It’s a lot of work planning out these trips because we don’t do an organized thing. We do the whole thing from scratch, something I think can be compared to building your own house without a contractor. We are on our own…which is quite intimidating. But I’m getting better at it. Experiences like sleeping on the sidewalk in France and getting chased by an elephant in South Africa have helped me realize that things will work out. One way or another, things work out.

This will fulfill the promise I made to my kids several years ago, a one-on-one trip with each of them to wherever in the world they wanted to go. It has turned out to be one of the best ideas I ever had. The times spent with Aubree in Europe and Curtis in Africa are beyond words…and pictures. Two solid weeks alone with each of my kids, experiencing new things, learning new things…it’s an amazing opportunity. I am so grateful to be in a position where I can do this with them and to have a supportive wife.

So for any of you that have been to Greece or Turkey, please pass on your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions. We’ll be heading out in September!

When our night sleeping in the brick oven was over and the sun came up, it cooled off a little. What is the science behind that? Today was supposed to be our day to sleep in because our train didn’t leave until noon, but it was just too hot. Taking a nice cool shower sounded too good so we got up earlier than planned and were able to spend more time walking through Venice.

We hit the shops again. I told Aubs I wanted to find a nice mask and we went to the shop we liked most. Their masks were beautiful and they were one of the only shops that didn’t have a “Thou shalt not touch” sign posted. They’d let us try them on and take pictures…so I wanted to give them our business. I found a gorgeous golden one that I think Sandi will like and will look great somewhere on the wall at home. I just needed to get it home in once piece.

We picked up some food at the grocery store, breakfast and then lunch on the train. We had a fairly long journey today through Verona, Milan, and onto Torino. Torino (Turin) is famous for the shroud of Turin, 2006 Winter Olympics, and most important…where solid chocolate was invented 300 years ago. Aubree happens to be a big fan of chocolate and there are several chocolate factories and chocolate museums offering more chocolate and chocolate history than even the biggest chocolate fan can handle (for all you women out there, this sentence uses the word chocolate 8 times…it’s actually dripping with dark delicious chocolate from Italy for your pleasure and enjoyment). So yes, Torino is the Mecca of the Chocoholic.

Once our train was underway I asked the couple across the isle to take a picture of us, we needed at least one together. They spoke English and we started up a conversation that lasted several hours until we arrived in Milan and had to change trains. They had grown up in Iran and moved to Canada four years ago to attend University. It was fascinating to talk to them and their stories reminded me of Persepolis. They described how strict the government is and how most people they know live a double life. In public they pretend to adhere to the strict religious doctrine (so they won’t get arrested), but behind closed doors their families and friends laughed, partied, listened to music, and broke rules that would have gotten them arrested.

It was humbling to hear first hand about growing up during the fierce wars with Iraq, the recent election, and current political unrest. They talked about how once you get arrested you can count on being raped in prison and that it was one of the worst things going on right now in the country. They have endured much and although they left Iran, still worry about friends and family living there. He also said the current government doesn’t seem to want educated people in the country. If you are educated, they make it really easy to leave. I suppose an uneducated population is much easier to control.

As we arrived in Torino and I checked our maps and I realized my Google map was wrong. I I had no clue where our hotel was located. We also didn’t have plans finalized for tomorrow. Ideally I had wanted to book a night train to Barcelona, which would give us tomorrow to explore Torino. So our priorities were to book our train, find our hotel, and then book a hotel in Barcelona (in that order).

It sounded easy, but it wasn’t. While we waited in a long line to book our tickets, I tried to ask for some help with our hotel but unlike the other places we had visited, it was apparent not many people here spoke English. The man that finally helped us spoke decent English but we had to speak slow and I wasn’t sure everything was being communicated correctly. He said it was very far, told us to take bus 1 and get off by the hospital. He also pointed out the general direction.

When we finally worked our way to the front of the line we ran into the same thing, very little English and more bad news. All the trains were full and we could not get a booking to Barcelona. He printed out a schedule for us that required us to start early in the morning and take regional trains to Nice where we would try again to book to Barcelona.

