Why ASTERIX? ...

Hi y'all,

Quite a question isn't it?

There is an area around the winelands where restuarants offer wild boar-on-the-spit as standard fare. For Obelix that would be heaven on earth, so we thought it was cool to invite masters squash players from all European nations that were colonised by the Roman Empire. The Romans themselves are also welcome because who does not want to partake in some Empire bashing??

Americans also descends from those Europeans (in part or in the whole) and are therefore also welcome but they may find themselves teamed up with the Romans (empire wise :-)).

The other element is that squash is the sort of game where movements mimick the movements of a gaul on potion.

That is what it is all about!

Cheers everyone.  

Preparing for the ASTERIX master squash tour 1

Hi readers,

We are presently preparing to find 20 European or American masters squash players to undertake a tour to the Western Cape. I've sent invites and requests to the England Masters Squash and Racquetball Association and the World Squash Federation.

I would like suggestions for more contact points, please.

The offer is lodged on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1437066733213734/

Any question or suggestion will be helpful, thanks.

Cheers,
Ron @ Expectme Travel

Suggestions for a visit to Algiers ...

Hi everyone,

Apologies for being absent for a while but I've been busy getting my travel business start-up Expectme Travel started ( you can also find it listed on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ExpectmeTravel?fref=ts).

Back to the post.

I've visited  Algiers at least 10 times over the last 10 years, all on government, business or cultural trips. In that time I learnt that Algiers could serve as the ideal entry point for a visit to Algerian coastal resorts. There is only one caveat: you need to be reasonably conversant in French and/or Arabic or you need to know your way around the country already.

I would therefore be comfortable to visit coastal Algeria through the Algiers entry port.

From the US one should find passage on a British Airways, Lufthansa, Air Egypt, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, TAP, Alitalia, and Air Algerie (mostly from Europe!). From elsewhere one will have to fly either via participating European, the Middle Eastern airlines or Cote d'Ivoire.

Houari Boumediene International is a clean, modern airport and follows the norms and standards of all international airports in terms of checking in and baggage procedures. There was a time at the old airport where you still had to identify your baggage on the apron before boarding the plane but those times have been gone for many years.

One thing that visitors may have to get used to is the fact that the aged, infirm and special government visitors may receive priority at queing time. This is not unusual in many places but definitely unusual for passengers from certain countries. To be honest, I am very impressed with the practice!

There are enough taxis at the airport, if you did not get a hotel airport shuttle. The people I spoke with in Algeria indicated that hotel airport shuttles are normally on time and otherwise pretty reliable. Most of them speak very little English, if at all. The other taxis are also well operated but thou shalt speak reasonable French.

Driving through some of the narrow streets of Algiers are sometimes unnerving at peak times. Once I was caught in a peak hour traffic jam on the Boulevard de L'Armee de Nationale Docteur Hammouche and I witnessed  a traffic officer pulling a motorist over. I was not close enough to hear what the reason was but it was clear from the interaction that it was not a social call. I watched with great interest while the motorist loudly protested his innocence. Voices were raised by both parties to the point where I thought a more violent interaction was about to occur. There was a lot of swinging of arms and ginger point and this went on for about 15 plus minutes. In most other countries, the motorist would have been pinned to ground, cuffed and taken to the nearest police station to be incarcerated until he calmed  down but not in Algiers. After some more time, the altercation ended inconclusive with the motorist getting into his car and driving off.

I would not recommend for a foreigner to take that same tack with Algerian police though. I cannot vouch for their safety, like in most other countries. This reminds me of a taxi driver that drove me from Jomo Kenyatta International in Kenya in 2006. After watching his driving style for some time, I ventured a question: "What are the rules of the road in Nairobi?" Without hesitation he said: "There are only two rules:1) If you can get your bumper in front of another car at roundabouts and other intersections, you have right of way." When he stopped talking rather abruptly, I enquired as to the second rule. He then continued: "Rule number two is: When a traffic cop stops you, you stop!!" I asked why and he said: " If you don't stop he shoots!". I'm sure things have changed for the better in Nairobi in the intervening eight years.

Hotels in Algiers range from those far-out to central. Although many foreigners prefer Sofitel, Hilton and the Sheraton Club des Pins, I am happier in more authentic local hotels like the Djazeera and Hotel Al-Aurassi.
The al-Aurassi is closer to the port, which one can walk to, if you can manage the steep walk back (but one can easily take a taxi back). The Djazeera is architecturally more authentic and it has a British history when, at some stage, it was called the St Georges Hotel.

The food and security is good as many of the guests are important foreigners.

In Algiers one will find a mixture of many cultures. In summer, one will find girls in burka and hijab mixing with girls wearing mini skirts. One will also find many female drivers, who drive like their male counterparts during peak hour traffic :-). Persons used to middle eastern muslim countries, will find this aspect most uncommon.

On the beaches, near the Sharaton, one will find the occasional local girl in a bikini - another unusual sight in a majority muslim country. I suppose one can easily write these anomalies down to the French influence on Algerian society.

Obviously, when using Algiers as an entry point one may take note of its museums, the Jardin D'Essai du Hamma (Botanical Gardens), the Basilica Notre Dame d'Afrique which is perched overlooking the Bay of Algiers (a functioning State supported Roman Catholic Church - another anomaly in a Muslim country), the Casbah is a living museum with tours conducted daily, amongst many other attractions

.

The best tourist Mediterranean beach resorts are found near the town of Oran, which one can fly or drive to from Algiers.

I can go on ad nauseum about Algiers but I suggest you go and experience it for yourself.

Latest post readership update ... we are nearing 800 ...

Hi and thank you to the readers.

On 23/04/2014 (international date notation), I advised that we were nearing 700 pageviews. Today, we are closer to 800 (787 to be exact).

The USA is still forging ahead in the readership stakes, with no other nation even coming close!

Here are the numbers:

Entry                         Pageviews

United States                                   411

South Africa                                     251

United Arab Emirates                       56

Germany                                             29

Belgium                                                7

Netherlands                                        6

France                                                 4

Russia                                                 4

Nigeria                                                 3

Australia                                             2

Uganda                                               2

I pray that God will bless  us all.

Keep reading and travelling ...

N12 to Johannesburg in 2013 ...

Hi everyone,

Thought I'll fill you in on our return to Kriel in Mpumalanga at the end of last year.

Before I go there I must let you know about my trip that preceded this one.

My daughter who lives and works in Kriel, Mpumalanga (about 1310 km from Stellenbosch) wanted to visit us over the 2013 Christmas holiday but she wanted to drive down with her own car. She wanted to be down here for her youngest brother's 21st birthday.

My daughter dearest at her unflattering best in her work clothes outside her apartment (see pic below).

It is really down :-), Stellenbosch altitude av. 136 m (over 400 ft), Kriel altitude av. 1552 m (over 5000 ft). She paid for my plane ticket to meet her at O R Tambo International Airport after which we would share driving duties back to Stellenbosch.

Before that morning, I decided to use various available forms of locomotion to get to Cape Town International.

On the morning, I got up early, took a minibus taxi from near my home to Stellenbosch station, took the train from there to Cape Town main railway station (hauptbahnhof Kapstadt), got on a MyCiti bus to Cape Town International, all before my flight to O R Tambo International (ORT). Now all these various forms for transport increased the risk of me missing my flight, but it was exciting nonetheless! I could very well have jumped into my trusty steed much later and have driven to the airport without fanfare! This would have been hassle-free but the about R80 per day for parking is a rip-off. Travelling for me is about taking certain risks, some of which are not always quantifiable. Suffice to say I made my flight in good time on the day and thus waited for my good daughter at a pub restaurant at ORT.

As luck would have it, there was time for slightly more than a pint of Windhoek Draught as well.

So I was ready for the long road when my dearest (read only) daughter arrived. We had lunch and she drove until we got to Bloemfontein  (she told me that in her mind she was planning to drive straight all the way to Beaufort West  -another 540 km - ego, Methinks :-)).

I took over and drove until Worcester - all driving was via the N1 and, apart from the hectic two hour plus stretch between Beaufort West and Laingsburg, proceeded without undue incident. My daughter took over in Worcester and drove the rest of the way to Stellenbosch.

I was rather proud of the 25 year-old's fortitude and driving skill!

Interesting  thought to live by

The pic above is of a thought posted on an external notice board in a church yard in Stellenbosch.

So we spend the Christmas holidays together in and around the Cabo de bon Espearance (to use one of its old names) and  after Christmas we took the long road back to Kriel.


The only difference was that we turned only the N12 at Three Sisters and drove via Kimberley, not Bloemfontein. I made the call, more for variety than for the reason that I sold it to the Good Wife for i.e. visiting family in Kimberley. I enjoyed the family visit as well, I must admit.

So it came to be that we (the Good Wife, My Dearest Daughter and I) left Stellenbosch on 29/12/2013 and took the N1 to Three Sisters.

We travelled well and got to a small town called Strydenburg (Town of Strive/Argument) where my Good wife did some primary schooling. The house her family lived in was still there and so was the primary school.

Good Wife's childhood home in Strydenburg

When we left Strydenburg, we went to service station to fill up. My Dearest Daugther decided to pay for the petrol with her First National Bank card but apparently the Telkom internet service to the service station was not operating at its optimum and the service cut out some time during the transaction. The service station owners/managers did not tell her that the service had been intermittent that whole day before she used her card, so when they told her afterwards, she checked her phone for confirmation and she had indeed received confirmation of the transaction by SMS. The owners/managers were not satisfied and apparently were rather rude in their interaction with her (she looks far younger than her age!). Eventually, the owner/manager approached me and I offered to pay cash! This did not satisfy my Dearest Daughter as she felt insulted. In my opinion however, it does not pay to argue at length with small town people - they are normally on friendly terms with the local police! I'm not certain what Strydenburg is famous for apart from being one of the closest towns to Orania (a white separatist enclave). Funnily enough four white separatists in Orania voted  for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the recent national and provincial elections - a party led by the black former leader of the ANC youth league!!! LOL.

Some of the allure of the Northern Cape lies in its roadside rest places (see pic below). This is in contrast to

some roadside signs in Gauteng, warning motorists not to stop next to the road for their own safety.

Advice for tourists: It may not always be required but carry some local currency with you out in the countryside - whichever country you find yourself in!

To calm my daughter, I suggested that she could check with her bank in Kimberley the next day but it was no great consolation.

So we left Strydenburg with a beaming Good Wife, a blistered Dearest Daughter and a Driving Dad. Have I mentioned that my daughter possesses, as co-owner with the bank, a Ford Figo, so wherever we go, we go in Figo (could not resist my favourite saying at the time). Seriously, I was impressed with the road manners of this small car and it got us to our overnighter in Kimberley in good time.

The B&B was comfortable and I really enjoyed the pool after a long driving stint. Finding take-away dinner outside the normal pizza takeaways proved more of a challenge! I eventually found some fish dish at the local Spar. It was filling :-).

After a good night's rest, our priorities were: 1) visit to First National Bank, 2) visit to the family and then 3) back on the open road. We found FNB with ease and the family was truly happy to receive us. We spend some happy moments, catching up and left Kimberley with lots of well-wishes. The Dearest Daugther was a bit happier after the visit to FNB. I must mention that the Kimberley central Spar did not measure up to our Western Cape expectations of the general Spar look and feel. May the outlet or franchise owners do something about that quickly.

The rest of the journey to Johannesburg went by without incident and we visited more family in Johannesburg, which was another boon for us.

The N12 route was a really nice and relaxed alternative to N1. The road is well-maintained, carries less traffic than the N1 during holidays and is only 100 km further between Cape Town and Johannesburg.

We then made our way back to Kriel and drove past some interesting roadside advertisements (see pic).

Stiff maize porridge plus tripe and trotters is best way to describe it 

Kriel is in the centre of electricty generation hub for the country and the Dearest Daughter is employed at one of the two power stations over there. I include a pic of her workplace from the outside.

Good Wife outside Daughter Dearest's workplace

Kriel itself is a nice little dormitory town in the Mpumalanga highlands without much by the way of entertainment variety. At some stage, it was officially known as the garden city of Mpumalanga and while there are still lots of signs of the sedentary pleasures, much of the existing facilities have fallen into disrepair. At times it looks like efforts at resuscitating the town's esrtwhile status are bearing fruit however.

The Good Wife in a gardening fit, decided to help my daughter with her balcony mini herb garden. Impressive! She used up some of the 5 lt water bottles that my daughter and her roomies saved for when the town runs out of water and they have to fill up at water tankers. Clever girls all!

Daughter dearest's herb garden courtesy of mom's hard work

I'm signing off on that note.

Keep travelling ...

Quickie with the Yellow Fellow ...

Hi everyone,

I got married on the 1st of the 5th month, 1982. This was directly in the period of tenure of the Yellow Fellow (YF).

I was certain that getting hitched on Worker's Day pointed to lifelong labour of love but I was uncertain as to who was going to do all that work. 32 years later, I am certain it is both me and the Good Wife equally. Took a while to realize fully because I'm a slow learner :-)

On the day of my wedding, the YF had to transport my mom and dad from Stellenbosch to Wellington, a distance of about 41 km. At the national and town speed limits of 100km/h and 60km/h respectively, it normally takes about 45 minutes to drive the distance.

On the day, I unfortunately did not have 45 minutes at my disposal, due to various factors. I had 25 minutes if I did not want to be late for my own wedding. I therefore decided to see how fast YF would cover the distance. With my elderly parents in the car I set out from Stellenbosch and with God's travelling mercies I was able to get to Wellington in exactly 22 minutes. Sometimes one has to sacrifice being a law-abiding citizen for a higher cause :-)). I was on time for my wedding and all we had to do, as is normal, was to wait for the bride!

The YF proved its mettle under stress and was to become another favourite car of mine.

Thanks for your patience. You'll know by now that I am particularly fond of traveling by car.

