Interlude: MY CHICKEN...

More on this story later - but this is my Easter "egg". If strangle chicken it squirms and makes choking noises...
oh and the cheeks light up and the eyes pop out...

KERB!!!

I think this word "Kerb" will forever bring fear to my heart and nightmares to my Dad! But before I explain things, I must firstly apologise to my Dad (who will probably read this) in saying I really appreciate your driving and you being brave enough to drive on the "wrong" side of the road, but seriously I did not exactly enjoy this part of the trip (however, there was a worse moment, so don't feel too bad... all in good humor!)

So, you may have guessed from that little interlude that we did some driving. Um, let me clarify that, my Dad did some driving and I did a lot of "backseat driving" and yelling! It was decided that it would be a good idea to hire a car for two days and to go driving into the interior of the island. Sounded good. We picked the car up on the Monday morning and had a little practice run of driving on the right hand side of the road (note we are used to driving on the left hand side of the road... the CORRECT side!!). All was fine, bar going around a small roundabout the wrong way (for the Canarians) the correct way for us (the Brits!). Thankfully no-one was in the area to witness this little mishap and we found it rather amusing (probably the only moment I found amusing!) After finding our accommodation (eventually) and packing to have a day in the interior, we set off all ready for adventure... Dad driving, Mom in the back (behind Dad) and me in the passenger seat with the map. Who said I could read maps anyway!!! Especially in a foreign language.

Okay, I am generally pretty good at giving directions (I will blow my own horn here) but it doesn't help if I have a map that isn't exactly clear about where roads go and which roads join into others (or not). I got us lost! And in the process got us onto the MOTORWAY before we were actually ready to get onto a busy road (oops!). Still things were okay at this point (despite us heading in the wrong direction). After our little diversion and a couple more wrong turns, I eventually got us onto the correct road to head inland (why oh why did I do this??? I had the map, I should have taken us elsewhere! Why inland?).

Initially things went well. I had the added task, now, of letting my Dad know if we were likely to hit the kerb/cars/walls/anything to the right of the car. Which was okay. The odd yell of "kerb" saw us move to the left a little. No harm done... there was room on the right for some error, so I wasn't too stressed at present. Not a problem.

So the journey began. I had a chance to look at the view as we headed for the hills (mountains!) and enjoy the vegetation and geology. As we traveled, we decided to stop off at an Aboriginal village, which we didn't even know was there but saw this "touristy" place so stopped. On having a quick look at the outside entrance, we decided to venture into the village and have a look around. At the entrance we came across a novel idea: there were various breeds of dogs (someone's pets presumably) all sitting along a wall with a signpost asking visitors to feel free to take the dogs for a walk. My Mom and I took a dog each but shortly into our tour of the village I landed up with both dogs. So, some photos of the village and scenes around the village:

Left: scene from village.






Right: geese at village... with goslings.





After our visit of the Aboriginal village, which told us of how the original Canarians lived and all about their society, religious beliefs and way of life, we carried on with our journey into the interior. At this point I started losing interest in the scenery and became very aware of the kerb (or lack thereof) and the sudden drop (disappearance of tarmac and solid ground) on the right. Any sign of the car going a bit too far to the right was met with a yelp of "KERB" from me. I don't recall the rest of the journey that well at all. I know we traveled through villages and towns, namely San Bartolome De Tirajana, Tejeda, Artenara, Valleseco and Teror because I had to look out for those signs and keep us it the right direction, but the road and the white line depicting the edge of the road were my main focus. I think what made things bad for me was that I was not used to being on the right side of the car where there was no road on the right of me (I know as a driver one tends to sit on the right hand side of the car, but it is rather off-putting when there actually is no road to the right of you, as would be the case if you were actually driving in the UK); also the roads were narrow and windy (very, very windy!), and there was no room for error - if we went over the white line we went off the road! And to add to all of this, the drivers coming in the opposite direction all seemed to want to be on our side of the road! This just totally freaked me out and poor Dad got the brunt of it. Kerb... Kerb... kerb.... KERB... For the next oh I don't know how many hours my adrenalin was pumping and I felt ILL! I can't even remember where we stopped off for lunch, I am just amazed I managed to eat. I did enjoy the stops though (could breath again and pry my eyes off the road) but alas dreaded getting back into the car. But, to be a trooper, here are some photos of the area (which admittedly I was glad to have seen - even if it was later when I looked at the photos!)...


