Cold Enough for my BC Institute of Technology Hoodie

 

While at Queen's Park, we took the opportunity to take a final look around. I wanted to put a little bit of juice in the EV for over the winter. I charged to 82%. I always do prior to our winters away.  There's nothing special about that number though.

   

It's hard for me to believe that this is the sixth winter we've left the Kona for four or five months! Unjustifiably, I was nervous for the initial one. Hyundai's app doesn't allow for a connection to the vehicle when left for an extended time. I hoped I wouldn't come back to a flat EV. 

I needn't have been concerned. An electric vehicle battery is not like one in a cell phone. EVs are built with industrial-grade components. Only one year, I noticed the battery was down about 1% from when I left it.  The large battery does keep a charge in another small, normal-looking one for the accessories.  Our parking in the building is underground but unheated. It probably only hovers around freezing when the weather is at its coldest in British Columbia.

When I uncover the old girl in mid-March I'm positive the dash will still read an 82% charge.

 

Geese Know How to Travel Light

We've noticed that high-altitude Canadian geese are neither assembling nor flying overhead in southerly formations any longer. Additionally, much of the foliage has been knocked off deciduous trees by recent torrential rains and high winds.  Lastly, it's getting colder.  During today's clear-weather respite, jackets were required when venturing outdoors.

 

Yup, it'll soon be time to move on.  The preparations are just about set and have gone exceedingly smoothly.  It won't be long before our winter with time in the Middle East, east Africa, Indian Ocean islands, and South Africa.

In BC for Another Month

On the evening of November 10th, we'll be checking into a hotel in Baniyas Square in Dubai. We're getting in several nights prior to Jay's sisters' flight to Dubai from Sri Lanka.  Then, from the 12th, we'll all be staying at a 2-bedroom apartment hotel near the BurJuman Center. This will be the third time we've done something similar. The girls are going again for a shopping trip and sightseeing. After just 10 days, they'll fly home and Jay and I will head off on our winter to explore a bit of Africa. 

It's hard for me to fathom that all starts in just a month from tonight! Our view will be different than this view of downtown New Westminster, BC. The temperatures during our travels should be warmer than the expected low of 6°C here tonight too.

 

This Year's Escape from Winter

I walked uptown in the rain this morning.  I noticed a new advertising screen near the mall entrance.

Yeah, that info looks about right for this time of year!  The rain has pretty much cleared out now that it's the early evening.  However, we've already prepared our winter escape routes.

We've got five more weeks in British Columbia before we leave for four months.  During those months, things will be wetter and cooler here but we'll still be able to get a taste of it as we return in mid-March.

Only our first couple of weeks will be in Dubai, a place we know well.  The remainder of our time will be spent in Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritius, and South Africa.  Oh, and we get day stops on Reunion Island and in Mozambique too.

All this winter's travel should help us fill out more of our exploration of the world.

The 'Museum of the Future' in Dubai

One fascinating aspect of re-exploring the city of Dubai is seeing how it is constantly changing.

 

I was visiting the UAE with Jay and his sisters last December.  We had the chance to take a small look at the new Museum of the Future. We were sad we could not view the exhibits though, because all tickets were sold out for our entire stay. However, we did enjoy getting off the Metro to see the 3D-printed building up close.  We walked around it and were able to explore just the lobby.

 

You can read a bit about it on Wikipedia. Or visit  the museum's web site. 

I'm including these pictures today as Jay was clever enough to think ahead for our upcoming time back in Dubai.  Next month, we'll meet up with his sisters and a friend from Sri Lanka there again.  This will be how we kick off the beginning of our winter.  We have planned just 10 days together and when the others return to Sri Lanka, Jay and I will begin our exploration of parts of east and southern Africa.

However, so as to ensure we won't again miss the opportunity to see the museum, Jay bought online tickets this morning!  This time, we'll get to see more than the outside and the lobby!

Our Travel File Folders are Colour Coded

This will be our eleventh post-retirement winter.  During nearly all of these years, we have travelled to warmer places for four of five months.

