The end of an incredible journey

The end of an incredible journey

It is with such sadness that this Bicknell family adventure must come to an end. We will arrive home with knowledge that can’t be acquired through T.V. or literature. We have met people that will forever remain in our hearts. We have spent such beautiful time together as a family and this is what I’m most grateful for.

Before I talk about my most outstanding moments of the trip, I need to share yesterday with you all. A day in the Maldives. We awoke to yet another perfect day and shared another beautiful buffet breakfast together. When we arrived back at our room, the room had been tidied and a love heart made from towels and flowers had been placed on our bed and a crocodile on the boys’ beds. Amazing!

The boys then went off snorkelling for an hour whilst I read. Within ten minutes of their return they had their first ever sailing lesson and they had an absolute ball. After another buffet lunch, David and the boys entered the sailing regatta and actually won their heat. I’m sure I could be heard screaming and cheering all over the island. They then came 5^th in the final and received a medal. No one could believe it.

After a buffet dinner on the sand of the beach under the stars, we rested before we headed out for the nights entertainment, a comedy show. Jack especially found the comedy very funny and was hoping to be called up on stage to participate. We all fell into bed about 11pm. That’s life on Kani. Superb!

My favourite place: Maldives.

My least favourite place: The streets of Delhi.

My funniest moment: When the elephant tried to swallow David’s arm. We want to enter the footage into Funniest Home Videos.

My scariest moment: When the lion walked past the car.

My saddest moment: Leaving Shiduli (and probably when I leave Kani).

I can’t believe it’s all over. How will life ever be the same again? We are all changed for the better, forever.  Signing off for the final time. Nat xxx

Diving with the fish by Max

Diving with the fish by Max

We are in the Maldives and we went snorkelling with all different kinds of fish. We call one helmet head because it’s got this blue helmet thing on its head. We saw colourful fish, fish that blend in, sea cucumbers, reef sharks and stingrays.

Today we went snorkelling with my camera goggles and we took a few shots of some different fish. A few with stripes, some with dots and the helmet head. We couldn’t get the shark when it swam up to our faces because it was too blurry. Then when the memory card was full we saw two more sharks and a stingray and missed getting those photos because it didn’t have any memory left.

We have been sailing and kayaking but not on a jetski. We’ve done lots of snorkelling and we went up in a sea plane. But the best thing about this place is free drinks from the bar. I always keep going up and getting mocktails as much as I like.

Underwater by Jack

Underwater

In the Maldives, we have got our own private beach spot surrounded by bright blue, crystal clear warm water. The coral comes in big blobs and there are so many schools of fish that you can’t count all of them. There are hermit crabs crawling all over our deck so Max and I built a sand barrier and watched the hermit crabs climb over each other to get out. I found a hermit crab bigger than my hand under water.

We have now been on two coral reef snorkelling trips. The first one was in the afternoon and the other one was in the morning the next day. There were at least ten sea cucumbers, a lot of different coral and hundreds of thousands of fish. There were rainbow fish, bright fish, dark fish, tropical fish, camouflage fish, spotted fish, shiny fish, striped fish, little fish and big fish.

The coral went down like a cliff. At the edge of the reef it went from warm to cold. The second time Ididn’t wear a life jacket so I could dive down deep. When I did, my ears rang like the school bell at school.

This afternoon we went on a sea plane and the colour of the water was visible from up in the air. It only had two propellers all together. But it was at least able to get off the ground or should I say water

Maldives by Nat

Maldives-Paradise-Heaven

I knew even before the plane had landed that we were about to land in paradise. From the windows of the plane all I could see were tiny islands surrounded by the most icy blue/green water I’ve ever seen in my life. The Maldives.

We were greeted at the airport by Club Med staff and whisked onto a speedboat for a 25 minute ride past many stunning islands to the most stunning of all islands, Kani. It is more beautiful here than any of us could have imagined. The rooms overlook a private beach, and warm ocean water. For the first time ever, Jack and Max have been given their own villa and  are loving  the responsibility.

The food, the staff, the surroundings are all perfect. I don’t think I’m able to describe how amazing it is here. We all love the fact that we can access food and drinks whenever we want. The boys love going up to the bar and ordering a mocktail and bringing it back to their lounge chair under the palm tree outside their room.

Yesterday we all went snorkelling and kayaking. Today the boys are off snorkelling and then after lunch we are going in a sea plane over the Maldive Islands. Tomorrow I’m doing a Japanese cooking class. We also plan to sail at some point too.

The weather is a perfect 32 degrees everyday and the nights are about 26 degrees. I think the water temperature is about 29 degrees too.  

There is only one thing I don’t like about the island- The French women. They are all skinny and gorgeous. How are they able to resist eating 3 plates full of food every meal? I just don’t understand!

Club Med Kani, is the most beautiful place in the world and well worth a visit at least once in your lifetime. For me, it needs to be more than once!

Fifteen years later...

Fifteen years later...

Well, it has taken us just over fifteen years and a couple of false starts to get here to the Maldives but it is definitely worth the wait. See Nat, I always keep my promises...’til death do us part. Happy Honeymoon, happy 10^th Anniversary and happy 40^th Birthday my Angelina MacPherson. Lots of love, always. David. XXX

Incredible India - Incredibly frustrating!

Incredible India...incredibly frustrating!

We have recently arrived at a place called Kovalam. A tropical beach resort town just out of Thiruvananthapuran, at the very southern tip of India. After a few days of relaxing at this beautiful beachside town, some retail therapy, an Ayuveric massage and some Dhara treatment (an oil and spiced milk treatment poured onto the forehead for 45 mins) it is only now that we are able to reflect on our time in Dehli and Agra! 

We have had some amazing experiences and seen some wonderful things, however it was somewhat adversely affected by having to deal with incompetants, liars, pushy rip off merchants and con artists all the way along whilst we tried to book, plan and manage the balance of time and travels in India. And everyone was ungrateful, even the beggars were not happy enough when we gave them food or money and they always wanted more! Talk about ‘how hard can it be?’ to do the simplest things! The scariest thing is that it is always done under the guise of trying to help us. I don’t know how anything gets done in this place and I can understand why everything only seems to be 80% completed. You always feel short changed and have to compromise all the way as you are constantly being let down or stuffed around. If I hear “No problems, sir” one more time I think I’ll headbutt someone. It is always a problem, it is never done right or as we need it and we have to end up reluctantly accepting it or doing it ourselves under pressure or in a rage at the end anyway! But incredibly, we got it done! Incredible India.

