November 29th - East London, South Africa

We left Durban yesterday 7 AM.. Sailing was good most of the day.
In the evening, we motored sail..suddenly we heard a very load warning sound from the engine room. The impeller broke, again. Marc replaced it and we were able to continue. The wind picked up at night and we were able to sail peacefully.
This morning, we have strong current and rough sea, wind up to about 30 ~ knots so captain decided to take shelter and anchored at East London.

Marc suggested we do a thanksgiving dinner. We had roast chickens, mashed potatoes with fresh mushroom gravy, fresh steam pumpkins with garlic, fresh corn.. And Marc made an apple pie ;) we are thankful to have safe harbor, great home cook meal on board Gloria, and fun crew camaraderie.

Rene at the bow. getting ready to drop anchor...background is east London harbor.

Andy doing flip exercise ..

November 26th - Durban bird park

We took a short walk and local bus to get to this bird park.
I enjoyed seeing all the exotic birds ..but sad to see those in cages..

November 25th - Durban Botanical Gardens, KwaZulu-Natal

Today I escaped to the serenity of the Durban Botanical Gardens.
It is Africa's oldest surviving botanical gardens, world-renowned for their indigenous and exotic plant collections from the sub-tropics – cycads, ferns, bromeliads, palms and orchids, among many other stunning flowers and more than 80 magnificent heritage trees.

The garden of the senses.
Sculpture of garlic (smell), harp (hearing), chilies (taste)... Etc

Indian couple having their wedding picture taken here...

November 23th - Saturday afternoon at Durban promenade

Local spending good time ..a long stretch of promenade with good amenities, facilities, eateries and water theme park for families fun.

And at the beach..there are life guards.. Sharks nets for safety ..
designated swimming area..separates swimmers and surfers.

November 20th - Durban , South Africa

Cloudy and windy day at Durban ..a world of difference compare to the totally remote places we have anchored in Madagascar.
As you can see from this picture,  lots of tall buildings around this very big port. I have nice walks along the broad walk with beautiful ocean view.

A swell like cloud brought up to 50 knots of howling wind, thunders, lighting and even hail! One of the dock fingers broke apart because of the strong storm. Was told this is the worst storm in few years.
We are very grateful to watch it in safe harbor, warm and save with Gloria. Below pic taken by Rene.

November 13th - Game park days, Kwazulu-Natal

Spent a few days at Hluhluwe iMfolozi Reserve, a rhino conservation park. My first safari.  So much anticipation as we drove thru the park and kept our eyes peeled .. the excitement was unparalleled when we had first close encounters with some of these big animals right next to our jeep.

A very huge elephant walking quite fast on the road towards our car, I just freeze as he walked past me..

magnificent white rhino n baby. Notice a bird on his hind leg.
All pictures were  taken while in vehicle.

We saw tons of imapalas.

November 10th - Richards Bay, South Africa

After the last few hours of strong wind, very choppy seas and huge swells, the sea calmed down as we arrived at Richards Bay, South Africa on a cool and cloudy day.
We are parking at a nice marina with water front restaurants, bars etc with modern amenities. What a luxury to be able to just step out to concrete land whenever we wish. More luxury: We also get free! registrations, fresh water and electricity! So we use fresh water to wash and rinse liberally all over the deck and our staysail.
Everyone speaks good english here. First world country feel ! I went for a slow jog for the first time in almost 3 months. The ground seemed swaying side to side beneath me while I jog. Well.. try going out for a run when you are drunk lol.

Gloria approaching marina..we got lucky and doubled park next to the blue color sail boat, on the left of this photo.

Floating lights powered by solar panels. Nice to see clean beaches where children play..

 

'Smart' ? half sank tanker...try zoom in to see the name  'Smart' 

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Ship-buckles-off-Richards-Bay-20130819

November 8th - crossing the Mozambique Channel

Most days we had calm seas but very light head wind, we motored sailed quite a bit . We take turns for a 3 hour watch. Rene and I have the 9am to noon and 9pm to midnight watch. Unlike the other two longer passages where I got a little sea sick for the first few days, on this one, I feel good and strong everyday, with normal appetite.

A friendly bird flew in to visit our galley. I was so relieved she found her own way back out.
She also flew around the cockpit area.. stood n balance, on the big steering wheel  for quite a while..quite entertaining after many days of nothing but ocean scenes.

November 6th - towards South Africa!

It was decided condition is not in our favor go south to Nosy Ve for more surfing. So this morning, after Rene made us a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs with salsa, shredded potatoes pancakes, fresh crusty baguettes with jam, we are heading off to Richards Bay, South Africa.
Estimate sailing about 5 days... Looking forward to the next continent !

November 4th - Tulear, Madagascar

We anchored at Port of Tulear or Toliara. Very windy here 30 to 40 knots ...Roaring 40? dramatic day coz we lost our dingy !! due to a couple of reasons :( besides strong wind. Luckily the local saw it drifted with the wind and brought it back to shore. We were so very grateful and rewarded the 2 finders. Andy and Roger surfed a bit but the condition was not so good...So tomorrow , we will head south to Nosy Ve, west of town called Anakao for better surfing, with likely condition of 'Flame Balls' and 'Jelly Babies'.

Locals barely speak English. They mostly speaks the Madagasi mix with French. We went to the market and loaded up on fresh produce n supplies.

Women selling chickens on market at Bizarre de Ve ie big market.

Local village at Tulier...most walk around without any footwear. Kids play on dirt and muddy shores..