Calming Canada

This summer, I decided to travel to Canada for my summer break.  I went to Western Canada, I'd been before, 30 years ago as a backpacker, but this was a very different trip, not least because this time I caught up with friends.

Firstly I saw Michéle and her family in Vancouver. She is a professor at the university of British Columbia, so we started there.

Michéle & Amanda

Michéle & Amanda by the Truth & Reconcilliantion totem pole.

They took me to various sites in Vancouver and I was lucky with the weather to be able to visit them at leisure.

One of the most visited places is Stanley Park.  There's a seawalk path which I took, enjoying the views along the way.

totem poles in Stanley Park

'girl in a wetsuit' representing the close connection between Vancouver and the sea

Another place we visited was Granville Island.  

Granville Island market

Chris & Michéle

Walking around we saw houseboats and water taxis.

people relaxing on their dockside terrace

And there were some great views of downtown, 

including some scary looking buildings (not sure how safe I'd feel in the one on the left!).  Vancouver House (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_House)

One of the great things I thought Vancouver had to offer was its proximity to the sea.  There were many city beaches to visit for fun trips out.

There also seemed to be many rabbits there for some reason.  Maybe a pet one got loose and they procreated?

Apart from visiting Michéle and her family, I realised that there were people I knew from my time in Fiji that were there too.  I met with one couple for drinks by Stanley Park and visited a family I new well (we'd spent a lot of time together in Fiji and I'd visited them when they lived in Dubai too) at their home on Vancouver Island.  It's such a beautiful area and one night we even saw deer pass their window (sorry, no pictures)!

Taiya, Adiya, Amy, Amanda, Chris

On Vancouver island we visited the beautiful Butchart Gardens (https://www.butchartgardens.com/).

This was a stunning place with beautifully manicured gardens and views.

Another fun thing to do from this area is whale watching.  I was there in the peak season for whales so I went on a boat trip and I was lucky enough to see lots of whales!

It was pretty cold on the boat (though of course I still got sunburnt, even with factor 50 spf!)

Orcas/killer whales

Humpback wales

We also saw Minke whales, but no photos/videos.

On an island of rocks, we also saw a bunch of sea lions sunning themselves.

The dock had lots of restaurants and houseboats.  

I liked how they stored their bikes. 😊

The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, on Vancouver Island.  From Amy and Chris' house there was a sea walkway into town, so I did that.

Apart from seeing geese, when I arrived in Victoria, I also saw water taxis and seaplanes.  

I watched them land a take off for a while.

I'd arrived by ferry, passing the multiple Canadian and US islands...

But seeing the planes enticed me to return to Vancouver by plane.

Christmas in Colombia, in colonial Mompox

This year we decided to travel north and spend Christmas in Santa Cruz de Mompox (pronounced Mompos).  

We drove there via a town called Honda (a colourful, colonial town).

We only stopped by Honda for a quick break and to take in all the colourful buildings

The next day we started our ten hour journey.

We were lucky enough to have empty roads most of the time.

At times we did pass villages and even had to 'pay a toll'

As we got closer to Mompox the roads became busier, with all kinds of traffic!

The colonial town of Mompox is on the Magdalena river and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.

It's incredibly hot (around 35C most days) but we worked around that by timing your outings and choosing a hotel with a pool and cool areas.

In terms of 'what to do' we mostly enjoyed walking around, eating, drinking and taking in the atmosphere.

In the day time we also saw iguana sunning at the river's edge:

or by our pool:

Mompox is also known for its Filigree jewellery, so naturally we looked around (and bought some!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m77HVPcRj7s

We took advantage of the river and did a boat trip to the ciénaga (swamp, wetlands), along the way seeing many birds, iguanas and even monkeys!

monkeys hidden among the trees

We also saw fishermen pulling in their nets and 'ferries' crossing the river.

From the river, we crossed over to the ciénaga.  The river had been very high and there was a lot of vegetation to get through.

Some local people were trying to clear paths through the canals...

...but at one point we did get stuck and the captain jumped out to push the boat!

Eventually we made it (to a smaller ciénaga, as access to the bigger one was blocked).

Finally we had to return home.  This time we stopped overnight in the town of Barrancabermeja, which is basically a petroleum hub and travelled back through the state of Boyaca.

The trip was a lot of fun and it was great to see so much of Colombia again.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! from Amanda, Oliverio and Santa.

https://www.passporttheworld.com/santa-cruz-de-mompox-colombia/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_de_Mompox#:~:text=Mompox%20or%20Momp%C3%B3s%2C%20officially%20Santa,much%20of%20its%20colonial%20character.