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MEMORIES FROM OUR TRIP TO OCEANIA / ASIA / SOUTH AMERICA AND AFRICA

Our second trip spanned from January 9 through July 3, 2004, and took us to 12 countries. We traveled over 80,000 miles, walked an additional 545 miles, visited over 100 different cities and villages, and took over 5,000 pictures. At the end of our adventure, we independently recorded our individual impressions and memories, and then developed a family consensus regarding the most memorable parts of our adventure. We hope that this will help us always remember the experiences that are so clear in our minds today.

HERE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE FOUND TO BE THE MOST...

BEAUTIFUL

- Sunrise at Machu Picchu
- The Peruvian Andes
- The scenery of New Zealand's South Island
- The vast open plains of the Serengeti
- Halong Bay in Vietnam
- The underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef
- The Ta Prohm "jungle temple" of Angkor Wat
- Vietnam's rice paddies
- The cherry blossoms in Kyoto, Japan
- South Africa's Cape Peninsula and Cape Point
- The Amazon rainforest
- The sand dunes in Ica

INTERESTING

- Witnessing the giant tuna auction at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo
- Learning and experiencing the Maasai culture in Tanzania
- The scene at Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum
- Seeing how traditional Shinto practices are intertwined with today's modern Japanese culture
- Talking first-hand with Chinese people about the history of Tiananmen Square and the impact that Communism has on their lives today
- Seeing all the different styles of homes across the world
- Learning about the various types of arranged marriages that exist across cultures
- Spending time in the Japanese village of Asakura, and experiencing first-hand the unique Japanese culture
- Seeing how Inca traditions still exist in the lives of Quichuans in Peru today
- Learning about the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands
- Witnessing the lifestyle and practices of the Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania

UNIQUE

- People eating starfish, scorpions, grasshoppers and insect larvae at the food market in Beijing
- Our day spent hunting, digging roots, and gathering berries and honey with the Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania
- The floating villages that we saw on Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia and Halong Bay, Vietnam
- The cows that live on the streets in India
- All the different ways that people around the world carry things
- Seeing ostrich farms along the roads in South Africa
- The huge number of motorbikes and bicycles on the streets in Vietnam
- The fascination that people had with the images of their pictures that we showed them on our digital camera

FRUSTRATING

- Our often futile attempts to stay away from the standard tourist sites, stores and restaurants in China
- Being constantly accosted by street vendors in India
- The challenge of trying to find clean bathrooms in Asia
- Finding any place that would serve cold milk or decent juice for breakfast in Asia or South America
- Not being able to eat chicken or eggs in Asia (because of the bird flu scare), and therefore having to eat mutton every day in India
- The total lack of privacy we all felt after traveling together for a whole year
- Having to pay the 400 Baht (per person) departure tax each time we flew out of the Bangkok airport, normally after only a 1-night stay
- The nasty tsetse flies that followed our jeep and attacked us in the Serengeti

EXHAUSTING

- Our hike to Machu Picchu along the Inca trail, and the hike up Huayna Picchu the following day
- All the long drives and long days in India
- Our numerous marathon flights, including LA-Auckland, Melbourne-Delhi, Tokyo-LA, Atlanta-Johannesburg and Johannesburg-NY
- The long drive over sometimes barely-passable roads on our way to Kidero Valley to camp with the Hadza
- Our long drives in South Africa - 10 hours through Swaziland to Kruger, and then 8 ½ hours from Kruger to Johannesburg

FRIGHTENING

- Paula's taxi ride to the Sydney airport
- Our drive on mountain snow-covered roads to the Tibetan village of Benzilan
- Our boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef through huge waves
- Trying to walk across any street in India
- The elephant that trumpeted and almost charged us in Tarangire National Park
- Being trapped by a breeding herd of elephants in Hluhluwe, especially after being warned about several recent incidents where elephants have charged at cars

DISAPPOINTING

- The recent transformation of the Chinese town of Lijiang into a highly commercial tourist destination
- Initially learning that the Ruben Jane, the boat we chartered for exploring the Great Barrier Reef, had electrical problems and would be unable to take us on our adventure (we eventually rescheduled and were able to go after the boat was repaired)
- Our white river rafting adventure in Ecuador that just wasn't meant to be
- The tea ceremony in Kyoto that we paid $40 for and ended up lasting all of about 10 minutes
- The wildlife we saw at Kruger, especially when compared to what we experienced in Tanzania

SURPRISING

- The friendly and warm people of North Vietnam
- The cleanliness and order of the huge city of Tokyo
- Walking into Utpal's Delhi home for dinner, and finding a group of more than 20 people, many sitting on the floor and eating with their hands
- Our school visit in Arusha where we expected to meet 2 pen pals, and were instead greeted by over 200 students and administrators who came to meet us on a Saturday morning
- Finding out after-the-fact that our horseback ride was taking us through pastures where dangerous bulls were roaming, and being told what to do if our horses were charged
- The moment that all our horses started cantering during our ride in the highlands of Ecuador
- Paula's discovery of a chicken beak (and some of the chicken's head) in a spoonful of soup in Zhongdian
- Seeing the guinea pigs appear from nowhere and scurry across the dirt floor in a home we visited in Ecuador
- Finding out after-the-fact that the Knysna Heads, the entry and exit point for our whale watching trip in Knysna, is actually the third most dangerous sea passage in the world
- Driving right into the procession in Cape Town where the Olympic torch was being carried
- The leopard that leaped high in the air in an effort to catch a spur fowl

MOVING

- Hearing the personal stories from people in Cambodia about the tragedy of the Khmer Rouge
- The incredible hospitality we received from the kind people in Asakura, Japan
- Seeing that despite the difficult living conditions of so many people in villages throughout Asia and South America, these people appear to be genuinely happy
- Listening to women in Asia describe how many children they had given birth to, versus the number that had survived
- Seeing so many small children working instead of attending school, and all the elderly people performing heavy labor often carrying huge loads on their backs
- The little boy in Laos who offered David one of his family's two water buffaloes as a gift to express his friendship
- All the women in the Cusco market who brightened up when they saw Katie walking and spinning yarn by hand
- The kindness of the Japanese children who approached David and Katie and offered to play
- The family we met in the Cambodian fishing village and listening to them describe the difficulty they were having surviving day-to-day
- Seeing the interaction between a young lioness and her mother after the lioness came unsuccessful from hunting a warthog (Paula became teary-eyed…)
- Watching the male blue-footed boobies offer twigs to their partners as offerings as part of their mating rituals

FUN

- Dune buggies and sand boarding in Ica, Peru
- Riding ostriches in Oudtshoorn, South Africa
- Catching all those fish near High Rock on the Great Barrier Reef
- Continually honing our bargaining skills, and watching David and Katie become expert negotiators
- Our horseback ride at the Terra del Volcan Hacienda, in Ecuador
- Riding camels through the dunes of the Thar Desert in India
- Visiting small children in schools throughout Asia and South America

EXCITING

- Setting foot on top of the Great Wall of China
- Finding ourselves right in the middle of the annual migration of the herds in the Serengeti
- Snorkeling and swimming with sea lions, turtles and penguins in the Galapagos Islands
- Spotting a huge southern right whale breaching off the coast of The Cape of Good Hope
- Seeing so much African wildlife during our very first minutes in the Serengeti as we left the landing strip
- Our very first encounter with the amazing wildlife of the Galapagos Islands on a short dinghy ride that we took during our first afternoon

OUTRAGEOUS

- The Vietnamese propaganda still present in the "Hanoi Hilton" prison where American POW's were held during the Vietnam War
- Being treated as celebrities (because of our white skin and "pointed noses") in several Indian and Southeast Asian villages
- The Chinese habit of loud, public spitting
- The cost of everything in Japan
- Our bizarre visit at the office of the infamous Dr. Ho (represented by his son) in Baisha, China

FUNNY

- Our ostrich rides in Oudtshoorn
- The "Hanoi - Washington" man that we met in the small village near Hanoi
- Watching the New Zealand technique for catching a sheep by hand
- Hearing about the love affairs and personal lives of individual yellow-eyed penguins in New Zealand
- The incident when our boat kept getting stuck on its way out the float village on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia
- Numerous faux pas committed in Japan, including when Katie forgot to remove her bathroom slippers as she walked throughout Mitsuko's house
- Seeing the sea lions all lounging on boats (that they often sink) in San Cristobal Harbor in the Galapagos Islands

 

THESE WERE OUR FAVORITE...

WILDLIFE EXPERIENCES

- Witnessing the annual migration of the herds in the Serengeti
- Our visit with a pride of lions, including two playful cubs, near Lake Masek in the Southern Serengeti
- Our close encounter with a huge elephant bull in the Ngorongoro Crater
- Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef
- Seeing the yellow-eyed and blue penguins in New Zealand
- Walking among the amazingly tame wildlife of the Galapagos Islands
- Snorkeling with sea lions off the coast of North Seymour Island in the Galapagos Islands, and watching them seemingly plead for us to stay when it was time for us to leave the water
- Seeing the leopard at night, and the serval along the road in Kruger
- Close encounters with rhinos in Hluhluwe

MARKETS

- The Otavalo animal market in Peru
- The central market in Jodhpur, India
- The Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo
- The huge flower market in Bangkok
- The Tengeru market near Arusha, Tanzania
- Cusco's main market
- The local market in Samutsongksam, Thailand
- The neighborhood food markets in Hanoi
- The large market near the town of Weishan, China

TEMPLES/PALACES

- The Grand Palace in Bangkok
- The wats of Luang Prabang
- The small Hindu temple in Saiwar, India
- The Sikh temple on Chandni Chowk in Delhi's Old City
- The Birla Temple in Jaipur, India
- The Ghi-ohji Temple (surrounded by moss) in Kyoto

HIKES

- Our hike to Machu Picchu along the Inca Trail
- Climbing Huayna Pichhu, and the view looking down on Machu Picchu from above
- The hike up to Otira Glacier in New Zealand
- Our hike from Malaga Pass to Tastayoc Valley in Peru's highlands
- Walking through the entire east side of Kyoto
- The hike to the waterfall near Lake Natron, Tanzania
- Walking from Empakaai Crater to Nayobi and then on to the Acacia Forest
- Our hikes in the Amazon Rainforest

FOOD/MEALS

- All of Steph's meals served on the Ruben Jane on the Great Barrier Reef
- The "Garlic Nan" bread in India
- Eating ostrich at De Fijne Keuken in Oudtshoorn, South Africa
- All of our "hot pot" meals in tiny restaurants along the streets of China
- Noodle soup in Laos
- Our lunch at the Hacienda Zuletta in Ecuador, especially the quinoa soup
- Sticky rice in Vietnam
- Our sukiyaki meal at Mitsuko's home in Asakura
- The lunch served to us by the school children in Asakura
- Our shabu-shabu and sushi meals in Japan
- The fire-roasted corn we enjoyed while camping in Tanzania
- Eating freshly-dug potatoes with the Quichuan families in Peru
- The homemade peking dumplings that we had while waiting for the snow to clear in Zhongdian
- The pasta bar at our hotel in Siem Reap (the first good pasta we had in a long time!)

ENTERTAINMENT

- Watching Allianz-Lima's victory in a soccer game played in Ica, Peru
- The water puppet show in Hanoi
- The Chinese acrobats in Beijing
- Seeing Thai boxing in Bangkok

VILLAGE EXPERIENCES

- Our unplanned visit to a festival in a small village just outside of Hanoi, Viet Nam
- Walking through the colorful festival in the village of Jamba, India
- Digging potatoes with the Quichuan families in the highlands of Peru
- The villages we visited near Luang Prabang and along the Mekong River in Laos
- Visiting the homes in the floating village in Halong Bay
- The multiple villages that we stopped in along the road in India
- Our day in the Naxi village of Baisha, China

MONUMENTS/RUINS

- The Great Wall of China
- Macchu Picchu
- The Taj Mahal
- The temples of Angkor Wat, especially Angkor Thum and Ta Prohm
- The Inca ruins in Ollantaytambo, Cusco, Pisac and Winaywayna

 

THESE ARE OUR FONDEST MEMORIES FROM EACH COUNTRY...

NEW ZEALAND

KATIE

- Driving out of the airport and seeing sheep scattered over hills and farmland
- Shearing and learning about sheep at Arthur's Pass
- Watching the sheepdogs (Tes and Skip) as they herded sheep at Arthur's Pass
- Feeding Thomas (the orphan who always got away) and the other lambs
- Hiking in Arthur's Pass and playing in the snow
- Catching a brown trout in Lake Moeraki
- Our beautiful drive to Milford Sound
- Our first spotting of a sea lion in Dunedin and running around trying to get pictures-waiting for it to go into the water
- Watching the blue penguins pop out of the water and walk up a marked trail - one of them sat down inches from our feet
- Seeing Royal Albatross fly and learning about their fascinating lives
- Learning about the lives of yellow eyed penguins
- The beautiful green moss that formed a carpet over the ground, trees and rocks on the South Island

DAVID

- Watching the sheep dogs herd the sheep in Arthur's Pass, and seeing Mike catch one.
- Playing with the cute puppy Tess
- Our long hike through the mountains to the glacier where we enjoyed sledding and a snow ball fight
- Fishing throughout New Zealand with our cheap rods
- Watching keas fly around in the parking lots
- Taking a boat ride into Doubtful Sound, and enjoying the drive to Milford Sound
- Forgetting our big bag of plane tickets at Lake Moeraki, which was almost disastrous
- The beautiful mountains covered in a thin layer of green grass
- Watching the blue penguins jump onto shore at dusk
- Running through the dug-out tunnels while observing the endangered yellow-eyed penguin
- Watching the royal albatrosses circle around a beach in Dunedin

PAULA

- Watching the dogs round up the sheep, including Tess the pup
- The challenging hike at Arthur's Pass and learning about all the plants, flowers and geology of the area
- Katie catching a trout on Lake Moeraki
- Doubtful Sound
- The spectacular drive to Milford Sound and the one lane (but two way) tunnel
- Our close encounter at dusk with blue penguins
- Watching the giant albatross glide along the cliffs and rocky coastline
- Watching the penguins from the bunkers and hearing their stories
- Our first sea lion on the beach in Dunedin
- The overall beauty and serenity of New Zealand and its sparsely populated South Island
- Viewing the night sky in the southern hemisphere and locating the Southern Cross

STEVE

- Constantly feeling that this is probably the most beautiful country that we have ever seen
- Seeing the blue penguins pop up at dusk on Pilot Beach near Dunedin
- Watching the dogs as they herded sheep at Arthur's Pass
- Kayaking on Pearson Lake
- The beauty of the drive to Milford Sound - probably the most spectacular drive we have ever done
- Our encounter with the huge sea lion on Allans Beach near Dunedin
- Seeing the rare yellow-eyed penguins walking on the beaches and returning to their nests
- The wonderful hike up to the Otira Glacier that we did on our first day at Arthur's Pass
- The unbelievably green moss in the forest near Gunn Lake (along the drive to Milford Sound)
- Our beautiful cruise through the mist on Doubtful Sound

 

AUSTRALIA

KATIE

- The boat breakdown
- Mom leaving for Indiana to take care of grandpa
- The cleanliness and great organization of Sydney
- Almost falling asleep during the opera, "The Flying Dutchman" in the Sydney Opera House
- Taking a beautiful beach walk in Sydney
- The wavy trip out to the reef on our first day
- The beauty of the Great Barrier Reef, the coral and fish
- Snorkeling every day in the reef and being so close to all of its fish and coral life
- Seeing our first sharks and following them through the water
- Catching fish at High Rock and bottom fishing on the Great Barrier Reef
- The great cooking by Steph, the chef on our boat
- Watching the Patriots win the Super Bowl at a bar in Sydney!

DAVID

- Exploring the underwater world on the Great Barrier Reef - we enjoyed fishing and snorkeling, but didn't love the constant rocking of the boat
- Watching the Pats win it all in a sports bar in Sydney
- Walking through my favorite city of the entire trip: Sydney
- Living without mom for a week

PAULA

- The modern beauty of Sydney Harbor
- Walking along the rocky coastline near Sydney
- The feelings I had leaving everyone to go to Indiana and the warmth of being all together again once I returned
- Sitting together in Melbourne listening to stories about the Great Barrier Reef

STEVE

- The initial helplessness and disappointment we felt when learning that the Ruben Jane, the boat we had booked 8 months earlier, had electrical problems and could not take us for our week-long adventure on the Great Barrier Reef
- The amazingly rough ride we had out to the Great Barrier Reef on the first day
- Catching one spanish mackerel after another during a particularly productive fishing session near High Rock
- Catching fish from the "rubber duck" as we motored in and out of the reefs
- All the wonderful snorkeling that we did on the Great Barrier Reef, and especially our encounter with a coral reef shark near one of the ribbon reefs
- Watching Katie drop-fishing off the back of the boat until it was almost dark
- Feeling incredibly pampered by the crew of the Ruben Jane, and all the wonderful food
- The spectacular city of Sydney, one of the most beautiful and livable cities that we saw anywhere
- Watching the Patriots win the Super Bowl from a Sydney sports bar at 10:00AM on a Monday morning

 

INDIA

KATIE

- Trying Indian food and having to eat mutton (goat) for every meal
- Learning about all the Hindu gods and customs
- Driving into chaotic Delhi and feeling our first culture shock as we saw poverty and cows all around us
- Eating dinner on the floor at Uptal's house and David saying, "I don't think I'm gonna have a very good summer"
- The big palace hotels we stayed in which made us feel guilty
- Exploring Delhi by rickshaw and walking through the large and colorful market
- Visiting the Sikh temple in Delhi and watching women pass around dough to make food
- Visiting Gandhi's cremation site
- The girls with dung on their heads who surrounded Utpal asking for money after we took their photo
- Whole families riding on bikes without helmets
- The crowded, but beautiful Taj Mahal and posing for pictures
- Drives between cities with colorful people along the roads carrying things on their heads
- The lazy cows on the streets, who never rushed to get out of the way when we drove by
- Utpal saying, "Good morning and welcome to another fantastic day!"
- Utpal's discussions in the car and picking out pretty ladies for photo opportunities
- All the colorful local markets-getting my sari and bangles
- Our first experience with hawkers in Delhi
- Students in Jodhpur asking us questions and staring
- People throughout India staring and touching us (the celebrity factor)
- Seeing cows steal food behind the shop keepers' backs at the market in Jodhpur (near castle)
- Getting homemade Indian sweets at a store in the Jodhpur market
- Going on the tuk-tuk ride and horse-drawn carriage
- Our first experience with a village home visit in Saiwar (I got sick while in the house)
- Visiting the religious school and temple in Saiwar with people calling the gods
- Seeing all the blue houses in Jodhpur
- Stopping in small villages and feeling like celebrities
- Visiting a village and buying things to hold pots on our heads
- The camel cart ride in Pushkar and doing a religious ritual where we got our bracelets
- Driving through the Thar Desert and passing by tiny huts
- The colorful festival at Jamba and feeling like a celebrity as over 30 people followed us all the way to the car-we tried to take pictures of the women but the boys kept jumping up and getting their hands in the way!
- Our camel ride in the desert and mom getting sick

DAVID

- Having dinner with Utpal the night we arrived in Delhi
- The chaos of Delhi
- Seeing cows everywhere, in the streets, on the sidewalks, even in the markets
- Our life threatening rickshaw ride through Delhi traffic
- Seeing the Taj Mahal
- Discovering all the different things you can carry on your head (including cow dung)
- Eating the same things for every meal
- MUTTON!!
- Our palace (literally) hotel in Jodhpur
- Our bright blue enticing pool in burning hot weather (Pushkar)
- Taking a camel and carriage to Pushkar city, to be blessed at the river and see the only temple of Brahma in India which had monkeys running around everywhere
- Taking our camel trek in Jasailmer, where mom got very sick and birds were nesting above our beds
- Seeing wild peacocks
- Starting Malarone pills (for malaria), which we would take for the next five months every morning

PAULA

- Our first meal in India on the floor of Utpal's home and the look on David's face when he said, "I don't think I'm going to have a very good summer."
- Our rickshaw ride and the sights, sounds and smells of Delhi
- The simplicity of the Gandhi museum and seeing the stained garment he wore when he was shot
- Marveling at the beauty of the Taj Mahal and finding it hard to believe that a building could be so stunning
- Being pushed from behind on the street by a cow
- Watching people literally living (bathing, cooking), working and traveling along the roadside all over India
- The bright and colorful dress and jewelry of Indian women
- Beautiful women carrying huge loads of cow dung on top of their heads
- Katie purchasing material for a sari and the reaction of people in the shop when she tried it on
- The outgoing nature of Indians-curious, anxious to speak with and touch us
- For the first time in my life feeling I was tall
- Entering my first Hindu temple in Delhi and watching the people pray
- Constantly taking on and off my shoes as we entered temples and homes
- Eating curry, lentils and mutton every day
- Walking through the walled streets of Jodhpur, Jaipur and Jaisalmer (the blue, pink and golden cities)
- Learning about the many Hindu gods, reincarnation and cremation rituals
- Receiving the blessings and string bracelet from a priest in Pushkar by the lake at sunset
- Being pulled in a cart by camels through the desert to Pushkar
- The refreshing dip in the pool of our hotel in Pushkar-and fully understanding the desire for an oasis in the desert
- Riding camels in the Thar Desert
- Dancing with the boys at our camp in the Thar Desert
- Meeting the boys studying to be Hindu priests in Saiwar and finding out we were the first Americans they had ever met
- Visiting our first village home in India and being overwhelmed by their kindness as well as the sights and smells
- How I felt boarding my first Air India flight and riding the night train back to Delhi

STEVE

- Our dinner at Utpal's house during our first night in Delhi, and the incredibly fast initiation into Indian culture and food that we received that evening
- Sitting on Utpal's porch, and David's infamous "I don't think I'm going to have a very good summer" line
- The incredible activity, noise and "organized chaos" of Delhi's streets
- Our unexpected visit to the festival near the village of Jamba, and the rainbow of color created by the women in their traditional dress
- Visiting the Hindu school in Saiwar, and learning that the boys there had never met any Americans before
- The "celebrity effect" that we felt in all the villages that we stopped in
- Our first visit to a family's home in Saiwar, and how uncomfortable we all felt with the sights and smells
- The incredible beauty of the Taj Mahal, and how it exceeded all of our expectations
- The amazingly large loads that the women carry on their heads
- Visiting the paper, marble and silk factories that Utpal took us to
- The crowded sleeper car on the train from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur
- Riding camels across beautiful sand dunes in the Thar Desert
- Paula's little "incident" (getting sick) in front of all the camels and camel drivers during our camel safari
- Seeing cows everywhere, particularly resting in the medians of city streets
- All the people living in tents along the roadsides in Delhi
- Visiting the appropriately understated Gandhi museum in Delhi

 

VIET NAM

KATIE

- Halong Bay and visiting the floating house with women fixing the fishing nets
- The Ho Chi Minh song that was played at his mausoleum
- Visiting the kindergarten on our way back from Halong Bay
- Driving out of the airport and seeing rice paddies all over
- Trying to learn to use chopsticks
- Seeing women with tall pointed hats and carrying heavy loads on bamboo poles
- Seeing the live pigs being taken to market on motorbikes
- Learning and seeing rice transplanting
- Buying the big bamboo vase for only $20
- Seeing where the American plane crashed during the war
- Seeing the market with frogs tied up and still hopping
- Seeing how people garden and fish
- Going to the village with the Hanoi-Washington man
- The friendliness of the people
- Going to the water puppet theater
- Watching people do Tai Chi and dance in the park
- Visiting the prison ("Hanoi Hilton") and seeing all the propaganda
- Visiting the village and falling into the rice paddy

DAVID

- Having to eat with chopsticks for the first time (three months total)
- The FOOD was delicious and a great change from Indian
- The surprisingly friendly and kind people
- Triangular bamboo hats which all the woman wore
- The unforgettable lush rice patties
- Watching Katie step right into a huge muddy rice patty, and seeing at least 4 Vietnamese women come help her clean off her shoes while giggling
- Stopping at a small village festival, and hearing one of the men scream "Hanoi Washington!"
- Seeing some of the B-52 bomb wreckage in Hanoi
- Freaking out when we were walking among chickens in the countryside
- Cropping pictures on the computer which had chickens in the background

PAULA

- The charm of Hanoi's French architecture
- Visiting the floating villages of Halong Bay in the dark
- Visiting the pre-school and seeing the children dance with proud parents and grandparents watching outside
- Learning about "Uncle Ho" and visiting his mausoleum
- Lively conversation during dinner with Stan and other Americans working in Hanoi
- Dropping by a village festival and becoming honored guests
- Feeling humbled by the friendliness of the Vietnamese people even those who had bomb craters from the Vietnam War in their front yards
- The goodwill expressed in our "Hanoi-Washington" toast
- Everyone offering us cigarettes (even to the kids) as a sign of their kindness
- Watching the rice seedlings being transplanted in groups of 3-4, seeing water buffalo plow fields and men spoon water into the paddies with large ladles
- Cone shaped hats and bundles carried on the ends of a pole
- Chickens and pigs transported to market on bikes
- Bikes and motorbikes everywhere
- Trying sugarcane
- Katie falling in a rice paddy and being covered in mud while the local women laughed
- Our first hot pots, noodle soup and beginning to use chop sticks
- Everyone exercising at 6 A.M. in the city parks

STEVE

- Touching down on the Hanoi runway, and feeling incredulous that we were actually in North Vietnam
- Our amazement at seeing all the people working in rice paddies during our ride from the airport into the city of Hanoi
- Visiting with farmers who were plowing their land, planting rice by hand, and using special scoops to irrigate the paddies
- Our unplanned visit to a festival in a small village near Hanoi, eating sticky rice and dried pork, joking with the "Hanoi - Washington" man, and being treated as official honored guests
- The way that the people carry things using baskets suspended on the ends of a bamboo pole
- The strange scene created by government authorities at Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum
- The bizarre propaganda that still exists in the "Hanoi Hilton" prison where American POW's were held
- The beauty of Halong Bay
- Seeing live pigs being carried upside down on the backs of motorbikes
- All the motor bikes on the streets, and the advice we were given about looking straight ahead and never varying speeds when walking across the streets
- Watching people playing badminton in the streets, and doing Tai Chi and all their unique stretches and exercises at 6:00AM in Hanoi's parks

 

LAOS

KATIE

- Eating salted peanuts and great Italian food at restaurants
- Visiting temples in Luang Prabang
- Eating noodle soup
- Taking boat trip on Mekong River and visiting the villages with bamboo homes
- Learning about the Lao government
- Going to the village where the men all smoke opium and meeting a woman who couldn't count
- Going to the waterfall and touching a plant which made my hand suddenly swell and feel like pins and needles
- Watching the monks do their almsgiving ceremony
- Going to a village with boys pulling down each others' pants-they asked David to get fruits high in the trees and then lead us to their garden-they offered David one of their water buffalo
- Trying seaweed and watching it being dried and collected
- Barely getting our wooden Buddha through customs

DAVID

- Trying dried seaweed, and seeing old women collect it from the Mekong River
- Feasting on the delicious salted peanuts grown on the banks of the Mekong
- Eating noodle soup almost everyday
- Paying only 5 dollars for all of our laundry to be done
- Motoring along the Mekong and stopping at many villages
- Getting huge bricks of kip at the exchange office for only $200 (10,000 kip to the dollar)
- Getting chased off by a big evil turkey that I accidentally threatened
- Playing with young boys who admired my height and took advantage of it by getting me to knock down fruits high up in the trees. These boys loved to pull each others pants down, which left us dying of laughter as they chased one another with their pants trailing behind. One of the boys liked me so much that he wished to give me one of his two water buffalo!
- Hearing all the old ladies asking me how long I have been married and how many children I have. I guess I looked a lot older than 14, although girls start having children at age 16

PAULA

- Noodle soup with hot spices and sticky rice
- Taking a long boat along the Mekong River and seeing peanuts and other crops growing as well as sea weed being collected, cleaned and dried
- Visiting a village and David being asked why he isn't married yet
- Village children following us and befriending David-having him get fruit high in the trees, taking us to their home, offering to give David one of the family's two water buffalo
- Meeting the men who smoke opium all day and their families who live in dark, smoky huts
- Meeting people who didn't know how old they were and meeting a woman who didn't know how many children she had because she couldn't count
- Watching the monks receive alms in the early morning in Luang Prabang
- Visiting our first Buddhist temples and seeing huge gold Buddhas
- Exchanging our money and receiving a very large stack of bills

STEVE

- Watching the orange-clad monks walking through the streets of Luang Prabang early in the morning for the Buddhist tradition of almsgiving
- The homes in Luang Prabang that also function as shops, and seeing people constantly watching television at night
- The huge stack of Lao bills (kips) that we received in exchange for $200 of travelers checks
- The beautiful wats of Luang Prabang
- Our boat cruise along the Mekong River
- Stopping in a village and tasting Mekong weed, seasoned with garlic and tomato
- Visiting with the family that was making blocks of sugar from sugar cane
- Our visit to the "highlander" village with its dark, windowless homes, and seeing the men who live there and spend their days smoking opium

 

THAILAND

KATIE

- Passing through Bangkok airport many times!
- Going to a local fish market on some train tracks and talking to some young school girls who were following us
- Visiting the colorful flower market in Bangkok
- Going to the water village and coconut factory where I helped them make candy
- Visiting the school in the water village where the teacher wanted our picture
- The Grand Palace in Bangkok
- Visiting wats in Bankok
- The dirtiness of the river through Bangkok
- Our visit with Poolsook
- The Thai boxing match

DAVID

- Thai boxing match
- The busy city of Bangkok and the international airport which we were in and out of 5 times
- The Amari Airport hotel which we stayed in three times
- The grand palace and the emerald Buddha in his summer dress
- The wavy and loud boat ride through Bangkok

PAULA

- Extremely hot, spicy Thai food and watching our guide add spoonfuls of hot pepper to the noodles that were already too spicy for me to eat
- Crowded highrise buildings and apartments as far as you could see in Bangkok
- The little bells and huge demons guarding the Grand Palace and being sprinkled with water by the priest while receiving a blessing
- School girls following us in the market until they finally got up the courage to speak to us in English
- Dinner with Poolsook, tasting a variety of mangos from her garden and learning about Thailand from her family

STEVE

- The beauty of the Grand Palace
- Visiting the school where the teacher asked us to pose with her class
- Our longboat ride through neighborhoods near the town of Samutsongksam
- Our several stops in Bangkok, paying multiple departure fees and staying at the Amari Airport Hotel each time
- Watching the family making coconut sugar
- The unique scene at the Thai boxing match during our first night in Bangkok

 

CAMBODIA

KATIE

- Just barely having enough passport pages to enter Cambodia
- The heat!!!
- The Angkor Thum temple with faces and Ta Prohm, and the jungle temple
- Learning about the influence of the Khmer Rouge
- Seeing people who had been hurt by land mines
- Visiting the tall temple of Shiva
- Visiting the beautiful Angkor Wat and seeing the spot that Thy lived with his grandmother during the Khmer Rouge regime
- Spending precious time in our large hotel pool
- Visiting a fishing village with shacks and hammocks
- Seeing children get water by a well in the fishing village and eating small amounts of food
- The big fields of lotus flowers that we passed on our drive
- Getting stuck in the mud in our long boat
- Going to the small market selling beetles and eating at the duck restaurant where I tried boiled blood
-Visiting the hospital and learning about its needs for basic health supplies and care-seeing people hurt from motorbike accidents in beds
- Visiting Thy's crocodile farm

DAVID

- Angkor Wat and the Angkor temples
- The jungle wat
- The unbearable heat
- Our hotel pasta bar and awesome pool which hit the spot
- Learning about the frightening Khmer Rouge
- Everyone had a sad story about those times (Khmer Rouge)
- Poverty in road side villages, where people had very few possessions
- Getting our motor boat stuck in the mud! A rescue boat had to come get us and luckily got us back to shore.
- Trying blocks of roasted blood in soup! It was gross.

PAULA

- Marveling at the enormous temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thum with their intricate carvings
- Amazed by the jungle covered Ta Prohm temple
- Visiting with the family living along the road to Tonle Sap Lake and discussing how the fishing has been-wishing we could do something more to help them
- Enjoying the comforts of our hotel (air conditioning, pool and wonderful food) but feeling guilty about such luxuries with people living so simply all around us
- The realization that everyone we met had been personally affected by the Khmer Rouge Regime-loss of limbs from shells, loss of family members, loss of education and opportunities
- Getting stuck on our long boat on Tonle Sap Lake
- The field of lotus flowers
- Blood in our soup and people eating unhatched chicks

STEVE

- The beautiful temples of Angkor Wat, particularly the Ta Prohm "jungle temple" and Angkor Thum with its beautiful bas-reliefs
- The intense afternoon heat and the refreshing pool that we used for escaping it
- Realizing that everyone in Cambodia has been impacted in some way by the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970's, and hearing several very sad stories
- Seeing visible signs of war in the people walking the streets of Siem Reap, and speaking with a man who lost his leg to a land mine
- Visiting families in fishing villages, and seeing some of the worst living conditions that we had encountered anywhere
- Our trip to the unique floating village on Tonle Sap Lake
- The incident where our boat became stuck repeatedly on Tonle Sap Lake
- Seeing bugs being sold in a food market for the first time
- Our close call with Katie's passport when checking in for the flight to Siem Reap
- Several nervous days and sleepless nights, and then finally receiving the great news regarding David's high school applications

 

CHINA

KATIE

- Our first night of Chinese food and visiting the market with scorpions, and other strange delicacies
- The Forbidden City
- Tiananmen Square with Chairman Mao's picture
- Our guide saying we couldn't talk about the Tianamen Square incident in the open because of guards-then hearing his story about participating in the demonstrations
- Visiting Mao's mausoleum
- Learning about the many effects communism has on the Chinese people
- Watching the TV commercials with propaganda about the Chinese government
- Visiting the park near the Temple of Heaven where older people were singing, playing games and doing sword Thai Chi
- Visiting the Great Wall of China with women wanting money
- Having dinner with Sarah and the rat running under the table
- Going to the neat antique shop with Sarah and buying a 200 year old stone lion
- The "Friendship" stores
- Visiting the American Embassy to get more pages for our passports
- Eating great food in small local restaurants-the prices were cheap and the food great!
- Visiting local markets with colorful women carrying heavy loads
- Negotiating an embroidered skirt in a tourist market in Dali
- Our search for spring couplets and having Lee translate them for us
- Seeing homes with dogs for eating and for sale
- Visiting Naxi villages with Susan and seeing the doors with posters of gods
- Hoeing with women in the village near Dali
- Temple with women praying in the roadside village and then posing for their pictures
- Woman who took us to her home because she was lonely in a Naxi village
- Women carrying heavy loads in baskets with the strap going across their foreheads
- All the people with bamboo baskets
- The huge hats of the Black Yi women
-Learning about the dress for each type of ethnic group and age
- Schools with children wearing their red scarves
-Seeing women whose feet were curved due to the old tradition of tying young ladies' feet together
- Seeing the funeral procession and being scared by the firecrackers
- The cat in the doctor's office who sat on our laps
- Visiting the market in a fishing village near Erhai Lake
- The people's awful spitting habit
- The terrible toilets and the lack of privacy
- The monastery in Zhongdian
- The men smoking long bamboo pipes
- Learning about the shooting in Taiwan and being surprised to hear that no one else knew about it
- The hotel in Zhongdian and playing in the snow-snowman with cigarette
- Being warmed by the small fire pots that local restaurants put under their tables
- Our delayed flight to Beijing due to a snowstorm, and eating last minute dumplings
- Mom pulling a chicken beak out of her soup at our last Chinese meal
- Seeing our first yaks
- The scary drive to Benzilan to visit the Tibetan family, and trying yak butter tea

DAVID

- The Beijing Food market, where you could buy anything from roasted starfish to scorpion kebabs
- Walking through the parks in Beijing and seeing everyone doing there morning exercises in unison
- Stepping into Tiananmen Square, and seeing the huge picture of Chairman Mao over the entrance. It was sad learning about 1989 and the killings that occurred
- Going inside Mao's Mausoleum and seeing armed soldiers drilling right beside it, as if to warn everyone of the government's power and control
- Being brought to "Friendship Stores" which were set up as tourist destinations by the government.
- Feeling as if people were always being watched and restricted by the government
- Trying to persuade our resistant guides to bring us to non-touristy restaurants, villages, and markets. We told them they didn't have to include those things on the report they wrote to the government after our trip
- Our friendly driver, Mr. Knee, who drove us to all our destinations throughout the Yunnan province in China
- Seeing the magnificent Terracotta Soldiers in Xian
- Spending time with Richard, our least favorite and extremely annoying guide in Kunming
- Waking up in the middle of a snow storm in Zhongdian which delayed some of our flights
- The frightening car ride in Tibet on the wet and slippery roads (snow storm) to the village of Benzilan
- Seeing the fantastic Great Wall of China
- Walking out of the dining room in our hotel in Zhongdian, and finding a cigarette in our snowman's mouth. We think it was Mr. Knee!
- Sitting on a yak
- Feasting on the most unbelievable dumplings we had ever tasted in Zhongdian
- Eating REAL Chinese food which was incredible
- Always looking forward to lunch and dinner
- Finding all the parts of a chicken in our chicken hot pot soup, which was really good until mom found a beak on the tip of her spoon
- The harsh language
- Seeing woman in their 90's still working in their gardens and collecting firewood.
- Walking along in the markets and talking to ladies whose teeth were as black as coal from a plant you chew that makes your teeth whiter. You couldn't help but laugh whenever they smiled. Ironic, isn't it?

PAULA

- Exploring the "real" Great Wall of China all alone
- Feeling the intimidation of Tiananmen Square and the Mao Mausoleum
- Seeing Chairman Mao's photo everywhere even though people readily commented on how he ruined China during the Cultural Revolution
- Witnessing the apathy of the people who still seem to readily accept their conditions and the government authority
- Being shocked by the ability of the government to control the press when the Taiwan president was shot the day before an election
- People asking us how many children we were allowed to have in the US and when we were allowed to marry
- Our dinners with Sarah (including one with a mouse) and hearing about China from the perspective of a journalist
- Shopping for Chinese antiques
- The Forbidden City and many long marble staircases guarded by dragons
- Modern Beijing with neon signs flashing with Chinese characters
- Lots of bike and special bike lanes throughout Beijing
- Negotiating for traditional items in the markets in Lijiang (Katie's skirt, bamboo backpack, bamboo pole and baskets)
- Learning about Naxi culture and visiting the woman in Baisha who dressed up Katie and served us a very hard pear
- The treacherous drive from Zhongdian to Benzilan in the snow
- A snow storm delaying our flight in Zhongdian but being able to enjoy Peking dumplings and making a snowman (complete with a cigarette from Mr. Knee)
- Eating in the "local" restaurants in China where everything is shared, no one has a plate and scraps pile up on the table
- Helping the older women in the fields-harvesting wheat, tilling the soil in the rice paddy-realizing that people here don't retire
- Five star toilets and "unrated" toilets

STEVE

- Seeing and feeling the impact that Communism has on the daily lives of the Chinese people
- Watching people practice ballroom dancing, Tai Chi, sword fighting and a variety of other unique activities in the park near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing
- The apathetic attitude that we sensed among many of the Chinese people when we asked about current events and issues in China
- Walking through Tiananmen Square, and thinking of the events that occurred there in 1989
- Our often futile attempts to escape the standard Chinese tourist sites and restaurants, realizing that the tourism industry is tightly controlled by the government
- Our frightening drive along a snowy mountain road on our way to the Tibetan town of Benzilan
- Seeing and visiting with yaks near Zhongdian
- The surprise snowstorm that delayed our travel during our final day in Zhongdian
- Helping the elderly ladies hoe their rice paddies in the fields near the Sha Ping market
- Visiting a variety of ethnic villages, including Naxi, Tibetan, Black Yi
- Our frustration with the commercialization of the town of Lijiang
- The wonderful and unbelievably inexpensive meals, often "hot pots", that we had in the tiny restaurants along the streets of Chinese towns
- Visiting the Wal-Mart in Kunming
- All the unique snacks (starfish, scorpions, grasshoppers, larvae, etc.) being sold and eaten at the Beijing food market
- Negotiating the price of everything in China, and finding out that the first asking price is usually 10x the price that the vendor is willing to sell for
- Splurging at the Beijing Hagen Dasz
- Our trip to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to have passport pages added for David and Katie
- Our wonderful meal with Sarah, and the mouse (or was it a rat?) that visited us

 

JAPAN

KATIE

- The order of Tokyo-spotless and everyone in business suits
- Eating at Sizzlers and Royal Host and how expensive it was for simple food
- All the people using cell phones and all the cell phone stores
- The tuna market and our expensive taxi ride
- The organized subway stations with high technology
- The incredible number of subway stops in Tokyo and being afraid that we would get lost
- The mechanical toilets in our hotel
- Eating our first sushi meal with big plates
- Going to Shinto shrines in Kyoto and watching people practice traditional rituals
- Pouring water on our hands, ringing the bell, bowing and other rituals used in the shrines
- The beautiful cherry blossoms on Philosopher's Way
- Seeing all of the locals gathered with big cameras taking photos of the geisha girls
- The women in their beautiful kimonos
- Walking with our two guides through beautiful hidden Shinto shrines
- Restaurant where we ate meat and said shabu-shabu
- The outrageous prices!
- The bullet trains
- Our disappointing tea ceremony in Kyoto
- Going to a quiet restaurant in Nara and wearing slippers inside
- Struggling to find reasonably priced souvenirs
- Going to the conveyor sushi place
- Strawberry picking in Asakura
- Sleeping on reed mats
- Our big meal with meat and raw egg yoke at Mitsuko's house
- Trying to sit cross-legged and passing food in chopsticks to David (getting in trouble)
- Talking to Mitsuko and teaching her English
- The numerous places with slippers throughout the house
- My first Japanese bath
- Drinking Japanese tea
- Visiting the school and putting on slippers-- the high level of technology and meeting the principal
- Learning about the stress put on Japanese students with testing
- Visiting the small school children and having lunch with them
- The children trying to talk with me in English
- Accidentally wearing my bathroom slippers into the classroom
- Being scolded at when I moved my food in a different position than the kids are used to
- Watching the kids use their tiny sets of chopsticks
- The reaction of the children when one of the boys dropped his rice
- Mitsuko giving us a big bowl of noodle soup as an evening snack (she seemed to read our mind)
- Going to the nursing home and seeing the old women exercise
- Going on sleds on the grass slope outside the nursing home--the girls asking to play and bringing my sled up the hill
- Being showered with gifts at the end of our home stay

DAVID

- Seeing the Yankees playing in a Tokyo Stadium on TV. I wanted to scream when A-rod went up to the plate in a Yankee uniform
- Walking through the gargantuan city of Tokyo which reminded me of New York City. There was no trash anywhere, yet no trash cans. We couldn't figure it out.
- The outrageous prices
- The huge digital signs in Tokyo
- The tuna auction and fish market of Tokyo
- The word for yes in Japanese, HAI!
- The beautiful temples in Kyoto
- The pink cherry blossoms
- The bullet train we took to Shikoku Island
- The fancy drink dispensers and soda cans
- The confusing metro machines
- Getting lost on the metros in Kyoto. Apparently some of the trains don't go to certain stations. I think we passed our stop at least three times.
- Our wonderful home stays in Asakura
- Breakfast in a home in Asakura consisting of dried fish, sushi, and rice
- The fun artificial grass slide in Asakura
- Having lunch with kindergarteners in a school. Everything was very organized and the kids cleaned up after themselves and brushed their teeth!
- Conveyor sushi
- The California kids we met at the airport
- The extraordinary hospitality and kindness of the Japanese
- The unbelievable sushi

PAULA

- The contrast between Japan and the rest of Asia
- Japanese culture-their desire to please, importance of the group and educational values
- The size of Tokyo and its order and cleanliness
- Timeliness of subways and trains-to the second
- The Tokyo fish market and seeing them auction off the tuna
- Fresh sushi and how patrons are greeted when entering a restaurant
- Japanese food-especially shabu-shabu and sukiyaki (complete with raw egg) and how the food is served on low tables sitting on the floor, every item has a special dish or compartment
- "Hai" (yes in Japanese)
- The beauty of cherry blossoms in Kyoto especially around the temples and shrines
- Buddhist and Shinto shrines-the rituals, superstitions and incorporation into daily life
- Incredible hospitality during our home stays with Mitsuko and Yoshiku
- Picking fresh strawberries in Asakura
- Our visit to the Japanese primary school and sharing lunch
- Sliding with the Japanese children and their courage and desire to help
- Bathroom slippers, kitchen slippers, bedroom slippers….
- Reed mats
- The bamboo forest and celebrating our halfway anniversary
- Ancestral temples in Japanese homes
- The simple, elegant beauty of Japanese homes-interior and exterior

STEVE

- Satisfying our craving for American food during our first night's meal at Sizzlers Steakhouse in Tokyo
- Watching the tuna auction and seeing the huge variety of seafood being sold at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market
- The wonderful hospitality we received from all of our new friends in Asakura on the island of Shikoku
- Arriving in the heart of cherry blossom season, and admiring the beautiful trees in Tokyo and Kyoto
- Riding the Shinkansen, the amazing bullet train between Tokyo and Kyoto
- The beautiful temples spread throughout the city of Kyoto
- The cleanliness and order of the huge city of Tokyo
- The fascination of seeing Shintoism being practiced as part of everyday life in Japan
- The unbelievable expense of everything in Japan
- Cell phones being used everywhere in Tokyo, often for instant messaging and web surfing
- The efficiency and cleanliness of Tokyo's subway system

 

ECUADOR

KATIE

- Driving high in the mountains to our hacienda, and walking on the equator line
- Playing pool with Henry and Renaldo in the hacienda
- Meeting the dog named Baka at the hacienda
- Taking a bike ride through San Pablo to a beautiful lake with women washing clothes
- Watching a boy at the lake try to ride a pig, and learning how to put the pigs to sleep by rubbing them with sticks
- Exploring the beautiful highlands dotted with Indian villages
- Taking the difficult bike ride to a green valley and getting stuck in traffic by herds of cattle
- Finding out about a festival in San Pablo and riding our bikes through the rain to get to it
- Bird Watching while hiking in the cloud forest with Henry using his CD player
- Visiting Indian villages and seeing women with traditional clothing
- Going to a home with guinea pigs running around inside
- Visiting the colorful animal market in Otavalo
- Taking in the remarkable cultural diversity of the Otavalo market, and negotiating for several sweaters using Spanish
- Every shop keeper advertising his or her sweaters by saying, "Baby alpaca, baby alpaca"!
- Trying the wonderful soups
- Our wonderful horseback ride and having the chance to canter
- Mom falling on her face the first time we heard a sea lion bark in the harbor in the Galapagos Islands-laughing at the sea lions resting on and eventually sinking boats
- Our evening dinghy ride around Sea Lion Island where we caught our first glimpse of the remarkable wildlife of the Galapagos Islands (the sea lions following us)
- Visiting Espanola Island and seeing colonies of sea lions, colorful marine iguanas, blue footed boobies doing their courtship dances, and albatross
- Watching blue-footed boobies do their courtship dances and exchange twigs--Seeing flocks of boobies dive into the water at the same time
- Watching the frigate birds inflate their red pouches and gobble when a female flew overhead
- Swimming with a sea lion on Wizard Beach and watching it follow and seemingly plead with us to go back in
- Swimming with a penguin and turtles off of Bartholomew Island
-Walking on the incredible lava flows on Fernandina Island and seeing flightless cormorants
- Snorkeling in wavy and freezing cold water at Donkey's Ear and following a sea lion as he led us around the rocks
- Seeing the huge groups of marine iguanas at Fernandina Island and being careful not to get spit on by them
- Waiting patiently for a blue-footed booby to sit up so we could see her chicks on North Seymour Island
- Watching a blue-footed booby lay an egg and spotting land iguanas
- Swimming with the large group of sea lions off North Seymour Island
- Looking down at the endless expanse of trees from our small plane and landing on the muddy runway at Kapawi
- Finding beetles in my boots at the start of our first night hike
- Our beautiful hikes through the jungle and learning about all of the plants and their uses
- Eating lemon ants and walking over a lake filled with caimans
- Fishing for piranhas until the last minute (literally)

DAVID

- Standing on equator
- Bike ride at Hacienda Cusin
- Baka the dog
- The Otavalo market
- Playing pool and ping pong at Hacienda Cusin
- Seeing the various active volcanoes
- The scarlet-rumped mountain tanager
- Swimming with sea lions, penguins, turtles, and sharks in the Galapagos
- Seeing blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, and the other unique birds of the Galapagos Islands
- Small plane flight into the Amazon where we landed on a dirt runway
- Fishing for piranha without success
- Taking hikes into the jungle with big rubber boots on
- Eating lemon ants

PAULA

- Watching the street festival in San Pablo and riding back on bikes in the pouring rain
- Otavalo animal market and buying lots of sweaters in the general market (baby alpaca only, of course)
- Birds responding to Henry's calls and coming so close to us
- "Real" horseback riding on the Inca trail between Quito and Cusco wearing our ponchos and hats
- Seeing our first guinea pigs scurry around the floor of a Quichuan home
- Blue-footed boobies mating, laying an egg, nesting and hundreds diving simultaneously
- Swimming with sea lions, penguins and turtles-especially when the sea lions would race toward my face
- Snorkeling with my first sharks, rays and octopus
- Flying over an active volcano
- My first views of the Amazon from our small plane
- Hiking in the Amazon, learning about the jungle and trying lemon ants
- Observing the traditional roles of men and women in a jungle village
- Fishing for piranha

STEVE

- The beautiful scenery in Ecuador's volcanic highlands
- The unique dress of the various ethnic groups in the highlands, and how they each reside in a single separate community
- The wonderful Otavalo animal market
- Visiting homes in the highlands, and seeing guinea pigs running around on the dirt floors
- Our fantastic horseback ride at the Hacienda Terra del Volcan,
- Bird watching with Henry, who used a CD to successfully call several birds to us
- Our white river rafting trip that just wasn't meant to be
- The incredible wildlife and scenery of the Galapagos Islands
- Seeing the blue-footed boobies do their mating dances, nesting, and one even laying an egg
- Snorkeling with sea lions, turtles and penguins in the Galapagos Islands
- Seeing the Amazon rainforest, appearing as an endless sea of green, from the windows of our small plane on our way to Kapawi
- Fishing for piranhas in the Amazon
- Taking the amazing rainforest hikes in the Amazon
- Visiting with the Achuar Indians, and being served chicha that we were told to at least hold in our hands as a way of being polite

 

PERU

KATIE

- Exploring the ruins of Pisac (Inca terraces)
- Handing out gifts to the children in Ollanytambo and going to the colorful local market there
- Handing out combs to some local girls who in turn showed us their puppies
- Going to the girl's school and being tested on our math and singing skills
- Seeing the colorful men loaded onto big trucks after their work as porters on the Inca trail
- Going to local villages where we dug potatoes and watched the people cook them in dirt ovens in celebration of the beginning of the harvest
- Seeing how the Quichuan people continue to use and practice Inca ways of life including tools, dress, and religious rituals
- Stopping on the road at a home where a chicha festival was going on
- Constantly being served the alcohol, chicha, in local villages
- Giving some women from Tastayoc village a ride
- Going on the Inca trail and seeing tarantulas. Approaching the Sun Gate and catching our first glimpse of Mach Picchu
- Our friend, Machu the dog
- Exploring Machu Picchu and learning about the amazing theories of its construction.
- Doing the exhausting climb up Huayna Picchu
- Stopping by a school in Maras and watching the kids perform a long Quichuan dance
- Trying guinea pig and learning about the best parts from Hilda
- Learning to spin from Hilda-walking through the Cusco market with people helping me with new techniques
- Going to a church in Cusco with painting of The Last Supper (there was a guinea pig on the table)
- Collecting Inca pottery at the temples around Cusco
- Negotiating for sun screen in Cusco - you can negotiate for anything!

DAVID

- Spending time with Hilda, our fabulous guide
- Riding dune buggies and sand boards in Ica
- Going to a soccer game in Ica on my birthday
- Seeing our first Inca ruins in Pisac
- The extreme elevation of Cusco
- The Cusco market
- The ruins of Ollayntytambo
- Seeing the old woman spinning
- Handing our marbles and combs to boys and girls throughout the country
- Hiking 7 hours on the tough Inca trail to Machu Picchu
- Seeing Machu Picchu for the first time at the Sun Gate
- Hiking up Huayna Picchu
- Machu the dog
- Taking millions of pictures of Machu Picchu, and waiting for the sun to be just right
- Walking into peoples homes and seeing guinea pigs scurrying on the floors. The animals never leave the house, and whenever someone gets hungry, well you know what happens
- Trying guinea pig and yanking out the teeth for a souvenir
- Seeing Hilda eat the brain of a guinea pig
- Digging potatoes with Quichuans and eating with them in their homes
- Drinking chicha with the locals, which is a beer made from fermented corn
- Finding pieces of Incan pottery on the ground
- Getting followed around by people on the streets of Cusco trying to get us to eat at their restaurant
- Passing by Tom Cruise on the way to our hotel (he was a Quichuan man who said he was Tom Cruise, and tried to sell us things)
- Watching the funny shows on LAN PERU, the national airline

PAULA

- The Inca Trail and seeing Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate
- Learning about Inca culture and observing it in the way the rural people still live today
- Digging potatoes and sharing in the harvest ceremony
- The importance of chicha and coca leaves
- La Catedral in Cusco and the picture of the Last Supper with chicha and guinea pig
- Admiring Inca terraces and structures and puzzling over how and why they were built in such a style
- Hilda teaching Katie to spin and the response Katie received while spinning in the Cusco market
- Passing out bread, coca leaves, marbles and combs as we walked through villages and farmland
- Hiking in the Andes at elevations over 14,000 feet-walking on moss carpet and crossing stick bridges
- Hilda's grace and kindness which literally opened doors
- The colorful dress and hats of the Quichuan people

STEVE

- Seeing all the amazing Inca ruins, especially the agricultural terraces that are visible in many areas
- Finding and collecting small bits of Inca pottery
- The traditional bright red ponchos worn by the Quichuan men
- The school visited in Ollantaytambo, and the way that the girls put David on the spot
- Handing out pens, marbles, combs, matches and bread to Quichuan children and families
- Digging potatoes with Quichuan families, and being treated to feasts of boiled potatoes in their homes and fields
- Admiring the beauty of the rugged Peruvian Andes
- Our fantastic hike to Machu Picchu along the Inca Trail
- Seeing Machu Picchu for the very first time as we approached the Sun Gate
- The magical morning where we watched the sunrise over Machu Picchu
- Our great hike to the top of Huayna Picchu, and the fantastic view we had from the top
- Spending time browsing and shopping in the wonderful central market in Cusco
- Fun times with dune buggies and sand boards in Ica
- Hilda's wonderful way with people, and her ability to immediately connect with anyone

 

TANZANIA

KATIE

- Our long journey to get to Tanzania
- Going to the overwhelming market in Arusha
- Flying to the Serengeti and viewing the migration from the plane
- Seeing the hippo tracks and animals as soon as we drove out of the airport
- The excitement we all felt when seeing our first elephant in the Serengeti
- Seeing the large line of wildebeest and zebra going to the watering hole on our first day in the Serengeti with a crocodile trying to catch one.
- Being in the middle of the mass migration, where there were wildebeests as far as you could see and watching them cross the lake
- Nassibu spotting the first rhino he has seen in the Serengeti
- Driving to the N'Dutu Lodge and seeing open plains with animals everywhere including hyenas
- Seeing lions on the Kopjes
- Watching the family of lions at N'Dutu and witnessing the greeting ceremony
- Seeing rhinos, flamingos, and cheetahs crossing the road on our first day in Ngorongoro Crater
- Seeing tons of animals including 28 lions, rhinos, and several hyenas in the crater.
- Watching a young lion's unsuccessful hunting attempt and seeing the mother seemingly comfort her afterwards
- Not wanting to leave the crater at the end of our time and on our way out seeing a lion stalking a wildebeest
- Watching the hippos roll in the water at the hippo pool and seeing buffalo with grass decorations on their horns
- Our close encounter with a bull elephant at the crater
- Our first night of camping in Empaaki Crater and being served cinnamon cookies and hot popcorn-sitting around the camp fire and listening to Justin's story-Justin calling goats "popcorn"
- Seeing the beautiful but shy flamingos at Empakaai Crater and getting bitten by ants on the trail. Walking with an armed ranger.
- Hiking to the village of Naiobi and finding porcupine quills along the way
- Visiting Justin's family home, the darkest we've ever been in
- The colorful dress of the Maasai people and their heavy jewelry (especially on their earlobes)
- Waiting for our donkeys at Naiobi and playing cards with our guides and chef
- The happy girls on our hike to the acacia forest who loved to have their pictures taken
- Watching the Maasai warrior swing his hair on our way to Acacia
- The people at Naiobi thinking we were poor because we didn't have cattle
- Seeing the contract rings on future daughter bearing mothers
- Camping on the slope in the Acacia Forest and eating fresh corn over a fire
- Our beautiful hike and swim in the waterfall near Lake Natron
- Going to the Maasai boma in Lake Natron where were attacked by people trying to touch and look at us
- Eating salad at Gibb's Farm and milking my first cow
- Spending an extra day in Ngorongoro Crater and seeing the lions with kill and resting by the watering hole
- Watching in fear, as a family of hyenas chewed on our tires
- Seeing the baboons along the side of the road on our way out of the crater and the baby hanging onto his father
- Our bumpy drive to the Hadzas and trying to find their location
- Watching the Hadza men sharpen arrows and the women pound fruit on our first night
- Our morning hunt with the Hadzas and seeing Asani start a fire with sticks and collect delicious honey
- Watching Asani make us an arrow and straightening it with his teeth
- Digging roots with the Hadza women and watching the men cook their kill on the fire
- Dad dragging David out of his tent when we were with the Hadza
- Learning the fascinating life style of the Hadza people
- Watching elephants drink and cross the road with babies at Tarangire
- Watching the greeting ceremony between elephants at a watering hole
- Seeing a leopard cross the road and jump up in mid air to try to catch a bird near some necking giraffes
- Finding it impossible to count all of the elephants we saw in Tarengire especially in the swamp areas
- Watching a group of banded mongoose as they went on their hind legs
- Looking for ground squirrels at our lodge
- Being trumpeted at by a elephant by our car on our last morning of game viewing in Tanzania
- The sounds of lions and hyenas at night

DAVID

- The school we visited in Arusha, where we played soccer and met our pen pals
- Our flight over the migration on route to the Serengeti
- Our first animals…giraffes, warthogs, and topis
- The classic luxury camp in the Serengeti
- The vicious and oppressive tsetse flies
- Driving into the middle of the migration in the Serengeti where we could see millions of wildebeest
- Seeing the crocodile hunting a wildebeest unsuccessfully
- Seeing our first lazy leopard up in a tree
- Eating lunch by a lonely male lion resting in the shade
- Watching a family of lions (including two playful cubs) rest by a lake. The cubs wrestled, while the male went to greet his brother. Later the female hunted, but wanted to strike the zebra when it was dark, so we couldn't see it.
- Looking down on Ngorongoro Crater for the first time
- Seeing the unique wildlife on the crater floor
- Watching a huge male elephant approach us and stop with 5 feet of our jeep!
- Watching four cheetahs cross the road right in front of us in the crater
- Watching a lion hunt a warthog, again unsuccessfully, and then getting a "good try" hug from her mother
- Seeing a huge troop of baboons right by the road grooming each other and playing
- Observing a sleepy lion by the road that spotted a lonely wildebeest and tried to kill him. She was also unsuccessful.
- Seeing our first rhinos in the distance on the crater floor
- Watching a pack of juvenile hyenas chew on our tires, and hearing Nassibu say "he better not give us a flat"
- Observing three lions feasting on a wildebeest
- Seeing an elephant with three rear legs
- Seeing hippos out of the water and watching them do 360s in the water to cool off their backs
- Avoiding groups of huge fire ants in Empakaai Crater, which were vicious and crawled through our socks!
- Meeting Justin's (a Maasai) family and going inside their cow dung-walled house
- Hearing Justin say "to the Maasai, cows are life, and goats are popcorn"
- Learning about Justin's life and the Maasai culture
- Hearing about Maasai marriages, and learning about how boys sign contracts with woman promising them one of their unborn daughters
- Camping in the middle of nowhere, exposed to anything, lions, leopards…
- Camping in the Accacia Forest where we had to set up in the semi-darkness, and sleep on a slope. We all ended up at the bottoms of our tent in the morning
- Spending time with a Maasai girl who made friends with Nassibu and gave us fresh corn
- Asking Justin what all the Maasai people where saying about us. He said that they asked if we were all a family and if so, who was watching our cattle back home. He would say that we have no cattle and the Maasai would say "oh that's too bad, they must be very poor"
- Buying a Maasai spear in a village
- Watching Nassibu hop around with the Maasai warriors and imitate them
- Taking a hike to a waterfall where we swam in the warm water
- Our long dreadful drive to the Hadza
- Hunting with the Hadza and seeing them shoot bush babies and owls
- Practicing how to shoot an arrow with the Hadza men
- Watching the elder man make us an arrow using his teeth, giraffe tendon, and feathers from an owl he shot minutes before
- Our awesome stay with the one of the only hunter and gatherer tribes left in the world
- Seeing tons of elephants in Tarangire
- Getting mock charged at by an elephant
- Seeing a leopard in the road in Tarangire, and watching him leap up into the air trying to catch a bird
- Watching elephants greet each other and drink
- Seeing mongoose stand on their hind legs
- Seeing mongoose peak out of holes in termite mounds

PAULA

- Our first view of the Serengeti and the migration from our small plane
- The animal "welcoming committee" that greeted us during the first hours of our safari
- Our fascination with each species' characteristics
- Camping in the great outdoors-camp showers, campfires and roasted corn, armed guards (bow and arrow or rifle) sunrise "jambo jambos"
- Observing wild animals at close range
- Nassibu's great intuition and ability to relate to the animals
- Experiencing the migration of the herds
- Watching the lions and realizing how similar their behaviors are to our own cats
- Searching for mongoose "on their hines"
- