South Africa has much to offer a tourist - the exotic rhythms, the uniqueness and diversity of its animal life, as well as the diversity of its people and cultures. I also found it to be a most interesting country because of its diversity and variety of landscapes. South Africa has an overabundance of indigenous plants(6000 - 9000) in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens alone. These gardens are near Cape Town close to Table Mountain. Many cycads, trees that grew in the time of dinosaurs, can also been seen there.

The Canadian Rockies are incredible in their beauty and grandeur; their outdoor adventure possibilties and recreational benefits. However, I found the Drakensburg Mountains also offer scenery and recreational possibilities as great though different from the Canadian Rockies.

It is the South African animals that really fascinated me because of their diversity and uniqueness. Nature and animal life hold a cherished place in my life and many of the South African animals need supperlatives to describe them! I want to share some pictures of animals that I saw either while travelling in the semi-arid lands of KwaZulu-Natal or the Little Karoo, as well as in the Hluhluwe and Umfolozi Game Preserve. However, I did not see the lion, the cheetah, and the hippo, but I included them because they are so interesting to me.

The Five Great Animals

The elephant is the largest land mammal.

Lion - King of beasts refreshing himself at the watering hole.

Water buffalo have unque horns! They are strong large animals that can be easily spotted at a watering hole.

The leopard is not as swift a runner as the cheetah but as skilful a hunter.

The rhino has an extraordinary set of horns and a bad temper.

The other 13 fascinating animals

Springbok - elegant leaper that can spring up to 2m plus (7ft.) in the air. They do this keeping their legs stiff and their backs arched. This is the one unique animal rep of South Africa.

Jackass Penguin walks with a waddle, noisy, smelly but awonder to watch. They claimed Boulder Beach near Cape Town.

Meerkat “I stand on guard for thee” Wonderful to watch an animal performing his turn as lookout.

Kudu sports a lovely set of horns!

Impala are great jumpers when alarmed. Can leap up to 9m (30 ft.) length and 3m (10 ft.) high; they do that with graciousness and magnificence.

Giraffe walked around slowly eating leaves they could reach on trees. I wonder how folk tales explain their long necks? What was it that they did to deserve this?

Gemsbok (Oryx) has long straight horns that even lions fear. What a beautifully colored animal!

Zebra. What a work of art! Stands on the road way just like our Canadian moose, showing as much composure and daring!

Hippo -Where in the chain of evolution does this creature fit? They sleep in the same water that they do all else and nature equips them to come up for air!

My memories of Italy are now becoming weaker as it is now thirty-five years since I’ve visited there. However, I cannot claim that my memories are a mere mist. I love visiting art galleries, and the statue of David remains vivid in my minds eye. This is a masterpiece and well worth the visit. This past summer,our newspaper carried reports that many American tourists faint (it made no mention of Canadians) when they look at this work of genius. I wasn’t filled with that strong an emotion but I was filled with a sense of deep awe. I would love to see it again and to do this I would need to return to Italy!

I went to Italy during the Christmas break because I wanted to be part of the Christmas Midnight Service at St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Paul VI officiated amidst thousands of worshippers; a Boys’ Choir with angelic soprano voices that sounded as if they just stepped out of heaven; and a service so majestic that the emotion I felt then envelopes me again when I recall it. Slendour and majesty enfolded the surrondings, the music, the Papal actions, and even the worshippers as they responded by memory to the prayers and entreaties to the God who sent his Son to be born among us. I went to the Basilica early with my ticket which I had gotten eatlier that day. Having that ticket enabled me to be within the Basilica seeing the splendour, rather than standing outdoors and only hearing everything through the speakers. Getting that ticket required some work but the reward was well worth the effort!

I have another memory of Italy that remains very strong. This memory, too, invloves a ticket. I wanted to spend a week in Florence visiting art galleries and made plans to visit there with my friend. Our hostel was near St. Peter’s Basilica which was a distance from the railway station, so we decided to wait till we were ready to leave for Florence before purchasing our tickets. We did not make reservations as neither she nor I could speak Italian. We took the city bus to get to the train station. When we went to buy our tickets, we asked for First Class tickets to Florence. The ticket agent had a good laugh and in broken English told us that we were a week too late! The second class tickets were all sold out as well. All we could do was purchase Fourth Class tickets or wait for a few weeks. Really did we have a choice? No, we decided to purchase Fourth Class tickets and take that train to Florence. We were in for a surprise worth remembering!

When we walked over to the Fourth Class train coaches we found out that we were in a coach without seats. The floor would be our seat! We looked at each other and laughed - this is how we would spend our next eight hours. Neither of us could predict that this ride would become a memorable event. The Italian speaking people came into the coach laughing and talking as they did so. They carried baskets covered with a simple white cloth, and put those baskets on the floor beside them. They sat around in groups, and before the train left the station we were invited to join a group. We joined a group and immediately the baskets were opened to reveal breads, buns, sausages, cheeses, and a bottle or two of wine. These people knew how to travel Fourth Class we whispered to each other. They shared their food with us and asked us to say the name of the food being passed in English; in turn, they asked us to repeat the name in Italian. We had many laughs, great food, and the time passed by very quickly. Other groups asked us to join them and we did because it was so much fun. The time passed by very quickly and this journey remains as one of the greatest that I have experienced - a picnic on a Fourth Class train coach!

Are Canadian winters getting you down? Read how I came to terms with this problem and perhaps you could find a solution to yours by traveling. Not only to the famed Arizona, Florida, Mexico and Hawaiian places but others that have much to offer.

I have been teaching in Northern Canada since 1989, with the majority of those years in the Yukon. As you may or may not know, the North has more winter months than summer months. Unlike the children who love winter because there is so much more activity for them in the winter months, I do not, and did not like winter.

Because summers are great in Canada we visited many Canadian places but most memorable one was the Gaspe region. We have such memories to remember and to treasure because of the sites we saw and the people we met!

My husband and I made a great decision to break the monotony of winter by traveling and seeing this great wonderful world in which we live! There is one Christmas carol that has this line “T’was in the bleak mid-winter.” For me, this line was descriptive of every day in the north, where the sun dares to rise between ten and eleven o’clock and quickly leave the skies between three and four o’clock. It gives us little heat and a little light, as if rationed, though its light is most welcome.

To break this monotony, we decided to travel during the Christmas break in teaching. Again we experienced seeing new countries and garnered memories that made life in the North more livable! We chose warmer climates like Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Florida. To come to these heavenly warm climates was cause for ecstasy! Imagine leaving a minus 35 or minus 40 Celius temperature and arrive two days later into a 21 or 26 degree Celcius temperature!

Our expectations were fulfilled in the eight or ten days that we spent there. Everything intrigued us! The weather, the food, and the security measures people took to live safe lives. This was most prominent in Puerto Rico. We stayed in San Juan and found each community was fenced and locked and everyone coming in by car to a community had to have a pass which they presented to the keepers at the gate. The doors and windows were barred and this gave the feeling of being safe. The contrast with the wide open spaces of the north which we left could not be greater. Everything here was in sharp contrast to that of the northern Canada landscapes!

I spent much time walking and going on “country tours”. Though I am not able to eat fruit, I was able to taste some unique Puerto Rican dishes since many vegetable, fish and meat dishes can actually be made without the lime juice! I could not eat the famed dishes prepared with lime juice but this did not hamper me in enjoying the hospitality and friendliness of the people. The markets around the port were also intriguing. There was so much to look at, so many invitations to buy, but the amount I bought depended on the amount of money that I allowed myself to spend any given day. The “treasures” that I have are from the smaller markets. These were carved from coconut husks and painted very brightly. I placed these in a prominent place in our living room to enjoy and re-experience the delightful time I had traveling in Puerto Rico. I found travelling to be a joyful experience and I invite you to try traveling to beat the winter blahs and gather memories that brighten up the reminder of the winter!!