Left: I haven't a clue where this is, but think it may be close to the Aboriginal village...




Right: still no clue. But nice scenery.





Above: looking up from road (we had stopped). There were signs of caves at the top in the rock formation.

After driving through Teror, we headed towards Las Palmas and got ourselves onto the motorway heading back towards our accommodation. At this point I could relax, as there was plenty of room for error - the "emergency lane" was great!!!! I also didn't need to yell kerb anymore as the cat's eyes did the job of informing us that we were wandering out of the lane... thub thub thub! This I am sure was a relief for my Dad too as I think he was getting a little tense with me and my nerves!

I will admit that I did get a good nights sleep after this trip, so at least one good thing came out of this days adventures... and boy did I need a good nights sleep. I knew that the next day would probably be just the same but hopefully not worse ...

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

On the weekend we decided not to visit any major tourist places as we are not keen on crowds. So it was decided to spend the next two days relaxing and exploring along the beach-front. This also included visiting the shopping complexes again and finding new areas to sit and watch the world go by.

Our beach walk took us to the west of Maspalomas beyond the lighthouse and the first set of shops that we had been through before. This time we took photos during our walk and the first one (left) is of one of the shopping areas with "garden" in front of it.

Further along the walkway we came across a hotel complex which we thought was pretty larney! So took a photo of that too (right). We thought about going into the complex but signs insisted that the area was for guests only... no curious tourists! We initially thought the building in the background was a place of worship but later discovered that it was a hotel! Kept thinking of Sun City in South Africa when walking passed this complex, had a similar feel to it.

Not much else happened on the weekend other than relaxing, walking, sitting on the beach, people watching and relaxing (oh, said that!). I think we were preparing ourselves of the next two days (Monday and Tuesday)... without realizing it...

Las Palmas

The capital of Gran Canaria!

Friday morning saw us walking to another bus stop and waiting for yet another bus. This one was a tour bus so we knew it had to come, but whether it would be on time was another question! It was late but at least it came (I was starting to wonder if we had the right bus stop) and the tour guide even apologised for being late!

The tour was to Las Palmas which is on the North Western "corner" of the island. We went to two different shopping areas but instead of looking at shops alone we did a bit of sight-seeing too. The first of the two stops found us near Christopher Columbus Museum (and house) which we planned to visit. We had to find it first and took a little diversion to find the information kiosk. This diversion took us down a pedestrian area between various shops. What interested us down here though were all these statues of dogs (pic to left). We found out later that these statues are the emblems of the island: the island is named after dogs (not canaries) and what the islanders did was to produce various statues of these dogs (not sure of breed although we did ask) and then artists painted them in various manners - some bold colours, others with flags on, and some (like the picture) with designs on. Cool!

Back to our visit. We did manage to find out how to get to the museum and had a wander around the museum which showed interested parties the various expeditions that Christopher went on plus various inventions that occurred during his time. The museum also gave a brief history of Gran Canaria. The picture shows the outside of the museum - beautiful!

At this point we had to head back to the bus so we could move on to the next stop. At the second stop we went towards the beach to find somewhere to eat and landed up walking along the beach where we saw this artwork in the sand (the urge to build a sandcastle dissipated at this point!)- see picture below...

Another try at the local food saw me ordering a seafood sandwich (that actually sounds disgusting but it was good) that had salmon and prawns on it. And there were chips too - all for about £2. Pretty good price!

After lunch we headed north up the beach to find a castle (not a sand castle mind you). However on finding the castle we couldn't get in as there were renovations occurring. This was a bit of a disappointment but we didn't let it dampen our holiday! Off we went again to look around and head towards the shops (since that is what the tour was about). And the shops were pretty impressive... pictures!! First one is of the outside of the shopping area we went to and then the next two are of displays inside the centre...

After the visit to the shopping area, it was time to catch the bus back to Maspalomas! A good trip was had by all (and we were good at not spending too much money!).

And now I must go help cook lunch... next installment will follow soon (I hope)

Waiting for the bus...

where's the bus?

