Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Tucked into the arms of a broad bay, surrounded by wild, white sandy beaches and set against the canvass of the Table Mountain, it is affectionately known as the “Mother City”. This was the home of the nomadic Khoi people for at least 30,000 years. It is the port of the first European settlers.

As we were transported from the airport to the hotel, we saw several vestiges of the apartheid era; shanty towns or “townships”, a hangover from the notorious Group Areas Act which reserved the prime areas of the city for “whites only”. The apartheid regime is now disbanded but weiths still heavily on people’s minds. Our first tour guide who was white told us how he would transform South Africa if he became the president. He really had a detailed blue print. Our second tour guide (who was “coloured” and with us for three days in Cape Town) said that she was so happy that her children could have opportunities (especially for good education) that were denied to her.

On arrival, we were taken to Table Mountain, with spectacular views of the city and False Bay. The following day was overcast and we went on a sightseeing trip along the mountain. We saw baboons, ostriches and other assorted animals along the way. The sights were spectacular. We could see the Cape of Good Hope where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. In the evening we had a talk from a University Professor about the status of South Africa. However, the star attraction was Joseph, a cheetah which was brought in by an organization that is interested in saving theanimal from extinction. We were allowed to pet Joseph the cheetah, who seemed to be enjoying thoroughly all the attention.

The next day Deborah and Chuck visited Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 16 years of some 27 years of incarceration. Robben Island is about 45 minutes away by boat from Cape Town. This is something Chuck was looking forward to visiting. We were shown the prison and the cell where Mandela (Madiba as he is commonly known here), prisoner number 4664) was kept. It’s a tiny cell (cell number 5). The guides who accompanied us were former Robben Island political prisoners themselves, so their accounts were first hand. As one of our fellow travelers Morgan McCague remarked “we were witnessing a piece of history; twenty years from now, the guides may well be those who had no direct experience of the prison or even of the apartheid regime.”

It was interesting to see how prisoners’ privileges depended on the shade of the colour of their skin. For example, “coloured” prisoners would get more food than black prisoners.

Chuck has always been a great admirer of Madiba for his extraordinary lack of bitterness against those who took away 27 years of his life and his lack of vindictiveness against those who made his life miserable. Such greatness is so rare in human history. In contrast to most African nations, the transfer of power in South Africa did not result in widespread bloodshed and Madiba, Chuck believes, was mostly responsible for it. He was glad he could visit Robben Island which now houses no prisoners but only some 150 residents and penguins. You can always see whales on your way to Robben Island.

In the evening we had an excellent dinner in a nearby restaurant with exuberant African singers.

Time to wind down our trip. We are now on a plane to Rio de Jeneiro. A long flight, 10 hours on air, with a fuel stop at the Ascension Island.

On 23rd we flew to Nelspruit to visit the famous Kruger Park. The area is astonishingly varied: six rivers feed the park which houses 1980 plant species and 300 tree species.

Deborah and Chuck arrived there on the evening of the 23rd. Chuck went immediately on a 3-hour game drive while Deborah decided to rest for a while. When she went to find others, she realized that others had already gone. Oh well, a little bit of extra R&R harmed not one, Deborah thought and had a relaxing session drinking wine with like-minded souls.

The next day it was a five-hour game drive in the morning starting at 7am in a vehicle that accommodated seven people, each with a window seat. The main attraction of the park is what they call the “big five”: elephant, buffalo, lion, rhino, and leopard. We had an opportunity to see them all, except for the rhino. In addition we also saw many interesting animals and birds+ giraffes, zillions of impalas, hippos, many varieties of birds. Deborah, who was in a different vehicle also saw some snakes. The main attraction was wild dogs. We saw a pack of wild dogs resting under a tree, perhaps after having had a huge meal. They look mean and they are vicious hunters. They were so relaxed that Deborah thought they were like a group of guys high on marijuana who couldn’t care less about what’s happening around them. After five hours, we stopped for lunch at Skukuza Rest Camp for lunch. After lunch, there was another three hours of game drive according to the schedule. Chuck, after having been to Masai Mara in Kenya a couple of times where one could see a lot more animals in lot less time, found Kruger Park much less exciting. Masai Mara (unlike Kruger) did not have many trees and consisted of mostly bushes, which made it easier to spot animals from a distance. Another major difference was that in Kruger Park, you are allowed to drive only on paved roads. Unless animals obliged us with their presence by the roadside we were out of luck. In Masai Mara one could drive to where the animals can be found. Deborah also decided that she had seen enough. Both (and host of others) skipped the afternoon drive.