Interestingly, this upcoming one is turning out to be our most complex winter ever!  We have never had as many reservations and separate itineraries during a four month period.

Today, Jay and I spent some time printing out schedules that have changed since our initial bookings.

For example, recently Air Mauritius cancelled a flight from Antananarivo and put us on one the following day.  We checked with them directly but the Expedia itinerary did not auto-update.  So, we called to ensure our correct data showed on the website.

Even our beginning Air Canada flight to Dubai has changed.  We booked a direct flight but now they've changed our itinerary so we have to change planes in Toronto!  We will have to leave in the morning,  but one benefit is we'll arrive about five hours earlier and no longer after midnight.

When there's just a flight or two, I'll happily download boarding passes to my phone.  However, as we have over a dozen different bookings, I find printing it all on paper rather comforting.

Rain in the Morning / Plans for the Start of 2025

 

This morning surely started off like a January day in New Westminster!  However, as I'm typing these words in the evening, it's beautiful with sun, blue sky, and pleasant clouds.

It was a normal Saturday morning with a trip to buy groceries at the Coquitlam superstore.  Before we left, Jay cut back the onion tops in the balcony pots.

 

Seeing, what looked like winter this morning, did prompt us to finalize some aspects of our upcoming one.  We have already booked a second month of our winter in another Airbnb.

First, we go to the tiny Island of Mauritius via Dubai, Tanzania, and Madagascar.  We will stay in Mauritius for a month and over Christmas and New Year.  Next, we get on a ship that ends up in Cape Town, South Africa in mid-January.  Following a one-month stay, we have decided to go to Durban, South Africa for a little less than a month.  As it's more than 1600 kilometers, we've decided to fly between the cities.  We haven't chosen an Airbnb there yet.  This afternoon, I watched a few YouTube videos to ensure that taking a bus to Johannesburg will be easy and interesting from the Indian Ocean city.  We will need a hotel in the capital for four nights before we fly home on March 15th.

It's all coming together.

Temperatures Next January

 

Our ship is due to pull into the harbour of Cape Town, South Africa on January 16, 2025.  We can stay aboard just one night before we must completely disembark.  If we stay in an AirBNB for one month, we will be in town during the peak of their summer.  The temperatures look as though they'll be more than satisfactory.  Following that, we plan on spending a similar amount of time in the South African city of Durban too.

We're Our Own Travel Agents

Our first, post-retirement winter took place ten years ago this November.  That decade surely went quickly!  I take solace in the fact that we didn't have finalized plans set until shorty before our US Thanksgiving Day 2014 departure.  

That trip did set a great precedent as we were in sunny Puerto Vallarta for five, straight months.  It paved the way for our subsequent winters away from home.  Since then, except for one winter when Jay had heart bypass surgery, we have locked up the apartment and flown somewhere sunny for four or five months.

This upcoming winter is turning out to be the most complex so far though.  We initially had a simpler plan.  However, Norwegian Cruise Lines cancelled one portion of our travel arrangements after we had already booked and paid.  So we've had to plan and juggle to add a number of short-haul flights and accommodations.  This will set us up for being in Mauritius for Christmas and New Years as in our original planning.

I have put together this list to help me better visualize the four month trip.  These are travel dates when we will be moving from one location to a new one.  In fact, although we are pretty well set up for the first two months, a few details of our final months in South Africa are still not concrete.

Travel Dates for our Winter 2024-25

Sat, Nov 09 - Fly to Dubai. UAE
Fri, Nov 22 - Fly to Zanzibar, Tanzania 
Tue, Nov 26 - Ferry to Dar es Salaam
Sat, Nov 30 - Fly to Antananarivo, Madagascar 
Mon, Dec 09 - Fly to the Island of Mauritius 
Sun, Jan 05 - Board NCL ship in Port Lewis 
Fri, Jan 17 - Disembark in Cape Town, SA

Fri, Feb 14 - Fly from Cape Town to Durban

Tue, Mar 11 - Take Bus to Johannesburg

Sat, Mar 15 - Fly home from Johannesburg, SA

The first stop in Dubai is the only place we have ever spent time, initially 33 years ago and as recently last year.  All the remaining African locations will be new for us.

Travel Map Update

 

It's time for a little update.  June in Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia helped fill out a bit more of Europe.  There are still many places above Türkiye that remain unexplored.  

I keep an old resume that includes a perpetually-updated listing of countries or territories I've seen. I also keep a Flickr album that has a representative photograph from each of these countries or territories. 

Yet, in addition to those ways, I once started this online Matador Network travel map. The web site provides a checklist organized by region.  Once a country is checked, it appears as filled on a corresponding map.  I always point out when we visited the city of St. Petersburg in Russia for just two days, a whole lot of the world lit up!  Using this to show where one has been is a little disingenuous.  The travel map, though, does help to show vast swaths of the world that we've missed.

I know that we plan on adding only 5 or 6 new countries during our upcoming winter.  When spring comes, however, most of Africa will still remain grey.

Focusing on our Winter of 2024-25

Many retirees in Canada become 'snowbirds'.  That is to say, they winter somewhere to the immediate south whether it be Florida, Arizona, or points in Mexico.  In some ways, this mimics migratory patterns often found in nature.

Since Jay and I retired in 2014, we have also travelled during Vancouver winters to warmer locations.  Yet, because we have been explorers during our adult lives, we frequently hit destinations far different than the typical points.

From mid-November 2024 through mid-March 2025, we are planning to venture forth again.  Although we have spent years in some of the places included in today's image, we plan to spend most of our time in locations where we've never set foot.

Our active planning for this trip has been ongoing for at least a year.  We retired so that we could devote a lot of time to researching about unexplored locations and that can be a lot of work.  As a case in point, we've already found it necessary to change options for next winter and undoubtedly will again before our adventure begins.  Yet, over the past couple of days, we have ironed out a number of important details, made reservations, and purchased additional tickets.  We finally have both our departure and return flights although they're not roundtrip.

We'll have an initial, short stay in Dubai, a city very familiar to us.  However, from there, we hope to visit at least four new countries and live for more than a month in two others!

Rerouting to Zanzibar

Jay and I keep adding pieces to next winter's travel plans. Today, we bought tickets for another flight. 

Several sections of our winter were going to be on ocean cruises. However, NCL decided to cancel its initial sailing from Dubai. The image shows our intended way to get from Dubai to Mauritius. The original plans were cancelled because of the ongoing trouble in the Red Sea. The ship will take the long way around the tip of Africa and begin its season too late for our scheduled sailing. 

We have chosen to spend the two weeks, that were to be on the first ship, in a single location. Zanzibar is one of the ports we will miss. The Emirates tickets purchased today will get us there. (That does mean missing the Seychelles and other important ports, but we'll get to them some other year!)  Although we've read a lot about Zanzibar, we've never been there.

The Dubai portion of our winter plans from November 11th to 22nd will remain the same. We have hotel reservations and plans in that city again.   Additionally, we did not modify our Airbnb from December 8th to January 5th on the island of Mauritius.  So our Port Louis stay during Christmas and New Year remains unchanged.  

Following that, a bit into the new year, we'll get on our purchased cruise and sail to South Africa. That was always a planned itinerary and it's still a go.  And South Africa will be our final destination until spring.

   

The closest we've ever been to Zanzibar is shown in this photo taken exactly thirty years ago. We spent some school vacation time in Kenya. After Nairobi, we travelled on a safari and eventually took a train to Mombasa. This picture on the beach was taken in February 1994.  Zanzibar's islands are about 250 km to my back.

Orange You Happy to See Me?

Day 131 - The hot weather continues. During the first few months we were around, there was rain daily. Now we've not had any for more than a month, although we were away for some of that. It means that we must stay hydrated. In Sri Lanka there are all sorts of fruits one can make into juice. Even this old favourite with a green-skin type of orange.

