Thailand

Nepal didn’t treat us well on our departure.   We had a mix-up in our tickets with the same name on two ticket numbers and I had to wait at the ticket counter for 2 hours while they tried to resolve the issue with antiquated computer systems.  I was then sardined into a seat in front of the exit row (these and the rearmost seats don’t recline).  Still, I consider us lucky with this minor regression, in that despite all of the transitions and flights we’ve had, any delays and mishaps have been relatively minor.  We arrived in Bangkok at around 8 in the evening and the temperature was a cool 92 degrees, with a similar humidity level.  After departing the plane and arriving in the terminal of a fancy new modern airport, I felt like throwing myself on the ground and mimicking snow angels and crying and screaming “CLEAN! CLEAN! CLEAN!

Upon arrival at our hotel we were greeted by Traci’s older brother Travis, his wife Erin, and their kids Tripp and Rieley.  Our kids were in heaven and it was great to have that feeling of “home” that they brought with them.  They did an incredible job tackling jet lag despite long flights from Seattle to Tokyo and Bangkok that arrived at 3:00 a.m.  We enjoyed a half day tour of Bangkok the next morning.   Given the 100 degree-ish temperature and a similar humidity level, coupled with yet another Charlie Brown schoolteacheresque speaking guide, and the usual 3-4 hour attention span of our kids was easily halved.  The Grand Palace and some of the associated temples were magnificent, but it was just too hot to endure.  This was quickly resolved by some cold sugar drinks and long-boat ride on the Chao Praya River and its adjoining canals in a longboat.  These boats have open engines and about a 15’ drive shaft to a prop that is levered up and down out of the water.  We cruised the canals for about 90 minutes then it was back to the hotel pool, which is NEVER a bad option with kids.

Our second day in Bangkok featured a 90 minute drive to the Dumnoen Saduak floating market.  There are crowded markets all over Bangkok that feature every type of food, trinket, junk, clothing, and art made in the junk factories of Asia.  I think the “Everything is 99 cents” stores in the US share their same suppliers with these markets.  The only difference in the floating market it that you have to pay about $10/person to be paddled around on a small boat by a small, few-toothed cigarette smoking man, jostling with hundreds of other boats, to view the same luxury items.  If you want to walk away when on your feet, you do so.  In a boat you sit and sweat and say “no thank you I’m not interested” 10 or so times instead of the usual 2-3.  After 45 minutes or so you then attempt to extract your body from the 4” seats and step out of the boat without falling into brown, foul canal water.  OK some of that is in jest.  It was actually really interesting to see, and we did enjoy some great fresh fruit and ice cream, and the kids did get to hold a huge Python which was neat.  When we return our kids will never want to go to the zoo again “Held that!”  “Fed one of those with my lips!”  “Already rode one of those!”  Blah blah blah.  After the market we ventured to an elephant trekking outfit, where all the kids were able to do a pretty cool jungle ride.  We then broke down and stopped at a pizza place for lunch, and all of the kids devoured the longed for nourishment.  Afternoon pool time, enough said.

After two days in Bangkok we headed south to Koh Samui.  This is the second largest island in Thailand, and lies off the east coast about 300 miles south of Bangkok.  We rented a beautiful villa on a beach on the north end of the island called Bhoput.  Our days were mostly predictable and delightful.  Morning exercise, mid-morning studying, swimming in the infinity pool, walking the beach, enjoying an hour massage, searching for the best hotel pools on the beach, eating an incredible fresh dinner prepared by our villa’s chef. We also enjoyed a day-long boat trek to the Angthong Marine Park where we all did some great snorkeling around some really beautiful coral and rock formations.  Another highlight was both families spending an afternoon of ziplining above and through the forest canopy.  We enjoyed lot of little adventures, but mostly we enjoyed each other’s company and the pool in our lovely villa.  No description of our time would be adequate without discussing the two most memorable things:  food and massage.

