Michael and Kim's World Adventure

It is Finished

2009-04-21T19:52:00.006+02:00

No, we didn't fall off the face of the Earth! After Pompeii and Naples, we spent a few days in Amalfi. We relaxed, read, and ate more great food.

Then we headed down to Sicily. It was a great place to end this adventure. In several ways it reminded us of the things we've been missing about Africa. In Palermo we wandered around the fish markets, vegetable stalls, churches, and port. When we ventured outside of Palermo we found the beautiful countryside was lush green with rolling hills, the coastline was stunning, and the people continually went out of their way to help us and make us feel welcome. We loved the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, built by the Greeks around 500 b.c. Unfortunately, for the first time on our trip, we had a deadline to catch a flight. We'll have to hike Mt. Etna next time.

From Italy we flew to Dublin for two nights, then on to Raleigh, NC. Being reunited with Scout was everything we'd hoped. Of course she remembered us! We are thankful that she was so well cared for. We also got to meet Lillian Garrity, and had a great time with Payton, Ryan, Holly, Bill, and Jodi. From there we drove back to Minnesota and have been in Hibbing for a couple of weeks already. We are trying to find jobs--we hope in the Twin Cities. We have been a little reclusive so far but hope to make it to Wisconsin and the cities for visits soon.

It means a lot to hear people say they have enjoyed reading our blog. Thanks to everyone who made comments here or via email or facebook; you're what kept us blogging! Let us know if you'd like to see some of our video!

Pompeii

2009-03-19T17:40:00.007+02:00

Everybody has heard of Pompeii. I knew it was the city that was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius a long time ago. I figured it would be a pretty incredible place to visit, but wow.

Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius behind

We have seen a lot of Roman ruins by now, from Egypt to Turkey to Verona and Rome. Spectacular reconstructions of some of the most prominent buildings of those long ago abandoned settlements have amazed us before. Pompeii is different. Everything is still there. It's a big city, and still you can see the remains of not only the prominent religious and political buildings, but the hovels and villas occupied by plebeians and patricians. You can walk the streets and see how the city was planned. Very little imagination was required to picture toga-wrapped Romans leaving their villa and walking to the amphitheatre to see the gladiatorial combat.

One of the two theatres

I think this is a public toilet

By now I know that the wealthier Romans lived luxuriously. Some of the villas provided further proof. They had multiple bedrooms, dining areas, peristyle gardens, formal courtyards, some even had space dedicated to exercising. Essentially every room had tiled mosaic floors, and most had frescoed walls. At Pompeii we saw it all, from simple geometric mosaics to intricate battle scenes.

A garden fresco

A guard dog mosaic entryway

What surprised me was that even the smaller, less obviously wealthy houses were decorated with mosaics and frescoes also. We realized that the middle class of Romans was bigger than we thought, and certainly bigger than the Egyptian one.

Some of the wall frescoes

We also saw the horrific final moments of the city preserved in plaster casts. I read that the cloud of gasses and rocks was aloft for twelve hours before descending on the city with a speed of 50 mph and a temperature of 400 Celsius, instantly killing all those who remained. If that wasn't terrifying enough, Kim said she wants to get up close with Mt. Etna, an active volcano, before we leave!

Casts of the victims and excavated remains

Of course the site is too big to see everything, but one the must-sees is a tiny brothel. I think it will be my favorite memory of Pompeii, but probably not for the reasons you're thinking right now. On the walls are frescoes designed to inspire the clients to try some new and different techniques. We learned that they were probably copies from a Greek instructional manual that was circulating at the time. While it was interesting to see 2300 year-old erotic art, it was hilarious to people watch there. Remembering the retired Americans elbowing each other in the stomach while pointing and giggling like a bunch of middle school kids, or eavesdropping on some septuagenarians using words atypical of that generation still makes me smile. I think it always will!

More fine mosaics

A Papal Shoutout

2009-03-17T17:08:00.003+02:00

So many things to say about Rome really. I feel overwhelmed at the task of relaying back what an incredible place it is. Kim and I looked through our Rome pictures, trying only to choose good ones, and two hours later we uploaded something like ninety photos. Each one has a story, but one of my favorites happened when we went to St. Peter's Square on Sunday for the Pope's weekly blessing.
We had been to the Vatican twice before this, but Sunday's atmosphere was certainly different. Everyone was waiting excitedly for the Pope to appear in his window, about 5 stories up and 800 meters from the crowd. He appeared to a great cheer from the crowd and commenced his blessing in Latin.
I'm obviously not a Latin scholar, but I could tell when the important part was happening, the sign of the cross, something about patri and spiritu sanctu. He then spoke a few words in some other languages I recognized. Then the strange part. It went something like this, "Gibberish gibberish gibberish BARCELONA!" Big cheer from a small section of the crowd. "Gibberish gibberish gibberish MADRID!" Big cheer from a different small section. I said to Kim, "I think the Pope is giving a shoutout!" It went on. And on. More gibberish and then a city name that we could understand, followed by small groups cheering wildly. It was at this point that the occasion of going to be blessed by the Pope changed suddenly from solemn religious event into cheesy rock concert, and consequently into one of my favorite memories!

Today I Nearly Lost an Eye

2009-03-10T23:39:00.005+02:00

As you travel further south in Italy, you are warned that the cities become more dangerous. People tell you to be very careful. Don't keep anything in your pockets. Use a purse that goes over your shoulder. This is where the Mafia originated, and organized crime is still prevalent. So far on this trip we have been quite careful and certainly lucky. Well, I was thinking, I have been to Nairobi, Kenya! This can not compare to Africa! I will be careful, but I know what I am doing.

The talk of bribery and corruption, the garbage on the street, mopeds zooming around everywhere carrying three people and/or Cat-in-the-Hat like stacks of goods--Naples sure seems a lot like Africa. But I was not prepared for the danger that was in store here.

Today I nearly lost an eye.

Michael and I discussed tonight how, as we travel through Italy, our stereotypes have become more and more fulfilled as we move south. Both of us have Italian grandparents, and we learned that our ancestors came from the south. Turns out most Italian emmigration originated in the South, so I guess that makes sense. The people here look like we imagined they should; they sound like we imagined, and they gesture like our mothers! The dangerous issue here is...the hand gesturing! So far we have even seen extremely theatrical hand gesturing by people having conversations on their cell phones, while driving and conversing with the person on the back of their motorcycle, and as if that is not enough, today I ran into a giant tree branch on the crowded sidewalk to avoid being jabbed in the eye with a cigarrette by a lady walking down the street telling a story. I have made it through allright, but a little shaken.

If you are headed to Southern Italy, consider yourself warned.

Our Front Door View

2009-03-07T00:27:00.005+02:00

THIS (follow the link and then click on street view)is the view from our front door. We've rented a small apartment, 230 square feet, complete with kitchen and bath. We about 100 feet from the ruins of the huge Theatre of Marcellus, and just outside the door are the 2000 year-old ruins of a portico built and named for Augustus's sister Octavia. We're having a fantastic time here in Rome--more to follow!

The Softest Sell Ever

2009-02-24T18:31:00.002+02:00

Yesterday we headed for the Tuscan hillside to do a little wine tasting. We have been drinking wine with most of our dinners, ok, all of our dinners, but usually just the half-litre of the house red. Sometimes we splurge for a bottle, but even then we stick to the bottom third of the price list. So this trip was exciting because we would be tasting some of the finer wines.

As it turns out, we did a lot more than just "taste" a handful of wines. Our gracious host Luigi, owner and operator, placed a plate in front of each of us with a generous helping of delicious cheese, bread, and salami. Then he poured a dinner glass' worth of the first wine. He stood back, asking us to show him our wine tasting technique. Of course Kim got high marks for her sloshing, but I think I also scored well due to my swirling and smelling. After we had established ourselves as seasoned wine tasters, he kept the glasses coming, stating that you need a big mouthful to really appreciate the wine. He also wanted us to try each wine with the cheese, bread, and salami to determine our favorite combinations.

Nine fantastic wines later, he simply explained to write down the quantities of each type that we wanted delivered to our home. He was a very charismatic salesman, full of information about wine making, but I doubt he ever has to make a really hard sale. After two hours of delicious wine and snacks, who says, "I think we'll pass"? We ordered some bottles on one condition, that he could delay the shipment for a few weeks. We've trusted our mothers with souvenir shipments before, but not this time!

I Won!

2009-02-18T16:25:00.010+02:00

For months we've been planning to ski. Many of the Eastern European countries we've been to have had slopes that would have been more than adequate for us, but for one reason or another, we just kept putting it off. Well, Italy is it. That's right, this is the last country we plan to visit before heading back to The States. It was time to find a place to ski. After months of trash talk about who is the better skier--faster, more experienced, most daring--it was time prove myself. We made our booking in Aosta, a town in a valley of the Italian Alps not far from Torino where the 2006 Olympics were held. We picked up some snow pants, a three day lift ticket, rented skis, and we were off.

The first stage up the mountain is in a cablecar. From Aosta it takes you up 1200 meters, quickly. That is the vertical distance. My pulse was definitely quickening. I was trying to stay focused on the shocking beauty of the mountains. How I've never felt quite so tiny and swallowed up by the landscape like this before. But my heartbeat was so loud! After the cablecar, it was time to put on my skis and climb further up the mountain on the chair lift. Holy shit! What was I thinking! I haven't been skiing since gym class during the Fire Break--that was ninth grade! And I'm not in good shape anymore! The only exercise I've had in nine months is walking around, leisurely walking!

Michael seemed calm and collected on the outside, but I sensed he had exaggerated his skills, maybe almost as much as I had. We made it to the top of one of the two "easy" hills, and off we went. I felt a little off at first, but then I heard that "swish swish" we'd been talking about for months. The skis didn't feel quite as foreign as I had feared. The crisp cold didn't seem so chilling as we weaved down the mountain (past multitudes of under ten-year-olds). When we finally arrived at the bottom Michael told me he was struggling with his left turns. Victory! I had won! I was the better skier!Okay, okay, over our three days on the mountain, I must admit, Michael proved himself a bit more gutsy. He took on the steeper parts of the hills, and he made his descents faster, and with less fear than I sometimes felt. I fell once, and he never did. He claims he was ready to take on a Black hill if we'd one more day. But I think if we'd had a few more days I would have come out ahead. One thing is certain; we had a fantastic time. We were sad to have to leave the slopes.From Aosta we went to Riomaggiore in the Liguria region. It is one of the five small villages that makes up Cinque Terre, and was the perfect place to rest our tired muscles. We took the winding stroll between our village and the next one over. The weather was beautiful. Liguria is the source of pesto. Needless to say, we enjoyed the stunning views and ate well. After two nights there we moved on to Bologna, with a day trip yesterday to Parma. This region is considered the gastronomic heart of Italy (the world?). The standard antipasti, seen below, includes Parma ham (Proscuitto), Parmesan cheese, green olives, salami, and bologna (Mortadella). Mmmmm. In the morning we're off to Florence. If you've been to Italy, and you want to suggest your favorite places, please do!

Venice: Canals and Carbs

2009-02-13T18:12:00.007+02:00

Buon Giorno! We had a fantastic time in Venice. It is such a unique place. We arrived having heard mixed reviews, but left totally satisified with our time there.

Venice is essentially a maze that tourists stand no chance of figuring out. The main attractions, like San Marco, Accademia, and Rialto have signs pointing the way all over town, but they are almost always not the most direct path. So we ended up winding our way down narrow streets and alleyways only to make yet another U-turn, but we did eventually find what we were looking for. What makes it all pleasant is that there are no cars, only pedestrians and water traffic. Another nice addition was the multitude of "Gelaterias," delicious ice-cream vendors at nearly every turn. I think we proved the theory that ice-cream just fills in the gaps in your stomach, because I managed to fit a few scoops well after I felt completely stuffed!

Venice offers some wonderful tourist sights, particluarly The Basilica of San Marco. The interior is covered with incredible mosaics, no pictures allowed of course. It also has a rather disturbing collection of relics. I'm not going to criticize any particular relgion here, but the display of fingertips, jawbaones, fermurs, hair, and teeth was odd to see outside of a natural history museum! There are more incredible churches scattered all over the city, but this being Italy, and with plans to visit Rome, we only visited a few.

We had heard that Venice is overrun with tourists, garbage, and bad odors. We were lucky to be visiting in low season, and the only bad smelling place was near Rio Toaletta. The one difficulty that we didn't expect was the flooding. The town flooded, so that many of the streets were passable only with golashes, at high tide. The local tourist industry was well-prepared though, setting up makeshift walkways to allow the steady flow of tourist cash!

We also had a one night stop over in Verona, famous as the setting of "Romeo and Juliet." We had an excellent day there, with lunch on the Piazza and some time to explore the Roman arena. Italy has been everything it could be so far, and we're excited to see more!

Slovenia...Who could want to leave?

