Victoria Falls! May 13. 2012

What a great week!  The first few days were normal routine for us.  Getting things done around the house and running errands.  The boys had two play dates.  One was our weekly playgroup and the other was an extra play time with some of their friends.

 In addition to the normal tasks I had packing to do for our weekend vacations.  Justin and Ryan were so excited about their first sleep over.  They were getting to go over to stay with Zak (Rob’s boss) and Amy and their daughter.  We talked up their vacation, and mentioned very little of ours.  I am not sure if they realize that we went anywhere.  We told them they were getting a vacation and we were too.  Who needs details?  Maybe we can even show them pictures someday and they will think they were there. J

Thursday after dinner we got the boys ready for bed and then took them over to Zak’s house.  Rob and I returned home to go to sleep.  The next morning while we were getting ready to leave, we got a text message from Zak saying that the boys had slept well.  I might have believed it if the message hadn’t come in at 5:15 AM!

Rob and I drove to the airport.  Long term parking was full so we parked in the regular lot.  Fortunately it is not horribly expensive the way it is in some places.  If you have ever been to the airport in Windhoek, you know that it isn’t very big.  They still want you to arrive early for flights, but when things are going well it doesn’t take long to get through. 

Our plane stopped in Botswana to refuel and pick up more passengers.  We got to wait in the lovely boarding area.  Back on the plane and onward to Victoria Falls.

Guess they don't have a large budget for airport decor at the Maun, Botswana Airport.

As we approached, we could see the spray from the Falls in the form of a cloud off in the distance.  Immigration left much to be desired.  Heaven forbid a large plane ever flies in.  The time it took to process each visa was considerable.  Our bag was waiting for us when we got through immigration and our driver was waiting for us.  On the drive to our hotel we saw baboons, monkeys, warthogs, and African wild dogs.

The rural area eventually leads to the town of Victoria Falls.  Tourism is definitely the business of the town.  Tourist police, markets full of souvenirs, hotels, and tour operator offices are all around you.  Our hotel was nice, but, like just about everything in town, overpriced.  Lodging in many places in southern Africa is expensive for what you get.  I had been nervous after reading some of the hotel reviews, but I think they were written by people who hadn’t travelled in Africa much.

We checked in and then went to look around the hotel area.  In the back there is a path that leads to the gorge viewing area and another that goes off towards the falls.  We saw plenty of elephant poop as we went along the path.  The gorge was amazing and we were able to see someone who was slowly being raised back up to the top after her gorge swing activity.  Lots of high adrenaline activities in the area.

We walked on as we went to pick up some groceries.  The main currencies used in Zimbabwe are the US dollar and the South African rand.  Everywhere I went I saw things priced in dollars.  Our groceries were overpriced and selection was poor.  My favorite part was getting change.  They only use bills, so we got our 36 cents change in the form of a lollipop and a mini menthos.  The guy in front of us was disappointed they were out of chewing gum change.

We went back to the hotel and ate and rested until it was time to be picked up for the sunset cruise.  Dancers stood on the shore while they had everyone get on the boat.  We were able to see a crocodile and some hippos in addition to a beautiful sunset.  It was a relaxing cruise. Since the dinner cruise options didn’t appeal to me, we ended up having pizza for dinner.  We ate way too much.

Saturday morning we got up and went out to some of the craft markets.  Bargaining is the name of the game.  It was interesting to look at the goods for sale and to see some of the artists at work.  While I admired a lot of the things, there was little that I wanted.  I did find a stone carving that I liked.  I liked the guy selling it too.  I ended up paying right around what I saw it selling for in the stores.  I also got some cheap little necklace things for the boys.  I think I got 10 for the sweater I had with me.  I intentionally took some clothes out of my donation pile for the purpose of bargaining.  The sweater was definitely worth more than the necklaces, but it doesn’t fit me very well anymore so it ended up a win-win deal.  Later someone tried to trade me something for my socks, but I liked my socks more than what he had to offer.

We went back to the hotel to freshen up a bit.  It might be winter here in the southern hemisphere, but the sun was strong, the temp in the mid 80s and no breeze.  After that it was to the Falls.

