Vanuatu...

After some trouble with our passports and some 

delay at Suva Airport, we are now in Vanuatu

I guess as there is no ATM on Tanna Island, getting WiFi will be 

challenge, so this will be our route for the next couple of weeks

Malaria and Dengue will be our biggest worry, hope we are well prepared.

Next stop, Tonga

Just as a small overview. So close to Tonga, but again, no cargo ship or flight at all.

Probably the thing with the Internet and no frequent updates will not change

during the next three weeks of sailing.

Looking forward on my first, real sailing experience and

I hope that I will not get any trouble with my spearfishing bag and RealTonga, the local Airline.

I wrote them a E-Mail and also Ben fro Tonga Charters asked them locally, will

be no problem they said...I' not so confident. If this will be a problem,

that will be one of my worst case scenario. Three weeks of sailing and not even a chance

of spearing in the blue. Promised my fellow traveler fish for Christmas dinner ;)

Ready for the Azores...

... at least mentally for a long time ;)

Tomorrow my friend Greg and I will take the plane to Lisbon, doing a small sightseeing and hop-on at the evening flight to Sao Miguel.
Stuff is nearly packed...

And Except my paranasal sinuses (not the best for two weeks of an intense "training/freediving/spearfishing"-trip) everything looks good. On Tuesday the maximum depth was 2,4m! and i hope till Sunday morning it will be fine  again. Thats just not possible that Greg will shot his new Speargun before I  can get a chance ;)

What do I expect?
Mh, freediving with blue sharks (Prionace glauca) and hopefully mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) on Condor Banks. Apart from that, freediving with mobula rays (on Princess Alice Banks) and whales/dolphins (there are more than 20 species of cetaceans around the Azores including Orcas!), developing better  spearfishing skills and preparing my own catch ;), some freediving improvements and of course, enjoying the volcanic influenced nature. What I've seen so far, seems to be like the cold version of the South Pacific ;) We will know in two weeks

Our Route will be:
ZRH - LIS - PDL - PIX - TER- LIS- ZRH











Zurich - Lisbon - São Miguel Island - Pico Island - Faial Island (Ferry) - Pico Island - Terceira Island - Lisbon - Zurich

Flying with TAP Portugal and SATA Air Açores, with which I've never flown before. It can't be worse than flying Lufthansa ;) Both are 3 Star Airlines (http://www.airlinequality.com/) It's one less than Lufthansa, but for me 4 Stars for Lufthansa, compared to e.g. Malaysia Airlines (5 Stars), Oman Air (4 Stars) or Bangkok Airways (4 Stars) are definitely overrated.

Back to the roots...
Except the training, this trip will be a kind of a test trip, preparing for my RTW-Trip starting in November 2013. Travelling
with an extra bag just with Spearfishing/Diving equipment to see how it works and how to take all stuff with me, preventing damage during travel.

Enough for today