Hoi An

Leaving Hue, we had a rather long bus ride south to our final destination of Hoi An.  We explored the countryside along the way, and drove through Da Nang.  Da Nang is booming - it’s the new Miami Beach of Vietnam.  Luxury beach hotels are popping up everywhere. Da Nang used to be an American military base during the Vietnam war, and some of the American infrastructure was used to jump start the development of Da Nang. The airport is one example, as Da Nang is now the third largest airport in Vietnam.

Our bus ride had a few stops along the way, and took about seven hours.  Near the end, our guide had a couple of stops planned for us, but everyone was eager to get off the bus and get to our beach resort, so we pushed through. It was a quiet mutiny of sorts.

In Hoi An, our hotel for the next four nights was the Palm Garden resort.  Situated right on the beach, it was a perfect contrast to the cities we’ve been visiting, and not having to pack for four days was a blessing.  The ocean water was nice and refreshing, and there was a (rather warm) pool as well.  Still - it was a great place to chill.

On the beach!

For our first meal, the family went across the street to An Gia - a Trip Advisor highly rated restaurant in the area. The kids got a yummy Pho, and I tried some of the local area’s specialities, including Cau Lau (a stir fried noodle dish), and a “white rose”.  I also had squid stuffed with pork and vegetables (another local specialty).  Everything was fresh and awesome.

The next day, Sue and I ventured into Hoi An around 10 AM.  The kids needed a break, so they stayed at the resort and hung by the pool and ocean.  (In fact, everyone’s kids did this.)  Hoi An is charming - there’s an old historical area, and a river / bridge at the center of things.  It’s like the San Miguel De Allende of Vietnam.  Sue and I explored the town, which had tons of shops, and a gazillion places offering tailored clothes and suits.  Some of our group got measured, picked a style and fabric, and had clothes custom made for them. I never wear suits, but I was tempted nonetheless.  The tailoring shops were everywhere - there was even a covered market with about 50 different tailors.  Each shop had rolls of fine fabric, and the turnaround on clothes was 24 hours, with adjustments that could be tweaked the next day.  

Hoi An is also known for it’s food, and our meals overall didn’t disappoint.  That night, Sue and I returned to the resort, snagged Bryce (Laurel was not feeling well), and went back into town for a dinner along the river, joined by about 15 of our crew.  The town gets busy at night, since the weather is cooler, and the river is lit up with floating “wish lanterns” and other lights.  Once again, we had a great meal, and enjoyed the sights and lights.

Hoi An specialty Won-ton nachos sort of thing - I forget the name

Hoi An is also CHEAP.  Our meal for 15 was $80 US, including beer, wine, and even a bottle of vodka.  Several bars feature “fresh beer” for under $0.20 / glass.  Also - earlier in the day, I went across the street from the hotel to one of the four “spas”  to get a one hour full body massage ($10).  My masseuse was really good, but still feeling like I needed more, I went to another spa for a 30 minute foot massage.  They wanted $5 for a full hour, but I wanted to spend only 30 minutes, so we came up with a compromise: I had TWO masseuses, one on each foot, for 30 minutes and $5.  Awesome sensory overload.

The next day, after enjoying the beach for the morning and afternoon, the whole family went back into town at 4 PM.  Our first stop was food, and I found the “Queen of Banh Mi” well rated on Trip Advisor.  Banh Mi are Vietnamese sandwiches on french rolls, and the “queen” made the best darn Banh Mi I ever had.  She ran it out of a cart, with a sit-down area inside.  On her cart were about 20 different things, and we got the “everything” option. It was so good we ordered twice.  Inside was soft cheese, pork, pate, fresh vegetables, and a variety of sauces, all balanced perfectly. The rolls were just right too.  We got four sandwiches and drinks for $6 US.

After snacking, we walked through town as it got dark, and did some shopping at the night market. Sue bought some cool lanterns, the and the kids got some hand-cut paper pop-up cards, and a couple of flying bird toys as gifts. We were able to bargain a little bit, but things are so inexpensive it hardly seemed worth the effort. The lanterns looked great at night, as did the rest of the sights of Hoi An.  

On our final day, Sue and Bryce did a cooking class with a few others from our group, where they made eight dishes from scratch, including Pho. Like in Hanoi, they went to the market to buy everything, and then returned to the restaurant to cook and prepare.  Sadly, there were no leftovers for anyone else, but I’m told everything was delicious.  

