The Wanderings
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This is almost where it all began. The white house on the right is where I grew up (if I ever have???) in Old Shoreham, Sussex, England. My Mum looked after that church which dates back to the nine hundreds, and both my Mum and Dad’s ashes are interred in the churchyard right by the old house. Wonderful village in which to be a Sussex lad! This area, the river, the surrounding hills, appear in a few of the stories and poems in the Wanderings and Sojourns series.
Who would have guessed that this little guy with the sticky out ears was at this tender age literally “getting his feet wet” in the ocean that was to bear him hundreds of thousands of miles during decades of travel to so many places on five different continents. Or, for that matter, that he would spend a good percentage of those years sporting a full beard!
This may have been the birth place of my wanderlust. The River Dart in Devon, South West England, where my Dad took the family for a summer holiday when I was still quite young. I remember loving the adventure of the train ride down (we never owned a car) and the “different-ness” of the place compared to back home in Sussex. I think that may have been when I was bitten by the travel bug …… and I never looked back.
My first long voyage was when I went on an educational cruise through the Mediterranean on a school ship. Apart from learning that back in ancient times all they seemed to build were the most amazing ruins (like the Parthenon (pictured) in Greece), I also learned how to be very sea-sick and become utterly miserable. It’s a wonder I ever went to sea professionally.
Malta; one of the world’s cultural crossroads. Only spent a day there but even at a tender age was intrigued by the fascinating blend of cultures and the history that haunts every street. I was to meet a number of Maltese later on in life when I settled in Gibraltar for a few years and found them to be fascinating people seemingly able to converse comfortably with Italians, English and North Africans in any of their languages without appearing to wander too far from their own.
Perhaps the best overseas holiday my Dad treated us to when I was a kid was at lake Como in Northern Italy. It was probably here where my parents first realized my penchant for wandering alone. I forget how old I was but it was really quite young to be deciding to find out whether, if I snuck away from the group and the tour bus, I could find my way back to the hotel without having to follow the grown-ups. I made it back OK, eventually, much to the relief of my poor old Mum, but think I probably spent the next 40 odd years worrying her you-know-what-less as that kind of curiosity escalated into things like “I wonder what an insurgent war zone is like to hitch-hike-through?”
My first foreign going ship upon which I worked. HMS” Curzon”. British Royal Naval Reserve. Joined up the day I was 15 and a half, the yongest you were allowed to join back then. Sailed extensively to Holland, Belgium, France, Channel Islands and Southern Coast of England.
While at nautical school in Cardiff, Wales, where they tried to teach me to become an officer and a gentleman (they scored 50% anyway), I would escape on a Sunday to the Brecon Beacons and hike for miles across the beautiful rolling hills. Probably my fondest memory of nautical school ….. and it had the least to do with the sea.
Fujiyama is one of the worlds most iconic mountains. With the cherry blossom in the foreground it makes the quintessential Japanese picture. I saw this from the sea at dusk when on one of several visits to that unique land. I waited 5 days to board my first ship in Kobe at age 17 fresh out of school. WOW! What an adventure that was. That was many years before the devastating earthquake, of course. I enjoyed the hugely different culture of the country, even with the strong American influence it maintained its own very strong identity. And the people were very welcoming. That first trip to the other side of the planet fresh out of school pretty much set my destiny.
My first ship straight out of school. I was 17 when I joined M/V “Atlantic City” (sister ship shown) as first trip apprentice then went up to senior apprentice. We sailed the Iron ore run between Mormagoa (India) and various ports in Japan.
The Peace Park at Hiroshima, Japan, is certainly one of the more contemplative places I’ve been. A very sombre but necessary reminder to us all of just how terrible humankind has the capacity to become. Although perhaps a negative energy, I include it in this album for it’s poignancy and relevance is just as significant as the positive energies generated by the other places included. Since my first trip to Japan to join my first ship as a wide eyed 17 year old apprentice I was fortunate to visit several more times during my deep sea going years.
Goa, India. I was there back in the early 70′s. Probably changed a lot now but then the beaches were pristine and empty and the whales would come right into the bay. Old Portuguese colony presenting an interesting meld of ancient Indian and Iberian Christian influences. I used to go there on the big ships to load iron ore for Japan. There’s a story in book one centred about this area.
M/V Houston City 20/09/71 to 22/02/72 Apprentice. Joined in London, paid off in Los Angeles via Holland, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.
I think the most fascinating river I’ve been on is the Hooghly that flows into the Bay of Bengal from the Himalayas. I was on a general cargo ship (before containerization) destined for Calcutta. We were there at the time of one of the famous Hooghly River tidal bores which necessitated some rather unusual docking arrangements to accommodate the anticipated surge. The river was alive with people bathing on its banks, pounding their clothes on flat rocks to launder them, fishing from boats similar to the one pictured, towing huge piles of hay on tiny barges or swimming. The latter was particularly off putting as the detritus of a huge over-crowded and under-infrastructured city was everywhere. This ranged from regular disgusting garbage to the bodies of dead sheep and goats. On the way back down the river to the sea we threw the dunnage that was no longer needed over the side to the dozens of boats that waited for any large ship passing to do so. Every piece we jettisoned was scooped up within seconds of hitting the water. That was back in the early 70′s. I don’t know what it’s like now 40 years on….. maybe I should go back and see.
Heading into Bombay during the four day war with Pakistan was a bit nerve-racking, especially as we had a cargo of heavy water and equipment on board for a nuclear power station. We painted huge Union Jacks on the hatch covers to show our neutrality but we never saw anything that was at all threatening until we reached the port and had a cordon of armed police put around the ship. But once I realized their rifles, old WW2 Lee Enfields, had no magazines or bolts, I felt safer.
Another of the world’s cultural crossroads where East, for a while, met West. Hong Kong harbour was one of the busiest I’ve sailed into (big ships). Between here and the Inland Sea of Japan I think the ship’s radar was used more than anywhere else to try to keep tabs on the movement of the dozens/hundreds of other craft moving in all directions in close proximity. Back then it was a great run ashore. Probably still is but I imagine it will have changed a lot.
I’ve crossed all three major oceans but have yet to sail any of the seven seas (a true sailor will understand that). My favourite ocean is the Indian. One time when heading nor-nor-west, after rounding what was then Ceylon, horizon to horizon was covered in dolphins, and the next day I saw dozens, probably hundreds, of turtles mating on the surface. For me this one should have been named “Pacific” for it has always seemed so peaceful each time I’ve sailed upon it. And to add to that theory I went through my first hurricane in the actual Pacific, so that was definitely a misnomer.