Some of the highlights and sights we have seen include:

New Delhi:  The Connought and Janpath markets, Safdarjang’s tomb, Lodi Garden, Lotus temple, India gate (an eternal flame and monument to fallen soldiers), and probably our favourite Humayun’s tomb. This tomb was the first of seven built to honour the emporers that ruled over a 300 year period, the Taj Mahal was the 2^nd.

Old Delhi: The Red Fort and Chandni Chowk were highlights. We took a bicycle taxi ride through the extremely busy old spice and silver markets and walked around this old world bustling district buying Niki, Abidas, and Poma branded goods!

Every day was an adventure in our hired sardine can cars (inclusive of suicide driver), taking our lives into our hands. Whilst travelling through all kinds of streets and witnessing the different living conditions, buildings and people was one of the highlights for me, unfortunately not so for Nat. One of the worst passengers I know at the best of times, poor Nat suffered anxiety and extreme fear the entire time of travel, unable to watch at times, and both the boys have the battle scars on their hands and arms to prove it.

Agra: The Taj Mahal. We made it! We set off on our 200km, 3hr drive through the country and arrived 5hrs later deafened by the constant car and truck horns and with headaches from the toxic fumes smoke and dust all the way and well and truly over the bustle. We then fought the afternoon Sunday crowds, in your face hawkers and beggars and took our turn to see this magnificent structure, all the time being pushed and jostled by these impatient Indians. The greatest hightlight was when Nat, after such a long and tiring day, had finally had enough of this one woman who had tried to push in the line in front of us for about the fourth time, and let her have it both barrels. Fantastic, one of the best sprays in a long time, it mirrored how we all felt and was duly applauded by all those around us.

Following on from the initial hotel non-pickup, booking stuff up and downgrade at some dodgy homeless shelter around the corner lowlight, the trip back from Agra managed to top this off and really ruin our time in and around Delhi. After taking six and half hours to travel the “3hr” trip back to Dehli, and under threat of missing our plane out, we somehow finally arrived at the airport. Our driver, attempting to take a shortcut, managed to get us lost for over an hour. We sat in the muddiest, filthiest, rubbish tip back streets of the outskirts of Delhi for what seemed an eternity. (This is where Jack called Pig Heaven as the streets were rife with animals, rubbish, mud and shit). We then proceed to get further lost, our driver lost his English speaking ability, we could not get phone contact with our hotel, and our driver dove erratically trying to make up for the hours lost, overtaking around blind corners and driving way too fast. The trip from hell.

Kovalam beach and its more laid back and less hectic pace has refreshed us and we have managed to finally have a drink again! Approx 8 to 10 days alchohol free when we most need it. Swimming at the beach and eating wonderful food. It has also provided us with the highlight of riding an elephant, including feeding them and being blessed by them (the trunk placed on our heads). Jack also has an entry in Funniest Home Videos as the elephant tried eating my arm!

We all look very much forward now to the Maldives to recover from such “Incredible” adventures before we return to the real world of work and school.....

Dehli by Jack

Delhi by Jack

On the second day in Delhi we went to Humayans tomb in New Delhi. It was the first tomb that we went to. It was the first emporer of Delhi out of seven to have a tomb built. (The Taj Mahal was the second). The tomb took nine years to build. After those nine years had ended, the wife slaughtered the architect so that he doesn’t build another tomb like that one.

The next day we went to the Red Fort in Old Delhi. We went into the museum and saw weapons like machine guns on stands, spears, guns and bow and arrows that protected the Red Fort from destruction from the enemies. There were markets inside where we entered. Max bought a cannon and I bought two swords and a shield that had a nice pattern.

 After Dehli we drove to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. It was a really long drive but it was worth it. An interesting fact was that the Taj Mahal was covered in jewels but over the years people stole them. Mum got angry with this Indian woman when she kept trying all the time to push in front of us in the line.

On the way back to Delhi the driver took a few wrong turns and we got lost in some alley ways. There were a lot of pigs, cows and dogs, cars, traffic, and heaps of rubbish and mud! I called it Pivin (pig heaven), because there were mostly pigs and they were eating the rubbish and playing in the mud.

The Taj Mahal by Max

The Taj Mahal

Today we had a five hour drive from Delhi to Agra to go see the Taj Mahal. On the way we saw different temples, lots of smoke from factories and cars, lots of poverty and animals such as horses, cows and camels wheeling carts and carriages.

When we arrived in Agra we went to see the Taj Mahal. It was so crowded and we got pushed and shoved a lot. We got harassed a lot by dodgy store owners and guides all trying to get our money off us.

The Taj Mahal was soooo spectacular. A long time ago it used to be even more spectacular when it had jewels stuck to the outside of it but then they all got stolen. We got a few good photos. It was massive you couldn’t even see the top dome of it when we were close to it.

Ahmedabad by Max

Thanks everyone for my birthday wishes.
My top ten in Ahmedabad were:
1. The car horns and the traffic.
2. The people.
3. The wedding was fun.
4. The food.
5. The culture.
6. Temples and tombs.
7. The driving.
8. Stray dogs.
9. Cows everywhere.
10. Indian wedding outfits.

Ahmedabad was fun and the food was nice. The hotel and the service was good and the people were all nice to you, especially the front desk people and the cake man.
The car horns were really loud and it was sometimes hard to get to sleep because of them. Because it is so busy on the roads in Ahmedabad, people drive on the wrong side of the road and don't even use the lanes. They drive in the middle of the road and the ones that drive the opposite direction we call them 'Americains'
India if fun and they have good stuff to look at, like the red Fort and the Old Fort in Delhi.

I spent my birthday in Delhi and on my birthday we went to the market and we bought some new runners for me because my other ones don't fit me anymore. We had Maccas for lunch. We had a veggie burger for lunch without salads because the salad ingredients are washed in water that people poo and wee in.

I'm having a really good time in India.

A Country of contrast..(continued...)

