Sam and Matt go to Dubai

An excerpt from Sam's emails from Dubai

We FINALLY arrived in Dubai after a 2 hour flight delay due to fog........ But Dubai is beautiful! 

We had a lot of drama getting to the hotel with our plane delayed and the driver wanting to leave us behind...then our driver left us at the wrong hotel!  But 3 car journeys later we finally made it to the hotel.

Our hotel is very big and posh and it's very close to downtown and the mall (lucky for me, unlucky for dad).

Our rooms were only ready about an hour ago so Jess and I slept in Colin and Tanya's room for 2 hours.

We are now getting ready for the desert experience and having a quick bite to eat at the bar.

2

So our desert experience last night was a bit of a fail....

The bus driver who came to pick us up came and hour late and didn't speak any English so he wasn't sure who we were. He then drove us to another hotel where we had to pick up 6 people who had been waiting for the bus since 2:30!!

The driver got lost on the way to the second hotel so we ended up driving around the block 6 times!  By then it was 5 and. We finally set off for the desert.

Little did we all know but Manchester United was playing Real Madrid in soccer so we got stuck in traffic. So we ended up watching the sun set while stuck in the bus instead of in the desert.  The driver then told us it was too late to go in the 4X4's and we won't see the eagle show so he will drop us off at the end so we can get dinner.  Well he ended up driving past the entrance and had to carry on driving down the freeway as there was nowhere to turn it was now dark and we were closer to Abu Dhabi than to Dubai. After much debate we sent dad and Colin to the front of the bus to speak to the driver. Everyone agreed that the driver should take us to the Dubai Mall so we could get dinner.

The Mall adventure was even more chaotic than the desert experience.  Tanya really needed to pee but the driver refused to pull of outside the mall so we could go in.  He ended up driving right past the mall, doing a u-turn in the middle of the road and driving around the mall 3 times before Michael stood up and forced the bus doors open when we were at a traffic light. We all ran out and left the other family to deal with the driver.

The mall was really busy and we wanted to see the fountain show but Matthew was hungry so dad took him and Emma and Bronwyn to the food court. I had to go with them as I was scared I was going to get lost in the huge crowds.

They all went to Burger King but I decided that I wanted to eat healthy and not fast food so with weird looks from the family I got a honey mustard chicken sandwich from Subway (which now might be my favorite restaurant).

By the time we found our way back to the fountain, the show was over so we decided to get some Starbucks coffee and go back to the hotel.

At the hotel, I have to sleep on a hard mattress on the floor as we got a room early yesterday but it wasn't the one we ordered. The room service people forgot to bring me a duvet so we only got to bed at 11pm.

I'm hoping today will be better with a bus ride in the old city and a boat cruise and fireworks display tonight.

3

Happy New Year!

For our last day of 2014 the family decided to go on the 'hop on hop off' bus.  We went through the the old part of Dubai and saw all of the huge old buildings. It was amazing comparing it to the new skyscrapers that tower over us in New Dubai.

We rode the bus from 9 until 2 when we decided to have a nice lunch on the river over looking the Burk Khalifa and the famous hotel that looks like a ship.  Little did we know that it was over R200 for a burger.

After the most expensive meal of my life, we decided to go cheap and use our free coupons for a boat ride through the Dubai Creek.  On board we all got henna tattoos (mine in picture below) and danced to old music from way back in 2012!

Around 5 we went to the Emirates Mall to find out about the indoor skiing.  I must say I was very jealous of all the little kids playing in the snow as it was all Frozen themed!

The Mall was very busy and we needed to get back to the hotel before we got picked up for our New Yea’rs cruise so we tried going on the Metro which was packed with people trying to get to the Burj Khalifa for the fireworks display.  We then tried to track down a taxi but they were all downtown at the display.

We decided to get back on the bus and got stuck in the worst traffic jam ever!  See in Dubai there are no rules about over taking and crossing lanes so we had taxis and cars pilling in front of us making it impossible to move.

We convinced the bus driver to drive near our hotel (thank you dad!) and finally got back at 7 giving us 30 mins to get ready.

We were picked up and taken to the boat which was outlined by neon fairy lights.  On board we had a 3 coarse meal, live singing and a performance of the crew dancing.

To top it off we could watch the fireworks from the top deck.

Unfortunately we won't as close to the fireworks as in the picture (I Googled it) but we got to see them from a distance away.  It was a great New Year and lots of fun

It's finally 2015 and how does it start?

That's right....I wake up puking with a tummy bug...

I felt so sick in the night and we think it was something I ate so I skipped breakfast and sleep in for 2 extra hours.

