Ka(wonder)boom

Hi all,

Back in June, we checked out this crazy tree in Pretoria that they claim is over 1,000 years old.   The tree's called "Wonderboom" for "Miracle tree" in Afrikaans. 

It's actually a bit underwhelming because I was expecting this giant tree (perhaps a bit withered, walking with a cane), but instead you see an original trunk (about 16 ft wide) plus 10-15 "daughter" and "grand-daughter" trunks spread out over a wider area.  It's a (willowleaf) fig tree and apparently those types of trees don't normally behave this way.  ("Dude, what are you doing?!" - neighboring acacia tree.)

I found a cool 3D viewer that let's you walk around the tree.  Give it a try.  (Don't worry, Amy. Your old SparcStation can handle it.)

They've built a wooden boardwalk so you can walk around the trees without stomping on their roots.

 Here's a blow-up shot so you can read it.  

Noah was like, "Enough with the tree.", so we hiked up the hill that's part of the park complex and were rewarded with a nice view of Pretoria (our fair city).


Also at the top are the remains of an old Boer fort from the late 1800s.  It made Noah hungry just thinking about it.

The fort is just sitting there, open to the public, with no cordoned-off areas or docents giving tours.  The kids had a great time running through the barracks. 

Noah communed with nature as he polished off his PB&J sandwich.

He asked if we could take this log home.  ("Sure, if you can lift it!" - Cruel Dad)

Lucy's favorite part of the day.  

As we drove out of the nature reserve, we noticed a traveling amusement parks that had set up in the shopping plaza across the street. I'm sure their safety standards were ISO-9000-compliant, so of course we each took a few rides.

 Lucy and Ad reflect on the wonder tree.

 "That's my favorite tree in the whole wide world!" - Lucy. "Can we ride this again next weekend?"

Noah was too small for everything, but they let me put him in the swing so I could scare the grandparents. I mean so he had something to do while his sister ran around trying every ride.

 He seemed to think it was pretty nifty, even if it didn't move. (What does he know?)

Adam's apparently afraid of Ferris Wheels, so Lucy and I did this one.  

"Now that's my kind of hike, Dad!" - Lucy

The safari spins ever forward. Happy Monday. xo,

Glenn

Roadtrip to Durban

In June, we road-tripped down to Durban, on the SA coast, with our friends, Dalius and Jay (from Seattle!), and their two kids (daughter Jiya, 3.5, and son Kovis, 1 mo older than Noah).  Adam and Jay attended the South African AIDS conference, while the rest of us "supported" them by going to the beach.

First Stop - The Drakensburg's Mountains
On route -- here's our approximate driving path (Google Map) for all three of my committed blog followers -- we stopped in the Drakensburg Mountains, the "South African Alps."  This time we went to the central Drakes, about 3.5 hrs south of Pretoria, versus the northern part where we went over Easter (see blog post.)  South Africans are big into "self-catering" lodging, and trampolines.  We rented a four bedroom cabin with a small kitchen (and trampoline, out front).

 Chow Time! 
(L to R: Kovas, Noah, Lucy & Vija)

 Girls-Only Bath Party

 Mommy's Special Drink helps the bed-time story go down.

 W[h]ine Stopper

 With the kids in bed, we didn't quite know what to do with ourselves.

 Adam (per usual) promptly fell asleep.

The next morning, the fun began early.
(Did you not believe me about the SA love of trampolines?)

 Time to hike!  Some dads plotted out our first hike (while I drank coffee).

The Gilvydis Family on the move.

The Cohen-Frankels already taking a break.
Supposedly Monk's Cowl is named after a mountain shaped like a monk's hood. (Think Obi-Wan Kanobi.) More on Monk's Cowl.

A forest monster enjoys running ahead and popping out to scare us.

Hardy Boys

Hanging out at Monk's Cowl
(Insert standard "Come visit!" plug here. Beautiful mountains await!)

I have no idea what Lucy is eating, but the scenery made us all quite hungry.

Mountain Man

"Party of eight, your rock is available."

Beam us up, Scotty. 
(Except for the bald guy.  Wow, note to self: encourage head-on shots.)

Back at the car, a new friend wanders by.

Lucy follows his lead.

A reminder that we are in Africa. 

(I see women carrying things on their heads every so often around Pretoria and it always stops me in my tracks.  It's always women; men aren't coordinated enough, plus other social dynamics are at work.)

Editor's Note: Damn my grainy pics. My camera went into manual mode and the ISO got set to 1600. I only noticed it a few days later and Dalius helped me fix it.

 The next day we head out for a short hike.  Noah says, "Why not?!"  (Easy for you say, Maharajah.)

 Ariel the mountain mermaid

Gorilla in the mist

 Clamber Club, the real deal

 BFFs

Monkey see, monkey do

(outside a craft shop near where we were staying.)

We make it to the Indian Ocean

All hiked out, we piled back in our cars and headed further south to Durban.  It was about 3.5 hrs and the roads were good (not always a given).  Only danger is the speed cameras; they take photos of your car, scan the license plate, and send you a bill... no policeman needed!  But of course, grandmas, I never speed.

A few Durban facts: Name means "bay" in Zulu. It's the largest city in the province of Kwa Zulu-Natal (Pretoria and Joburg are in Gauteng, pronounced "How-tent") and the 3rd largest city in South Africa, after Joburg and Cape Town.  Durban has a large Indian population and Wikipedia tells me it has the largest Asian population in all of Africa.  Apparently the British had trouble convincing Zulus to work on their sugar plantations so they brought in Indians as indentured servants. 

We stopped at a cute lunch place along the way in Pietermaritzburg. (Say that five times fast.)  The girls had their own kids table - a win-win.

"OMG!"
(We made it to the beach.)

The girls were given "sun caps" from the hotel checkin guy.  Lucy was extremely pleased to have a new accessory and wore it proudly the rest of the day.  Here she did some sand sprints in training for an upcoming kiddie 10K.

Having made it all this way, we went out to celebrate. (Actually, Kovas was exhuasted, so Jay took one for the team and stayed home with him.)  We found a great Italian place that was hopping with locals.

Noah and Pops

I share some drinking tips with Lucy.

She ignores me and smiles.

The next morning, at the hotel buffet, we encountered some wonderful artifacts of South Africa being a former British colony.  (I even saw a guy spread it on his toast.  Apparently it's a "love it or hate it" kind of thing.  I pretended to be a vegetarian and walked quickly past.)

Passion fruit, known as granadillas here, were plentiful.   They're amazingly sour and sweet, and I'm a big fan.

...and little Noah is too!

The weather was hit or miss (it is winter, theoretically), so were quick to run out to the beach when the sun came out.  (That's our hotel, the tall "Southern Sun", behind us on right.)

Beach Party!

Places to go, people to see!

Sand Sibs

Noah woke up early but fell back asleep in our bed. Lucy snuggled in.  

The monkey man arises.  Those eyes get him everything.

A rainy day in Durban, looking behind our hotel (away from the beach).  Random array of '60s and '70s bulidings.  Quite flat terrain near coast.  Taken from roof of hotel.

On the last day, we hit Ushaka World, Durban's aquarium and water park, which sits right on the water and is constructed partially out of an old cargo ship.  I was really impressed with the aquarium.  (I'd say it's even better than Hotlanta's, if you can believe that.  Lucy agreed (because it has water slides.)

Zulu warrior and her husband. (Gotcha!)

Sea Squirt

New friends

Who doesn't bring their bathing suit to the aquarium?

Y M C A

Ad and Lucy consider the ramifications of over-fishing along the fragile ocean coastline.

Lucy snakes through the longest play-structure I've ever seen (including bridge over waterway).

Behold the fearless LEGO sea captain. 

The next morning, after a quick bunny chow (Indian curry in a hollowed-out bread bowl - read more, fun stuff!), we packed into Alice (our Honda Jazz) and headed home.  The kids managed to put up with the seven hour drive.  Of course the gas station where we stopped along the way had a trampoline.  I love this country.

The Safari keeps bouncing. Thanks for reading. xo,
Glenn