Ahmedabad day 3/4 (the wedding): What an amazing place. What beautiful people. Over 500 year old amazing buildings amongst ruins. Polished marble next to piles of crap. To Chirag and Teena, what incredible hospitality and an unreal wedding night. The colour, the excitement, the smiles, the beauty and the bling. To Mr and Mrs Pancholi, amazing generosity. To Surbhi, many more thanks for a wonderful time. To Manish and his fantastic uncles, aunts, cousins, and extended family, treasured memories and new friends welcome at our house anytime.

Dehli day 1: India is a bucket of shit! The people are a product of their environment. Useless, incompetent, filthy, lying sewer scum. The Poms failed massively here, no wonder they gave the joint back to a bloke in rags and thongs. Why would you ever bother. Can't get out of this cesspit soon enough!

Dehli days 2, 3 & 4: Unique.The best word I can find to describe this country. Of the 22 countries I have now been to (yes, I even surprised myself) I have found nowhere else in the world that evokes such polar extremes of everything. You can love it with immense passion and hate it in the extremes at any given time. It will frustrate you beyond belief and then amaze you just as quickly. One moment you will want for more, the next you will just want out. You want to nurture it one minute and nuke it the next. From the vast grand excesses of wealth displayed by the tombs and temples, to the depths of poverty next door that you cannot begin to imagine. The complexity, incredible detail and symmetry of the architecture to the piles of dirt, debris and slums that surround them. The peace and the tranquility in the magnificent gardens to the utter chaos and manic disorder on the roads. The effervescent faces and exhuberance of the kids playing cricket wherever they can to the despair and desperation of the mangled and mutilated on the streets.

One cannot express in words the experiences and feelings that change so quickly and to such extreme. Are we glad we came? Yes and No. Do we recommend it to others? Yes and No. Unique!

Happy birthday to Max

Happy Birthday to our beautiful baby boy Max who turns a whole 9 years old today. After a lazy morning and then a change of hotels again, we headed off to buy an Indian birthday present for him.  We went shopping at Connaught Place in the heart of Delhi, had McDonalds Indian style for lunch and then bought him some new runners as a token present.
Tonight we'll have dinner at the hotel (of course). Maybe some curries (of course) and some coke (of course).
We love you Maxi. xxxxxx

Preparing for the wedding by Jack

Preparing for the Indian Wedding

Before we went to the Indian wedding we had to pick some Indian clothes that Surbhi helped us pick out. I chose a blue and gold traditional outfit. Dad wore a white Indian shirt, mum wore a whole Indian outfit and Max wore a white and gold Indian shirt. Because we were going to a wedding we had to buy the bride and groom some presents. We went to a jewellery shop and bought the bride some earrings and a necklace. That’s where mum bought lots of her jewellery. For the groom we went to another shop and bought him a suitcase.

We went to the wedding that started at 7.00. When we walked in, most of the men were dressed in suits and all of the women were dressed in beautiful outfits and mum wanted to take a photo of all of them. Everyone thought we looked fantastic and lots of them asked if we could get a photo taken with them.

When we had the food it was curry everything. There was tomato soup curry, vegetable curries and goat cheese curries. The drinks were spectacular. They were made of lychees and icecream. Max and I had heaps of them.

At the end of the wedding, these people called me over to get a photo taken with them. Mum and Dad didn’t know where I was, then they saw me and started laughing because I was red faced and embarrassed and I was surrounded by a lot of people who were giving me lots of attention. We were like celebrities at the wedding. It was fun.

Ahmedabad experience

A huge thank you to Manish, his family and especially Surbhi for making our Ahmedabad experience a wonderful and memorable one. They have arranged, coordinated and mostly paid for everything here for us. A magnificent bunch of warm, beautiful peole who have really welcomed us in and shown us the real beauty of the place.

What a great place. After some tentative sojourns into the scary world out there we have really warmed to the place. The chaos and the colour, the shambles and the smiles, the bustle and the beauty. It is complete madness on the streets. Cars, cows, rickshaws, dogs, motorbikes and people in all directions amongst the dust and the dirt. It is tenfold in the inner city. The road lanes are a rough guide only, red lights and direction of travel regularly ignored, indicators are optional, with the horn and big cahunas appearing to be the only necessities!

The food has been extremely delicious and as always we have well and truly over eaten. I'm sure we all have an inabilty to say no or stop shovelling food into our mouths disorder of some kind. After eating in the hotels, the restaurants and the family homes, three days in and the number twos are still solid, just a bit fiery after eating vegetarian curries for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Did we mention the dust and the dirt? I'd hate to see the place if it ever rained, it would be a quagmire. If only they invested in a couple of streetsweepers (couple of hundred?) the place could be beautiful. The roads, houses and shops etc are fine, but a serious lack of naturestrip and roadside maintenance is the towns only weakness.

It appears that Ahmedabad (or Ahmdavad as the locals call it) is not high on any westerners travel hit list as we seem to be a huge novelty. People everywhere stop and stare, kids follow us around and we regularly draw a crowd. We've even been interviewed by some TV show. Curious locals with the smallest English abiltiy constantly engage us to know where we are from and if we know Ricky Ponting!

After shopping for a couple of days, today we did some of the tourist stuff and saw historic places such as the Adalaj Step Well, Hutheesing Jain Temple, Ghandi Ashram, Sidi Saiyad's Mosque as well as Surbhi's Architectural University that she is most proud of. I mostly enjoyed the driving around through the older parts of town and seeing the streets, the people, the ratty old shops, the slums, beggars and homeless amongst the centuries old buildings and bright colourfully dressed people amongst the dust going about doing whatever it is they are very busy doing.

And tonight we are excitedly looking forward to the big wedding. We are fully prepared to be decked out in full Indian attire and get into the whole experience. It is, after all, the reason we set out on this journey in the first place and promises to be one of the most colourful and exciting highlights of the trip. I'm sure there will plenty of photos to follow.

South Africa top 10's

Berfore we forget everything, below was each of our Top Ten South Africa highlights and memorable moments:

David

1. Shiduli everything – food, people, safaris
2. Zero the Lion, at night walking towards and beside us roaring
3. Swimming with the penguins at Boulder beach
4. Walking with the Cheetahs on the first safari
5. Table Mountain fearful cable car ride
6. The food everywhere we went
7. Morris and Lewis, their smiles, everything they taught us and did for the boys. Morris’ bird calls
8. The gay giraffes. What a funny moment. Try teaching that to your kids!
9. The turtle hatchlings
10. The first safari when we sat amongst Rhino’s, Giraffes, Zebras, Impala and Wildebeest together for the first time

Nat

1. Shiduli Private Game Reserve – Everything about the place especially the people.
2. Lions – Coming within a metre of a lion is the scariest and bravest thing I’ve ever done. He really is king of all animals.
3. Food – Food, food and more food. The freshest fruit I’ve ever had, day after day.
4. Robben Island – A very calming experience visiting the prison that held Nelson Mandela for so long.
5. Cape Town – Not the city but the close proximity to beautiful beach boardwalks, exciting animals and day trips.
6. The lack of queues- No matter where we have been, the queues have been short.
7. The private tour experiences – It seems like every time we book in for a tour, no one else is on it.
8. St Lucia – A small piece of paradise with no security in sight.
9. The Townships of Cape Town – A fascinating set up for black African working class.
10. Markets – I love the little markets scattered around the country. I would love to fill a container with all the beautiful hand made goods.

Max

1. Morris and Lewis.
2. Playing with the baby turtles.
3. Townships.
4. Markets.
5. The gay giraffes.
6. The elephant’s fifth leg.
7. Impalas.
8. Most of the animals.
9. Zip lines.
10. South African people.

Jack

1. Seeing the buffalos at night.
2. Turtle tour.
3. Zip line.
4. Shiduli – everything.
5. The gay giraffes.
6. The chameleon.
7. Lewis jumping into the back of the truck when the elephant came.
8. Feeling hungry only once in the whole trip.
9. The elephant’s fifth leg.
10. Birds of prey.

A day in India

We are all so tired at the moment. After waking at 9am yesterday, we enjoyed a late breakfast and then headed out by rickshaw to the shops. The ride was only about 2km long and cost us INR 20 / AU .50c. We wandered around buying nothing for a couple of hours and then headed back to the hotel for a late lunch.

After this Surbhi arrived to take us wedding shopping which went on for many hours but was very successful. We are now ready to become full blown Indians.

Finally at about 9pm, we visited the bride's parents house and met the bride and groom and their families, who were all amazing and welcoming and beautiful. They fed us a great home cooked (by the chef), Indian meal. We then headed to Manish's parents enormous 4 story home and chatted until about 1am.

Today we have a driver to take us around town before we head to the wedding reception tonight. The pace is fast, the people are warm, the food is amazing, the clothes are stunning. Not a bad place. x

South Africa-Dubai-India in 24 hours

Today we have arrived in Ahmedabad, India. It took us three flights and 24 hours of travelling to get here. We arrived exhausted, but not exhausted enough to feel fear again but this time at the hands of our hotel driver and the other traffic on the roads. There are no road rules here apparently. You don't need to stop at red lights or even go around a round about the correct way or drive down the left hand side of the road (which is the side you're supposed to be on!). I think I held my breath for most of the trip to the hotel.

The hotel is another story. There is nothing wrong with it as a hotel and the staff are wonderful, it's just that we are now unable to drink the water so we are being very careful. I know why we can't drink it too; it's filthy. Even the white towels and sheets have a lovely grey tinge to them. It doesn't help that the city is hot and dusty too.

The people are beautiful, full of smiles and colourful clothes. I feel very butch in my camouflage/safari gear that I bought along. I think I may need to shop!!!

Tomorrow we spend time with Manish's family and we can't wait. Manish's father met us at the airport which was very kind of him. We are just sad Manish isn't able to be here with us too.

We ate our first meal here tonight at the hotel. It was really good, but we'll see in about 8 hours time if it agreed with our sensitive Aussie guts. We broke the 'no salad' rule slightly as we had some finely diced tomato and peeled cucumber on a papadum. It was complimentary from the staff so how could we say no!

Nat.

Kwa-Zulu Natal

Kwa-Zulu Natal

There. Kwa...Zulu...Natal. Not that hard. It took me a long time to get hold of this name. The South Africans and Africaans rattle this off so quickly I had no idea for a long time how to say it and used any number of combinations trying to explain to others our planned destination for our extended South African stay. It took until I finally saw it written on a map that I got it. And that was when we finally got a map after a couple of days already spent in Hazyview!

I must say that I personally have been a little disappointed in the last week of our stay in this wonderful country. It seems to have gone on for a week too long and that we are just passing the time waiting to get out of here, doing things just for the sake of doing them. The first two weeks were some the most amazing and exciting experiences of our lives and leaving as planned would have left us with a feeling of forever wanting more. The last week has felt like when you’ve been on the best night out ever or the best holiday ever, and then going back there to try and replicate it – it’s never the same the second time around and you are usually a little let down. Nat says I just need to move on from Egypt being cancelled!

However, the extension here was the last of our list of travel alternatives and came about only as time ran out and preferred options didn’t work out for logistics reasons. Maybe we were spoiled in the first couple of weeks by the quality of our activities. Driving the parks in Kruger and here in St. Lucia, whilst still wonderful in their own right, seeing the animals from such long distances away whilst stuck in the hire car is much like watching cows in the paddocks whilst driving along the Hume. Compare this to the open jeep Shiduli and other private game parks where it’s like riding the bull or being the clown at the rodeo – smack bang in the action up close! This is the only way to do a safari.

The long 6 hour day car trips to and from Swaziland, on top of the hours trapped inside the car for the poor man’s safari’s, has taken its toll on all of us with our enthusiasm and attention levels dropping off. This is no doubt affecting our patience with each other and attitudes to everything, including blogging and enjoying the latest animal experiences. Been there, done that. We are even over the full buffet breakfasts and all a little tired. 

Driving in Swaziland was a shocker. The roads are atrocious, and the only thing worse than the apparent living conditions of the people was their driving ability, making it all way too stressful to enjoy. St. Lucia and its tranquil beauty has been a blessing, with the turtle hatchlings and night game park drive associated with this, the pick me up we all needed. We await now with much anticipation getting to India.

Hot off the press and yet to evolve is the kick in the guts, just learned, that Manish will now be unable to join us in India, throwing our stress free guided Indian  adventure into chaos. Again the time zones conspire against us as last minute panic sets in to confirm and arrange details of accommodation, travel, etc that we had left in his hands and which now becomes all our problem to handle. Here we go...the adventure of our lifetimes...bring on the Maldives!

