TravellinPenguin

I have been….

Posted on April 11, 2018 by TravellinPenguin

Snip20160609_6 I saw this meme from A Literary Odyssey and as I’m having a hard time getting organised to write a post after the past couple of months I thought I would try it. Consider it a starter for more posts to come.

I have been:

{writing}
Only little notes to myself but I begin attending my writing group today so I am hoping to get back into the swing of things. I am looking forward to some old structured activities in my life.

{reading}

I have read two books this week. A Salty Path which I loved and will talk about more soon and Eleanor Oliphant is Fine which is a quirky tale I listened to from audible.com. I will talk about this book also. I just picked up three books from the library yesterday which I will also share very soon. In my U3A Play Reading Class we will begin Arsenic and Old Lace next Tuesday afternoon.

{listening}

I haven’t listened to music in a long time. Maybe I need to. I listen to audible books every chance I get and when I wake up in the middle of the night I listen to the ABC radio programs. I hear some interesting interviews in the middle of the night along with all the other insomniacs across Australia

{watching}

I am addicted to BBC First on Foxtel. If it’s not a British drama series I probably won’t see it. I shy away from the news quite often and immerse myself in the sweeping vistas of the British countryside. Shetland is one of my favourite programs at the moment. I am waiting to see if Vera has a new series that I haven’t seen too.

{looking}

I look at quite a few new blog posts every morning with my coffee. I enjoy seeing what everyone is reading and doing and they inspire me to get off my big behind and look for new things to interest me.

{learning}

I’m in a photography club and I am learning Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop in order to complete the monthly challenges that are theme based each month. I have learned so much from the members of this club and watch a lot of You Tube videos that are instructional and so very useful.

{feeling}

I have been feeling quite flat since returning from our big trip and know it is a combination of having lost my mother in February and then completing such a huge, challenging African trip in March. I am home now and my brain is digesting all that has happened in the past two months. The reason I have been holing up at home and not been “out there” too much. I am starting to emerge from the shell though.

{anticipating}

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary is holding their Quiz Night in early June and I have bought tickets for a table of 8. All of the money raised will go to their wildlife hospital they have up and running now and it will be a hilarious night out. Our table is filled with close friends who are participating and it will be a great night of laughs and fun.

{wishing}

I am wishing I could turn on the news one day and Donald Trump wasn’t the President of the USA. I get so tired of him and hearing about him.

{loving}

Being at home. It is warm and safe and it is full of love, security and animals. I love having a different animal in my lap every time I sit down though sitting in a chair with two cats and two dogs is a bit tough at times.

This post has kick started my interest again in blogging and I will return soon.
bluejumper

Travel, Uncategorized

Best Intentions- Africa continued

Posted on April 2, 2018 by TravellinPenguin

With starting times to most days at 5:30 am, long days on the road and not finishing with even longer buffet dinners at lodges there was no time for writing on this blog. We were also exhausted at the end of each day and internet connections were dodgy at best.

We arrived home Easter Sunday night about 10:00 pm and although this trip was incredibly beautiful, challenging, often confronting and glorious we are very happy to be home. I will now attempt to catch up with the myriad of photos taken and put some of the highlights here during the next couple of weeks or so.

I am sharing another Namibia day here with photos from a living museum we visited. The day was hot and dusty and the people we met here were so friendly and eager to share their way of life with us. Here are some photos.

_N3A9842 — This village was a display of life as a bushman.

_N3A9847 — She explained how the various local plant life is used for medicinal purposes and how they work. Another tribesman translated for her.

_N3A9854 — We were treated to a method to light a fire. It was amazing how fast the fire started and how quickly they could make it larger.

_N3A9858 — The people then shared a dance of greeting for us.

_N3A9910 — Outside of the museum we gathered together to have our lunch which we carried with us most days to eat in the desert. This guy helped out with the dishes. He is earning money to study at university in Windhoek. He wants to work as a tour guide and speaks four languages including German. Lovely man.

_N3A9912 — This is the lodge were checked in later that day.

_N3A9918 — Later that day we went on a desert tour to look for the desert elephants. We came across this old guy.

_N3A9927 — The desert elephants are different to the ones we saw elsewhere. They are tall and this one was reportedly about 45 years old. It is incredible how they survive in the heat of this desert.

_N3A9936 — While touring this desert we came across this common form of transport out here.

_N3A9956 — On the way back to the lodge were were treated with our first sighting of a giraffe in the distance.

_N3A9961 — A glorious Namibian desert sunset. This land is truly spectacular.

Travel, Uncategorized

Going up the west coast of Namibia

Posted on March 15, 2018 by TravellinPenguin

I have come down with a sore throat and a cold so no energy at the end of the day to write anything. So I am doing some highlights from the last couple of days. This trip is full on. Up at 5 or 6 am, in the truck and moving about 60 to 90 minutes later after breakfast. The days are long, the activities are interesting and we fall into our beds at night after showering off all of the dust. Here are the highlights of the last two days.

Sundowner. We drove across the desert to a spot near rocks to watch the sun set over the desert. We passed a springbok.

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Our shadow across the desert floor. _N3A9406

Our guide sets up a table with bubbly and nibbles. We toast the sunset. The rocks are beautiful in the light. _N3A9416

The next day we get our first blown out tyre in the absolute middle of nowhere. The three guys on board helped change it. Then a couple of hours later the spare blew out. Fortunately we were close enough to our destination where a tyre supply shop was called and they sent someone to put a new tire on the bus and also give us two new spare ones. Thank goodness we weren’t in the remote desert area when the second one happened. We travelled about six hours through the desert yesterday.

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This is where we were when the tire blew out. A couple of ladies decided to take a walk. _N3A9440

Changing the tire.

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One of our stops was at a cheetah sanctuary. When cheetahs attack cattle or sheep the farmers like to shoot them. There is a movement under way to trap and relocate them that is helping to save these beautiful animals. These animals were a family to a cheetah who had been injured and now lives in the sanctuary. _N3A9515 _N3A9532

We continue our rattly, bone shaking journey through the desert. They have not had rain here since 2010.

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Today saw us on a harbour cruise in the Atlantic ocean on the west coast of Namibia. I would tell you the name of the city but I can’t pronounce it and I’m too tired to look it up. On the west coast towards the north of the country.

This is lucky. A few seals jump up onto the boat as we leave the harbour. He is a young seal who does not appear to have a mother and the crew see him regularly and help him out a bit. He hangs around the harbour but he is also able to cope in the wild.

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_N3A9652 — This pelican also landed on our boat. He came out of nowhere and startled all of us on the boat. There were only 8 guests on the boat and 3 crew.

_N3A9763 — Coming back into port. We saw cormorants (landed on the boat), gulls, dolphins and thousands of seals.

Passing by flocks of flamingos along the lagoon that leads to the Atlantic Ocean.

_N3A9776 — After 3 hours on board the boat, more champagne, raw oysters, nibbles and small pastries we transferred to the dune rides. Modern SUV’s took us through incredibly high dunes. We travelled about 120 kms along the beach and sand dunes. Again stopped and were watered and fed with incredible food.

The national park- remote and so much sand. _N3A9795

_N3A9801 — We saw Ostriches going up and over the sand dunes. We saw quite a few animals in the sand dune area.

Well that is a quick summary of the past couple of days. Having a cold, long hours in the heat and more activities in two days than I do in two months have us resting as much as possible in the evenings. Tomorrow we are off again. I need to consult our paperwork and map to see where. Snip20160609_6