Antics in Anahita

We have been busy doing nothing, punctuated by some sort of daily workout and some kayaking, hiking and bike-riding. Things are definitely different than our normal "busy" vacation. Today we even slept in and missed breakfast (which is included). It is a steady 25-30C and I know that doesn't sound hot but the humidity is always 80% minimum, making it very sticky. Yesterday, we walked down a few fairways on the golf course and I think there was only one group out golfing.

The Four Seasons Resort that we are staying at is located near the village of Anahita, in the District of Flacq, one of nine districts on the island. Flacq District is on the easternmost part of the island. Since our villa is on the easternmost part of the resort which is on the easternmost part of the island, we should have seen some great sunrises since we got here. However, because of Cyclone Glenda which skirted by here just after we arrived, it has been pretty cloudy out towards the east. Don't worry, I think Cyclone Glenda has now fizzled out because the winds have died down and the sea was dead calm today.

Yesterday, we took out a 2-man kayak (we won't be doing that again). It was a pretty good workout though and I think we need one for the lake. They have an excellent fitness area here and we have been there almost every day. You pick up your bikes at the fitness club and just about everybody uses them to get around the resort. There are three restaurants here and everybody rides their bikes to the dining venues and other areas of the resort, where bike racks are always somewhere near the entrance of every building. They attach a little license plate to your bike that shows which villa it belongs to, so there is no grand theft bicycle.

The gardens here are the most impressive I have ever seen on any resort property. We've been told that there are 100 gardeners working the grounds full time. My mother would have loved it here.

We have been doing a little bird-watching. It is pretty easy since the gardens here attract all kinds of indigenous and introduced species of birds. We want to see the Pink Pigeon and/or the Mauritius Kestrel which are rare indigenous birds but no luck, so far. To our dismay, the most numerous sightings of birds have been of the common House sparrow and the common Myna, since they tend to dine with us at every meal, in these open-air restaurants. But Mrs. Gym gets top award so far, for spotting a Red Fody which she failed to capture on film but if you google it you will see what a cool red bird it is.

We both have seen another larger, winged creature which initially, looked to us like a significant bird of prey. However, there was something different about that first one we saw, so we watched it until it got close and we realized it was not a bird at all. To Mrs. Gym's dismay, this area of Mauritius is blessed with a healthy population of Flying Foxes. These are native animals to this island and they are related to the giant flying foxes of Australia. These animals put the bats at the lake to shame. Some specimens have wingspans of 2/3's of a meter and can weigh up to 2 pounds (twice the weight of a crow).

Just at the end of our yard there are often crabs that
hang out on the rocks. This one is Frank.

We share our backyard with Pete. He loves the sun as
much as Mrs. Gym

On the left is one of the open-air restaurants on the resort
and on the right is the main lobby and the bar.

This fisherman is standing on a baby mangrove
island about 75 meters of our backyard. I think he
is using a hand-line.

Linda had to go to the bathroom but this Mauritian kept me
company while she was gone. It is a Myna that was probably mad at me
for finishing my toast.

We will try to get a picture of a flying fox tonight.

Ambitious to go to Mauritius

Yes, we are in Mauritius and it is beautiful here.

Mauritius? It is an island nation and independent republic. It is also a democracy that became independent from Britain in 1968. Britain claimed the island from France in 1810 after losing a naval engagement and later winning a land battle against the French. Britain allowed the inhabitants to retain their french language and continue to settle criminal and civil cases in accordance with the laws of France (that sounds familiar). The French held the island for about 95 years and before them, the Dutch held dominion over the area but it was too hot and none of the trees were suitable for making wooden shoes. Today, the locals seem to be comfortable in both French and English but they speak a french-african creole among themselves.