Thursday
23 March 2006
09h30

Mission: test out public transport and visit Puerto de Morgan (port of Morgan)

Report: Um, we failed... big time!

Details:
Okay, I will quit with the formal stuff (if anyone caught on to what I was trying to do, good for you!!!) What we attempted to do on Thursday morning was to catch a bus to Puerto de Morgan. We got to the bus-stop early and waited and waited and waited... oh and waited. Buses came and went but not the bus we were looking for. And as each bus came (and went) the number of passengers on those buses increased to maximum point! This made us worry a tad as we thought there would be no way we would be able to fit on the required bus, if it ever came. Especially since the crowd of passenger hopefuls at the stop had increased from 6 (including the 3 of us) to about 60! (exaggeration is fun sometimes!). After about an hour and a half of waiting (and crowd watching) we decided to abort current mission and create a new mission - to the beach!!! At least we knew we would get there! So back to the bungalow to put on swimming costumes and off to the beach...

This time we went to the left (facing the sea) of the walkway to the beach (yesterday was to the
right of the walkway) and actually touched the sand with barefeet!

The view that greeted us initially was nice (pic) but then as we went further east I started losing my interest in the views (I have innocent eyes!!! ha ha!) and just wanted to find a "quiet" area to sit down so I could put my nose into my book.

Once settled we had some lunch (oh were to look) and then I lay down for a bit to read my book. Mom and Dad decided, after a while, to go for a walk which I declined to join them on as usually their walks are pretty long and I was a little tired from all the walking (my excuse!). Anyway, they proved me wrong as they were back within seconds (or minutes!) with wry smiles on their faces. Mom proceeded to tell me of the adventure and why the quick return! They found the nudist beach (ha ha ha!) and it wasn't a pretty sight. I am so glad I stayed where I was.

A second attempt of a walk then occurred (again I stayed behind) into the dunes and again the return was rapid - sand was too hot! After this we headed back to the bungalow to end another day in GC. Oh, I think at this point Mom and I decided to go for a swim in the pool... I didn't last long in the water; I froze! man oh man was the water chilly. Good end to the day though.

Let's go a wandering...

After our lunch on Wednesday we decided to go a wandering. At this stage my brain has gone foggy again as to where we actually went but we landed up at a shopping centre west of Maspalomas beach which I think was called C.C (whatever CC stands for??) Varadero. Within the shopping centre we checked out the various shops as we made our way from one end to the other. Exiting the shopping centre we found we were facing the sea, nice view!

Turning left we walked past various other shops as we followed the beach walkway. There were plenty of restaurants and we had a good look at what foods were on offer. Yummy foods! We didn't stop to try any out though, which was okay as it was still a bit early to eat supper.

The wandering continued and we eventually came to the illusive lighthouse! (see pic). And a nice lighthouse it was, although we couldn't get into it to have a look around which I think would have made the "discovery" that more interesting! Oh well. After the lighthouse we headed back "home" to soak up some sun while trying to be all intelligent with sudoku's, crosswords etc.

Mealies!!

(aka Market day - or more like Market Morning)

Wednesday morning saw us walking back to the Wednesday market (which was now open) and we spent the morning wandering around the market spying out the wares! What a mix there was ranging from foods (meats, fruit and veg and baked goods) to clothing and then the usual nik-naks - bags, belts, ornaments etc etc etc. Amazingly we didn't actually buy that much (well I didn't anyway - ha ha!). Dad bought some shorts and Mom went wild (kidding!) with getting a tablecloth for my Gran and some trousers for herself. The place was pretty packed so I tended to find the quiet spots and watched the crowds go by. Although I am still not a fan of busy places, I had a nice time seeing what was on offer and also listening to the tourists trying to bargain in Spanish...
"DROP THE PRICE?"
"Qui?"
"TOO MUCH!"
"Qui?"
... alright, this didn't actually happen but the messages were getting muddled and the voices of some of the tourists did begin to increase in volume at times.

After visiting each stand (some twice!), we headed back "home" via the garden (so if you want to see the pics again, see Gran Canaria Days 1 and 2.)

Gran Canaria... Days 1 and 2

And here is the reason why I eventually got my blog under way! My holiday to Gran Canaria!

