• JohnKim Duncan
  • JohnKim Duncan

World Tour 2019-2020

Starting in Morocco, with stops in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, the Seychelles, the UAE, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, & Hawaii, this is the culmination of 5 years of planning. Read more
  • Winery Tour

    December 4, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Today we visited a couple of wineries on the western cape of South Africa. The first was Anura, & the second was called Alvi. South Africa is famous for wine.

  • Capetown

    December 5, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We visited Two Oceans Aquarium in Capetown today, so named because they have fish from both the Indian & Pacific
    oceans.

  • Praslin Is

    December 7, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We took the island ferry to Praslin Island where we stayed until the 11th. We visited and hiked a nature preserve where we were introduced to the Coco deMer tree.

  • Exploring Praslin Island

    December 9, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We took the local bus to the very end of the route where a local met us asking to guide us to Anse Georgette. We didn’t realize we needed a guide but as it turned out it we did. Many twists & turns on a gruelling walk up & down hill on uneven rocky terrain. Easily our toughest walk & on the hottest day. 36 degrees & very humid!Read more

  • Arriving at La Digue Island

    December 11, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We rode the Cat Cocos ferry to La Digue Island. There are few motorized vehicles on this island so bicycles are the main mode of transportation. We rented bicycles from our Airbnb host and explored this beautiful island by pedal power.Read more

  • La Digue Island

    December 12, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We cycled around to visit an old plantation house, a beach & a turtle sanctuary. Local art was on display in the lower level of the house. Kim bought a handmade freshwater pearl bracelet. We spotted a cemetery that was very well taken care of.Read more

  • Grande Anse to Petite Anse to Coco Beach

    December 13, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Today we cycled to Grande Anse beach. We hiked in to Coco Beach, passing Petite Anse on the way. We swam in a protected rock pool as the surf was quite rough on the regular part of the beach. It was very hot again today. We hiked back to Petite Anse to swim again. It was a nice calm beach. We hiked back to our bikes & rode back to Belle Des Isles, our Airbnb on La Digue Island.Read more

  • Back to Mahe

    December 15, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We ferried back to Mahe Island on the first sailing. We took a cab to Stephna Residence, which has a nice outdoor pool, which we enjoyed. The cab ride was very expensive though. We waited at the bus stop to go for dinner for a long time, then a van with the restaurant we wanted to go to happened by. We flagged it down & got a ride to a very nice beach restaurant.Read more

  • First Day Aboard Dream Yacht Charter

    December 16, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    We took a cab to the head office of Dream Yacht Charters where we met up with our captain Charlie. He lead us to the Catamaran altogether. Our week long adventure was about to begin. Our first impression of the boat was that it was very nice and spacious. We had the furthest forward cabin. We met our new friends.Read more

  • St. Anne Marine Park

    December 17, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    We motored & sailed briefly to St. Anne Marine Park and snorkelled next to Cocos Island. It was very shallow and we waded between islands. One of our new friends brought some gin & tonic ashore, so we enjoyed that. The scenery was spectacular.Read more

  • LaDigue

    December 18, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    We sailed back to LaDigue. We already biked the entire island so we chose just to walk around. Our friends rented bikes and rode around. They appreciated our recommendations of where to go on the island.Read more

  • Cousin Island - Baie St Anne (Praslin)

    December 19, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    From LaDigue Bay, we motored to Cousin Island which has been preserved as a nature reserve & bird sanctuary since 1968. It had rare bird species & giant tortoises. Our leader on the guided tour pointed out a sea turtle laying her eggs. The mosquitoes were unbelievable in the forest. We were dinghied back to the boat for lunch. On to Praslin Is. in the pm.Read more

  • Curieuse

    December 21, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    We got up close and personal with giant tortoises on the island of Curieuse. Over 100 live here. They are well protected and studied as the entire small island is a Marine National Park.

  • Fish for Dinner!

    December 22, 2019 on the Seychelles ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    While trolling today I caught a Bonita on a fly. We were motoring about 8 knots so the fight was more of a constant drag. Difficult to reel, as a result. The chef cut off the flanks & served is shasimi style on a salad.Read more

  • Praslin to Dubai, UAE

    December 24, 2019 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We said goodbye to Africa & the Seychelles in particular. What a culture shock landing in Dubai. Huge buildings & plenty of high end cars. A highlight was a visit to the Mall of the Emirates.

  • Dubai Shopping

    December 25, 2019 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Today we saw some pretty spectacular things made of gold. We went shopping in the Dubai mall & accidentally, amongst thousands of people, ran into two friends from Kitchener. We went with them to see the Burj Khalifa, the World’s tallest building, & the light show.Read more

  • Sand Dunes tour

    December 26, 2019 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We walked back to the Mall of the Emirates for breakfast & more window shopping. We joined an organized tour out to the desert to travel by 4-wheel drive suv on the dunes of the desert. We were picked up at our hotel for the half hour trip. Just before we entered the desert the guide had to remove some air from our tires for better traction. The drive was fun. We watched the sun set, then drove on to have another camel ride, dinner & a show.Read more

  • Dubai to Hanoi

    December 27, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We flew from Dubai to Hanoi. Our first impressions of this city are that it’s very busy, with thousands of scooters driving around, with seemingly no order. The shops are very narrow because, as we found out later, taxes are charged based on the width of structures (street frontage), & so many buildings are 3 stories high & house multiple generations of families, often with their shop/restaurant spilling out onto the narrow sidewalk. We were told that there are 2300 people per square km here! Walking on the sidewalks & crossing the streets are adventures. Many locals wear surgical masks because of the exhaust from vehicles!Read more

  • Temple of Literature

    December 28, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We continued to take our life in our hands by walking around in Hanoi. Maps me is a great app to help us navigate. We took a cab to the Temple of Literature. This is the first site of higher education in Hanoi. It is full of shrines & tributes to former scholars. Lots of history here.Read more

  • Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton)

    December 29, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today we toured what’s left of Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi. The prison was originally built by the French (complete with a ghillotine) to house Vietnamese who were political activists. Many former prisoners who went on to high ranking government positions in the Vietnamese Communist party are written about. The prison later became used to house US prisoners in the Vietnam War. Everett Alvarez & John McCain were the most famous. The stories were certainly very one-sided with plenty of propaganda.Read more

  • Hanoi

    January 1, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We joined our Inside Vietnam & Cambodia OAT tour today. We started with an orientation walking tour at 5 pm. Since we’ve been in Hanoi a few days, I think we were a little less intimidated with Hanoi’s crazy traffic than some of our new friends. There are 13 of us plus our new guide Danh. Everyone seems nice. We stopped on a street corner to sample some local tangerines. Very sweet. Ladies ride bicycles from their local villages, often many miles away, with fruit or whatever else they have to sell. Hard work for sure. We sampled a local delicacy called Egg Coffee, invented by a local family. It’s been produced & sold by this local family for 3 generations in the same location. They live & work there too! A good start to our Vietnam Adventure!Read more