Paradise found in South Africa

Paradise Found in South Africa

After quickly exiting Swaziland (well not so quickly – 40 minutes at the border gate), we finally found ourselves back in South Africa and breathing a sigh of relief. We drove through Zulu Land, stopped at some scary, dirty little town for KFC, drove over a bridge and found it...Paradise by the name of St Lucia.

St Lucia is about two and a half hours north of Durbin (well we hope it’s only that far away as that’s our next stop). It is a pretty little beachside village where the ocean water and the pool water sit at about 30 degrees Celsius. My perfect temperature. This town is apparently crime free, so for the first time in South Africa we have no security guard or gate around the property. The only dangers we face maybe hippos walking down the main street at night. I can handle that.

The accommodation is perfect, we all relaxed as soon as we entered. Our rooms are large and private and surrounded by tropical plants. We do have to keep our windows closed in case monkeys enter and raid our mini bar! The pool is about ten metres from our door; breakfast is buffet (as per usual). How can we complain?

Today we entered the local wetland park for our final self drive safari in search of buffalo. We all had our eyes peeled to the wet plains in the hope of finding just one buffalo, as we were scared that David would never let us leave the country until we did. And yes, we found plenty. Not as close as David would like (not like a Shiduli experience), but close enough for all of us to bring closure to the final search for the ‘Big 5’. We also saw zebra, monkeys, nyala, kudu, water bucks of some sort and finally beautiful baboons.

This evening we are going out in search of our final South African animal – the hatchlings of the leatherback and loggerhead turtle. We don’t leave until 10.15pm and won’t return until 4am, so tomorrow should be relatively quiet. Fingers crossed we see the little turtles.

The middle of the night by Jack

The Middle of the Night

By the time you started school in Australia, we started turtle hunting. We had no luck on the way up but on the way back we found some hatchlings. Although we accidently ran over a baby turtle, we helped the other turtle hatchlings find the water. We also trained them to swim. So after a while we went to find the nest. We dug two out and saved one turtle hatchling from a crab. There was one turtle already out so we helped all four turtle hatchlings find their way down the hill.

When you ended lunch back in Australia, we went on a night safari. There was a gate that we had to open and our guide ran back and said that he smelt and heard a hippo. And he was right. The hippo smelt like someone did their business in mud. The smell was because the hippo was pregnant. If the baby hippo is a boy, the mother will try to hide it because if the bull hippo finds the baby boy it will try to kill it so that if the baby boy grows big it won’t try to overpower the bull hippo to become the leader of the pack.

That same night, we got held up by a herd of Buffalos. They are much like a cow. They even make the same noise as a cow! They have big curly horns so that if you shoot it and it survives, it is most likely to try to kill you. When the bull buffalo becomes dominant, it is more aggressive.

There were also some white rhinos. There was the mother and three baby rhinos. While we were driving we nearly drove into a male rhino. The male rhinos are territorial but the females can go where ever.

I really love the turtles and feel like I’ve done something important.

Max's Turtle safari

 

Max’s turtle trip.

Last night we went to try to find some leatherback and loggerneck hatchlings (baby turtles) and the mother turtles.

On the way to the beach we saw some buffalos and bush bucks. Then when we were on the beach we had no luck finding the turtles on the way up but on the way back we saw the leatherback hatchlings (baby turtles) but we never found the mother turtle.

On the way home from the beach we saw more bush bucks, buffalos and we also saw some rhinos, a pregnant stinky hippo, a jennet and a bush baby. We also saw a dumb porcupine that never went into the bush. It kept running on the road and it faced the bush but when the car came near, the porcupine kept running on the road.

Hazyview-Kruger

With tears still in our eyes after leaving Shiduli, we arrived in Hazyview a small town near Kruger National Park. Our accommodation for two nights was at a place called Rissington, a fully fenced Inn run by a British travel writer. All the houses and accommodation places are fenced and guarded.

My impressions of Hazyview are not favourable. This was the first place in SA where I actually felt unsafe. The place was dirty and full of homeless people just hanging around.

The reason for our stay here was a self drive tour through Kruger which we did for seven hours the following day. Within five minutes of entering the park we saw a mother hyena with a baby just lying in the long grass on the side of the road. We then spotted elephants, giraffes, zebras, impalas and hippos before finally  spotting a leopard crouching in the grass under a tree looking at lunch (impala). Well we didn’t spot it, the fact that someone had placed a dot on the map showing where it may still be located, and about ten safari cars and other self drive vehicles parked on the side of the road, kind of gave it away. We watched the leopard patiently  stalk it’s prey for about an hour before we impatiently gave up and drove off. We ended the day tired and slightly disappointed that we couldn’t locate a buffalo, but happy that we had the opportunity to see all the other animals.

Prior to leaving Hazyview we embarked on a three hour zipline adventure. There were seven ziplines in total; three long (one the longest in SA) and four small.  We all had a ball. I think I was more scared than David or the kids but by the end we all relaxed and enjoyed each ride.

We hit the road after that, heading for Swaziland. If I thought Hazyview was scary, it was like paradise compared to Swaziland, which is where we are now.  At first we hit narrow and very scary roads, avoiding many cars, buses, trucks and taxi busses that were either overtaking or just not driving on the right side of the road.  Alongside the roads are hundreds of people/children walking somewhere. At first we thought the kids were all just friendly and waving to us but then we worked out that they were begging and wanted us to stop and give them money. It’s quite a sad and unnerving experience driving by skinny kids on the side of the road and ignoring them.

So tomorrow we are getting out of here A.S.A.P. and heading back to SA on the road to Kwazulunatal. Let’s hope we make it!

Small Animals by Jack

Small Animals

On the safari, as well as the big animals, we saw lots of small animals. They included fireflies, chameleon, tree squirrels, grass hoppers, millipede, centipede, praying mantis and spiders.

The fireflies were amazing. You couldn’t really see them but Morris showed them to us. We had to stop to see them clearly. When they flashed around it looked like someone was turning on and off a torch.