Somewhat discouraged, we walked out of the station and dragged our luggage to the street. I saw no buses, no signs. But even if there was, I wasn’t sure how we’d know where to get off. And I didn’t know how to pay for the ride. So we just started walking in the direction he’d indicated and looked for an Internet Cafe. If we could just find that, I could get on Google and figure it out.

After several blocks, we found one. We went inside and I asked if they spoke English…no answer. I pointed to a computer and said “Internet?” They shook their head, No. This went on for several minutes. For whatever reason we could not use their computers. I took out my Expedia printout of the hotel and pointed to the address. A nice guy tried to help us but without a common language between us, it didn’t work. He grabbed another guy who dragged us out the door and to the corner. He spoke a bit of English and pointed, “Bus 18. One Eight…One eight…Eighteen.” He must have said “One Eight” twenty times, trying to make sure we understood. We thanked him and started in a new direction looking for a new bus.

Up until now I had only been frustrated. But I started to feel nervous; a strange town, nobody able to help us, our hotel far away and no real idea on how to get there…and on top of that, it seemed like people were watching us. It was common to see people dragging luggage through town in the other places. But now our wheelied and backpacking friends were nowhere to be seen. It was just us and the locals watching us.

I felt desperate and started asking friendly looking people if they spoke English. No luck. I started asking unfriendly people…still no luck. I went into a pharmacy and asked around and finally found a guy who spoke a little English. He wasn’t sure where our hotel was but took my paper and asked around. He came back and pointed down the road, “very far.” It seems that’s was the help I was going to get.

As we were walking I thought, “wow, this is exactly what I was afraid of…being lost in a strange town where nobody speaks English…I’m right in the middle of one of my big fears.” I actually thought that was pretty cool and it made me smile because knew somehow we’d get through it. I didn’t know how, but I knew we would. But it was still stressful walking further away from the one thing I did know (the train station) and deeper into the abyss. And worse, I was dragging my 17 year old daughter through it too.

Then I saw the answer. A taxi. Normally I don’t spend money on cabs, I’d rather walk if it’s close enough or take public transportation. The driver didn’t speak English but I held up the address and asked, “how much.” That didn’t work so I did the universal sign of money by rubbing my fingers together. He got it, “Ten,” he said.

The ordeal was over. He drove us to the Hotel and we checked in. Aubs flicked on the TV and watched Two and A Half Men in Italian while I went down and talked to Franco, the front desk guy. He spoke decent English and in 20 minutes the feeling of being in a strange city was gone. He ran me through the buses, how to use them, gave me a map, and even sold me some bus passes. We talked sports (he knew a ton about American Football and Basketball) and had a fun chat. Now this strange town had a friend too!

Aubs and I headed out for the evening. It was too late to try and visit a castle or chocolate factory, but we hoped on a bus and went north. We drove through the same roads that had tormented us earlier and it amazed me that twenty minutes with Franco had completely changed my perception and attitude. We walked around, confident now, looking at all the old buildings and had Gelato (which Aubree said was the best in all Italy so far). Then back to the hotel.

Franco let me spend a few minutes on the computer to let Sandi know we’d made it safe while he took care of some other business. While I was sitting there behind the front desk, a few people came by to drop off their keys and I smiled, said thanks, and and put them in the box. I got a few strange looks, something like ‘Why is an American guy working in Torino?’ My 3 years of working at hotels during college paid off.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day. We’ll try and get to Barcelona. We have no hotel lined up and aren’t even sure if we can make it there. And to make it worse, we have to leave early and so won’t get to spend any time in Torino. We’ll even miss the free hotel breakfast because it doesn’t start until 7am. But, I’m glad I could push my comfort zone out a bit, walking around lost in a strange town where I don’t speak the language was a good experience and I wouldn’t trade it.

Continue to Day 8…

I always look for a hotels with a free breakfast. Most of the time they don’t cost more and it saves money on food. Eat a good breakfast, snack throughout the day (jerky and trail mix from Costco works good), and you can get away with only buying one meal a day (or less). Normally it works out pretty good…but not at the Monastery.

We ate our breakfast in the peaceful courtyard but then as we were heading out were informed our room had been charged $24 ($12 each). Apparently the Expedia line that said “all our guests enjoy a free complimentary breakfast” didn’t apply to us. I pleaded my case and lost. We had a “no breakfast room,” although nothing specified that on my reservation. I asked for a full detailed receipt knowing this fight was not over. If you tell me I’m getting a free breakfast, one way or another I’m getting a free breakfast. (After I returned home I took up the fight with Expedia and was first told they would not issue a refund but after requesting to speak to a manager, my request was granted.)

But even with the eventual refund, there were still indirect costs. We delayed our departure until after 7:00 when breakfast was served and because of that, missed the Regional train that would would have been free on our prepaid rail pass. Instead we had to buy reservations on another line which cost $30. I didn’t plan that well and beat myself up about it for a good 15 minutes on the train to the Cinque Terre region.

In preparing for our trip, today’s adventure is what I was most excited to see. Five small towns carved into a mountain that plunges into the Mediterranean. The whole area protected as a national park each town connected by a hiking trail along the rocky coast.

So after I stopped stressing about the breakfast costs, I enjoyed the train ride out of the flat brown world into lush green mountains. It was a pretty ride, we passed several large cathedrals or castles built high up on the tops of the hills and saw quaint looking beach towns along the ocean.

Speaking of trains, the European Rail system is well designed and you can get anywhere. We bought a 3 country 5 day pass (many varieties are available but must be purchased before you travel to Europe), which meant we got unlimited travel in Italy, France, and Spain for any 5 days we chose. Some of the trains require a reservation, which you pay extra for, but the Regional ones do not. With the pass, you have paid for your ticket but not for a reservation if it is required. My guess is that it’s a way for the nicer rail lines to participate in the program and receive a bit more compensation because their services are better. They are nicer and you are guaranteed a seat (we rode on a few “free” ones when there was standing room only). But it cost us an additional $15 per segment to travel on the non-Regional lines.

In our case, I’m not sure the rail pass saved us money. The trains in Italy are really cheap to buy directly from the automated machines, especially if you stick to the regional line. That isn’t the case in other countries and I think the rail pass makes total sense if you have several long trips you are going to take through multiple European countries.

We arrived in Le Spezia and then hopped on a regional train to the first little town, Riomaggiore. Each of the towns was similar; bright colored buildings hugging the mountain, narrow cobblestone streets weaving through tourist shops and restaurants, and tiny alleys (maybe 4 feet wide) that twisted, climbed, and carved through the buildings up the mountainside. The little towns were full of the free vibrant life of vacationers (and the prices that accompany it). Most of the towns started up high on the mountain and ended at the ocean where people were diving from the rocks and swimming in the clear teal water. I had tried to get a room in one of the towns but waited too long to book and then nothing was available. When I go back with Sandi, I won’t make that same mistake.

The first hike (from Riomaggiore to Manarola) is not to be missed. It’s short, easy, and drop dead gorgeous. It follows the cliff a good 30 or 40 feet above the ocean and there are frequent places where a steep stairway down will take you to a place where you can swim or lay out on the rocks. There are tunnels with windows at several points built right into the cliff. At points you can look North and see each of the next 4 towns waiting along the coastline. This section is often referred to as Lovers Lane and people cement their love by locking a padlock to the fence or guard rails along the route. Poor Aubs had to make the walk with her old man while she daydreamed about her boyfriend six thousand miles away…

The second hike was a little longer (to Corniglia) but at least it was level. By now the sun was doing it’s job and trying to slowly kills us…and succeeding. So we took a break and I shed my shirt, shoes, and backpack and dove from the black rocks into the clear water. The word refreshing falls way short of describing how wonderful it felt to cool my overheated body. I swam, dove to the bottom, and while floating on my back decided I was enjoying one of the best moments of my life (not counting sentimental moments like birth of children, family, wedding, etc.). Aubs was good enough to stay on land reading and keep our stuff secure while I had all the fun. Actually, she was hot, tired, and not having nearly as fun as I was. But she knew I was excited about this part of the trip and did a decent job of pushing forward so I could see it all.

