All About Animals

April 9, 2016

The magnificent Kruger National Park is one of the most recognized safari destinations in the world.  It is renowned for its size, large wildlife population and diversity, and affordability.  Unlike many parks that restrict your visit to expensive guided ranger-safaris, you can self-drive through the park, and camp or sleep in a range of accommodations to fit varying budgets. Seeing African animals in the wild was the number one experience that we wanted to share with our children.  Dan and I had spent a week on safari in Tanzania on our honeymoon, and our trip had exceeded our expectations, cementing our desire to return to Africa.

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Over Two Months in Southern Africa

April 7, 2016

Our trip to Southern Africa (January 20 – March 29) both started and ended in the gateway city of Johannesburg.  We never had the intent to spend very long in this large, sprawling town, notorious for crime, but ended up spending our first 5 days in South Africa, cooped up in our Johannesburg guesthouse, trying to recover from a nasty flu.  Gabriel was the only one who escaped the virus unscathed.  Instead, he had to suffer a severe case of cabin fever, as Stella, Dan and I slept away the hours, sweating through our fevers and hacking through our colds.

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Bye-bye Bombay (Mumbai!)

March 29, 2016
I have to admit that the challenges of Delhi, made me dread our visit to Mumbai. I didn’t know if I could happily handle another big Indian metropolis.  Once again, Gavin had helped to ease our arrival, and had taken responsibility for choosing the best neighborhood to stay in and accommodation that fit our budget.  We flew in on New Year’s Eve and had a taxi transfer waiting for us up bring us to Colaba. Passing the slums and poorer neighborhoods in the dark did much to blot out a good share of the trash and shades of filth. All squalor was soon replaced with glittering high rises, super highways filled with traffic, and grand colonial architecture. We were staying in a happening waterfront section of Mumbai, full of historic Bombay buildings, and upscale restaurants. The streets were filling with New Year’s Eve revelers near the luxurious Taj hotel, and the celebrated Gateway of India. I’d love to say that we partied with the best of them, but our kids (and Stella in particular) had it with the noise, crowds, and usual chaos.

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A Real Vacation in Goa

March 28, 2016

We actually visited Goa, India’s smallest state, at two separate times during our Indian adventure. Our first foray to the coast was for a brief five days in the South, divided between Benaulim and Palolem. Stella was about to turn ten on December 18th and we wanted to treat her, and splurge on a fancier beach accommodation with a pool. Lamentably, our reservations did not live up to our expectations, which resulted in a mini birthday disaster. This was not our first time that we had been duped by a booking.com ad, but the disappointment burned more, because of the timing. Multiple online photos only showed the expensive and more luxurious villa rooms, when in actuality we had only paid for the less appealing apartments. At this stage, with no refund possible for our overpriced digs, we had to settle for shabby. The owner tried to smooth over what we perceived to be faulty advertising, and had a birthday cake delivered to the restaurant he had suggested for Stella’s birthday dinner, but not even chocolate could bring a smile to Stella. She held back tears as we were serenaded with Lionel Ritchie tunes by a mullet-haired cover band – need I say more?

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Rhino Safari

March 2, 2016

Back to India!…After our wonderful Christmas in Meghalaya, we and Gavin, said our goodbyes to his parents and headed to the neighboring Northwest state of Assam.  Here, we had one plan, to visit Kaziranga National Park, which is famous for its Rhino Safaris.  Once again, Gavin and his mother had taken all of the pain out of planning our excursion, and had booked us two nights in a “fancy-for-us” resort. We briefly watched a local Assamese dance and music performance, before partaking in an ah-mazing feast of fish and vegetarian Assamese cuisine, which featured dishes cooked in bamboo joints and sour tangy sauces.  It was so damn tasty, that we returned to the same restaurant our second night.

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Happy Hippy Hampi

February 22, 2016

Hampi is probably one of my most favorite places to have visited in India.  The surreal landscape is like no other place I’ve been to, and thus entirely captivating.  It features mammoth boulders strewn around the green, yet desert-like landscape, plotted with rice paddy fields and banana plantations. It’s many rocky, mountainous outcrops are also perfect for viewing sunsets over ancient ruins, temples and the serpentine Tungabhadra river.  The prehistoric look of this destination has been compared to the imaginative neighborhood of the Flintstone’s cartoons.

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