2009-02-02T23:10:00.007+02:00

A few months ago in Uganda, we hung out with a couple of Slovenians. Mateja gave us her email, so last week when we were in Hungary we let her know we'd be in town. She emailed back and invited us to stay at her house! In Slovenia (and lots of other places we've been) it's not uncommon for kids to never move away from home. Often a floor is added to the house or a new home is built next door. So we got to stay with Mateja and her parents.

We arrived in the capital Ljubljana at about 9p.m., and we were starving. After 12 hours of travel with no food and almost missing our train out of Budapest we thought we would grab a bite from McDonald's before Mateja got there. Luckily she was already waiting for us because her mom had dinner ready for us. And we have had more delicious home cooked meals for the last four days. The biggest meal of the day is lunch, usually eaten at about 3p.m. We've had chicken, beef, pork, blood sausage, leek soup all prepared from fresh veggies from their garden. But on our last night we had a real treat. Mateja's mom taught me how to make potica! I didn't even realize potica is Slovenian!

On our first day here we toured Škocjanske Caves. We weren't allowed to take pictures but just imagine Lord of the Rings. We were both waiting for Golem to creep up behind us. After that we went to Sodražica, where my great-grandfather Perushek's immigration papers say he emigrated from. It felt strange to drive around town and think about him living here. I studdied everyone's faces trying to decide if they looked like anyone in my family. Then we stopped at a restaurant, and after we finished, Mateja asked the two people in the restaurant if they kenw any Perusheks in the village. This guy said his grandmother had been a Perushek before she got married!

If I had known more information, we could have dug a little deeper, but all I knew was his name. Should have been a better listener. Sorry Gram! Here are some more picture from the last few days.

My cold limited us in Hungary, but the baths with healing waters from natural hot springs in Budapest were a huge help.Wish I had more time to blog, but the internet in Venice isn't cheap (and there is too much to see)! Miss you all!

The Prague Blog

2009-01-26T22:37:00.004+02:00

Another Eastern European capital...check! Prague was great. It is, of course, filled with beautiful gothic and baroque churches and fantastic museums. While those do not get old to visit in person, blogging about them can. Let's focus instead on hockey and beer!

A Jumbo Latte

Prague's Old Town Square

Street performers in the square

Czech Republic is famous for producing talented hockey players, about 50 now play in the NHL. Knowing this, I wasn't leaving Prague without seeing a hockey game. As luck would have it, we got to see two! The first game was at the home arena of HC (hockey club) Sparta. The arena was fine, nothing too impressive, with a capacity of about 9,000. It was awesome. The seats behind each net are reserved for the fan clubs. The fans were all decked out in their team jerseys and scarves, and they were well organized--chanting and singing throughout. We downed a few tasty $1.50 pints and thoroughly enjoyed the game, despite the home teaming losing 5-4.

At the game

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAL!!!!!!!

Tasty stadium treat

The second game was between the two Prague rivals, HC Sparta and HC Slavia. It was at Slavia's home rink--the brand new 14,000 seat O2 arena. This game was so much more fun. The stands were packed. The fans were cheering and chanting the entire game, just like European soccer. Sparta won 4-3, in overtime. The fans were still singing as we all jammed into the metro to head back into the city center. The atmosphere was absolutely electric.

Czech Republic is also famous for its beers. The first pilsner beer was brewed at Plzen in 1842. Every pilsner you have ever enjoyed is a copy of those made here. Kim and I toured the brewery, about a one hour train ride from Prague. We were able to see the modern packaging plant, capable of washing, filling, and packing 60,000 bottles per hour on each of its two production lines. To keep the tourists happy, they still produce some the old fashioned way, and we were able to taste the product as it once was, unfiltered and unpasteurized. MMMMM!

60,000 bottles per hour!

Enojoying a taste in the old cellar

Lunch!

Just to keep things balanced, we also attended two operas. I'm totally hooked on opera now. Those people are incredible. I'll never be able to watch American Idol again! Before you get too carried away though, you should know that one of the operas was performed by puppets! We saw Cosi fan Tutte live at the State Opera House, and we saw Don Giovanni at the Marionette Theatre. The puppets were a little disappointing, but what could we really expect? We're off to Hungary for a few days. I hear they also have excellent opera...stay tuned!

The marionette theatre

Prague Castle

Krakow

2009-01-14T12:47:00.013+02:00

So far, Krakow is my favorite city. Beautiful old buildings, churches, restaurants, and the largest square in Europe are crammed into the "Old Town," where we've spent most of our time. Of course it had to be crammed because it all had to fit inside the city wall, which was surrounded by the moat. The wall was torn down to allow easier access to the center, but rather than building modern buildings, they made a park that surrounds the city. Everything is really easy to walk to, and there are all kinds of performances every day.

While we were here we saw Fledermaus, our first operetta--that's an opera but with spoken dialogue. Before you guys start feeling sorry for Michael you should know that HE decided he'd rather go to the operetta than go see a hockey game! He's so cultured now! The singers were amazing. I can't understand how anyone can fill an entire theatre with their voices so effortlessly. At least they make it look effortless. This picture is of the curtain on the stage.

About 15km from Krakow we toured an incredible salt mine. That's right, I said salt mine. Certainly you don't hear about a salt mine and think, "Gee, that's something I've got to see!" Well you should if you're in Poland. Once upon a time, in about the year 1290, Princess Kinga (now Saint Kinga) threw her engagement ring into the ground in Hungary. When it turned up in Wieliczka, Poland it had miraculously brought salt deposits with it! The salt mine brought prosperity to the Polish people, and they decided to honor their Saint and many other famous people who visit the mine by carving their busts into the rock salt. The mine has been mined for 900 years. There are now over 2000 caverns, some have been made into chapels and there is even a cathedral with ornate sculptures carved into the walls, statues, and an altar made from the rock salt. It even has salt crystal chandeliers!

Last but not least, I'll talk about our trip to Auschwicz and Birkenau. It is really hard to know where to begin. The concentration camp became a museum shortly after WWII ended. In anticipation of the end of the War, the Germans managed to dismantle most of Birkenau, including its three gas chambers. But "luckily" at Auschwicz everything was left as it had been.

The creeping feeling of horror started to sink in as soon as we approached the front gate here. The words above the gate mean, "hard work will set you free." Obviously ironic, as most of the 25% of people who weren't sent to their deaths immediately on arrival here were worked to death. The prisoners lived in old prisoners barracks at Auschwicz, and in modified horse stables at Birkenau. The stables were designed to house 52 horses, but more than 400 people were forced to live in them at one time. Sometimes ten people to one bunk.Twice every day the prisoners had to line up for roll call. They stood in lines outside until every person was counted--sometimes for hours. Being at the camp in January gave me a new perspective on how miserable that could be. I found myself about to complain about how cold my toes were, and I was ashamed. People here were sometimes forced to stand in the snow barefoot or for a whole day as punishment.Countless people were executed in this courtyard. Part of the wall was reconstructed and is now a memorial.Estimates say that between one million and 1.8 million people were killed at Auschwicz camps. This is the only creamatorium that still stands.

When the camp was liberated there were warehouses filled with clothes, shoes, toothbrushes, eyeglasses, suitcases, etc. All of the items had been sorted and would eventually be sent back to Germany. The warehouses were referred to by the prisoners as "Canada"--the land of plenty.

I am glad we made this trip, but I'm still processing my reaction to it. For starters, I am happy to have been born in a diverse country where, for the most part, people get along. And I am proud that today we are sending a message to the whole world that we embrace our diversity--it is in fact one of our greatest strengths.

Polish Sausage

2009-01-14T11:33:00.006+02:00

Sometimes you go to a new country and you have certain exepectations about the food. And sometimes your expectation are exactly right. I was thinking, "I sure like Polish sausages." Turns out, so do Polish people! We went to a restaurant yesterday and I was really craving one of those sausages, so I ordered one. Michael decided to go with the pea soup and meat wrapped in cabbage over potatoes. I wasn't disappointed with my sausage, but turns out I could have been more adventurous. Michael's soup had huge chunks of sausage and his meat/cabbage were smothered in sauce and topped with...you guessed it! Sausages.

I don't have any pictures from the restaurant, but here is Michael in our apartment cooking us some sausages for breakfast.

The Ukraine is Weak

2009-01-11T12:08:00.006+02:00

It's not weak actually, but my friends would never forgive me for doing a blog post about Ukraine and titling it otherwise. I thought of giving it a title of "Jackets with the Fur" (sung to the tune of the Flo-rida song) because the first thing that struck us was the incredible quantity of fur jackets. They were everywhere! Kim and I counted from a coffee shop one day, and 46 of the fifty women in the study had at least some fur on their coat! Many of them had the simple ring of fur around the hood, but there were plenty of full-on fur coats--animal heads and all!

Bird's-eye view of Kiev

62 meters of Titanium

Typical cathedral in Kiev

Inside a churh on Orthodox Chrismas

Trying to stand on a "handicapped accesible ramp"

We arrived in Kiev via a thirty-hour train ride from Bucharest. It was not a typical train ride. We had travelled to the border, about one-third of the geographical distance, in only eight hours. At that point we wondered how the last leg of the journey could take so long. I cannot be exactly sure of what happened at the border, but I think it went something like this. They disconnected our train cars from the engine to turn the train down a different track, only they forgot to set the brakes, and we were on a hill. After what seemed like about twenty minor collisions with trackside equipment--just little jolts, enough to spill your coffee--we had "the big one." Kim even made a squeal, "EEEK!" After a little investigation I concluded that we had collided with another set of train cars that were now drifting freely down the track ahead of us! After this, perfectly sterotypical Ukrainian men--tall, stubbly grey beards, blue eyes, big cylindrical fur hats--came through the car with hammers and miscellaneous metal parts and started pounding things into place. Three hours and forty minutes later we left the border town, assuming we would be at least three hour late to Kiev, yet we arrived on-time the next morning. Is it possible that they planned a minor collision into the schedule?

Rubbing a nose for good luck

Carolers

Begging for change is no reason to lose your fashion sense, look at those heels!

The Chernobyl museum

We visited some beautiful Orthodox cathedrals, went underground to see some mummified monks, and ate our fill of dumplings and borscht. But I am particularly proud of learning the Cryllic alphabet--the one the Russians use. Our maps have streets labeled in English, but the local street signs are all Cryllic. After the week in Ukraine I was able to read most of signs, but had no idea what the words meant! We had many fun conversations on the street like these:

Me: We need to turn left on Rustavelli street.
Kim: What does that look like?
Me: 'p' 'y' 'c' 't' 'a' 'b' 'e' 'sqaured-off-n,' backwards 'n.'

Or,

Me: It's on Doroshenka.
Kim: How does it start?
Me: Trapezoid with legs, 'o' 'p' 'o' 'w.'

Now it's off to Poland and all those tasty sausages!

Strays in Lviv

Enjoying some borscht

Transylvanian Adventures

2009-01-03T22:15:00.026+02:00

Our trip to Romania had it's ups and downs, but overall it was a very positive experience. The country provided us with some stunning settings among palaces and castles, and some frustrations with unusual museum policies and less than helpful hostel hosts. We tasted some excellent--and cheap--Romanian wines and beers, and loosened our belts a little to accommodate all those meat-and-potatoes meals!

Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle)

It was "Scary" in Dracula's Castle

First, the castles. The home of Dracula does wonders for the imagination, enough to overcome the obvious tourist traps awaiting us around seemingly every corner. Strolling through those medieval homes/fortresses two thoughts stood foremost in my mind, that people actually lived in these gargantuan edifices, and that some people probably met their unfortunate end through a pot of boiling oil dumped over the wall. I also could not help myself in trying to determine which wall would be most vulnerable and what type of equipment would be necessary to mount a successful siege. One can only be a product of his childhood, and mine, for better or worse, involved quite a few computer-based castle sieges!

The Citadel at Rasnov

We also went to Sighisoara, the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler--Bram Stoker's inspiration for Count Dracula. It is a fantastic old town with most of the original city wall still surrounding the medieval citadel. There is an amazing clock tower standing at the main gate. It is about seven stories tall, and it looks like a giant cuckoo clock! There are different wooden people, all dressed or outfitted in some 12th century attire, who change places on the hour. The tower is also home to a small museum. My favorite part was that you could watch the clock machinery work. The complicated mechanism full of gears and flywheels could have held my attention for hours, if only the museum usher had more patience! We spent two quiet nights there and enjoyed a couple glasses of red wine in Vlad's first home.

Sighisoara clock tower

A view from the clock tower

Enjoying a "Gina Glass" of wine

Mmmm, stuffed mushrooms!

Dracula's house

Admiring a bust of Vlad the Impaler

I vant to suck your blood!

I wish we could post pictures of some of the places we visited, but Romania charges a pretty exorbitant fee to take pictures inside the museums. They were typically $15-20, while the entrances fees were $2-5, and since we didn't know what to expect we usually didn't pay. I only really regret not taking pictures in the Peles castle. It was one of the most amazing places I've ever seen, and probably ever will. It was built over 20 years centered around 1900, and maintains most of it's original furnishings as it was not used again after the first royal family died. From the dining rooms to the arms collection to the king's study, every room was incredibly decorated. Most of the ceilings and walls were intricately carved wood and every place else was gilded with gold--the absolute epitome of royal indulgence!

