On a clear day. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . they say "you can see forever".

On our last but one day in Devon, another spectacular sunrise. Later the sun

 shone brightly and it warmed up considerably compared to the damp, often

 blustery, days over Christmas.

Sunsets may be beautiful but sunrises can be even more gorgeous.

You will miss them if you don't rise early. . . . . . .or live in the wrong place, 

which I obviously do as we never see anything such as this from our cottage

 in the cul-de-sac surrounded by large trees!

Early morning then brought seabirds and these huge pigeons.

 Large flocks took turns wheeling around the rooftops as we stood out on the

 balcony enjoying the sunshine.

Soon the low tide brought dog walkers, joggers and strollers to the the beach.

 This is Abbey Sands, the safest beach for children to paddle and learn to swim.

It would have been lovely if every day of our six in Torquay had been sunny and

 warm like this one.

Next time we visit I think it will be either Spring, Summer or Autumn when we can 

take advantage of the longer, milder days as we did in 2015 when we visited in June.

However, it was lovely to see family and friends in England, and join in the holiday

 festivities of Portugal, Spain, and Morocco whilst cruising on Cunard's beautifully

 decorated Queen Victoria. On board we enjoyed the company of several new

 friends whom we really hope to meet up with again somewhere, someday. 

The joys of travel are many.

A bird's-eye view. . . . . . . . .

Staying on top of a cliff is quite exhilarating - so high up that a couple of our visitors

 admitted to having height anxiety when they stepped out onto the balcony with

the wind whipping off the bay.

We loved it and were out there at different times of the day, me with the 

camera of course taking photos for my memory bank, having never actually 

stayed in a place immediately above Torquay's harbor with

magnificent views across Tor Bay.

Getting down to street level around the harbor and town was another thing altogether.

These were the closest steps and at Bob's count are 277 - you just see a few here,

 then turn left for the remainder! They are very old, perhaps late 1800's, slippery 

when wet (which is much of the time - this is England!), seem to tilt forward, 

and have handrails missing in places.

 At the very bottom the security cameras talk to you - scared the heck out of me

 the first time as we went down very gingerly in the dark. I never did the climb back

 up - Bob did it once and found it quite hard going - a total of 554 steps within an hour! 

Our Boxing Day plans fell apart due to friends' becoming ill, and I already had the 

beastly cold. Staying in was not an option though. With so few days to see/do

 things we bundled up and walked the steps into town despite it being quite cold

and overcast.

 After walking around the inner harbor, watching a pair of preening swans, 

and stopping for coffee, we ended up snuggled here in the oldest Torquay pub,

circa 1540, ducking our heads under those low beamed ceilings, and carefully 

walking across the easy to trip on cobbled floors, even before a drink!

A glass of sherry for me, whilst Bob imbibed a local beer. The crowd was 

lively and made up of chatty locals along with a few out of town visitors,

such as us. We always manage to find someone to talk with in a pub!

Yes, those steps were somewhat unexpected! 

Another hometown surprise - one I will steer clear of on our next visit I think!

More Kenya Memories. . . . . . .

We met two bright and friendly young Qatar Airways flight attendants in London.

They sat at the table next to us in the pub on the chilly evening prior to our flying 

out the following morning. Learning they were Kenyans from Nairobi, we enjoyed

 chatting with them about our visit to their country in September. It was surprising

 that they had never actually been to the Masaai Mara area - not that far from their

 city - for a visit or on a safari. They had not seen these beautiful animals up close

 in their natural habitat, the bush and plains of their amazing homeland.

I realized that evening that although the world has become smaller due to

the ease of travel by air, people often have to do what is necessary to see places

whilst making a living. That elegant talkative young woman, and the quiet smiling 

young man, had obviously worked hard to reach their goals. . . . . . . completing

 their education, training with one of the most prestigious airlines in the world, 

and now holding jobs which will take them to wonderful places on the planet.

I really hope some day, even if only once, they will have an opportunity to take

 that tiny prop plane from their heaving, bustling hometown, and fly low across

 the Mara to see the stunning landscape, nature's African beauty, and the

 incredible wildlife roaming almost in their back yard.

All photos taken on my September 2016 safari trip to Kenya.

A very happy New Year to all my readers and friends around this amazing world.