I’ve only been in two and two half war zones (I think) so far. Bombay (Mumbai) at the time of the 4 day war with Pakistan, the Urubamba Valley in Peru when the Sendero Luminosso were fighting in the neighbouring Apurimac Valley (did see a few bullet holes in a police station they’d shot up in our valley too), Rhodesia toward the end of the Chimurenga (now there I did have to pack weapons, even as a foreign civilian), and the military port at Umm Qasr (pictured) in Iraq during the Iran/Iraq war. Of the two and two halves the most consistent danger was Rhodesia, however, the only time I really thought my time had come was when I stepped ashore to release a problematic dock line while at Umm Qasr. That was definitely the greatest change of underpants event I’ve ever experienced! The story is not yet written but if books one through three prove successful, I think it will be in book four for sure.
What can I say about my visit to what was then Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)? Not very much I’m afraid for I was bed-ridden, recovering from a serious bout of amoebic dysentery contracted in either Bombay or Cochin (as they were then named). I couldn’t even get out of my bunk, let alone go ashore, so here’s a picture of a boat docked at the port in Colombo, which is about as much as I can remember of the place. I never went back, but I wish I had for everything I have heard about that place sounds fascinating.
Bugis Street in Singapore is now redeveloped into a tourist attraction that boasts being the longest shopping street in the country. Back in the 70′s when I went to Singapore it was a tourist attraction famous as a gathering place for South-east Asian trans-gendered people. Bugis Street, and the famous Raffles Hotel, were probably the two main tourist attractions in the “City or the Lion” at that time. I had a good friend from Nautical school who was from Singapore and when I visited his two brothers showed me around. Having a friendly local to show you their land can truly enhance a visit anywhere and add several positive dimensions to the trip.
The consistently hottest place I’ve ever been, and I was there a couple of times, was the Persian Gulf. Temperatures in excess of 110 (f) for hours on end were quite normal. Great place for sweating off those extra pounds and as alcohol was for the most part banned you re-hydrated healthily.
Vera Cruz, Mexico. One of my favourite runs ashore during my years in the merch’. In the evenings the mariachi troupes would hit the streets and the whole town, it seemed, would promenade round and round the town square; ladies one way, men the other, so they could all get a good look at each other. The atmosphere was electric in a fun way and it seemed like every evening was lived like a fun but respectable party.
Not just an engineering marvel, but a very scenic passage. I’m in double figures on the number of times I’ve transited the Panama Canal and it was just as fascinating the last time as it was the first. The voyages that took me through this modern wonder of the world include trips between Japan to Norway, West Coast Costa Rica and East Coast America, West Coast Panama and North Coast Colombia, Costa Rica and Germany.
Golfito, Costa Rica. Used to load bananas there and never was tired of the lush beauty of the place. Golfo Dulce was teaming with all kinds of aquatic life and the dense rain forest and banana plantations seemed to squeeze the small town between them and the sea. Tropical paradise back then. Wonder how it’s changed now.
The Northern Lights. Only ever seen this incredible phenomenon once. That was on a bitter cold night in Trois Riviere on the St Lawrence River in Quebec. It was so cold as we hauled up the anchor the water dripping off the chain formed icicles on the windlass and turned the deck into a skating rink. Brrrrrrrr!
Furthest north I’ve been on the planet is the port of Drammen, in Norway, not far from Oslo. That was also after the longest distance I’ve travelled on one journey. We loaded cars in the Inland Sea of Japan and crossed the Pacific to the Panama Canal, then crossed the Atlantic to Norway. Six and a half weeks….. you bet I enjoyed walking through the woods and hamlets around Drammen Fjord when I finally made it ashore. During that trip, somewhere in mid Atlantic, we crossed our old course line from Baltimore to South Africa, so closing the loop on my 2nd circumnavigation of the globe by sea. Several years later I was to live in South Africa, and what was then Rhodesia and there are some stories from those days in book 1 of the series.
Furthest south I’ve been on the planet is rounding Cape Agulhas, the Southernmost tip of Africa which I’ve done on three different voyages.
Croyde Bay, North Devon, England, where I used to go surfing when on leave from the Merchant Navy. That’s surf surfing….. They hadn’t invented those windsurfer thingamyjigs back then. Great times. Great bunch of guys. In 1975 I left to go surfing in Morocco for 6 months ….. I’m still on that trip ‘cos I just kept moving on after Morocco, though somewhere along the road my surfboard and I took separate forks in the road.
Unless you’re a surfer, as I was back then, you wouldn’t associate Portugal with good surf, but there are several notable sites. Figuera da Foz is one such and it was here that I scored my best surf ride to date which, given that I wasn’t very good, was still nothing to brag about. In fact I think I was so bad that I had about as much chance of making the cover of Surfer Magazine as I did of making the cover of Playboy! But I always remember that first good ride.
I don’t know if they still do it, but back in the mid-70′s the fisherman at Nazare in Northern Portugal still pulled their boats up the beach using oxen. I was with a bunch of guys hoping to catch the big Atlantic surf that pounds the coast there, which is an indication of how tough it must be for the fishermen to launch and beach their boats, hence the very high surf-breaking bows. Most of the fishermen wore long woollen hats that hang down one side of their head but, sadly, I saw all too many women wearing the black of widowhood as they mourned their husbands who were taken by the sea, many as a result of the dangerous operation of launching their craft through the surf. It was a really interesting town to visit and, needless to say, the fresh fish served in the restaurants on the beach was second to none.
On the way down to Morocco I hitch hiked around Southern Portugal and ended up in Faro, the capital of the Algavre. I camped under the old castle walls and hung out with the young Portuguese at one of the cafes in the centre of town popular with university students who enjoyed practising their English with a native speaker. I fell in love with this town and only strengthened the liking for the Portuguese people that I already possessed. I didn’t know it then but I was to return, unplanned, a couple of years later, stay much longer and befriend again one of the students I’d previously met. I wonder where she is today. There’s a story about that second visit in book one of the series.
ust as British ownership of Gibraltar has been a constant irritant to the Spanish for centuries, so too has the Spanish ownership of Ceuta to the Moroccans on the other side of the Straights. This was my entry point into North Africa and a place I did not stop long. I was part of a convoy of Veedub vans and woddies heading for the surf and so we pushed on through to the Atlantic coast as fast as we could.
The Red City …. Marrakech, Morocco. Fascinating place once you get away from the tourist areas. The Berbers were among the friendliest folk I’ve met and the town was just bustling with excitement. This incredible town forms the backdrop for one of my favourite stories in book one of the series.
Essaouira, Morocco. One time Spanish fortress and port enclave on the Moroccan coast. Best sardines I’ve ever eaten; straight from the boat, dusted in salt and grilled right there on the dock. Peaceful, restful fishing port a little off the mainstream beaten track. This is part of one of the stories in book 1 of the series.