In the evening we had dinner. African dancers entertained us with music and dance.

The next morning there was an early morning optional game drive. There were no takers.

Is Kruger Park worth visiting? Yes of course. But don’t visit more exciting game drives such as Masai Mara first!

The flight from Perth to Mauritius was the longest of our trip – a lengthy 11 hours that was broken up by a half-hour refueling in Jakarta, Indonesia. Fortunately, the local authorities allowed us off the plane to stretch our legs, and, much to the relief of the handful of smokers on board, a few minutes to scramble to designated areas for a tobacco fix.

Others, including Deborah, headed to the shopping area, which was filled with many duty free boutiques.

Then it was onto Mauritius, an island group to the east of the continent of Africa. Mauritius was uninhabited until the 16th century, when it was occupied by a small Dutch force that named it after Prince Maurice of Nassau. It was abandoned in 1710 and then re-occupied five years later by the French who forced African slaves to work on the sugar plantations. One hundred years later, the British captured the islands and following the abolition of slavery in the 1830s, Indian laborers were brought to the islands. Today, their descendants make up more than two-thirds of the population. In 1968 Mauritius gained full independence but continues today to have Dutch, British, Indian and African cultural influences.

Chuck was surprised to find that the currencies had inscriptions in both Tamil and Hindi although, as far as he could make out, no one in the island spoke those languages. Creole and French were most commonly spoken, although English is fairly widely understood.

We checked into the Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel, which was a 45-minute drive from the airport. It was a welcome relief. Hotel staff greeted us with warm smiles and a speedy check-in (always appreciates after a very long day of travel). Deborah half expected Somerset Maugham to stroll through the lobby with lit cigarette in one hand and a dry martini in the other. The lobby featured marble floors, a stunningly lit pond, which was home to dozens of goldfish, an ornately sculpted ceiling that encircled five floors of guest rooms and a grand piano that sat next to the bar and dining area.

While Mauritius is a ‘classic’ island vacation spot, it is unblemished and both Chuck and Deborah agreed that its simplicity and the warmth of its people make the island so special.

The hotel is also surrounded by many lovely stores, but Deborah and a pack of rowdies – i.e. Bette Seabrook, Betty Hewson, Doug Nelson, and Anne and John Kraemer – hired two cabs and headed into town for a little shopping and sightseeing. The ‘two Betties’ bought cashmere sweaters and Anne found a lovely gold necklace. Deborah, on the other hand, didn’t buy a thing (much to her surprise and frustration…she decided to ‘save’ her money for Cape Town). Chuck, on the other hand, explored the city of Port Louis on his own – busy markets, street vendors, China Town.

In the evening we had a special dinner. The airline crew were invited which we believe was a treat to them and, of course to us. It was Diwali night, the Indian festival of lights. At the waterfront, the local artists were entertaining the audience, singing and dancing. All commentaries were of course in creole.

There were mixed reviews from our travel companions about our visit to Ayers Rock, known to the locals as “Uluru”. However, we liked our short stay there; mind you, we reckon you wouldn’t want to spend more than a day or two there, although our 5-star accommodations were most enjoyable and hardly roughing it.

Ayers rock was impressive. No picture can show the magnificence of the size and colours of the rock. It is 343 meters high with aboriginal sacred caves.

What we found most fascinating was the “Sounds of Silence” dinner – a truly magical experience. We were transported by bus to the ‘SOS’ site just before sunset where we quaffed champagne cocktails and were serenaded by musicians playing a didgeridoo and music sticks. We were then escorted to an open area that was set up with tables covered in fine white linens, wine glasses and silverware and were served dinner, literally under the stars. As the stars came out we supped on a buffet of vegetables, salads and various meats - including kangaroo… but Deborah passed on the dish as she couldn’t bear the thought of eating ‘Skippy’ or one of his relatives.