While Laurel slept in, I explored a bit of our beach area, and found breakfast with a proper Vietnamese ice coffee.  Our hotel’s ice coffees weren’t nearly as good as those in Hue, so I wanted to get a “real” one.  I found a breakfast place ten minute’s walk down the beach from the hotel, and enjoyed myself.  In the afternoon, I got another awesome full body massage (“strong” style), this time for the “happy hour special” of $7.50. I left a nice tip.

That evening, a group of us went to Coco Restaurant for dinner, which Ann had been eyeing for a couple of days.  While not quite up to the level of our other food stops, it was still quite good, and the outdoor patio overlooking the river at night was pleasant. It was slightly more expensive - $10/ person including lots of beer.

One other thing about Hoi An - they have really made an effort to have Wifi everywhere.  Each restaurant offers free Wifi, and even the town itself has public Wifi throughout.  For travellers like me, it’s really handy to be able to look things up on the fly, or communicate with our group via What’s App. I was not prepared for this level of connectivity, but it was a welcome feature.

Hue

Our next change of scenery was to move from Northern to Central Vietnam, starting at the city of Hue (hoo-weh). Hue was once the capital of Vietnam (until 1945), and as such has a lot of history.  We spent our morning visiting the Citadel in the city, which housed 14 kings from 1800 to 1945.  The first kings has some real power, but as the French colonists took over, royalty retained the pomp and circumstance, while not really affecting much.  The Citadel housed the Forbidden city, where only the King, his wife, his 600 or so concubines, and the eunuchs who cared for the concubines could go.  The palace was what one would expect for royalty: ornate, yet Asian influenced design. Very impressive.

After a visit to a pagoda, a riverboat ride on the Perfume River, and  delicious Vietnamese lunch, we visited the mausoleum of one of the kings.  The mosaic work inside was second to none - the decor using various colorful rocks stones, and even soup spoons for flower petals, and beer bottle bottoms for dragon eyes.  Clearly no expense was spared.

The Mausoleum 

Lunch art #1

Edible lunch art #2

That evening, we met for cocktails at The Imperial Hotel which has a beautiful rooftop bar in one of the highest building in Hue. Afterwards, six of us went to the Risotto restaurant for Italian food. And it was surprisingly good pizza and risotto, although Laurel’s salad was not up to western standards.

Halong Bay

Our next adventure was a three day, two night cruise on Halong Bay.  This is a spectacular looking series of small, steep, limestone islands a few hours outside of Hanoi.  All 41 of us took over a  “junk”, which was to be our home for the next few days.

We immediately set off into the bay, and everywhere we went we were surrounded by these spectacular islets.  During our cruise, we did a couple of kayak adventures into some sea caves, explored the ginormous “surprise cave”, visited the remains of a waterborne fishing village, and had a little beach time for a swim.  Just being on the boat and watching the scenery continually change through the bedroom or dining room window was a unique, special experience.

Halong Bay

Kayaking to the caves

With spotty internet access on board, the kids took to playing non-electronic games with each other, and the adults got to chat and get to know each other better. The lack of connectivity made it a little easier for everyone to relax, but at times we had some glimmers of internet, and some people (like me) quickly jumped on to catch up with customers and emails.

The food on board was good. We had a variety of Vietnamese food - heavy on seafood - and there was some western style grub as well. Two-for-one happy hour was a hit, and I even got a great massage on board.

Upon leaving the boat, we had a few extra hours to kill en route before catching a plane, and our guide happened to find a very authentic Vietnamese restaurant a few miles from the airport.  As we walked in, there were 40 or 50 baby chicks in little crate cages, some marinating frogs arranged Escher-like in big glass jars, and a menu with pictures of unusual things, so we knew that we were going to get something unique.  We were seated on an outdoor patio overlooking a lake. To keep us cool, the restaurant had some sort of pumping system that sprayed water on the tin roof, in such a way that it sounded like a torrential rainstorm.  (At first, we couldn’t figure out what it was). The meal was quite good: We tried horse meat with lemongrass seasoning, as well as some excellent deep fried fish, noodles and a few other things.  Lots of beer too.  We chowed down. At the end, the total with tip and beer was $6/person.  The restaurant staff was thrilled.

Escher inspired jar of frogs

Hanoi - Last Day

Our final full day in Hanoi was more jam-packed than our normal two-adventures-per-day schedule. First stop, after yet another amazing breakfast buffet at our hotel, was to find a sports bar to watch Game 7 of the NBA Finals with my beloved Warriors facing the Cavaliers. Anne posted a query on a TripAdvisor forum, and the owner of the Puku bar responded that - yes indeed - they would have the game playing.  Due to the time change, we were watching the game in a room full of expats at 7 AM Monday morning.  More and more people showed up, and by game’s end there were maybe 200 people crammed into a viewing room.  Despite the unfortunate outcome of a Warriors loss, it was still fun to watch.