Just before Corniglia we found a lady selling jewelry and this rekindled the passion in Aubs that had been burned away by the sun. We bought several presents and Aubs got a couple nice pieces for herself. I need to remember that shopping is always fun for her, no matter how tired, hot, or miserable she is.

The Rick Steve’s Guide said the next hike was a rough one, so rather than kill ourselves in the heat we took the train to Vernazza. We walked through town, saw the crowded beach, and then hiked up to start on the trail to Monterosso. According to the Guide, this one had lots of waterfalls and swimming holes, perfect! I filled up an extra water bottle (we had bought and drank a cold bottle at the end of the last hike) and climbed through the back alleys and stairs to the trailhead. Just before we left town, there was a sign warning that the trail was long, strenuous, and shouldn’t be attempted mid-day. Not only was it mid-day, it was a really hot mid-day. But we could swim, right? Take it slow, enjoy it…

Aubs didn’t share my enthusiasm and at first, flat out refused. I pushed back but didn’t think think I’d could change her mind even if there was a mall waiting at the end. I gave up and started back down to town. Then she stopped me and said, fine, lets just do it.

The sign was right and Rick Steve’s was wrong. There were no waterfalls. No swimming. The majority of the hike was stairs way up into the wine country, then back down, then back up again. It was brutal, exhausting, grueling, and torturous (although there views were incredible). My shirt was soaked, wring it out and watch it drip with sweat soaking.  I could hear my heart pounding in my head. My skin felt like it was on fire and my legs burned from the endless steps. I would round a corner hoping to see level ground only to see more steps up the mountain. Far below the cliffs was the ocean. It was tempting to just run and jump and hope for the best. Aubree, a little mad that we were doing it in the first place, had hiked on ahead and I didn’t see her until almost the end. I tried to catch up with her cause I had all the water and figured she must be dead thirsty, but I couldn’t do it. As I peaked the summit, I was probably taking one step every ten seconds because I was so exhausted.

The way down was just as hard, mainly because by now my legs were a a bit wobbly and the stairs dropped steep and narrow. Just as I neared the bottom I heard a yell from behind me, “Dad!” Apparently, I had been ahead of Aubree and moving fast trying to catch her…staying ahead instead of catching up. I was too speedy and she couldn’t catch me! And she was exhausted, nearly crawling on the ground for lack of water. Okay, that’s not true. I wish I was in that good of shape. The truth is she’d taken some wrong turns and done some extra hiking on side trails and had to back track, that’s how I got ahead. And even with the extra hiking she was in better shape than me. But she did want water and I gladly shared.

She ran off ahead again and said she’d meet me in the ocean. When I rounded that last turn and saw the beach I felt like I was seeing the pearly gates of heaven. Aubree wasn’t in the water yet, her swimming suit was in the backpack…which, by the way, I hauled over that mountain thank-you-very-much. She took her suit and went to find a restroom and I bee-lined for the water before my skin burst into flames. I carefully stepped through the bikinis and topless women sprawled all over the beach…gotta love European beaches. But it wasn’t even a distraction, I was too hot. I dropped my pack, shoes, shirt, and socks into the sand near the water and stepped in. Steam came up and the water sizzled around me like when a hot iron is dunked into a pot. At least I think it did. It felt sooooo good. I had to sit backwards, looking at the beach (to watch my backpack of course….geez!) and with the water up to my neck I felt my body temperature plunging. It was heaven.

Aubs never found a restroom so didn’t get to swim, but we had a nice dinner at a Pizzeria and took the trains back to Pisa. From the train station we walked the long way home so she could pop online real quick.

Back at the hotel I peeled off my shoes and caressed my aching feet. My entire little toe was covered with a massive blister. I took a picture, but don’t worry, I won’t gross you out by posting it. I wouldn’t be surprised if we walked 15 miles today.

Continue to Day 6…

We both woke up at 3am and couldn’t sleep. I told her about a dream I had about a 2,000 year old love tragedy between a slave and the daughter of a wealthy aristocrat that is resolved by flashbacks that result in a modern romance. She said I should write it. Maybe some day…

We got some early morning time on the Internet, Sandi helped me with the lost luggage and made some calls while I sent useless emails. The official word just that “it’s lost.” US Air has no clue, hopefully I don’t have to write a song about it.

The hotel is nice. It only cost about $75 a night and with breakfast, was a great deal. Once we figured out how to use the metro (the station was only about 4 blocks away), we could get anywhere easily. Our room has AC, thank goodness, so that gives us an escape from the heat. The breakfast is really good, plenty of food. We gorged on it to take advantage of the free food. Chocolate croissants, ham, eggs, fruit, yogurt, cereal…it was great.

The staff helped us get oriented and explained how to use the metro. It was easy once we had the quick rundown. You can buy a one or three day pass from the machines inside (they take cash and have an English option) and then ride it all you want. We could have saved a lot of walking yesterday had we understood it better…but better late then never. I filled my daypack with water, jerky, trail mix, guidebooks, the camera, and the camcorder and we we hit the streets early before it was too hot to be miserable.

We took the metro to the Colosseum. We stepped out of the station and there it was, right across the street. Amazing. A place I have heard about all my life, seen in movies…almost 2,000 years old. I felt like a kid, excited and awed. I didn’t expect it would have such an impact on me but I have to say, it took my breath away. I must have more passion for history than I have ever realized.

Aubree had a Rick Steve’s Guide to Rome that somebody had lent her. It was a few years old but became our best friend. It was great to read about all the places we visited. Instead of just seeing all the amazing sites we were able to tap into the history and background. I wish we would have had books for the rest of our trip. For a tour guide, I liked it a lot better than the Lonely Planet Guidebook I had with me.

We climbed up into the Colosseum and looked down into the arena and imagined the crocodiles, elephants, lions, and all manner of beasts battling men who were fighting for their freedom. I can’t imagine going to an event where people were killed. Where animals were cut to pieces. Watching a man fight a lion to the death? And I thought reality TV was bad!

It was getting hot when we left, so we got back on the metro and went to the National Museum to escape the heat. It was pretty cool seeing statutes and busts that I’d seen in history books and in the media all my life. Old Roman coins made of brass and the size of my fist made me glad all I had to carry around was my Visa card.

After, back on the hot streets, Aubree couldn’t take it anymore and bought a sun dress. She changed in McDonalds and looked so comfortable I decided to get one too…but they didn’t have my size so I was stuck in levis.

After that we walked to the Pantheon but it was closed. We saw the Trevi Fountain, bought some souvenirs from the street market, and sweat miserably in the same levis and clothes I had been wearing since leaving Seattle, almost 3 days ago. Rick Steves said they didn’t wear shorts in Europe…but I’m telling you they do. If you go in August, definitely pack shorts.

We went back to the hotel and Aubs took a nap. I tried to wake her up a couple hours later to head out for the evening but she was a corpse. Just when I was about to give up, she mumbled an okay and stumbled to the bathroom. We were both jet lagged bad…but it was early (5pm or so) and I figured we should stay awake until at least 9:00. I got directions to a nice section of town for evening activities and we hopped on a bus. It was the right bus but we went wrong way, which we didn’t realize for at least a half hour. Once I got suspicious I asked around and using hand gestures and basic English realized we were way out of town. We got off and caught the opposite bus but just got off at the hotel. We were tired and I figured that was enough for the night.

A bit of time on the computers…and we crashed for the night. Good news though, we should have our luggage tomorrow! The airport called and will bring it by tonight! Woohoo! Clean underwear! A clean shirt! My dandruff shampoo!