Lewis found a chameleon in the trees at night. We were amazed at how Lewis could find the chameleon with it blending in. He told us that he saw a pair of eyes in the spotlight that he carries around at night. I even got to hold it but when I went to touch it the chameleon fell off. It is still ok though. After Lewis put the chameleon back onto my arm, it climbed up onto my head. It didn’t change colour because it was too dark to see the colour the chameleon was standing on.

The tree squirrels were on the road until we drove near. They would think we were predators and run to the nearest tree even if it was on the other side of the road. Despite they were small we saw them running and jumping from tree to tree.

Every time we ran over grass, a grass hopper would always land on me. I showed Morris and he tried to catch it but it was too fast for him. You could even see them from the open safari car.

We found a millipede on the path leading to the safari car that was waiting for us. They are massive compared to those at home. It was about 150mm and as thick as your thumb. It pooped on our room key when we showed it to Morris.

The praying mantis was so funny. It was walking inside our jeep, then climbed over the door to the outside while we were driving along. It started to slide down the car door outside because it could not grip on. Then it got hit and smashed off by a branch as we drove along and never saw it again. Max and I laughed so hard we couldn’t sit up any more.

While we were getting out of the car, the Dutch couple in front of us found a centipede. The lady was very scared of bugs so she called Morris. The centipede crawled over the man so they put the centipede gently on the ground. The centipede looked like green slime.

There were lots of spiders so Lewis had a stick to take down the spiders webs. A spider landed on the Dutch man and his wife could have pushed him out of the safari car. There was also a golden orb spider in the back of the safari car making its web. I don’t really see how the spider will get any food to eat back there. When Morris was driving, a huge spider and its web got caught on morris’ hat and the Dutch lady was panicking.

Morris is gone, Lewis is gone, so sad, sad sad

It was a very sad day today as we said farewell to the beautiful people and our great new friends at Shiduli. Morris and Lewis are especially missed tonight as the reality hits that there will be no 5.00am phone call in the morning and Max has to give up his trackers seat and stick back to Lewis. However we will always remember Morris' bird calls: "so sad, sad, sad".

Our final safari this morning was again another personal family tour and once more extroardinarily memorable. Another run in with Zero, this time a chance meeting after losing his tracks across the river, then finding him fresh on a Wildebeest kill a few blocks away. Once again we were way too close as we watched him devour the soft internals and then wander around us roaring to the female lions to come and feed. Scarily awesome stuff, it is just impossible to express the incredibleness of this front row experience. Some people never see this king lion, we have seen him 4 times in 4 days! The Leopard, however, did elude us.

Following straight from Zero and on a huge high, we tracked down the Cheetah brothers we couldn't find the day before and got to watch them up and about. We sat alongside them as they stretched and limbered up before following them for a long time as they wandered the roads marking their territory and on the prowl for breakfast.

Probably the funniest encounter though, on the way to our last morning coffee in the bush with our trusted guides, was barging in on a private moment between two gay giraffes! No holding back, these boys were going for it! You don't get any of that action at the Pyramids and can't get taught anything like that at school!

Anyway, with Egypt cancelled a few stressful days were spent scrambling for options to fill the void. After the disappointment with each subsequent choice falling through, we are now extending our stay in South Africa. We have toured the Panoramic Route today over the Highveld with spectacular views over the Lowveld down to Hazyview for a couple of nights stay. We will self drive the Kruger National Park now that we have certified expert guides in Max and Jack before heading into Swaziland. From Swaziland we will continue to Kwa-Zulu Natal on the east coast of SA to watch the turtle hatching and ending in Durban before continuing on to India as planned.

Stay tuned for more of the boys' stories once we all get some rest...

The Shiduli Experience

The Shiduli Experience

What can we say about this place. It can only be experienced to be appreciated. We have run out of superlatives to describe its luxury and service and the safari experiences. The Shiduli Lodge is a lodge within the Karawonge Private game Reserve, just out of Hoedspruit, and not far from Kruger national park. It is a must do for everyone.

The food is divine. Extravagent buffet breakfasts and 3 course lunch and dinners every day. We are starting to look like our own breed of Hippo family. Biltong, crocodile, springbok and borewoers have all been consumed on top of the usual 5 star affair. They put on a brier (BBQ) for us the other night. All the staff took part and performed singing and dancing for us. Of course we joined in. The servants and guides at this place are some of the most genuinely friendly and infectious beaming people. They have the most amazing smiles and happy, friendly nature.  Rose is my favourite. She is a beautiful big young African mama who just laughs and giggles every time we see her. Shake that body “one more time!” Fannie our barman is a dead ringer for Eddie Murphy in Coming to America! He, He, He, He!

The Safari’s are unbelievable. We cannot even try to relay the awe of these animals up so close or feelings of fear, adrenaline, pure excitement and survival all at the same time. Each trip has brought its own massive highlights.  Morris and Lewis (our guide and tracker) have done so much for us and the boys we will never forget. Mixing it with herds of Zebra and Giraffe. Staring down Rhino’s as they block our path.  Walking out of the jeep amongst the Cheetahs.  And then of course the Elephants and the Lions.

On the first morning trail, after watching Hippo’s frolick in a waterhole, we managed to track two female Lionesses and their 4 cubs. I could not believe we could follow along the tracks with them. The females would occasionally stop and sit and guard whilst the cubs played boyishly around.  They were on the lookout for food and could have turned on us at anytime.

Apparently the open jeeps are safe! Most of the animals (Impala, Wildebeest, Ynala, Warthogs, Waterbucks, Zebra, Giraffe, etc) move away as we approach. Sadly, after few trips they have become the “cows” out there. You have to be quick with camera to get a head shot as they quickly turn away and we end up with the obligatory bum shot as they walk off. The rhino generally stand and face off with us for a while, put some doubt in our mind as to their intentions, then they walk away. The big cats see the jeep with us in it as a whole, therefore, too big for them. They don’t recognise us as tasty, well fed dinner riding along in a jeep. Pretty much we can get comfortably to about 10m away from the animals and stop. It is up to them if they want to move away or come closer!

The ride is massively uncomfortable being bashed by the steel framing of the 4 wheel drive, travelling around over bumpy roads,  and sitting cramped for 6 to 8 hrs a day. The back is taking a hammering, and thighs and hips bruised all over, but somehow we still keep going back for more.