I don’t even know what to say about Victoria Falls.  They are just awesome.  The spray is so intense even across the gorge.  By the time we were finished there we were soaked.   It was hard to get any good pictures, but it was such an inspiring experience.  The noise of that much water pouring down was so loud.  I know why this is one of the natural wonders of the world.

The train ride we had hoped to take was cancelled because they didn’t have the minimum number of people.  I went back to pick up a few things at the craft market.  I wanted to get some keychains, but the starting price was $40.  At first I thought it was 40 rand (about $5) which I would have paid.  I had good things to trade as well as cash in US dollars and South African rand.  I wasn’t going to waste my time bargaining back and forth to get to a reasonable price.  Wouldn’t you know I found the same keychains in a store priced at $3?  Sold!  If you enjoy bargaining, the markets are great.  They are fun to look through, but so much of the stuff is the same and I think they are starting the prices way too high.  I found it easier to buy things in stores, not that I wanted to get a lot.

We decided to go back down the trail to see the gorge again.  We were rewarded with an elephant sighting.  We watched for awhile and then continued on our way.  When we were coming back to the hotel, there were still elephants in the area.  They can stay hidden pretty well for such large creatures.   With trees between us and them it was hard to get a good shot.

That evening for dinner we went to the dinner buffet in the hotel.  I did not try the mopane worms, but I did have some crocodile stir fry.  I must say that I like crocodile more than a lot of the things that I have had here.  I wasn’t a very adventurous eater, and stuck mostly to things that I knew.  More dancing for entertainment.  I imagine it is similar wherever you go in town.

Sunday morning we didn’t have to leave until 10 AM.  That meant a leisurely morning, something that I don’t have very often.  I was getting anxious to see my boys again though.  We made it back to Namibia and in typical Namibia fashion, no one was there at immigration to let us through.  An officer saw that some of us were lining up and decided to get some people to the counters to help us.  At least we didn’t have to wait forever for our bags like we did when we got back from Cape Town.

The boys survived without us.  In fact, they seemed to have a good time.  Guess that means that I can leave them again. J  Back to reality and to our laundry.

April 17 to 22, 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town!  Tuesday we left for our vacation.  Unfortunately, there are only two flights out.  We passed up the direct flight since it left around 6:30 AM.  Sure the boys are early risers, but by the time you get up, get ready, drive to the airport, park in long term parking, and check in, etc. etc., you have to get up pretty early.  That seems to mean getting to Cape Town already tired and done for the day.  We left a bit later, but of course that meant flying by way of Walvis Bay.  They couldn’t seat us together because the flight was so full.  We had slightly different seats for the flight from Windhoek to Walvis Bay and from Walvis Bay to Cape Town.  We managed to scramble around and swap seats with people to get together.  Our very full flight ended up having the four back rows empty.  Whatever.  On one stretch I was sitting in between Ryan and Justin in a bank of three seats.  I could BARELY get my hips to fit in the seat.  Since I noticed that all of the seats were not the same height and that some were Air France seat belts and some were not (second hand parts?) I figured I just got a skinny seat and was thankful that I am not a very large woman.  A flight attendant noticed me and pushed a button under the arms to push them over slightly towards each of the boys.  Brilliant!

By the time we got settled into our hotel we were ready to eat.  Justin had seen a travel brochure for a mall.  It included a list of restaurants and he spotted MCDONALDS!  What a perfect birthday dinner for Rob, right?  He was very excited and Ryan started singing Old MacDonald over and over.  That pretty much sealed the deal.  Justin blew us away by eating a cheeseburger.  We aren’t too fond of burgers in Namibia, and Justin “discovered” a new food.  He had his Happy Meal and some of Ryan’s.

The wind was so strong that I thought the roof was going to blow off of the hotel.  I suppose that since we weren’t on the top floor it wouldn’t have been too tragic for us.  Miraculously, the boys slept through the night despite the loud howling.

Wednesday we were ready for Table Mountain.  Table Mountain was not ready for us, however.  We got up there and saw that the cable car was closed due to high winds.  We drove down to the waterfront area and found a place to park near the clock tower.  The area we wanted to go was just a short walk.  With all of the construction in the area we could not easily get from point a to point b.  We ended up moving the car to a different location. 

