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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Nov 07, 2010 07:00 PM Stranger in the (French) "paradise"
All announcements on the ship are in French and I try to follow them,
but it is also not easy because they speak very fast. It is their home
language and talking they use very sophisticated words and phrases to
proof how intelligent they are. Fortunately I have a English-speaking
cabin mate Gerard and he is often explaining what is going on. One of
the guides (we have 2 guides for 15 travelers) speaks English and from
time to time translates for me. I found that the half of their
conversation is polite bla-bla-bla-bla, just the garbage - not worth to
translate.
Captain announced that it will take us four days and four nights to get
to the place of the first landing on Crozet Island. I had a time to
visit all decks and (I am sorry to say that) I see that the ship is
dirty and requires a lot of paint. "Marion Dufresne" is sailing to the
islands of French Subantarctic only 4 times per year with the supply for
the French scientific stations, bringing new shift of the scientists and
taking back the old one. It has 50 people of the crew and space in the
cabins for 110 passengers (officials, people in charge, scientists and
the tourists). Most of this space is occupied by the young scientists
and technicians who repair broken equipment of the stations during these
days when the ship anchors at the island. On this voyage we - the
travelers - are the weak minority - it is only 15 of us and they said
they never take more then 20 - it depends on the number of the free
bunks. They said that the space for the tourists on `Marion` is sold
already for two years ahead. We feel like the chosen ones...
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Nov 06, 2010 07:00 PM French breakfast on the Indian Ocean
Sunday. In the morning I saw only blue ocean around. The weather is
sunny with some clouds and moderate wind. Our ship is swinging on the
waves up and down and I try to adjust myself to the new situation. Waves
are quite high: 2-3 meters. In the morning they serve self-service,
French breakfast: coffee, bread, butter & jam and some fruits. Every day
the same stuff. No eggs, cheese or meats, sorry. Instead they serve
your choice of cheese (but only the kids portions) during lunch and
dinner.
It is only 15 of us - the passengers on board of "Marion Dufresne". And
it seems that I am the only non-Frenchman on the ship. Wow! Maybe it is
the honor, but for this reason my life here is not easy. In the morning
captain invited us to the bridge for the introduction. In French of
course. In the afternoon we had the lecture about emergency
procedures and a trial evacuation alarm. But this is normal. I saw the
lonely container ship passing by. It was on the shortest route from Cape
Town to Singapore. Further south it will be hard to see any vessels.
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Nov 05, 2010 07:00 PM From Reunion to the cold South!
I got the message via e-mail that I can board the ship after 2.30 pm so
I decided to make in the morning another excursion - to the Mafate
Mountain Circus. There is no public transport like to Cilaos, but they
built a good paved road to the Maido view point on the edge of the
circus. My friend took me there by her car. It is only about 40 kms up
from Saint Paul but it took us more than an hour to get from the sea
level to some 2000 meters above. It is better to start early in the
morning because later the clouds cover the mountains and there is not
much to see. We were lucky! The view from Maido is exceptional: you can
see all mountain circus with small settlements in it, connecting paths
and pitons - single, sharp rocks rising from the circus.
At 2.30 pm I finally saw expedition ship "Marion Dufresne II" in the old
part of Reunion's port. With its 9000 BRT it is much bigger than the
Russian ships known from my previous sailings to Antarctica. And it has
a special deck for the little helicopter. They were waiting for me. I
got a lower bunk in the twin cabin with bath and was soon introduced to
the captain and fellow passengers. At 5.30 pm we set sails for the
26-days expedition to the cold South. I do hope it will be one of the most
exciting sailings in my life.
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Nov 04, 2010 07:00 PM Friday market in Saint Denis de la Reunion
It is Friday. Every Friday they close for the traffic one of the avenues close to St Francois Blv and in the morning it converts to the marche, with many stalls under the palm treelower prices than in the shops...
I saw there plenty of tropical flowers and fruits, they sell also spices like vanilla or nutmeg. Octopus and color fish is also present but I cannot understand why here, in the middle of the ocean it is so expensive - the price is 10 to 15 euro per kilo.
For the lunch it is nice to be in the nicest garden of Saint Denis: Jardin d`Etat - it is not a big place but well maintained with exotic trees, lotus flowers in the ponds and pretty Creoles wondering around. Reunion is multiracial society; you will see Europeans, Africans, Hindi, even Chinese. They live peacefuly on one island, do not fight and work toogether for their prosperity. The level of the life is higher here then on the other islands around Africa.
It is still sunny, but getting windy today. Tomorrow in the afternoon I will board the ship and depart from Reunion... I hope that the ocean won`t be rough... :))
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Nov 03, 2010 07:00 PM Rent a wreck? No wrecks for today...