Continue to Day 3…

Things started out a bit rough. Our flight to Philly was delayed and it was only a sprint from one end of the airport to the other that kept us on schedule. My pounding chest reminded me that I’m a 40 year old man, something that I am in constant denial about. It doesn’t even look right on paper. But at least Aubree is young and full of energy. She ran on ahead and managed to convince them to keep the door open a few more minutes. Everyone was already seated and they sealed the door behind us. We were on our way! But…unknown to us…our luggage wasn’t.

Aubree loved the LCD screens and large movie selection and watched movies while I slept. We stepped off the plane into the morning humidified heat of Rome. I would never again plan a trip in August. My face and back (because of my backpack) were constantly drenched from this point forward. I’d wipe my forehead with my hand and then flip my drenched fingers and send sweat flying.

We waited, and waited at the baggage terminal. Everyone else left, the belt was empty, and we were without our stuff. After another hour of waiting in more lines, we found out officially that our bags had been lost. Great.

I don’t handle setbacks well but I didn’t want our vacation ruined. I told myself I wouldn’t let this get me down…but it was stressful nonetheless. I survived a week in Ireland without my luggage, it sucked, but I still had a good time. If I had to (and, apparently, I did), I’d do it again one way or another.

We found the train terminal easy enough and I tried to buy tickets on the automated machines…but I gave up. I wanted to make sure I had the right train, the right ticket, and got off at the right place so we waited in line and I got the personalized help of an expert. He didn’t seem to think it was such a big deal. Take the ticket, get on the train, get off when you get there. Sure, it sounds easy enough now but in a strange place and foreign languages simple things become a bit more complex.

The station in Rome was packed and massive. We wandered around until we found a street and stepped into the city. I had my map printed out directing us to our first Hotel but we couldn’t find the street names anywhere. We wandered around looking for street names and trying to match them on the map. The printed Google maps just didn’t cut it because there weren’t enough details. We stopped to buy a soda…$4.50 for each small can of coke. Are you serious? My brother had warned me about that but it’s hard to really comprehend until you have to cough up your own Euros for it. But I was too hot and thirsty to resist.

Finally an older man stopped and managed to help us. He didn’t speak English, we didn’t speak Italian, but he pulled out a map from his bag and looked at my hotel information, and pointed us in the right direction. We were on the wrong side of the Train station. Using his map, we walked around the train and to our hotel, about 1 1/2 miles but with heat, humidity, and foreign factor, it actually translates to 50 miles. 50 long hot miles under the burning sun. It sucked.

We walked into our hotel looking like we’d just stepped out of a swimming pool full of sweat. I walked straight to the water jugs on the counter and had a nice glass of warm water. Why don’t they like cold water in Europe? Seriously? But at least it was liquid and I chugged several glassfuls before we checked in. Aubree was thrilled to see they had computers/internet available for free in the lobby. We went up to our room and crashed. I wanted to stay awake and try and beat the jet lag, but Aubs was out instantly. I didn’t have enough energy to fight her and myself…so I zonked out too.

Several hours later, at 6pm, I woke up and shook Aubs. She was so tired and wanted to sleep, I told her we had to try and stay awake so we could sleep at night and try and get on the right schedule. She was so tired but dragged herself out of bed and we took a walk through the city. Almost everything was closed and it was quiet. We went back to the Hotel and got online to send some emails, say hi…and then feasted on our jerky and trail mix from Costco before hitting the sack.

Continue to day 2…

• We will carry moderate sized backpacks with only the essentials.
• Other than the first couple of nights in Rome, we have no reservations for lodging.
• We only speak English (well, Aubree does speak bit of Spanish and I speak Afrikaans…but doubt that is going to help much).
• We have no itinerary on where we are going.
• We have limited funds.
• We want to have fun.
• Neither of us has ever been to Italy, France, or Spain and…
• We don’t know anyone there.

Considering I normally like to have things well planned (I had South Africa planned down almost to the bathroom stops), this is going to be an adventure to say the least. Aubree still isn’t exactly sure what she wants to do, so we are going to wing it I guess. The thought causes my stomach to churn a little…but I suppose one way or another we’ll survive, have fun, and learn a thing or two.

It has been stressful to plan this one. I knew South Africa: what to do, where to go, how to get around…last year took a lot of planning, but at least it was easy in the sense of deciding what to do. All I know about the Italy trip is that we’ll land in Rome and fly out of Barcelona 12 days later. Buying the tickets is the only concrete planning I’ve done so far. We picked up some library books, researched online, and have ideas…but I’m not prepared.

I would never have gone to Europe. I love Africa too much and would rather spend my time and money there. So in that sense, Aubree is forcing out of my comfort zone and I’ll get to experience something new. I enjoy history, museums, scenery, and new places so I know it will be a fantastic experience. But it’s really stressful to try and get it planned out.

Ireland was easy to visit without planning. Rent a car and take off, drive until tired, stay at a Bed and Breakfast. I don’t know if we’ll find that this time. Plus we’ll be riding trains and carrying backpacks. The current plan is 3 days in Rome, 3 in Florence, 1 in Venice, a train ride through the alps and a night in Switzerland. Then on to Nice, Monaco, and, finally, to Barcelona.

We won’t be hitting Northern/Eastern Europe and our primary focus is Italy. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

(If you have Piclens, click the bottom left hand corner to jump to the virtual gallery.) It was tough choosing under 100 pictures from nearly 4,000 that Curtis and I took on our trip. Click the photo above to jump to an album with of a few of our favorites shots. In case you missed it….you can read more about the trip starting here.

(The content below is copied from Day 11)

We eventually reached Graskop and dove to the “Big Swing.” Watch that link…yes we did that (and have video to prove it). I found this place on the Internet the week before we left and we had decided to do it. Basically, they hook you up to a cable that is suspended halfway across a canyon. Then you stand backwards with your heels teetering over the edge of a 250 foot cliff…and you fall backwards. I don’t get scared easy. Rock climbing doesn’t scare me. Skydiving doesn’t scare me…even roller coasters don’t do much for me. I just always feel safe and know the chances of getting hurt doing the things I do are slim. So I didn’t even think this was that big of a deal. I mean, they’ve been doing this for years right, what could go wrong?

The first thing we did was a zip line across the canyon. You run off the platform and jump into air and zip above the waterfall and trees way down below. This wasn’t really a big deal, I even carried my camcorder and recorded the whole thing from my perspective. Then they hooked us up (we did a tandem jump) and backed us to the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, I started to rethink the whole thing. We backed up to the edge until our heels hung over and we were on the balls of our feet teetering over the edge of the sheer drop and I thought to myself, I can’t do this. I cannot jump backwards over this cliff. No way. They said lean back against the rope and held us in place for a second or two….are you ready…then we were falling. OH MY GOSH it was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. The cliff was racing past us, my stomach was in my nose, and we just kept falling…and falling. I didn’t think we were ever going to stop…we fell for over 200 feet…free falling down the side of a cliff and then the cable grabbed us and we flew across the river and over the trees. We both yelled and cheered, it was incredible. Curtis said he’d felt the same way, like we were never going to stop falling. It was awesome. The hike up afterwards was tiring, in fact I think the rickety wooden ladder/staircase that brought us out of the canyon was probably more dangerous than how we got in to it. But it was awesome, we’d both would do it again, anytime!

We were up and ready to go early, as usual, but then were turned away for breakfast because we were too early. There was a bowl of peaches and yogurt out ready to go, and I suggested that we grab a bowl of that and take it to our room because we were heading right out. But Gordon said no, that would confuse his employees. He likes to run things strictly by the book here, it’s a nice place and he’s very helpful and friendly but there isn’t much variance from standard procedures.

Gordon got our Internet up and running yesterday, but based on my experience last week and this week, he didn’t really understand how important it was to us. It was more like, oh well, it’s not working…no big deal. I still recommend you stay here, just tell him well in advance you want an Internet login, and perhaps even remind him the day before and you should be good. And remember that breakfast starts at 8:00 on weekends instead of 7:00.

He also told us we shouldn’t go out so early to the Lion Park because a few weeks ago there was a shooting and a man was killed. He suggested we wait until it had been open a bit and was active before going out because it is in a poor area. I googled and found the article. Looks like it was a few months ago. I also googled the ranger that was attacked by a lion a couple weeks ago on the wilderness trek and found it here. I also heard that an Asian couple got out of their cars with the big Lions and were taking pictures standing by them for a good fourteen minutes before they were attacked (and killed). So I figured if Curti and I stopped at thirteen minutes we’d be okay…he didn’t think it was a good idea.

The Lion Park was awesome. We’ve seen plenty of Lions, but we wanted to go in the pen with the cubs and play with them. I mean, how often do you get to play with Lion Cubs? Fifteen years ago when we came the playpen was much smaller and the Lions in it were a lot bigger. There was no one around, just a sign that said “enter at own risk.” It was close to closing time and I really wanted to, but I didn’t take the chance. So it was nice to go back and do it this time. One of them kept roaring, it was so cute. He’d open his mouth, roll back his head, open his mouth wide…and a little tiny squeaky roar would come out.

The Lions here didn’t look as happy as the ones in Kruger. Their eyes didn’t have the same sparkle. They reminded me of myself after spending days on end in my cubicle at work. And I know by going, in a sense I make it worse by supporting it. All of the big lions were surrounded by hundreds of flies, it actually made the pictures pretty sad looking. Or maybe I can say that I help make it better by providing funding for better facilities? I do know it was a lot nicer than the last time I was here. After the cubs, we drove around and took pictures from our car of the bigger lions wandering their fenced in areas.

We then hit the road for the Cheetah park up by Pretoria. We were halfway there and realized we had plenty of time, so we stopped at a Go-Cart place to have a bit of fun rather than sit in the heat waiting at the Cheetah Reserve. They were fast little carts and really slid around the corners. Curti especially liked driving right through the mud which dotted his face and body in tiny brown spots. Years ago I went to a water slide park in Warm Baths. I had Aubree on my lap (18 months old), no life jackets, and we sat on a tube and headed down. It was actually really scary, the tube flew off steep drops and caught air. I held on with both hands and balanced Aubs in the middle terrified we’d fall off the tube and she’d get hurt. The bottom pool was huge and swift and in those instant moments I visualized myself frantically searching the deep churning waters for her little body…but luckily we stayed on the tube and ended up safe and sound. In the States, there would be lifeguards, rules, and safeguards in place so you wouldn’t get hurt. It seems that here in South Africa the reasonability is on the individual to be safe (like the big Swing). So I told Curti to drive extra careful, these didn’t even have seatbelts. It turned out they were fast…and fun. And neither of us even crashed…so that was good.

The Cheetah Park was interesting, but it was really long. The last time I came the groups were small and viewing the animals during the tour was fun and exciting. This time they packed us into huge land rover bus-like vehicles that made it impossible to see both sides of the road. I couldn’t see half the animals on the tour, which was horribly boring given the tour was three hours long. They provided plenty of information about each of the animals, talking a long time to talk about how they live and their endangered status. But just sitting there in the heat listening to them talk without being able to see half the time wasn’t fun. At least at the end we got to pet a purring Cheetah and had our picture taken. That was actually the whole reason I wanted to go. I wasn’t able to do it last time because of problems at the reserve, but it worked out this time. When we were walking up to the cheetah, it looked at Curti and jumped to it’s feet and bared it’s teeth, it was actually pretty scary! The man handling it told us to stop moving and quickly subdued it…and then told us to step forward. We walked around and he was purring like my motorcycle (the cheetah, not the man). We were able to stand there and pet him for several minutes. It was very cool. As we walked away Curti said, “See dad, I told you the Cheetah wanted to eat me.”  Haha.

Well, tomorrow we fly out. It has gone so fast. I don’t know how we are going to get everything home, I need to find a place to buy a new suitcase I think. We were slightly overweight when we left, now we will be for sure.

Continued on Day 14…