Suriname

Postcard of Paramaribo, the capital of South America's only Dutch-speaking country. It's also home to nearly half of the entire population of the country. The city was founded in 1603 and switched between Dutch and English control several times in its early history. The historic inner city of Paramaribo is a World Heritage Site (although I'm not entirely sure that is pictured here). Many thanks and dank je to Sherwin for swapping with me!

Stamps on the left are from a 2008 set of five on local birds. Pictured is a white-necked jacobin, Florisuga mellivora, a large hummingbird common to northern South America. Stamps on the right feature another hummingbird found in Suriname's jungles, the grey-breasted sabrewing, Campylopterus largipennis. From the 1977 definitive set.

Angola II

There didn't seem to be any information given about this card, but I eventually noticed in tiny print in the vertical centre line on the back "Morro, Huíla". "Huíla" is a province in southern Angola and "morro" means "hill" in Portuguese. I don't know if that means they only have one hill of note in Huíla and don't need a more precise name for it, but muito obrigado nonetheless to Ricardo for helping scratch this hard egg to crack off the list.

Stamp from a 1994 set of four featuring traditional ceramics, in this case an earthenware water jug.

Kuwait

Postcard of "Donkey cart with enjoyment of the Children". Surely, one of the fugliest postcards in my collection. Out of all of the things one could photograph in Kuwait, a sickly donkey pulling a mobile child-prison past a death trap-slash-funfair can't possibly be very high on the list. Even just some sand dunes or a traffic intersection would be better.

I am nevertheless very grateful to my friend Jennifer who sent this to me while on a long layover in Kuwait Airport. Shukran!

Stamp from 2003 commemorating the 42nd anniversary of independence from the United Kingdom in 1961. 

Bangladesh

Postcard showing a woman from the Mande minority who live in the hills and forests of eastern Bangladesh. The Mande, or Goro, people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. Many thanks to friends Jennifer and Preetom for sending this to me during their holiday in Bangladesh together! ধন্যবাদ ! 

Stamp on the left, issued in 2003, features an orangefin labeo, Labeo calbasu, a member of the carp family common to freshwater rivers and lakes in South and Southeast Asia. Stamps on the right are from 2004 to commemorate the Bangladeshi Olympic Committee.

Libya

Postcard from the ancient site of Cyrene, one of the oldest and most important ancient Greek cities in the region. It gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times. It was founded in 630 BC, becoming an important centre for philosophy and learning. Cyrene's chief local export through much of its early history was the valuable medicinal herb, silphium, which was in such demand that it was harvested to extinction. This, in conjunction with commercial competition from Carthage and Alexandria, and a series of earthquakes led to the city's decline and abandonment by 400 CE. Many thanks and shukran to friend Shadin who toured Libya on holiday.

Stamp on the right from a set of three about Boy Scouts in Libya. Stamp on the right from a 2001 set of six featuring traditional silver horse harnesses from the Tripoli International Fair.

Poland

A rather dated postcard of Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), formerly known as Okęcie International Airport after the name of town where it is located. It is the largest airport in Poland, handling nearly 40% of the country's air traffic, and recently passed the milestone of serving 10 million passengers in one year.

Stamp on the left features the museum and former studio of renowned, classical Polish painter Jan Matejko. Stamp on the right is from a 2005 series of Polish cities, featuring here the Baltic Sea resort of Sopot, once known as "Monte Carlo of the North", attracting Europe's Belle Époque high society.

Canada – Alberta VI

Postcard from Canada's third World Heritage site, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, inscribed on the List in 1981. The site is a buffalo jump, used by the indigenous people of the prairies for more than 5,000 years to drive bison over cliffs in large numbers for food, leather, and hides. The name of the site come from a Blackfoot legend, whereby a young Blackfoot wanted to watch the bison plunge off the cliff from below, but was buried underneath the falling bison. He was later found dead under the pile of carcasses, where he had his head smashed in.

Many thanks to friend Paul for send this card during his holiday.

Previously featured self-adhesive, permanent rate, definitive stamp from a series on baby animals. Seen here, the Arctic hare, Lepus arcticus, with a rare-for-Canada hand cancellation.

Djibouti

Another new country; I'm really on quite an astounding role at the moment! Five new countries in the space of a month! Certainly a record for me.

This card from the small East African country of Djibouti says on the reverse that it's of Moucha Island, a small offshore island popular with scuba divers. But I'm quite certain that must a printing error of some kind. Google Earth confirms that this is a picture of the eponymous capital city, Djibouti, founded in 1888 by the French as the capital of French Somaliland.

Shukran and many thanks to Salah for help knock this country off my list.

Stamp commemorating the Djibouti National Women's League that works for women's empowerment, literacy and health care.

Nauru II

BEST! DAY! EVER! Two new countries in one day. So amazing. A super big 非常感謝 and heartfelt thanks to Hsiang-chi who sent my first Nauruan card sans stamp and very kindly offered to send a second with. I'll forever be in his debt, as Nauru is certainly one of the trickier countries to strike off the list.

Card shows coral rocks at Anibare Bay, Nauruan boy holding a frigate bird, a sunset and Buada Lagoon.

