Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Tues. Feb 9, 2010

Sarah writes:
Today we went to Victoria Falls.  It was HUGE!  We got soaked from all the mist being created from the spray from the falls crashing down.  It was so loud!!!  We went through the rainforest and saw monkeys, baboons and a variety of birds and butterflies.  One of the butterflies that was white kept on following Gabriel.  There were nine viewing points to look at the falls from.  One was called Danger Point.  It was a bunch of rocks with no rails.

One of the nine viewing points

Craig, Debbie, Marci and Jonathan soaking wet from the spray of the falls

When we got home we swam and had lunch, including milkshakes by the pool.  We went on the trampoline again.  We then went back to our hut/lodge to get ready for dinner at The Boma, A Place of Eating.  While we were getting ready we found a HUGE beetle on Craig Ross' (Debbie's husband) pants AND there was a bat in the bathroom.  It finally flew out the top of the lodge where the roof is open.

We went to The Boma and Alex, Gabriel and I ate a Mopani worm.  It was crunching because it was deep fried, but at the end it was like sand... really dry.  Very few people were brave enough to eat a worm and we got a certificate after we were done.

EEEEWWWW, tastes like sawdust mixed with sand...

WE DID IT!  Gabriel, Sarah, the "worm cook" and Alex show off their certificates.

I also got dots on my face and a toga-ish thing to wear over my clothes.  I also got my hair braided.

Dots and braids

Stripes for the boys

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Mon. Feb 8, 2010

Once again we were up early, but this time it was to say good-bye for now to Jo-burg and fly to Victoria Falls.

Sign at the airport

Walking from the plane to the terminal, something the kids had never done before

Sarah writes:
We flew to Zimbabwe and when we got to the airport, we discovered it was really small.  After leaving the airport, we went to our lodge.  The lodge was like a regular house.  The registration person told us specifically "if anything is broken, you will have to pay for it because the monkeys will come in the house and in the kitchen and break our things".  It was very funny how she said it!

Monkeys were everywhere and very curious and interested in you.

This one is getting off our back porch.  Good thing we were there or the monkey would have explored the house...

After putting our stuff away, we went straight to the pool!  As we were swimming, three monkeys started eating someone else's food because she was in the pool and the food was left on the table.  After we got out of the pool, we found out that they have an in-ground trampoline.  As we were walking back to our lodge to get ready for our sunset cruise, we saw a family of warthogs, six kids, a mom and a dad.

Warthogs grazing.  Hut in the background is just like the one we stayed in.  Thatched roof was very interesting.  Accommodations were lovely!

Just before we left for our sunset cruise, we saw several elephants drinking at the watering hole that was just down the hill from the hotel.

Sunset cruise on the Zambezi River.  Hippos and lots of variety of birds.  No crocs seen this trip...

When we went on the sunset cruise we saw five hippos.  After we got back we had dinner and went to bed.  our beds had mosquito nets over them.  I felt like a princess with the nets draped over my bed.

Johannesburg, Sun. Feb 7, 2010

We were all looking forward to sleeping in this morning after the late night party except for Jonathan, who offered to take the Ross' to the airport and left at 0730.  This would have been fine, except that no one told him about the house alarm, so when he opened the front door, the alarm went off and woke everyone up!

We spent the afternoon at the local Sunday flea market and found some amazing things.  We enjoyed looking at all the different African art that was available and did some shopping.

Sarah, Gabriel, Jordan and Harry enjoying lunch

Shopping, so many choices

Jordan, Sarah, Gabriel and Marci checking out what is for sale

Beautiful hand-made panels made by local women.  The panels depict African life.

The evening was spent with another extended family dinner and more lively conversation, much of it around politics and the changes in South Africa and the USA over the last 20 yrs.  The 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison is coming up and this seems to be a time for reflection of the changes that have occurred, good and bad.  It was fascinating to hear a local perspective.  More on this later.

South Africa is getting ready for soccer World Cup

In June 2010, South Africa will host the soccer World Cup as the first African nation to do so.  The entire country is getting ready and getting excited.  There are soccer stadiums all across South Africa and you see kids and adults playing soccer in open fields everywhere.

Here are some pictures of sculptures made out of rope lights that are scattered around the convention center in Johannesburg.

Welcome to South Africa

Bicycle rider

Fishing in the water feature outside a hotel

Taking a shower below a light pole

Player on a stretcher, outside the entrance to a medical clinic

Self-explanitory... outside of a restaurant named "Dribbler"

Group of fans outside the convention center entrance

Johannesburg, Sat. Feb 6, 2010

The boys really enjoyed their Bar Mitzvahs and did very well.  Back for more of the same segregation of sexes at the Chabad Shul.  It strikes me as weird that no one bats an eye at the integration of races, but women are still allowed to be discriminated against.  OK, I'm done for now on this topic...

After a lovely luncheon at the Shul, we spent the afternoon visiting with family and friends.  A slight rain started, so the kids stopped swimming and went back on the trampoline in the rain.  Later, Sarah and Kerry (Jonathan's sister and mother of the boys) had their hair done by a stylist, which Sarah thought was totally cool.  Sarah had her hair blown straight and based on the smiles, she loved it!

Alex Ross, Gabriel and Sarah enjoying the backyard trampoline at the Rubin's house.

The Ross' joined us for the Bar Mitzvah, lunch and visiting.  Then it was time for the big party.  The party was so much fun, lots of dancing, food, more visiting with extended family and friends that haven't been seen in 20 yrs or more.  The party was still going strong at midnight when we said goodnight and drove the Ross' back to their hotel for their early morning flight to Victoria Falls.  We will spend one extra day here in Jo-burg and then join them.

Yitzhak, Lianne, Jonathan and Kerry at the party.

Gabriel in his role as Master of Ceremonies for the Bar Mitzvah

Dancing at the Barmi

Jonathan and I had a lovely time

Johannesburg, Fri. Feb 5, 2010

Gabriel took this photo of the sunrise as we were flying to South Africa

We had an uneventful flight other than Sarah getting sick.  She had some kind of a stomach bug for just under 24 hrs, but she is an otherwise healthy kid and she bounced right back.  Probably was something she ate...

We left the Ross family in London on Wed night for our flight to Jo-burg.  They arrived this morning safe and sound and spent the day touring Pretoria with the father of one of Debbie's patients.  We hooked up with them tonight and will spend tomorrow with them at the Bar Mitzvah.

Rory and Jordan with the Torah scrolls opened to their Bar Mitzvah readings.  A gift made by Jonathan.

It was so lovely to see Jonathan's sister, Kerry, her husband Harry, and her two boys, Jordan and Rory!  It has been almost 2 yrs since we last saw them at Gabriel's Bar Mitzvah.  We have also had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with Jonathan's niece, Lianne, and her father Yitzak (Jonathan's uncle by marriage) who flew in from Israel for the big event.  It has been great catching up with them.  The kids spent the day playing, swimming and jumping on the trampoline.

Lianne, Jonathan and Yitzhak catching up.

Lianne and Sarah enjoying a cuddle.

In the afternoon, there was a violent thunderstorm that moved through.  The lightening was so close and the thunder so loud, you could literally feel it.  My kids were shocked and amazed!

It has been interesting driving on the left side of the road.  Jonathan offered to do all the driving, since this is where he learned how to drive... needless to say, some things can be unlearned!  Fortunately, it seems to be coming back to him.  Still, we spend a lot of time telling him to move over, or "wrong side"...

Services at the Chabbad Shul were interesting, to say the least.  I could barely tolerate the whole sitting apart thing... ach, I could go on and on, but will leave my ranting for another time.  We shared a lovely Sabbath meal after services and the big day is tomorrow.

London and flight to South Africa, Wed. Feb 3, 2010

Sarah writes:
Right now I'm on the plane to South Africa! :)
I'm SOOO happy because I HATE the cold weather!  Today we went to The London Dungeon.  It was pretty much like a haunted house.  First we took a picture of Gabriel, Alex and I getting our heads chopped off by my mom and Alex's mom, then my dad and Alex's dad were strangling the moms.  After the picture we went through the labyrinth maze with so many mirrors.  I think we just went in a big circle until someone let us out.  Then we learned about Sweeny Todd and got a hair cut from him... really scary man!  Then we learned about Jack the Ripper and his victims.  Then we went to the court room where Alex was found guilty for pinching lady's bottoms and Craig was found guilty for loving a horse! :)  Then we were sentenced to be hung.  The hanging was one of those drop rides and then we were done and left for the airport.

At the London Dungeon gift shop on their spooky chair!

We returned to our hotel via the Tube and everyone was excited about that.  We ate pasties on the ride and were a bit sad our London visit was over.
Now we are flying to South Africa (in coach class the rest of the way, boo hoo), but the plane was so empty we each have our own row of seats to stretch out over and sleep.

London, Tues. Feb 2, 2010

Sarah writes:
Today we went to the Westminster Abbey where we did a scavenger hunt.  We also went to "We Will Rock You" and saw it with my god-sister, Lisa.  The street that the theater was on was Totenham Court, just like Demeter sings in Cats.  Today the weather was light rain and cold!  Can't wait until tomorrow when we leave for Africa and warmer weather! :)

Everyone got to ride the Tube.  The kids were shocked at how long and steep the escalators were.

