Doha Diaries

Well, here I am in Doha, Qatar. It's my good fortune to be doing my two week library internship at the College of the North Atlantic, a sparkling 5 year-old technical institute managed by the consortium that also runs Newfoundland's public colleges. It's been an eye-opening experience so far.

Between Here 'n There

The photo of the tarsier in the last post represents a very recent trip to the Philippines ... 'been back in Vancouver for two weeks and a bit and tomorrow will be heading off for Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Switzerland and France. It's really (really!) true that the world is shrinking ... (really). I will try to post somewhat regularly on this next journey. The first portion (to Doha, via Frankfurt) will be "trying," I think, as I'll be doing an overnight flight to Europe, spending a day with friends in Bensheim, then another overnight to Qatar Dubai. I will be whacked, I'm sure.

The purpose of the Qatar trip is to visit friends and spend a couple of weeks at the College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, in the library. I will be "job-shadowing" and otherwise making a nuisance of myself (not! I hope!). A few more days in Bensheim, then it's down to Geneva by train and paragliding in Annecy, France. Motoring to a wedding west of Paris, finishing with a couple of nights in La Ville-lumière, will mark the latter part and the end of this trip.

Tarsier on Bohol (Philippines)

This little feller (gal?) on the left resides in a dedicated sanctuary - he/she is not in a cage - in fact, its life is relatively hassle-free ... 'Just to give you some idea of the scale of this creature, the tarsier's body is about 5" (13 cm) long and its eye is apparently bigger than its brain. (It's the world's smallest primate - but its not a monkey and will resent it if you call it that!)

Most of the wildlife we saw on this trip was viewed underwater, as we did 12 dives with Sun Divers (www.sun-divers.net). We stayed at the Sun Apartelle (www.sunapartelle.com) on Panglao Island (near Alona Beach) and very much enjoyed the experience. The other critter here (on the right) is a nudibranch, otherwise known by its less sexy moniker: sea slug.