Athone and The Burren - Ireland

Europe-Ireland-Athlone  Athlone is more or less the centre of Ireland. It is well known for being a key stop on the river Shannon . The River Shannon is the longest river in Ireland 

Here is  the standard definitive stamp issue that was in use in 2007. We now use self adhesive labels which I try not to use. But not easy. As usually the only way to buy regular special stamps is from the Philatelic counter in the General Post office in Dublin. 

Europe-Ireland-The Burren   A very special place to visit if in Ireland. It is has its own unique fora and flora and has a very attractive scenic set of views . 

We don't have special local postmarks any more , so just a laser print postmark. Not very impressive, but the stamp is showing the Earth and Neptune 

Egypt in Asia -Sinai

Arrived in Sharm el Sheikh.  Visited St.Catherine's Monastry which is a World Heritage Site. Unfortunately the was not permitted to take photos in the Cathedral or the wonderful icons in the museum. Here is the Post Office in Dahab which is on the coast. There is little choice in stamps but the  staff were very friendly and helpful. Spent most of the time relaxing at a beach resort in Sharm el Sheikh were there is excellent diving with the reef fish with great visibility.

Luxor Egypt

Spending most of my time in Sinai , but here in Luxor on a day trip. Thought it would be too short but fine, as after a while you get jadded looking at all the wonderful history here in Luxor. Certainly a must see on most peoples list of places to visit. The inside of the toombs in The Valley of the Kings are amazing , but no photos permitted. 

The Post office in Luxor was closed here on the day I arrived even though it was due to be open. Fortunately I purchased some stamps as a back up in Sharm el Sheikh and was able to post some postcards in the Postbox. 

Mauritius and Reunion

Indian Ocean-Mauritius-Le Morne  This was a very nice technical stop en route back to Reunion from TAAF. We had a full day and I enjoyed a relaxing day on the south of Mauritius overlooking the area of Le Morne, which is a World Heritage Site. 

I could not manage to get to a Post Office on this stop and the hotel I had lunch promised to mail my card and put a affix a stamp. So here  it is. 

Indian Ocean-Reunion-Hellbourg So back on dry land and end of the TAAF trip. Had two days here before departing for home. Went up to Hellbourg which is nearly in the centre of the Island. A lovely town to visit. 

Back to French stamps again. Glad that I got a Reunion postmark instead of the usual French postal mark. 

Ile Amsterdam- TAAF

Antarctrica-French Southern and Antarctic Lands-Ile Amsterdam My last stop on this Territory . Always good to get off the ship and get some nice lobster from the ship down here. The weather was very agreeable and not as windy as I had expected. 

Antarctica-French Southern and Antarctic Lands Here is the ship that brought me to this French Territory from Reunion. To get on and off the Islands one must use helicopters and the same for cargo and supplies. 

This postcard has a double stamping. It was originaly postmarked in Ile Amsterdam/St.Paul . I then took the card with me to Reunion which was my final stop on this expedition cruise and mailed it from there. So the postmark on the right is from Le Reunion , France. 

 

Here you can see the excellent base Martin de Vivies , on Ile Amsterdam. About 30-50 scientists here at one time. The Post offices were the best I had seen on remote islands. Very well equipped . The Postmasters were all very friendly and obligiing with all the photographs I took.

Ile Crozet and Kerguelen - French Southern and Antarctic Lands

Antarctica-French Southern and Antarctic Lands-Ile Crozet  Arrived on the French Supply ship Le Marion Dufresne from Reunion. This trip took some time putting together as I had a number of fellow traveller friends on this trip. Trips down here are often fully booked years in advance, I think I booked this 2 years previously. What a great sight to see the Albatros here. It can be quite wild with no trees here. There are really just scientists and volunteers here that stay up to two years. Still a full working base with many facilities. 

On the ship there is in fact a Philatlic sales point. So I was able to select my stamps while on board. This ship is the only way that new issues are brought here for sale. The Post offices here are all top quality and full functioning. But only busy when the ship comes in. 

Antarctica-French Southern and Antarctic Lands-Kerguelen   Here you see King Penguins. There are so many here. Great to visit and meet the special Scientists that study them. The weather was quite mild , compared to my last trip to Ross Dependency . A lot of walking, but we also had use of helicopter to get to the outer areas. 

On Ship there are so many postcards and envelopes sent from France to be postmarked , a number of the passangers are involved in the cancelling of the covers. So it was a great experience to see all the different requests for postmarks while here. All my postcards where postmarked at the Post office itself , as I personally handed them over. The stamp on the bottom right is the flag of TAAF. 