Chippies Two Rand

2009-01-03T22:15:00.020+02:00

Every time Michael and I arrive in a new country we can hardly wait to look through the grocery store. Each country has new surprises, but inevitably we spend the most time in the snack aisle. Here is a CHALLENGE! Everyone who guesses correctly gets a postcard. Which one of these flavors have we NEVER seen in a grocery:

Carribean Onion and Balsalmic Vinegar
Paprika
Roasted Chicken
Lamb Curry
Roast Beef
Biltong
Wild Mushroom and Sour Cream
Beer
Thai Sweet Chili
Yoghurt
Bacon
Heinz Katsup
Crab
Ham and Cheese
Smoked Turkey
Juicy Ham and Honey
Chili Pepper
Sour Cream and Dill

Good Luck!!

Vun, Two, Three Peanut Butter Sandwiches

2008-12-29T18:56:00.006+02:00

A belated happy Christmas to all--and to all a good night! We finally found an open internet cafe; sorry it's been so long! We spent our holiday going to (the second half of) a service at the Roman Catholic Cathedral, wandering around a gothic Transylvanian village, then warming up in our hotel hot tub and sauna. Santa brought Michael a deck of East African birds playing cards, and I got an electronic Sudoku game.
But mostly we were missing you. We hope this is the last Christmas we will spend away from our families. Despite getting to watch Miracle on 34th Street and Fred Flintstone's inspired portrayal of Scrooge, Christmas at a hotel just doesn't cut it.
Needless to say we are quite excited for Sandy's promised Christmas when we return--with spritz and peanut blossom cookies! Whoo hoo! The gingerbread cookies here are delicious though...Unfortunately this internet cafe is closing and I don't have time to do justice to Romania. I hope these pictures will give you a taste of what we're seeing. More about Dracula later!

Welcome to Europe

2008-12-19T22:20:00.005+02:00

You know you are no longer in a Muslim country when:

Your internal clock wakes you up at 6:00 am but there is no call to prayer.

None of the men have callouses on their foreheads.

Your Egg McMuffin isn't made with chicken sausage.

The menus have items such as Pork Knuckles.

There are "Juicy Ham and Honey" flavored Lays potato chips.

The useless city landmark changes from the mosque (because there is one on every corner) to the sex shop (because there is one on every corner).

You no longer overhear "Inshallah" (God willing) in every conversation.

There is good, cheap wine available in stores and restaurants.

The women have hair. (visibly)

People do not pay for public transport unless someone is enforcing it.

There is graffiti on the buildings.

There are more names available to men than Mohammed, Mahmoud, Abdul, Ahmet, and Mehmed.

Not too much to report from Bulgaria so far. When it's cloudy, it looks exactly like you would picture it (grey everywhere and 1950's style Soviet buildings), but it's beautiful when the sun comes out. We visited an amazing monestery near Sophia and went to a Polish folklore show. We're in Veliko Tarnovo for a couple days and then on to Bucharest!

Cathedral Downtown Sophia

Rila Monestery

Painted domes

On to Europe!

2008-12-17T22:38:00.005+02:00

Turkey was great. Since Michael's last blog we got to see our first castle. It's on the Aegean Sea, and was built and used by the Knights of St. John. It now hosts an amazing museum full of milleniums old clay jars, glass, and other treasures that divers have found in shipwrecks off the coast.

After that we went inland to Pamukkale to see the Travertines--they're made from the high calcium content of natural warm underwater springs. From the village below it looks just like snow, and it's cold enough here now that it could be. But wandering around it you are awed by the glistening water and can feel the heat and see the steam rising from the countless terraced pools. It's stunning.

Naturally they've attreacted people to this area for a long time. The water supposedly has healing properties, and many people still come to bathe in it--especially in summer. The ruins of the Greek and Roman city of Heiropolis are here. The theater is still in great shape, and it has the biggest Necropolis we've seen.

After that we headed for Cappadocia. I don't think there is any place in the world you could compare it to. First of all, I don't think most people think of Turkey when they think about the early years of Christianity, but they should. Quite a few desciples came this way after Jesus's death, and there is even a church near Ephesus where the virgin Mary came with St. John and lived until she died. (Remember the Letters to the Ephesians?) Anyways. Cappadocia is pretty much where Monks got their start. St. Basil lived here. He and the other monks made monestaries into the soft volcanic rock here, so they could hide from the Romans before Constantine made Christianity legal. The local population also built their homes into the rock, and they made underground cities where they would retreat to for up to six months if they were under attack. The first Basilicas (St. Basil) were carved into the rocks here.They started calling these "Fairy Chimneys" during Abolition when locals secretly brewed Raki--anise brandy--in the mountains here.

We learned from a tour guide that a new prison was built in Cappadocia in the 1990s. After being open for one year, 38 prisoners escaped and 330 meters of underground tunnel were discovered.

The hotel room we stayed in was carved into one of these Fairy Chimneys. We had four nights by our roaring fire, two with our new Aussie friends, Gus and Mandy. We also enjoyed some beautiful hiking. Last night we took an overnight train out of Turkey. We're now in Sofia, Bulgaria and are thrilled to discover that after six months, we have finally found another country with good, cheap wine! I'm sure we'll post more details later.

A Turkish Bath

2008-12-05T17:12:00.008+02:00

We have spent the last few days along the Agean coast visiting ruins and sampling more delicious Turkish food. The ruins are in various states of preservation and restoration and can sometimes really give us a feel for what life may have been like here in Greek and Roman times. The pictures tell the story better than I can, so I will include a few of the better ones.

Bus travel in Trukey is very luxurious

The truth is, I'm not going to be able write about ruins as enthusiastically as Kim did about Troy, so instead I'll write about my first (and probably last) experience in a "Hamam," or Turkish bath.

Theatre at the Asclepion (Pergamon)

The Acropolis at Pergamon

Everything I've read says that going to a Turkish bath is one of the quintessential experiences to have in Turkey. I liked the idea because it's not only a tourist thing--Turkish men and women use the hamams as well. Here's the play-by-play.

Temple of Hadrian at the Acropolis

A mosiac floor in Pergamon

As I entered the building into a large reception area with several men drinking tea and watching TV, a man gave me a thin red-and-white checkered cloth and led me to a small room to change. The room was about 6 feet by 3 feet with a bench and some hooks to hang my clothes on. After undressing and wrapping the cloth around my waist a man led me to the bathing area. First, I walked through "the cold room." A room with a few toilets and showers and not much else. Next, into the steam room. It's a big octagonal room with a high domed ceiling. The room was ringed with bathing stations and also contained a traditional sauna. Into the sauna I went to work up a good sweat before the real fun started.

Kim's interpratation of an ancient statue

Ephesus

A man knocked on the sauna door. He was wearing the same type of cloth as I was. He was a skinny guy about 60 years old, bald, with a chest full of grey hair. He led me over to one of the bathing stations. It's just a little marble cubilcle with a faucet and a bucket. I sat down, and he got to work. He splashed me with some water, rubbed some soap on me, put on this glove thing, I think it was covered in 80-grit sandpaper, and proceeded to remove about 4 millimeters of my epidermis! I did my best to not show any signs of the pain, but I'm sure my face betrayed me. After a thorough soaping/shampooing/scrubbing it was time for the relaxing massage. He led me to the big marble stone in the middle of the room--I say "led" because my eyesight was M.I.A after all that soap.

The floor in a Roman house (Ephesus)

Restoration work in progress

I laid down on the marble and endured another 15 minutes of pain. With his hands and another rough dishcloth he removed any stubborn remnants of dead skin and beat my muscles into numbed relaxation. I think I may have actually left a small imprint into that marble!

The library at Ephesus

Avenue and theatre at Ephesus

Another rinse and it was over. I got a towel and a cup of tea and was back to my changing room to decide if I actually enjoyed it. The jury is still out, but I'm glad to have done it, and I've never been cleaner!

Turkısh Deeeeelıght

2008-12-01T20:58:00.005+02:00

There are tons of sweets shops here and the Baklava (we prefer the pastry wıth walnuts to pıstacıos) ıs delıcıous beyond words! Turkısh Delıghts are lıke gum drops but wıthout the sugar coatıng and İ love them too. The most common flavors are mınt rose yellow. I have not fıgured out what the yellow ıs but ıt ıs my favorıte. We have spent several days wanderıng around İstanbul and are lookıng forward to a few more before headıng to Bulgarıa ın a couple of weeks. It ıs so dıfferent here from everywhere else we have been. It ıs a lıttle overwhelmıng.The Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque sıt facıng each other ın an old neıghborhood--the heart of İstanbul--Sultanahmet. The two gıant domed relıgıous structures are quıte sımılar archıtecturally (to me) and when you stand ın between them they are amazıng to see. The Aya Sofya was buılt by the Emperor Justınıan ın the 400s and accordıng to our guıdebook ıt was consıdered the "greatest church ın Chrıstendom" untıl ıt was turned ınto a mosque ın the 1400s. That ıs not hard to belıeve. Its domes are ıncredıbly hıgh. The marble walls are so colorful and the mosaıcs are ıntrıcately beautıful.Back ın Egypt ıt seems that when Chrıstıans and Muslıms came across anythıng "pagan" theır response was to deface them. Luckıly here the Muslıms just plastered over the old Chrıstıan mosaıcs and added theır own callıgraphy and decoratıons. So when Atatürk turned the Aya Sofya ınto a museum ın 1935 wıth a lıttle restoratıon work ıt ıs easy to see what the Church once looked lıke. The Blue Mosque was buılt to rıval the great church and ıt almost succeeded. It ıs ımpressıve even though they had to cheat and buıld four huge pıllars to keep up the domes.Between and below the relıgıous structures lıes the 1500 year old Basılıca Cıstern. It was lost to the cıty for a few hundred years but when locals told a scholar that they could mıraculously lower buckets ınto theır basements and brıng up water and sometımes fısh he dıscovered the cıstern ın the 1500s. They have cleared out the dead bodıes (no lıe) and restored the cıstern three tımes sınce then.We have left the cıty now. We spent the last two days ın a vıllage next to the ruıns at Troy. Thıs ıs THE Troy of the Trojan War! They even have the horse from the Brad Pıtt movıe!For me ıt was amazıng to walk among these ruıns and try to ımagıne that Achılles and Helen and the Acheans were all real people and there really was a Kıng Prıam! The legend says that Achılles chased Hector around the walls of Troy for nıne days before he kılled hım and we SAW THAT WALL! How cool ıs that?! Anyways...there ıs a lot more to see here along wıth plenty of good food and wıne. We are ın Bergama now. St. John saıd ın Revelatıons that the basılıca here--ıt was orıgınally a temple to Egyptıan gods--ıs one of the seven churches of the Apocalypse. He says ıt ıs the "throne of the devıl." So that should be ınterestıng! There ıs also ruıns of an acropolıs and the ancıent medıcal center where Galen taught us most of what we knew about the nervous and cırculatory systems untıl the 16th century. Plenty to keep us busy!

p.s. I stıll have not found the comma or apostrophe and tryıng to hıt the i ıs too much work for me. Sorry.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T17:39:00.003+02:00

We made it safely to İstanbul. So far we love this city, but we're thinking of you all and missing you tons. Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you're staying warm and are enjoying family and turkey! It was cold and rainy here today, but we stayed warm wandering around the bazaar. We'll post a more thorough update later.

An Egyptian Wrap-up, Minus the Embalming of Course

2008-11-24T19:03:00.008+02:00

We've finished up our travels in Egypt, so before we get too far removed I wanted to relay some of our favorite observations of Egyptian idiosyncrasies.

Enjoying dinner with a new friend

There are metal detectors everywhere, hotels, tourist attractions, malls, etc. But the interesting thing is that you routinely walk through them, set them off, and keep on going. The "guards" are busy talking and not paying attention. They are obviously just for show, some pathetic attempt to make tourists feel safe in the wake of the bombings of the 1990's.

A church in Cairo's small Christian area

Everyone smokes, everywhere. About 80% of our taxi drivers smoked at least one cigarette while we were driving.

A busy touristy market street

Gas is very cheap, much cheaper than southern and eastern Afrıca. In Uganda and Kenya gas was about 6-7 dollars per gallon--closer to 1.50 in Egypt. As a result, there are many more people driving their own cars around the city and far fewer minibuses. The taxis in Africa (since I've stopped thinking of Egypt as Africa) never drive around without passengers and almost never have more and two liters of fuel. But here, they drive around all day with empty seats and full tanks. So for the first time in our trip taxis became our primary means of transportation.

Many of the men here have large callouses on their foreheads. I'm sure you can guess why. We both thought of it as a well-earned outward show of piety!

Cairo, and Egypt in general, is very safe. We got lost one night in Cairo for about 45 minutes, never felt scared--quite a contrast to Nairobi where we couldn't walk half a mile after dark!