I wanted to rent a cheap car and drive around the island. There are agencies who advertize that they have small cars for as low as 19 euro per day. My friend Rick called two agencies yesterday, but unfortunetely they did not have their wrecks available for the next two days. I decided to change the plan and to use the public transport to go to Cilaos Circus. There are three deep and closed volcanic valleys. They are very unique places and France apply to UNESCO to put them on the World Heritage list.
I went to one of this valleys. Public transport on Reunion is subsidized so the cost of such a journey is low: I took the bus to St Luis /2 hours, 4,20 euro/ and then next bus to Cilaos town /1,5 h 1,30 euro/. Thousand of switchbacks on the way, tunnels, bridges, wonderful panoramas... Great day...
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Nov 02, 2010 07:00 PM St Denis de la Reunion
I have to learn French again... Few people on the street speak English on Reunion. Today I was wondering all day around the capital of Reunion. City bus cost 1.30 euro - it is worth to take it if you have a long distance to walk - it is very hot and humid here. St Denis changed a lot since my last visit. They make a long pedestrian zone on Leclerc Street... They restored many old colonial buildings. Little market near the Chinese temple is worth to visit - the current price for the pineapple is just 1 euro. In the tourist information office on rue de Paris /near Leclerc/ they offer free internet an maps. I am looking for the opportunity to make an excursion around the island...
For those of you who don`t have friends in Reunion: there is minibus going from the airport to the centre of Saint Denis every 1 -2 hours. They charge 4 euro each way. Deparure point in Saint Denis is Gare Routiere on the coast.
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Nov 01, 2010 07:00 PM La Reunion - France in the tropics
The view from our B777 aproaching the island was great. It is worth to take the seat at the right window to see the coast and the green mountains rising over 2000 m. In the airport there are no border formalities: you are coming from France to France on the other side of the equator.
I know from my short previous stay - some 15 years ago - that the island is very expensive. Fortunately I was lucky to find here friends from Servas - the world organization of the open doors. The band in the orange shirts was plaing in the terminal hall on arrival.
Richard - another world traveller met me and took me to their house up on the hill. There is a great view of the city of St Denis from their balcony. Sylvia - his wife and kids were waiting at home. It is nice to talk with the people who also travel a lot. to discuss about the places like Lake Malawi or Vancouver Island...
It is sunny, hot and humid here - I have to adjust to the new climate and time zone. And to the French keyboard...
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Oct 31, 2010 07:00 PM Bring your sandwiches to the plane :))
The sun was rising when I embarked LOT flight to Warsaw. In the internet advance purchase it can cost only 70 zlotys - like 25 USD.
Then, in the early afternoon I had Air France flight to Paris CDG expecting excellent lunch. Forget it! "La cuisine francaise" they
served now is a glas of juice and "le petit sandwich". I know that on the low cost airlines they do not serve the food. But this was
Air France!
In Paris I was forced to change the airport: Charles de Gaulle to Orly. They have direct buses airport to airport and the ticket cost 19 euro. But it is worth to know that
if you fly all over the way with Air France on the same reservation they provide a free transfer voucher for the bus - just go to the "Air France Customer
Service desk in the arrival hall. The buses depart from exit no 3. Orly airport is much smaller and cramped then CDG. Sorry, no free
WIFI internet, like in Warsaw. At 9 pm we started for the 11-hours flight to Reunion.
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Oct 30, 2010 02:00 PM New, fascinating expedition!
Maybe it is hard to believe, but only 8 days from my return from China I am departing for the new, fascinating expedition to the islands on the Indian Ocean.
I was qualified for the expedition aboard French ship "Marion Dufresne" to the islands of French Subantartica! They appreciated my achievements in traveling and journalism...
The ship is sailing from the French Island of Reunion. Fortunately I saved enough miles on the Air France frequent flyer program to get a free ticket from Poland to Reunion.
Before and after the expedition I will seize the opportunity and spend also few days on the tropical islands of Reunion and Mauritius (I have been there long time ago) and to visit unknow to me Rodrigues. The success of the expedition depends a lot on the weather. Seasick is unknown to me, but we will need a calm sea for landings. So, please: keep your fingers crossed!
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Oct 22, 2010 02:00 PM Sunny Gdansk on the horizon!
I took China Southern domestic flight to Shenzhen. In the airport arrival hall you will find many agencies offering transport to the Hong Kong airport. Sorry - no ferries today due to the typhoon... I paid 180 yuans for the bus + microbus transfer. Departures are every 15 minutes!
There are border formalities on the China - Hong Kong border, but it goes quite fast. It took me 2 hours to get HKG airport.
BA fligt to London was on time. 12,5 hours in the sky and 7 hours time difference... Then BA flight to Warsaw, and change to LOT Polish Airlines for the fourth flight to Gdansk...
It was sunny afternoon when I landed in my home town with the baggage of new experiences, thousands of pictures and hours of video recording. The great expedition to the East is over... Don't you think I should plan the next one? :))
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