NBA Finals in Hanoi

Next adventure was a Hanoi Street Food Tour.  Eighteen of us went traipsing through Old Hanoi, led by a  charming 22 year old woman named Phoenix.  Over the next three hours, we sampled seven dishes at six different places.  We started with a pork ball soup with vermicelli rice noodles, followed by a green papaya salad with dried beef and mint (my favorite), then rice noodle crepes filled with beef, a sampler of fried things, a variety of desserts (including a tasty green sticky rice ice cream), some Banh Mi sandwiches, and a Vietnamese egg-drop coffee.  I’m not a coffee drinker, but the egg drop coffee was great. As a bonus, some of the Vietnamese words now make sense: Bo is beef, Bun is rice noodles, Che is “sweet things”.

Well stuffed from the afternoon tour, we visited a traditional Vietnamese Water Puppet show.  The stage is a shallow pool of water, and the puppeteers stand behind a wooden screen and use long use sticks to control the puppets.  This art form evolved from rice-patty culture, as the people were used to standing in knee deep water all day long anyway. They had a variety of scenes, including a dragon scene with real live waterproof sparklers, and a re-enactment of the Legend of the Recovered Sword, for which the neighboring lake in Hanoi is named.  Everyone enjoyed the show, even the kids.

After the show, we walked through the nicer part of Hanoi, and looked at a few shops, including a store that sold ukuleles and one that had traditional propaganda posters, and settled for a dinner near the “church”.  I didn’t eat, but Sue and the kids fueled up.  The drinks were particularly well presented.

I think we finally have Hanoi figured out.  We can cross the street and not get hit by a scooter, and between knowing a few landmarks and using Google Maps, we are able to return to our hotel from anywhere.  The one final discovery for me was that I was overpaying for taxis by 10x, as I didn’t see the decimal point on the meter.  At 20,000 dong per dollar, the meters read 20,000 as 20.0.  So a couple of $1 taxi rides cost $10, but since the average monthly income in Vietnam is $300, I think I’ve earned some good karma points by bonusing a few lucky drivers.

Tomorrow we head for a three day cruise on Halong Bay. Can’t wait!

Hanoi Part II

Today’s big adventure is a Vietnamese cooking class.  We called the Blue Butterfly restaurant at 9 AM, and they were able to accommodate us at 10.  Chef Tien met us at the hotel, and we tools a quick cab ride to his “Orchid restaurant” where we got to pick our menu to cook.  From there, we walked to the market, where we bought the ingredients for our meal, and got to try a few things on the way.  Bryce discovered some delicious lychee nuts, we al sampled some cinnamon pork, and I got to try a hard-boiled fertilized dick egg, made famous by Survivor.  Despite being able to see the duck’s beak, the egg was really good, as it was served in a mild sauce.  It was meatier than a normal hard-boiled egg. I’d eat it again.

Back at the restaurant, we proceeded to make our meal.  First up: deep fried spring rolls. We chopped pork, carrots, shallots, bean sprouts, and a few other things, and then formed the mixture into little rice paper burritos. We also used the chopped pork to make little pork sliders, which were combines with cut pork and barbecued.  We also had a chicken stir fry, and a black rice and coconut milk dessert.

After an hour or so of cooking, we sat down to enjoy our meal. It was delicious. and Chef Tien showed us how to present it as well.

This was a truly unforgettable way to enjoy Hanoi, and I’d recommend it to anybody.

Hanoi Part I

We arrived in Hanoi today for the start of our two week journey through Vietnam. After a slightly less-than-efficient immigration through customs, we embarked on our drive to the Sofitel Metropol, our hotel.  It was a good thing we had a driver, as traffic rules in Hanoi are quite unlike anything we've ever seen.  Hanoi seems to be the motor scooter capital of the world, and they outnumber all other vehicles by at least five to one.  The people here are all very skilled drivers, as some of the scooters came within inches of our van.  We even caught a few people texting and scootering.  More on traffic later...

We met up with some of our group at the hotel, and immediately ventured out into old town Hanoi for an authentic Vietnamese street dinner.  We are near the "lake of the recovered sword", so named for a legend about a turtle who brought back a sword to help fight off the Chinese invaders 1000 years ago. Walking next to the lake was quite pretty, as there is a lit pagoda illuminating the waters with some of the other lights of the city.