Dad sent Matt to Atlantis Waterpark with Beryl, Gert, Michael, Chantelle, Granny, Lee-Ann and Bronwyn while he stayed with me while I slept (he deserves a Father Of The Year mug).

I woke up around 9:30 and felt slightly better so we got a taxi to the Waterpark so that dad could swim with the Dolphins while I could sleep on a pool lounger.  I've honestly never seen my life flash before my eyes until that car ride.  The taxi driver went so fast!

Half an hour and UED50 later we arrived.  We couldn't get hold of the other who turned their phones off so Dad and I wondered around the park looking for them.   The rides looked so cool that I completely forgot about being sick and we put our costumes on.

We found the Thera and started off with all the calm ride.  My favorite slide was one where you go in a tube in the dark and all of a sudden. You end up in the middle of an aquarium with sharks, stingrays and multicolored fish swimming over you. I also loved the Lazy River (which was similar to the one in Singapore) and all of the fast ones!

We almost missed our Swimming with the Dolphins slot as we got lost!  We had to split into 2 groups so Lee-Ann, Beryl, Gert, Michael, Chantelle and Bronwyn went in one group while dad, Matt and I went in the other group.  Our Dolphins name was Manne-Lou who is one of the 28 dolphins at the park.  She was so well trained and very cute! We got to feel and pet her, ride her, get her to push our feet while we rode a boogy board and got some very nice photos of her kissing our cheeks and hugging us! We have all the pics on a USB so I'll have to download them at home

We went back to the Waterpark and stayed there until we were kicked out

The taxi queue was very long so we got a free bus ride to the Emirates Mall.  The bus was packed and we were all hanging onto each other for dear life as there were no free seats or proper places to stand yet somehow Bronwyn and Matt managed to fall asleep on the floor of the public bus! 

Dad and Granny started a conversation with 2 elderly Austrians about beer and wine in South Africa...eventually the hole bus was filled with talking yet Bron and Matt still slept

We got back to the hotel at 8:30 all tired so we got dinner at the Restaurant which is surprisingly good when it's not scrambled egg that they are making!

We all were exhausted from our adventurous day so we all went to bed.

Tomorrow its Granny's birthday so we are going in a 4X4 limo to a boat for lunch and dinner but in the morning dad is taking me shopping at some local markets.

The family visit Namibia (post by Jo)

This holiday, we decided to explore Namibia.  Antony goes to Windhoek quite often for work and he was dying to show it to us and his favourite spot, Joes Beerhouse!

We only had a weeks school holiday, so decided to focus on Windhoek, Sossusvlei (the red dunes), Swakopmund and then ended off the last 2 days at a private game farm (although we should amend that and say "nature farm")  Next time it will be Etosha as that is where the exciting game viewing is!

In the capital of Namibia, Windhoek, the Jacaranda trees were in full bloom and it was a beautiful sight seeing all the purple mixed with the bourganville plants.  The famous landmark, the town Church was photographed and we wandered around the museum.  Of course, no visit to Windhoek would not be complete than a stop at Joes Beerhouse where Matthew had a bushveld sossatie, with crocodile, oryx, springbok, zebra and Kudu!

Solitaire really is a little town in the middle of nowhere but it is a true oasis!  As we discovered on our way back, they sell tyres which is a godsend with the stony dirt  roads in Namibia.  They know how to charge a premium but when you are stuck with a shredded tyre, you gladly pay up!  They have a little bakery which is famous for its apple pie.  (If there had been a bit of cream it would have been PERFECT).  There is a restaurant, a filling station and a lodge.  Dotted around the area are rusted cars but it certainly makes for a fun stop and photo shoot!

After driving for many hours, we finally arrived in Sossusvlei.  There are a few lodges close to the gate of the park,but we stayed about 30 minutes south of the gate at Betesda Lodge.  A rather sad, empty lodge to be honest but there was a pool and air conditioning and the food was good.  We arrived with temperatures reaching nearly 40C and just did a quick drive to get a feel of the park.

Whoo Whoo! Up and Away! Antony decided to treat us to the most amazing experience ever. Hot air ballooning over the desert. We kept it a secret from the kids for as long as we possibly could but we were so excited and told them about it at dinner the night before. We woke up at the crack of dawn and headed to a lodge at the entrance of the park and then the Namib Sky Balloon Safari guys picked us up and took us to the balloons. Luckily there were 2 balloons with 16 passengers in each. That way we managed to get lovely photo's, looking out over the dessert with the 2nd balloon in view. It was so gentle and peaceful up in the sky. We had great pilots, Manny and gggggg. He told Matt that if they spit over the side, that is navigating but if we do it, that is just "gross"!! There was a lot of clouds about which I believe is quite unusual for the area but it gave us a bit more wind and allowed us to travel further than they normally do. Landing was another story. You get two types. Gentle and sports! We had a sports landing. A little rough and the basket was dragged across the sand for about 100m before tipping onto its side. I tried to video tape it and am embarrassed at how I sound. With a laugh in my voice, I keep saying "Oh my god, oh my god, help"!! Think I would not have been jerked around so much if I hadn't been holding the camera and been holding on with both hands instead! What one does to get the shot! Will have to add some background music to the video to drown out my voice!