We went into the aquarium, which thrilled the boys.  They hadn’t been impressed with a trip up to a mountain and back down again.  They enjoyed looking at the different fish and other water creatures.  They were even brave enough to touch a starfish/sea star.  Living dangerously, huh.  After finishing up, we were hungry and set off for something to eat.  A lot of seafood in the area, which I hate.  Some interesting possibilities for restaurants if it weren’t for the boys.  We ended up at McDonald’s again.  Since we don’t have McDonald’s in Namibia, we didn’t really mind.  In the US it isn’t a first choice, but it has been seven months without American fast food so it was a treat for all of us. 

We then took a ride on the Ferris wheel to catch a bird’s eye view of the area.  Ryan thought it was great.  I think that Justin is a little less enthusiastic with heights.  He liked to have Rob right there holding on to him.  We had time for Justin to chase birds and Ryan to play on the playground before heading off for a one hour boat ride.  I think Justin would have been content to chase sea gulls for the entire vacation, but at some point the rest of us were ready to move on.

We had the foresight to medicate Justin before getting on the boat and it seemed to help him enjoy his time a bit more.  The pirate boat ride was complete with face painting and a short skit.  The show was really, really bad.  Kids seemed pretty into it though, so what do I know?

Back to the car for a return trip to Table Mountain.  This time we were able to go up on the cable car.  The view is absolutely amazing.  The boys enjoyed running around and needed constant reminders to stay on the paths and not climb all over the rocks.  The cable car trips up and down the mountain were not Justin’s favorite, but he managed to keep himself together.

By that point we were done.  Fortunately for us, our hotel came equipped with a kitchen in our suite.  We just went back to the hotel and ate there.

Thursday was our day for visiting the Cape of Good Hope.  We drove along the coast passing through some small towns along the way.  Our first stop was the penguin colony at Boulder’s Beach.  It was interesting to see so many penguins just doing their own thing.  I only saw a couple of them splash into the water.  It seemed like the majority chose to either lie down or slide along on their bellies in the sand.  I guess with all of the wind they don’t want to waddle upright.  With some of the gusts of wind I wonder if they could stand upright at times.

From there we continued on our drive.  We got to Cape Point and walked the long trek up to the lighthouse.  When Ryan would complain that he was tired, I would offer to run with him for a break.  Seemed to work for him.  At the top, the boys were a bit disappointed by the stubby looking lighthouse.  They thought it was a water tower.  We opted to take the funicular back down to the base.  Since eating choices are limited, we decided to grab some muffins at the little shop.

Just a short couple of minutes later we were in front of the Cape of Good Hope sign for a photo op.  We walked around for a bit despite the wind.

We decided to go look for a restaurant I wanted to try.  It was a bit of a drive, but it was too late to do anything else really and a bit too early to eat closer in.  Unfortunately, we didn’t find the restaurant.  We walked around a mall and ended up eating at Spur.  Yes, there is a Spur just down the street from where we live and yes, the food is only mediocre.  They do have a play area for the kids though and food that they will eat.  Justin was anxious to get to the car and back to the hotel.  Ends up that he had to go to the bathroom and he thought he would hold it until we got home.  I was able to figure out his problem and we found a bathroom just in time.

Back to the hotel for us, with a good many detours as usual.  The streets in Cape Town are laid out in an interesting fashion and change names frequently.  We spent a lot of extra time driving.

Friday we went on the city bus tour.  It runs its two hour loop and you can get on and off at various points throughout the city.  Every fifteen minutes another one comes by, so you never have to wait for too long.  We got off by St George’s Cathedral  which is known for allowing Blacks and Whites to worship together during apartheid.  From there we walked to the Company Gardens and allowed the boys some time to run and chase the birds as we made our way towards the South African Museum.  We were rushing through because the boys were not horribly interested and because Justin had to go to the bathroom again.  I wish he would just SAY something instead of us trying to guess what the problem is.  From there we decided that we needed to have lunch and that the most promising prospects were behind us and not ahead of us on the bus route.  We walked for awhile and determined that McDonalds was probably the most promising choice in the area for us.

After lunch we got back on the bus and rode it around the rest of the route to see the city.  I had thought that the Jewish museum would be interesting, but, because of Holocaust related displays, not particularly appropriate for the boys.  I planned to run in quickly while Rob watched the boys outside, but decided against it.  There really didn’t seem to be a great place for them to just hang out.  On we went!  Much of the city was familiar as we had already driven up and down streets trying to get from point a to point b.  At least this time we were just taking in the sights and listening to the commentary instead of trying to navigate our way somewhere.  We got up to Table Mountain (again) before heading back down and towards the beaches.

We enjoyed being able to look at Camps Bay and some of the other beaches, points, and bays.  We thought they might be a good location to visit on Saturday.  We took the bus back to the starting point.  We were tired and it was too early for dinner.  We didn’t really want to go back to the hotel and out again either though.  We chose to go to Subway and pick up sandwiches to eat later in the evening and then went back to the hotel.

Saturday the boys were a bit down because it was our last vacation day.  We decided that we would go to the science center and then head out over towards the beaches.  When we got to the science center and I saw what it was, I figured we would be able to spend an hour there tops.  They were renovating the museum and everything was housed in one large room.  The boys blew me away by insisting we spend six hours there.  Justin didn’t even want to eat lunch.  We bagged the idea of the beach and enjoyed our time at the museum.  When they announced closing time we were finally able to get the boys to leave.

For our last meal we headed out to, you guessed it, McDonald’s.  We even took some back with us to have as a snack on Sunday before leaving.

Sunday wasn’t an early start.  We didn’t have to leave the hotel until 10:30.  Traffic was very light and we made it to the airport more quickly than we anticipated.  We returned the rental car and went to check in for our flight.  Air Namibia recommends that you arrive at the airport three hours ahead of time for international flights.  Why they don’t open their counter until it is 2 hours until take off is beyond me.  That certainly doesn’t help the line at the counter.

I must admit that Air Namibia is one of the few airlines which will feed you (for free) on such short flights.  Unfortunately, what they do feed you gives airline food a bad name.  Not like you will starve on a two hour flight though.

Back in Namibia we waited and waited for our luggage to come on the carousel.  It amazes me how long it can take when there are so few planes.  I think it would have been faster to just have us climb into the cargo hold and pull out our own bags before going into the airport.  In modernizing their parking system, you now must pay for parking before returning to the lot.  The machine does not take bills larger than N$50 (about USD 7.50).  When your parking is over N$100, it would be nice if you could put in N$100, but no.  There is a parking cashier adjacent to the machine.  She didn’t have change.  Hello?  The sign says CASHIER, shouldn’t you have money?  She charged us a different rate than the machine did, but it was in our favor.  (Note: This lovely “improvement” in the parking system has caused parking rates to approximately double.)

We loaded up the van and headed home.  Back to unpacking, laundry, and the glamour of everyday life.

April 8, 2012

Happy Easter!  Today in church when he was asked what was special about Easter, Justin responded that it was getting lots of candy.  The teacher said that we do sometimes get eggs and sweets, but that we celebrate Jesus' resurrection at Easter.  Justin said, "yeah, and we get lots of candy!"  Funny enough, he didn't even really get a lot of candy.  He and Ryan each got a fun size bag of M&Ms, a small 120 calorie chocolate bunny, and a kinder egg.  They got some small toys in their basket as well.  The favorite part of the Easter season is probably hiding the eggs.  Yes, I hide some and they find them, but the boys love to re-hide them and have me (and/or Rob) find them.  We do this over and over and over and...

This week we decorated eggs.  The boys really enjoyed it this year.  In the past it has been a quick activity hardly worth the mess in my opinion.  This year they really got into it.  No, their eggs weren't particularly beautiful or special, but they had a blast.  Ryan got dye on a pair of Justin's new shorts (Ryan was wearing them) but thanks to Shout, it came out! 

We made bunny cookies again this year and Justin and Ryan made little bunny baskets to put them in for their friends.

I guess since this isn't the blog about how I entertain the kids I should talk about life in general.  I had a lovely 24 hour stomach bug.  Glad it was short!  It overlapped with a cold(?) which consists primarily of me having very little voice.