We flew to Gran Canaria on the morning of 20 March 06 and landed in sunny GC (Gran Canaria) around lunch-time. After finding our taxi and taking a hair-raising ride to our "home" for the next ten days, our holiday started. I know some people reckon the holiday starts at the airports, but after our journey, I prefer to think of our holiday starting at the bungalow where we were to stay.
So our holiday started at El Palmeral Bungalows in an area of GC called Campo International, which is just north of Maspalomas (southern part of the island). The picture to the left is of the pool area between palms, but in the background one can sortof see the bungalows. The picture below is of the pool and bar area. Photo taken at a quiet time, usually the area was crawling with people!










The first night in GC we ate out at one of the local resturants in the local shopping area (Faro2). I tried the squid steaks which turned out to be lovely...yum yum. The potatoes were also nice but beware if you don't like salty things as the potatoes were caked in salt! Bit much for me.
End Day 1! Enjoyed the warmth, sunshine and blue skies!

Morning of Day 2 we set off in search of the beach and the sea! Since we were a bit away from the beach we had about a half hour walk before reaching the beach itself (the walk was leisurely!). Our aim for the morning was to reach the LIGHTHOUSE! Our walk towards the beach took us along a pathway beside a canal (which was pretty dry) which lead (eventually) into an estuary. On the one side of the canal we had houses/shops etc and on the other side DUNES! lovely. Anyway, here are some scenes from our walk (before reaching the beach).


Left :Some camels! One could go on a camel safari
if one so desired!

Right: The estuary and dunes in background.

Once getting to the beach we turned right to go through a market place and towards the lighthouse! Unfortunately we got "hi-jacked!". Nothing too serious, just some people trying to sell "timeshare"- Some holiday thing where you hand money over and then get cheap holidays whenever you want (we never saw the fine print!). So, yes, we got caught in to going and chatting to the "dealer" and finding out about this scheme. It took about 2 hrs of chatting before we managed to escape, however we didn't leave with empty hands - we managed to get two t-shirts (although I seem to have lost mine already! Mom? Was going to play squash in that, or even better do the gardening in it!). We also managed to leave with two bottles of white wine which didn't taste too bad and some watches (oooh!! I won't describe those! Let us say they were not real gold!). Oh, and we left with information about the island, so not a total loss! After leaving though we didn't have time to get to the lighthouse as we were hungry and our food was back at the bungalow, so back "home" we went.

And now the brain becomes fuzzy! (is this a sign of a good holiday! Day 2 and forgetting what I did!).

Based on the photographs, and assuming most are in order, I think we went for a walk past Faro 2 (the shopping centre) and towards the "Wednesday Market" place (just to see where it was).

On the way back we walked through a lovely garden area in which there were roses (left pic) ...

...and a lovely view towards the centre of the island (right pic).

And now I must post this as I have work to get on with in the next couple of minutes. Next part will follow in the near future...

Amazing...

how you create a new website and are all excited about spreading news and then you can't get a moment to actually add to the site! That has been my problem for the last week and will probably remain a problem until I get myself sorted out with a new computer! And some enthusiasm too!

But, for now I would like to take a moment to welcome Family, Friends and strangers to my blog. I hope that you enjoy my future postings, although I will admit now (although some may already know this) that I am not very good with creative writing (English was not my favourite subject at school) so you may find I ramble sometimes.

For those who do not know me, here is a little about me: I was born and raised in South Africa (mostly in Johannesburg) but moved out to the UK in 2003 (...hence the title "Out of S Africa"for my blog). I studied zoology at Rhodes University (in Grahamstown, SA) and, since moving to the UK, I have been working in Cambridge. I enjoy playing squash, reading books and watching tv and movies. I love animals but currently do not have any pets, although I would love to have another Border Collie! And that is about it for me...

And on that note I best get on with work.

Let it begin...

I have decided to join the world of blogging! Hopefully I will actually decide to stick to it too. I have been contemplating this move for a while now, but since being on a recent holiday I thought "hey, this is a good opportunity to try something new." And also it is (hopefully) a good way of showing photos to friends without them having to spend hours downloading!

However, since this is my first posting, I will hold all news etc, just in case something goes wrong (plus I don't have my thoughts gathered at present, so gobbledy-gook is likely to be present!).

So, heres to the start of my world blogging debut!

PS: The time now is 23:00!