Two stamps from a 1991 set of 12 on local flowers, featuring hibiscus on the left and clerodendon on the left, both common flower types in the tropics.

East Timor

Woohooooo!! Welcoming new country, East Timor, to my collection. With this, I am very near to getting a card from every country in Asia – the first continent to be struck from my list! Super-huge gigantoid bear hug and around-the-world high five to friend Nancy, who arranged to have a family member send this to me! Muito obrigado and 謝謝!

There was no info about the picture, so I assumed it was of Dili harbour, but was able to discern that this is, in fact, Central Maritime Hotel, indeed in capital, Dili. The hotel was previously a cruise ship that was converted into a hotel!

Stamp depicts José Ramos Horta, the second President of East Timor and a founder the FRETILIN party that struggled against the Indonesia occupation of the country. He was co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for "sustained efforts to hinder the oppression of a small people", hoping that the award would spur efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the East Timor conflict. Independence was finally restored in 2002.

Nauru

A card from the tiny, isolated South Pacific country of Nauru, the world's third smallest and second least populated country. The country is famous, or more aptly infamous, for the terrible environmental impact phosphate mining has wrought on the small coral island. Phosphate was strip mined from the centre of the island, leaving behind a scorched and lifeless moonscape that can barely support the 9000 people who call Nauru their home. Seen here are the cantilevers used to deliver phosphate to cargo ships.

Many thanks to Hsiang-chi who very kindly agreed to swap cards with me. 謝謝你!

No stamp on this postage prepaid postcard, so unfortunately my hunt for a stamped card send from Nauru continues. Coat of arms of Nauru is shown, with the alchemical symbol for phosphate in the upper section.

Indonesia IV

A recent card from Indonesia in honour of my imminent departure there is afternoon for a short holiday. Card shows Tangkuban Perahu, a volcano in central Java that last erupted in 1983. "Tangkuban Perahu" means "overturned boat" in the local Sundanese language, owing to the legend of the mountain's creation, which can be read here.

Thanks to James who was in Indonesia for work.

One interesting thing about collecting things from around the world, is that you get to learn about differing national perspectives on historical events. Stamp here is from a 2011 set of four commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Operation Trikora. When the rest of the Indonesia became independent from the Netherlands, the Dutch retained sovereignty over western New Guinea, and took steps to prepare it for independence as a separate country, as it was culturally and ethnically distinct from the rest of Indonesia. Indonesia wasn't too happy about this and announced its intention to invade, launching Operation Trikora following a failure to get UN support for their cause. Once numerically superior Indonesian forces started to move in in 1962, the Dutch government recognised the Indonesians' resolve to take Western New Guinea and, not wanting to engage in a protracted conflict involving jungle warfare on the other side of the world, agreed to a UN transitional government that would be followed by a referendum on the future of the territory. The highly flawed referendum, conducted by the Indonesian government, allowed only 1025 military-selected men to vote – less than one per cent of the eligible population – and diplomatic cables widely speculate that those men were coerced to vote in favour of integration with Indonesia. To my mind, this shady episode of Indonesia history would be better suited as a skeleton in the closet rather than celebrated in a stamp series, but therein lies the interest in seeing things from different perspectives!

You can read more about the Free Papua Movement here.

Grenada

Postcard of Bathway Beach in the Saint Patrick Parish of northeastern Grenada. The beach is a very popular spot to relax during holidays, when a carnival-like atmosphere reigns. The other days of the year, it's likely to be as you see here, very quiet.

Stamp featuring Tithorea pinthias, or cream-spotted tigerwing, an uncommon butterfly living in the forest lowlands of Central America.

Kyrgyzstan

Postcard showing decorated ceiling and mihrab showing the direction to Mecca in Usup Mosque in Osh, the second largest city and capital of the Kyrgyz South. Osh was an important stop on the Silk Route and is still home to the largest outdoor market in Central Asia. 

Many thanks to Guzel for helping cross this country off my list!

Stamp on the left features an Ilyushin Il-76, a popular plane in the 1970s and 1980s, developed in the Soviet Union for service to remote areas. Stamp on the right commemorates the 2002 United Nations International Year of Mountains, proclaimed to ensure the well-being of mountain and lowland communities by promoting the conservation and sustainable development of mountain regions.

Uzbekistan III

The second three-in-one-day Uzbekistan postcard comes from Igor, so many, many thanks to him as well. The card shows the National Bank of Foreign Economic Activities. It is the tallest building in the national capital, Tashkent.

 Previously featured stamps of the Uzbek National Academic Drama Theatre.

Kazakhstan

Postcard featuring Hotel Kazakhstan, in that country's largest city, Almaty. Being one of its tallest buildings, it's a popular landmark, and is even featured on the Kazakhstani 5,000 tenge note. It was the place to stay during the Soviet period.

Special thanks to Dela from Germany who is doing volunteer service in Almaty.

Stamp features the coat of arms of Kazakhstan. The coat of arms represents the dome-like upper portion of a yurt, against a sky blue background which irradiates the roof supports like sunbeams, and is set off by wings of mythical horses. It's somewhat reminiscent of the flag of neighbouring Kyrgyzstan.