The nation is about 700-800 kilometres east of Madagascar, Africa. It is on the southern end of a ridge that runs from the the Seychelles in the north, down through the islands that make up the country of Mauritius. That ridge is called the Mascaren Plateau and it is shaped like the eastern edge of Madagascar. The largest land mass in the country is the island of Mauritius but there are other smaller islands such as Reunion and Rodrigues. The country is about the same size as the island of Maui in Hawaii, at about 2000 square kilometres. It is a popular vacation spot for both the French and the English as well as significant numbers of wealthy Chinese and Arabs. Americans are rare in these parts which is somewhat refreshing for Mrs. Gym and I. The Maui comparison ends at the size of the country, as I have not seen a Walmart, a 7-11 or even a billboard since I got here and we are an hour from the airport. More surprising to me was that I have not seen any trash on the side of the road. It is a very green island surrounded by the third largest continuous reef on earth and the water inside the reef is bright azure-blue.

What inspired a trip to Mauritius? Well, my orders were to find a place with a beach where we could have a restful vacation and not have to tour any historic sites, compare architectural themes or wander ancient ruins, so I started with that. I guess the Boss was tired after a couple of years of vacations where we were on the go almost 24/7 from the start of our vacations to the end of them. I have to agree that  after the last few trips it felt like it was a rest, getting back to work. So, I thought about the beach venues that I wanted to try out and I think we nailed it with this gem here in Mauritius.

The first time I remember hearing of Mauritius was when I read the 4th book in the 22-book Aubrey-Maturin Series written by Patrick O'Brian. This particular instalment of the series is entitled, "The Mauritius Command". To be honest, many of my travels have been inspired by these novels. However, there is another draw to this island that everyone can relate to. Mauritius is the island where the Dodo bird lived. Who wouldn't have the island of the Dodo on their bucket list?

One of the most noteworthy things related to our arrival here was our delightful transit through the airport. Now, Mrs. Gym and I have been through a lot of airports in the world and I am honestly telling you that this one ranks for us as number one in every category. It had dual level air bridges for the big two-deck planes (Calgary doesn't have this yet). It has a beautifully designed interior with tons of space and a feature wall that is strikingly impressive. Then, most importantly, customs and immigration was quick and efficient and before we knew it we were in the massive hall containing several of the largest and most modern luggage carousels that I have ever seen.  Our luggage was already there when we came into the hall. I will swear we were off the plane and in a taxi within 15 minutes. And I am not the only one who was impressed by this airport. The following article was posted from February 27, 2015 just after we were there:

Mauritius’ main international airport, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport won or came second in three award categories at the ASI Air Service Quality (ASQ) awards for 2014.

The airport won the category for ‘Best Airport in Africa’, ‘Best Improved Airport in Africa’ and won second place for ‘Best Airport by Size: 2-5 Million Passengers’.

Pretty cool, eh?

More, on the resort and what we have been up to in my next installment. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what it is like.

Mrs. Gym on the path to our villa

Mrs. Gym on our free bikes

the view from our backyard

our front yard

the back yard from the villa

hotel pool

quiet beach

Ernie Els' design

kitchen garden

Other guests of the hotel

Bonjour!

The 2015 Airline Awards

I laugh because I know some of you know, that we are gone on our 2015 “Winter Escape”. And here you come on to the blog to see a post from Buenos Aires today, just prior to this posting. Well let me just say that I finish what I start. It might take me a while but I eventually get it done.

In my defense, it has been a busy year and that last bit from our 2014 trip was a ton of work. We covered a lot of ground that day and I wanted an accurate record of it but I just kept putting it off.

So what about the 2015 trip? Well let’s just say we are back in the southern Hemisphere. However, we are nowhere near South America this time. This year we are just about as far away from Calgary as you can get. We are in the southern Indian Ocean on an island nation which is situated to the east of Madagascar, and I will get into the description of that island and provide a theme for you in my next posting.  Suffice it to say, I thought that because we made this epic journey getting here I should describe the journey itself because it was a real marathon. We flew 21 hours to get here on three airlines with a 2-hour layover in Europe and a 3-hour layover in the Middle East. It was 26 hours of travelling but because we flew east we lost a day and a half as we flew into the earth’s rotation. The coolest thing about it though is that we can legitimately compare three good long-haul airlines. So without further adieu, I give you ……

GYM’S 2015 AIRLINE AWARDS

We flew business class all the way, used each airline’s business class lounge and can make a number of different comparisons for you.

