Wild Patagonia.

Three part TV programme,three hours of bliss.Nowhere else on earth is further South,except Antarctica.Active volcanoes,forest buried alive under five meters of ash and gurgling,spitting into the heavens,lava.Monkey puzzle trees providing refuge for the miniature animals."Building a small body is a smart solution to limited resources" says the commentator.And what a speaker he is! His pronunciation of some words in Spanish made it a joy and a pleasure to listen to. The tone of the voice,the understanding of the written word in Spanish and English.And what a written word,clever,expressive.And the patience of the cameramen-impressive, admirable.A puma crouching for forty minutes,waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting grazing gazelle-like animal.And the cameramen waiting patiently with the puma in readiness to capture the moment, when the fight for life begins.And there it was,one beautiful creature sprinting so that it could kill,the other sprinting so that it could live.This time the four legged dinner got away.In the morning the puma was feasting.The night kill successful.When three puma cubs showed their little faces,I was enthralled and ready to forgive their killer instinct they grow up to acquire. Breathtaking,immeasurably enchanting - that is Patagonia. The Cape Horn,the meeting place of the Atlantic and the Pacific,a graveyard for 10 000 sailors. I long to see it all.From the safety of a cruise ship and under the guidance of experienced sailors everything is possible. And Panama Canal,built by the US in 1904-1914,stopped the Cape Horn being a grave for 10 000 more men.I cannot wait to sail through it.The world is waiting to be discovered. Australia.Why would any Ozzie ever want to live anywhere else?! New Zealand-cold and hot and rainy and dry. Oh,to live there for six months, to travel in luxury trains across the country to my heart's content. And Canada.Who wouldn't want to discover what life is like in Vancouver, where the happiest people on earth live? And Canadians seem so civilized,so fair and just. USA,so much to discover and admire. The Yanks are the kindest and the most generous people on earth.My husband respected and loved them for it.On my far too brief visits to the States I learnt how right he was. And ever the Enigma - Russia.My heart goes out to those beautiful people.Fucked by the Tzars, fucked by the Communists,still being fucked,[as my Russian professor had said] I know,I know, the language.You would never HEAR me swear,but in this case no word expresses my feelings better.So "publish and be damned". Cuba. Must go there before the tourists reduce it to a run of the mill place and before the developers do their utmost to ruin the charm and simplicity of the island. And Zanzibar. The word conjured up magic to my husband,he would repeat it and say can we go to Zanzibar today? He so wanted to go and I so couldn't take him. I couldn't take him to Jersey, either.I will go for him.And tell him all about it. Tell him how beautiful the island is,tell him how I miss him so. Tell him how I wish he was with me. And I will ask him again for forgiveness. I always promised he would die in my arms.I did not keep the promise. If only I could forgive myself. Maybe then the nights would become nights and the days would be days again.