The local Thai food is nothing short of extraordinary:  incredibly fresh ingredients, local seafood, and fabulous spices.  Food prices in restaurants are about half of what you’d pay in the US, and even in the most simple restaurants the quality of the food rivals or exceeds that of what you’d find at the best restaurants in the U.S.  As with Africa, India and Nepal, labor here is incredibly cheap.  There are hours of prep work required for some dishes, but that’s not a big deal in a country where cooking is an ingrained part of the culture and the labor and time are readily available.   Our villa for two families came with a chef, a house manager, a handyman/gardener, and a housekeeper.  The chef, Pin (pronounced “peen”), was absolutely amazing.  Each day we would look through an exhaustive menu and select what we wanted for lunch and dinner.  She would then buy fresh ingredients, and would prepare and cook all day, and then present what were positively, undeniably and undoubtedly the best meals any of us had ever had.  Lobster, incredible soups, shrimp, spicy beef and chicken dishes, delectable chicken skewers, the crispiest vegetable wraps imaginable, pad thai.   While I’ve never shied from eating, I honestly don’t remember another time where I felt so good after eating.  Despite a complete meal, there was never a sense of having overeaten.  We thought we’d eat out many of the nights, but Pin’s talents were so amazing that we dined in all but two nights, and wouldn’t have dined out at all if it not for feeling guilty for having her work so hard and long for us. 

Perhaps the only thing that has exceeded the value of the food has been the massages.  On every street and every couple of feet on every beach there are massage parlors and tables.  For about $10, you can stare out at the ocean while a masseuse gives you an incredible massage for an hour.   So different from the U.S..  Personal injury lawyers would starve here.  Prior to a massage in the in the states you have to disclose every prior medical condition on a liability waiver.  Here, your best form of protection from personal injury is to grab a stiff drink from one of the nearby tiki bars prior to your “treatment”.  Traci and I opted for the deep tissue massages, which were a blend of intense pleasure and pain.  For example, I haven’t had my fingers pulled and cracked since doing so to myself in a masochistic growth period as a kid.  I was a bit surprised at the audacity of the masseuse to do this, but when she unexpectedly did this to my hypersensitive, overly ticklish toes, I just about flopped off the table.  I was quickly reprimanded with jokes of “No Thai Boxing Mister!”  I didn’t think it could get worse until she started walking on my back and hamstrings.  For some reason my genuine screams of pain brought forth fits of laughter from not only the masseuses but also from my wife and children.  Oh to be so loved!  The masseuses don’t think that 100+ pounds of their body weight focused on their heel in the middle of your back is painful.  The Turks have nothing on the Thais when it comes to torture.  In all seriousness, the pleasure far exceeded the peril and each of us enjoyed many massages.  Halle enjoyed getting her hair braided into dreadlocks, and she and Sydney both enjoyed $3 pedicures.   Hayden enjoyed a couple of massages, but he wasn’t overly enthusiastic about them. 

After 6 days in Koh Samui, the in-laws and cousins had to depart.  We were able to enjoy a secoond week here with a greater emphasis on studying.  Hayden and Sydney spent 2 full days doing written prep work for their scuba certification, a 3^rd day doing testing and video work, and a 4^th with two open water certification dives.  Halle has to wait until she turns 10 but she was a trooper.  Syd and Hayden spent a full, unparented day of ocean diving and achieved their recreational certificates!  Since Sydney is obsessed with diving, she somehow crammed another two days of studying and tests and achieved her open water diver certification.  She then dived to 18m vs. the 12m for recreational divers.   Traci and I each enjoyed a dive along with Sydney and Hayden at a beautiful dive site called Sail Rock.  We saw moray eel, puffer fish, barracuda and thousands of other colorful creatures in crystal clear waters.  We are super proud of Hayden and Sydney for their focus and efforts, while their certifications are sure to drain what little will be left of their inheritance after this year.

As much as he loved diving, Hayden would certainly say that his highlight of the week was fishing.  There is a 4 acre fresh-water lake on the island, stocked with over 3,000 huge fish.  Called Cat Tops, it was a blast.  We spent 6 very hot but fun hours, catching big Piranha, Siamese Carp, and Mekong Catfish.  Hayden landed a catfish that at 80 pounds weighed as much as he did.  This was a pretty cool little business, and it was nice to see them treat the fish well.  I’m not saying that it is pleasant for the fish to be hooked and exhausted into submission, but since that is what fishing is, at least these fellows get a second chance.  All is catch and release and after a fish is landed, it is given antiseptic for the hook wound, and then are put in a highly oxygenated fish pen for the evening to recover before being returned to the lake. 

 

Thailand was great for our family.  It was great to see Travis, Erin, Tripp and Rieley.  We have never experienced food nor service as fabulous as what we received in our villa.  Thank you Nat, Pin, Tui and Mai.  The people here are incredibly friendly, the weather was fabulous, the island is beautiful and “relatively” modern, and except for our over the top villa, everything was very affordable.  Next up we’re heading north for three weeks of adventures in Northern Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China.  