Camped rough here for many weeks. The climax of my surfing safari to Morocco. Anchor Point, near Taghazout in the Moroccan South was undeveloped then and home to an ever changing commune of surfers and other itinerants from all over the world. I believe it’s settled now and far more commercial. These were my happy hippy days. Many stories await to be written.
Tangiers was, probably still is, another incredibly fascinating city damaged by tourism. There’s an old adage that tourism always ruins its own best assets and this, I think, was true here in many parts. However, if you looked hard enough you could still find the odd Medina that catered more for the locals than the foreigners, and these were indeed treasures. I’d sit in an alcove in a cafe drinking mint tea and just absorb the culture bustling around me. But my time there was way too short. I only had enough money between me and destitution to cover the ferry fare to Gibraltar where, being British, I could work and replenish. Tangier is also mentioned in one of the Moroccan stories in book one of the series.
Having just spent many weeks in Morocco I was intrigued upon arrival in Gibraltar to find a strong Moorish influence. The Moorish castle (pictured) was pock-marked with cannon ball scars and must have been the scene of many a battle over the centuries since the Moors occupied the Iberian Peninsular. The name Gibraltar is derived from Gibal Al Tareg, a Moorish governor of the region way back when. There’s a good story on book one from Gib’
The Rock! Gibraltar. Spent a total of about three years there and made some of the finest friends anyone could have. Where are they all now? The departure point for three of my longest sea journeys (other than the Merchant Navy days). I really loved this place although sometimes, especially with the border closed, it did become a little small at just two and a half square miles in area.
The Europa Point Lighthouse in Gibraltar has welcomed me many times as I arrived by sea to the famous rock. It has also bade me farewell on a number of occasions as well and this time it was to be on an ill fated, under funded attempt to sail to Australia with five other guys on an old 52′ wooden schooner. After being punished by the Atlantic in the foulest of moods for ten days we turned back and took two days going down wind to make it back to Faro, the town in the south of Portugal where I had made some friends a couple of years earlier on my way through to Morocco.
This is the crew that planned to sail to Australasia from Gibraltar in the old 52′ Hilliard Schooner …… Well …… we made it as far as Portugal!!!!! After 12 of the toughest roughest open ocean days I have yet to experience. The story is told in the series. That’s me at the back.
Second best sardines in the world are found at Olhao, Algavre, Portugal. I lived for 8 months on the old Hillyard Schooner in Faro, just up the coast, after my unsuccessful attempt to sail it to Australia. I’d stand by the fisherman with my basket as they unloaded the sardines and they would add it to the line of other baskets going round and when it came back to me it would be full. And they would never accept any payment. Portugal and the Portuguese score very highly on my friendliest place in the world list.
Coimbra, Portugal. Winding cobbled alleys; the old university; the Dons in their capes; the home of Fado. This place is steeped in history and Northern Portugal’s unique culture. I hitch-hiked all round Portugal during my stay in Faro and only deepened my love for the country and it’s warm people. There are Portugal stories yet to be written.
In the Alentejo, the next province up from the Algavre in Portugal, as one local friend put it, they “take the cork tree’s trousers down.” Here you see a tree who’s cork bark has been recently harvested to become stoppers for the local wine and for the port that hails from the Oporto region around the Douro River further north (which is another story).
A rabelo plies it trade up the Douro River in Portugal. These craft carry the barrels from the wine growing areas located further upstream to the various cellars of Oporto where their famous port is bottled. I was hitch-hiking through Portugal and travelled a good way along the Douro Valley before swinging north to Guimaraes then back to the coast. The northern mountains of Portugal were the only part of the Iberian Peninsular not to fall under Moorish conquest and I met a few folk from the region who were proud of that fact. I bit the bullet and tried the local fish delicacy…. lamprey …. Been there, done that, don’t need to eat purple fish flesh again……YUK!!!!!!!!
The coast of the Algavre, Portugal, is quite spectacular I lived in Faro for 8 months and got to know the coast quite well. I’d always try to avoid the Northern European ex-pats who formed their own sub-culture there and associate as much as possible with the Portuguese. Being a navigator by trade I had to visit the museum celebrating Prince Henry the Navigator at Sagres, where, incidentally, they also brew a very passable beer! But, no matter how much you like a place, all too often the forces of fate and immigration departments determine that you must move on, and so a couple of us sailed the old schooner back to Gibraltar from where we had set sail on our epic and somewhat stunted, adventure to Australia 8 months before.
Shepard’s Marina in Gibraltar. This turned out to be my home on a number of occasions and after returning from Portugal was my home for quite a while. Note the airport runway in the top half of the picture. To the left, just out of frame, was where the dive boats of Gibraltar Underwater Contracting were berthed. I was to work for them for a year on a subsequent visit as a commercial diver cleaning the hulls of the big ships, performing underwater repairs, maintenance and surveys. Un-trained and un-qualified of course, but hey, when you’re young you take risks…… don’t you? There’s a story in book one that is set half way along that marina’s main dock, and there’s a poem in the series from there also.
One of the fascinating things about Gibraltar are the tunnels. There are more roads inside the rock than outside and most are for military purposes, many dating back to the tunnels carved to provide impregnable defences (pictured) pointing toward Spain with whom Britain has been at odds over the ownership of The Rock for centuries. Another of Gib’s many fascinating aspects is the ethnic mix to be found their. The Rock doesn’t just mark the entrance to the Med’, it if a crossroads for many of the cultures to be found there and this is reflected in the language of the natives who switch comfortably from Spanish to English mid-sentence (hence Gibberish, perhaps).
“Maureen Mhor”. 1st Mate then Captain. Delivered her from Gibraltar to Hout Bay, South Africa via Canaries, Ascension Island, St Helena Island, Walvis Bay and Cape Town. Skippered on South African Coast then delivered to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, via St Helena, Recife (Brazil) St Lucia, St Thomas.
I made three voyages that started in Gibraltar and two of them had the Canary Islands as their first way point. One was to go on to St Helena, Ascension Island, Walvis Bay in Namibia, with me ending up in Cape Town (which was to be the launching pad for my Rhodesia sojourn). The other was to lead to Antigua which became the launch pad for my second stay in the BVI where two of my children were to be born and where I still consider to be my home. I never got to see the real culture of the Canaries but found myself in the areas that cater for Northern European tourists, so my mind is still open and I long to go back to experience the unique topography and blend of Spanish and North West African cultures. But as a way point on those two voyages it has played a key role already in my subsequent destinations and my destiny.
Comfortless Cove on Ascension island is where, in the old days, lepers were put ashore from passing ships and fed by the locals. Fascinating place Ascension; mostly volcanic lava and they have a golf course there (18 holes if you go round twice) where one of the rules states that if your ball happens to land on a patch of grass, well that’s a natural hazard of the course and you just have to play on. Another is that if your ball fragments upon landing on the barren rock you are allowed to play on with a new ball from where the largest portion of your previous ball anded up. I have a couple of stories waiting in the wings from this fascinating place, but haven’t finalized them yet….. Maybe book four.
Although millions of people have seen the site to which he was later moved to Paris, how many have seen where Napoleon was first buried? He was exiled to, and finally buried in this grave on, St Helena island in the middle of the South Atlantic. I went there twice and enjoyed both visits. On the second one, in the British Governor’s grounds, I met Jonathan the giant tortoise who is recognized, at 178 years old, as the oldest known animal on earth. He was probably born not long after Napoleon died and is one of the last remaining Mauritian Giant Tortoises left on the planet ….. They are already extinct on Mauritius, courtesy of us.
The three things that struck me most about Walvis Bay in what was then a South West Africa transitioning into Namibia were the ship wrecks, the sea lions and the pelicans. So numerous were the pelicans that artificial offshore islands were built on stilts for the purpose of harvesting their guano for use as fertilizer. I arrived by sea but flew from Luderitz airport down to Cape Town in the co-pilot’s seat of a Cessna six seater (even drove the thing for a while). We had to refuel at Oranjemund “airport” on the border with South Africa where the procedure for incoming flights was for the plane to “buzz” the house of the airport manager until he appeared in his front yard and waved at them indicating they were cleared to land. I love bush life!!!!!!! Makes so much more sense than the bureaucratic world of (ahem) civilization.
Hout Bay, South Africa. I lived on that dock among the lobster boats on the “Maureen Mhor”, the luxury motor yacht on which I was The Mate on the trip from Gibraltar to Cape Town (although I flew down to the Cape from Namibia to prepare the permanent moorings for her out in the bay). Good times.
The longest train journey I’ve made was from Cape Town, South Africa, up through Eastern Botswana and into Bulawayo in what was then Rhodesia. Three days in a sleeper car towed by an old smoke belching coal burning stream engine. Second longest was to Toronto, Ontario, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I was stranded due to the grounding of all aircraft after 9-11. The African train ride was the start of one one the most wonderful sojourns to date in what would soon become Zimbabwe. That sojourn was the source of several stories and poems in the series and holds a very special place in my soul.
Risk is a part of everyday life in the bush, and those of us who do not normally live there may be a little awed by what seems normal to folks that do. On one farm where I stayed for several weeks in Rhodesia we were attracted to the tree a few feet outside the front door of the farmhouse by some nesting birds making a huge fuss about something. On examination we saw a boomslang on one of the branches approaching a nest. The farmer borrowed his son’s .22 target riffle and shot it cleanly out of the tree and we all went about our business. At dinner that evening I was told that the boomslang was one of the most deadly poisonous snakes in Africa and you only had a small window of opportunity to get antivenin into you before you succumbed. The farmer told of a friend on a neighbouring farm who had been cutting wood when he was bitten on the finger by a boomslang and instinctively chopped off his own finger before the venom could spread. I was much more careful about what I touched in the bush after that.
When I arrived it was called Rhodesia. When I left Zimbabwe had been added in front and Arch Bishop Abel Muzawera had been elected leader of the country. But the West wanted Mugabe so that transition was short lived. I am happy I saw the beautiful country before Mugabe destroyed it, even though I may not have been totally comfortable with the politics of the day. It was a stunningly beautiful land filled with marvellous people of many skin pigmentations. It was one of the pinnacles of my life thus far from which I learned an incredible amount about many disparate subjects, including myself. There are several stories in book one from this formative part of my life.
Rhodesia (it was not what Zimbabwe now is, so I will still call it Rhodesia if you are OK with that) still vies for top spot in my memory ranking in many categories. While travelling through the Chiredzi-Triangle district I rode shot-gun for a vet for a while as he went about his normal work. One such day, we, a hunter and two ‘Shona animal health inspectors and an incredible ‘Shona tracker trailed a herd of five buffalo from their water hole at dawn with the idea to cull them for they’d been identified as carriers of foot and mouth disease. All day they led us round in circles, cutting their/our own trail and must have been watching us from the bush as we passed on at least two occasions. Never did catch up to those clever old buggers, but that was one of the most incredible hikes I have ever made. This formed the basis of one of my favourite stories in book one. An amalgam in which I added a few other snippets from other adventures I wanted to write about but that maybe didn’t warrant an entire story.
The only large animal I ever shot was an old bull wildebeest. I stayed on a farm by Gatooma (now Kadoma) in Rhodesia where we had to provide meat twice a week for all that lived and worked on that farm. (No supermarkets just around the corner there!). I was only along for the hike but carried an FN rifle just in case (the bush war against the communist backed insurgents was still going full blast), as was the norm back then. The trackers found spoor of an old bull already expelled from the heard and seeking company from the zebra. We tracked it through the veld until the hunter shot it. It dropped clean. The tracker/skinners and the hunter’s young kids moved in between him and the beast which got back up again and was obviously mighty peeeed off. It was about to charge the others and the hunter had no clear shot. I was out on the flank watching for insurgents so had a clear view, so I shot it. Best shot I ever made. In one ear and out the other. Killed it instantly……. Hmmmmm …… Now, I wish that had been where I was aiming!!!!! The hunter had yelled to me where to shoot it (‘coz I hadn’t a clue) and I actually missed that spot by a full two inches. Oh well ….. Never did like killing things. This story is told in full in book one.
This view of Table Mountain, the back drop for Cape Town, South Africa, is from the port. The first time I went there I was an apprentice in the merchant navy in the early 70′s and we docked close to where this picture was taken. It transpired that in the late 70′s I was to live in Hout Bay, just round the coast from Cape Town, either side of my Rhodesian trip, and before she left for England I’d often stay with my wonderful South African friend who lived on the back of Table Mountain in Kirstenbosch near the famous botanical gardens. I lived in the Cape Town area as the apartheid era was obviously nearing its end and there was a sense of change in the air, and with it much uncertainty from all angles. A fascinating time to have been in a fascinating place. I left South Africa on the same motor yacht on which I arrived, heading out to St Helena then Recife in Brazil, then up through the Caribbean to Fort Lauderdale where I lived for three months before heading to the Bahamas.
On the island of St Helena where I stopped for a couple of days between Ascension Island and Walvis Bay on the voyage to Cape Town, and again in between Walvis Bay and Recife, Brazil, on the voyage from Cape Town, in the grounds of the British Governor’s residence I met Jonathan. The giant tortoise is reportedly the oldest known animal on earth being, supposedly, in his hundred and seventies. As if that isn’t feat enough, he is a Seychelles Giant Tortoise which, until he and a handful of other captive animals around the world were identified, were thought to have been extinct for decades. And for those that want proof that he is of that genus you can check his anal scut which is not divided as it is with all other species of tortoise…… if you really want to check.
After leaving St Helena our first landfall was Recife in Brazil. We were only supposed to be there a day to refuel and re-provision, but we arrived just as carnival was starting and…. well …… four days later we put to sea and headed north to the Caribbean. This was my only experience of Brazil and I’m not going to judge the country by just one experience. Recife was, then, a crowded city where I witnessed purse snatching in broad daylight, dusty street urchins and ugly urban sprawl. That said, the city’s atmosphere was electric with music everywhere and we had a lot of fun. I never got to see the parts depicted in the foreground of the this picture, which obviously exist, so it is not fair for me to give an opinion based only on what I saw in the area depicted in the background. As you read my stories and poems you will understand that I am not a city lover, so it can be difficult for me to form a favourable view of a city, but I think I could have gotten to like this one eventually.
Pier 66 on the Intra-coastal waterway in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I lived in the end of that dock on the 108′ motor yacht we brought up from South Africa. Fun town and fun times. Kicked off from there down to Nassau to stay with friends I met while in Fort Lauderdale and that was to be the start of my Caribbean Sojourn which would eventually result in me settling in the islands. Stayed there again for a few days a few years later when delivering a Riva 45 from Tortola to New York. Couple of stories from that trip in book one and two as well.
I spent about 8 weeks in Nassau preparing a beautiful wooden schooner to sail to Antigua, only to be told at the end of it by the owner that he’d changed his mind and the boat was staying there. I managed to convince him that he owed me then an air ticket to Antigua instead and I made it down there anyway. While in Nassau I had a great time and would often go to the conch wharf on the Providence Island side of the Paradise Island bridge and eat the raw conch straight out of the shell, with a squeeze of lime and some Tabasco sauce. Delicious. I made some good friends in Nassau, one of whom in particular I was to see on a few subsequent occasions either in the BVI or on return trips to Nassau which, happily for me, happened a few times over the ensuing years. In this picture in the background is the (very over the top) Atlantis Hotel where I ended staying once when after my boat bum days were over and I’d become a respectable business manager. Must say I preferred my boat bum days…. and did not like Atlantis at all.
One of the most unique places I’ve been was Spanish Wells in the Bahamas. We had to ride the mail boat from Nassau to get there which we shared with all kinds of bundles and bags and boxes and even a few other people. Anyone who knew Spanish Wells back then, in the early 80s, will know some of the reasons why I say it was very unique. Glad I went there. Glad it has, from what I hear, changed in some of its unique ways. I loved the Bahamas and was fortunate my travels took me back there again on more than one occasion.
English Harbour, Antigua. My next stop after Nassau. I was to spend many weeks here odd-jobbing to survive and having an absolute blast. So many happy days, fun people and all round good times in this place …. apart from when I was rushed to a (mostly maternity) clinic with an appendix about to rupture! But that was to be a few years down the road on one of my many return trips to this, one of favourite places in the Caribbean. Actually in the world, come to think of it. There’s a few stories about this place in books one and two.
After about three months in Antigua, odd jobbing on various boats, sailing around Guadeloupe, racing, having a fantastic time and falling utterly in love with the boat bum way of life, I was asked to help sail a boat up to Tortola, which I had never heard of. I reckoned I’d be gone for a week. It transpired that it was to be many, many months before I sailed back to Antigua again. Instead I worked in the Virgin Islands, sailing on anything that would hire me to anywhere in the Caribbean they’d go and growing to love the place, the beauty, the people and the life style even more. I felt more comfortable in the less populace British Virgins but still met many great folk and had good times in the US Virgins as well. I was to eventually settle in Tortola and make it my home after so many years of travel, but not this time around. Fate had other things in store …..
Kalizma. Previously owned by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. 1st Mate on this one cruising the Eastern Caribbean.
Based in the BVI I sailed the length of the Eastern Caribbean as far down as the Grenadines. One of my favourite cruising grounds for their beauty and sheltered anchorages were “The Saints” or, more correctly, Ilses des Saintes off the southern coast of Guadeloupe. The bay pictured is typical of the many anchorages in this small French archipelago. Unlike other jurisdictions in the Caribbean, France does not consider her possessions as semi-autonomous territories but pretty much as just another part of France where everyone has the same rights and requirements as folks in mainland France. Also unlike most other Eastern Caribbean Islands, most of the 2,500 inhabitants are of European origin. I was first mate aboard the 148′ motor yacht “Kalizma” formerly owned by Liz Taylor and Richard Burton when I went there.
The Pitons in St Lucia, icons of one of my favourite Caribbean Islands. For me though this beautiful scene is not without sadness for in the waters just off the Pitons we recovered the body of a good friend and shipmate who had been diving for lobster. Perhaps one of the strongest lessons the sea ever taught me and one I bore with me a couple of years later while working as a commercial diver in Gibraltar. There’s a story about an encounter I had with a US coastguard cutter just off the Pitons in the series. I was skipper then of a research vessel that was formerly owned by the gentleman who became the president of Italy.
After the British Virgin Islands the Grenadines are arguably the next best cruising ground in the Americas. Some may say they are better than the BVI for the serious cruiser for they offer more blue water sailing. Bequia, pictured, one of the principal islands in the Grenadines, very much a stomping ground of the rich and famous, is one of the few places in the world where the International Whaling Commission permits the locals to hunt the odd whale as long as they use the traditional methods of row/sail boats and hand launched harpoons. I didn’t see that happen, nor did I see any of the rich and famous, but I did see an amazingly beautiful Island that I would like to see again.
“Enchantress” (picture of sister ship). A Riva 45, skipered her on delivery from Tortola to New York via, Puerto Rico, La Semana (Dominican Republic), Bahamas, Fort Lauderdale and the Inter- Coastal Waterway.
On the way up to New York delivering a Riva 45 from Tortola we passed through the Bahamas at a time when one or two of the Cays were hang outs for gentlemen of questionable income sources. Staniel Cay, in the Exumas, was not one of them, per se, but as we were approaching to anchor for the night I had a nagging itch in my memory banks that was trying to tell me something. It was after dinner, and well after the sun had set that one of my crew came up with what it was when he recounted the story of the boat that had gone missing there several months before. They never found the folks who were sailing it, but they did eventually find the boat gutted and abandoned in the Everglades with a number of bullet holes and blood stains and evidence that a quantity of narcotics had been transported in it. On hearing that I informed that crew member he had the first watch, loaded and gave him the shot gun and told him to stay on the flying bridge with his eyes wide open until I relieved him at midnight. I then went to bed with my pistol under my pillow, putting a 90 round banana clip in the M-1 carbine before I did so. Back then, when delivering boats like that through that zone, it was certainly not uncommon to be armed to the teeth. All that being said, Staniel Cay is a beautiful place and one I would certainly visit again……. And we were not accosted by Black Beard …… or Johnny Depp.
There are very few buildings in the world which attract me, but one which became a place almost of pilgrimage whenever in the area is the the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Much as I am drawn to the marvellously diversified halls and the incredible repository of knowledge made available within, this of itself is still not sufficient to entice me to New York, a city, like almost all others, I would rather avoid because of what it is…… a city. Saw a tremendous laser show put to the music of Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins many years ago in the Planetarium next door to the AMNH.
It had been close to eight years since I left England and had not seen my family in all that time. I’d only planned to be away for six months but there was always that next place I needed to see. After a year or so in the Islands my father back in England took quite ill so I got the job delivering the Riva 45′ from Tortola to New York and part of my payment was an air ticket back to England. I stayed for a while but soon ran out of money and work was hard to find, so “worked my passage” on an old cargo ship, the Captain and crew of which I knew from my previous Gibraltar sojourns, back down to Gibraltar again where I knew I could find work. It was during this stay, which lasted about a year, that I worked as a commercial diver, but as soon as my father recovered I started looking for an opportunity to head back to this islands, and one day that opportunity presented itself in the form of an old friend from my Cape Town days walking up the dock in the Marina looking for someone to help him sail a beautiful 59′ yacht to Antigua. A couple of days after I had moved onto the boat another captain friend from Fort Lauderdale days pulled up in a 110′ power boat and asked me to navigate him to Florida. I guess Neptune, or karma was working well with me at that time and the Universe had decided that it too wanted me back on the other side of the Atlantic for whatever purpose it had in mind. This story is told, and discussed, in the books.
It was while they were converting the St Michaael’s cave into an underground hospital in Gibraltar during the 2nd world war that the lower St Michael’s complex was accidentally uncovered. Utterly amazing limestone structures that far exceed the Mines of Moria of Tolkein’s Middle Earth. Though not as long as the Cango Caves in Cape Province, South Africa, the formations are more spectacular and far less imposed upon by tourists. You have to be pretty nimble to get down there, and can only go in small groups with a trained guide, but it’s well worth it.
The open ocean is where I’ve always found solace, even when rough. Don’t know how many months/years in total I’ve spent out of sight of land but I’m grateful for that time whether on the big ships or the smaller yachts (pictured is 59′ yacht “Fly” half way across the Atlantic en-route from Gibraltar to Antigua… Picture credit to Onne van der Wal). Seen many amazing sights, some of which I can’t explain, like the distinctive luminescent glow that would change shape and size beneath the boat at night, but I have never seen “the green flash”. Perhaps my open ocean days are done (maybe not) but the ones that I have had collectively deserve to be included here in the “Wanderings” album where I honour, for different reasons, some of the fascinating, inspirational, rewarding places my (sometimes webbed) feet have trod. Whilst on the voyage pictured I dove over the side in mid Atlantic to clear some flotsam that had snared the prop’. That was the deepest blue I have ever seen the sea and it was a weird feeling knowing that the nearest “land” was a couple of miles away….. beneath me.
Our landfall after the Atlantic crossing was English Harbour Antigua. Nelson’s old hang out during his Caribbean years. During the 80′s and 90′s I went stern to that dock, or anchored out in the bay in a number of craft ranging from 38′ cruiser racers to 148′ power boats. Had my appendix out there during one Antigua Sailing Week and the day I discharged myself from the clinic, still unable to stand straight, I ended up on the roof of the Copper and Lumber Store, the biggest building in the picture, where there was the best view of the prize giving below. That story, as well as a few others from that marvellous island and my wonderful sojourns there, are in books one and two of the series.
Having shown the picture of Napoleon’s grave in a previous slide, it’s only fair that I show a picture of Nelson’s resting place as well. This was his bed in his house in the dockyard that bears his name in English Harbour, Antigua. The house is now a museum in his honour and worth visiting if in the area. Nelson’s Dockyard is very high on my list of good time places I’ve been to and one I fully intend to visit again….. and again.
That trip I was only due to stay in Antigua for a few days before leaving the boat and catching a LIAT puddle jumper up to Tortola in my beloved British Virgin Islands. In short order I was back working on the charter boats again, sailing round the beautiful Caribbean and steadily establishing a grounding for myself after so many years of wandering. Here I could sail, dive, fish, race, and raise my kids in one of the most beautiful places on earth. But even that was destined not to last. But for the 16 great years I was to be based here I knew for the first time as an adult what it felt like to settle down and have somewhere that felt like home. Needless to say there are several BVI stories in the series.
The Old Government House in Road Town was then still the residence of the British Governor. I was to see a few come and go and was even presented with an award by one of them, H.E. Mark Herdman, when I left VISAR (Virgin Islands Search And Rescue) after 9 years on the board and being senior co-ordinator for the duration. The Christmas party there was always a great event and the grounds, which were re-vamped and made wonderful by a previous governor’s wife, Margaret Barwick, was a great place to stroll around and soak up the natural tropical energy of the Caribbean.
The Baths on the second most populace of the British Virgin Islands, Virgin Gorda, must be one of the wonders of the (Caribbean) world. Huge boulders that were likely the result of ancient volcanic up-thrust that form gigantic caverns in which the officers of old Royal Navy warships back in Nelson;s day would bathe; hence the name. These were a must on any charter and I can’t begin to guess how many times I’ve been there. My Tortola born daughter now works in the tourism sector there, organizing trips on Virgin Gorda for cruise ship and mega yacht passenger ….. I guess that acorn hasn’t fallen too far from the old oak tree.
They say music can remind you of an event or a person. Well I’m often the same with places. White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands I met one of the finest people I will meet during this life time. So apart from the beauty of the place, and the many good times had there over the years, this place brings back an especially fond memory. There was no dock at this bay anywhere, so when going ashore from the anchorage you had to either beach the dinghy or swim. Either way any money you took ashore with became soaked, hence the name of drinkery at the little hotel there, “The Soggy Dollar”. They literally had no cash register in which to deposit the money, but instead had a clothes line to dry it out.
Anegada, BVI. The place to escape to, even when I already lived in paradise. Could walk for miles on a sandy beach and not see a soul; pick and drink a jelly coconut, then snorkel the out-lying reef and swim with the huge sting rays. This was truly heaven on earth for me and I would go there whenever I could. The island sits atop the fourth largest barrier reef in the world which has claimed the hulls of hundreds of vessels over the years, and the lives of many of their crews.
As “G.V. First” she was once owned by Sylvio Berlusconi, President of Italy. I was Captain before and after she was sold and became “Okeanos”. Filmed a 20/20 episode with the Kilbride Clan, Armando Jenik, Hugh Downs and Geraldo Rivera. Also had on board Jean Michelle Cousteau. Dry docked in Miami for several weeks alongside Calypso. Ranged from Florida to Martenique.
This was the film crew with a couple of my own crew members aboard the research vessel I captained for a while (That’s me with my hands on my hips). They are sitting on a 300 year old anchor from a Spanish galleon we had raised while shooting a segment for 20/20. Behind me is a cannon we raised from the same wreck. There are a couple of stories involving this ship in the series. When I took over as Captain she was still owned by the former wife of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. To see the 20/20 episode (poor quality at the start but it gets better) go to http://www.onlinebvi.net/play.php?vid=300.
El Moro fort in Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico has guarded the entrance to San Juan Harbour since the early days of the Spanish Main. I always enjoy visiting such places steeped in history. Sir Francis Drake and Charles Howard’s fleets assembled at Virgin Gorda, now a 45 minute flight way, to prepare for their disastrous attack on the Spanish fleet sheltered in San Juan. They never got past the guns of El Moro. Sir Francis’ fleet limped away to lick their wounds and he finally succumbed to dysentery in Panama and died. I’ve wandered around these battlements a few times imagining what it must have been like back then in the midst of battle.
The wonderfully laid back island of Anguilla was the closest territory to the east during the many years I lived in the British Virgin Islands. Sailed there many times and have even managed a couple of visits since I moved to Canada in ’99. Hopefully there will be many more visits after I move back to the BVI in ‘??……. Note in the background the hills of St Maarten/Martin, another fun place but not in the same tranquil way as Anguilla.
“Endless Summer I”. Skippered her for two years in the charter trade from BVI, ranging through Virgins and Leeward Islands. Last charter was with Richard Branson and actor John Hurt. There’s a few stories in the series that came from this period.
Several times in the BVI I’ve been sailing when in close proximity to humpback whales, and occasionally would see them from my house in Tortola as they swam up Sir Frances Drake’s Channel. But the best encounter I had was off St Barths while on charter. The guests and half the crew had decided to walk from Bay St Jean to Gustavia leaving just two of us to sail the boat around to meet them there. Round the north-east tip we saw a cow and calf humpback so stopped the boat to watch, shutting down anything mechanical. They dived after a while and we thought they’d gone…. until the cow started rising from the depths directly beneath us. She was at right angles to the boat and stopped just beneath our keel. Had to have been well over twenty five feet long, likely a fair bit more, and only a few feet below us in the crystal clear water. I initially felt the urge to dive in with her, but must admit I chickened out. We waited until she gently descended once again and then waited a long time after that before we started up again. That’s my fondest (of many) memories of St Barths. This story is told in detail in the books.
When I walked these streets in Plymouth, the capital of Montserrat, it was a few years before the volcano blew. Another casualty of that tragic event was the golf course on which I played my first ever game of golf. (I’ve still only played five). It was on this island that Sir George Martin had his recording studio where so many of rock and roll’s greats were to work on albums that roared up the charts. That studio was another victim of the volcano. There’s a Montserrat story in book 2.
Cartagena, Colombia. Another place where the people were unbelievably friendly and the women soooo beautiful (but they are everywhere else I’ve been also). Interesting blend of old Spanish colonial past and modern emerging Latin American cultures reflected in the architecture as well as the people. I had to attend a shipping conference here and then headed down to Peru to explore that mystical land.
Probably the lushest place I’ve seen was the Amazon jungle of Eastern Peru. Went a few hours down the big river from Iquitos and turned left up a side stream and spent four days in a grass roofed cabin surrounded by the jungle. Was befriended by a young monkey at the nearby village who enjoyed sitting on my shoulder, but wasn’t very well house trained. The local Amerindians assured me it was good luck….. At least I think that’s what they were saying.
My first encounter with Aboriginal peoples from the Americas came in the Amazon jungle in Peru. I was staying at a primitive lodge in the area inhabited by Yagua Indians. Although I was later to become very interested in Aboriginal culture to the point of accepting some of their spiritual tenets as making more sense than those with which I was raised, I was disappointed with my contact with the Yagua. Yes they were authentic and still built houses like the one pictured, but the ones I met had been spoiled by tourism. They dressed in their traditional garb and painted themselves, danced their dances and blew their blow pipes for the tourists to see at 2:00 pm each day, after which the tourists were herded away from the village. I was ashamed to be part of such a group and my heart went out to the Yagua having their culture so exploited and degraded. I would love to return one day to the Amazon Jungle and meet the Aboriginal Peoples as they truly are.
Though I didn’t manage such a clear sighting as the one in the picture, I did manage to see the rare pink river dolphin on a side river feeding the Amazon in the Peruvian jungle. Just another of the thousands of unique and wonderful species who’s existence we threaten with our greed and self destructive and totally false belief that the natural realm was put there to serve us.
Cusco, Peru. Apart from the altitude sickness when I first arrived this town in the Andes was magic. Music and colour everywhere on the streets; incredible reminders of the great Inca civilization where ever you looked, and an energy about the place I’ve seldom found elsewhere. A great place for travellers on the road to visit and rest before moving onward. There are several Peru stories in book one.
What can I say other than please read the story in book one. This place is absolutely awesome (and I seldom ever use that word!) Machu Pichu, Peru. We bribed the guards who let us in before dawn and two of us had the place to ourselves as the sun rose. One of the most spiritual experiences I’ve known. My favourite story of many favourite stories in the Wanderings and Sojourns series.
A rare picture of yours truly; this one was taken at that spiritual experience at Machu Pichu when we had the place to ourselves at dawn. Standing on a small peak overlooking the ruins as the dawn clouds pulled back up from the Urubamba Valley to reveal Machu Pichu spread below me, I was reading from an English translation of Pablo Neruda’s great work of poetry “The Heights Of Macu Pichu”. I can understand why the likes of Shirley McClain rave about the spiritual energies of the place.
While hiking on the Inca Trail in Peru on a part that was quite narrow, necessitating that my girlfriend and I walked in single file, she suddenly screamed. I turned to see her looking at at a cascavel, one of the deadliest snakes in the Americas, on the path between us. As if that wasn’t bad enough she then informed me that it had just bitten my leg. We were hours of hiking away from any medical help and were later told that it only takes a full grown mule less than eight hours to die from a bite, so it could have been quite a nasty situation…. If I had been bitten. The snake apparently had been sunning itself by the trail and I had almost stepped on it. It had lunged at me and if it did connect at all it must have been with the tough leather of my hiking boots. As you have no doubt gathered, I did live to tell the tale which is recounted in book one of the series.
It was while hiking out to the Inca ruins of Winay Wayna that I had the close encounter with the cascavel. The ruins were worth it though. Not as large or spectacular as Machu Pichu they are, none the less, beautiful, set against the incredible scenery of the Urubamba valley that hike rates very highly on the best yet list, despite the close encounter of the deadly poisonous snake kind.
The greatest altitude I’ve experienced with my feet on the ground was hiking the high Andes above the town of Lamay which lies in the Urubamba Valley in Peru. The highlands had an incredible raw primitiveness to them that left one feeling that this was how the earth should be (much the same as I felt on the Rhodesian savannah). I loved this area so much I gave more than just fleeting thoughts toward relocating there, despite the siroce (altitude sickness) from which I suffered badly on the higher trails. And despite the fact that in the next valley, the Apurimac, the Sendero Luminosso (Shining Path) were doing their insurgent thing.
Visited Nassau, Bahamas many times. Lived there for many weeks soon after leaving Africa, sailed through a couple of times, had sales conferences there. Even went there on a cruise (I do NOT like cruises) during which we visited Blue Lagoon Island, pictured. However, as it was owned by a friend and colleague of mine, I was invited there as the last of the tourist boats were departing for the day and had the place pretty much deserted. I’ve always reckoned the best way to see a tourist trap is when the tourists aren’t trapped there. Bahamians also rank very highly on my friendly people list, and rank the highest on my conch chowder chefs list.
I forget now which of the many hurricanes it was that brought to my garden three incredibly brightly coloured Amazon macaws. They roosted in my almond tree for about six weeks after the hurricane. No idea where they came from or where they went, but they were most welcome guests while they were there. If anyone reading this remembers the story I wrote and read for First Impressions day care in Tortola about the River Elves from Dominica helping the Mountain Elves of the BVI deal with the phenomena of rivers that were unknown in Tortola until that hurricane, well these macaws were in that story, and that story is in the books.
VISAR (Virgin Islands Search And Rescue) response craft. I was a founding director of that voluteer organization and trained with, and was senior coordinator of, for 9 years. Trained with US Coast Guard, Royal Navy and RNLI. Was president during Hurricane Hugo where founded and ran the “VISAR Net” throughout the hurricane which included relief operations as far away as Culebra. That story is told in the series.
Been away now for waaay too many years but I still think of this beautiful place as home. My two youngest, were born there and I lived there for nigh on 18 years. Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Wait for me….. I’m coming home someday. Maybe if I sell enough books.
Winter in Canada is never a bad thing for me. I spent twenty years of my life at one stretch with virtually no winter weather so now I truly appreciate the turning of the seasons. Here’s Niagara Falls, from the Canadian side, on a bitter cold winter’s day. I loved it! At time of posting this I have lived in Canada for 13 years raising my kids.
Ouallie Beach Nevis, with St Kitts in the background, really is this pristine, as are many other beaches on the beautiful island shaped a little like a huge Sombrero. I was staying with friends in the hills when a troop of green monkeys paraded across the trees on the edge of the lawn. The island is lush with fruit hanging from the trees and the sea is full of fish. Add a splash of the local rum and I think this place has everything required for a pretty decent existence. I have long thought this to be a great place to be based while writing books.
Here’s the view of Nevis looking south from its partner in the twin island nation, St Kitts. St Kits itself boast many fine beaches, just like Nevis and the old sugar plantation narrow gauge railway system has been converted as a means of touring the island for the tourists. First time I was there I visited a sugar mill where the furnaces were fuelled by the bagasse, the fibrous waste product from crushing the cane to extract the juice that is distilled into sugar. Of course I had to sample the rum that seems to be another ubiquitous by-product of such places!
Another disaster to impact an island was hurricane Ivan. Most people heard about the damage it did to Grand Cayman because that was well covered by the mainland TV stations. Lesser coverage was given to the impact it had on the beautiful island of Grenada where it decimated the world renown nutmeg industry and destroyed the homes of thousands of residents. I was there not too long afterwards and was impressed by the resilience of the islanders and their warmth and friendliness despite having gone through, and still going through, such a tough time. Happy to say this jewel of an island, pre-recession, was the beneficiary if some sensible investment in sustainable tourism and that the nutmeg industry is rebounding now that the post hurricane stock is reaching maturity. And this used to be the place that yachties went for the hurricane season because it was considered to be south of the hurricane belt.
The rich farmlands of the Cibao in the north of the Dominican Republic are off the beaten tourist track but for me represent the true beauty of that country. People were so friendly and the land was so lush and bountiful. The city of Santiago boasts the oldest cathedral in the “New World” and the farms and villages around Vela were so laid back. Also saw some of the biggest bats I’ve ever seen there. Which is just as well because the mosquitoes were pretty large as too.
Barbados. Now there’s a place to retire!!!!! Just beautiful. I had the misfortune of having to go there a couple of times on business. To bad that particular endeavour of mine was wiped out by the recession. Oh well, when one trail comes to and you look for the next one that leads onward from that point, even if you have to hack your way through the bush to find it.
As I post this I live in King Township, out in the country just north of Toronto. Here I’ve spent many a happy hour hiking and maintaining the Cold Creek Conservation Area trails. My record to date is seeing 49 deer and 18 wild turkeys in one vista. The 475 acres boast a wide diversity of habitat from bog to forest to wetlands to creeks to kettle lakes, and each bend in the trail offers a very different experience. A great nearby getaway that can be fit into a busy schedule I will do what I can to ensure this little oasis of nature so close to the sprawling artificial ugliness of Toronto endures.
Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada. Many wonderful back country adventures with the kids into this wilderness paradise. Here you see my two youngest, both BVI born, when they were 11 and 9 at sunset on one of the numerous lakes beside which we’ve camped over the years. I believe we need to maintain our connection with the natural, real, world and we’re so fortunate to have the perfect place to do so just a couple of hundred miles from our doorstep. I made a point of taking my into the wilderness for one or two weeks each year as they were growing just to maintain their connectivity with the realities of life as it should be, naturally. And that is a theme of many of the stories and poems in the books, and is why I am so enamoured by the true Old Ways of Aboriginal Peoples from all over the world before the colonizers came and ruined it all for them. And that attitude is also in some of the stories and poems in the series.
In closing here is a picture of me doing what I love most in Canada. As with so many aspects of what I’ve done in my wandering life, my back country skills are self-taught, and for those who reckon you should sit in a canoe while paddling, you should try kneeling just forward of the aft thwart and see how much better it gets …… If there’s one thing I’ve learned from all these years of travel it has to be that by doing things the same as everyone else in the easiest and most convenient way you miss out on so much you could be doing that’s much better than what’s readily on offer.
And on that note I’ll leave you this little gem which I use to contextualize one of the poems in book 3……
“Do not go where the path may lead;
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”
…Ralph Waldo Emerson
