Mauritius

I know Spain and France aren't the global powerhouses they were back in the day. The day being 16th to 18th century history. But God love 'em, they sure did know how to colonize. Granted, the British gave us America...but that's it. The Spanish and the French gave us paradise. See, Spain had the same ambition as Great Britain. Global domination and such...but the French, well, they just colonized places where they thought it would be cool to party. Mauritius and its sister Indian Ocean islands are beautiful. The people are pleasant the food is great and the lifestyle is a perfect mix of local island flair and European sophistication. Not sure where the British went wrong in India.

Actually, that's just a joke. Delhi proved to be the positive second chance I was hoping for when it came to my feelings on India. Every person I dealt with in Calcutta and Delhi were quite helpful and personable. Barring the retarded airport personnel and 2 hour wait to get through customs, I left India feeling like I'd like to go back someday and really spend a fair amount of time there. It also helped to meet up with my friend Eva and her daughter Laura who made my brief stay in Delhi a good one.

Alright then, I head to Madagascar tomorrow and then on to Italy. Africa is on hold until fall '08. So everyone who is interested in going to Kenya, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia, get your names on the list for that trip. I'll organize it, you just show up.