Uganda II

Postcard showing mountain gorillas, Gorilla beringei beringei, a critically endangered subspecies of the eastern gorilla, with populations estimated to be less than 900 individuals. There are two separate populations in Uganda, with both are under threat from habitat loss and human encroachment.

Many thanks to fellow postcard blogger David, of Postcards A World Travelogue for sending this to me during his East African holiday.

Stamp on the left features the shining-blue kingfisher, Alcedo quadribrachys, a common bird in sub-Saharan Africa. The two triangular stamps on the right are from a set of four commemorating 100 yeas of Sikh presence in Uganda. A bit of a strange stamp coming from Uganda, where dictator Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of entire Ugandan-Indian community in 1972. Perhaps trying to make amends?

Kenya

Multiview postcard showing  various animals common to the Kenyan savanna. Many thanks to fellow postcard blogger David, of Postcards A World Travelogue for sending this to me during his East African holiday.

Stamps from a set of 100 (!!) commemorating Kenya's independence from the United Kingdom in 1963. Stamp on the left features the current President and Deputy President. President Kenyatta is actually being indited for crimes against humanity by in International Criminal Court in the Hague for his alleged role in post-election violence in 2007 where over 1000 people are estimated to have been killed. – Maybe not the best person to put on a stamp, if you ask me. Stamp on the right features a rather less controversial pair, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in 1953.

Chile

Multiview card of Chile showing famous sites from around the country. Until now, I'd say that Chile had been the "easiest" country on my Remaining Countries list. I guess that mantle now passes to Panama, or perhaps a Caribbean island frequented by North Americans for winter holidays, such as Aruba or Antigua.

Many thanks to friend Rubén, who was visiting friends in Chile.

Stamp on the left featuring a nativity scene, a Christmas issue from 1995. Stamp on the right from a 2013 set of six commemorating the third anniversary of the rescue of trapped miners in the San José mine in northern Chile.

Rwanda

Postcard of a waterbuck, Kobus ellipsiprymnus, a large antelope found throughout sub-Saharan Africa in Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda. A substantial area of the park was settled in the late 1990s by former refugees returning after the end of the Rwandan Civil War. Due to land shortages, in 1997 the western boundary was moved and much of the land allocated as farms to returning refugees. The park was reduced in size from over 2,500 km² to its current size to 1,200 km². In 2009, the Rwanda Development Board entered into joint management arrangement of the park and will spend US$10 million to rehabilitate the park, including a planned reintroduction of lions and black rhinos.

Many thanks to David, of Postcards A World Travelogue, for taking time out of his East African adventures to post this card.

A 2010 stamp from a set of 5 featuring paintings.

Burundi

Postcard showing a beach on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, in both cases, after only Lake Baikal in Siberia. The water flows into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean, although it's thought that as recently as the region's exploration by Europeans in the 1850s, the lake did not have an outflow to the ocean at all, and may have, in the distant past, flown into the Nile instead.

Lake Tanganyika is on Burundi's Tentative List of World Heritage, although the lake also borders Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.

Many thanks to David, of Postcards A World Travelogue, for sending the card during his East African adventures.

Stamp is from a set of 4 issued in 2012 featuring royal drummers and dancers.

Canada – Newfoundland and Labrador II

Postcard of Gros Morne National Park, a world heritage site located on the west coast of Newfoundland. The park was established as a reserve in 1973 and made a national park in 2005. As an outlying range of the Appalachian Mountains, the park provides a rare example of the process of continental drift, where deep ocean crust and the rocks of the earth's mantle lie exposed. It is also notable for its glacier-carved fjords, one of which is pictured here.

Definitive, self-adhesive stamp of blue-flag irises from a 2004 series on flowers.

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.

Belize

Postcard from the Belizean island of Ambergris Caye, located in the northeast of the country. The island is largely undeveloped, the main attraction being the Belize Barrier Reef and its beaches. The Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

Many thanks to friend Rob who was visiting friends in Belize.

Both stamps are from the 2005 definitive series of twelve stamps featuring ecological and heritage sites around the country. Stamp on the left shows the House of Culture Museum, housed in the former British governor-general's residence built in 1812. On the right is Nohoch Che'en Archaeological Reserve, a Mayan site in a system of underground rivers and caves.

Liechtenstein

Postcard of Vaduz Castle, the palace and official residence of the Prince of Liechtenstein. The castle gave its name to the town of Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, which it overlooks from an adjacent hilltop. Parts of the castle date from as far back as the twelfth century, but the princely family only took up residence here in 1938 following the Anschluss that forced them to leave their previous home in Vienna.

Stamp on the left, issued in 2009, is from a multiyear series called "Brand Liechtenstein" featuring iconic buildings from around the country. Pictured here the parish house in the town of Bendern, where locals swore loyalty to the new local ruler, Prince Johann Adam Andreas von Liechtenstein in 1699, leading to the foundation of Liechtenstein. Stamp on the right is from a 2009 series of four on butterflies featuring the marbled white, Melanargia galathea, a common butterfly across Europe and Asia Minor.

New Caledonia

Postcard of Nouméa, the capital of the New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific located between Australia and Fiji. Nouméa is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the South Pacific with large populations of Europeans, Asians, Polynesians, and local islanders. The islanders have for a long time sought to take back control of the island, and its considerable mineral wealth, from France. Following a period of unrest in the 1970s and 1980s, an agreement was reached to have an independence referendum, which is to be held between 2014 and 2018.

Many thanks to my former student Patrick, who was in New Caledonia for work. 

Stamp issued in 2008 in preparation for the Fourteenth Pacific Games, which were hosted in Nouméa in 2011. The Pacific Games are a sport event much like the Olympics, held once every four years with participation by the countries of the region.