Lake of the recovered sword at night

Crossing the street here for the first time feels sketchy.  As there are few traffic lights, tons of scooters, and a few cars, the normal rules don't apply.  And travelling in a group of 15 or so - including kids - adds an extra layer of complexity.  We settled on a strategy of avoiding cars, letting motorbikes avoid us, and walking in a slow predictable manner to let the traffic react to us.  So far - no casualties.


Old town Hanoi is equally crazy. The streets are narrower, and even though some areas are dominated by pedestrians, a few determined motorbikers insist upon making passage.  Given the lack of space, many of the restaurants use kindergarten-sized plastic stools for seats, and slightly taller ones for the tables.  Our first meal had wooden seats and tables, but sized for small people still.

hanoi Street food feast

We ordered a variety of things - sometimes randomly.  "Ink balls" and stir-fried frog came out, along with more familiar things like sweet potato fries, and deep fried cheese.  And of course beers aplenty.  Many in our group are in the "try everything once" camp, and I'm no exception.  All in all, the food was tasty, even if a bit unfamiliar.

Hong Kong Day 2

We had another half day in Hong Kong, so we decided to ride the Peak Tram to the top of the mountain overlooking Hong Kong and Kowloon to get the big picture.  Still on the morning jet-lag schedule, we arrived at 8 AM, and this was fortuitous since the crowds were non-existent.

The view from the top was awesome, and - no surprise - there were skyscrapers everywhere.  I've never seen so many tall buildings in such a small space ever.

Group selfie from the top of Hong Kong

Heading back, we walked through Hong Kong park, which features a free walk-in aviary.  Laurel really loves birds, and we saw some really cool exotic species.  The park itself was pleasant, and led us into a nearby mall where we could enjoy the relief of some air conditioning.

Admiring Birds

Fountain in the park

Hong Kong is quite a contrast. Kowloon was like Chinatown, with teeny tiny shops crammed into every possible space, yet nearby were opulent malls that make even our USA counterparts look run down. Bryce was thrilled to see some really expensive cards driving around. Clearly there's an income inequality issue here, but everyone seems to be able to get what they need. I wish we had more time to spend to get to know Hong Kong better, but it's a place we all would enjoy to return to in the future.

Hong Kong Day 1

We had two days to spend in Hong Kong. It's quite a place, with the biggest concentration of skyscrapers and high rise apartment buildings I've ever seen.  It's a city on a scale like no other.

Getting around Hong Kong is a joy.  Right from getting out of customs, you are at the Airport Express train station, and a high speed train takes you straight into Central Hong Kong.  From there, we were shepherded into a free hotel shuttle, which brought us to within 2 blocks of our hotel. Cheap, fast and efficient.

The subway system is just as well designed.  You get your tickets from an automated kiosk by pointing to the destination, and the electronic turnstiles get you in and out efficiently, even swallowing your card to be used at the end of the journey.

Every meal we had here was exquisite.  Our first dinner was at 22 Ships, a small tapas joint a few blocks from our hotel, the OZO Wesley. In spite of being a small hole-in-the-wall sort of place, it was a top-notch experience.

22 Ships

Thursday was our one full day here.  After a delicious breakfast at a local cafe, we set out to find the markets in Kowloon, and scavenger-hunt for passport photos and a Mac charger.  Since we weren't quite adjusted to the 15 hour time difference, we were up and at it at 7 AM.  Unfortunately, the markets weren't on our schedule, and didn't open until noon.  Nevertheless, we walked around, successfully completed our scavenger hunt, and wound up at H&M to buy some clothes for Bryce.  Hunger set in, and I found a Michelin-starred Dim Sum place nearby, the Ming Court. Again, the meal was awesome:

Ming Court dessert

Finally, the markets were open. By this time Sue and Laurel were tired from walking around, so Bryce and I set out to explore the Ladies Market. All the shopkeepers bring out their wares into a narrow street, and there;s tons of everything from clothing, watches, accessories, electronics and more.  The vendors were particularly keen on hawking knock-off designer watches.  Bryce found a cool car-themes jacket for a great deal, and he was thrilled.

Cruising the Ladies Market

After returning to the hotel and recharging, we went out later that night to experience the "Symphony of Lights".  This is a light show involving 40 buildings in Hong Kong, synchronized to music.  We subwayed across the harbor, found a spot to watch, and enjoyed the skyline overlooking the bay.