Outside Bangkok's Grand Palace

Hot kids

Inappropriately cooling down with the blessing water

Feeding the catfish on a canal off the Chao Praya River

Our tour guide has the attention of one adult, while the travel savvy adult resorts to the English language pamphlet

Heading to dinner in Bangkok in a Tuk Tuk.  I drew the short straw and had to chaperone Hayden and Tripp.  Word.

Halle gets kissed by her first python. 

This would cost one big $ at the local zoo benefit auction.  Here it was only $5.

Tripp feeds bread to a frenzy of catfish. 

At the rooftop pool in Bangkok, Halle and Rieley don't worry about that "caution no jumping" sign.

Chaos at the floating market

Thailand's MIT (Monks in training)

Monks and the reknowned longboats

As in Africa, Hayden has a thing for flowers in his hair

Sydney with "Unc"

Traci shocked that the driver is eating and not using his hands to drive

Every hotel needs one of these in the lobby

Sydney and Erin feed a bunch of bananas to their elephant.  Who's driving?

Hayden and Tripp take their elephant for a swim

"Princesses, please mind your parasols!"

Angthong Marine Park.  Picture with the Yeti only 20 Baht!

Travis and Erin, Angthong Marine Park

Thai head lice check

Thumbs up he's clean

One of my most memorable moments was swinging the crew on this pole.  I'm sure that is not what it was to be used for but everyone thought it was fun

Brother and sister at the zipline headquarters.  Never worry about safety of zipline equipment when you see broken steps, lots of garbage, and extensive use of blue tarps

Getting prepared for the jungle canopy zipline tour

I think I tore the crotch of my shorts on that last branch

Hayden dropping into the abyss

Traci (surprise surprise) was cackling on every turn

Travis and Traci helping in the kitchen

Sunrise

Tough living

Typical dinner spread.  I should have kidnapped the cook.

Bohput Beach.  Our place was at the end of the bay in the distance

Sydney.  "Dad I think this is gonna hurt!"

Hayden prepares for impact

Tripp with a fingertip catch

I'm sure Halle caught this

Everyone enjoying an introductory scuba class

A victim of too much Coca Cola at Chaweng Beach.  No one performed CPR

Traci and Rieley at Chaweng Beach

Getting dreadlocks on the beach

A girl must have a pedicure

Bad, blurry photo but I loved it as Erin and Traci both enjoy full-belly laughs!

Rieley, Tripp, Halle and Sydney get the royal treatment

Halle and the 2 ladies in the background are laughing!

Halle and Rieley sell and deliver a fine massage 

Traci, Clair, Hayden and Sydney get ready

Geared up

Brian, Sydney, Hayden and our divemaster Clair begin their descent

Sydney takes the giant step on her first ocean dive

Sydney and Hayden.  Thank goodness sharks aren't offended by neon orange.



"Good Boy.  Stay...Stay....Good Boy"

Sydney, Hayden and Traci

Can't sit Indian Style (is that a politically incorrect term?) on terra firma and obviously am unable to do so underwater.  Pretty sure I'll be able to do this when I return to Seattle and to my daily yoga routine..

This is the handyman Tui who gave us a ride to fishing.  Imagine our surprise when we opened the doors and discovered his stereo system.  Very cool.  Very shy man with a passion for loud music and we were fortunately able to see this.  Unfortunately he set a high bar for Hayden as he's bound to be disappointed with his first truck and stereo system.

7kg Piranha.  Kept looking at me wistfully, and when he wiggled free I gave him a little toss which got me a slap on the wrist from the guide.  They need to be gently released.  Apparently these are the local version and not the blood seeking Amazonian type. 

Hayden and our guide with his first catch, a 40 lb. Siamese Carp.  Very cool fish.

Lovely chap from South Africa who teaches English at a school near Bangkok, holding the strangely named "red tail catfish"

Kids, this is how you attempt to make a 40 pound catfish look like an 80 pounder

Or kids, if you're smart, you have the guide help you lift the 80 pounder.  Photos never lie.

Just to the right of the bushes in the water in the left distance is a green blob.  That is the guide's head.  Hayden's fish went in the weeds and the guide had to go clear it.  You couldn't have paid me to do that.  Nice work boy!

Love the effort

"Look Dad 3 hands!"  Hayden is so much stronger than he appears

 

Nepal



Ah to escape the filth of India in exchange for the pristine Himalayas!  Such were our expectations.  We arrived in Kathmandu, somewhat expecting relief from India, and discovered that the differences were indiscernible.  I had somewhere read that Kathmandu was a relatively small town.  Maybe that was 50 years ago.  At 5 million or so (and I wouldn’t trust any Indian or Nepalese census) I guess it is small compared to Delhi.  Being somewhat wily veterans of navigating the streets of India, we ventured out from our Kathmandu hotel and found a lovely restaurant and did some smart shopping and vicious bargaining at some local shops.  Then it was off to pack for our 4 day trek. 

 

The morning before starting our trek, we decided to take a mountain flight on Air Buddha to see Mt. Everest.  Billed as “the greatest Mt. flight in the world” it was a huge letdown.  We had to awaken the kids at 5:20, missed any semblance of a decent breakfast (or the all important cup of coffee), waited at the airport for an hour or so prior to departure, then once airborne had a few brief sneak peeks through frosty and scratched windows at Mt. Everest from about 75 miles away.  Lame, lame, and made more lame by the stewardess selling “I didn’t climb it but I really saw it and loved it” t-shirts as we descended through the smog back to Kathmandu.  She actually sold a few which was a sad commentary on our fellow passengers. 

 

But enough of the glass half-empty, now to the trek.  We boarded another flight several hours after the scenic letdown to Pokhara, about 200km NW of Kathmandu.  Our trek was called the “Prince’s Trek”, so named for a relatively easy, low-altitude route developed for Prince Charles in the early 1980’s. After gathering our gear, we were met by our guide and escorted to our van.  It was something straight out of the Beverly Hillbillies, with the van wobbling with a tower of reed baskets and gear on the top.  Sitting in the back two rows of the van was a group of Nepalese that I assumed was two families that were in need of a lift.  I was happy that our tour operator was making use of some of the extra room in the van and doing a good deed.  We drove about 30 minutes to the outskirts of town and stopped at the bottom of a steep trail.  To my surprise the “families” in the back of the van were our support crew.  I felt like an idiot, but was quickly consoled by the realization that it wasn’t the first timeJ!   Our family of 5 was accompanied by a support crew of count ‘em 12, yes 12 people.  We had our main guide, called a Sirdar.  We then had 1 cook, 3 sherpas, 3 cook boys, and 5 porters.  This is pretty much the class hierarchy of the crew, based on experience and to some unknown degree, social class.  Our Sirdar, named Ang Pemba, was a beautiful man who I’m guessing was about 55 but could have been 40 or 70.  He had summited Everest once and been just below the summit in a supporting role several other times.   He took great care of us but unfortunately we don’t speak Nepalese and his English was not that much better than that of the school teacher in the Charlie Brown tv shows.   We hiked 3-5 hours a day at elevations ranging from 3-7000’, and camped in some beautiful spots: the first being beyond a village called Bhumdi, the second called President’s camp just  below Panchese Lekh, and the third called Tashi’s camp above the village of Bhadhaure.  The kids were strong and didn’t complain.  It was great for all to get some serious exercise for the first time in almost 3 weeks.  I’m guessing we hiked about 5 miles and gained about 2-3000’ in altitude each day.  Despite the size of the entourage, our accommodations and were pretty basic which was an appreciated change; much like the camping we occasionally enjoy in Idaho.   It was great to work hard, enjoy a campfire meal, go to bed at 8 and awaken before 6.  Several mornings we were treated to beautiful views of the mountains.  We were super close to the Annapurna range and some huge peaks (two over 8,000 meters) but unfortunately there was so much smoke and smog that the hoped for views were obscured to varying degrees.  Two mornings we could see the peaks, especially the spectacular Annapurna South and Macchapuchre, but not to the sparkling degree that we had hoped.  It was obvious that the peaks were spectacular, but when we looked at pictures of what is seen when it was clear, we were left with mouths agape.  Still the exercise, the camping, the friendly Nepalese, and the relatively clean air (in contrast to India and Kathmandu) provided an incredibly positive experience for each of us.   As an added benefit, we met 3 American families with similarly aged kids who were on the same basic trek.  These folks were all living in Singapore, and it was delightful to share the late afternoons at two of the campsites with them. 

After 4 days of trekking, we stayed at a cool hotel just outside of Pokhara called the Pokahara Mountain Lodge.  Built on top of a local mountain by a Briton who pretty much pioneered the trekking business in Nepal, it had amazing views, nice clean rooms, a swimming pool, and most importantly great showers.  It was great to take a LONG warm shower and to soak (i.e. throw Hayden in backflips) in the pool.  In the morning, the skies were relatively clear and there was an amazing vista of Annapurna South (7219m), Annapurna I (8091m), Machhapuchre (6993m), Annapurna III (7555m), Annapurna IV (7525m) and Annapurna II (7937m).

Our two main objectives for Nepal were to trek and to jungle safari in hopes of seeing the elusive Bengal Tiger.  With a successful trek under our belts, we headed south out of the mountains to jungle territory on the southern border with India.  A 5 hour drive, we decided to break it up with some river rafting.  Our guide, Santosh, was a beauty.  He was about 35 but was really just a big kid.  After a very detailed and professional safety briefing (which turned out to be unnecessary), we were off into mostly gentle rapids.  There were a few sections of the river that got the heart pounding, but the raft was so big and well-built that it handled everything with ease.  What we will remember is Santosh playing “Titanic” with each of us (suspending us from the side of the raft with a rope), having us stand on the edges and paddle, having us stack together on the front of the boat as went through rapids, and really engaging with the kids and making it a blast for all of us.  We took several plunges in the river which was super refreshing, as long as we didn’t think too much about its astronomical bacterial levels and assumed the brown color was from sediment.

After rafting we were subject to a 3 hour bone jarring drive south to Royal Chitwan National Park and to Tiger Tree Tops Tented Camp.  This camp has pretty basic (but large) sleeping tents with attached bathrooms/showers.  Nothing like the sheik accommodations in or many safari camps in Africa, but relatively posh compared to our earlier trek.  Our small camp was truly an oasis from the press of humanity, and if it weren’t for the threat of scorpions or the 4” spiders in our bathroom, it would have been idyllic.  Our days were spent with a variety of wildlife viewing activities:  walking tours, jeep safaris, boat/river safaris, and elephant safaris.  Our first day here was Halle’s 9^th birthday, March 31.  We started with an elephant safari, and from the backs of the magnificent beasts we saw dozens of Rhinoceros, deer, wild boar, and hundreds of birds.  Halle then enjoyed some “mommy time” with Traci in our tent (reading of course) while Hayden, Sydney and I did a local walk.  After a lunch of meatballs (Halle’s favorite….I think she ate about 20), we were off to learn more about elephants.  After about a 20 minute presentation on elephants, we were off to the river to help bathe them.  The elephants know about 25 verbal commands, and being a quick study and master dog trainer, I realized that these included (in Nepalese) “sit” “kneel” “lay down on the left side” “lay down on the right side” and “get up”.    The birthday girl quickly accepted an offer to ride an elephant in the river, and quickly learned that this elephant knew another command which was “shower the rider on your back with a trunk-full of water”.  The elephant shower was a huge hit.    Next up was a late afternoon jeep safari in search of the elusive tiger.  Alas the tiger was not to be seen but we still saw some amazing wildlife.  Following a delicious dinner and special chocolate birthday cake, we retreated to our tent where I had just enough battery power left in my computer for snuggling together to watch one of Halle’s favorite movies, “Momma Mia”.  Hayden chose to go to bed as he accurately described the movie as “It is so dumb…all that happens is that people get sad and then they start singing songs”.  Great day for Halle and all. 

We realized that our chances at seeing a tiger were very slim.  The odds are as good here in Nepal as at any of the reserves in India such as Rathambore (and those odds are still long).  The guides tried to be optimistic but in reading the guestbook we sadly noted that a tiger hadn’t been seen in about a month.  There are only 7 of them that cover a relatively vast area around the camp and most of the reserve is covered with thick, 10’ high striped black and orange grasses (kinda tiger like!) that make viewing anywhere other than on a road impossible.  We spent our last safari drive with a Danish pilot from Hong Kong and his two kids.  We searched hard, to no avail, including hiking up and sitting in a watch tower.  On the way back to the camp, Sydney and I were discussing if we could arrange an early morning jeep safari to give us one more chance to see a tiger, when lo and behold, what should appear on the road ahead of us but a huge male tiger.  Named “Rhino Hunter”, this big fellow quickly disappeared into the bush, then reappeared on the road about 25 yards behind us and walked casually along, stopping every 10 yards or so to mark his territory.   We were stunned.  Our driver and guide were high fiving and very excited, which told me that what we just witnessed was pretty rare.  Once again the good Janssen fortune came through. 

Nepal has been a fascinating country to visit.  Like India it is definitely third world, but the people seem a bit more innocent and happier.  I still find it striking how much pollution, filth, and garbage there is.  We were rafting down a beautiful river gorge.  One minute you are marveling at incredible geologic rock formations (vast layers that are twisted in a “U” shape) and waterfalls, then the next moment you see a landslide of plastic garbage bags that are carelessly and very purposefully chucked off the road and down towards the river.  Someone (I’m assuming it’s a government official) then sets these on fire and that is their idea of a landfill.  Both here and in India I tried SO HARD to see the logic in how things were done, yet could never see it in anything.  Roads and traffic are deplorable.  There is no thought given to traffic control or separation of different types of vehicles.  People stop their cars or trucks on the side of the road without the tiniest bit of consideration of what that will do for other vehicles and traffic disruption.   Why don’t they attempt to have slower vehicles travel on the left (traffic is left-handed aka British here).  Why don’t they at least dig a big pit for their refuse and if they have to burn it, do it there or at a minimum bury it?  If developing rafting on the river is important, isn’t keeping it clean a requirement?  On our trek hiking, there was plastic trash scattered at all elevations (although it was less the higher we went).  Why don’t the trekking outfits have their people make an effort to help clean this up and leave the trail better than they found it?   The people here are averse to killing many types of animals (our lead guide on our trek was insistent that we not burn kindling in our campfire that had a few lady bugs on it), yet they take no notice of the piles of plastic that are clogging their trails, roads, streams and rivers and oceans.  Traveling in this part of the world makes you quickly realize the importance of recycling plastics.   The bottom line in this area is that the crush of humanity is relentless, and along with that comes a devaluation of life.  Humans have an incredible will and ability to survive, to the detriment of other creatures and habitat.  With government corruption so rife, the education required to break this poverty will likely never happen.

Mt. Everest, zoomed about 5x through the cockpit window

The clan behind a supply depot for some trek

Unloading the gear at the start of our trek

Up, up and away

This guy is actually watering the path but it looked even more bothersome at first glance



With one of the sherpas at the end of the first afternoon.  Our camp was being set on the tier just above the orange tents in the distance.

Hayden at sunset

Lunch stop

Second day lunch break.  To our great surprise, what do we find Halle doing in the shade?

Love this picture of our big girl!

Second night's camp.  I was getting CWS (campfire withdrawal syndrome) and thankfully enjoyed a healthy fix



Hayden and Halle.  Early morning buddies pose with our first view of the Himalayas, complemented by our portable outhouse

"Now Ang Pemba you just stay right there and stop that!"

"Relax Mr. I just show you mountain!"

Morning at our second camp, and our first glimpse of the Himalayas



Hayden ready at the plate



This horrid baseball swing (and miss...note the untouched yellow ball) looks so much like my golf swing that it is scary



Halle and Sydney playing in the outfield

Me getting ready to shower

The crew minus the photographer at our final camp.  Annapurna South is in the background

One of Kathmandu's cleaner streets (with a bonus sidewalk on one side)

Since Hayden lost our football, the preferred early morning activity was sword fighting

Traci in awe of one of the porters lifting his load

Halle playing Titanic

Raft safety 101

After lunch while rafting.  Our guide gave some local kids our remaining food and they were incredibly grateful.



First morning elephant safari in Chitwan National Park



The one-horned rhino and it's magnificent bottom.  What looks like armored plates are folds of skin.

Hayden giving a little love

Elephant bathing



The birthday girl gets a surprise shower

For some reason the water isn't that clean

Hayden awaits the inevitable

The birthday girl is the unlucky recipient of some bird droppings.   Very proud that she dealt with it with a laugh!

Halle enjoys some reading for her birthday

At a local swimming hole

I spy with my little eye, something orange



and black

and white

and a little brown and muddy as well

The smoky skies do make for beautiful sunsets

One of thousands of spotted deer



Cool long-snouted crocodiles on our "river safari" (aka very long jeep ride followed by a short, slow, very hot boat ride, followed by a very long return jeep ride)

Hayden get out of the tree!

One final bath

and lastly the better, front side of a rhino.