The guides are only genuinely scared of the elephants and we need to try and get in behind the herd and their path of travel. On two separate occasions we have come across them face to face on narrow trails and had to back up and vacate very quickly. Frightening stuff when a massive bull elephant the size of a Mack truck with his fifth leg, ears flapping and huge tusks is heading at you.

But the most truly petrifying encounters for us have been with Zero, the alpha male Lion (Madorta) and ruler of the land here. The first was within the first ten minutes of us being here when we pulled up beside him and his Zebra kill. As if we weren’t apprehensive enough on our first ever safari. We all nearly wet our pants when it looked up at us. Fortunately he was full after eating for 2 days so just wanted to rest. Not the case last night when on dusk, he literally walked towards and alongside us, within one metre away. On the hunt for food and roaring out to the females. Truly shit yourself, frozen stiff stuff.  Told “do not move!” but still taking photos with a flash on not knowing what it was going to do. When the moment passed and with all limbs and both boys still accounted for, we bloody followed him! Struggled to get to sleep even hours after that encounter. Again this morning we came across him asleep some 8km from where we’d had the life scared out of us just as we were pulling up for our morning coffee stop. Fortunately he was exhausted and sleepy and we got some great photos.

Two more safaris to go, and who knows what thrills and encounters we are going to have...on the hunt for the elusive Leopard now......

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my God! On our safari tonight we tracked the male lion. He was sitting on the side of the road, roaring/calling out to the female lions.We were watching him from about ten metres away.  He then stood up and walked straight on towards us and beside our car (within patting distance). I absolutely freaked out whispering to our guide, 'what do we do?'. He whispered back, 'Just don't move'.
As the lion passed I told Max to duck down onto the seat of the car in case he turned around and came back.
This was not the best day of my life......This was the scariest day of my life!!!!!!!!! (and the best).

P.S. photos to come. Bed now.

Out in the bush by Max

Out in the bush

Today we went with Morris into the bush to play some games. He brought a gun with him as we would be walking away from the truck. He brought with him 4 bullets for the gun. He also told us how to find our way without anything to help us. We can look at the sun and using your hand as a compass you can tell the direction.

Our first game was a game that explains how animals can die by only walking a little distance. Morris drew circles on the ground and you had to jump into the circles with two feet. If you fell over or didn’t land in the circles, you die. Basically it is telling us that if you are an animal being chased by a predator, if you fall over or don’t make the circle, the predator will kill you.

Our second game was cricket played with giraffe poo. You play by putting the poo in your mouth and spitting it out but I threw my piece of poo.  We also made a tooth brush out of a special plant.

Wild Elephants by Jack

Wild elephants

On this morning’s safari, we ran into a herd of elephants. We didn’t know where they were there so we tracked them until it was time for a hot chocolate. To track an elephant you look for uprooted trees, fresh poo, footprints and the way the grass is bent. We got to a safe place and we were allowed out of the safari car. Once we stretched our legs and drank our drink we went back to find and watch the elephants. There were baby elephants that always played around but were guarded by two massive male elephants and they always looked behind for trouble until they had a little snack on a tree.

When it was time to go back to the lodge, we passed another safari car so we told them where to find the elephants. After that safari trip, Max and I [not with our mum and dad] went on a small trip for kids with our ranger Morris and our tracker Lewis. We learnt about how important the environment for the animals is. We had to stick giraffe poo in our mouth and spit it out to see who got the longest distance. We are lucky its only grass. We also found out about how to identify animals by its footprints and poo. Morris showed us how to find poisonous trees and non-poisonous trees.                                                                                                                                                                     

Max's Safari

Yesterday, we arrived at our lodge. Then we went for a safari and I sat in the front seat of the truck next to our tour guide Morris. He taught us lots about different animals and we saw lots of animals.

When we went to stand next to two wild cheetahs, Morris took me on his back because the animals would think I was a little impala. So now he calls me the little impala.

We saw a white rhino and a baby rhino, giraffes, zebras, impalas, a lion and wildebeests.  Then we arrived back at the lodge and they gave us a drink and a towel.

By Max [[[

Animals in the Savannah

On our first safari, the whole group got five meters away from a lion in an open safari car. It had a zebra carcass that it caught two days ago and you could see the animal’s ribs torn out and the smell was horrific and flies were everywhere.

 There were lots of giraffes and zebras because they stick together so they can warn each other if any predators are around.

 Every place you see giraffes and zebras you normally see impalas and bushbucks. They are like deers except that the bushbucks are bigger than the impalas.

 We also saw two white rhinos, a mother and a baby. There are two types of rhinos, the black rhino and the white rhino like we just saw. The black rhino loses its temper easily. We were very lucky that it was a white rhino, although we did have to stop so it wouldn’t charge at us.

 We had a tracker that helped us find a cheetah but we had to leave the car. We knew the cheetahs wouldn’t try to eat us because they enjoy us.

Today we saw an elephant. Although there was only one out of the twenty it was still pretty exciting.

When we were looking at a lake, we saw ripples and then a couple of seconds later a hippo appeared but we only got to see its head.

Our ranger told us that the birds are always noisy when danger is around so we follow the bird calls. There is a bird called the rainbird and that bird is very noisy when it’s going to rain and it did but only lightly. It was Lucky for us because we were in an open car again.

The ranger showed us some dung beetles that were rolling around a ball of poo. The poo came from an elephant. They lay eggs in that ball of poo so that when the eggs hatch, the baby dung beetles have something to eat.

 Bye for now Jack.

  

       

JJJJ

Baboons and Lions

Baboons and Lions

This morning I awoke to the sounds of baboons. Could life get much better than this?!

Yesterday we arrived at Shiduli Lodge, Private Game Reserve. From the moment we entered through the guarded gates we knew we had arrived in paradise. This lodge is 5 stars in every way possible. We were greeted at reception with an icy cold exotic juice and it was at about that time I fell in love with the place. I would like to purchase all the furniture and decor and place it in my own house. I love it all.

As soon as we unpacked, we were loaded onto a four seater open four wheel drive. On board was Morris our guide, Lewis our tracker and five other tourists. My first question was, ‘Where are your guns?’  When Morris told us that they don’t carry guns as they won’t hurt the animals, it was at about this time that I panicked. It was about five minutes later when I panicked again.

