South Africa and the Animals

We flew from Hong Kong to Johannesburg, South Africa, on December 30^th. Normally we would have arranged for someone to meet us at the airport; however, we intended to turn our South African adventure into a driving adventure. Needless to say that just renting a car, driving on the wrong side of the road again, and driving a standard (stick shift in the left hand) was an adventure in itself. The map that we printed out in the airport lounge in Hong Kong indicated that our drive should take approximately 50 minutes to our hotel......3 hours later we arrived. Luckily we arrived early in the morning at JNB and our extended drive was perfect timing for our check in at the hotel we booked just outside Johannesburg for four nights.

The resort turned out to be incredible and the staff very attentive as the resort wasn't very busy --- another casualty of the world economic crisis. While we were in Johannesburg (northwest of Joburg actually), we took a tour of the South Western Township (aka. Soweto). The Soweto township first developed during the gold rush around the late 1800's, as a suburb outside of Johannesburg where Africans were forced to live. The number of people living in the township is unconfirmed–reports are anywhere from 2-5 million people. Turns out Nobel Peace Prize recipients Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu both lived on the same block in the "nicer" part of Soweto.

Today Soweto is more than just shanty houses, there is a growing entrepreneurial middle class and the neighbourhood is full of new cars, and brick houses complete with alarm systems. In addition, the government is slowly relocating residents into government housing projects.

Apparently the crime rate in Soweto is far below that of the rest of Johannesburg. I read that residents have their own form of justice…they find the culprit and set him on fire which seems to keep the crime rate low.

Our original plan was to head to Kruger Park to see some animals and then drive down the coast via the garden route to Capetown. I have always wanted to go to Capetown. In an adventure like ours, flexibility is very important. Although our trip will be 8 months long when we finish, we have had to skip many places of interest or sometimes stay longer than intended in some spots for various logistical reasons. South Africa was no exception to this continued flexibility. We found an incredible spot in a private game reserve called Marloth Park. The ingredients that make it ideal include: Big dangerous animals close by on the wild side of the fence; Smaller and safer wild animals within reach on what is, officially, the wrong side of the fence for them (we are told that zebra have multiplied prodigiously without their natural predators). Within three hours of being in our little cottage/lodge (Maujli River Lodge) we saw zebras, hippos, rhino, impalas, baboons and numerous exotic birds. We were pretty excited!

After the first five days we were thrilled to have been lucky to see several of the of the 'Big Five' (elephant, African buffalo, rhino, lion and leopard) considering it was summer time and the grass makes it more difficult to spot the animals.

A couple of days before we were scheduled to leave and drive down the coast to Capetown (about 20+ hours over a week) we had a family meeting to discuss the idea of staying at Maujli River Lodge for the remainder of our stay in South Africa and skipping the trip to Capetown. We were all in agreement in our decision to stay and subsequently contacted the owner in Ireland to work out the details.

Seven days at Kruger, and we still hadn't seen the big 5. We'd taken many self-drives (where you can drive yourself around the park) around Lionspruit, the private game reserve in Marloth.

Three of the big 5 are fairly easy to spot– elephant, buffalo, rhino. Number 4, the lion eluded us and we went on several drives just to find them alone. The wildlife was amazing. We saw many different things; giraffes "neck" fighting, impalas fighting, rhinos yawning, dung beetles making balls from zebra scat, wildebeest marking their territory, baboons grooming each other, a baby zebra nursing, a baby buffalo, the remains of a kill (bones were picked clean, only the skeleton of baby giraffe remained), elephants playing in the water, buffalo rolling in the grass, a herd of buffalo on a mini stampede, a younger elephant charging our car and then rolling over like he was in the circus, a fish eagle catching dinner, hippos playing with each other in the water, baby zebra jumping on its mother, and a large baboon in our lodge/cottage. And we learned random facts; the white rhino has poor eyesight, elephants are overpopulated in the park, giraffe sex between males is common, the impala is "fast food" for the lions, female buffalo prefer the young bulls and kick out the old male buffalo, when a baby giraffe is born it falls about two metres to the ground, a giraffe can break the jaw of a lion with its kicks, a leopard has the ability/strength to kill and pull up a tree an animal two times their own weight, the wildebeest is not a smart animal-very curious, giraffes only sleep 20 minutes per day and are also curious-leading them to be dinner for the lions, a firaffes tongue is one metre long. Kruger Park is an incredible place. Kruger National Park is 450 km long and 60 km wide - 2 million hectares.