Finally, when the stars were truly aligned, the lights from the buffet hot table were doused and a man, who held two extraordinary high-beam torches, pointed out the various star combinations as he described their celestial meaning and position in the sky. (Deborah was informed of this later by Chuck because she konked out from fatigue and not booze, btw, on the table. Or so she says.)

Now as Chuck’s many fans are aware, he is the ‘guru’ of marketing and Deborah has been known to dabble in marketing, too, but folks, the promoters of Ayers Rock and the Olgas (another rock formation nearby) have got it all over Chuck and Deborah…why, you ask? Because they were able to get a whole bunch of us (Chuck and Deborah included) to get up at 5 in the morning, board a bus and head out to the rock to look at the sunrise. This turned out to be much ado about nothing…not much to see but we did get to keep the nifty knapsacks that carried our boxed breakfast. The knapsacks have come in handy: Chuck is using his to transport his Panasonic laptop (the one we’re using to tap out our blog). Deborah is using hers to provide for more ‘shopping item’ space.

…A brief interlude before we tell you about our stay in New Zealand…

Chuck reported to Deborah as they were boarding the bus to the Auckland airport en route to Sydney, Australia, that his site had “thousands of hits since our first blog was posted about our round-the-world trip”. Apparently, many readers marveled at the quality of writing and couldn’t believe that Chuck had penned such prose being the ‘quant’ left-brainer that he is…and they were right! Little does everyone know that Chuck ‘hired’ a ghost writer – a.k.a Deborah (ok, he wrote the Tahiti stuff for the most part…).

…now back to New Zealand…


Following a 6-hour flight, our plane arrived in Auckland, New Zealand – a mere 2.544 miles from Tahiti.

Everyone in our tour group seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon arriving in New Zealand…there’s something to be said about being in a place whose residents speak your language and the food is more familiar.

New Zealand is a beautiful place. Very lush and reminiscent of many places… like the Scottish Highlands, Wales, Ireland, parts of Canada, and even Italy. We stayed overnight in Auckland at the Stamford Plaza, a refurbished hotel in the heart of the city. The problem was, the “refurbishing” was still under way and many of our group had rooms without heat – including Chuck and Deborah. The big difference was, however, that while Chuck was shivering in his suite (he reports that he slept in the hotel room’s bath-robe) – Deborah stormed the front desk and asked for a new room WITH heat…in large part due to the fact the Deborah was feeling under the weather and needed a warm place to sleep.

After a lot of ‘back and forth’ Deborah secured a room whoseith a temperature above freezing, which allowed for a much more comfortable rest in advance of the next day’s foray to Rotorua.

Rotorua is the heartland of New Zealand’s Maori culture. The Te Arawa people of Rotorua were some of New Zealand’s first residents more than 600 years ago. However, the Maori were the first inhabitants of the district. Today the Maori community is mostly urban. There are approximately 35 “marae” – meeting grounds in the district, out of which 20 are located in rural areas.

Surrounding Rotorua are geothermal sites, Ohinemutu and Whakarewarewa. We visited the “Lady Knox-Geyser Te Puia Whakarewarewa – the geothermal valley art and crafts institute, and the Agrodome Farm Show.

The Farm show proved to be huge fun. We were treated to an array of bucolic activities and sites, including sheep herding, sheep shearing and feeding new-born lambs. We also saw the dexterity of the New Zealand’s amazing sheep-herding slane lamb.

Earlier in the day we visited caves that are home to “glow worms” which are brightly lit larvae that attach themselves to the caves by long threadlike fibers. We were taken by boat in complete darkness so that we could see the amazing glow worms that dot the ceiling of the caves. We also got to see a spectacular array of indigenous animals, including the Kiwi, which is a rather unusual looking bird because it doesn’t fly, hops around, has a long beak and is extremely timid. In fact, it prefers very dark spaces. There are two very unfortunate things about the Kiwi in Deborah’s opinion: 1, it has many predators because of the fact that it doesn’t fly; and 2, its females lay eggs that are almost two-thirds their own size…meaning, it would be like a human female giving birth to a three-year-old. Deborah wondered why the Kiwi females didn’t also have crossed eyes, too, because popping out one of those eggs must be quite the experience!

