St Peter’s Pool is a popular tourist destination in Malta for those looking to cliff jump, swim, and snorkel.
A diving dog called Titti once appeared jumping into the water with its owner Carmelo Abela, creating an internet sensation.
We met up at Marco Polo hostel ➙ astonished to have so many young people. Most of this mob are a Squash team from a U.K university blowing off their midterm reading week, partying in Malta instead. 😀
We took the public bus to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk.
At least a dozen of these small boats offer to take passengers to St. Peter’s Pool for 5 Euro each.
False Impression is a 2006 thriller novel by Jeffrey Archer that connects a brutal murder before 9/11 with a priceless Van Gogh painting, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear.
The plot follows a young woman who uses the chaos of 9/11 as a cover to escape and seek revenge, leading her on a global chase from New York to London, Tokyo, and Bucharest, involving the FBI, Interpol, and dangerous criminals, all while trying to solve the mystery of the painting.
In a predictable genre, this murder mystery I found original and interesting.
Eight Perfect Murders follows Malcolm “Mal” Kershaw, the owner of a mystery-focused bookstore in Boston called Old Devils Bookstore.
Years prior, Mal wrote a blog post titled “Eight Perfect Murders,” detailing eight fictional crimes from literature that he believed were truly unsolvable.
His life is upended when FBI agent Gwen Mulvey informs him that a serial killer appears to be using his list as a blueprint for real-life murders.
The novel deconstructs and often spoils the endings of these eight classic works:
Dinios “Din” Kol, a gifted young engraver (with perfect memory) is Watson to the eccentric investigator Anagosa “Ana” Dolabra. An entertaining Sherlock Holmes genius.
This book is a locked room mystery.
Technology in this world is based on extracting blood from sea monsters called leviathans.
There’s an attempt made to keep leviathan marrow alive in the lab, producing blood. This is what motivated the bad guy.
His books explore politics through his fiction, often examining how societies maintain order and justice in the face of external threats and internal corruption.
BUT very impressed with Nairobi. A worthwhile tourist stop.
I had a ride share in from the airport during a drenching rain storm that killed between 1-20 people, depending on the news source reporting. Happily I was on the ultra modern expressway, a toll road. A project of the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).
Location in the Westlands district made it convenient to get to restaurants, shops, and modern shopping centres. Expats here don’t lack for much in the way of international stores.
Carrefour grocery stores looked much the same as in Europe.
For day hiking, my hostel recommended Karura Forest, one of the largest urban forests in the world.
Trump ruined my first few days as it took time to change my ongoing flight from Dubai / Oman to London.
I’d hoped to do some hiking in the Kenyan highlands — but the rainy season had already started. It would have been a hassle.
My last 3 nights I booked into posh Wildebeest Eco Camp to live it up.
$61 / night for everything. Gourmet meals included.
On the same ticket you can see the Nairobi Snake Park and Aquarium. Neither is well maintained — but I am fascinated by snakes and reptiles.
There’s a small Botanic Garden, as well.
One last thing ➙ HUGE problem in Kenyafor me was that my Canadian credit cards only worked occasionally. Many ticket offices don’t take cash. A few drivers don’t carry cash.
Those same cards worked all the time in Tanzania.
I was relieved to get out of the country.
I wouldn’t return to east Africa unless it was for a guided hiking adventure or another safari.
When Phil Kramer is shot dead on a deserted suburban street in the middle of the night, his wife, Emily, is left with an emptied bank account and a lot of questions.
How could Phil leave her penniless?
What was he going to do with the money?
… Jerry Hobart has some questions of his own.
It’s none of his business why he was hired to kill Phil Kramer. But now that he’s been ordered to take out Kramer’s widow, he figures there’s a bigger secret at work — and maybe a bigger payoff.
As they race to find the secret that Phil Kramer so masterfully hid, both Hobart and Emily must question where their true loyalties lie and how much they owe those who have been unfaithful to them.
Rick McCharles 