I just calculated some stats on my trip so far and not surprised that the re-circulated airplane air caught up to me a few days ago with a sore throat and cold.  It's day 55 of my trip and I've taken 21 flights so far, ranging from 55 minutes to 13 1/2 hours.  I've been through 12 different countries, some more than once, and nine of those have been new ones for me.  The passport is holding up well so far. Beginning this year you can't add any extra pages to an existing US passport, so I may need to get a replacement before the trip is done...

I hired a driver to take me to Lion and Safari Park, which I guess is a cross between a private game reserve and a zoo and about an hour from my hotel.  They have about 80 lions there including white lions and they were all right next to the dirt road we drove on.  There were also giraffes, wildebeests, springboks, zebras, wild dogs and ostriches, and then I got my picture taken with a few lion cubs.  It was a good way to spend an afternoon after fighting whatever cold I had picked up on my recent flights...

I think I'm starting to get over my sore throat/not feeling well, so I booked a flight for tomorrow morning to Madagascar and waiting on a hotel price through TripAdvisor.  And my ATM card and two of three credit cards now seem to work.

After a layover in Johannesburg I took a short flight to Gabarone.  Unfortunately when I got there my ATM card didn't work, because with the exchange rate I was going to go over my daily limit.  So it got blocked and my AMEX and MasterCard didn't work either.  I have since activated my Skype subscription which I should've done a long time ago.  Also, the guesthouse I was staying at was in a residential area and had to walk about 3/4 of a mile to find a bank to exchange USD into Pula.  But they only accepted half of my dollars because the other half had a range of serial numbers that they didn't like.  On top of this the guesthouse owner took off at 7:30am and I couldn't even ask what there was to do.  Finally the housekeeper was able to get me a taxi back to the airport and now I'm back at a hotel in Jo-Burg airport trying to get over a sore throat while I figure out my next trip. I only took three pictures while in Botswana...the last one is one-half of the entire international terminal.
​I'm sure this will be much more amusing in about a month.

I have a massive layover in Singapore.  Fortunately, I was able to meet up with a dear friend and former colleague, Sherlyn, who lives here and had a break for lunch.  She hasn't aged a minute since I last saw her, which was 11 or 12 years ago.

I spent a day and a half in Kuala Lumpur before flying to Singapore.  There were so many things to see and do.....and I did nothing.  Just went out to eat a few times and hung out at the backpacker hostel where I had a room.  I wish I would have done this 25 years ago, I am seriously getting too old to hang out with the kids...

So Bel had taught Madeline a simple pasta dish and asked if I wanted to join.  I went to the closest market and bought beans, meatballs and tomatoes and had my first home-cooked meal of this trip...

The third stop was at the Sultan's Father's Mosque. 

​Then we took a boat to the Kampong Ayer (Water Village), where 10% of the country's residents live.

On the way back to the Villa we passed the Royal Palace.  It's opened to the public for three days after Ramadan, but we were able to look inside the gate.

Bel, the owner of the B&B took me on a four hour tour of Bandar today along with Madeline, who lives at the B&B since she works nearby.

​The first stop was the Sultan's Mosque.  Unfortunately they had events today so we couldn't go inside. 

​The second stop was at the Royal Regalia museum, which houses all of the gifts that that Sultan has gotten from other visiting leaders.  The only place you can take pictures is on the ground floor before you enter the exhibits.

Yesterday I walked around downtown Bandar for a little while.  There was an open market with food for sale and a park beside it with about 20 monkeys running around.

​I walked from the B&B to the closest restaurant for dinner (Thai food), about 15-20 minutes each way.