Many years ago, Chuck shared a video of his friend bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls Bridge. It honestly looked terrifying. In subsequent years I kept hearing about bungee jumping off the bridge. The bridge sounded like one of THE best places in the world to bungee jump and I figured if I was ever going to do that, it’d be there.
Then I discovered that at the Bridge you can bungee or do the Swing which is like bungee jumping except you don’t end up upside down and you swing like a pendulum at the bottom instead of bouncing back up. Yes, please!
Before our trip, all of us were interested in doing the Swing jump. However, the kids were too young to jump off the bridge, but they could do the Gorge Swing at a gorge near the falls.
A little bit after their jump, it was time for me to do it. I kind of didn’t want to. We were at the end of our trip and I’d done so many cool, incredible things and was happy with how the whole trip had gone. Why tempt fate? Why add one more thing at the end?
Well, because I’m me and I knew I’d regret not doing it for the rest of my life. If I was ever going to do it, it was here and it was now. So I paid my money, and tried not to panic.
Victoria Falls Bridge
The jump area was empty and we didn’t see anyone jumping our entire time in Victoria Falls. And the guys running the place were so laid back and were chatting away while they got me suited up. I was not feeling confident.
Trying to look confident and excited
Then it was go time. I got to the edge, counted down from 3, and stood there. I just couldn’t make myself jump. I looked over the edge and my mind was a jumble of “WTF am I doing?” and “OK, I can do this”. The guys running it started giving me a hard time, but I told them to just give me a minute. I took a deep breath, counted down from 3, and… jumped.
I fell completely weightless for a few seconds. I can’t even explain how that feels. It’s surreal and your mind is trying to figure out what is happening and everything slows down making it seem longer than it really is. It’s actually a pretty disconcerting feeling, but a neat sensation to experience as well.
After falling for a few seconds, I felt the tug of the rope and I started to swing out into the gorge. My first thought as I started to swing? “I didn’t die!” At this point, I relaxed and enjoyed the swinging. After swinging the first arc, I looked up and waved to Chuck and the kids on the Bridge. I may have yelled out a loud “Woot” as well.
See the tiny speck that is me down there?
I swung back and forth a few times, swinging under the bridge then back into the gorge. That part was really cool and gave me a chance to look around and really experience where I was and what I was doing.
Then it was time to hoist me back up. Beckett hated this part of his jump, but I didn’t mind it at all…
…until I got to the catwalk under the bridge. The guy there hoisted my legs over the railing, but had me dangling backwards and tilted precariously towards the gorge. And then he unhooked one of my cables. I grabbed onto the rope and to him for dear life as I thought I was going to fall backwards back into the gorge. This moment was pure terror and no amount of convincing could make me let go. Eventually, I trusted him that he had me and I let go at which point they got me up and over the railing and onto safe ground. Phew!
From there, I had to clip in and out of the catwalk as I walked under the bridge to the side. It probably should’ve been scary, but it wasn’t at all. Eventually I got to the edge of the bridge where Chuck and the kids were waiting for me, and after a hug from Beckett, I declared :
It honestly took me a while to sort the whole experience out and come off the adrenaline high. I was so glad I did it, but amazed and freaked out that I did it at the same time.
I did it!Proof!
Later that night as I tried to fall asleep, I kept experiencing the free fall sensation and it would jolt me awake. Not fun.
Now that I’ve had time to reflect on it, I still think it was one of the scariest and stupidest things I’ve ever done. That said, I’m so glad I did it and experienced it, but I’m not sure I ever need to do it again. It was definitely a cool, adventurous experience though, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone adventurous.
Before our trip to Africa, both kids were interested in doing the Gorge Swing near Victoria Falls. They’d seen contestants bungee jump in Victoria Falls on the Amazing Race and both thought it looked fun.
The swing is like bungee jumping except you don’t end up upside down and you swing like a pendulum at the bottom instead of bouncing up and down.
The gorge with the swing platform in the distance
Chuck and I had a lot of reservations letting the kids do it, but they both kept asking to do it. In fact, Beckett had been begging to bungee jump since Thailand, 4 years prior. So we said OK, then crossed our fingers that we wouldn’t regret the decision.
Normally I would’ve liked to do my jump first, but the way the timing worked, they went first.
They decided to do it tandem so they’d be together.
All smiles before the jump
Once they were suited up, they went to the platform to get hooked up to the bungee cords. They were all set to go when all of a sudden they both burst into tears and starting saying they didn’t want to do it.
Ready to go… maybe…
The guide unhooked them and they quickly came back to us all upset. Mara said she didn’t want to do it any longer, but Beckett kept saying to give him a minute. After a few minutes, Beckett decided he still wanted to do it, so they got him suited back up.
The guide hooked him up and next thing we know, Beckett is walking off the platform and falling into the gorge.
My heart stopped until I saw him swinging at the bottom of the gorge and I knew he was OK.
See him way down there?
Once he swung back and forth a few times, they hauled him up to the platform. He hated this part and said it was the scariest part of the entire thing.
He was so happy to be back on solid ground!
I did it!
Afterwards, he was definitely happy he did it, but said he was shaken up. And he said he’s not sure he ever wants to do it again as well.
On our first full day in Victoria Falls, we decided to do a day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana. The Botswana border is about an hour from Victoria Falls and the park is about 25 minutes past that. Even though we’d just wrapped up 6 days in Kruger, we still wanted to visit Chobe as it’s known as one of the best safari parks in Africa.
Our morning started bright and early at 6:30am when we were picked up and transported to the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls. After a brief stop at our tour company’s office, we drove nearly an hour to the Botswana border arriving around 8am. We first got stamped out of Zimbabwe and then we proceeded to wait and wait and wait. We were the only people with our driver, but apparently we were meeting up with another group and a driver on the Botswana side which were both late. It took us about an hour for everyone to arrive and then we were off to a lodge to wait for our boat trip.
Around 10am we headed out on our boat safari which was the part I was most excited about. The boat trip takes place on the Chobe river and goes around an island that is currently owned by Botswana. On the other side of the island is Namibia as the Chobe river forms the border between the 2 countries.
We were out for about 3 hours and we had quite an adventure! We started off seeing lot of different birds (I highly recommend this trip if you’re a bird lover), a couple of crocodiles, hippos, a buffalo, and more.
African Darter. He dives in the water then swims with his head out of the water which makes him look like a snake. We saw one swimming with a fish in his mouth.Heron next to a crocodileFlying heronHippo in the waterHippo out of the waterPied kingfisher
Waterbuck and impalaThese guys landed on the front of our boat and hung out for part of our trip
We also saw a few new things: 2 different monitor lizards, a group of banded mongoose, and a rock python. We pulled right up next to the rock python. Yay!
Banded mongooseMonitor lizardRock python. We were so close to him. Too close!
And then things got interesting. Our boat guide thought it’d be awesome to pull right next to a crocodile. Poor Mara and Beckett were in the front of the boat and were so close! The boat guide then back out and came in even closer to the crocodile – so close that the crocodile swung around then dove in the water to get away. It freaked out everyone in the boat! And if that wasn’t enough, he pulled in super close to another crocodile and proceeded to sit there for a while. The kids tried to move away, but the boat guide told them not to move. After we moved away, Mara burst into tears and went to the middle of the boat because it scared her so badly. I don’t blame her – none of us would’ve been happy to be in her seat either. 🙁
Croc selfies – We are probably 7′ from the crocCroc & Chuck
Video of pulling close to the 2nd croc:
After the crocodile scares, we tooled around some spotting more hippos, birds, and crocodiles.
More hippos. Thankfully we didn’t get too close to them!
And then we headed over to watch some elephants. Two of the elephants did some play fighting while the 3rd crossed the river. Once on the other side, he flopped down in the mud then flopped on the other side to cover himself in mud. Because the mud is so slippery, he had to get down on his knees to crawl out of the mud and onto the land. The other elephants also crossed and proceeded to take a mud bath as well. It was really cool just watching them go about their day.
Elephants play fightingElephant crossing the river
Crawling out of the mud on his knees
At this point, it was time to head the rest of the way around the island, get close to Namibia (but we didn’t land so we can’t count it!), and head back to the lodge for lunch.
So close to Namibia!Beckett approves of the boat safari!
Lunch was a buffet back at the lodge, which unfortunately didn’t have very many options at all. Chuck and I were able to find something to eat, but Mara and Beckett didn’t find much at all. The desserts and drinks were swarming with bees too (no joke) which made them very unappealing. At least we prepared ahead and brought protein bars and nuts so they had something to snack on.
After lunch, it was time for our game drive. We headed out along the Chobe river and got a similar view to the boat safari, but this time on land.
Our game vehicle
Kori BustardWarthog on his kneesRed billed hornbill (I think)
We also saw so many elephants! Chobe has 70,000 elephants in the park, and it was fantastic seeing huge herds of them all over the land.
Elephant drinking waterHippos in the mud (they look like shiny rocks) and elephants on the land
Crawling out of the mud on his knees
We then stopped for a quick drink break and to stretch our legs for a few minutes before continuing on our game drive back to the lodge.
We ran into a group of giraffes, and also got some great views of the Chobe river on the way back. We also saw another rock python coiled near a tree. I don’t have any good pictures – consider yourself lucky as he was HUGE!
African fish eagle
Close to the lodge we ran into a herd of zebra as well.
Our game drive lasted about 2 hours and ended around 4pm. We then left the park and headed straight to the Botswana/Zimbabwe border to make the trek back to Victoria Falls. We got back to the Zambia side of the falls around 6pm and were quite hungry and exhausted. We stopped at an Italian restaurant we’d been at the night before hoping for a quick meal.
Unfortunately everyone else seemed to have the same idea so it took forever to get our food. In the meantime, poor Chuck was so exhausted he threw up and the kids and I were trying desperately not to nap on the table.
Eventually we ate, made it back to our hotel, and promptly fell asleep.
All in all it was a long, but great day. It would’ve been nice if we’d left a bit later so we could’ve eaten a proper breakfast and if lunch was better. But the park itself was wonderful and I’m thrilled we were able to include it on our trip.
Details: We booked our day trip through Shockwave Adventures. They had great reviews and also offered us a great price. What I didn’t realize was that they picked up us 30 minutes earlier so we could get from Zambia to Zimbabwe and then we drove from the Zimbabwe border to Botswana. Other tour companies will pick you up 30 minutes later and drive on the Zambian side to the border which means we could’ve slept in a little more AND gotten some breakfast. There also wasn’t a tour guide for our whole journey and we kept getting passed from person to person (to be expected), but no one really told us what was going on. I understand that others can run late, but I don’t think the hour at the Botswana border was handled well. We also were kept in the dark about the rest of the day. The tours themselves were great though, so it’s hard to be upset. If I was going to do it again though, I’d pick a different company.
We arrived into Zambia on the afternoon of July 4th for our visit to Victoria Falls which was the last stop on our 3+ week Africa tour.
Livingstone, Zambia airport
Victoria Falls straddles the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Falls themselves are in Zambia, but the best vantage point for viewing is on the Zimbabwe side.
We chose to stay on the Zambia side for a few reasons: 1, we couldn’t find non-sketchy lodging in our price range on the Zimbabwe side, 2 we could use points to stay at a Marriott on the Zambia side, 3, Zimbabwe was having money and safety issues, and 4, I thought more of our activities were on the Zambia side.
It turns out I was very wrong on that last point, and we would’ve been better off on the Zimbabwe side. Every activity we wanted to do was on the Zim side, so we really never had a need to go to the Zambia side at all. And since all the hotels weren’t near the falls, we had to pay for a taxi to and from the hotel THEN go through immigration on the Zambia side, THEN take a taxi across the bridge and THEN go through immigration on the Zimbabwe side which was quite time consuming and a pain in the butt. In fact, I think I counted that we EACH got 32 passport stamps in 3 days just from crossing borders over and over. Lesson learned. Luckily we were able to get a multi-entry visa for each country or this would’ve cost a fortune!
Zambia border crossingLots of baboons hang out near the border crossingsWaiting to cross the Victoria Falls BridgeEntering Zimbabwe on the Victoria Falls BridgeVictoria Falls border crossing
Our hotel was great though so that part worked out well!
Once we arrived, we dropped our bags at the hotel, and headed to the Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe for a proper high tea. None of us have ever had a proper tea before and we couldn’t have picked a better spot. We couldn’t see the falls from the grounds, but we did have a neat view and had grazing warthogs come by as well. Not to mention pastries, petit fours, tiny sandwiches, and 4 different types of tea!
The Victoria Falls HotelYou can see the mist from the Falls in the distance
The next day we were up bright and early for our day trip to Chobe in Botswana. We were exhausted after that and had dinner near our hotel, then went to bed.
The next day was our last day in Victoria Falls and we still hadn’t really seen the falls! Since we all wanted to do the swing jump, we headed to lunch in Zimbabwe then to sign up the kids to do their jump. Unfortunately the only border officer handling entrances decided to leave right as we made it to the front of the line. We assumed he was taking a bathroom break and would be back shortly. About 45 minutes later, another officer finally came over and stamped us through. The line was ridiculous at this point and we lost some precious time!
Victoria Falls town
After lunch, the kids went to do the Gorge Swing. You can read more about that here.
And then after that, it was finally time to see the Falls! They were magnificent!
The Falls are the largest in the world and span over a mile. It isn’t one big waterfall, but consists of multiple falls. At the park we started by seeing the Falls on the western side then walked east the length of the Falls till we hit the end of Zimbabwe. Some areas were so wet that we ended up soaked by the end. Words don’t convey how spectacular it was to be there seeing the Falls, and hearing the rush of water thunder down.
Western edge of the falls
Beckett trying to touch the rainbow
Beckett catching the rainbow. He didn’t find a pot of gold though. 🙁
Then it was time to return to the Zambia side for dinner and packing. The next morning, we headed to the Victoria Falls Airport in Zimbabwe and started our long journey home.
After our amazing first day in Kruger, we still had 4 more full days in the park plus the morning of leaving the park. And what an incredible few days those turned out to be as well.
The morning of day 2, I woke at the crack of dawn and went down to the restaurant deck to see if I could catch any early morning predators. I didn’t see much except a mama and baby hippo and some kudu grazing near the restaurant.
Mama and baby hippo and a 3rd hippo in the waterKudu
After breakfast, we checked out of Lower Sabie camp and headed to Satara camp. The two camps are 93km apart and the trip was expected to take 3:45. It took us about 5+ hours, but that included a stop at Tshokwane picnic spot for an unusual lunch. Along the way we saw more giraffe, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog, and elephants.
ElephantBuffaloZebra and buffaloZebra crossing the roadElephant spraying himself with mud
We also saw a few new animals such as ostriches (that were fighting), vervet monkeys at the picnic spot, and baboons running along the road.
Ostriches fighting
Our trip also took a little longer because we had an elephant in the road that wouldn’t move. An oncoming car tried to go around him, but the elephant promptly put a stop to that and made them back up, so we had to wait for him to move on.
Elephant in the road. Nope, not going to try to go past him!
We also made a pit stop at Nkumbe hill lookout for a great view of Kruger. The landscape was very different here from what we’d seen in Lower Sabie.
View from Nkumbe Hill lookout
Once at Satara camp, we laid low the rest of the day. We still got to see impala, kudu, a tree squirrel, and baboons at camp. There was also a snake at camp, but we’re not going to talk about that.
Baboons playing at campOur hut at Satara and our rental car
Day 3 was supposed to be a low-key day without anything scheduled except a guided night drive and doing some laundry. We woke at the crack of dawn anyway to try to see some predators (they hunt in the early mornings and late in the day). We were out for about an hour before we stumbled upon some Southern Ground Hornbills. We only knew what they were because we’d seen signs about them being endangered and to report them for tracking if you see them, which we did. It was really cool to see something endangered and “rare”.
Endangered Southern Ground Hornbill
We also had some good viewing of the usual animals including a giraffe walking across the road. In fact, I could do an entire blog post of all the animals we had to stop to let cross the road.
Giraffe in the road
We were giving up and heading back to camp for breakfast when we spotted a lion walking in the road. He eventually stopped and looked at us for a while before lying down. He was amazing to watch! We saw him licking himself, but my favorite part was watching him turn towards the breeze, close his eyes, and enjoy the breeze. With our binoculars we got close up views of him too. Eventually he got up and walked into the bush and within about 15′ he was gone from view. What an incredible experience.
Lion enjoying the breezeLion licking his paws
That afternoon Chuck and I went out right before sunset, but we didn’t see anything new. And then that night we went out on a guided night drive from 8-10pm. It’s pitch black out so they give a few people searchlights that they use to canvas the dark. We found a male and female lion hanging out, then we found a male lion sleeping the road. Our game vehicle pulled up right next to him – no joke, our wheels were maybe 6′ from him. He could’ve easily stood up and tried to eat us, but luckily he was happier to sleep.
Lion sleeping in the roadThis shows how close we really are to him. I think that’s Beckett’s head in the way.
We also saw jackals, a genet cat, and an owl as well as some of the usual animals.
Day 4 it was time to leave Satara and make the 4 hour drive to Skukuza camp. We made a brief pit stop at Tshockwane picnic spot for a potty break then motored to Skukuza. The vegetation got so thick near Skukuza that you couldn’t see a thing unless it was right next to the road or there was a mob of cars pulled over pointing out something interesting. We still saw ostrich, 2 more lions, elephants, zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog, baboon, kudu, and hippos out of the water. And we saw a honey badger!
OstrichKudu crossing the road2 lions on the river bankMom and baby elephantWarthog
Once at camp, we ate lunch then checked into our cottage by the river.
Our cottage in Skukuza
Then Chuck and I went out on a sunset drive hunting for leopard or cheetah. Instead we saw a hyena that trotted beside our car. He was much cooler than I expected.
HyenaHyena
Day 5 was our last full day in Kruger. I woke really early and was treated to a mass migration of birds along the river. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen and lasted a good 20 minutes. There had to be hundreds of thousands of birds that flew by!
Mara was kind of over all the driving at this point, but Beckett convinced me to sign up for a sunset drive with him as he was hoping to see a bushbaby.
Chuck and I were still hunting for leopard and/or cheetah so we went out in the morning, but didn’t see any. We did find a troop of baboons covering a bridge though. They were all over and cars were forced to slalom around them if they wanted to cross. When we tried to cross, we had one baboon jump on the back of our car! He sat there looking into our trunk and at us. Eventually we drove away and he fell off although he tried really hard to hold onto our rear wiper. Crazy!
Baboon on our car windowBaboons all over the bridge
That evening Beckett and I headed out on the most amazing guided sunset drive. You can read more about it here.
Chuck and Mara stayed back at camp and had an African braai. A braai is basically a BBQ and the camps have BBQ grills set up outside the huts and throughout camp. They grilled impala, steak, corn, potatoes, and garlic bread and had a fantastic time!
Mara, grill masterImpala, steak, garlic bread, corn, and potatoes
After our sunset drive, Beckett and I grabbed dinner and on the way back to our cottage, Chuck spotted the biggest porcupine I’ve ever seen. He started following it trying to get a picture and I was trying to light it with my flashlight. That is until the porcupine started running at me, so I promptly turned and ran away. I wish we’d gotten a good picture because he was huge and so cool looking.
Day 6 came and it was time to check out and leave the park. We drove about 2 hours to one of the gates and got one last look at all our favorite animals along the way: giraffe, elephants, antelope, a rhino mom and her baby, and more. We even saw a female lion eating a buffalo kill.
Baby rhino – so cute!VulturesLots of vultures in a tree near a lion killMore hornbills?
We also got a family picture before leaving the park.
Last morning in Kruger
I was only a tiny bit sad to be leaving the park only because the experience was over. Even though I’d been dreaming of an African safari for as long as I can remember, our time in Kruger exceeded my expectations. I’m still blown away by all the animals and birds we saw. And I feel much richer and so incredibly lucky for having experienced this amazing adventure. All of us do. What a highlight of my life!
Here are a few more pictures and video:
My favorite birdWaterbuckShows Mara’s perspective of animals crossing the roadAnother colorful rainbow birdCool treeTermite moundGuinea Fowl – Mara called them African chickens because they were everywhereCrocodile
Day 2 (Lower Sabie to Satara):
Driving Route: We took the H10 north from Lower Sabie camp to Tshokwane picnic spot (approx. 40km and took about 2.5 hours) Animals: Giraffe, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog, elephant, ostrich, baboon, and monkeys at Tshokwane
Driving Route: After Tshokwane picnic spot, we took the H1-3 to Satara (approx. 44km and took about 2 hours) Animals: Elephant, giraffe
Animals at Satara camp: Baboon, kudu, impala, tree squirrel, vervet monkey
Driving Route for sunset drive (4:30pm): S100 Animals: Zebra, giraffe
Day 4 (Satara to Skukuza):
Driving Route: We took the H1-3 from Satara to Tshokwane. Then we took the H1-2 from Tshokwane to Skukuza. The whole trip is around 93km and took about 4:45 Animals: Ostrich, honey badger, elephant, zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog, baboon, hippos out of the water, 2 lions, kudu
Driving Route for sunset drive (4:30pm): H4-1 Animals: Hyena, buffalo
Day 5 (Skukuza):
Driving Route: We took the H4-1 to the H12 bridge and back Animals: Baboons on H12 bridge, monkey, kudu, impala and warthogs near camp. Porcupine and a small antelope at camp.
Day 6 (Skukuza to Malelane Gate):
Driving Route: We took the H3 from Skukuza to Malelane gate. It took about 2:15. Animals: Rhino mom and baby, lion with buffalo kill, elephants, giraffe, zebra, impala, kudu, vultures
On our last full day in Kruger, Beckett kept saying that he wanted to do a guided sunset drive. We were surprised as we’d spent so many hours in the car hunting for animals already. I think he partly wanted to see a bushbaby, but he also said he wanted to see more animals. So he and I signed up for it through the camp while Chuck and Mara stayed back to have an African braai. The drive only cost us about $30 for the 2 of us, and I have to say it was the best $$ I’ve spent in a long time. We LUCKED OUT and had the most amazing drive of pretty much our entire trip!!
We left at 4pm and quickly saw elephants, a klipspringer, duiker, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, impala, and more. Some in our game vehicle were probably new to the park as they were so excited about seeing each of these and kept asking to stop. Our guide would stop briefly, but kept telling us that he had news of an animal sighting he was in a hurry to get us to. He didn’t say which animal, but we knew it would be good.
KlipspringerElephant
Eventually we came up a hill and there she was: the most incredible leopard lounging in a tree! I couldn’t believe it! She is seriously one of the most beautiful animals I’ve ever seen! We pulled off next to the tree and sat there for a good 10 minutes taking pictures and watching her. And with the binoculars, we got close up views of her. After a bit, she stood up, stretched, then settled down for a nap on another branch. AMAZING!
Leopard in a treeOpen mouthedShe is so amazing!Stretching kittyRear paws dangling as she napsLoved seeing all 4 paws dangle as she napped!
After leaving her, we saw 2 White Rhinos grazing nearby.
2 Rhinos
Then we saw an African wildcat. He looked like a house cat!
At this point, the sun was setting so we transitioned into a dusk drive. After a bit, we came upon a den of hyenas. The den was right beside the road and the pups sat there looking at us before running in and out of their den and around their mom. The pups were at points maybe 7′ from our game vehicle! They were adorable!
Hyena pups3 Hyena pups and their mom
The sky then turned dark and we got out the search lights to scan the darkness. We found a white tailed mongoose, African wildcat, and Beckett found a scrub hare.
One of the guys on our game drive knew about a lion kill next to the road near camp, so the guide drove us there. And we were treated to watching a male lion feast on a buffalo kill. It was pitch black and we only had search lights to watch him. My pictures barely came out, but still gives you an idea what we saw. Eventually he got up and walked away and we saw a female lion laying there. The way the lion looked at us before he left, Beckett and I were worried he was going to walk out of the bush in front of the game vehicle and attack us.
I navigated us back to the spot the next morning so Chuck and Mara could see, but the lion and carcass were gone. 🙁
Lion eating a buffalo killLove his eyes
We got back to camp a bit after 7pm absolutely giddy by what we’d seen. I thought we’d see a few things, but cannot believe our good luck at seeing a leopard, a lion with a kill, rhinos, and 4 other new animals. This 3 hour drive was another highlight of our trip and something I won’t ever forget. Beckett says seeing the leopard was the highlight of his entire time in Kruger as well.
I’ve dreamed of going on an African safari since I was a kid. Back then it seemed unrealistic and reserved for the ultra-rich. As I got into my 20s, I started seeing affordable deals and knew it could happen someday. So when I first created my bucket list in my late 20s, the African safari was #1 on the travel list. However, it still took me another 20+ years to get there. But I finally got there! And I got to take my kids and husband along which was the icing on the cake.
We arrived at the Crocodile River outside the park around 10am and immediately saw hippos and crocodiles in the river! Upon crossing the bridge, we saw our first giraffe as he casually ate then walked right in front of our car!
Hippos in the Crocodile RiverGiraffe about to cross the road
We weren’t even in the park yet and had already seen 3 different types of animals!
After entering the park, we headed to the Hippo Pools to see more hippos. Along the way we saw a rhino in the distance, more giraffe, a dwarf mongoose, and of course hippos at the pools.
Hippos at the Hippo Pools
We then headed to the Lower Sabie camp. It’s only 34km to camp, but given that you want to go very slowly so as not to miss anything, it took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there. It also took a long time because we kept stopping over and over to see the animals.
We quickly came upon 3 White Rhinos grazing right next to the road! I can’t even describe how excited we were. We sat there for a long time watching them and taking pictures and video. I still feel so incredibly lucky we got such a great rhino sighting!!
3 RhinosClose up of a white rhino
As we drove on we saw warthogs, more giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, and so many impala.
Warthogs. There was a baby warthog, but I didn’t get a picture of him.Wildebeest crossing the roadZebraZebras, impala, and a cool birdI love his stripesHerd of impala with warthogs and a zebra mixed inZebra and impala
After that, we came to some water and saw a huge crocodile basking in the sun. We also saw some neat bird – I think he’s the Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill.
CrocodileSouthern Yellow-billed Hornbill (I think)
Next, we came upon a herd of elephants beside the road. One of them was pulling bark off a tree and eating it. One of the moms had a baby with her and after a while, she looked at us, flared her ears, and made it clear we were no longer welcome, so we quickly drove away.
Elephant pulling bark off a tree and eating it
Next up was more giraffe and hippos out of the water!
Giraffe in foreground with hippos in the backgroundHippos out of the waterPretty heron?!?
As if that wasn’t enough, as we got near camp, there was a mass of cars pulled off looking at a lion! Our first lion sighting in the first few hours!
See the lion right above the tree stump?
We finally pulled into camp around 1:30pm quite hungry. The restaurant was on a fantastic deck with an incredible view. As we ate, we saw at least 10 giraffes across the river and some buffalo relaxing at the water’s edge.
The restaurant at Lower Sabie Camp. Not the best picture, but the only one I have of the deck and surrounds.View from the restaurantBlack bellied starling?!? These guys were all over the restaurant trying to swoop in for a snack.
After getting settled into our cottage at camp, Chuck and I went to Sunset Dam around 4:30pm for sunset. There are usually big cat sightings at the dam, but we only saw more hippos, crocodiles, and a bunch of birds. It was still neat to see though.
Hippo in the water, crocodiles on the edge of the water, and a storkHippo with it’s mouth openBeautiful, rainbow bird. I have no idea what it is, so I referred to them as “fun birds” the whole trip.
At dinner, we were treated to a beautiful sky. We also had a barn owl in the rafters hooting away. And there were impala and kudu grazing in the grasses beside the restaurant. Unreal.
I’m still in awe of our first day in Kruger. It was a complete highlight of my life, and even the kids and Chuck were blown away by all they saw. Definitely a dream come true for me!
Driving Route:
We entered Kruger via the R571 from Komatipoort to the Crocodile Bridge Gate.
After the gate, we took the left fork to the S25, then a left onto S27 to the Hippo Pools.
We then retraced back to the gate and took the right fork onto H4-2 to Lower Sabie camp.
The H4-2 trip is 34km and was scheduled to take 1:20, but it took us about 2 hours.
Animal Sightings:
Before the Crocodile Bridge Gate: Hippopotamus, Crocodile, Giraffe
To/From the Hippo Pools: Giraffe, Rhinoceros, Dwarf Mongoose, Hippopotamus
Along H4-2 from Crocodile Bridge Gate to Lower Sabie camp: Rhinoceros, Warthog, Impala, Wildebeest, Zebra, Giraffe, Hippopotamus, Elephant, Lion, Crocodile
At Lower Sabie camp: Buffalo, Hippopotamus, Kudu, Impala, Giraffe, Barn Owl, and lots of birds
At Sunset Dam: Hippopotamus, Crocodile, Storks, and lots of other birds
I remember watching a nature show years ago and seeing Great Whites leaping out of the air at a place called Seal Island near Cape Town, South Africa. It instantly got put on my bucket list, although it was one of the few experiences on my list that made me really nervous.
It turns out, the great whites only leap out of the air at this one spot and only for a few months out of the year. As luck would have it, that time frame coincided with when we’d be there!
I asked the kids if they wanted to go along, and they were both huge yeses. In fact, I was the only nervous one out of the 4 of us.
So on our 2nd day in Cape Town, we got up at 4:30am and drove an hour south of Cape Town to Simon’s Town. Around 7am we headed out in the freezing cold with our fingers crossed we’d see some sharks. It was so cold out that the 3 of us bought hats at a different dive shop to try to keep warm, yet we still needed their cover ups and blankets to not be miserable.
After 30 minutes, we arrived at Seal Island and started the look out for the sharks.
Seal Island in the distance
The sharks are hunting baby seals that are going out feed with the adults for the first time. So first you find a group of seals returning to Seal Island then watch them to see if they get attacked. I LOVED seeing the seals swimming in – and seeing the babies – and quickly found myself rooting for the seals to have a safe passage even though I really wanted to see a shark.
After about 30 minutes, the dive company, African Shark Eco Charters, towed a decoy behind the boat for about 30 minutes hoping a shark would go for the decoy. Unfortunately we didn’t see any sharks and the other boats didn’t seem to be having any better luck. In fact, it was really quiet out there and nobody seemed to be seeing anything.
We tried towing the decoy some more, then took a spin around Seal Island before anchoring up and chumming the water. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. …And nothing.
Luckily the ocean was pretty calm and flat, but Mara still got sick and threw up a few times. Beckett and I did OK though. Once it warmed up, he was enjoying himself.
We stayed out there an extra hour hoping to get lucky, but finally gave up around 11:30am, took one last spin around Seal Island, and went back to shore.
Our dive company offers a voucher to go back out for free if you don’t see any sharks, so we were hopeful we could go out the next day. But then we found out they were completely booked for the next day which was our last day in Cape Town. It was looking like we got shut out of seeing the sharks and spent a ton of $$ on a boat ride. 🙁
We checked in with the dive company a couple more times in the hope that someone canceled, but they were still full.
Driving back from Simon’s Town
Once we got back to our AirBnb, we called again and this time found out they had 2 spots available. Mara didn’t want to go out again, but Beckett did so we had to figure out who got to go. We decided that Chuck and I would go and the kids would stay home and sleep in which Beckett said he as fine with.
So at 4:30 the next morning, Chuck and I headed back down to Simon’s Town hoping to get lucky.
As soon as we got out to Seal Island, there was a shark attack nearby. I missed the initial strike, but was able to see the shark strike a couple more times.
Then there was another attack!
Shark attack!
Once things died down, they towed the decoy to see if we’d get any bites. And we did!
Shark attack!
They then dropped anchor, chummed the water, and set out the dive cage. Four people jumped at going first so they got all suited up in thick wetsuits – the water is COLD – and waited. Once the crew saw a shark, they hopped into the cage and got an underwater view of a shark swimming by. I think they saw 2-3 sharks before their time was up.
The shark cageCan you see the shark?!?Shark!
Chuck and I were in the next group and hopped into the cage. Despite the 7mm wetsuit, hood, and boots, the bitterly cold water still makes its way in. And our hands were exposed which didn’t help.
Waiting for our turnIn the shark cageFrom in the cageIn the cage
I personally hated being in the cage. I didn’t have a good place to anchor my feet without them sticking out, I was trying to hold on to the top of the cage so my head didn’t slam into it as the water bobbed us around and slammed us into the boat, and I was shaking because I was so cold. I kept thinking about getting out, but knew I’d regret it if I missed seeing a shark.
Eventually the crew yelled that shark was approaching and told us to go underwater and look near the buoy. We had scuba hoses so we could breathe underwater – that’s why I picked this particular company – so we could watch without having to come up for breaths.
I saw a huge shark lazily swim maybe 10′ in front of us before he turned and headed out in the distance. I couldn’t believe it! The water is so murky, yet I still got a good look at him.
We hung out for a while longer in the cage, but didn’t get anymore sightings. Once out of the cage, I realized that I was the only one in our group of 4 to see the shark! I have no idea how they missed him, but felt even more fortunate that I saw him!
Sadly that was the last shark sighting of the day and after waiting around a bit longer, we headed back to shore.
I’m so grateful that Chuck and I got to go back out a 2nd time and that we got to see some sharks. I was sad the kids never got to see one, but seeing as Beckett was throwing up when we got back to our rental, it ended up working out for the best.
After 5 days of island life on Mauritius, we headed to Cape Town for 3 days. Instead of a hotel, we got a condo through AirBnB near the V&A Waterfront. Wasn’t always the most convenient place relative to all the attractions we visited, but the views were nice and we had plenty of dining nearby.
The views from our condo:
The view from our condo – Table Mountain in the distance
The first morning we grabbed breakfast then headed to Table Mountain. The weather wasn’t perfect, but we’ve heard that Table Mountain gets shut down often due to bad weather and wind, so we needed to jump on getting up there when we had a decent enough window.
We drove part way up the mountain, then took the cable car to the top. The car spins so everyone gets a view as you ascend.
The side of the mountain on the ascentThat’s a long way down!
It was freezing up top! It was also a bit hazy so the views weren’t amazing, but it was still pretty cool. It was also far rockier up there than we expected. We spent about an hour wandering around the top taking in the views of the city from all sides.
We gave the kids a camera so they could capture their perspective. We should’ve known this is what we’d find:
At one point we saw a sign warning not to feed the Dassies. What on earth is a dassie? Eventually we found out. They’re adorable!
Beckett fell in love with them and bought himself a stuffed dassie to bring home.
After Table Mountain, we grabbed lunch, then headed down to the V&A Waterfront. The waterfront area has a mall, indoor food stalls, shops, and restaurants. We ended up picking this pub for dinner and the food was awful, but at least their hard cider was good. 🙂
Table Mountain in the distanceV&A Waterfront
The next morning we were up at 4:30am for our Great White Shark trip in Simon’s Town. After the shark trip, we had lunch then went to Boulders Beach to see the wild penguins. Yes, Penguins! They were adorable. We saw plenty of baby penguins and saw them wandering around, swimming, and just hanging out. We even had one “attack” Beckett’s shoe.
Penguin “attacking” Beckett’s shoe:
We then headed back to our condo and relaxed the rest of the day as we were pretty exhausted. Since we didn’t see any sharks, we called the shark company to see if spots were available for the next morning and 2 spots opened up. So the next morning, Chuck and I woke at 4:30am and headed back down to Simon’s Town to try to see Great Whites again. The kids were able to sleep in and had a nice, relaxing morning playing games on their iPads.
Unfortunately Beckett started to not feel well right before we got home and proceeded to throw up once we got back. The poor kid had a fever and felt awful so that shut down any plans we had for the afternoon. Mara and I did venture back to the V&A waterfront to wander around and have a snack. And later Chuck and Mara went out for dinner and brought me home food so I could stay with Beckett. It wasn’t exactly how we expected our last day to go, but such is life. And at least we got to do all the things we REALLY wanted to do.
Luckily Beckett was well enough the next morning for our flight to Kruger. It still took him 2-3 days to get fully better, but at least he could travel.
Overall, I went into Cape Town with high expectations and came away disappointed. I thought I’d fall in love with the city, but I didn’t. It was pretty, and I could see how fun it’d be during the summer. I think Chuck and I would’ve enjoyed it more if we had gone to Stellenbosch to go wine tasting or driven down to the Cape of Good Hope. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy my time there and am very happy we went. But I left not really ever needing to go back.Save
Once I saw pictures of Mauritius, I quickly added it to my list of places to go. It looked incredible! Plus, I’m always up for visiting a tropical island, especially one in a location I’ve never been before, the Indian Ocean.
When I booked our United flights, I realized we could stop over in Mauritius for free on our way to Cape Town. This seemed like a perfect way to start our trip.
We first flew on a red-eye to London, had a long layover in London, flew to Istanbul’s Ataturk where we had just enough time to grab some Turkish Delight and a snack, then took another red-eye to Mauritius. In total, we had 21 hours of in air flying time, and it took 30 hours, 30 minutes to arrive. We hired a shuttle company to drive us the 1 hour to the resort as we didn’t feel like landing and doing it ourselves after that much travel.
We were so happy to arrive especially once we saw our resort, the Victoria Beachcomber. Mara was so excited she threw up in their lobby. Ok, it was from motion sickness not happiness, but she did feel better after throwing up then seeing the place.
Yeah, this works. Yes, that is the kids posing.
After checking in, we changed then headed to the buffet lunch as we were quite hungry even though our stomachs thought it was 6am. And then it was time to relax and play!
After lunch, the kids were really excited to try water skiing. They were able to stand up pretty easily holding onto the bar beside the boat. They loved it!
Beckett ended up going out water skiing 3 or 4 times during our stay, while Mara went out twice.
Water skiing platformBeckett getting ready to goMara water skiing
Mara water skiing:
Beckett water skiing:
Over the next few days, we took advantage of the free kayaks, stand up paddleboards, paddle boats, water skiing, mini sailboats, and more. The kids loved being able to go down to the beach and head out in one of the water craft. Chuck and I took them out too, but loved watching the kids enjoy the ocean just as much.
The kids stand up paddleboardingKayakingMini sailboat. Both kids hated it!An array of fun ocean toysChuck on a stand up paddleboardThe kids spent so much time in the pool that I thought they were going to turn into fish
For a small fee, they also had an inflatable chair that they drag behind a motor boat which looked like a lot of fun. Chuck and Mara went first, followed by Beckett and I. It was a lot of fun although I made the mistake of giving the driver a thumbs up meaning to go faster – oh, we went faster and we really started flying around. It was awesome. Until the next morning when I couldn’t walk and had to cancel out of scuba diving. But it worked out as I went for a massage to help and had an interesting, but very good massage. The kids really wanted to go on the chair again, so we sent them out on our last day.
The kids getting towed in a giant inflatable chairI think they liked it
Luckily my back was better the next day and Chuck and I were able to go out scuba diving then. We only booked 1 dive and are glad we did as it was one of the worst dives we’ve ever done. There wasn’t much coral and what was left was mostly in poor shape, plus there weren’t that many fish or anything of interest. I thought the diving was supposed to be good in Mauritius, so we were pretty disappointed. But it’s still nice to get in the water, so it wasn’t a total loss. We did get to see a lot of clams, a moray eel, these neat sea cucumber type things that looked like fan filters, and I saw a lobster.
Me scuba divingFishiesNeat coralsClamAs you can see, the reef isn’t in great shape
The resort also had free snorkeling trips where they’d drive out to a reef about 10 minutes away and let you snorkel for 40 minutes. We all went our first full day and Chuck and the kids went the next day, but I stayed behind because of my back. The kids loved being the ocean and got so excited pointing out all the neat things.
I’m on a boat!Beckett and I snorkelingReef where we snorkeled
Aside from all the ocean activities, we enjoyed the all inclusive buffet and drinks. They had juice cocktails for the kids and Beckett must’ve ordered 50 “Emotions” during our stay which were some mango, tropical fruit infusion. The kids also had more sodas and shirley temples that you can count. Chuck and I fully enjoyed the fruity cocktails and drinks of the day as well.
The buffet also had a rotating variety of food each night. Despite that, Beckett had pasta with tomato sauce for every dinner. Mara was more brave and discovered a love for calamari. She also joined us at the seafood restaurant one night where we had a lovely 3 course meal with our toes in the sand as we watched the sun set.
On another night, we ate at the Italian restaurant on site. We were so looking forward to an amazing Italian meal, but came away a little disappointed.
We also went to the one restaurant for snack time and got pancake/crepes and drinks.
Snack time!Cheers!
When we weren’t eating, drinking, playing in the pool, or playing in the ocean, we enjoyed hanging out along the beach or around the resort. It was so beautiful there. And a great place to watch the sun set each night.
The view from our room
Too quickly our time was over and we headed to the airport for our flights to Cape Town.
Mauritius on the way to the airportBeckett asleep before we even took off. I think we wore him out!
Our time in Mauritius was even better than I hoped. The kids have never been big ocean/beach fans, but they loved all the water sports and had an absolute blast. The all-inclusive was absolutely the way to go as we didn’t have to think about the cost of all the food and activities and could just enjoy whatever we wanted whenever we wanted it. And we really allowed the kids a lot of freedom so they were able to enjoy themselves without many parenting reins on them.
We also ended up with some great family time as everyone was so relaxed and happy and not distracted by work, electronics, to do lists, etc. It was also a great way to start our trip to Africa as it let us adjust to the time change and let us recover from the flights. It also set a nice, relaxing tone for the rest of our trip.
Interview with Beckett at the end of our year of traveling (age 7)
Paragliding in Ölüdeniz, Turkey
Q: Have you enjoyed traveling this past year? Beckett: Yes. I’ve enjoyed traveling because you can go a lot of fun places like Turkey and Thailand.
Q: What do you like most about traveling? Beckett: That I get to do fun activities like paragliding and ziplining and stuff. And elephant camp.
Riding an elephant in Chiang Mai, ThailandZiplining in Thailand
Q: What did you like least about traveling? Beckett: I have to pack and unpack my bag. And as soon as I find somewhere fun, I have to leave.
Q: What toys/games are you happy you brought with you? Beckett: Stuffies! Stuffies is like everything I brought.
Q: What were your favorite places? Why? Beckett: Thailand because we went to an elephant camp and took care of elephants for a day and cleaned it, checked the poo, ate lunch then bathed it. And I also went ziplining through the trees in a jungle. We saw gibbons through the trees.
Turkey because I went paragliding and they have delicious pancakes – yum yum. The paragliding was so fun – you were 6000’ up – but the drive was really scary.
Santorini because we went ATV-ing. And Morocco because we went ATV-ing out in the desert and because of the cobra show.
Watching a cobra in the Medina in Marrakech, MoroccoDriving an ATV in Morocco
Q: What were your least favorite places? Why? Beckett: Istanbul. There was just nothing really good to see there. And Spain, there was just nothing really good to do around.
Q: What were your favorite experiences? Beckett: Ziplining. Taking care of elephants for a day. Paragliding! ATV-ing. Going up the Eiffel Tower. Walking on the Great Wall of China and taking the toboggan down. Ice cream show in Turkey. Yee Peng. Tigers. Turkish Bath.
Ice cream show in TurkeyUp the Eiffel Tower late at nightYee Peng in Chiang Mai, ThailandBeck and Mara running on the Great Wall of ChinaCuddling with tigers in Thailand
Q: What were your least favorite experiences? Beckett: My least favorite experience was trying new foods. The ferry from Rhodes to Turkey – I hate that. I did not like Pamukkale. The scary drive up the mountain to paraglide. Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace in Istanbul were boring.
Q: Did you enjoy being homeschooled? Beckett: Uhhhhh… don’t know. It was ok.
Q: What was your favorite homeschool subject? Beckett: Science
Q: What was your least favorite homeschool subject? Beckett: Writing
Q: What have you learned from your travels so far? Beckett: That traveling can be fun but also not fun. How bad the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey was. How boring plane rides are. How fun ATVs are. How fun paragliding and taking care of an elephant is. How fun ziplining is.
Q: What were some of your favorite foods? Beckett: Turkish pancakes. Crepes. Mac n’ cheese from Hotel Letoon in Fethiye, Turkey. Baguettes. Food-go-round. MK in Thailand.
Eating Gözleme (Turkish pancakes) in Calis Beach, TurkeyFood-Go-Round in Thailand
Q: What do you miss the most about the USA? Beckett: Having a house and not having to pack your bags every once in a while. And unpack them. Finding friends and not having to leave them.
Q: What will you miss the most about traveling? Beckett: Going fun places and doing once in a lifetime experiences.
Q: Where do you want to travel next? Beckett: Go on African safari.
Me-O Veterinary Clinic in Kidzania in BangkokMaking curry paste at Sammy’s Cooking School in Chiang Mai, ThailandWashing MaeBonChon in the river at Patara Elephant Camp in ThailandFeeding a baby tiger at the Night Safari in Chiang Mai, ThailandFC Barcelona futbol game at Camp Nou in Barcelona, SpainBeckett and his magic genie lamp in Marrakech, MoroccoLoi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, ThailandCrossing the Mekong River in a longtail boat from Thailand to LaosLe Meridian Chiang RaiGoing Viking at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, NorwayTiny alley in Santorini, GreeceSantorini, GreeceTuk Tuk Race!Fresh squeezed OJ from stall #63 in Marrakech, MoroccoFeeding pigeons at Tha Pae Gate in Chiang Mai, ThailandZorb balls in ThailandTree “snow” in ParisRiding a donkey in Marrakech, MoroccoFish Spa in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Interview with Mara at the end of our year of traveling (age 9)
MaeKwan at Patara Elephant Camp in Thailand
Q: Have you enjoyed traveling this past year? Mara: Well… it’s fun at times. But sometimes I miss just having a house. But it’s great – I love traveling the world and it’s amazing!
Q: What do you like most about traveling? Mara: Going new places and experiencing new cultures. And I love to try the different foods. And the different treats are always fun.
Q: What did you like least about traveling? Mara: I don’t get to have much stuff and it’s kind of hard to make friends when you know you’re going to be leaving soon. Sometimes I just miss having friends and having a real house and being able to decorate it.
Q: What toys/games are you happy you brought with you? Mara: Well, I’m happy I brought my stuffed animals. Or some of my stuffed animals. And I’m happy I brought my Barbies. That’s pretty much all I brought.
Me with my Stuffies and Barbies
Q: What were your favorite places? Why? Mara: I loved Thailand because there were so many adventures and there are lots of crazy markets. I loved Paris because I wanted to go there all my life and I SO LOVED going up the Eiffel Tower. And I loved Hong Kong because there was a restaurant we called “Noodle Girl” and it was soooo yum! Santorini was AM-AZ-ING!
Me in front of the Eiffel Tower for the first time!Noodle Girl in Hong KongSantorini
Q: What were your least favorite places? Why? Mara: Well, that’s kind of hard but Spain was the worst place we went. But it was still pretty darn good. And in Istanbul, all the restaurants served Turkish food which got boring. Plus the Grand Bazaar was just ok. There are so many stray cats and dogs which got scary.
Q: What were your favorite experiences? Mara: I loved the elephant camp in Thailand. It was UNBELIEVABLY cool! And I also loved the crazy markets. I liked the Noodle Girl restaurant in Hong Kong – it makes me so hungry for grilled steak. Yee Peng was amazing! Great Wall of China! Marrakech ATVs were awesome! Seeing my family paraglide was neat. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France was amazing! It was so cool. And there were lights on it that blinked and made it looked like it sparkled.
Yee Peng in ThailandAll smiles while warming up after the Forbidden CityGreat Wall of ChinaATVs in Marrakech, Morocco
Q: What were your least favorite experiences? Mara: Pamukkale (in Turkey) was ok. And Tiger Kingdom was ok. I really disliked the Louvre, Notre Dame, and La Sagrada Familia. The Alcazar (in Seville, Spain) was bor-ing. The Parthenon was boring. I disliked the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey because the sea was so rocky and wavy and over half the people threw up. Climbing up the Kotor wall was just so long and boring.
Q: Did you enjoy being homeschooled? Mara: Yes because less school hours. And I don’t have to wake up early, early, early. I have the nicest teacher in the world. I also liked the way she taught multiplication and division.
Q: What was your favorite homeschool subject? Mara: I don’t have one. I do like multiplication.
Q: What was your least favorite homeschool subject? Mara: My least favorite was spelling.
Homeschooling in SpainLearning about Ancient Greece and hosting our own Olympics
Q: What have you learned from your travels so far? Mara: A lot about how boring planes are. And how rocky and wavy ferries can be. And how annoying it is to wake up early. I also learned a lot about geography. I also learned how to negotiate. And how fun tuk tuks are. And I learned how annoying it is to have everything you own fit into a suitcase. And that elephants are fun and amazing creatures.
Q: What were some of your favorite foods? Mara: Pizza in Fethiye, Turkey at Nil Bar. Steak at “Noodle Girl” in the Hong Kong airport. And Nic’s in Chiang Mai, Thailand had great meatballs and pizza. The baguettes we had in Spain were AMAZING! Mint tea in Marrakech. Mmm mmm. The crepes and macarons in Paris – yum! The gyros in Santorini and the olives in Athens were good. I also liked sushi and coconut milk straight from the coconut in Thailand.
I did NOT like the orange hot dog under the Eiffel Tower. Blahhhh.
Mint tea in Marrakech, MoroccoBaguettes and croissants in ParisHappy cones in Almuñécar, Spain
Q: What do you miss the most about the USA? Mara: I miss being able to talk to kids in English. And I miss English TV. I miss going to swim team. Girl Scouts! Toy stores!
Q: What will you miss the most about traveling? Mara: I’m going to miss the food and the cultures and going new places.
Q: Where do you want to travel next? Mara: Egypt to see the Pyramids. And Russia – I like snow.
Fish Spa in Chiang Mai, ThailandMail girl at Kidzania in BangkokCooking Thai food at Sammy’s Cooking School in Chiang Mai, ThailandDrinking tea at a Khantoke dinnerFeeding sun conures in ThailandLoi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, ThailandLongtail boat trip on the Mekong from Thailand to LaosTree “snow” in Paris
Riding a bull at a carnival in La Herradura, Spain
Walking around the Medina in Marrakech is a real treat. There is the main square where a lot of the action occurs and there are the souks and market areas. But its also great fun to just walk around the random network of streets and alleyways.
It seems as though the streets are pedestrian only however, you realize pretty quickly that they’re used by motorbikes, donkey carts, bicycles and more. The motorbikes would whiz down the alleys so fast and many times we’d be pinned to the wall so we didn’t get hit. I still don’t know how I didn’t witness any accidents especially at the intersections of alleys as people would fly around the corners and nearly hit each other!
The people watching was awesome too.
There were donkeys all over the place!
Motorcycle chaos:
Loved all the “cave like streets”:
We found this wood carver who showed the kids how he carved wood trinkets “old-school” style: he used his arm to move a wood stick to spin the wheel and used a knife and his feet(!) to carve the patterns into the wood. We watched him make one out of cedar and then he handed it to Beckett. What a cool keepsake!
These little carts reminded me of the tuk tuks from Thailand:
There were cats everywhere:
Of course you have to have your stands with hanging meat carcasses:
Within the medina (old city) in Marrakech, Jamaa el Fna Square (hereafter, “the square”) is at the heart of the action. This is what you picture when you think of Marrakech and is what you see in movies and TV shows.
It’s a huge open area, ringed by restaurants and shops. During the day, it’s populated by snake charmers, henna ladies, monkey wranglers, and orange juice salesmen. We didn’t take any pictures of the monkeys because it was really appalling how they were chained by the neck and dragged around.
We’d heard a lot about how aggressive the entertainers were and it was fairly true, but not a big deal if you’re prepared. When you take your pictures with the snake people or others, whatever you offer, they’ll try to get 5 to 10x as much. You just say no and ask if they want what you’re offering or nothing. Then they’ll just back off, take it, and move on.
To some extent, they can sense who’s uncomfortable and will probably pressure you more if you are. At the end of the day, you have the power because you have the money. It’s not like you have any contract to give them a certain amount. I gave the snake guys about 20 dirham ($2.50), but it’s not like there’s a posted price. Just seemed reasonable to me.
In the late afternoon, the cobras and monkeys clear out, restaurant stalls set up, and the crowds build. We visited the square several times during our 2 days in Marrakech and have stitched together a photo tour to give you an idea of what’s going on.
Here’s the snake charmers. There were about 3 little setups like this in the square. The guy standing up makes the noise you associate with snake charmers, but it’s really just to draw a crowd. It has nothing to do with “charming” the cobra.
Step right up and see the cobra!Beckett was fascinated by the cobras, but didn’t want to get too close. They’ll let you sit really close if you want to.UNLEASH THE FURY!
And who doesn’t want to wear a fez?
Here’s a glimpse of more of the daytime action at the square:
Lots of stands selling fresh squeezed OJ
Around 4ish, a huge cluster of pop-up restaurants start to assemble in the middle of the square.
They assemble and take down these stalls every day.
Night falls, the crowds pick up, and the restaurants are in full swing.
As you walk through the restaurant stalls, each place has one or two wranglers that shove a menu in your face and try to get you to eat there. Mostly you just walk by them, but it’s annoying when you actually want to read the posted menus and they won’t leave you alone for 2 seconds.
We stopped and got kebabs, tagine, bread, couscous, and fritters for about $17 total.
We also had a separate stop for some mint tea and dessert.
A few more random pictures of the action:
Finally, here are a couple videos where I pan around the square.
One of the must-do items when visiting Marrakech, is strolling through the souks (shops) in the Medina. There is a specific area that comprises many little streets lined with shops on either side selling everything from food to shoes to teapots to.. well anything really. Its fun to wander around and soak up the sights and smells. Of course it doesn’t come without risks though: the risk of getting run over by a motorbike, bicycle or even a donkey cart. And the risk of getting lost. But that’s half the fun!
We didn’t buy much of anything because there was no practical way to get it back to Spain then back to the USA without schlepping it all over the place. But if we were headed straight back to the States, I would’ve done some serious damage to our wallets. I particularly loved the silver teapots and the lamps! Oh, I’ll dream about those lamps!
I love lamp!Bottom right are tagines – little pots used to cook meals that are kind of like little pot roasts (but made with any type of meat)
I loved all these teapots. I was so close to buying one but alas, I didn’t.
The clothing for sale was awesome and ranged from gorgeous dresses to belly dancer outfits.
Yummy delicious treats! The honey roasted sesame peanuts were so good.
Mara with an assortment of Moroccan pastriesAll sorts of fruits and nuts available in bulk
There were tassel shops everywhere! No, not those kind of tassels, but the kind you use to hold back curtains.
In addition to spices, you could get things like frankincense, amber, indigo, and other natural perfume/scents. I was quite excited to see and smell real frankincense.
While we enjoy some sightseeing while we travel, we enjoy activities and adventures even more. So once we booked our tickets to Morocco, I started looking for fun things to do while there. I came across some highly-recommended ATV tours, and since riding ATVs was on Kirsten’s bucket list, we decided to go for it.
The company picked us up near our hotel and drove us about 40 minutes out to their center in the desert. We started off by driving a bit over an hour, winding through palm groves and the occasional little village.
Taking a break about halfway through our tour
Apparently being a shepherd is still an actual occupation. We passed several shepherds tending their flock and moving them around for grazing.
On our way back, we took a break at a little Berber settlement where we had tea and pastries.
I got to / had to pour the tea for our table. You start the pour low, then lift the pot higher as you get the aim settled correctly.
Beckett and Mara also got a chance to drive the ATVs with our guide helping them.
This was Beckett’s favorite part.
A boy passed by with his donkey, and our guide got him to let Beckett take a little ride.
Hey, camels! Gotta take a picture with the camels, right?
We got back to the base and saw the camel tour finishing up. Looks fun, but uncomfortable.
Overall, we had a blast on the tour. Just riding the ATVs was fun, but it was also really cool to see the countryside and how people live out there. It’s a view we’d have never gotten in the Medina.
We used a company called Dunes & Desert and the cost was 55 Euros per driver, 15 E for each kid. The total tour lasted 2 1/2 hours or so.
When I was doing my research about our move to the Costa del Sol of Spain, I saw there were quick, cheap ferries from Spain to Morocco and knew we’d have to go to Morocco while we were here.
Once we arrived, our friends, the Wagoners, told us about their upcoming trip to Marrakech, Morocco. They found a really cheap deal on Ryanair from Seville, Spain to Marrakech, which sounded amazing.
We also found a pretty good deal on Ryanair from Seville to Marrakech and a road trip idea was born. Seville is a 3 hour drive from where we’re staying in Almuñécar which is a bit far but reasonable. There was also many cool things to do in Seville so we thought we’d combine both trips into one. Unfortunately, Ryanair only flies to Marrakech 2x a week so we were stuck with either going for 2 nights only or going for 6 nights which seemed too long. We went with the 2 night option which worked out about right.
We arrived in Marrakech about 9pm on a Saturday night.
We hired a shuttle service to take us to our riad because there was no way we’d find it on our own. A riad is a traditional Moroccan house usually with an interior courtyard. We stayed at Riad Zanzibar and loved how unique and traditional it was.
The door to our riad.
Our room had a loft area for the kids and a humongous tub.
We ate breakfast on the open air terrace on the 3rd floor that consisted of Moroccan pancakes, croissants, yogurt, bread, honey, coffee and Moroccan mint tea.
We wandered to the main square that evening and then hit the hay because we had to get up early the next day.
Sunday morning we headed out on our ATV excursion. Afterwards, it was time for a nice lunch. I got a beef tagine dish which is a Moroccan specialty and is meat and vegetables cooked in a tagine pot.
Beef that was cooked in a tagine. Delicious!A tagine
Sunday afternoon we headed to the main square, Jemaa el-Fna, to see the snake charmers, monkeys, and general chaos that is Marrakech. Then it was time to wander around the souks, spice market and other little shops.
Monday was our last day and was spent walking, walking and walking some more through the streets and alleyways that make up the Medina. We also spent the day trying to find (and negotiate on) the perfect genie lamp for Beckett.
Unfortunately, despite much rubbing, no genie appeared from the magic genie lamp
During the day we stopped for more Moroccan mint tea to take a little break. We loved the Moroccan mint tea and drank it many times over the 2 days. It’s so sweet but sooooooo good.
Mara working on her long pour of Moroccan mint teaBeckett doing the traditional long pour of tea
All in all, it was a great 2 days in Marrakech and a definite highlight of our year abroad!
After 30 minutes, we arrived at Seal Island and started the look out for the sharks.
We gave the kids a camera so they could capture their perspective. We should’ve known this is what we’d find:
