Here We Go Again - More to Sea

March 30 th and 31 st , 2024   The Maldives, vacation spot of the rich and famous.  The Maldives is the smallest nation in Asia.  It is made up of 1190 islands all formed around 26 natural ring-like atolls.  Malé is the capital city and the total population is only around 515,000 people, most of which live in Malé.  If you look at a map, the archipelago is about 471 miles southwest of Sri Lanka where we just came from.  It sits out in the Indian Ocean and at its highest point it is only 7 to 8 feet above sea level, making it the lowest lying country in the world.  Yes, they are concerned about sea level rise. Fishing and tourism are the two largest industries by far on Malé and this is where we set anchor as we had to use our tender boats to go back and forth.  We were here for two days and to be honest, there isn’t two days’ worth of things to see.   That being said, a group of us opted for a trip out to one of the many nearby isla...

  March 28, 2024 A Pachyderm delight in Sri Lanka! Hello everyone.   Vialula and I don’t have a lot to say word-wise in this edition of our travel blog.    We had too much fun just being in the moment.   What could have been the reason for this lack of verbiage, you ask??    Elephants!    Big old gentle giants.   Nobel beasts.   Fun loving babies, etc.   We drove three hours out of Colombo to get to the Pinnawala Elephant Sanctuary.   These are not circus elephants that have been relocated.   These are orphaned, unweaned or unwanted wild elephants found wondering in Sri Lanka that would not be able to make it on their own.   These wild Asian elephants are part of the largest herd of captive elephants in the world.   Because many were orphaned they only know the Sanctuary and would not be able to adjust out in the wild on their own. It is amazing to watch them as they are brought down to the river twice...

 March 22 nd and 23 rd   Uniquely Singapore   You might recall that Vialula and I were here back on our first World Cruise in 2019.   If you do remember (and I know you don’t),   I left with the feeling that everything seemed hunky dory and perfect on the surface, but that there was an underlying feeling of do as we say or else …. And guess what, it still has that same over-all feeling.   But guess what, it works here and it works very well.    I am not going to claim that everything is perfect nor that I want to move here but for someone living here in Singapore, they are more than content to relinquish what I will call some personal freedoms for the good of the many. One of the names I would put on this city/state is that they are incredible planners.   Nothing is done here independently from what is in the over-all strategic plan.   You can’t cut a tree in your yard down without permission. Everyone knows that you don’t bri...