Vacation 2009-Sun City

Somehow we forget about the traffic hell in johannesburg to make it all the way to the Sun City once we get there. We passed many mine sites on dessert like landscape, and we wonder many times if we were lost in no where land. It reminded me of the the power of an American actor who built a replica of an Italian village in the middle of dessert in Dominican Republic, Romana, just for his daughtor. Many hours of dirt road road would take you to a fantasy land. It had the influence of Las Vegas for the Casino for its huge entertianment facilities. It then costs like an unforgettable trip to Seychelles! The Palace hotel was built on a theme of an elephant, and it was just amazing in every aspects of the hotel. +2kg only from tasting.

Vacation 2009- Safari

We had a great chance to visit 2 game views, Philannesburg and Kruger national park, during our stay in South Africa. We were told that the Kruger park is the size of Egypt, and animals live in their most natural ways. They must hunt to eat, and die when it's their time. Thanks to the animated film, Madagascar 1 and 2, kids kept themselves entertained for hours looking for the animal characters in the film, and they found them all there, and more! We saw a big herd of elephants up close, zebras, giraffes, hippos, white rhinos, mongooses, spotted hyena, inpalas(looks kind of like deers to me,) Kudu(with beautiful twirling horns,) waterbucks, gembucks, and guess what! a male roarding lion in the wilderness with the sun setting behind in bright orange!!! Wow. That was so perfect and impressive that I even forgot to take a picture of it.

Vacation 2009-Our first helicopter ride

The first time for Simon, the first time for me, and the first time for the little bunnies(kids look like cute little bunnies with those helicoper headsets.) We flew over chains of mountains, three major waterfalls, and a great thrilling view called, God's Window. After flying over mountains, we get to more less flat fields. Then all of a sudden, the field ends, and we fly right over the gigantic cliff, which opens the view to the sky.

Vacation 2009- Elephant Whispers

Elephant whispers was a great activity in Hazy View. We fed the African elephants(different from Asian elephants,) touched them to feel their skin and hair(each hair feels like thick metal wire,) we learned about how they hear, talk, then we also ride on them though the dry bush. These elephants were saved from various conditions, and trained to be close to humans without any violent techniques. They were rather rewarded with their favorite snacks when they got the instructions right. They have the most gentle eyes, and soft hearts. We even saw them feeding each other to help each other, and show affections.

Vacation 2009- Swaziland

Swaziland is a tiny landlocked kingdom which is surrounded by South Africa and one side to Mozambique. Many people come here scenery, water sports, land sports and national parks. Laiyane had stomach flu, and the receptist told us there is one doctor in entire country and he doesn't like people calling!? Ever complicated border control burocracy takes three steps in different buildings(Physically there wasn't even a fence between the borders, and anyone can probably easily walk through, like the goats and the cows we saw doing.) We lined up for all these procedures but we were never told about the last step, which is the goods control. At border gate, we were told to go back to the second building, take the sleeping kids out of the car again to show their face, and line up for half an hour to get a piece of paper stamped. Then, the border control told us to just do it right next time. I guess when the rules are too complicated, can't be respected afterall. The next day, we walked through a forest to find a waterfall as it was indicated on the road sign, and we never found it, so we just enjoyed the walk.

Vacation 2009-Waterfront Aquarium, Cape Town

Beautiful penguines completed the list of major charactors in the animated film, Madagascar for the kids. They were all excited to have seen everyone in the film, and they were assured that the fiction was in fact a true fact! It was kids' grandmother, Dorothy's birthday, so kids made beautiful cards at the kiddie center. Happy birthday to the four August beauties, Dorothy, Leo, Martin Karl, and JB! We spent the whole day at the aquarium, and they just couldn't get enough of it. Long live the civilization! Then we had a romantic high class seafood resto reserved for dinner by a lovely quay with all the shiny boats that evening to extend the perfect day little longer. Kids were happy, and they ordered chicken nuggets and sushi platter. By the time the food arrived, the story was rapidly turning to another thing though. Kids were way too tired from the aquarium. Leo had to wonder around the table constantly knocking on the wine bucket, and Laiyane threw up next to the table. They slept in our arms while we gobbled down the food and the wine at the candle lit table. We left big tips to the waitress for all that clean-ups, and rushed out the door to put the kids in bed. Oneday we may come back to this very restaurant, and we may laugh thinking about the whole thing. What an extraordinary day we had.

Vacation with JB-Tulear

After many days of long road trip, plus 3 extra hours of dirt road through dessert, we finally got to Tulear. It was peaceful, we rented a two story high bungallow by the beach. Woke up to a brand new scenery that the low tide brought us. Leo played hours in mud, looking for shells(tek-tek,) water cucmbers, crabs, and starfishes, while Laiyane played in sand with local girls. We tasted delicious Baobab honey with bread in the mornings, and enjoyed lovely sunsets in the evenings.

Vacation with JB-Rahohire

What an amazing site, Ranohire! After hours of completely flat landscape of dessert with millions of ant hills, we stopped at various rock formations. In the middle of these huge rocks stands a harmoniously built resort, Jardin Du Roy/Le Relais de Reine. Kids enjoyed horse back riding though the wild fields surrounded by rocks, while I and JB walked along the horses admiring the magnitude of it all.

Vacation with JB-Ambalavao

It took us good 4 hours to Andasibe, one night sleep, then 3 hours to Tana, then 3 more hours to Ambalavao. There we stopped at a hand made paper studio, where they also weave silk. They soak tree fibers, and hit it with wooden hammer until the fiber becomes all blended. Then they dilute the dough into water, and layer it down on framed net. Then once the bottom paper layer is done, they pay down dried flowers to decorate. It gets top layers of pulp then sun dried in their courtyard. The sun was just right for us to walk around and sit outside for lovely lunch. I saw Laiyane enjoying steak for the first time there! We took off again after lunch to continue the road to Ansirabe for the night. Scenery was picture perfect everywhere. Green rice patches through red earthed hills, with red brick houses, under beautiful blue sky. Even a very good painter could never paint this beautiful scenery that we saw along the road.

Vacation with JB-Andasibe

A few hours of winding road through mountains would take you to this beautifully situated resort, Vakuna Lodge. We had our first night sleep there, and enjoyed the afternoon at the lemur island. They have one very old Sifaka(the dancing one)lemur, and we were told that he only drinks fresh morning dew on clean leaves. In the evening, we had cozy meal by the wood burning fire, followed by children's little game of billard with halabajee(grand father), JB. We were cold, even with longs pants and jackets un in the mountain. The next morning, we couldn't even see a few inches in front with thick fogs in the mountain. It was very serene, and smelled nice.