Comoros and La Reunion

Indian Ocean-Comoros-Moroni  This small country used to have so many coups it got a name for itself. Arriving here you see that it is very volcanic with the dark black soil very evident. Moroni itself could do with a lick of paint. The culture here was quite different being a Arab  country .  Comoros gets very few tourists  and when you try to take photos of street scenes it can be challaging especially if ladies are looking on. Even when I tried to get permission , I had a number of vegtables thrown at me,, all the men just kept laughing. So that was the end of my photo taking here. 

The Post office here was getting a major facelift while I was here. Well I think it was. One local told me that the scaffolding around the Post Office has been there years ! So in effect there was no outside wall and very busy. I did manage to find a stamp window , but since it was a busy post office , it was just a question of taking the stamps that were given. 

Indian Ocean-Reunion-St.Gilles  Being a part of France in the Indian Ocean, La Reunion was the first country to use the Euro when it was introduced. The centre of the Island that has the national park and surrounding areas are a World Heritage Site. Arriving here from The Comoros from a very poor country to one that is part of Europe , quite a change. Even just the quality of the roads and the cars , one could see the difference. I was here to start my voyage to the Southern Oceans. 

A beautiful stamp from France. The Postmarks here can just have a French code or some have Reunion in the cancellation. 

Andasibe Madagascar

Indian Ocean-Madagascar-Andasibe  Here we see a lemur . I went to a Andasibe National Park and it was amazing . So much to see and just the surround sounds of the forest. I seen quite a few lemurs and in fact took a photo very like this postcard. Madagascar is so full of life both animal and human , a feast for the ears and eyes !  

This card was posted in Perinet, which is not far from the national park. 

Indian Ocean-Madagascar-Andasibe   I don't often buy postcards of where I stay , but this was such a great place. Surrounded by animals morning noon and  night. A mini Madagascar around the lodge. 

Great to see clear Postmarks , like a philatelic cancel . 

Rodrigues Island and Madagascar

Indian Ocean-Rodrigues Island  Rodrigues Island is part of Mauritius and a flight away . It is a nice small Island and easy to get around. A little part of Mauritius with very few tourists. 

A good selection of Mauritius stamps and a Rodrigues cancellation . 

Indian Ocean-Madagascar-Antannarivo  Here you see the old Royal Palace and it is a World Heritage Site .The building itself had a fire and you see the other buildings made of wood when here.  Tanna as the capital is really known  locally is most interesting . Full of energy . 

The Post office had a philatelic section . Some interesting stamps . One official was there but not very interested in selling me stamps. They had some interesting stamps, but would not sell them to me once I said I was using them for postage. Normally I still buy them  and all is ok. But in this case the firm answer was no. I had to buy a full collection and they were not for postage. So I ended back at the stamp counter to buy what little selection they had. Unfortunately African countries have a reputation for this sort of thing. On my recent trip to Kenya the philatelic counter charged 16% Tax as they said the stamps were not for postage. Still Madagascar is a great country !  

Mauritius

Indian Ocean-Mauritius-Port Louis  This is the waterfront and the view from my hotel. This was my first stop on this Indian Ocean trip and beyond. Port Louis is a busy crowed city . 

This is a gold embossed stamp featuring the ex President. There is not only a excellent Post Office and Philatelic service but two Postal Museums !  

Indian Ocean-Mauritius-Plaisance Here you see images of Mauritius. The County was very beautiful especially down south. Very good roads to get around. 

This is one of the most famous stamps in the world shown on this stamp , the Blue two pence Mauritius Post Office stamp. It is a very interesting story how this stamp became so rare and I am sure you can google it and  read it. The excellent Special Museum has a original stamp on show. It is very well done with special low lights. A must visit to anyone interested in stamps in Mauritius. 

Frankfurt Airport and Denmark

Europe-Germany-Frankfurt Airport  It is not often you see a aircraft on here. I do have a great interest in planes, but don't tend to mention it here. This is the Airbus A330-300 , the type of aircraft I flew with Lufthansa from Addis Ababa back to Dublin via Frankfurt. I have often used Frankfurt as a transit as a very efficient airport . 

Visited the Post Office at the airport. I was quite amused by this stamp . Not many countries would put a charity stamp showing two naked men in a bath.. 

Europe-Denmark-Billund  I have been a regular visitor to Denmark, mostly for work reasons. Here are a selection of Danish scenes. 

I have never had much joy trying to get interesting stamps when in Denmark. This was a new definitive type I had not seen before. 

Somalia and Somaliland

Africa-Somalia-Mogadishu  Not the most exciting of cards , but I had to buy this card in advance. My trip to Somalia was very interesting , at least even trying to get there. While in Djibouti , I had arranged to visit the Somalia Embassy . I met the second in command .  The building itself was not in the best shape and inside it could have done with a good clean. There were a few Somalis there , getting some paperwork. I stood out as not being African. So I was shown into a office . After the pleasantries, the officer was shocked to find out I wanted to visit Mogadishu as a tourist .!! He explained that I could not be minded as the government at that time had only control over the airport.  I had known that and wanted to stay in a hotel outside the airport building but still in government hands. It was out of the question.  It was agreed that I could visit the airport , but not stay and continue on to Hargesia in Somaliland. 

So on the plane journey from Djibouti city I met a Somali who used to work for Somali Airlines and did all the his training in Dublin. In fact in his case he took out a photo with a Aer Lingus Plane and his colleagues. He even knew where I lived. Amazing how small the world was . He said I could stay with him, but I explained it was not possible as I had no visa to leave the airport . When the plane touched down the african union peacekeepers arrived in tanks to make sure the airport was not shelled while the planes were on the ground. Two planes arrange to arrive at the same time while security is in place . The head of security came over to meet me off the plane and said I could only stay near the plane and could not even enter the airport building as it may not be safe and I could be kidnapped. It was all unreal. So I spend over 1 hour on the tarmac with security taking photos and chatting about life in Mogadishu. 

Somalia had no operating Postal service while I was there. In fact it has just started incoming mail in the last 6 months. I have been in touch with the officials in the Post office in Mogadishu and they plan to start a outgoing Postal Service before December 2014. So they will issue new stamps.  These stamps I had purchased from a dealer and are genuine Somalia stamps from the last time that country issued stamps. While waiting for my plane to reload , I asked to used the rest rooms in the Airport. So I was able to go into the building . Near the toilets there was a office of the Somalia Civil Aviation Authority . I went in and there I could see a rubber stamp , like you see here. So I stamped the postcard . So I know it is not official but the best I could do at the time. For my collection all my mail must have gone through the postal system. When the Postal service starts again , I will revisit , now that I have a Government official who will facilitate this. 

Africa-Somaliland-Hargeisa  This is the Northern part of Somalia and the old British Somalia and it is safe to visit. I spend two great days here . Good hotels and just like Djibouti sand sand sand and dust everywhere. Down town the Somalis were very friendly and very chatty. You have to pay $10 per day to have a policeman with you if you go outside Hargesia which I did to get my flight back from Berbera which is on the coast. 

Just like Somalia there is no Postal service here. I did manage to visit the Old Post office and took many photos . While taking photos , I did get stopped by the army as they could not understand why anyone would want photos of a old Post office. In fact it was great, as in the offices you can see a list of services including Philatelic . Also a British postbox outside, quite amazing. I went to DHL to try and send my postcard out, but because of restrictions only packages and including my postcard can only be sent to Kenya . So the best I could do was to stamp my postcard in the DHL office in Hargeisa . The stamp is a "cinderella " meaning not issued officially. The last Somalialand stamps were issued long time ago. I do wonder that if the postal services gets going in Somalia will it extend to Somaliand ? 

Ethiopia and Djibouti

Africa-Ethiopia-Addis Ababa   This Postcard is showing the Martyr's Monument in Addis. The city is busy. Visited the excellent museums here. One of my best memories of was a high quality Italian restaurant with great pasta. I ended up sharing a meal with a diplomat from Lebanon , with some interesting insights into the world of Consular affairs. 

These stamps were recently issued and a nice set. The Philatelic section was very helpful and a nice clean Post office . These stamps show city monuments. 

Africa-Djibouti-Djibouti City   Arriving here , all I could see was sand and dust.. Certainly very Arabian compared to Ethiopia . Very safe here as lots of U.S and French Soldiers share bases in this important strategic location in the Horn of Africa. The city had a mix of Luxury hotels to simple buildings.  These buildings are in down town Djibouti City.  

The Post office here was very helpful in getting me a selection of stamps. That is once they found the key to were the stamps was. The cancellation are pure French and very similar to the ones that are  used in its overseas Territories.