Renewed

This has been a wonderful break from our hectic traveling to get rested and renewed to begin our adventure again tomorrow.  Jeanna is not a beach vacation person and the thought of just going on one can quickly turn into a case of hives. . .but I think she may be reconsidering!  Today as we were having lunch on our deck she talked about coming back here and how next time we would have more time and perhaps play some badminton!  She loved the snorkeling especially because we could go from our front door and have the entire coral reef to ourselves.  There are water sports a plenty here. . .kayaking, wind surfing, paddle boarding, knee boarding, wake boarding, and water skiing.  She skied this morning and loved the lift the salt water gives you right from the start!  I think the clincher was the unbelievably beautiful spa with the wonderful massages and then the almost required nap in the afternoon!  So I may be seeing this place again.

I need no convincing that a beach vacation is the key to my renewal.  I am a Cancer, a crab. . .water is a part of me!  I feel at home on these crystal clear blue waters.  I could snorkel for hours with my guide chart in my hand identifying all my fellow sea creatures!  I also find the schedule of the day a lot like summer camp. . .early morning wake-up, morning activities, lunch, rest, afternoon activities, rest, dinner, evening program! I loved summer camp from the most rustic Girl Scout Camp - Camp Wesco to our seemingly plush YMCA camp - Camp T. Frank Soles!  My favorite section of Camp Wesco was Whispering Pines, our group of cottages here is Whispering Palms . . .brings back good memories!  I could stay here a few more days but I am excited to get to our next stop.

Tonight we will reunite for cocktails and dinner with the rest of our 74 travelers who have been spending some alone time these past two days.  We will pack up our big suitcase once again to be ready by 10pm.  Tomorrow will be an early wake-up call getting on the boats by 7:45am to take us to the plane.  It is also a big day because we have switched seats on the plane, it is like switching up the seats in a classroom, new neighbors and reorganizing our home base!  The flight to Thailand is 4 1/2 hours but it should go by quickly with a lecture, lunch, and the briefing for our next stop.

I am excited for Thailand. . .I want to touch and really get to know the elephants. . .I want to see the little baby elephants. . .tend to them, feed them and bath them!  Can't wait to show the photos!

So for now we have our second wind and are ready to explore this wonderful world some more.  I will keep these images of the sparkling blue waters close to my soul and understand that I am very blessed to be on this adventure!

A Slice of Heaven

This is the sight I saw as I opened my eyes this morning.  Jeanna had got up and pulled open our doors to expose the beautiful water!

 I got up and then took a picture of Jeanna taking a photo from the bed!  Our suite is stunning with hardwood floors and a stunning bathroom with a tub, outdoor shower, and two separate vanities!

 This is what our suite looks like. . .this is actually the neighbors :-)!  The entire hut sits over the water.  The shimmering water is reflected through all the windows!

 We have our own ladder into the water and a double deck outside the room.

 I think the netting is there so you don't fall in!  We are off to snorkel now off our deck.  We can see colorful fish not 5 feet away.  The water is bath tub warm and Jeanna is in heaven. . . no wetsuit for her today!

 This was our view from breakfast!  We ate on the beach and the breakfast buffet was outstanding!  Sushi to waffles!

 This is the entrance to the resort.  You arrive via speed boats to the welcome center.

 Our suite is the one at the point of this photo!  We will write more later. . . off to enjoy our little slice of heaven!

Here Kitty Kitty!

We arrived in the Sabi Sands Reserve on the outskirts of the Kruger National Park via a small aircraft to a private airstrip at the Londolozi Resort.  It was about 5:30 just as last rays of daylight were lighting the sky.  Our guide, Rex told us to hurry up and get in our open air vehicle because they had spotted a leopard crossing the runway right before we landed.  We climbed into the car and took off down the dirt road.  He stopped and pointed to the leopard, his spots perfectly camouflaged him in the grass.  He was magnificent!  He didn't seem to be bothered by our presence and just lounged in the grass.

Leopard

He did give us a big yawn to show off his enormous canines!  The pattern of his coat was beautiful, nature has a way with design!

Yawning Leopard

As I said previously we drove in open vehicles and to may utter horror the brush was filled with the webs of Golden Orb and Red-Banded Spiders spanning the road ways.  We sat in the last seat which was the highest seat in the car. . .the guide would try to split the web but sometime the GIANT spider would be flying towards our head!  I almost gave myself a concussion getting my head down into Jeanna's lap barely missing the metal railing!  (Janet, I feel your pain :-) )  These spiders are between 3 and 6 inches in length. . .the guide assured me I would not die if I was bitten, I did not believe him!

Golden Orb Spider

The elephants aways fascinate me and I cannot wait until Thailand to get a chance for an up close and personal experience with them.  These beasts are huge and they can knock down a fairly good size tree in a second if they decide to charge.

Elephant

We also got to see a few white rhinos.  These differ from the the black rhinos that we saw in the Serengeti because they have a very wide month.  The name "white" rhino was given because whoever heard the name thought they said "white" not "wide"!  Rhinos are fascinating with their wide girth narrowing to a little butt on one end and the long horn on the other!

White Rhino

Zebras show off some of nature's finest pattern contrasts!  Each individual zebra has their own "fingerprint" pattern.  This young zebra is nursing from his mother.

Nursing Zebra

Okay, that was the last animal I actually saw on this trip.  The rest of the photos were taken by Jeanna on the afternoon/evening safari ride, I spent the day sick in bed.  I do not know what happened but I got a horrible cough and cold like symptoms along with a nice fever!  I did get lunch and dinner in bed but did not get to see anymore of South Africa.  I will make up the rest of the narrative :-)

Giraffe

This is a male giraffe, he has the bigger horns on the top of his head.  Giraffes also have a unique pattern to individuals.  Below is an owl that appeared right after a man in the car said "Do you have owls in Africa?".  Jeanna said that was a bit oogy woogy for her!

Owl

I am sad that I miss seeing the male lion, King of the Jungle and all.  Jeanna said he was splendid and did yawn a couple of times to show his pearly whites!

Lion

Elephant

I have to admit that our lodging was of the utmost luxury!  We had a deck overlooking the countryside, our own plunge pool. double sinks, a bath tub, walk-in shower, and air conditioning!  Sorry to Paula and all the nieces and nephews. . .I thought we had it good at the camps in the Serengeti. . . I guess maybe we had it good but here it was spectacular!

Deck outside our room

This was where had our breakfast and lunch.  The tree growing out of the deck was the tree that the Vardy family first saw when they decided to set up camp in the early 1900's!

Dining Veranda

We both have a deep love for Africa and I know we will visit again soon!

Out of the Ashes

Rwanda is a beautiful country and is much more than just the gorillas.  The people are content and productive now, the farms go up to the top of the mountains.  The people mostly walk everywhere, there are few bicycles, motocycles, and public buses but most people walk.  They also carry everything to and from their villages. . .giant bags of potatoes, long pieces of wood, water jugs,  and everything else imaginable.  Most of the carrying is done on the women's heads!  I was in awe of all that they could carry on the top of their heads and turn have conversations with their walking partner.  Jeanna said her poor little wimpy neck would snap at the strain of 3 potatoes (small red ones).

Our first stop in Kigali was to the Genocide Memorial Center.  That was a sobering experience mostly because the Belgiums first introduced a superficial classification of Rwandans, those that looked more European were Tutsi and those who looked more African were Hutu.  The Tutsi's were in power for a long time and then the Hutu's gained power.  The Hutu government started a media campaign against the Tutsi, all the while planning the great genocide.  The media portray the Tutsi as the cause of all the problems in Rwanda and if they were only gone the country would be perfect.  The genocide lasted 3 months and millions of Tutsis were slaughtered. . .mostly with clubs and machetes because they were cheaper and can be more readily distributed.  No Tutsi was spared in the raids. . .men, women and children were tortured and killed for no other reason than they have been given a designated status of either Hutu or Tutsi. . . they were both Rwandans, mostly of the same religion. . . it was calculated and of the cruelest nature.

The experience has made me stop and think of what can happen when people are designated as "other", there is a slippery slope that can happen especially with the media promoting the differences of the "other".  I cringe now at the verbage of the political pundits who spew almost hatred of each other.  I say "Really?" don't we share more characteristics with each other than differences?  We said never again after the Holocaust and it has happened again and again and again.  We think we would be smarter and we could never fall victim to a media blitz that marginalizes a group of people.  We are certainly not look at the media against gays and lesbians and most recently Hispanics.  People fall for the propaganda hook line and sinker. . .do you really think I am that much different than you?  Okay. .. off my soap box and on to the rising of the Rwandan Phoenix

We visited a basket and jewelry making center that was started by two sisters to help women and young girls displaced by the Genocide.  They started out very small and now run a pretty big organization.  The baskets are made from women in the countryside and the necklaces and bracelets from the women in the city.

Most of the women we saw were HIV positive and needed to work at the center because they also get fed.  They cannot take their medicine on an empty stomach because it is not as effective.

These beads are made from scrap paper rolled into bead shapes and then lacquered all different colors.  The women string them into necklaces and bracelets.  They keep 80% of all the money made from their product and the center keeps 20%.

These are the fibers that the beautiful baskets are made from, they are dyed many colors and stored until they can be used.

They danced for us as well left and there was true joy on their faces!  They are happy to be given a skill that can sustain them and their families.  The center has been awarded contracts from Macy's and Anthropologie to supply baskets and jewelry!  Now they can help even more women in Rwanda.

The country seems to be rising from the horrors of the Genocide and it is an amazing place. . .I wish them good leadership and much prosperity for all the people.

It's a Jungle Out There

We got up at 5am to get ready for our Gorilla Trek.  We arrived at the staging area where they divided you into groups of 8 and assigned you to a specific family of gorillas.  We were assigned to the Isabukuru group, the group was comprised of 10 members, one silverback, 5 females, 1 adolescent, and 3 babies.  Our group was not a regularly visited group, it is a group that is used mostly for research.  I guess they had too many visitors on this day.  As you can imagine the idea of going to a non-habituated group could be an adventure. . .they are not as used to visitors and they are deep into the mountain.  It would take us about 2 1/2 hours to reach our group.

Hiking up the to Volcanoes National Park

We drove to the trail head and started trekking straight up the mountain.  We were at about 8000-9000ft of elevation.  The entire mountainside is cultivated for farming.  The government owns the land but each Rwandan can farm 25 acres and they do make the best of their land!

Farm House on the way up

We passed this farm house on the way up, they had a traditional round house but most other houses that we saw were wood with corrugated tin roofs.  They grow mostly potatoes high up in the mountains but at lower elevations they have corn, sweet potatoes, beans, peas, and sorghum.

Climbing over the wall into Volcanoes Nat'l Park

After about 1 hour of trekking straight up we reached the wall the separates the Volcanoes National Park from the land people can use for farming.  Did I mention the trekking was straight up the mountain?  The wall runs along the entire edge of the forest so there is no doubt that you have crossed the border.  We literally had to climb over the wall.  Now we were immediately deep in jungle forest and the path was no more than 12 inches wide.  We were told to watch out for the stinging nettles that can sting you and produce an intense itching burning sensation.  I was in the jungle not 5 minutes before I had my first encounter with the stinging nettles!  Right through my shirt on my upper arm and forearm. . .luckily there was some plant close by that was like an aloe that calmed down the itching.  The trail was total mud, the shoe sucking kind of mud, which made walking a little precarious.  We had great porters that carried our packs and helped us through the treacherous trail.  After about 70 minutes of slogging through the jungle they told us to put down our packs and get our cameras, the gorillas were here.  We would be allowed 60 minutes of viewing time. . . the stop watch began!

First Gorilla Sighed

We spotted our first gorilla, a female, she was sitting and eating.  She looked at us then went back to eating.  We heard the silverback to the side of us and he gave out a cry and stomped through some brush.  Our guide talked to it (making gorilla sounds) and he calm down and answered the guide.

This female just had a little itch that had to be taken care of!  The gorillas were scattered around so we had to kind of follow them through the forest.

This female sat for awhile and ate everything in front of her.  She pulled out entire plants and ate the roots.  She did not seem to mind our presence.

This shows how close we could get to the gorillas. . .I have a point and shoot camera with a minimal zoom!  I love her brown eyes!

The Silver Back

This is the Silverback of the group and he was constantly changing positions and moving to get away from us!  When he moved he plowed all the vegetation in his way. . .it did make it easier to follow him!  We were in kind of bowl like valley with very, very steep sides.  The silverback decided he had enough and crashed up the steep slope and the rest of the family followed.  I thought "darn we didn't get all of 60 minutes."  At the moment the guide pulls my hand and starts dragging me up the slope. . .I mean dragging me!  My initial thought was "How the hell I am going to get back down!", the slope was steep and very muddy. . .nothing to grab on to or more specifically nothing you wanted to grab on to!  We were able to see some of the gorillas while we were all clinging to the slope.  The last gorilla we saw walking up the slope was

Mother and 1 month old baby

this mother and her one month old baby.  She almost brushed Jeanna on her way up the slope. . .you can see someone's feet in the background showing how close they were!  Our time was now up so it was time to get down from our slope. . .pretty much we just slid down the hill!

Muddy Shoes

We finally made it back to our vehicle after our long trek back down the mountain.  It is hard to see but our shoes, gators, and pants were covered in mud!

This truly was an experience of a lifetime!

On a Magic Carpet Ride

I do not need a rug, I do not need a rug, I do not need a rug were the words I repeated to myself on the way to the Turkish Carpet demonstration/store.  We were shown a few women working on the rugs. . . the process is tedious.  Turkish rugs are double knotted as compared to rugs made in other countries (so says the presenter) and a woman will usually work on the same pattern of rug for 10-15 years.

Turkish woman at the carpet loom

The wool that was being used for the above rug was hand spun and vegetable dyed.  The yarn in the store was gorgeous and you could pick out your colors for your own rug. . . it would take anywhere from 6 months to 1 1/2 years to get your special order rug depending on materials and knots per square inch.

Vegetable dyed hand spun yarn

My favorite rugs are the wool and silk or all silk rugs.  They spin and dye much of their own silk.  They first place the cocoons in boiling water to kill the larva and other mites that might be living in the cocoon.

Silk Worm Cocoons

 They then take the straw brush and stir the pot of cocoons, as they lift the brush out of the water it catches the end of the silk strand that makes up the cocoon.  This is then transferred to cooler water and the ends of the strands are fed into the spinner to make the silk thread.  The threads are then dyed.

Beginning the unwinding process

We were then taken to an room with a very large floor space and they started telling us about the different types of rugs, how to spot a good rug, the different families that make specific types of rugs, etc.  It was a very fascinating presentation.  My favorite of all the rugs was a small 3x5 silk rug of the highest quality, a mere $21,000!  Needless to say that rug is still in the showroom!

Plethora of rugs

I will not buy a rug, I will not buy a rug, I will not buy a rug. . . "Ms. can I show you something?"

Long Road to Cappadocia

We left London bright and early on Saturday morning and headed to the Harrod's Airport where we met our plane.  The plane is a 757 and it as been outfitted with 78 seats.  We arrived to our seats and were welcomed be a fresh flower and lots of goodies for our travel comfort.  You can see the pinocchio enjoyed his new digs!  We will have seats 3A & 3B until we hit the Maldives and then we moved back to the 12th row.  The flight was good and we had lunch and were ready to arrive near Cappadocia.

Our seats on the plane

All was going well until about 20 minutes before we were going to land when the captain announced the weather was not what they expected so we would have to circle for 15-20 minutes.  The turbulence was rough and there was lightning outside. .. he tried to make two landings and we aborted both at the last minutes because of cross winds on the runway!  We were diverted to Ancora (sp?) and then had to take a bus for 4 + hours.  We missed the Whirling Devishes :-( but did get to eat at a Turkish Truck Stop along the way.  It was midnight when we reached our hotel.  The Museum hotel is a cave hotel and each room is a series of caves.  We were tired and motion sick when we finally opened the door to hotel and we were stopped in our tracks by the beauty of the room!!!

Our Living room in the Museum Hotel Room

 The walls are all stone and there are carvings along the walls for decoration.  If you can see behind the couch the two black levers. . .the dispense red and white wine!!  There are beautiful artifacts all around the room.  Our bedroom is up one step and is a wonderful cave room!

Our bedroom carved into the rock

 The bath room is breathtaking with the bath tube tucked into the cave arch way!  The bathroom is huge and the floors are heated!  The hotel room was a little warm last night but this morning it was so nice to take a hot shower and have the bathroom heated!

Our bathroom

 We got to bed last night at 1am and the wake up call came at 5:30am for the balloon ride.  I was tempted to blow it off and sleep but I got up and went ballooning!  The landscape of Cappadocia is amazing . . .rock spires that have been hollowed out for living in and raising pigeons!

Pinocchio ballooning

 This morning about 40 balloons were dotting the landscape, in the summer there can be upwards of 200 balloons in the sky.  It was cold and raining but the sights were still spectacular!

Balloons over the rock formations

 The balloons hoover over the landscape and then go way up in the sir to get the panoramic view!  I loved the wave like wall in the picture below.  The carved sections were used as a pigeon house. . .they used the eggs for food, used the birds for sending messages, and used their dropping for fertilizing the soil for their grapes and apricots!

Pigeon houses

After the early morning balloon ride we toured some cave churches that were once part of the early Christian movement.  The churches were hollowed out of the stone and were beautifully painted.

Tomorrow we fly to Rwanda for the gorilla part of the trip.  We pray for a smooth flight and easy transportation to the mountains!  I will post again on Wednesday I hope!