Keep travelling ...

Some antics of the Yellow Fellow ...

Hi everyone,

The Yellow Fellow (YF) was first mentioned in my post http://expectmeagain.blogspot.com/2014/04/death-of-beast.html. YF was also a V6 Ford, with chrome bumpers and 2.5 litre twin overhead cam shafts engine but it was a Cortina, not a Granada. It had a more relaxed  compression ratio than the Beast but had a lighter body and longer gearing - all in all the performance package was similar but the sexy double exhaust tailpipe of the Granada was no more.

Once on the way back from Cape Town to Durban, just outside the Free State border town of Harrismith, I picked up a tow from a 380 SEC Mercedes. This Merc was ambling along at about 130 km/h and I found that the YF was comfortable at this speed. We carried on with me tagging behind the Merc at a respectful distance for a good 10km but, like all good things, this also had to pass. It happened as follows: I was overtaken by a BMW 733i that were going at about 150-160km/h. I swear I had no intention of driving at that speed so I let the BM go. As it passed the Merc however, something happened and the Merc set off after the BM like a scalded cat. Here I was in a quandary: follow them or putter along on my own at just over 120km/h. Somehow during the debate something went awry and I decided that the BM had 'stolen' my Merc hare and I was in a mood to make both of them pay.

Anyone sensible will tell you that these were two brutes of cars, not to be trifled with on the open road.

However, having made up my mind, I set off in pursuit of these two newer and faster cars. I caught up with them just outside Harrismith and then we ended up dicing each other down the Van Reenen's pass at speeds exceeding 170km/h. Luckily for the sake of my car most of the road were curvy and not straight for too long. This crazy racing went on past Estcourt until outside Howick when the BM dropped off the radar and me and the Merc settled back into our hound and hare roles. Luckily there were no fixed or laser speed traps in operation on the KwaZulu Natal side of the N3 in those years. The YF acquitted itself so well that I almost felt a similar affinity towards it than I had for the Beast. A car whose shocks were gone, whose braking system was barely functional and whose suspension was 'slightly loose', and still showed the bird to the Merc and BM at those speeds (luckily for us it was early in the morning before the great traffic rush started!), demanded and got my respect.

This Wiki map indicates the N3 in red but the scale does not show the curves at Van Reenen's pass just outside Harrismith.


After Howick, we [passed through Pietermaritzburg at the gentle pace prescribed by the freeway speed limit (120 km/h) and leisurely made our way to Durban.

This trip occurred in 1983.

I never told the Good Wife about the specifics of my journey, apart from the obligatory; "It was uneventful", so she will be as pleasantly surprised to learn of this episode as I hope you are.

The YF was a great boon for me in Durban and its powerful engine saved my from many touch-and-go situations.

Later I will tell you more about the YF.

Sleep well for those in the same time zone ...

Lala kahle ...         

Voting in RSA ...

Hi y'all,

We voted in our national and provincial elections yesterday. 

This is my proof:

We have ballot paper voting and to stop people from voting twice, your left thumb is marked with indelible ink. Works really well as a control measure.

I  really appreciated the Google scribble yesterday:

Thanks for recognizing our elections in your very special way.

So far the ANC is in the lead nationally with a reduced majority, and the DA has increased its lead in the province of the Western Cape. You can check for the latest result updates on  www.elections.org.za, but the site is very slow :-)

Until next time, travel well ...voyager bien ... едут хорошо ... hambane kahle ...viaggiare bene ... kusafiri :-)

BTW, we broke the 750 viewership mark yesterday :-))

Post readership update ...05-05-2014

Hi guys and dolls,

Here are the stats for the past month's readership.

The USA is absolutely rocketing ahead probably because they activated their 'FOLLOW' button on the blog.

UAE is catching South Africa, my lady!

This week I had the first views from Uganda. They joined South Africa and Nigeria as the only other African countries with readership.

Keep reading, we are reaching 750 pageviews soon!

Tell me more of what you, the reader, would like to see in our blog! Use comments for want of another access channel or send me an email.

May God bless you in your travelling ...

Entry	Pageviews
United States	159
South Africa	36
United Arab Emirates	28
Germany	9
France	4
Russia	4
New Zealand	2
Uganda	2
Australia	1
Spain	1

A Viennese architectural oddity

Hi everyone,

I took this early 2012 pic from a shopping centre in Vienna.

The Gasometer Apartment building is listed as one of the Viennese architectural oddities and it is even more odd on the inside :-) (See http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/viennas-gas-tank-city.html) .

Unfortunately, I have no idea why the building was built in this fashion ... hopefully there is a knowledgeable architect among the blog readership !!! Let me know, please !!!

Keep travelling ...

Gasometer Apartment Building Vienna.