Hunger set in once again, and on our way back to the hotel we found a delicious Vietnamese restaurant, which was surprisingly good. The Pho dish I had was one of the best ever.

Layover in Osaka

After a 11 hour flight, arriving at midnight SF time, I had high hopes of rallying and exploring Osaka after a short nap.  Unfortunately, the rest of the family was dead tired, and I overslept my nap, so we settled for a hotel experience.

Our hotel - the Kensai Garden Spa - had some interesting things in it.  The allure was the in-house hot springs, and I took full advantage, soaking upon arrival, and before departure.    The springs were perfectly hot, and there were little tub seats where you could sit, wash with soap, and shampoo.  We also got to wear some cool Japanese robes to go to and from the spa.

In true Japanese fashion, there were some other interesting things in the hotel.  Each room has a massage chair, which went well after my soaks. Bryce liked it too.

The other novelty was a butt-washer in the bathroom.

We aren't sure if you're supposed to wipe before or after using the washer. Any ideas?

Next Adventure: Southeast Asia!

We're reuniting with the Hillers family and some of our other friends from the Africa trip to go to Vietnam. We leave in 2 days!  Lots of little things to do before we go (including making sure we can post to the blog!).

We're also soloing in Japan, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Thailand.

We're excited, and a little nervous. Stay tuned

Travel Disasters Averted

What are the worst possible things that can happen when flying internationally? How about missing your plane? Or flying for 15 hours with a small crying infant in the seat in front of you? We had brushes with both when leaving Johannesburg for New York city today.

First off, we misread our tickets, having a little trouble converting from military time to "normal time".  We were on our way to the airport to arrive more than the recommended two hours ahead of time, when we realized that the flight left at 9:05 PM instead of 11:05.  However, with some major hustle, and a relatively empty airport, we managed to make our flight with ease in spite of arriving just 45 minutes before departure. Phew!

Once we boarded the plane, we discovered we were seated behind a mom traveling with a 5 month old baby. And the 5 month old's twin - two babies! And these babies were not happy babies.  Mom was traveling by herself, having started from Angola, going through Johannesburg, and then on our 15 hour flight to New York. And - she ran out of diapers half-way through the flight.  Fortunately, other passengers and the flight attendants were there to help her calm her screaming kids. I had my noise canceling headphones on, and I even snuck into Business Class for about three hours to stretch out in one of the comfy seats.  Sue and the kids even slept as well. We all survived.

We ARE seasoned travelers.

Soweto

The main event for me in going to Johannesburg was to visit Soweto.  At first, I was reluctant to go, since I figured it would be just like Khayaleitsha, but after talking to some locals Soweto seemed like a completely different experience.

Soweto is a township just outside Johannesburg. It's not some exotic African name, but a pseudo acronym for "South West Township".  Soweto is famous for the Soweto riots in 1976, which were the beginning of the end of Apartheid.  The catalyst was that black school kids were forced to abandon English, and learn Afrikaans.  Education is big in Africa, and this decree from the government pushed the black population too far.  Curiously, the uprising was started by the school children - with no adult organizer.  Several kids were shot and killed, and press reports of the uprising triggered riots all over the rest of South Africa.  Slowly, Apartheid was being dismantled after that, and by 1994 the African National Congress was elected into power, and Apartheid was finished.

Soweto has a terrific museum dedicated to the Soweto uprising, with photos, videos, and narratives from the events of 1976.  We also visited Nelson Mandela's house and family restaurant, which reside in Soweto.

On our tour, we also visited some of the various neighborhoods of Soweto.  Unlike Khayaleitsha, there were a wider variety of socioeconomic dwellings, with some areas looking positively suburban.  Our driver pointed out that many of the nicer homes had so razor wire or electric fencing, which contrasted to our B&B in Johannesburg, where every home had high security.

Finally, we were introduced to "fat cakes" - a donut-like snack that is popular in the township.  For about $0.10 each, this semi-sweet, lightly fried bread was enjoyable, and kept up our energy through the five hour tour.

Johannesburg

Our final stop in Africa is Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa, and the financial capital of the continent.  We have three days here, and we've spent the last two exploring the area.

First of all, about Johannesburg itself.  We are staying in a nice area called Parkhurst, in a bed-and-breakfast.  There is one street here - 4th St. - that has a lot of activity: good restaurants, artsy shops, markets and the like.  It spans about five blocks, and is easily walkable.  To get anywhere else, you need to call a taxi. Public transit here is mostly an afterthought. Many people compare Johannesburg to New York city.