The first leg of the journey started in Calgary and took us across Canada’s Great Canadian Shield, crossed over the Hudson’s Bay and then over Labrador on a line that would have us fly above the North Atlantic Ocean, just south of Greenland and Iceland. Then we flew over Scotland and the English Channel, eventually entering German airspace and landed in Frankfurt, one of Europe’s busiest airports. Air Canada was chosen to handle this first segment and it was completed in a  767.

After a short layover in Frankfurt, we boarded a Lufthansa 747-400. This leg took us over eastern Europe, the corner of Asia and then dropped us down through the Middle East and into Dubai. Notable was the fact that we flew across the Black sea just to the south of Ukraine and then ran down between Iraq and Iran, without getting shot down. I was happy to sea the lights of Dubai as we left Iranian airspace and crossed the Persian Gulf.

The final leg of the trip went almost due south over the U.A.E., skirted the corner of Saudi Arabia and then went over Oman leaving that country’s airspace at Salalah.  From there it was all over water as we traveled down the eastern side of Africa in a nice new Emirates Boeing 777 to our final island destination.

There are lots of things to compare and I have tried to narrow it down to the important stuff, the things that matter to everyone. First on the list is the most important comparison, as follows:

THE SLEEPER AWARD

This gold medal goes to Air Canada for its “lie flat sleeper pods”. These units just have more room and you really can lie flat.  In addition the AC units allow you to flip over and roll around a little bit, as long as you loosen the seatbelt somewhat.  The pods also offer you more privacy so you can pick your nose and scratch things and no one will notice. Emirates units are nice but you don’t lie flat and movement is more restricted. Lufthansa seats afford no privacy and are really just recliners.

BEST AIRPORT LOUNGE

This wasn’t even close. The Maple Leaf lounge in Calgary simply sucks in comparison to the other two lounges but it’s better than anything an American airline offers. The clear winner though is Emirates, by a country mile. Incredible is a good word to describe the service, the style and comfort and the food and liquor offered by Emirates. Lufthansa gets a silver medal here and a special mention for serving Frankfurters with frankfurters for lunch in Frankfurt. It was also neat to see all the Germans drinking Beck’s draft just like they were supposed to be doing.

searching for the Emirates lounge in Dubai

Finally, at the Emirates lounge and unfortunately
there is only 5 chefs on at 2 am

IN-FLIGHT SERVICE AWARD

This wasn’t close either. Air Canada wins this award hands down. The senior crew on Air Canada, and I mean “senior” in more ways than one, really knew what they were doing. Everyone on the flight got what they ordered and although the food could be better quality, it was served efficiently and there were no screw-ups. Lufthansa had some nice offerings but somehow. they got out of sync. Perhaps they got confused when I said something that sounded like a German phrase and later, when queried in that language, I answered with a blank stare. Next time this happens I will just say, Danka. Emirates attendants looked good but the service was poorly coordinated and  simply the worst of the three. I was actually shocked by the service on Emirates.

AIRPORT SERVICE

Emirates gets the gold here. The Emirates tickets were not linked to the other two tickets and we were worried about our luggage. Emirates ground crew simply asked us for our Lufthansa luggage tags and promised us that they would get our luggage on their plane, which they did. They then guided us through this enormous airport to their lounge where we waited for our flight to be called. The Lufthansa staff was very nice but something the Air Canada staff did caused the normally efficient Germans to be embarrassed because the AC tickets we’d been issued for the Lufthansa flight were not recognized by the German hardware which delayed us from boarding first. In addition, the Air Canada departure gate staff in Calgary were held up by the airplane cleaners who could not get their act together to let us get away on time. Luckily we had a tail wind and made up the time.

CABIN AND COMFORT

Emirates had the most beautiful, modern interiors and the most gadgets I have ever seen on a plane including an excellent touchscreen entertainment center connected to a laptop at each seat. Emirates also had the best swag bag I have ever seen offered by any airline that I have traveled on. The Emirates swag bag includes a BVLGARI gift set, a real tooth brush and a month’s suppy of colgate toothpaste, a better razor than I use and a decent brush comb that is useful. I will be re-gifting the expensive men’s cologne next Christmas. The other two airlines were sort of tied in this category but let’s give the edge to Lufthansa who seemed to have a better selection of movies.

