Arctic Challenge Tour

Iddo and I are participating in the Arctic Challenge Tour starting January 18 (TEAM 42). This is a car sport event for everybody who is attracted to driving a car, snow and cold. It is definitely not a rally and it is not about speed, but about dexterity, navigating skills and anticipating. We expect to travel over 7000 km in 6 days to a unknow location above the arctic circle.
Checkout our blog site: http://arcticchallenge.wordpress.com/

Aanslagen Bombay (bij mij hier om de hoek)

Deze week zit ik in Bombay/Mumbai om training te geven bij TATA. Gisteravond nog gezellig wat gegeten hier in de straat in zuid-mumbai (=zaken/hotel district) met 4 collega's van de lokale agent, rond 2130 was ik terug op mijn kamer... Iets later hoorde ik iets knallen, ik dacht weer een bruiloft ofzo met vuurwerk. Maar kort daarna werd ik al gebeld door mensen van onze lokale agent hier: er was een gevecht gaande, ik kon beter niet naar buiten gaan als ik dat nog wilde; iets later werd ik weer gebeld dat er meer aan de hand was en dat ik absoluut de straat niet op moest gaan. Na bellen naar het thuisfront dat met mij alles ok was (maar die wisten het nog niet) even de lokale nieuwszenders kijken en CNN natuurlijk, daar spraken ze al over de 'nine eleven van Mumbai' en in de krant van vanochten stond 'it is war on Mumbai'. Kreeg ook nog sms en telefoon van collega's en mijn baas om te checken of alles ok was met mij. Na een korte nacht bleek al snel dat het nog steeds niet rustig was/is. Dus moet ik in mijn hotel blijven terwijl ik vanaf het dakterras van het hotel 2 hotels in brand kan zien staan en een andere afgezet. Langs beide hotels (op loopafstand) ben ik nog gelopen eerder deze week!!?? Eentje is letterlijk 200 meter om de hoek. Mijn hotel is gelukkig ok, wel politie voor de deur (uit voorzorg). Vannacht had ik de deur goed op slot en het bordje 'niet storen' maar niet op de deur... je weet nooit... er zijn ook gijzelingen geweest in meerdere hotels, de terroristen zochten vooral Amerikanen en Engelsen. Hoor net dat TATA dicht is dus ik kan sowieso geen cursus geven vandaag. Hopelijk later vandaag rustiger, dat ik op z'n minst naar buiten kan, maar dat laat ik van de locale agent van ons afhangen. Maar het is goed bloederig geweest, ook bommen en handgranaten, zeker 85 doden en meer dan 200 gewonden.... 'a night of violence and terror' zegt CNN...

The Highway Police in Jordan

My taxi driver, Mohammad, was taking me from Amman to Petra along the King’s Highway in a yellow cab. We were cruising at a safe and relaxed speed of ~90 km/h (110 km/h allowed). Suddenly a police officer jumped on the road and stopped us. The driver had to get out of the car and the police officer asked how fast we were going. He said “90”. Then the police officer said (in Arabic): “you were speeding; only 80 is allowed here”. Of course my driver replied that 110 is allowed and we even just passed such a road sign. The police officer explained that at this particular stretch only 80 was allowed!!??? The fine was 30 euros (which is a lot of money in Jordan).
Afraid of getting “caught” again we continued at around ~85 km/h. And amazingly about 10 minutes later our yellow cab was pulled over again (while other, much faster and bigger cars were allowed to pass), and, yes we got another fine of 30 euros… what did we learn? next time do not take a yellow cab... looks too touristic... and tourists have money...

New personal record !

About 2 weeks ago I was in Jordan for business. I also had 1 day for tourist stuff. I decided to go to Petra. This was FANTASTIC super great. The only problem was the heat: 43 degrees and more (in the shade) and no wind, hence I have a new record of drinking non-alcoholoic drinks now: 7 half-liter bottles of water, 3 cans of coke and 2 cans of fanta in less than 5 hours! And still thirsty....

Shark Cage diving

EMAIL: sharklady@hermanus.co.za
WEBSITE: http://www.sharklady.co.za/

The difference between Shark Lady Adventures and the other Shark Cage dive companies is that they work with a relatively small (but -of course- safe) boat. This means that you are on the boat with a limited amount of people (max 12, in my case we were only with 7) and a small cage (2-3 people). Hence you can spend more time in the cage! Shark lady adventures has the slogan “WE CARE, PROTECT & EDUCATE”. This is also what I experienced with them. Before going aboard they take the time to educate you about the characteristics of Great White Sharks. And prejudice. On the boat they use bait (fish and fish blood) to attract the sharks. The crew was very professional, they do not feed the sharks and they are not using shark livers (this delicacy makes sharks more aggressive than normal). The sharks are not harmed or distressed in any way during their cage dives.
They leave from Gansbaai/Kleinbaai twice a day; the departure time depends on the tides and weather conditions. They offer the possibility to use scuba gear, however the bubbles scare the sharks away and you can see the sharks at least as good with only goggles and snorkel.
A small breakfast and lunch is included in the trip. Take a warm jacket, a hat, a towel, camera and sun block. The water is cold and the sun can be very hot! The trip takes about 3 to 4 hours. Ensure you also take Seasick tabs 2 hours before the trip (“Stugeron” works very well), also if you have never been seasick on a boat. They also offer transportation to Gansbaai. I paid 1150 Rand for the boat trip in January 2008; check their website for the latest prices.
The underwater visibility varies a lot during the year (high visibility and a lot or shark sightings in summer and low visibility and less shark sightings in winter) and the weather conditions also influence the visibility a lot. I went in winter, the visibility was very low, the water very cold, however we still saw about 5 hungry Great White Sharks and most of them more than once. Fantastic! Although they are very fast and difficult to catch on picture I will never forget my first encounter… Cheers, Yuri

Bird wants secretary?

The crazy bird keeps on going! We already have an ornithologist involved, no clue so far...

Crazy bird part II (scholekster)

Crazy bird in my office