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| Table Top Mtn |
After many months of anticipation and a 15 hour flight, we were greeted by a wonderful sunset over Table Top Mountain above Cape Town South Africa. Our ride then drove us a little over an hour to our hotel in Franschhoek, South Africa.
It all started with Carol wanting to go on an African Safari. South Africa and Zimbabwe were selected as it gives us both "Africa's Big 5" as well as touring Cape Town, the story of Nelson Mandela, Cape of Good Hope and a visit to the Wine lands.
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| The Moon devoured the Sun as we looked on in glee |
Last fall, one of my college friends who lives in Paris, TX invited us all to her house for the weekend and the viewing of the solar eclipse since she was in the path of totality. When I say us all, I am referring to a core group of friends from college and most of us accepted so it was college reunion and solar eclipse all rolled together! The Trapp Bed and Breakfast only for an elite few was engaged. Our stay came with several meals, swag bags, solar eclipse cookies, choice of prime viewing spots, tours of town - walking, driving and trolley. The Bed and Breakfast accepted guests on Friday evening and Saturday.
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| 📷 Looking down from bowsprit at Daredevil Dolphin |
The first time I was on a ship with a sea day I wondered
what I would do all day. Depending on
the ship there may be a lot to do or very little. This ship has had a nice level of
activities. There are usually some talks
by the expedition crew, always a recap and look forward talk in late morning,
some simple entertainment in the evening and often something special
entertainment wise right before bedtime.
The first sea day was Halloween, and we were crossing the equator so
two additional excuses to do something fun.
The talks have been on ants, fish reproduction, the circle of life in
the Amazon and other things. For those
non-sea folks out there, crossing the equator on a ship is a big thing.
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| 📷 |
This was one of those trips that got postponed because of COVID. In some ways I am glad it did because we met a couple that told us about expedition cruise ships and it is a better way to explore this part of the world. We flew from Atlanta to Sao Paulo Brazil where we had a layover before we got on our 2nd leg to Manaus, Brazil. If you ever fly through Brazil, the Sao Paulo airport is full of food choices – lots and lots of restaurants and snack bars.
Costa Brava is the coastline along the Mediterranean Sea in Spain. This is our last stop - hard to believe so we have splurged on a hotel on the coast in a room with a large terrace overlooking the sea. When Jeff had shared with our hosts in St Jean de Luz our plans for the rest of our trip, they had gotten quite excited about this stop. At one time, they owned a 2nd home here and knew our hotel and the area. Speaking French, the husband was all bubbly about the area and about the Cami de Ronda. I picked up some of what he said, and he is right this area is gorgeous and the hotel is special. Our drive here had been heavily 2 lane mountain roads, so we had stopped at a local restaurant when we saw one and had a traditional large multi course lunch which means we are in search of a small dinner. But only after we open a bottle of wine and enjoy our terrace some and explore the area a little bit too.
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| One of several fields of rock we had to step carefully through |
[Sound of slipping on rocks]. “I’m ok” That’s a memorable part of our hikes high in the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain. But, let me start at the beginning. It was a long drive from Pamplona with the last half of the drive consisting of mountain roads that were occasionally single lane. This mountain range consists of tall rocky vertical peaks. After driving past a ski resort, we started seeing lots of cattle and a few horses.
We are staying in Espot, Spain. One of two entrances to the only National Park in the North Western most part of the region of Catalonia. The park has mountain peaks over 9,000 feet and almost 200 lakes. Espot is a small, beautiful mountain town located in a valley with a nearby Ski resort. In the summer, its rather quiet. The area is experiencing a heat wave with highs in the mid 80s. You may think that’s nothing, but July is the only Month that doesn’t average some snowfall. Our hotel which is a wonderful small family run hotel doesn’t have air conditioning either. We are left with the choice of letting flies in (which are abundant) or having a warm room.
I should mention that we have determined the name of our next Spaniel, whenever that should occur. We met Choco, a very large brown and well-mannered dog who seems to belong to the restaurant we had dinner at. Once he sees you have finished dinner, he comes over with those large eyes to see what you have for him. If you ignore him, you will receive a paw or maybe he will rest his chin on your leg in the hope you will share what’s remaining on your plate.
The next day we are off for our first hike of the trip. An out and back trail called the Camino del Estany de Sant Maurici with the idea of doing something longer the next day if all goes well. It starts at the entrance to the park. It’s a beautiful assent. We work up a sweat as we make our way up to Sant Maurici.
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| Our reward at the top of the climb |
For an evening activity, we sign up for “Astronomy and local liqueurs. We are sent coordinates to meet the guide at 10:30 p.m. The route takes us down a single lane road that climbs up the side of a mountain. I’m wondering what I have gotten us into when I see some cars parked in a field with some cattle. In the pasture with cows are a group of people seated in a semi-circle around a telescope. My concerns are relieved, and we enjoy a wonderful night sky that we never see any more due to city lights. Our guide uses a laser pointer to help us find various constellations and we are lucky to see the International Space Station pass overhead. The evening concludes with a local liquor called ratafia which is made from green walnuts. It was quite nice.
The next day we are going for a longer hike. A trail the son of the hotel proprietor recommended, though we opted for a slightly shorter version we found in the AllTrails App. Since only pre-approved vehicles are allowed in the park, we take a Taxi. This Taxi is a Range Rover 4x4 set up to carry 8 people. We climb in and it takes us to Lake Sant Maurici. We did not realize what we were committing to do. Our AllTrails app had it listed at Moderate with a distance of 6.2 miles with an average completion time of 4 hours. We required 6 hours to complete it. I should have paid more attention to the 1,800 foot elevation gain. While the elevation gain was a challenge, the intimidating part was the rocks we had to carefully step through. Why didn’t we turn around you ask, it started out quite pleasant.
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| Looking back at the lake in the prior photo |
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| Can you find the trail from right to left? |
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| Flowers along the trail |
The next morning when we saw the proprietor's son and told him we had done 11km (6.91 miles) hike up there he was impressed. We were thrilled that we were not exhausted or sore. Maybe a little sore in a couple of muscles, but not bad which was good since it was time to hop in the car for another long drive. We were going back to the beach only the Mediterranean side this time.