FLIGHT ATTENDENTS

Google pictures of Emirates flight attendants and you will see why they win gold here. They actually look like the pictures you will pull up on the net. They are young and their rich looking uniforms are perfectly tailored. Lufthansa gets the silver in their smart suits. Air Canada attendants need a makeover. Their uniforms are old school and the average age is 25 to 30 years older than the Emirates staff. AC attendants need a makeover but let’s hope they don’t ever lose their knack for excellent service.

So for those of you that are keeping track, Emirates won this competition with the most gold medals and the most overall points. However, there were some surprises and again let me just say that both Air Canada and Lufthansa beat any American airline in every category, hands down – especially United Airlines.

Tomorrow I will let you know where we are, so stay tuned.

Last Day in BA - March 19, 2014

Before I describe our last day in BA, I wanted to close the loop on the thread of a story that I started off the coast of Uruguay. The German pocket battleship Graf Spee had been scuttled and lay in the shallow waters close to where we had docked in Montevideo.  After scuttling the ship, the German Captain, Hans Langsdorff escaped to Buenos Aires. I thought we might come across his grave in BA but we did not. Suffice it to say, the noble Captain committed suicide in BA, 3 days after he scuttled his ship. He took his own life while he lay on the ship’s battle flag, in a hotel, in BA. He was buried by his crewmen, with full honors, in a cemetery we did not get to in our visit.

The last day of one’s vacation should normally not be as busy as our’s was. We were tuckered out after a full day of polo followed by the nighttime tango show and were sleeping soundly when the alarm went off to get us up and ready for a full day of touring. We breakfasted again in the Elena restaurant and were ready on time to checkout and be picked up by Carlos and our driver.

A short time later, we found ourselves in the Plaza de Mayo, the center of the political heartbeat of Buenos Aires. If someone wants to protest something, they do so in this place. We got out of the van and discovered that there were two protests going on the day of our visit and the park was very busy. Carlos negotiated the hubbub of The Plaza with us and it was here we learned how knowledgeable he was about his city and how much pride he had in it. We stopped in front of the Mayo Pyramid, the monument that commemorates the May revolution of 1810 that led to independence.  Surrounding the plaza are several important buildings, including the Casa Rosada, the home of the executive branch of the federal government and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Famous people have spent time here.  Eva Peron and Pope Francis are noteworthy examples. 

The Mayo Pyramid in Plaza de Mayo with Casa Rosada in the
background

Metropolitan Cathedral looks more like a library or bank than a
catholic church

We had lots of ground yet to cover, so we left the district of Montserrat and went through San Telmo to get to La Boca. La Boca is a working class neighborhood, famous for its brightly colored houses and the Boca Junior football club. We bought a soccer jersey here for our son and walked through the Caminito, a walkway an open-air museum where tango dancers were performing and local artists were displaying their wares.  Mrs. Gym found a couple of colourful handmade scarves at one of the stalls here. We then jumped back in the van and went back into the adjoining district of San Telmo but this time we stopped at the indoor market there. This area is quite distinct with its cobblestone streets and its colonial architecture. The venue of the tango show we had enjoyed the previous night was somewhere nearby.  The indoor market was in an old warehouse with a roof supported by wrought-iron trusses.   Carlos picked out a pastry for us at a kiosk here and we took a loop around the market where a wide variety of goods were being sold. There were many antique dealers and a great butcher shop inside the market. We left San Telmo and circled back through some very upscale areas towards Recoleta and a place that Carlos had picked out for us to have lunch.

Caminito an open-air museum in La Boca

The figures on the balconies are sculptures

The barrio was a working class neighborhood near the docks

typical artist kiosks in Caminito area

Our lunch spot was the Sottovoce, a highly rated Italian restaurant in the Recoleta area that caters to numerous politicians and government employees who work nearby. The walls are adorned with the caricatures of famous patrons which are hung on the wood-paneled walls. The pasta was great and I hope we can try it again sometime in the future when we are able to enjoy a longer service and some fine wine.