I couldn't get over seeing all the places I read about in my favorite books!  Drive down Fleet Street, Haymarket, Mayfair, seeing where Tyburn Tree was, etc... Loved it!

Went to visit the Tower of London, this lovely shot is from the tour bus.

Even though it was freezing, the kids insisted on sitting on the top of the bus, outside, in the cold!  The views were worth it, I might add.

We visited the Tower of London, saw the Crown Jewels (no funny ideas here!) and got a great history lesson.  Did you know London is more than 2,000 yrs old?  Originally founded by the Romans.

Outside Westminster Abbey.  No photos allowed inside.  Spent hours looking at beautiful, ornate and awe-inspiring tombstones.  Can't believe how many kings, queens and famous people that I am familiar with are buried here.  I guess I didn't understand that it was a church and a burial site.  They had a great audio tour to point out highlights and they gave the kids a "treasure hunt" type paper to complete with questions like "What is so-and-so's first name?" or "How many statues are in this area?"  Some of the questions were way tougher than you would think.  Kept the kids interested and excited to find the next answer.

This is a very big deal for Gabriel.  This is an English mailbox.  This is important to Gabriel because his favorite person, Mr. Bean, gets stuck in one while trying to retrieve a letter.  If you are not familiar with the character Mr. Bean, look him up.  The actor's name is Rowan Atkinson.  Gabriel loves all the old episodes of his from a British TV show.  Mr. Bean also drives an old Mini with right-hand drive, which Gabriel also saw while in London.  Too bad he didn't see Mr. Bean...

We finished our day off by having dinner with Lisa Hack who is studying Law in London and missing the Winter Olympics in her home city of Vancouver, BC.  She is the daughter of Jonathan's very good and long-time friend, Larry.  After dinner, we all went to see "We Will Rock You", a musical that incorporates the music of Queen.  The music was fantastic and fun to see the whole audience getting into it.  Story was really weak and boring, but if you know that ahead of time, like we did, you wont end up disappointed.  Kids loved it!!

London, Monday Feb. 1, 2010

Sarah writes:
Today we went to Westminster Abbey, but we couldn't go in because it was closed.   We crossed the street to go to the the bridge over the Thames river ("the terror of the Thames" from Growltiger) and I got lost.  :(
I couldn't find my parents, so I just went to the police then my mom found me and we went on.  We saw Big Ben also!  My parents are seeing Billy Elliot tonight and tomorrow night we are seeing "We will rock you".  Did you know there is a Starbucks, pizza Hut and McDonalds in London?  The weather today was cloudy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon, but of course COLD!

On the bridge over the Thames with the London Eye in background.

We arrived to hear Big Ben (name of the bell, not the clock tower) chime 12 noon exactly - quite an impressive tone!  You can pick out it's sound easily compared to other bells.

Parliament building with double-decker bus in foreground, Big Ben behind.  We turned to go to the bridge and Sarah went straight and she quickly became lost.  I found her in the guard hut for the Parliament Police.  It was a scary 5 minutes.  We didn't have a cell phone and no way for her to contact us or vice-a-versa.  Fortunately, she did the right thing and stayed put with someone safe, but it just about sent me to an early grave!

Bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) for dinner was a favorite of all.  Also, several meals of fish and chips.

Sarah and Marci after reuniting outside Parliament building.

Took a city tour on a double-decker bus and saw many amazing sights.  The kids liked the statues of famous people they knew.  Sarah and Alex liked this one of Isaac Newton.  

Jonathan and I went to see Billy Elliot and had amazing seats.  The show was just fantastic!  Almost half of the cast were children and we later found out that they get NO money for being in the show.  They cannot get paid until they are 16.  The music and dancing was fantastic and we are so happy we went!

London, Sunday Jan 31, 2010

In front of Buckingham Palace

Sarah writes:
Today we didn't do much because our flight only came in at 2:30pm.  We went to Buckingham palace and walked around in Green Park.  Then we went out to dinner and had a "Big Ben burger", which was a hamburger but had an egg on it.  Our hotel is very nice.  The Ross' (the family we are traveling with) have a view of Big Ben and the London Eye.  Today was great, but I can't wait till tomorrow.
PS.  I rode in a taxi for the first time!

Quite cold in London, notice the rosy cheeks!

We are all bundled up against the cold!

It was around freezing the entire time.

Gabriel, Sarah and Alex crammed into a red London phone booth.