It is kind of a strange weekend here.  Good Friday and Easter Monday are holidays, making it a nice long weekend for Rob.  EVERYTHING was closed on Good Friday, yet for some reason open on Easter morning.  Don't get that, but whatever.  Things around town are very quiet as almost everyone has fled the city for the coast or to visit family.  Easter weekend is kind of like Labor Day weekend in the US.  This is the time for the last hurrah of summer before we admit that it is over.  In the US (and northern hemisphere in general) Easter is a time of light, rebirth, spring!  Here it is just the opposite and kind of a bummer.  I am so northern hemisphere biased!

Time for bed.

April 1, 2012

Well, I should also be doing updating the blog that tells about what I have been doing during the month.  Perhaps tomorrow.  I upload pictures to that blog and get frustrated when it takes awhile.  I seem to have a sloooooow internet connection right now, so pictures might not be the best idea right now.

Our exciting news for the week is that we have our next post: Yerevan, Armenia.  We are SO excited.  No, we don't know exactly when we will be leaving here yet.  No, we don't know when we will be getting to Armenia.  It is good to know where we will be going though.  For those who don't know, Armenia is by Turkey, Georgia, Iran, and Azerbaijan.  It will be a big change from Namibia.  Justin is very excited.  Yesterday, the boys were running around in their big winter coats.  THe coats are currently a size too big, but should be perfect for winter there.

This week we "fell back" an hour as Fall is now here.  It is confusing to change from standard/daylight savings time at a time different than the US.  It is even more confusing since we change in opposite directions.  Surprisingly, the boys slept in until 5:30 in the morning. :)  They were more than ready for bedtime when 7:00 rolled around tonight.  Maybe cooler temperatures and more hours of darkness will have them wanting to sleep more.  Hey, I can dream, right?

The boys and I were doing some frog things, but will put that on hold to do some Easter activities this week in preparation for Easter.  Justin has specifically asked me NOT to look up information about the Easter Bunny on the internet.  He says he KNOWS the Easter Bunny is real so he doesn't want me to look it up because it might say he is wrong.  He cracks me up.  We talked a little about the real reason our family celebrates Easter.  I told him that the important part about Easter is Jesus being resurrected.  He gave me an "uh-huh" kind of response and then told me that the REALLY important part is getting things from the Easter Bunny.  As long as we have that straight.

We got our flu shots this week.  The whole reverse seasons thing here in Nambia and all.  Ryan was so thrilled with his post shot lollipop, that he asked if he could get another shot.  Not a lot of kids want that.  He even asked again the next day.  Amazing what lollipops can do.

I think that I have chipped a tooth or something.  There is no pain, but I keep getting stuff stuck there and when I tried looking, it looks like part of the tooth might be missing.  There is no  pain (except for my tongue when I try to dislodge stuck food and cut it up), but I have to floss every time I eat.  I wonder if I will have to take care of it here or if it can wait until I go back to the US.  Sigh.  With my luck I will have a sub-par job done here and then have to get it done again in the US.  Guess I can wait a bit to see how it goes.

Planning our trip to Cape Town, South Africa.  Very excited.  Hopefully it will be fun and relaxing.  It looks like there is a lot to do.  Traveling is easier with older kids.  Of course a 3 year old doesn't always understand the idea of taking advantage of using a toilet when it is available and not waiting until the last minute.  I shouldn't complain.  I can't remember the last time Ryan has had an accident.  Of course since he refuses to keep the same clothes on if there is even a drop on his underwear, I do more laundry than I should.  Sometimes he will even complain that his underwear smells like his penis so he needs to change his underwear and pants.  When he washes his hands he will change his clothes if he gets his shirt at all wet.  Sigh.

Ryan has decided that his cousins make wonderful scapegoats.  Since they live in Oregon, I can't really hear their side of the story.  Whenever I ask him where he learned something that he thinks I don't like, he says it was cousins.  He also tries to avoid responsibility by asking me not to look or to stop talking.  Favorite expressions include:  "I don't know yet."  "It's hard to tell."  "Don't say that to me."  Fake coughs are also great ways to avoid a subject.  It is hard not to laugh.

I have a bit of a sore throat.  Here's hoping it doesn't turn into a full blown cold or anything.  Perhaps the internet is fast enough that I can upload pics to my other blog now. :)

March 24, 2012

Oops!  My life has been so incredibly exciting (not!) that I seemed to have completely skipped writing about last week.  I remember last Sunday thinking that I should write about the week, but wasn't sure what to write about.  So there you have it!
Not that this week has been very exciting to write about either.  Justin and Ryan have actually been sleeping better, which is nice.  Better is a relative term though.  They have been sleeping until almost 5:00 AM.  Ryan has once or twice gotten up before 4:00 AM, but I have been able to get him to go back to sleep for a bit.

I have also been trying to excerice with the wii fit.  It has me on a four time a week schedule.  Ryan has been my faithful exercise companion.  It gives a bit of an extra challenge with him trying to follow my movements while standing almost right on top of me.  I wish I enjoyed it as much as he seems to.  I would probably be in better shape if I did.

Justin wants a baby sister and has been praying that he can have one.  He has commented that it looks like I am getting bigger so maybe I have a baby sister growing inside of me.  Nice.

Now it is March 24th and I still haven't finished this entry or posted anything.  Perhaps I can catch up.

We continue to have the boys' swimming lessons twice a week.  Some days they do well, some days they do not.  Estelle tried to test them to see if they could get their next badge.  As soon as she told them that, Justin had to go to the bathroom.  It went downhill from there.  He didn't even want to get into the pool.  He cried, complained, and refused to even try some of the things she asked him to do.  They are things that he CAN do or she wouldn't have asked him to do it.  Justin is afraid to fail in front of people.  By refusing to try, he cannot fail.  Estelle is so patient.  She said that she will try again with him in segments, not telling him it was part of his test until AFTER he succeeds.  Ryan wasn't thrilled with the part that required him to float on his back.  That is something that he absolutely hates, but he did it for 20 seconds so he passed that part.  He and Justin are both Level 2 Tadpoles now.  As soon as Justin gets his act together he will be a Level 4.

We have our weekly Tuesday playgroup.  Sometimes the kids play better than others.  The boys will definitely miss the kids when we move.  I will miss the moms.  It is amazing how much better it is in a place when there are people you enjoy spending time with.  We are very different people and our worlds mostly revolve around the kids, but it is nice to have grown-ups to talk with during the day.  It is also nice to see others also have good days and bad days raising their children.  Next year Justin will be starting school too!

I received an upsetting e-mail from my brother on March 11th.  My dad was out of town on a planned trip for a ham radio contest when he unexpectedly became very ill quite suddenly.  He was taken to the hospital and had to be flown to a larger hospital where he was in ICU because of sepsis.  Being so far away from family made it a long few days.  My dad is back at home and recovering.  I am grateful for my family and I am thankful for everyone who stepped up to help them.

Probably the highlight of the month so far has been St Patrick's Day.  I had no idea that the boys would enjoy the books I had so much.  They became interested in leprechauns and wanted to build leprechaun traps.  Justin asked if leprechauns were real or not.  I told him that I did not think they were, but that some people believe they are.  He asked me to check online.  As soon as I got to the computer, he told me to stop.  He figured if I looked up the answer and found out they were not real, they couldn't make traps. 

They made traps out of legos, blocks, baskets, cans, toy ladders, paper, and just about anything they could find in the playroom.  They used shiny trinkets I provided to try to lure the leprechauns.  On St Patrick's Day they did not find any leprechauns in the traps, but found some small green "footprints" in some places.  They found some of the legos rearranged to build an escape ladder from one of the traps.  They also discovered the first clue of a treasure hunt which ended with a treat from Pete the Leprechaun.  Justin has decided that Ryan was right, leprechauns must be real!

March 21st was Namibian Independence Day.  It is nice to have a holiday in the middle of the week so Rob can be home.  He took the boys out to a friend's house for a bike ride and I got to sleep in longer than I have in a very long, long time.

I have been trying to go through things to organize them or sort to get rid of them by donating, selling, or throwing them away. I don't know where we will be going next, but we won't have a house as big as we do here.  Besides, it is nice to get rid of things we don't need or use.  The boys, however, disagree.  I try to do my sorting while they are having their quiet time because otherwise they want to keep everything.

Hmm, looks like I am now ahead.  I might not have to write for a week.  Better try to find something worth writing about. :)