On top of Table Mountain
At the Indian Ocean
The Johannesburg Temple
Victoria Falls
Leaving Namibia to go back to Botswana
Our favorite guide: Lets
Monday, April 25, 2011
How do you pick the best of 3000 pictures?
This is so Rebecca believes I was there :)
On top of Table Mountain
At the Indian Ocean
The Johannesburg Temple
Victoria Falls
Leaving Namibia to go back to Botswana
Our favorite guide: Lets
On top of Table MountainAt the Indian OceanThe Johannesburg TempleVictoria FallsLeaving Namibia to go back to BotswanaOur favorite guide: Lets
Saturday, April 16, 2011
We interrupt this travelog...
To inform you that vanilla milk is not as simple as milk, vanilla, and sugar. It just isn't. Don't bother to try it. I already did.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Longest post ever. And it's a travelog. Brace yourselves.
Or skip this altogether and wait for the next post which could tell you this story in pictures. I try to not fill the blog with too much travel minutia. Until today.
Our trip started in Cape Town, where it took nothing short of 36 hours to get there. I think a travel record for me up to that point. It was a lovely city and greatly exceeded my expectations. My favorite part from Cape Town was visiting the Cape of Good Hope. Ridiculously windy but a beautiful drive and the first point at which we really started seeing the Africa I had pictured in my head. We also spent an afternoon with penguins. And I fell in love. I had no idea the animal I'd come home from Africa swooning over would be penguins. The other highlight of CT was being able to go running in the mornings along the beach path. I could run marathons if that's where I got to train. Now I know why people who live near the beach are so skinny. Loved it. We felt very safe most of the places we went but particularly there. Partly because I've never traveled anywhere where I looked like I fit in so much. Even compared to Europe, because we just don't dress like Europeans. I would even make sure I passed people on the left so I seemed legitimate. I've been confused here at home though ever since.
Our next destination was flying into Durban and then driving up to Zululand and to our first safari in Hluhluwe. On the way we dipped our feet in the Indian Ocean, which was my first encounter with that ocean. The safaris really were the best part of the trip. In just one day we saw giraffes, zebra, water buffalo, rhino, elephant, wart hogs, and hyenas. And lots of most of those things.
Next we spent a day in Swaziland. It's a country. You'd be surprised how many people don't know that. After that we spent several days doing game drives in Kruger National Park--the 2nd national park in the world. This park was amazing! Everything was so close. Shockingly close. Like the time we got charged by an elephant. It stopped short about 4 feet from our Jeep, but close enough that Angela was on my lap. But that wasn't the only time that happened. I thought she was going to jump out the back while trying to get a ginormous spider out of her shirt. Or when a dung beetle came flying through and hit her. It wasn't a good day for her. In Kruger we saw lots of all those other animals plus baboons, hippos, wild dogs (which are quite rare), and impala. We actually got so spoiled we didn't even get our cameras out when we saw giraffes and zebra, and we didn't even stop the car for impala.
As much as I loved those days, I had no idea that the best days of the trip would be the last 3 when we were up in Zimbabwe. The sky was bluer and the clouds whiter there. I loved Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls was AMAZING. We were there during high water and it was wet! Probably the worst "rain" I've ever been in. But it was so fun and when we could actually see the falls they were beautiful. We walked over to the Zambia side of the falls mostly so we could cross another country off. And then the last day was the best. We started the morning on a river cruise in Chobe park in Botswana. It really was just like the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland except with a few less wild natives. We saw elephants spraying water from the sides and hippos bopping around. During our lunch break we were able to convince someone to take us across the river to Namibia. When we arrived at the border post I handed the guy my arrival and departure forms. He kept sliding the departure form to me, and I kept sliding it back to him. Apparently not many people just come for a few minutes to say hi and then go back to Botswana. The afternoon was spent on another safari. This time we saw most everything else including crocodiles and a lion. But not just any lion. One that was only 5 feet away from us and stalking an impala. It was the only time we stopped to look at an impala. I watched the whole scene unfold with one hand on my camera and one hand covering my mouth. Every time the impala turned his back on the lion she would creep forward. After watching this game for about 25 minutes the lion made her move. And won. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. And on that note the next day we boarded our 18 hour flight on our trip home that took 43 hours. And easily the longest travel time for one trip for me.
Our trip started in Cape Town, where it took nothing short of 36 hours to get there. I think a travel record for me up to that point. It was a lovely city and greatly exceeded my expectations. My favorite part from Cape Town was visiting the Cape of Good Hope. Ridiculously windy but a beautiful drive and the first point at which we really started seeing the Africa I had pictured in my head. We also spent an afternoon with penguins. And I fell in love. I had no idea the animal I'd come home from Africa swooning over would be penguins. The other highlight of CT was being able to go running in the mornings along the beach path. I could run marathons if that's where I got to train. Now I know why people who live near the beach are so skinny. Loved it. We felt very safe most of the places we went but particularly there. Partly because I've never traveled anywhere where I looked like I fit in so much. Even compared to Europe, because we just don't dress like Europeans. I would even make sure I passed people on the left so I seemed legitimate. I've been confused here at home though ever since.
Our next destination was flying into Durban and then driving up to Zululand and to our first safari in Hluhluwe. On the way we dipped our feet in the Indian Ocean, which was my first encounter with that ocean. The safaris really were the best part of the trip. In just one day we saw giraffes, zebra, water buffalo, rhino, elephant, wart hogs, and hyenas. And lots of most of those things.
Next we spent a day in Swaziland. It's a country. You'd be surprised how many people don't know that. After that we spent several days doing game drives in Kruger National Park--the 2nd national park in the world. This park was amazing! Everything was so close. Shockingly close. Like the time we got charged by an elephant. It stopped short about 4 feet from our Jeep, but close enough that Angela was on my lap. But that wasn't the only time that happened. I thought she was going to jump out the back while trying to get a ginormous spider out of her shirt. Or when a dung beetle came flying through and hit her. It wasn't a good day for her. In Kruger we saw lots of all those other animals plus baboons, hippos, wild dogs (which are quite rare), and impala. We actually got so spoiled we didn't even get our cameras out when we saw giraffes and zebra, and we didn't even stop the car for impala.
As much as I loved those days, I had no idea that the best days of the trip would be the last 3 when we were up in Zimbabwe. The sky was bluer and the clouds whiter there. I loved Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls was AMAZING. We were there during high water and it was wet! Probably the worst "rain" I've ever been in. But it was so fun and when we could actually see the falls they were beautiful. We walked over to the Zambia side of the falls mostly so we could cross another country off. And then the last day was the best. We started the morning on a river cruise in Chobe park in Botswana. It really was just like the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland except with a few less wild natives. We saw elephants spraying water from the sides and hippos bopping around. During our lunch break we were able to convince someone to take us across the river to Namibia. When we arrived at the border post I handed the guy my arrival and departure forms. He kept sliding the departure form to me, and I kept sliding it back to him. Apparently not many people just come for a few minutes to say hi and then go back to Botswana. The afternoon was spent on another safari. This time we saw most everything else including crocodiles and a lion. But not just any lion. One that was only 5 feet away from us and stalking an impala. It was the only time we stopped to look at an impala. I watched the whole scene unfold with one hand on my camera and one hand covering my mouth. Every time the impala turned his back on the lion she would creep forward. After watching this game for about 25 minutes the lion made her move. And won. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. And on that note the next day we boarded our 18 hour flight on our trip home that took 43 hours. And easily the longest travel time for one trip for me.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
And while I have my camera out...
I think my dad was feeling left out of this quilt making frenzy. So here's another manly quilt. It is so hard to make quilts for guys, most fabric is pretty girly, but I'm really happy with the way this one turned out. I love the back: it started out as a mathematical mistake but turned out better than I had planned.
Done and done
Loooong stories short
Finding a prom dress my senior year of high school was a nightmare. My mom and I embarked on a scavenger hunt that took us to nearly every dress shop between Sacramento and San Francisco to find a modest dress. No luck. We finally resorted to having it made. However, the lady who was making it procrastinated far too long, and as of the morning of prom, I still didn't have a dress. She rushed to get the top done and it was awful. I was nearly in tears. I think my mom was in tears. My dad called around and found a lady in our church who whipped up a fantastic top in record time and my date only had to wait about 5 minutes for me. It was a prom miracle.
Fast forward x amount of years to this very year that my brother got married. And I needed a dress. And of course couldn't find one in any store. And I ordered about 7 online (free shipping) but none were that great. And then I stumbled upon one in store as I was returning one of the a fore mentioned 7 dresses. And it was perfect. But when I got it home I realized it was so perfect that it was obvious someone else had already worn it, got it dirty and then returned it. Some people. So the store was kind enough to order me another one from another store and ship it express as the wedding was fast approaching. I got the shipping confirmation which told me it would arrive...AFTER the wedding. I ran down to the store. I was told the one en route was the only one around in my size. And so I may or may not have a dress for the wedding. EXCUSE ME!? This doesn't sound so bad as I'm writing it, but stress people. There was lots of legitimate not overreacting stress. Blah blah blah, they found a dress a size bigger that was on hold for someone else. They didn't pick it up in time so they took that dress and altered it. Happy ending. And I don't want to brag, but it was stunning.
I'm just glad I already have a wedding dress.
Fast forward x amount of years to this very year that my brother got married. And I needed a dress. And of course couldn't find one in any store. And I ordered about 7 online (free shipping) but none were that great. And then I stumbled upon one in store as I was returning one of the a fore mentioned 7 dresses. And it was perfect. But when I got it home I realized it was so perfect that it was obvious someone else had already worn it, got it dirty and then returned it. Some people. So the store was kind enough to order me another one from another store and ship it express as the wedding was fast approaching. I got the shipping confirmation which told me it would arrive...AFTER the wedding. I ran down to the store. I was told the one en route was the only one around in my size. And so I may or may not have a dress for the wedding. EXCUSE ME!? This doesn't sound so bad as I'm writing it, but stress people. There was lots of legitimate not overreacting stress. Blah blah blah, they found a dress a size bigger that was on hold for someone else. They didn't pick it up in time so they took that dress and altered it. Happy ending. And I don't want to brag, but it was stunning.
I'm just glad I already have a wedding dress.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
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