After our flight, which was just over an hour long, we got into 4x4's and were taken to our breakfast spot.  There were tables set out on the dunes and the champagne was much appreciated!  We had lovely yoghurt and berry coulis pots, cold meats and delicious home-made crossoints. 



Thanks goodness it was much cooler the 2nd day (by at least 15C) After we were dropped off at our car, we drove about 60km to the end of the tarred road at the National Park.  From here you have to have a 4x4 vehicle or if like us you don't - you pay R100 and there is a kind of 4x4 taxi service.  About 5km in on rather soft sand, you come to the start of the Dead Vlei walk.  It was absolutely breath taking.  You walk over a small dune and then come to this amazing sight.  A white vlei with black "dead" trees protruding from the ground, with beautiful orange sand dunes in the foreground.

Car trouble!  We had a shredded tyre after leaving Sossusvle.  It was a good lesson for Matt who was Antony's right hand man while changing the tyre on the side of the road.  It was a rather warm experience with only flies for company.  Loads of cars drove past us leaving a plume of dust but one kind couple stopped to see if we needed any assistance which gave Sam some hope in humanity!



We limped on to Solitaire and Ants got the tyre replaced.  R2800 and a slice of apple pie each later, we carried on to Swakopmund.

I really enjoyed the town of Swakopmund.  There is sea on the one side of the road and desert on the other.  It is quite a bit cooler than Windhoek (not to mention the desert) and although we did not experience it this time, there is a fog that rolls in making the town quite eerie.  We had a lovely hotel, with a lounge and pool deck on the 4th floor with lovely views across Swakopmund.  We ate at Tugs the first night and at a restaurant near the lighthouse the 2nd night.  Both nights there was an exquisite sunset. 

Next adventure was quad biking on the Swakop dunes.  I am a bit terrified of these bikes so I was passenger to Sam.  She is a total champion and was totally calm and collected and did all sort of manoeuvres of the dunes that made me a bit greyer but I had total confidence in her. 

Our guide stopped a few times and showed us some interesting creatures.  At first glance, you think the desert is totally devoid of life, but if you look carefully, it is alive.  From just a tiny mark on the sand, our guide dug out a gecko  and found us snakes and spiders.  I believe there are also chameleons living in the dunes but we did not find any.



We discovered that there is a national park just out of Swakopmund in the Namib-Naukluft Park where you can find the Welwitschia plant.  We decided to do a detour on our way to the game farm and followed a numbered scenic route to track down these plants.  At the one stop, you come across remains from a camp that the South African troops made during the First world war in 1915.  Does it really take so long for metal to deteriorate?  Scary stuff.  Good thing I recycle!

Found it!!  We did a lot of extra travelling to find a plant that is really not all that beautiful!  The large plant on the middle right is 1500 years old!  It is surrounded by a fence to protect it.  The Welwitchia is unique in the Namib.  It is a coniferous dwarf tree that is related to the pine tree.  Although it appears as though the Welwitschia has many intertwined leaves, in realty there are only 2 leaves which continue to grow throughout its life span.  As time passes these are torn into thinner shreds. The heat of the desert and eventually causes the lower ends of the leaves to wither.

I tried to book us into a reserve called Erindi, but by the time we finally had our dates sorted out, it was full.  Maybe I was expecting something similar, but unfortunately Kansimba did not live up to my expectation of a farm with amazing animals to photograph.  I feel a little cheated but other than that, it was a very restful 2 day stay.  The farm is so quite and peaceful and the communual facilities like the pool and lapa were wonderful.  We had a view of a small water hole from the lapa but we mostly saw warthog and buck there.  We had the all inclusive option and Hanalie made us lovely food but we were the only guest there and we felt at times we were putting them out.  The owner is actually a man who lives 5km away from us in Constantia!!  Helmut mostly lives on the farm but travels between the 2 places.  Once again, lovely sunsets, and apart from the lack of game (thank goodness we saw 2 giraffe as we drove in) it was a pleasant stay.




Some of my favourite Landscape photo's of this holiday!