When I first began to write this entry, while still in Africa, we thought we would eventually see a Lion. The Lions eluded us; however, the second last night we were in the Kruger, we were heading out for our sunset/night drive and we saw a Leopard! Our pictures didn't turn out very well but we did manage to get a video clip that we will never forget. Just before the night Safari was over we also spotted a group of wild dogs. We all agreed that the Leopard and Wild dogs were far better than a pride of Lions. We were told by three guides that only 0.10 % of tourists see a leopard. You will not believe the photos we will try and get them all up shortly as many people have been emailing us in anticipation of seeing them.

I really think I love Africa because of how raw it is. We saw the real South Africa because there's no other way to see it…the real Africa doesn't have money to cover up its flaws; you see it for what it is....real people, real life, and a real struggle. Nothing is easy, and things are bound to go wrong while traveling in Africa (ie. missing hubcaps and dented tail lights-we had insurance). If nothing goes wrong than I doubt you're experiencing the real Africa. We'd been told by countless people and read many warnings of the dangers of traveling through various parts of South Africa. All of which made us paranoid thinking we would be robbed, threatened at gun point or worse. Our imaginations were worse than anything we experienced (of course, you have to be smart when traveling, too). The worst problem we faced was the roads– the potholes are enough to drive me mad. But the Africans we met were warm and friendly, armed and ready with a smile.

Our safari experience was LEKKER! (Translated from Afrikan - great!).

I truly believe that part of each one of us didn't want to see a Lion before we left. Anyone who knows us well would see this as a challenge that the Misner/Kenny family would not want to lose; however, I think we had an ulterior motive.

Allow me to introduce our very good friend Mike. Mike looks after the cottage for the owner as he lives in Ireland. Mike has lived in Marloth for about 7 years. He has an incredible amount of knowledge about the bush, animals, Africa, politics and the world. Mike took us on evening drives in his Landrover, lent us his tennis raquets, gave Jeff several hours of private tennis lessons, came over with animal guide books, taught us to feed the zebras, lent us two pairs of his binoculars, happily ate every last drop of Elaine's sausage pasta put on his plate, introduced us to neighbours, and most importantly.....treated Samantha and Jeffrey like his own grandchildren. Everyone was just about in tears when we said goodbye.

Yes, we didn't see the Lions, but the real reason we will be going back to Kruger Park is to see our friend Mike again! Thanks Mike for making our time in South Africa and Kruger very special......we'll never forget it!!

Recap on South East Asia and a couple of overdue apologies...

Travelling in South East Asia as a family was amazing. We began our twelfth week adventure in Hong Kong staying with friends who had recently moved there. It was a great way to acclimatize to the area, especially because they have three boys and the kids had a blast! Next stop was Bangkok. We didn't know what to expect when we arrived in Thailand because the Canadian Government had a travel advisory against Bangkok. There were many demonstrations against the government while we were there; in fact a demonstrator was killed less than 10 blocks from where we were staying the day we arrived. We were concerned at first, however, quickly forgot about the protesters as we didn't see or hear them. Kevin and Sammy got right into the swing if things with regards to massages. Our second night there they had a 1 hour foot massages in our room for about $7 each. That pattern of Kevin and Sammy getting pampered while Jeffrey and I found other distractions happened many times during our travels. In Bangkok we visited the Royal Palace, went on a canal tour and experienced our first Night Market. It was amazing, the number of vendors and food stalls that we found. The shopping was an adventure as bargaining is fierce. I was not good at it; however, both Kevin and Jeffrey soon became experts, a skill that they both have used countless times since.