Reading about İstanbul in a Cairo park

Many people leave Egypt feeling like their trip was ruined by all the hassling tourists get. It's a little overwhelming. Everywhere you go along the main tourist streets men (and sometimes women) give you the same old lines, "Come see my shop, very cheap, looking is free." "You want a carriage ride? You know how much?" "You from Australia? G'day mate! No? England? Germany? China?" "You want boat ride? One hour 15 pounds. Why no?" "Maybe I give you some information for trip to Abu Simbel?" "Lucky man." "Where you from? Which state? Oh! I have a brother in faketown, made-up state. Maybe you come see my shop?" It gets old, so old in fact there are some stores whose signboards read "NO HASSLE SHOP. FIXED PRICES."

A final Egyptian sunset

Every price of every item is negotiable. You can buy a can of Sprite for 15 pounds or 2, depending on your patience.

It was also clear that after six months on the road Kim and I were starting to miss some of the comforts of the western world. We may not like to admit it, but while in Egypt we:

-Ate McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Chili's, Hardee's, TGIFriday's, and Cinnabon.
-Drank Starbucks coffee.
-Went to 4 American movies, including one in a VIP theater with leather reclining Lay-Z boys for seats.
-Used the internet almost every day--I'm caught up on The Daily Show, and I have Facebook now.
-Spent the better part of three days in Cairo at a fancy western-style shopping mall--shopping. eating, and watching movies.

We have arrived safely in İstanbul, and typing this entry on a Turkish keyboard has been challenging to say the least. All these ıIİşöçğü keys keep getting in the way and I have to type shift-2 to make an apostrophe, CTRL-ALT-Q to make @, and some other interesting combinations that have spawned some interesting language! İt also meanş that İ,m goıng to be lookıng for an ınternet çafe wıth an Enğlısh keyboard next tıme!

ps...Let the cheesy jokes offcially begin. We will be in Turkey for Thanksgiving!

Scuba Duba Doo!

2008-11-17T20:08:00.004+02:00

First off, Michael gets credit for the blog title. I asked him for something clever and that's what I got. We're now certified Advanced Divers!! Whoo hoo! For the lay person this means that I can use a compass to swim in a square while 45 feet under water, I have felt the drunken feeling caused by too much Nitrogen in the blood (110 feet under), and I have been doing homework for the last three nights. The diving here is fantastic. Today we did one called "The Blue Hole." We started by entering the water and dropping almost vertically through "the bells." It's called "the bells" because it's a passage so narrow that your air tank will probably hit the rocky walls and make a sound like a bell. When you 've made it down about 100 ft you have to remember to add air to your BCD (buoyancy control device) because the bottom is still nowhere in sight. You swim along a wall of coral reef with countless colors and spectacular fish ascending slowly along the way. Finally you swim over the top of the coral reef, and you're inside a giant cylinder of coral 200 feet across and 400 feet deep. Around the edges are more fish, shrimp, starfish, and divers, but when you swim across the middle, you lose sight of everything. It's just an abyss. I love it here! Dahab is a really chilled out place. All of the restaurants serve seafood, pizza, pasta, and hummus. Most of them have "bedouin style" seating--giant pillows on the floor--instead of chairs, and are right on the water. And everyone who comes here wants nothing more than diving and beer. I can hardly wait to dive tomorrow!

p.s. On our last day in Luxor we went to the West Bank. There are hundreds of tombs there at the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Tombs of the Nobles, and in the artist's village--Patty this was before your warning. You're not allowed to take photos, but for a little baksheesh, this guy didn't have a problem with one measly picture. This is the tomb of Joe Schmo...you can imagine what the pharoah's tombs were like!

Luxor

2008-11-10T21:43:00.004+02:00

Three days ago we cruised up the Nile on a ship to Luxor. It's quite a place. As you walk down the street you have to simultaneously dodge and refuse rides from horse drawn carriages and blue and white taxis. The 3000 plus year old magnificent Luxor Temple is right in the heart of town, and McDonald's--which sells the tasty McArabia--is literally across the street. We've decided all of the western restaurants charge too much for food that's mediocre at best, while the local food is unbelievably cheap yet fantastic. Today we slept in late and had a schwerma and felafel on our way to the museum. We wandered around the market for a while, enjoyed a fruit cocktail with pomegranate, banana, guava, apple, and orange juice, and had koshary for dinner. Then we went to a rooftop cafe overlooking the Temple and River for coffee, sheesha, and a beautiful sunset. Luxor TempelView from the cafeBeautiful sunset

Entrance to the market Yes we know how lucky we are!

p.s. Kudos to Brooke for all the comments she posts. Sandy and Andrea get honorable mention. The rest of you should step it up! We miss you, and it means a lot to hear from you!

Feats of Engineering, Past and Present

2008-11-09T17:31:00.006+02:00

A few days ago we traveled to the southern part of Egypt to visit the great temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. It was a fascinating day that left us exhausted and awestruck in many ways. It started at 2:45 AM, as the only way to get to Abu Simbel is with the convoy from Aswan that leaves at 3:30. It's a three hour ride, ending just 40 miles north of the border with Sudan. We were allowed just about two hours to view the temples before joining the convoy back to Aswan.

Four Colossi of Ramses II

Statues of Nefertati and Ramses II

The two temples were stunning. They are well preserved inside and out, although very little of either is "outside" as they were both carved into a sandstone cliff. The colossal statues of Ramses and his queen Nefertari adorn the temple entrances. Inside each the pillars and walls are carved floor to ceiling with painted reliefs showing various religious events and festivals. The intricacy of the details and the precision of the construction is truly a testament to the ancient Egyptians' skills at the height of their empire in the 13th century BC.

A scene showing Ramses II offering Lotus flowers to Nefertari

Admiring the fallen face of one of the statues

Fast forward to modern times. As the population of Egypt grew and demand for electricity and arable land outpaced supply, the government undertook a project to build the "High Dam" at Aswan. It was finished in the 1960's, and it is a true accomplishment of modern science--controlling the floodwaters of the Nile and providing much needed farm land and electricity. However, conservation was clearly overlooked. As the waters of the Nile rose to create Lake Nasser, people around the world took notice that the temples at Abu Simbel, and many others along the river, would soon be permanently under water, lost forever. A massive effort by many foreign governments and private companies was made to save those monuments. They cut those temples up, block by block, and reassembled them on higher ground. So what we visited was actually the temple of Ramses II, the original, but moved to a new location. Incredible!

The Aswan High Dam

The temple at Philae

I find it hard to believe that a country whose tourism depends on its glorious past came so close to losing such an incredible piece of history. It also provides a little perspective as to just how much exists in Egypt, knowing that the loss of temples like Abu Simbel and Philae would not have crippled Egyptian tourism. There is far too much to see here, and I think I would get bored before I could visit every temple and every tomb, but I am happy to have visited Abu Simbel without a SCUBA tank!

Salam

2008-11-01T15:27:00.003+02:00

We left our hotel in Nairobi at 2 a.m. last Sunday to catch our plane to Cairo. With such an early start, we decided we'd just do a bit of wandering and maybe catch a movie on our first day in Egypt. It took almost no time for us to fall in love with the city! Trying to cross the street here can be quite a challenge. There don't seem to be any traffic laws. A two lane road can easily have five cars across, but we quickly figured out how to use the Egyptian pedestrians as shields. There are people sitting around drinking tea or smoking Shisha all the time. The stalls selling food look and smell amazing. There are endless stores with glass vases and perfumes, paintings on papyrus, western clothing stores, car parts, and anything else you can imagine. We'd heard Cairo was very dirty, but coming from southern and eastern Africa where you're never more that 100 yards from a dirt road, this place is "very cosmopolitan!" As we were walking around eating ice cream and french fries from McDonald's (first in over 5 months), we met Abdul. He invited us into his shop and gave us a cup of tea. We chatted for a while and Abdul suggested we share a taxi to the pyramids at Giza. He said he'd introduce us to his friend Mahmoud, who owns some stables, and then he'd have us over for dinner. It sounded like a great plan to us. We ended up riding camels to the pyramids and watching a beautiful sunset.

The dinner at Abdul's house was delicious, and we felt so honored to be invited!

The next day we went back to Giza and went inside one of the pyramids and got a better look at the Sphynx. We also got to see the Red Pyramid at Dashur--the first true pyramid, and the Step Pyramid at Sakkara.

Then Mahmoud had us over for dinner two nights in a row! Mahmoud is a really funny guy, and his family situation was interesting to us. In Egypt it is legal for a man to have four wives, and Mahmoud is working on getting number four. His father picked out the first one for him, and they're not a good match. He picked out the next two. The second is beautiful, the third is a good match mentally, but he's pretty sure he has the whole package in wife number four. He has six boys, one girl, and one of his wives is pregnant. Each wife has her own house and he spends two nights a week with each, and the whole family gets together for a big dinner on Fridays.

There is a lot more I could write, but we're taking the night train to Aswan in about an hour. We've uploaded more pictures. Click on the link to the left if you want to see them. We also updated our phone number, so feel free to call or send an SMS any time.

Anniversary Splurging

2008-10-31T14:55:00.006+02:00

We certainly have had an interesting couple of weeks, and I realize that we're a little behind with our updates. I'll just post a few highlights from our last few days in Sub-Saharan Africa because I know my mom will love it. We stayed three nights in Mombasa and enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of our new friends Keren and Andrew. They have lived in Mombasa for over twenty years and were able to provide us with some very interesting perspectives.

Kim and Keren at Keren's flat

Bird Watching at dusk

Throughout our trip we have seen many wooden carvings, most of which are very similar, and I think we found the source in Mombasa. We went to the carvers' market where about 500 people were mass producing (by hand of course) the most of the common wooden souvenirs we've seen.

Mombasa Carvers' Market

After Mombasa we were in need of some beach time, after all, this travelling is hard work! We spent two nights self-catering in a small cottage at Diani Beach before splurging for our fourth anniversary. We found Diani Reef Resort and Spa, and decided that a little five-star luxury would be in order. The place was absolutely stunning. There were two pools, four bars, three restaurants, a spa, and just about everything else you'd expect. We spent three days relaxing on the beach and eating delicious dinners, thanks Mom!

Kim's temporary petDiani Reef ResortDiani Beach Getting some shade at the barEnjoying a cool drink at the swim-up bar

Relaxing at Diani Beach

That's a wrap for southern and eastern Africa--time for Egypt. We have truly enjoyed our first five months. We've seen most of the animals Africa has to offer, met plenty of interesting locals and expats, tasted and enjoyed (mostly) the local cuisine, and relaxed on some of the most stunning beaches in the world. We've also endured painfully long and overcrowded bus rides, risked our lives on motorcycle taxis in Kampala, and met with plenty of frustration attempting the seemingly simplest tasks. We've gotten sea-sick on ferries, laughed and vented with fellow travellers, and learned to speak like Brits (Could I have a Wah-ta please?). In all, we've gained an experience that few others have. We feel very lucky about our opportunity and proud of ourselves for making it happen. We also hope that anyone reading this has enjoyed a piece of our adventure with us!

Maybe L. Ron Had Something After All

2008-10-14T12:48:00.007+02:00

I have recently finished reading "Dianetics" (I know it should be underlined Mr. Bergan but I couldn't figure out how to make it work) by L. Ron Hubbard. It's the book that started him on his path towards writing the foundations for the Church of Scientology. The basic premise is that people behave irrationally because they have "engrams." These are imprinted in your brain during times of injury or unconsciousness. When restimulated they cause irrational behavior and many types of physical illnesses. For example, if you received a concussion and while you were more or less unconscious somebody said, "I'll take care of you," that's an engram. When properly restimulated by events or people similar to those involved in the concussion incident, you might have migraine headaches. If a person undergoes Dianetic Therapy, now mostly at Scientology Churches, he can be cleared of his engrams, and therefore function at a much higher mental level, complete with full perceptive recall of all moments of one's life. It gets a lot crazier if you read more about his later works that lay out the premises of Scientology (mostly about aliens and the beginning of the universe). So, it was an interesting read, but of course I dismissed most of it as just another get-rich-quick self-help scam.

Kim at Fischer's Tower

Trying to decide which path to take

A View of Lake Naivasha from above Hell's Gate National Park

However, after a day of cycling through Hell's Gate National Park, I'm beginning to wonder if L. Ron had something after all. You see, I've never really seen Kim get nervous about physical danger before, and I certainly didn't think that riding a mountain bike would qualify as dangerous. She wasn't nervous about white water rafting, and I know she has been bungee jumping and sky diving among other things adrenaline related. But after a seriously difficult climb to about the highest point in the park, which included several instances of pushing the bikes up the hill, we started our descent. It was at this point I saw the look in her eyes that I'd never seen before. She looked terrified of going too fast down the rocky path! There was some danger involved here, losing control and flying off the cliff for example, but nothing to justify that look. Hmm???

Scaring away some zebras

Admiring the gazelles

Thirsty giraffes

It turns out that at six years of age she had a bicycle accident that resulted in the loss of four teeth. That got me thinking, "Engrams!" What else could cause that "irrational" fear of falling to her death? Maybe I'll read another of Hubbard's books, but I'm not quite ready to start her into Dianetic Therapy just yet!

The result of a 35km bike ride!

100 Meter Waterfall

2008-10-10T09:23:00.008+02:00

We went repelling! They call it abseiling here. We were at Sipi Falls in Uganda. We did a bit of hiking--the falls are a beautiful sight. Then I somehow convinced Michael that we should lower ourselves on a rope over the edge of the cliff next to this waterfall. He agreed! Neither of us were especially nervous until the guy who was supposed to go first and then wait for us at the bottom went. He was shaking like a leaf and the look of terror on his face was like nothing I have ever seen before. I was next. For the first thirty meters I walked horizontally against the cliff face, slowly letting out the rope. The views were incredible. Then the rocks cut back, and it was hanging the rest of the way. At the bottom, I got soaked from the waterfall's mist, then trudged up the hill a bit to watch Michael. I was suprised how quickly he came over the edge (until that point I wasn't totally sure he would do it). He had an audience of other hikers and a thunderstorm while he made his descent. He was smiling when he landed at the bottom, and he said he would consider doing it again some day! We left Sipi Falls for Kenya, and our first stop was Saiwa Swamp. The lodge where we stayed was actually an old farmhouse belonging to a lady who had to be in her 90s. She and her daughter welcome visitors, cook delicious meals, and make the arrangements to go birdwatching in the swamp. It was fantastic. We saw tons of new birds, and the other guests invited us to stay at their flat when we get to Mombasa on the Kenyan coast!

After that we stayed two nights at a place called Kerio View, which is right on an escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. Michael finished The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes and I started Volume II of War and Peace.

We've been in the Rift Valley for a few days now. Yesterday we went to Lake Naivasha to see flamingos. I had no idea there would be so many. There were 50 billion of them (my estimate) all around the lake. All fifty billion are continuously moving around to filter the blue green algae from the water with their beaks. There are also many pelicans, spoonbill storks, yellowbill storks, buffalos, rhinos, monkeys, etc. around.

It was a great day. We had good Chinese food for dinner and spent the night in a crappy hotel in the middle of town that cost $8. There was no mosquito net, and I woke up itching at about 12:30. I applied lots of bug spray, put in my earplugs, and felt totally refreshed this morning. We are heading to Hell's Gate National Park as soon as we leave this internet cafe. It might be our last Park in Africa!

A Day of Luxury

2008-09-29T13:03:00.009+02:00

Just in case any of you are worried (or are hoping) that Michael and I might be getting burnt out from all the bumpy bus rides or roadside fare, I thought I would post some pictures of our current lodging. After a great trip to Murchison Falls where we had several days without a shower, we decided to stay a night at a nice hotel in Kampala and have a good meal. Well, we have been at Cassia Lodge for three days so far. Just this morning... We have eaten at the restaurant several times already, and this is our favorite so far--the Aubergine Tower (eggplant, roasted peppers, fresh basil pesto, goat cheese, balsalmic vinegar, and olive oil).

Canasta and an Apértif

Murchison Falls

Raft the Nile!

2008-09-27T15:37:00.005+02:00

After spending most of the past few weeks relaxing and watching wildlife, Kim and I decided to do something to get the adrenaline flowing--white water rafting in the Nile River! We left the busy capital city, Kampala, for the "Adventure captial of Uganda", Jinja. It's the place where the Nile River starts its winding way to the Mediterranean Sea from Lake Victoria. Our group consisted of five people: Kim and I, a Polish lady of about 45 years, and two Chinese tourists about our age. We had a short briefing about how to wear a helmet and life jacket and other safety basics. This is the point in the day when I started to get a little uneasy because the Chinese people were not listening and had to be reminded to pay attention several times. Then our guide Enok took us to the edge of the river to board our raft where we noticed another raft that the staff were equipping with a stretcher and other gear, just in case.

We launched the raft in a calm part of the river, just above Bujagali Falls, to practice the basics. It became clear that our Chinese counterparts had never seen a paddle, let alone attempt to use one. My unease grew steadily. We practiced "FORWARD PADDLE!" about 5 times before we made any progress. We also tried, "RIGHT BACK!" a few times with little success. Then it was "GET DOWN!" where you just hold on for dear life and keep your paddle under your outside arm so it doesn't crack anyone in the face. This was especially difficult for the rest of our little group. To make it clear, we're about to tackle some pretty serious class-5 rapids, and these Chinese people can't paddle, and STILL are not really listening! We also learned about this time that the Polish lady is terrified of water! Unease grew to apprehension as I thought, "I've never done this before, but it seems like if we don't paddle this raft to the correct part of the river, we might get into some pretty nasty stuff."

Finally, we practiced what to do if the raft flips over while we go careening down the river. Basic stuff, swim away, hold your breath, hope to live. Enok flipped the raft, completely taking off guard the Chinese girl who had been chatting away. I wasn't sure we were going to make the trip at all. We climbed back in, Enok told Kim and I to take the front positions in the raft, and off we went! Bujagali falls is a class-5, and it's the first one. We got caught in some backwards flowing water at the bottom of the second drop, losing two of our passengers in the process! I wasn't sure everyone would want to keep going, but I knew that I was in it for the duration. It was exciting! We continued down the river tackling rapids with names like Sibling Rivalry, Point Break, Overtime, Retrospect, and The Bad Place. At the end, our arms and legs ached from paddling and getting thrown around, and we both had pretty nasty sunburns, but we felt fantastic. It was a great day, ended nicely with a couple of beers and Nile River sunset!

Giant for an Hour

2008-09-19T11:49:00.007+02:00

We've been in Uganda for a week now. Our first stop was an island on Lake Bunyoni, just across the border from Rwanda. It was a great place to relax and do some reading. We slept in something they called a geodome. We had a beautiful view, and it almost kept the water out during the thunderstorm while we slept!
On our second day there we took a boat to a nearby Pygmy village. So far, Michael and I have been a bit leery of commercialised cultural tourist attractions. Most of our cultural excursions have been the kind that develop from walking around a market or meeting someone on a bus. It's quite a different experience to go with a guide into a village and to ask someone to perform for you. Well according to our guidebook, the Pygmies "have little choice but to cash in on their culture...if they hope to survive as a distinct ethnic group" because the government "generally views them with disdain," and "they've been dispossessed of their ancestral lands." (And they're so tiny!) We decided to go, and it was definitely worth the trip. As we were hiking to their village, we caught up to a few of the men. They told us they had been performing for the President the day before. They invited us to their village, and gave us a little sample of what we could look forward to. The village wasn't much, but the people were so vibrant and energetic! So was their singing and dancing.

When they finished, Michael showed them the video he had taken. They loved hearing themselves sing, and they all crowded around to get a better look at the screen. We gave them some money for their performance, and it was followed up with the expected haggling. "This isn't enough." "The children are hungry." They begrudgingly accepted our money, but we could hear them cheerily singing as we walked away.

Two nights with Elie

2008-09-18T15:59:00.002+02:00

As Kim mentioned we got the opportunity to spend two nights with a Rwandan man named Elie (pronounced "Eddie") and enjoy his company for a couple days. He is a fascinating individual. He's a total work-aholic and a self-made man. He started young as a small farmer, and built a cattle herd until at one point he was importing 1000 cows from Zimbabwe at $1000 each to sell. He lost everything during the genocide in 1994. He rebuilt his fortune and joined the Rwandan Parliament. He was expelled after 3 years primarily for speaking his mind in a country where dissenting opinions are not very welcome. He made some enemies and as a result his match factory has shut down and he's back to the drawing board again!

Elie and his wife showed us excellent hospitality. When we first arrived at his home he offered us a drink. "What would you like, Wine, Beer, Fanta, water?" "I'll take a beer" "What kind, Mutzig, Primus, Castle?" "Primus please." Nice right? It gets better. He then sends his cook out into the community (about a 5 minute walk) to fetch a beer for me, he didn't have any of those things he offered. Finally, when he brought a warm beer, he sent him back to find a cold one!
We also got a chance to pepper him with questions, and we learned a lot about Rwanda from his point of view. We talked about the genocide, the overpopulation, and corruption in the government, and much more. Here are a few examples that stand out in my mind.

On the subject of Rwandan's work ethic-- Elie, "I'm going to say something that if you said it, people would call you a racist, but it's OK for me to say. I just don't think it's part of the culture of Rwandans to be hard workers." After hearing how much he suffered, and how hard he worked to send his children to school in Belgium (where he fled during the genocide), I kept thinking to myself that it must be incredibly frustrating for him, a man who wants development and progress, to work with a population who couldn't care less. Sure they want cars and roads and "western" things, but they are not ready to work like Elie has for them.

On the subject of corruption-- Elie, "Men in Africa get involved in politics to get rich. Therefore they are very subject to corruption. They do not become politicians to change policy or Rwanda for better, only to make themselves better and richer." This struck me as something I should have realized before but never thought of. In the US, it seems most politicians at the national level are already rich when they get there, and many at least start with some ideal about changing policies for the better as they see it (see HERE). I know it doesn't last long for many and they fall into the same old pattern, but here, it starts that way. In a place where you may have to work for years and get lucky along the way to improve your economic status, politics is easy money.

On the subject of overpopulation-- Elie to me, "It's your people's fault--the electrical engineers--you don't make enough lights. People go to bed too early. That's why there are so many Rwandans." Just made me laugh out loud!

On the subject of tourism--Elie, while driving, "That's the prison. It's the only place without a 'welcome' sign." By the way, 40-50 people visit the gorillas each day in Rwanda at $500 per permit, you can do the math.

Kim and I are very thankful for the opportunity and hospitality. Thanks Elie!

GORILLAS!

2008-09-09T13:38:00.009+02:00

Hello from Rwanda! We flew to Kigali and have been exploring this tiny country for nine days now. We love it! I think I'll just skip straight to the number one reason we came here--seeing the mountain gorillas. It was the experience I wanted to have more than any other in the world, and it was wonderful! So this is how it worked. When we were in Nairobi we called the tourism office in Rwanda to find out when we could get permits to see these magnificent creatures. The first person we spoke to told us there were no permits available until December! That made us a little nervous, but we were transfered to another person who said we could see the gorillas on November 3. That sounded reasonable. Then we thought we'd try calling one of the tour companies in Kigali that we heard sometimes has permits available, and they'd had a cancellation! This was Friday afternoon, and they had two permits for us on Wednesday. They said they'd hold them if we could come into the office on Monday with the cash. So we got on a plane on Saturday! Wednesday couldn't arrive fast enough. We spent the night at a beautiful resthouse minutes walk from the National Park. We enjoyed dinner there while we both tried to finish Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey. She lived in Rwanda with the mountain gorillas for 15 years. It's very possible mountain gorillas would be extinct now if not for the work she did to protect their habitat and rid the park of poachers. Tragically, she was killed by poachers in 1985.
On Wednesday morning we were at the park at 7:00. We met our guide, Felix, and found out that earlier in the morning, trackers left for Mt. Visoke to discover exactly where our gorilla family was. We had been told the hike to reach the gorillas can take up to four hours. Mind you this is hiking up a volcano through the thickest vegetation we've ever seen. We hitched a ride with one of the other five tourists in our group to the "parking lot" near the volcano. We walked for about five minutes through somebody's farm, crawled over the brick wall that keeps out the buffalo, met the park rangers with their AK-47s and our trackers and were told to leave all unnecessary items where we were. Michael and I didn't realize the significance of leaving our things behind, but the American retirees who where were on their sixth visit to the gorillas got really excited. Apparently you leave your stuff behind to lessen the possibility of curious gorillas stealing your things. The exciting part was that you only leave it when you're 100-200 meters from the gorillas! After only 15 minutes of fighting our way through the jungle we came upon a mother gorilla and her baby. I was shocked that while the trackers (while grunting like the gorillas do) used their machetes to hack away the vegetation in front of the gorillas to give us a better view, they barely acknowledged we were there! They tell you to stay at least seven meters away from the gorillas for their safety and your own, but they were grooming each other and just laying around--about 10 feet away from us! We knew there were nine gorillas in this family, but from where we were there was no sign of the rest of them. I would have sat and watched these two all day, but after a couple minutes Felix had us move on. We didn't go far though. Even though we couldn't see them where we were, we had been just above the rest of the family.
Every gorilla family is led by an adult male called a silverback. The fur on his back turns silver when he reaches sexual maturity at about 12 years old. There is usually only one silverback in a family because a dominant male will not let other silverbacks mate with the females in the group. When males in the group mature they will usually leave in search of their own females. The silverback we met was Charles, and he weighs in at about 440 lbs. At only 24 years old, he'd done pretty well for himself with three female partners, one juvenile male, and four babies in his group. Charles was awefully tired during most of our visit, and we even heard him snoring for a while. Shortly before we left we watched him climb the hill, and he looked incredibly powerful! The young gorillas provided a lot of entertainment while we watched them tumbling backwards down the hill, jumping for branches, and knocking each other around. The hour was over WAY too fast. As we headed out we were all trying to get a few final pictures. I was distracted by the gorillas behind me when I realized suddenly I'd better duck out of the way. The baby, Zuba, had climbed a skinny little tree right in front of me and as the tree came down he almost landed on my head! It was a great end to the morning. I'd recommend this trip to anyone! There's a lot more to say about our trip so far in Rwanda, but Michael and I have to go now to meet Eddie. He's a Rwandan we met a couple days ago, and he's invited us to stay at his home tonight! I could only get three pictures to upload for this post, but we'll be sure to post more later. Miss you all!

Murphy's Law of Leopards

2008-08-28T11:28:00.006+02:00

Hello from Nairobi, the busiest and probably biggest city in East Africa. We're taking a couple of days here to get our bearings and decide where to go next. But for now, I'd like to write about our time spent in the Ngorogoro Crater and Serengeti National Park.

This experience is probably what most people picture when they think of Africa. Five days and four nights of watching Africa's finest wildlife in its most famous parks. If you've ever watched any shows about African wildlife on The Discovery Channel or Animal Planet, they were probably filmed here. Ngorogoro Crater is the remnants of an ancient volcano that collapsed and left a caldera (about the bottom 1/8 of the volcano) intact. It's the only unbroken and unflooded caldera in the world, and the concentration of wildlife in it's 300 square kilometers is unmatched. The plains of the Serengeti are world famous and are the home of postcard sunsets and dramatic wildlife experiences.

Kim and I booked a budget camping safari. It was hardly "budget" and barely camping. The company provided us with a Toyota Landcruiser with a pop-up roof for wildlife viewing and a driver and cook. Each day our staff would set up/take down our tent, prepare our meals, serve them at a table, and drive us around. We really had it rough! The first day in Ngorogoro we were totally awestruck by the animals there. Our excitement built as we descended the 615 meters into the crater, and when our 4 hours were finished we were left completely satisfied with the experience. We saw our first cheetahs, as well as many lions, flamingos, hippos, and more.

We left early the next morning for Serengeti National Park with a short stop at Olduvai Gorge. There is a small museum there dedicated to one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. It is where Louis and Mary Leakey discovered bones, tools, and other fossil evidence that opened science to hundreds of thousands of years of early human history. We were able to see many stone age tools and some fossils of animals that have long been extinct.

As we drove on to Serengeti Kim and I discussed our hopes to complete "The Big Five." Most people, and all safari companies, recognize five animals as rounding out the complete wildlife experience--Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, and Elephant. They are named "The Big Five" because they were considered the most difficult animals to hunt on foot (when hunting these animals was popular), and now the name remains primarily as a marketing tool. We had spent plenty of time in parks so far, but had still not seen a leopard. We decided that we would not leave Africa until we had!

Our first night in Serengeti we camped at Lobo Camp in the northern part of the park . We had a wonderful day, saw many lions and others, but no leopards. The next day we relocated to Seronera Camp in Central Serengeti. We had another excellent morning, but no leopards. As we were preparing to embark on our afternoon game drive, I noticed that the battery on our video camera was getting low. Since we were planning to take our hot-air balloon ride the next morning, we wanted to make sure there would be plenty of juice. Our campsite had no electricity, so we brought the camera to a lodge to charge the battery. At this point, Kim made the outstanding observation that now without our video camera for the first time, we would probably see a leopard, and worse (or better) we'd probably see it make a kill. We had started to think that leopards were mythical creatures and people who claimed to see them were part of a secret society dedicated to perpetuating the myth!

As you may have imagined, about 30 minutes after we dropped off the battery, we saw a leopard. But of course it gets better. She came down out of a rock outcropping, followed soon after by two adorable leopard cubs. We watched them for about 30 minutes as the cubs nursed, were groomed, and practiced climbing small trees. They were just like kittens as they stalked each other (and mom) and practiced their pouncing! But soon after the mother's demeanor changed. She seemed to be looking off in the distance with a new intent. Then we spotted it, a lone Thompson's Gazelle browsing under a leafy Acacia about 600 meters away, blissfully unaware of its impending doom! We watched her stealthily approach, keeping very low to the ground, moving silently. The hunt was not without its challenges however. There was a dirt road, and several patches of bare ground between her and her prey, but she was an expert stalker. She moved quickly through the places with no cover, and slowly through the taller grass, until she was less than 15 feet from the gazelle. Then it was over. One sudden pounce and the life of the gazelle had ended. About 2 minutes later we watched as she dragged her kill into the safety of tree's highest branches. We were completely exhilarated!

We had another day in the park, and early in the morning we left for our balloon safari. The flight was only an hour long, but we had champagne at our landing site, and a full English breakfast in the bush. I would absolutely recommend a balloon ride to anyone! It was a fantastic experience. We didn't see many animals from the balloon, but we still had a wonderful time.

I think that's about all for now. If you ever make a trip to Africa for the purpose of wildlife viewing, do not miss out on these two parks!

Asante sana squashed banana

2008-08-17T13:18:00.007+02:00

We've said goodbye to Zanzibar, but I hope it's not goodbye forever. Before leaving we went SCUBA diving off of the coast of Stone Town. There was a lot of colorful coral that was in great condition. We saw shrimp for the first time--boy do they look like bugs! We also saw a blue spotted ray, sea cucumbers, and lots of starfish. After the first dive we ate lunch on the boat. They cut up fresh pineapple, mango, and papaya, and we also had samosas, spring rolls, and chapati. Mmmm! We've been eating well! Then we did dive number two (no hour wait before swimming). The next day we left Zanzibar on the ferry while the water was awfully rough. It's a good thing they were prepared with a lot of seasickness bags. I was feeling pretty relieved that we wouldn't be taking any more ferries for a while.
So we took a bus to Lushoto in the Usambara Mountains to do a little hiking, and what do we get? Motion sickness bags for the winding bus ride! Luckily my stomach is much tougher in the car. The mountains are beautiful. For a good portion of the six hour bus ride there were flat plains to the right of the highway, and the mountain range a few hundred meters to the left. The change is very dramatic--no foothills at all. The mountains here have a lot of vegetation which include banana trees and coconut palms. We hiked for about seven hours on our second day in town. The views were fantastic. We hiked down dirt roads, through backyards, farms, hotels, and a national park rainforest. We hired a guide named Simon at the tourism office, and he answered about a million questions for us throughout the day about his family, local farming practices, religion, Tanzania's education system, and a lot more. He said he didn't mind! For dinner we went to the local market and bought fresh veggies. An avocado goes for about 9 cents here. We make delicious guacamole!

Now we're in Arusha and trying to book a safari, but it's Sunday, so we're not having much luck. I'm missing Lushoto. We can't leave our hotel without men hounding us to go to one safari company or another. Back in Zanzibar all you have to do is say, "Hakuna matata," and they'll move on to the next person. Here it doesn't work so well. We figured out their system this morning when agreed to go with one to a safari office that's in our guidebook. The guy told us he is a porter for the company. When we got to the office it was closed, and he tried to take us to some other office. Why would he take us to another office when he works for the first one? Turns out that the different offices just pay whatever guy brings in the tourist, so they are usually trying to sell you a trip with whatever safari office you're closest to at the moment. The "porter" confirmed that's how the system works, and then said, "It's better than trying to rob you, right?" So it is! I think we might go watch some Olympics now. USA! USA!

I'm not gonna cook it, but I'll order it from Zanzibar!

2008-08-09T14:33:00.005+02:00

It's 80 degrees, the sun is shining, the Twins are in a pennant race, and we're in Zanzibar! Life is good. We have spent a little over week here in Zanzibar, and we've enjoyed it throughly. We started in Zanzibar Town, better known as Stone Town. Totally fascinating. This little town is an absolute maze in every sense of the word. The streets are very narrow, go in every direction except straight, and most of them have a concrete pillar that prevents car traffic. They do not, however, prevent the scooters, motorbikes, and bicycles which abound here. Whether we're walking down a one-way street (wait, there are cars going in both directions, they just have to stop and back up to where it's a little wider) or an alley that I can touch the buildings on both sides, we have to keep our heads on a swivel!

It is also next to impossible to find the same place twice using the same route. We changed hotels after the first two nights to a place we found the previous day, but we couldn't find it the next day! But the atmosphere here is infectious, and it has extended our stay. The "streets" are lined with shops and restaurants and cafes. Some of the people are a little overly aggressive with the tourists, but in all it's a very laid back place. We've eaten Indian and Swahili food while listening to live Taraab music, and we even had some fresh crab claws grilled on the street. But a trip to Zanzibar wouldn't be complete without a trip to a spice farm and the beach.

We took a "spice tour" one afternoon. We had a van ride about 30 km to what I expected to be like the plantations of the American south. I was way off. It's more like a forest with a few trails in it that happens to have spices growing around each corner. It's obviously organized and the spices grow only where they are planted, but to my untrained eye it just looked like any other stretch of woodlands. It was really fun to get a chance to see the spices, and of course taste them fresh from the ground/vine/tree. I thought of all of the women of my family who love cooking and wondered if they knew where all those bottles of powdered spices come from (now they probably come from Asia, but in the 1200-1700 era they would have at least passed through Zanzibar). Kim also got a tremendous laugh at me in my attire fashioned by the boys at the spice farm!

Kim told me that she was going through beach withdrawls since we hadn't seen the ocean in four weeks, so we headed to the beach village of Bwejuu on Zanzibar's eastern coast. I can not justly describe exactly how beautiful the beach was. The sand was bright white and soft as powder, literally powder. It reminded me of unmixed drywall putty when it was dry, and mixed putty after the tide went out. The beach extended for miles in both directions and was lined with palm trees--not towering resorts. The weather was perfect for all four days, sunny and warm with a gentle breeze. That said, there was very little to do there beyond relaxing and reading and getting a sunburn. We learned a couple new card games and ate dinner (mostly a mixed vegetable salad and french fries) at the same place each night. The place we stayed didn't really have much in the way of lighting, so we walked back, about 1 km or so, along the beach after dark each night. There were SO MANY ghost crabs on the beach during those walks! I would hold the flashlight and we would stop, jump, studder step, screech, and run as the crabs tried to do the same. There were some big ones! Looking back I think we would have been better served to leave the light off and just pretend the crabs weren't there.

We also spent one afternoon at Jozani forest with the red colobus monkeys. It was mostly just a nice relaxing walk in the woods, but the monkeys are so calm in the presence of people and photogenic it was worth the quick mention.

We're back in Stone Town for a couple nights to do some SCUBA diving and to try to arrange our trip to Serengeti National Park and Ngorogoro Crater. Just enough time to eat a little more Swahili food and remember the cool vibes of Stone Town.

ps. Did anyone get the Tenacious D reference?

My Birthday!! in Tanzania

2008-07-30T16:51:00.006+02:00

First, thanks for all the birthday email! My golden birthday lived up to twenty seven years of anticipation! We spent the day at Mikumi National Park in Tanzania at an all-inclusive camp and went on three game drives. The lodge had specially modified vehicles with no windows, so we had a 360 degree view. It will probably be the last time in a park where it's just us and the guide, so we get to decide when and how long we stop to watch the animals. We saw many of the animals that we've mentioned before, but we also saw a parrot and SEVEN lions!! The managers took us on our sunset drive and brought a few beers, so we got to watch the sun go down with the hippos and crocs, sipping on Kilimanjaro Lager. At dinner, our guide from the morning drive and a bunch of the other staff carried out a small cake with two candles and sang Happy Birthday. Because of park fees and the high cost of accommodation in the parks, we will probably camp during the rest of our National Park stays, but thanks to a generous birthday gift from Sandy, we decided to splurge. I think we were the first customers they had who wanted to be dropped off on the highway to try to flag down a bus!

To backtrack just a little, I was surprised at how dramatic the change was crossing from Malawi to Tanzania. Driving along the road in Malawi the trees and vegetation was dense. You could occasionally see vistas with huts and gardens on steep mountain sides through an opening in the trees, but once we crossed into Tanzania, there were huge farms everywhere! A lot more developed here. Another adjustment is the bus system. The bus rides have always been an adventure, but until this country, the bus drivers all took turns. There was one bus filling up at a time, and the others waited for their turn. Not here! But one great thing about the buses is that you have access to all the great produce and various other items available in each region! This picture doesn't convey how crazy it gets, but it gives you an idea. Some common choices have been bananas, oranges, roasted maize, samosas, coke, fanta, peanuts, cashews, sun glasses, underwear, and cell phone airtime, to name a few. Buying through the bus window is also great because you can see how much the locals pay for things. This is how it works. You tell someone what you want and they give it to you. Then you show them how much money you have so they can give you your change. After you have your item and your change, you then pay for it.
We spent the last two nights in Dar es Salaam--a city of about three million people, but it still has quite a few dirt roads! We wandered around yesterday and went to their National Museum. It has the 1.75 million year old skull that Mary Leakey dug up in the fifties along with some other amazing items, and most of them weren't even in cases. We took the ferry this morning to Zanzibar (famous Swahili spice island), and we're staying in the old city known as Stone Town. I'm out of time now, but we'll try to post from here again before we leave!

Liwonde National Park and the Ilala Ferry

2008-07-30T16:14:00.007+02:00

Kim and I have had a tough time finding decent Internet lately, so we'll do our best to recap the last couple weeks. After Blantyre we headed for Liwonde National Park. Definitely one of the craziest transportation attempts so far. When we got off of the minibus in Liwonde, about 6 km from the park gate, we were literally swarmed with men trying to get us into their taxis or onto their bicycle taxi. Why not take the bike right? It was quite a trip. I think now is a decent time to mention that most of the people we met in Malawi (and elsewhere) have not seemed overly concerned about body odor. So I'll just say that 20 minutes 5 inches from that guy's armpit was plenty for me!

Riding the Bicycle Taxi

The camp we stayed at in the park was pleasantly surprising. We slept in our tent, but the tent spots were under a long thatched pavilion that could support about 10 tents. While we were setting up our tent we saw a baboon stroll through the camp, which made me a little nervous about sleeping with our food! In fact, the next morning we saw a baboon steal some food from the tent nearest us. The park offered various activities and breakfast/lunch/dinner in the lodge. We went for a sunset drive one night and a canoe safari one day, and we ate our dinners at the lodge.

Canoe Safari in Liwonde

The canoe trip was especially nice. We saw lots of birds, about 10 Kingfishers put on a show for us as they hovered and dove for fish all around our canoe. We also paddled right alongside a pod of about 12 hippos! It was great to get to see them close up--they are very vocal! We also had plenty of downtime to relax around the park and do some reading. In all, it was a very nice few days. (We did see lots of other animals as well: buffalo, antelopes, warthogs, elephants, and zebra. It's funny how quickly those animals become second mention, but they are still fun to see.)

Relaxing and reading at the park

We had to leave the park to catch the Ilala Ferry at Monkey Bay, Malawi. We managed to get a ride from Mark and Jenna, two South Africans we met at dinner who are working in Malawi. It was really nice to ride in a truck with A/C and nobody on each shoulder. Also, Mark had been a safari guide in Tanzania for a few years, so we got to pick his brain a little along the way.

The ferry is such a scene. You can tell that years ago it was pretty stylish, but the years have taken their toll, no toilet seats, mostly rust where iron was, and the wood is years past needing a new coat of paint. That said, it's still worth the trip. Kim and I got a cabin class room, everyone else had to sleep on the deck, or under decks down by the engine. Turned out to be the best decision we've made in a while, because the water got pretty rough that first night! So nice to have our own sink, if you know what I mean!

The Ilala Ferry

By far the most fascinating part of the trip was trying to get off the darn thing. Without my noticing about 400 people filled a space for 200 and each of them must have had 75 pounds of luggage (mostly fish or some other commodity). And there is one exit. If you've ever been to a Twins playoff game or a Vikings game, think about trying to force everyone in the Metrodome out one exit, and give each of them a gunny sack or two full of vegetables. That's about what it was like. I know I stepped on at least 5 people and was myself stepped on multiple times. Interestingly, this will prove to be a pattern we saw over the next couple weeks, whether waiting in line for something or in traffic, people just fill in the open spaces, no matter how much it will slow everything down.

The deck of the ferry

We spent six nights at our ferry port in Nkhata Bay. In all a nice town, pretty low key. The best part of it was walking along past the children, who are everywhere (without any parents in sight). They go out of their way to say, or more likely yell "hello". There were plenty of white people in the town (100 or more), but they never got tired of saying hello and waving to us with big smiles. It was nice to have so many reasons each day to return a big smile.

We've put some new pictures on at the link on the left, so check 'em out! Good-bye until next time, we miss you!

Into Tanzania Today

2008-07-25T17:54:00.004+02:00

Kim and Mike made it to Tanzania today! She said they switched time zones, too, so they're 8 hours ahead of Minnesota now (and one hour ahead of me).

Do you miss them as much as I do? Here is the last time I saw them. Aren't they cute?

Text Message

2008-07-21T17:03:00.002+02:00

Hi everybody! Just a quick update to let you know Kim and Mike are doing well. I got a text message from them a few minutes ago. They're in Nkhata Bay on Lake Malawi. She said "the two night ferry ride was lovely except for puking on the first night."

I hear from her every few days, and I'm going to try to update their blog when I hear from them from now on. They're having a great time!

Love,
Brooke

Goodbye Mozambique, Hello Malawi

2008-07-10T16:34:00.007+02:00

I guess I'll start this one with a story about Farooq. We met him on a 'chapa' (the 15 passenger vans Kim mentioned before). He's from Malawi, and about 26 years old. Hands down the nicest guy we've met so far. Our conversation started when he asked us how much we paid for the ride to Vilanculos. Our fare was 250 p/p, and the fixed government rate is 175. He taught us quite a bit about why the chapas are so overfilled. Turns out, the driver only gets charged by the government for 15 passengers per trip, so any extra fares go directly to the driver and the doorman. It turns out we were charged "for our luggage" and that is why we paid more, but Farooq told us to be on the lookout for similar overcharges in the future. When we got to our destination he walked with us for a while and pointed us in the right direction. Two days later we were on our way to the market to get some bread for our upcoming bus ride when we ran into him again. He walked along with us for a while and showed us a few things. Most interesting was that he pointed out the mayor's place. Previously Kim and I thought it was a 5-star luxury resort. This is in a town were most of the people live in reed houses. Farooq didn't seem to think he would get re-elected this year as the townspeople were getting suspicious. At least I hope they were. So, I guess we have a new friend that we'll unfortunately likely never see again. Too bad.

Our lift to Maputo courtesy the Heubners

I've been having a really tough time getting pictures uploaded lately. A few days ago I spent two hours and finished about 17, only to realize that Kim had already put 5 of those up. Today, to test the speed here, I put four shots that looked good in the thumbnails, but they mostly apply to Kim's last post. I can apologize for the lack of coherent story line and illustrations, but it's the best I can do.

A cold morning, one fish, and lots of fun

Mozambique has been great, and we'll probably be in Malawi tomorrow. Some things about Mozambique that will remain with me are the reed and thatch houses, the friendly people on the streets, relaxing on the beach, and the utter lack of animals along the roads. The reed houses are spectacularly built, and the thatch on the roofs is 8-12 inches thick in most places, very watertight. The houses are so authentic, and the people living there seem happy with their lifestyle. Most places have veggies growing in the garden and clean clothes hanging from the line. The children are playing and adults mostly doing something. Far, far less people just standing around than in South Africa. (They also walk a lot faster here.)

Now that's a shrimp!

In Maputo we were routinely hassled by street vendors, but as we got away from the capital most of them we content with a simple "No, thank you." In South Africa, they were very persistent, intent on telling you the price, and quickly lowering it, for things you had already made clear you didn't want. I found it very refreshing, in fact we finally bought some art from a street vendor.

Our dhow to Maxixe

The roads were not great here, but better than I thought they might be. There's a good amount of swerving to avoid potholes and just driving on the sand shoulder to avoid the tar altogether. But the countryside is very nice, a lot of it reminded Kim and I of Kruger Park in SA. But there are NO animals. None. I read that many of them were killed during the civil war here 25 years ago and the populations are recovering in the parks. But none, anywhere in the open. In SA I could understand because most of the land along the highways was under cultivation of some sort so the animals have been confined to the parks. But here, there are miles and miles of untouched wilderness, but not a single creature (other than birds) to be spotted. Utterly fascinating the impact we can have. So if you want to see animals in SA or Mozambique, expect to pay a park entry fee.

We got to spend quite a bit of time relaxing on the beach here, and it was fantastic. I got another stupid splotchy sunburn yesterday. Apparently when I sprayed the sunscreen on, I missed my triceps, the upper right part of my chest, and between my shoulder blades. I look completely ridiculous. Luckily, the spray sunscreen is almost gone, and I'll be using the traditional rub on kind from here on out.

We're really looking forward to Malawi, of which we have heard only great things from fellow travelers. Of course, we don't really know where we're headed or when, but have a few things picked out. I'm really looking forward to spending a little time in the national parks. One of them allows you to take a bicycle out instead of a car, which sounds great to me. I guess I'm ready to see some more animals after Mozambique.

Thanks to everyone who has posted comments lately, and it's true, there are cows/goats/sheep routinely on the SA roads. For Auntie Connie, I've been doing a good deal of thinking about what might be able to be done here to best impact the people, but it's terribly complex so I'm not ready to write about it yet. To everyone else, check out our pictures using the link on the left, as we've just added some more.

Mozambique

2008-07-08T12:58:00.002+02:00

We're in Vilancoulo, Mozambique! Right now we're both sitting at computers facing the ocean. The tide is pretty far out, and there is a big shrimping boat, some dhows, and what looks like Noah's Ark, tipped over in the sand. A nice breeze is coming through the window, and it's blowing the leaves of the palm tree just outside. I'll try to post a picture in case you can't believe we're actually in paradise. Unfortunately the internet here isn't especially fast (that's the only thing I could possibly change right now), so I don't know if it will work.

We had a wonderful week with Mom, Dad, Jon, Brooke, and Jed at Ponta Malongane. The resort where we stayed was just behind the dunes. It is an ideal set-up for divers, and has mostly camping accommodation. We stayed in the Tent Mansion--the "Loggerhead Tent." It was built for sea turtle researchers. The whole thing was set up on a deck with a kitchen and eating area on the main level. Half a level up had the "starlight" shower and toilet. Then upstairs again were two big canvas tent bedrooms and a deck overlooking the water. There were two other small cabins connected by walkways, and the whole thing had the feel of a giant tree house. We all loved it. We had easy access to the beach, and it was perfect for swimming, playing trackball, poker, Yahtzee, cribbage, water balloons, reading, campfires, and big family dinners. Michael and I also went SCUBA diving twice with my Dad, something I've been excited to do since my first dive six years ago.

The week went by pretty fast, and we still hadn't quite figured out how we were going to get north. It is only 120km to Maputo the capital of Mozambique from Ponta Malongane, but the roads...well, there are no roads. Lucky for us, the Rittgers decided they were up for an adventure. They decided to take the bumpy, unmarked sand trails to the Capital, and there was just enough room in the back of their truck for the two of us. Jed got us there in about five hours. We went to the market and had a really nice dinner in Maputo, and the next day we said goodbye.

Michael and I spent another night in the city, then we went to a small beach town called Tofo for a few nights. In Tofo we stayed in a reed chalet with the ocean right outside our front door. There was a little market in the center of town where we finally bought some paintings. We might still be in there now, if they had an ATM. But we ran out of money, so we had to move on.

We're using the local transport now, so moving on is an adventure. We had to take a boat to get to Maxixe, and we knew our options were motorized ferry or dhow. We decided a leisurely trip in a dhow sounded nice, so rather than walk down the ferry pier and step onto the boat, we had to walk through 100 yards of muck with countless tiny crabs by our feet, then wade through the water to climb into the boat. Oh, and Michael dropped our guidebook (read travel bible) in the water! So once we're on the boat, we're set, right? Pretty soon we get to cruising...get out of the way, and let the bailing begin! Next we hit a sandbar. The driver had to get out and push us across it. It actually was a really nice trip. The rest of the way to Vilancoulo was in a taxi. I don't have time now to give a full account, but let's just say at one point there were twenty four people and at least two chickens in a van made for fifteen.

It has only recently occurred to me just how amazing it is that Michael wanted to do this trip. I start to think, there is no way he could have imagined this is what it would be like. But he handles everything like it's just what he expected, and it is obvious that he is enjoying himself. It's been great to get your comments and emails. You can expect your postcards in the next couple of weeks. Our updated cell phone number is on the left, but it will change again when we get to Malawi sometime in the next week or so. We'll try to post again soon!

Some Observations

2008-06-21T17:44:00.002+02:00

Hello again, and thanks to all those who have been reading and commenting so far. Lately, since we've had a bit of driving and down time due to some bad weather, I've been doing some reflecting over the last month of traveling through SA. I thought I'd just write a few things about this country that I have found particularly interesting and different and/or similar to the USA.

First, among the many problems facing this country, crime and unemployment are near the top of the list. I don't know the statistics, but a few observations will tell you all you need to know. There are no self service petrol (gas) stations. And if there are 10 pumps at a station, there are probably ten people (so far mostly men--black men) awaiting your arrival. They fill your tank, wash your windows, and check your oil and tires if you want. Then you give them a tip, 2 to 6 Rand usually (about 25-80 cents US). Also, in some places there are no parking meters. Why would you need them when you can gainfully employ 3-5 people per block to walk around (rain or otherwise) with a little electronic meter and collect a very small fee for street parking. And if you exceed the time you paid for when you parked? No need to worry, just pay the difference when you decide to leave.

There are also people who patrol the parking lots to "watch your vehicle" in order to prevent any break ins. You can tell him, "No thank you," if you like. After all, isn't my car just as safe as the one next to it that he IS watching? But that's not the point. Once you're done grocery shopping or whatever you flip him a couple Rand and go on your way. One night in Plettenberg Bay I only had a 5 Rand coin, so I gave it to my "watcher." He must have thought I was some kind of high roller because he stopped traffic on main street to allow me to back out of my parking spot.

Essentially, everywhere you turn there are jobs that require zero skill or labor being done because of the crime and unemployment. It's very interesting indeed.

Secondly, driving. It can be quite an adventure sometimes. I cannot overstate how convenient it has been to have our own car the last three weeks, but it doesn't come without challenges. Signs can be pretty poorly placed, or not there at all. I especially like the ones that tell you to turn right (which is across traffic here) AFTER the intersection! It's tough then because it's not like there are crossroads all over place to turn around--I mostly just make U-turns on the highways. But the the roads offer one of my favorite contradictions in Africa so far. Pretty much everywhere we've been so far the pace of life has been casual at best. Nobody really seems to be in a hurry. Your server at a restaurant, or waitron, doesn't even bring the bill unless you ask for it. Unlike Applebee's where you get the check three bites into your entree so the next family can stand there watching your booth like it's made of mozzarella sticks. But NOT on the highways here in SA. To generalize a little, I'd say, "put a South African behind the wheel and suddenly he's in the biggest hurry of his life."

The speed limit on most of the paved, main two-way highways is 120 km/hr (about 75 mph). Those roads would be 55 max in the states. But speed limits are completely irrelevant anyway. There are photo/radar combos that can take your picture and send you a speeding ticket in the mail, but they are posted so you can slow down if you care. Also, the cops cannot pull you over (because cop cars get hijacked and then the criminal takes your car) so drivers pretty much just drive as fast as they feel like. Therefore, the custom is, if someone pulls up behind you going faster than you are, you drive over onto the shoulder (at 75 mph) so he can pass, like golfing basically, the faster players are allowed through. Then this very polite exchange takes place where the passer flashes his hazards and the passee flashes his bright lights to acknowledge the gesture. It sounds nice, and it is. But still, these people drive like crazy bastards that just committed a capital crime, for the most part.

Finally, since I'm running a little short of Internet time here, is the really cool, relaxed atmosphere of places we've been staying. Whether a run of the mill backpackers hangout or a fancy B&B (we've stayed at two really nice ones), the system astounds me. When you check in, they take your name and maybe your passport number, which are given voluntarily. No ID check, no credit card for incidental charges. You could easily drive away in the morning without paying and they'd have zero chance of catching you. But that's how it's done. Think about trying to check into a Holiday Inn Express at 9:00 PM and saying, "'I'm a little tired, is it OK if we take care of everything in the morning?" That's not out of the ordinary here. It's the norm.

OK, I thought of a few more things on the road I'm sure, but they seem to be eluding me at the moment. I'm sure Kim will write a post soon updating our progress, but for now just be assured that we're safe and having a great time. We'll be meeting up with Kim's family in a few days in Mozambique for a week of SCUBA, fishing, and relaxing. Then it's onward up the east African coast without our own transportation. Should be interesting.

PS. Kim says everyone that comments on this post will get a postcard. (You might need to include your mailing address.) And make sure to check out our pictures HERE.

Penguins, Whales, Dossies...

2008-06-15T17:49:00.007+02:00

It's overwhelming trying to decide where to start writing. We've covered a lot of ground and seen a lot since the last post. We have already been on countless breathtaking drives through mountain passes, along cliffsides that go straight down to the ocean, through vineyards, and of course through the tin shack townships that go as far as the eye can see.

After leaving Stellenbosch we drove out to Cape Point National Park and hiked to the southern most point of the Cape Peninsula. Then we visited the penguins in Simonstown! Their nickname is the Jackass Penguin. This was the third time I've gone to see them, but it wasn't until Michael pointed out they sound just like donkeys, that I finally got the connection!

Cape Town is as beautiful as always, and we got to enjoy it from a Bed and Breakfast across from Table Mountain. We've actually been spoiling ourselves quite a bit, so far, with meals and lodging. Michael skipped LOTS of rocks, and we saw our first WHALE! It was jumping and spraying and slapping its tale for a long time, just for us, I think.

We went to a couple of museums in Cape Town, including the District Six Museum, which records the forced removal of black and coloured (the term they often use here, including in the museum) people from in the city. We spent sometime at the posh Waterfront, and we saw a play at the University of Capetown. It was an adventure to try to find the theater in the rain and without a detailed map. We got there in time but only to discover that about ten percent of the dialogue was in English!

After that we spent a night in Hermanus which is supposed to be the best place in the world for land based whale watching. Technically they say their whale season starts next month, but we saw one! Then we went to Oudtshoorn where there are Ostrich Farms everywhere. Turns out Michael loves to eat ostrich at least as much as me, so we've had ostrich steaks several times. It's a lean red meat and is delicious, so try it if you ever see it on a menu.

Maybe he loves ostrich more than me.

Today we did an awesome hike called Kingfisher Trail in Wilderness. We saw lots of birds, some big and colorful, and heard lots of different bird calls while we ate our peanut butter sandwiches and dried fruit by the river. We bought some cheese on the side of the road on our way to Plettenburg Bay, where we're sleeping tonight. I think we're hiking again tomorrow.

Dinner, Hiking, Lesotho, and So Much Driving

2008-06-06T19:47:00.006+02:00

It sure has been an action packed 10 days or so. Kim and I went into the Masoyi community a couple times with people from Hands at Work. First, we went to the GOLD program. This is a peer education program where some of the more motivated teens get together to discuss issues that are facing their community. The discussion that day was about whether or not condoms should be distributed in the high schools (they currently are). Shockingly, 24 of the 25 students in the classroom said they thought condoms should not be available at school. "It makes students think about sex instead of school" they said, "plus, condoms are not 100% safe." Simply mind boggling. After asking them a few questions, Kim and I found it clear that their critical thinking skills just aren't there. "Do you think students wouldn't have sex or think about sex if there were no condoms?" we asked, and got some pretty perplexed looks in return. This continent has a very long way to go in its HIV/AIDS fight.

We also got a chance to have dinner at Brooke and Jed's host family's place. The matriarch's name is Ma Flo. She's a pretty amazing woman. She works for Masoyi Home Based Care. We had a really nice meal and got a chance to meet her family. Both of her daughters are either finished or in college and are really engaging people. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the chance to see where Brooke and Jed started their time in Mpumalanga.

The next weekend we decided to hike the Blyde river canyon hiking trail. It's a 30k, three day/two night hike. The brochure said you would need a "responsible degree of fitness" to complete some of the trail's more strenuous sections. Well, I guess Africans have a different definition of "responsible" than Americans. Some parts of that trail were down right nasty. The first day was only 3k, then about 13.5k each of the next two days. Day 2 was especially challenging as we hiked into and out of the canyon (3rd largest in the world) twice. But it was totally worth it in the end. The mountains and waterfalls were the stuff postcards are made of. The rest camps were furnished with firewood, cooking pots, and bunkhouses. What an excellent yet exhausting weekend.

After two plus weeks with Brooke and Jed, Kim and I spread our wings a little and struck out on our own. We rented a little VW Chico and headed for Lesotho. We planned to spend the first night with a Peace Corps Volunteer that Kim's friend Emily set us up with. It was a long and rainy drive, and when we got there we found that our cell phone didn't work . So we were stuck. We knew we were in the right place, but didn't have any way to contact Becky so she could let us in the gate. Well, finally Kim had the courage to walk up to a house (read cinder block structure that probably wouldn't qualify as a house in the U.S.) that had some lights on. Turns out that the girls living there were students of Becky's and were able to help us get a hold of her. Our Lesotho adventures didn't end there however. We wanted to see the dinosaur footprints that we read about in our guide book. The directions were pretty simple, drive to point 'A' and ask someone there to show you where they are. We found the village OK, but I wasn't sure the Chico was going to make it up that rocky, winding road. Eventually we saw a group of men, and asked them if they could show us where the dinosaur footprints were. One of them, Alex, volunteered his services. He let us park our car in his yard, and guided us up about 2k of basically vertical mountain terrain. Eventually we made it to the top, and got a once in a lifetime chance to see these.

Then we headed for Stellenbosh. About 1200k later we made it. We've already had a couple of great meals, and we plan to visit a few wineries tomorrow. This town has a really relaxed vibe and is very comfortable. We'll spend a couple more days here before heading to Cape Town. Then, it's onward up the southern coast to hit a few beach towns and hopefully see some whales! Until next time...(you can check out some more pictures HERE.)

The "Farm" and Hands at Work

2008-05-29T09:09:00.010+02:00

We've been staying with Brooke and Jed at "The Farm" for two weeks now. Their home is sort of a duplex. We sleep on an air mattress in the living room. This place is not what you imagine when you think Peace Corps or Africa. We've spent many evenings watching The Office on their TV. For the most part we've been eating normal food--pizza, tacos, etc. But last night Brooke cooked us a meal like the locals eat. Pap is made of finely ground corn meal. It's cooked so it is very stiff. We ate it with a gravy made with shredded tomatoes and carrots, and a side of cabbage and squash. Delicious! And the other day I tried Chicken feet! I mostly ate the skin, but the locals eat bones, cartilage, and all.

Mike goes out to look for birds quite often. We've seen some really interesting ones, most recently a long crested eagle. He has also spent some time playing hockey with the volunteers who live in the big farm house. We brought ten plastic blades at Jed's request, and they've been creative in finding sticks. No serious injuries yet!
We've come to work with Brooke and Jed quite a few times. They work with Hands at Work, mostly in the office. Hands at Work provides support and training to community based daycares, food banks, and Home Based Care groups.
These HBCs provide services to orphans and people who are sick. Because of all the poverty and HIV/AIDS here, there is a HUGE need for this kind of work. Mike and I went along with a nurse named Emily and some care workers into the "village" (it has the infrastructure of a village but has about 250,000 people). A lot of the houses are made out of bricks, and look decent from the outside. We learned that many of them have almost nothing inside besides mats to sleep on. Some of the homes are only shacks that look like a strong wind would blow them over. We met one woman living in a shack who is HIV positive and lost her husband to AIDS two months ago. Her two small children were there. Emily gave the mom some meds, and took their information. She will help the mom get birth certificates for her kids so they can get some government assistance. The mom could barely lift her arms or talk above a whisper. These kids will probably be orphans soon, too.

This afternoon we are going with Brooke and Jed to an education program where older kids talk with younger ones about AIDS prevention, school exams, and other issues. Brooke says it is inspiring. Tomorrow may be a visit to a daycare and Young Mums in the afternoon. Last week, Mike helped several students get ready for the physics exam. Now our time at "The Farm" is almost over. We've rented a car starting Tuesday, so we'll be off! We both feel so lucky for our time here!

To see more pictures CLICK HERE.

First Week in Africa

2008-05-22T08:52:00.005+02:00

We made it! It was a long trip, 19 hours by plane and 3 hours by bus (a big van actually), but we made it safely to Brooke and Jed's place in Masoyi. It's in the Mpumalanga province in the Northeastern part of South Africa. The scenery here is stunning. It's quite mountainous and still very green even though it is autumn. For our first weekend we went to Kruger National Park--one of the most famous places in Africa for wildlife viewing. We stayed there two nights in a very nice rest camp. Our place had a bedroom, two bathrooms, and a kitchenette. The park is setup for you to view animals from the safety of your car, but we didn't feel very safe when a huge elephant made an aggressive move towards us (thanks Jed for being quick on the gas!) We had a great time, and we saw lots of amazing animals like elephants, hippos, giraffes, antelope, hyenas, crocodiles, cape buffalo, warthogs, and baboons. You're not allowed to drive your own car after dark, but we went on an organized night drive and saw two lions. We watched them for several minutes and even saw them mating! Right on the side of the road not even 15 feet from our truck! It was incredible!

We intend to stay with Brooke and Jed for a couple more weeks and do some volunteering for their work place called Hands at Work. We will probably do some camping and also head into Swaziland. Then Kim and I plan to rent a car and head for Cape Town. We're having a great time so far.

We managed to upload a few pictures to Picasa. Click HERE to view them. Hope you enjoy them. We really enjoyed reading everyone's comments, so keep 'em coming!

Setting Off

2008-05-12T22:47:00.004+02:00

It's finally here! We packed our backpacks and hope we've got most of what we need to get us through the next year. My cousin Megan is bringing us to The Cities tomorrow so we can catch a Twins game. On Wednesday it's off to Johannesburg via Atlanta. If all goes according to plan we'll be at Brooke and Jed's by Thursday night!

We took a couple pictures of us with our packs. The rest of our pictures should be considerably more interesting!

Why this exists

2008-04-15T03:55:00.000+02:00

This exists because Kim and I are starting off on an adventure that will often put us out of touch with friends and family. We head for Johannesburg, South Africa on May 14th, with two one-way tickets, two backpacks, and two adventurous spirits! We plan to spend about two months in South Africa. Some with Brooke and Jed (Kim's sister and brother-in-law), some in Kim's former college town of Stellenbosch, some in Cape Town, and the rest is still unknown.

We'll be back from time to time to post pictures and a few lines to keep you up to date on our whereabouts and our experiences. We'd love to read your comments anytime, as I sure we'll eventually start to miss home. Wish us luck!

Mike and Kim