 

A few more pieces of next winter's itinerary have fallen into place.  We head home on a fifteen-hour and fifty-minute direct flight from Dubai next Monday.  Yet, it now looks as though we'll head back to the DXB in the opposite direction in November 2024.

We're planning a meet-up with the sisters, and hopefully family friend Nazeer in Dubai.  After less than two weeks they'll be returning to Sri Lanka but Jay and I will be flying to Mauritius and Reunion islands for a month or so.  Then, our plans, at this point, include a cruise to South Africa and a few months there.

I like that changes can take place but we'll just adjust and resume, much like a GPS recalculates if the original route is ignored.

Planning Future Indian Ocean Visits

Photo by Lee on Flickr - Sugar Beach by Drone - Flic en Flac - Mauritius

Day 97 - Technology companies continue pushing forward with the development of Artificial Intelligence.  If one has not been paying attention, the very way he or she uses the Internet is changing.  For example, I no longer begin travel planning with old-type searches.  I start by posing a question that better matches the information I'm trying to find.  Today in Sri Lanka, I typed this:

We are going to be on the island of Mauritius for one month in December and January. Can you please tell me the tourist cities where we can stay in an Airbnb. Please tell me the advantages and disadvantages of each.

This is what Microsoft's Copilot wrote for me in mere seconds. It also had a list of references in the footer but I cut them for brevity.  This gives me a base for useful, specific searches.

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Mauritius is a beautiful island nation in the Indian Ocean, known for its stunning beaches, lagoons, reefs, and wildlife. There are many tourist cities where you can stay in an Airbnb and enjoy the local culture and attractions. Here are some of the most popular ones:

• Port Louis: The capital and largest city of Mauritius, Port Louis is a bustling hub of commerce, history, and culture. You can visit the Caudan Waterfront, the Blue Penny Museum, the Aapravasi Ghat, the Central Market, and the Fort Adelaide. The advantages of staying in Port Louis are the convenience, the diversity, and the nightlife. The disadvantages are the traffic, the noise, and the crowds.
• Grand Baie: A seaside village and resort town in the north of the island, Grand Baie is a popular destination for beach lovers, water sports enthusiasts, and shoppers. You can enjoy the sandy beaches, the turquoise waters, the lively bars, and the trendy boutiques. The advantages of staying in Grand Baie are the beauty, the fun, and the variety. The disadvantages are the prices, the tourist traps, and the lack of authenticity.
• Flic en Flac: A coastal town in the west of the island, Flic en Flac is a peaceful and relaxing place to stay. You can admire the coral reefs, the dolphins, the sunsets, and the Casela Nature Park. The advantages of staying in Flic en Flac are the tranquility, nature, and affordability. The disadvantages are the remoteness, the limited facilities, and the occasional seaweed.
• Trou aux Biches: A village and beach in the northwest of the island, Trou aux Biches is a family-friendly and eco-friendly place to stay. You can swim, snorkel, dive, and fish in the clear water, or visit the nearby Mont Choisy Beach, the Mauritius Aquarium, and the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden. The advantages of staying in Trou aux Biches are the cleanliness, the safety, and the accessibility. The disadvantages are the popularity, the congestion, and the lack of nightlife.

I hope you have a wonderful time on the island! 😊

Our Christmas Day in 2024

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“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt 

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So we'd rather plan.  Planning future travel can be fun. 

It does take a whole lot of effort to learn about an unknown place and fill in all the dots. Yet, I find the time spent doing so very satisfying.  Humans need concrete reasons to learn new things.  Getting ready for an extended journey always provides plenty.

 

As of now, our upcoming 2023-24 winter requires a lot of specific planning. For example, we know our departure date is on Halloween day but we don't have tickets for a return flight from Sri Lanka next March.  

Nevertheless, we have started to make bookings for the winter of 2024-25 too!  One month between cruises will put us on another island.  This photograph is located in a part of the world where we've never spent time.  It's been part of our bucket-list travel goals for a while.  The capital has around 150,000 people.  However, it was an uninhabited island during unrecorded visits by Arab sailors around 1050 years ago.  Any guesses?