There is the aura of high security here. Every house has either electrified fencing, razor wire, or sometimes both.  We've been warned not to get into certain kinds of taxis.  Some of the cabbies we've talked to refuse to drive at night.  We've felt safe in our neighborhood, but clearly there are places one should not venture into.

On our first day, we hired a driver and drove an hour outside of town to Matopeng - also known as the "cradle of civilization".  It was here that many of the skeletons of human ancestors were discovered, and they've commemorated the area with an excellent museum of anthropology. We learned about the first continent, which was a combination of all the continents before the plates below started shifting. I also didn't know that the earth has had five mass extinctions, each one roughly five million years apart.  The countryside driving out to Matopeng was beautiful as well.

Also - the morning before Matopeng, there was a local Saturday market right around the corner from us. I walked over, and bought some excellent soups and breads for the family.  There were some youth rugby games going on in the background. It was a nice slice of Johannesburg life.

On our second day, we ventured into town to an every-Sunday event called "Art on Main". This was a packed venue, with a lot of food vendors surrounding some art galleries.  The crowd was mostly white, but definitely not exclusively so.  I enjoyed an Ethiopian plate with sponge bread, but there were a lot of other options to choose from, including Thai, Indian, Paella, Argentinian and more.  Plus, there were a few areas to but alcoholic drinks.  It was a happening place to be, and the kids put up with us while we socialized with our friends.

Art on Main market in Johannesburg

Leaving Victoria Falls

Our flight back to Johannesburg today wasn't until 1:30, so we had one final morning to enjoy Victoria Falls.  At the bottom of the falls is a place called the "Boiling Pot", which Sue and Laurel visited the day before when I was rafting.  I hadn't seen it yet, so I took the 10 minute hike to the bottom of the gorge to check it out.  

The "Boiling Pot" is aptly named. This is the first point of exit for water from the falls, and since there is so much volume the water really appears to boil as it crashes against the rocks  The tides and currents were reminiscent of rafting the day before.  I stayed there for 15 minutes or so, watching the water patterns.  It was loud, yet tranquil - very much like watching the ocean waves crash against rocks on a beach.  I ended my visit to the falls by walking back up to the lip of the falls, and enjoying being bathed by the magical mist of the falls one more time.

The Boiling Pot

We left two hours ahead of our plane flight, and since it was a small airport only 20 minutes away, what could possibly go wrong?  Well this is Africa after all, and the scene inside this tiny airport was the most inefficient cluster-you-know-what I have ever witnessed.  We had to wait in four long lines - one for scanning bags, one to check in, one for passport control, and one for airport security.   I use the word "line" loosely because there were so many people crammed into a small space that forming an orderly line was impossible.  And many of the stations had just one person manning them. When we finally got our boarding passes, we were told we couldn't get our seats since the kids were seated in exit rows, and the computer was unable to print our boarding passes until we changed seats, but they could not change seats - or something like that.  Finally, we received boarding passes - somehow. Also - Amy from our group left her backpack at the hotel, and it was being brought separately by taxi.  Somehow the bag made it, and we all eventually boarded our flight. Whew!

Livingstone Airport Chaos

Rafting the Zambesi

We had talked about doing a river raft trip down the Zambesi for the last week or so, but when Ann - our trip leader - got information it would always change.  Some days they said it was all class 5 rapids, but closer to the rafting date they said it was 3 and 4. Kids under 15 were not allowed, so I went with 7 others in our group, including Aaron - a 15 year old boy - and Alex, a 13 year-old who we said was 15.

I'm so glad we went!  We started with a 20 minute hike down the gorge to the launching area, all of us in Tivas or sandals. From there, we mounted a boat, and got to know our guide, Mr. "K".  They also had two safety kayakers, and a videographer. So we all felt safe, and if something unfortunate happened anyway at least we might wind up in a viral "epic fail" video on YouTube.

The rapids were really fun.  Mr. K told us the first one was a "5", and we had a 50-50 chance of making it through without capsizing.  He may have been exaggerating, but we did get up on edge a few times, and there were plenty of times he said "everyone down", which meant to get your whole body inside the boat. I've done a few raft trips in the past, and this was as rough and tumble as any I remember.

Anticipating the rapid

Bracing for impact

"Everybody down"

There were also a few times where Mr. K said "Who wants to swim?"  I had done this before, so I was always first overboard.  A couple of others followed, and we bobbed through some rapids with our life jackets keeping us above water.  That part was really fun too.