After a few days in Bangkok, we headed North via an overnight train to a place called Chang Mai and then shortly after to Chang Dou. There we stayed at an awesome resort called the Chang Dao Nest. We stayed in a little cabin basically in the jungle. The food was wonderful and we met some great people there. One was a lovely woman from Austria, Karin, who was studying Thai massage at the Nest for 1 month. Karin had done lots of travelling and was really helpful as we planned our trip to the south. We enjoyed our chats and have kept in contact since then. We went on a three day/two night trek from the Nest. We rode elephants, went rafting, did lots of caving and hiked, hiked, hiked! At night we stayed in hilltribe villages, an experience we all were glad we did, however, all agreed that we probably wouldn't do again. The huts were really basic, with GIANT spiders, roosters underneath and hole the size of your fist allowing many creatures in throughout the night. We also did not have mosquito nets so the bugs had a feast! Our guide was really great. Sam was 62 years old and we all had to run to keep up with him. He loved Sammy and was always watching out for her. In fact he held her hand whenever it looked tricky. At the Nest we met a great family from England called the Irving's. They had three boys who both Sammy and Jeffrey got along wonderfully with. We only spent two days together as we had booked a flight south, but have forged a friendship since. They are considering immigrating to Canada which would be great (although last email indicated they may set up camp in Thailand instead)!

Going to the beaches in Thailand was highly recommended by a few people, so off we flew. Luck was on our side because we ended up staying on a spectacular island just off Phuket. Raya Island has 4 resorts on it and that's about it. You can walk all the way around the island in a few hours. We stayed in a good sized cabin perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Most nights we had dramatic storms lighting up the room with each crack of thunder. We only had power from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. so it was really relaxing. We met a Canadian family staying there with an eleven year old boy. It was really neat because he was not in standard school; however, he was studying under a Kung Foo master. Leaving Raya we took an overnight bus to Bangkok and then an overnight train to Laos. On the train to Laos, Jeffrey met a young man named Wery. He turned out to be working at the Indonesian Embassy in Vientienne and kindly assisted us in getting across the border and found us a guesthouse. After working for the rest of the day, Wery came back and took us for a tour of the capitol and shared a great dinner with us. Once again we met a new friend that we have kept in contact with. Laos afforded us another opportunity to meet new friends. While on a bus from Wang Vieng to La Prabang, we met an interesting couple. On and Marco were newlyweds who had been married in Switzerland, he's Swiss and she's Thai. They were returning to have a celebration in Thailand. They were currently living in Shanghai, China where he worked at the Swiss Embassy. We struck up a conversation and next thing you know we were arranging to travel together for the next few days. On arranged a guide and off we went. Our adventures included elephant riding, waterfalls, boating, many temples and of course eating. We experienced Lao noodles together, bought tons of fruit that we washed down with fruit shakes and Jeffrey tried his first curry. He loved it so much that he ate curry for 7 of the next 8 meals. I won't tell you what happened next, however due to stomach issues Sammy laid off fruit for a while and Jeffrey gave curry a break!

 

Leaving Laos where the atmosphere was peaceful and inviting, Hanoi was a complete culture shock. The drive from the airport to our hotel was crazy. The driver opened his door on the highway to spit (a discusting habit throughout many parts of Asia) then soon after Sammy opened her door to vomit! It was our introduction to Vietnam. We were amazed with how busy Hanoi was. There were motorcycles everywhere, many carrying whole families. Jeffrey saw a family of 6 on one! We also saw sheets of plate glass, live chickens, dead pigs, sheets of plywood, a bed, crates of eggs…….the list is never ending, all on motorcycles. It was one of our main forms of entertainment! Next we travelled via overnight train and then a van through the mountains to a place called Sapa, 20 km from the Chinese border. Jeffrey began feeling sick as we got on the train and took a nosedive from there. Our planned 2 night stay in Sapa turned into 7 nights because Jeffrey ended up with Dengue Fever. It was an awful time because there was limited English and no doctors --- so we were all very concerned. In fact we considered splitting up with Jeffrey and Kevin flying to Bangkok and Samantha and I continuing in Vietnam. That did not happen, thank goodness, so we continued with our travels. Halong Bay was the next place we visited and it was magical. The only problem was that Jeffrey seemed to be taking a turn for the worst, so after another overnight bus we landed in Hue and Jeffrey landed in the hospital. By this time I was seriously considering going home. After being examined by a doctor he said that Jeffrey was on the mend, only he had to take it easy for a while to recover. So easy we did. We made our way to Hoi Ann and settled for a week. There we found an amazing restaurant called The Cargo Club. We ate there every day, in fact one day we ate there twice. One night Kevin realized he had forgotten his wallet and the staff told us no worries they would see us the following day! We celebrated Sammy's 10^th birthdays in Nha Trang. She and her Daddy had a 2 hour hot stone massages to mark the day. We ate at a great Italian restaurant and Sammy wore her birthday dress she had made in Hoi Ann. It was a great day.

