smaller size and a feeling that you really are in Mexico. I always upgrade to an oceanfront room for an extra USD$20.00 per night, the sound of surf breaking on the beach right under your balcony is one of my favourite ways to go to sleep. Also being right in town the other rooms can be noisy.

Besides lying on the beach and shopping there are tons of things to do. I took a day trip cruise that included way too much tequila, lunch on a beach and a donkey ride up to a beautiful river swimming hole. One other highlight was a great morning spent on horseback. As in all countries colonized by the Spanish there is a thriving equestrian culture and riding in the hills, on Guapo a retired Mexico City police horse, was a very exciting experience.