We also saw a few small crocs on the side of the river.  Apparently crocs, hippos and elephants fall over the falls from time to time.  All the big animals never make it, but some of the smaller crocs survive, and we saw three of these lucky few gracing the riverbanks.  We trusted our guide so much that when he offered to let us swim, none of us thought twice about the crocs we had seem upstream.

Returning from rafting, we piled into an open-air land rover, and drove on some dirt roads through some of the native villages.  The driver would toss water bottles out for the kids who ran next to our vehicle, and then we started doing the same.  Ann had some clothes she was going to leave behind, so she started tossing them out to the villagers as well.  They were all excited to receive these unexpected, random gifts - such as they were.

Villager boys chasing our jeep

While the rest of our group did a more leisurely river float in the afternoon, the eight rafters finished the day at the Royal Livingstone's river deck lounge again, watching the mist from the waterfall rise in the distance with yet another spectacular African sunset as a backdrop.  As we were enjoying drinks, a group of monkeys were playing nearby, and then a herd of five Zebras raced across the lawn behind us.  The whole thing was surreal.

Kids and other parents on their river float

Laurel and Arwin on the raft

Zebras at the hotel

Market and African Queen

Every time we travel, we always make a point of visiting the local markets.  Everyone in our group had fond memories of the Mexican market from San Miguel when we lived there, so we sought out the Zambian equivalent.  It was very similar in many ways - food vendors selling meats, fish and vegetables, albeit with a lot more flies.  In particular, a lot of beans were available for purchase, and some weird anchovy looking dried fish.  There were also the dry goods vendors - selling electronics, clothes, toiletries, and other sundry items.  I was running low on underwear, so I bought a three pack of "large", which turned out to be too small for me.  The clothes vendors were particularly interesting, since their fare was what you would find at a Goodwill in the USA.  T-shirts from all sorts of sports leagues, bars, etc.  I asked one of the vendors where he got his wares, and he just said "Tanzania".  We suspected that a lot of church groups sent clothes over, and they would up being sold at market.

Beans, dried fish, and other goodies from the market

 

I love mangled English - this one was even personalized!

Next, we visited a more tourist-friendly craft market.  We shopped and bargained with the vendors for their local crafts, including some cool wood carvings and other interesting items.  We quickly figured out that the vendors likes to trade, and I had an old "Obama for President" T-shirt that was instantly highly valued.  I traded it for a discount on a cool stone carving, and the vendor was so proud that he wore it right away.  It made me happy too.

My new friend, with his new Obama t-shirt

That night, our tour group had reserved a river boat trip on a two story barge called the "African Queen".  We had drinks and snacks, and had a leisurely float upstream from the falls.  We saw some hippos, but since we were safari experts by this time, we weren't as eager as the rest of the patrons to see them. It was still a fun, relaxing cruise, and I started to feel closer to my travel-mates than ever before.

Sunset from the African Queen

That night, I found a local Indian restaurant called the Gold Leaf on TripAdvisor.com.  It was highly rated, and I was able to get a table for 25 reserved.  We all ordered an assortment of dishes, and everything was excellent. It was probably one of the top three Indian meals i have ever had.

Elephant Adventure

by Laurel...

So, how crazy was the day before yesterday? Crazier than a monkey drinking hyper-caffinated coffee with extra sugar.

Sounds like a bad GEICO commercial. But no, this was no GEICO thing at all. It is a real thing in a real place in this very real world. 

Who's excited to hear it? You, there. Yes, you, the one reading my post. Say, what do you think could be crazier than a monkey drinking hyper-caffinated coffee…. need I say the rest? It is awfully long and boring to type…

You! Sorry, lost my train of thought. What do you think we did? Another game drive? Guess again. Here's a hint: It's the last thing that will come to your mind naturally.

No, we did NOT go into outer space riding a unicorn. Maybe not that outrageous. I think I should tell you now, before the suspense gets so thick your brain explodes. We……

RODE ELEPHANTS!!!!! Betcha never saw that coming…. hey, guess what? Remember the fact that I'm random? And do you want to play Yo Mama Smackdown? Yo mama...

Wait a minute… you really want to read the rest of this? I think it's because I'm the best writer EVAH… or not. But you really want to hear the rest over a good game of Yo Mama Smackdown? That's a smart choice, buddy boy (or girl), because I was taught by Master Redding Hillers how to play. And he taught me his best lines. But honestly?

Okay, I'll tell you the rest if you play with me at the end. Sort of my reward for killing my hands typing for y'all. 'Ere goes.

We ride to the place in a open-top jeep. I guess this is okay, that little voice inside me says, but I don't see elephants, lions, or cheetahs like the brochure says. I tell it to shut its face. We (finally) pull up to this lone thatch-roof shelter thing with cheetahs in an enclosure next to it, lying in the sun. Click, click. Pictures. After I step inside the lodge, someone rushes to me with blah paperwork. I try to alternate playing Subway Surfers and writing my information on the paper, but iPhone gets the best of me and I play a few more times before Arwyn's mom reminds me I need to finish. I scribble my name on the end in cursive and make sure it's totally unreadable. That ought to count as a signature. We wait outside in the blazing sun…. and wait and wait and wait. The same someone (whom I later found out was named Justice) tells us our elephants were ready. We hike to a very tall mounting block, where six elephants are waiting. Wait a minute, six elephants for the thirteen of us?

Justice tells us we'll have to double up, and of course I get stuck with my brother Bryce. We learn Safety stuff (nothing you should know, much too boring) and then meet the elephants. The only ones I can remember are Mouse, Tata, and Timba, all girls. We choose an elephant, and me and Bryce get Tata, who coincidentally happens to be twelve (in case you don't know, we're turning twelve in two days). We mount and begin our 45-minute ride. It was mostly uneventful, except for a tree that smacks us in the head. After the ride, we get feed and learn to feed the elephants properly. I'm the first to race up to Tata and say, "Mouth: open," she opens her mouth obediently and I stuff one of my handfuls of feed into her mouth. She swallows and I say, "Trunk: down," I hold out a handful of feed and she vacuums it up with her trunk and stuffs it into her mouth. I am thanked by getting a smear of dirt all over my clean white shirt. Then we get "Saluted", or having the elephants hold their trunk back and stamp their left foot. It was an experience no one will ever forget.

Now will you play Yo Mama Smackdown with me? Hmm? Gasp! Do you not know how how to play? Gasp again! Never mind. I will sit in a corner and think about how much the world needs Yo Mama Smackdown to heal its non-YoMamaSmackdownness. Goodbye.

Discovering Victoria Falls

We left Botswana and Chobe Safari Lodge at a reasonable hour to head to the last destination for our group: the legendary Victoria Falls.  A bus ride, short boat ride and a bus ride brought us back near Livingstone and to the Zambese River Lodge.  This is a fairly posh resort, just three minutes by foot from Victoria Falls. It sports a large grassy area and a big pool, so all the kids in the group were psyched to be here.

After a quick poolside lunch, we walked over to the falls, not knowing quite what to expect.  When we arrived at the first overlook, it was amazing.  The falls are really wide, several hundred feet high, with a huge volume of water coming from the Zambese river. In addition to the thunderous noise, the coolest thing about the falls is the mist it creates. The mist is like a light drizzle, and it climbs higher than the top of the falls itself.  At the edge, you can see the water droplets rising upwards, and in some parts the water droplets combine to form bigger drops, which then fall back down into the canyon.  It's a great way to experience how clouds form rain - you can see the whole process up-close.

The other really cool thing about Victoria Falls are the rainbows the mist creates.  These are the most vibrant rainbows we have ever seen.  Looking at them from above, with the water crashing down next to them, is quite an incredible sight.

Rainbow from the mist at Victoria Falls

The magical mist of the falls.

When we arrived at the lodge, we had a special envelope in our welcome packet.  It was a birthday gift for Laurel and Bryce who are turning 12 in a few days.  We were given a complementary traditional English Tea at the neighboring Livingstone resort, just a few minutes walk from our hotel.  Since the rest of our stay was pretty well booked up, this was the best time to go, so we meandered over and enjoyed our next snack. 

Bryce enjoying high tea at the Royal Livingstone

The Livingstone is a spectacular place - even nicer than our own lodge.  It sits right on the river, and the interior is done in exquisite English Colonial style.  The staff was great and perfectly dressed, and tea was really fun.  Our server was named Santa, and since we had a free tea experience, we didn't have a way to tip him.  Fortunately, on our way back, we saw the rest of our group heading back to the Livingstone, so we let the kids have some down time and headed back for cocktail hour.  The river porch at the Livingstone is one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen to have a drink.  You have the river, the African sunset behind it, and then the glorious mist from Victoria falls just a half mile away, rising up over the river as it disappears over the waterfall ledge.  It doesn't get much better than this.

An albino monkey at the Royal Livingstone
Photo by Bryce