We could smell the dead animal before we could see it and lying right beside the dead zebra was a very full lion. We drove within ten metres of the lion, the engine was turned off (no fast escape for anyone) and we sat and watched him for about ten minutes. I don’t think I could have been more scared if I tried. Thoughts of death and being ripped to shreds went flashing through my mind. Who would the lion kill first? Would it hurt? Is it worth it? What were we thinking coming here? Morris explained that the lion is a very lazy animal and that it won’t move much for a couple of days after making a kill. Lucky for us then!

I don’t want the next few animals to seem any less important than the lion, but if I wrote in detail about them all I’d have to write a non- fiction book on African animals. We then saw wildebeests, white rhinos, giraffes, zebras and impalas. The zebras and giraffes are often seen together as they protect each other from lions. All animals were breathtaking. Morris likened Max to an impala as he was the smallest in the group and would most likely be picked off first by a lion. Comforting! He therefore placed Max in the front seat next to him for protection. I don’t know how he was going to protect him as he doesn’t carry guns!!!

Next, Louis our tracker spotted cheetah footprints on the track; he jumped out of the car and disappeared into the bush. Five minutes later, we were all summoned out of the protection of the car and in a single file line, we followed Louis’ bird call to where two cheetahs were lazily lying in the grass under the shade of a tree. This is probably the third time in one hour I was visualising being eaten alive by an African animal. Especially after Morris insisted on carrying Max so that he wouldn’t be attacked and eaten as an afternoon snack. (Mum if you’re reading this, remember, we’re still alive, it’s Ok.)

We are participating in a three hour safari each morning and evening. The morning safari commences at 5.30am and today went for four hours. The evening safari commences at 4pm. We will all be having a nap in between. Last night we had hardly any sleep as we were still trying to decide where to travel to instead of Egypt. Today we have decided to extend our stay here longer and maybe hire a car and travel more through Kruger. This means less flying (Yea) and we are all happy about spending more time here. Thanks Kinkers for all your suggestions and thanks to everyone for your messages, we are reading them but computer time is scarce so it’s hard to comment too much. We type all blogs onto our computer, save to a USB and then download them quickly onto the net when possible. Nat x

Capetown farewell

Cape Town farewell

Today is our last day in Cape Town. We have absolutely loved our time here and recommend it to anyone.

The hyper-excitement of the trip eased a little after the first couple of days as tiredness kicked in from the long journey, long action packed adventure days took their toll and the heat and long days in the sun finally had an effect. But the action did not stop.

Table Mountain was one of the scariest rides of my life and has re-activated a fear of heights. The big drop at DreamWorld on steroids! Over 1000m above sea level, most of it near vertical and massive sheer cliff faces and riding alongside this on a couple of rusty old cables. Photos and video footage don’t do it justice. The 360 degree breathtaking panoramic views were barely enjoyed as we either fought our fears of falling or trudged along in the heat battling weariness.

From the mountain in the morning, an afternoon drive in the hot, barren countryside to Spiers winery and two more of the most amazing animal encounters. Petting a Cheetah inside its enclosure was amazing and learning about their life, hunting, character, and protection by use of guard dogs. The dogs are bred especially to protect farmers livestock and stop the Cheetahs from being killed by farmers. The Cheetahs are scared of the dogs by their size yet the dogs won’t hurt the Cheetahs either!

Then, refer Jack’s blog, we got to handle, feed and mix with a number of birds of prey in an intimate, almost personal, spectacular show including me holding a Black Eagle, South Africa’s second largest eagle but with the strongest talons that could easily crush my arm and have been known to bring down Buffalo. Huge!!

A big history lesson the next day with another boat trip, this time out to Robben Island for the full apartheid and Nelson Mandela tour. Just more unreal amazing experiences (and breathtaking views from the water back to this spectacular city). Such an inspirational story, sad and powerful at the same time. It is hard to describe the feelings you get being presented with the life and struggles from one of the actual prisoners describing the conditions and oppression they suffered, yet delivered with calmness and power and total lack of resentment.

Unfortunately, the cage diving with Great White Sharks that I wanted to do was out of season, so our last adventure today took us out to an Ostrich farm where we took a tour and got to feed, learn about and even ride an Ostrich! Half a dozen different types there (including a couple of Emus!) What funny, bizarre, dumb creatures.

The last day or two have been hard to fully enjoy as our minds are occupied not only with the incredible education and life experiences her in SA, but also with the realisation that Egypt was unlikely to be safe enough to travel thanks to constant 24hr CNN sensationalised news. Bloody Arabs! It is certainly disappointing in the extreme to see our trip derailed and the fact that significantly anticipated highlights will now be missed. What else do we do instead? We are currently trying to figure out how to fill in this space, and/or rearrange the whole trip. Months of planning out the window, replaced with the frantic panic to reschedule the lot again in a couple of days...from the other side of the world...we’ll see how it pans out.

Anyway, we must somehow get our heads around the wonder and excitement that await us for the next four days as we set off on our Kruger Safari!!! How can it get any better than this??!!

DB.

Max Prison story

                                            Max’s stories                                                   

Today I went to Nelson Mandela’s prison on Robben Island.  He was in prison there for eighteen out of his twenty seven years and he was in a single cell (where only one person is in one cell) but they don’t have a toilet or shower. In the group cell you get toilets and showers in your cell but you can’t even read newspapers or have any contact by phones. They got treated badly and put to hard work at the quarry. By Max.

Continued by Nat...

It was at this quarry many years later when Nelson Mandela returned with many other ex prisoners and silently placed a stone at the side of the quarry to represent peace and freedom. The other men followed his action and also placed a stone beside Mandela’s, finally forming a pyramid of stones. This pile of stones is now heritage listed.

I expected the prison to be dark and scary like the Old Melbourne Gaol but it wasn’t like that at all. In fact the place was peaceful and light and bright. We were lead around by an ex prisoner who spoke quietly and had a sense of stillness about him reminding me of Mandela himself.

Currently Mandela is unwell and the country fears his death is imminent. Many prayer vigils are being held around the country and many messages of support and love are being sent his way via morning television shows. Mandela is locally known as ‘Tata Modiba’, father of the country.

Finally and sadly we have had to abandon our trip to Egypt due to political unrest in the country. We will decide over the next few days how we will rearrange our trip. x