We also stopped for lunch at a wonderful dairy farm where we literally feasted on roast legs of lamb, roasted root vegetables, wine and beer. Speaking of which, the food on this trip has been good and plentiful. Fortunately, we figure we haven’t gained any weight, in large part due to our discipline of not going for seconds and thirds at the “trough”.

Ah Tahiti! The blue ocean, the lagoons, the waterfalls….

But then Tahiti or French Polynesia has its drawbacks: people speak French here and close everything on weekends. Not that we have anything against French – some of our best friends are French. Just that I (i.e. Chuck) have difficulty speaking French. [Note from Deborah…Deborah is bilingual, and becomes more fluent in “le francais” as she drinks wine.] As for the weekend closing, it might not have been such a great deal except for the fact we were there on the weekend.

And now for those who need some serious information: Tahiti and Her Islands have three time zones (greedy, aren’t they?). The country spans 5 million (Yes, FIVE MILLION) square kilometers with a population of just 245,000 (greedy, aren’t they?) mostly Christian and have as many as 120 islands (greedy, aren’t they?). In fact, they think every country is an island. The entertainers greeted us people “From the island of Canada!” And, believe it or not, Tahiti has many Mormons, although we are not sure if they practice polygamy openly.

Remember the Mutiny on the Bounty and Captain Bligh? It all happened here.

The first day Deborah and Chuck bought some gifts, before they closed everything for the weekend (at 12 noon on Saturday).

While Deborah lounged around the pool, Chuck decided to explore the island. He saw sharks in the aquarium, waterfalls in the mountains, but no Gauguin paintings in the Gauguin museum (which for some reason, they seem to call Gauguin Musee). Yes folks Gauguin loved Tahiti, he lived here and, alas, died here at an early age of 55.

Tahiti is nice, but too commercialized. I (Chuck) may come back here, but not so keen. Deborah agrees that Tahiti, while scenic, is not worth the very long flight and expense the island requires

Easter Island…A spectacular surprise awaits...

Easter Island is in the same time zone as US Mountain Standard Time. Chile, however, adjusted time so there is less difference between island time and mainland time. This puts the island behind Chile by 2 hours.

Easter Island reminded Deborah of Ireland. The landscape is lush and green. Wild horses roam the land. Unlike Ireland, Easter Island is over 2,000 miles from the nearest population center (Tahiti and Chile).

Resting on volcanic rock in the South Pacific, it is known for the giant stone monoliths known as Moai. The early settlers called the island ‘Te Pito O te Henua’ -- the “navel of the world”.

Admiral Roggeveen, who arrived on the island on Easter day in 1722, named it ‘Easter Island’.

Our ‘Blue’ group, upon arrival at the airport, decided that a ‘hostile takeover’ of the other groups – Green and Red – might be in order to secure ‘appealing’ accommodations. (To put it politely, our stay in the Galapagos had mixed hotel accommodations – i.e. no hot water, no TV, no headboards, no locks on the door, dripping water from the ceiling…and so on.) Thankfully, the ‘coup’ wasn’t necessary. Our ‘home’ on the island was the Iorana Hotel, a wonderfully comfortable place. Everyone agreed that this was a welcome place to rest our very weary heads.

However, our first stop was not the hotel. Directly from the airport our bus took us to the Ceremonial site of Tahai, which also featured an amazing ‘cocktail party’ under a tent with lit torches and music provided by Rapa Nui musicians.

Chuck and I bought some gorgeous native jewelry before we headed into the party tent.

On Friday October 6 we departed for an island tour, the highlight of which was a drive to the beach of Anakena where we visited Ahu Nau and enjoyed an amazing BBQ lunch with a wonderful performance by Polynesian singers and dancers. Chuck and Deborah participated in the dances…but we were told to stick with our day jobs as we didn’t quite make the cut.

The late afternoon was spent visiting Ahu Tongariki and Rano Raraku where many of the carvings from the mountains are found.

At dinnertime, Elveira Mueller, our ever-energetic tour leader, and Deborah decided that it was appropriate to ‘borrow’ some flowers from the hotel garden in order for all the female attendees of the dinner to wear in their hair….

The next day brought more adventure – Tahiti!