None of us were looking forward to Saigon because we disliked the bustle of Hanoi and Saigon was supposed to be far worse. We arrived at 7 a.m. and immediately fell in love. The city was full of life with venders all around and motorcycles everywhere! There are more than 4 million motorcycles in the city and each one speeds like a demon. Instead of scaring us it intrigued us. In Saigon we travelled to the Ho Chi Min tunnels and visited the War Remnants Museum. Both places left us feeling emotionally drained to see the horrors war had brought to Vietnam. We decided to go on an overnight tour of the Mekong Delta. We were really glad we did, because we met a wonderful father and his daughter on the tour. Their names were Elliot and Suzi and they live in San Diego. The 5 of us hit it off immediately and ate all our meals together. Elliot was a wealth of knowledge to us and Suzi took Samantha under her wings since they are both animal lovers and Suzi was missing her 2 daughters at home. We continued our friendship back in Saigon, sharing dinner and dessert. It was really sad saying goodbye as we had really enjoyed our time together. We hope to visit them in California; in fact Jeffrey has our trip there already planned out in his mind!

 

The last stop in South East Asia was Cambodia. We travelled once again by bus to Cambodia and stayed for 2 nights in Phnom Penn. There we visited the Killing Fields and toured a museum that highlighted the atrocities of the Khymer Rouge during the Pol Pot regime. We had watched the movie "The Killing Fields" together so had some prior knowledge, however, nothing prepared us for the grim realities. Once again the tragedies of war was evident everywhere we looked. Angkor Wat in Siem Reap was our final destination. There we hired an amazing guide for 3 days to highlight some of the temples. His name was Kimson and he immediately took a keen interest in Jeffrey. Kimson is expecting his first child, a boy, in February so I think he was looking into his future. Jeffrey has written about our time there so I will let you read what he has to say. Angkor Wat was beyond anything I imagined. Every temple we visited was magical, leaving us speechless at times. It is incredible the amount of details in each structure and how they have lasted for hundreds of years. I will never forget the things we saw and did in South East Asia. We met so many wonderful people that enhanced our travels there. In the future we have many people to visit around the world and look forward having many visit us in Toronto from abroad.

 

We were on a pretty good roll with our Blog until Jeffrey's illness. Kevin cracked the whip several times to spur us on; however, it has been a long time coming. We would like to apologize to Karin, the Irving's, Kimson, Suzi and especially Elliot for not posting earlier, as our time spent with you will never be forgotten.

New Years in South Africa by Sammy

    We arrived in Africa on the 31^st of December and it happened to be New Years. We stayed at this very nice place just outside of Johannesburg. We went out to a restaurant called Carnivore where we ate lots of meat such as: giraffe, crocodile, chicken, beef, kudu and lots more!!

    The next day we went and had breakfast. The breakfast was amazing! We had steak, sausages, lamb chops, fish, eggs, waffles, and over a hundred more items. Then we went to the pool for a while. While we were at the pool we met a very nice family!! There was a cool girl named Deandra and her mom and dad named Phildencia and Desmond. Pildencia's brother was there as well and his name was Jonathan. We talked with them for a while and enjoyed getting to know one another. They graciously asked us if we would like to go on a tour of Joberg and the Apartheid museum together and then to their place for a home cooked traditional meal. So of course we said yes!! It was about 8:00pm so we headed to bed after we grabbed a snack. We tried to get to bed early because we knew we had a big day ahead!!

    In the morning after an amazing breakfast again we started off in two cars. In our car we had Deandra, Phildencia, Jonathan, Elaine, and I. In their car they had Desmond, Kevin and Jeffrey. First we went to Hillbrow and saw lots of poverty. Daddy went outside their vehicle with his big camera and he was the only white guy there. Then we went to the apartheid museum for about 3 hours. After the museum, we drove to Soweto, a suburb where "blacks and coloured people" were force to live during the years of apartheid. I do not think there was as much poverty there than Hillbrow!

    Later in the day we went to the professional soccer fields. We went there because we were talking about soccer and South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010. We went to two of the fields and then we headed to the place where Nelson Mandela signed the freedom act. Phildencia also bought some vegetables at the local market for dinner.

    After a long day we headed over to their grandma's house to eat .Phildencia cooked rice, curry, lamb, steak, and maise. It was so delicious!!!!!!!! Their grandma was really funny! Deandra's friend also came over and I learned a new game. We had a wonderful day and we headed back to our hotel to go to bed.

     The next day they drove with us to get us on the right highway to head to Kruger Park. At the gas station we said our goodbyes. We heard horrible things about Johannesburg before going there; however, meeting such a nice family proved all our worries were for nothing. We hope to meet again sometime soon!

 

BY: SAMMYJ

My time in Siem Riep/Angkor Wat.

My time in Siem Riep/Angkor Wat was absolutely magnificent because of the things we did and the people we met.

    The things we did in Siem Riep/Angkor Wat included going to a temple that's 2kmx2km in perimeter. Everything about the temple was so detailed, carvings on the walls such as bhudas, Indian dancers, faces, etc... The temple itself had a wall/gate 2 km wide and I would say 10-14metres tall. That was also where the king lived for200-400 years (different king's of course). Another temple we went to was the temple with 4 heads. I don't really know if that's the proper name but that's what our guide told us. He was awesome but I'll tell you about him later. The temple with the 4 heads was my favourite because it was ever more detailed and the heads were awesome; huge even bigger than my dad's head and that's big. Another awesome temple was the temple with the tree because the movie Tomb Raider was filmed there. We watched Tomb Raider the night after and we were standing exactly where the movie was filmed. It was really cool!     

    Next I'm going to talk about our guide Kimson. Kimson gives some of the money that he gets for being a tour guide to orphanages and schools so right off the bat you can tell he's a great guy. He is just recently getting married and is having a baby in February. Kimson was living when the Kymer Rouge took over Cambodia for 4 years. He said he didn't remember much about it but during that time his father, father –in- law and 2 brothers- in- laws were killed. As a result he grew up most of his life without a father. Also a day before the Vietnamese ended the war his village was told by Pol Pot (the man in charge of the operation) that they would all be killed. Talk about the hand of God. Also when he about 12 years old he got shot in the knee and lived. Paul our driver was kind to us as well because he was very polite and friendly.

    Another reason why I enjoyed Siem Riep was related to a boy we met while eating dinner our first night. All throughout Cambodia young children sell things in order to make money for either school or to help their families. We began talking to a boy about my age and he seemed very bright. He went to Cambodian school every morning and then walked over 2 km over his lunch break to get to English class. He told us he was frequently in trouble for being late. We decided to give him $25 to buy a bike. We were never sure if he would use the money as it was intended, however, we hoped he would. On the last day in Cambodia before flying to Bangkok we saw him riding his bike to school about two minutes before we entered the airport. Our whole family was very happy that we made a difference in someone's life that was less fortunate than us.     

    Siem Riep/Angkor Wat was one of my favourite parts of the world that we have visited so far. The whole family loved the temples and we were really lucky to have Kimson as our guide!