After lunch we visited the very famous Recoleta cemetery and the tombs of many Argentinian Presidents, Generals and wealthy families including the family tomb of Eva Peron’s father where Evita is buried. All the tombs contain the remains of many generations of well-to-do families and the architecture of each one is quite unique. Carlos led us around and pointed out some of the oddities and compared the architectural styles that were used in the cemetery.

an elaborate family resting place

memorial to Evita

each family plot contain many family generations and
may include several levels of caskets

a fancy coorner lot

a typical avenue in the cemetery

Later in the afternoon we explored the barrio of Palermo in the northern part of Buenos Aires.  This is a huge neighborhood that contains the largest green space in the entire city. The park is called the Palermo Woods. Although Palermo is newer districts than the barrios we had toured in the morning, this area is where all the rich and famous live and the real estate is very pricey, especially near the park.  There were numerous trendy cafes, bars and outdoor patios in the area. The restaurants covered all of the themes.

This is an old theatre turned into a bookstore that we took in

part of the Rose Garden in Palermo Woods

roses everywhere even though the "season for roses" was over

A water feature in Palermo Woods

elaborate walking paths

Palermo Woods

Before heading off to the airport, Carlos led us on a walking tour of the Rose Garden which is a part of the Palermo Woods and although this wasn’t the best season for the roses, it was still an impressive display. The enormous, multi-use park was well planned out for use by a variety of outdoor enthusiasts and had the feel of Central Park in NYC.

Our tour complete, Carlos saw us to the airport and when we got there offered guidance to the check-in counters. We said goodbye there and thanked Carlos for a job really well done.

Sadly, this is the final submission from the 2014 South American expedition. It was a great trip but it went by too quickly. We had that one night in a Rio hotel and then hooked up with the Oceana cruise ship which remained docked for a couple of nights allowing us to tour Rio with the cruise’s guides. We then sailed down the entire southeastern shoreline of Brazil stopping at several great points of interest and seeing a great variety of Brazilian geography. Then we docked in Uruguay and had a fantastic tour of the capital, Montevideo. Finally, we crossed the River Platte and left the ship in Buenos Aires. From there we had a whirlwind land tour of Argentina, seeing the world-famous Iguazu Falls and spending two incredibly full days in and around Buenos Aires. We were dog-tired at the end, so tired that it took me a year to finish this last installment. I apologize for being so tardy with this.

As I finish this submission Mrs. Gym and I have already embarked on the 2015 adventure to a new and exciting venue which is almost as far away from home for us as you can go. Stay tuned!

Busy in Buenos Aires

March 18, 2014



After less than 24 hours in Iguazu Falls we boarded another Argentinian domestic airline and flew back to the Buenos Aires regional airport. It was a less bumpy ride than the one the previous day. Shortly after landing we met up with Carlos again. Carlos met us not far from the luggage carousel, in the airport and drove us into central BA where he deposited us at the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel. We would see Carlos again in about 36 hours because he was going to give us a personal tour of the city on our last day in Argentina.

Carlos: Our gracious host

The Four Seasons' hotel is a gorgeous property in downtown BA. It is located in the Recoleta district of the city which we were slated to see more of on March 19. The main tower of the building was built in 1992 in the front yard of the former Alzaga Unzue property.  The French Renaissance-styled mansion  that Mr. Unzue built in 1920, still stands behind the main tower and it has been beautifully renovated as part of the hotel, containing 27 opulent hotel suites. In between the main tower and the mansion is a courtyard and underneath the courtyard, is the Elena restaurant. Named after the bride of the Unzue mansion, this stunning eatery is just off the main lobby of the hotel. It was here that we started our day on the 18th, a day that would prove to be very stimulating and at the same time very tiring. We were to cover a lot of ground on that day.

The main tower of the Four Seasons Hotel

Behind the main tower is the Unzue Mansion
which now houses 27 hotel suites

In between the main tower and the masion is the courtyard.
This shot is taken from our room in the main tower and it shows the
pool on the right and a skylight under which sits the Elena restaurant.

Continuing along with the 2014 theme of exploring south-eastern South America and not wasting a minute of our time in the process, we decided that we would explore activities that Argentinians were famous for and we executed on a couple of good ideas. We were going to check out the sport of Polo and later, experience some Tango dancing.

Again, Andes Drifters' organized everything but today it wasn't a guide that picked us up, it was a polo player. We were to leave the city and drive into the surrounding countryside to experience an 'Argentina Polo Day'. I encourage you to Google that and you will discover that according to Tripadvisor that 'Argentina Polo Day' is the #2-rated thing to do in BA. This turned out to be an excellent experience! However, when I signed up for this excursion, I did not realize that we were actually going to play the game! But we did and that is what really made this a fantastic experience.

Arriving at the polo grounds, we met the other guests and a very charismatic guide gave us a condensed tutorial on all things polo. He reviewed the various polo equipment, described the nature of a polo pony and summarized the rules of this very complex and unique sport. Then we watched 4 chukars (segments) of a game between opposing teams of polo club members, including our driver, who played a match of polo in the morning, like most of my friends might play a round of golf. Our instructor stood on the sidelines and continued the lessons as the match unfolded in front of us. Then it was our turn and we headed back to the clubhouse to get suited up, grab a mallet and a mount a pony. After a little bit, we were out there smacking balls around that regulation polo field which is about six times larger than a football field. We were out there for quite a while and it was a good workout, chasing those balls on horseback and swinging that mallet. The ponies we rode were wonderful for amateurs like us and they were well-trained to participate at half-speed so we could make contact with the ball. What amazed me more than anything about these animals was that they seemed to have as much fun as we did playing the game. The ponies were wary of us though and to our amazement they knew when to turn their heads to avoids a lick on the side of the cranium by an amateur's over-enthusiastic follow-through. Each team of participants included a couple of club players to keep the game going and to encourage the guests and it was a ton of fun. I even scored a couple of goals. However, soreness aside, it was a wonderful day and it was as fulsome an exploration of the sport of Polo as any day could have been.

Warning - We had not conditioned our riding muscles to the extent necessary to really impress the Argentinians. I recommend building up the adductors and abductors before trying this.

A club player before the match

The instructor going over some of the rules with Mrs. Gym

The 'club match' in progress

amateurs posing with a real player

Mrs. Gym's polo pony

our equipment

spectator

a cool action shot taken by Mrs. Gym

Note: I do have some shots of us playing and will add them when I can find them

After the match, we rode around the property and then enjoyed a wonderful late afternoon, Argentinian BBQ in a beautiful outdoor setting, adjacent to the polo field. After lunch and on the way back into the city, we toured another property owned by the same people that was being developed to host groups of polo students in style, at a fantastic "polo camp" that featured luxury overnight accommodations and top notch polo training grounds.

Lunch Seating for our little group of amateur polo players

the accommodations at the 'polo camp'

interior of 'polo camp' accommodations

a bedroom at the 'polo camp'

We then sped back into town and as sore as we were, we only had enough time to shower and change into our best dining attire before another driver came to pick us up for the Tango show. Again this was pre-arraged through Andes Drifters and it was a fantastic evening at Gala Tango (www.galatango.com). The dinner was first class and our table was just a few feet from the stage. The dance troupe and the accompanying musicians were extraordinary. The expert concertina player must have been 80 years old and there was even a gaucho bolo performance thrown in as a bonus.  Everything was wonderful except for the fact that a little Spanish would have gone a long ways to improving my evening because some of the staff had limited ability in English.

Warning - Argentinians eat big portions. They also eat huge amounts of red meat. A steak serving is substantial. If you want a fist-sized serving, the smallest they serve is a serving the size of Shaquelle's O'Neal's fist.

a wonderful meal and a great show but unfortunately we
could not take pictures during the performance

the stage prior to the performance

the musicians played from this area

the interior of the Gala Tango dining room

After the Tango show, we returned to the Four Seasons and slept very well that night.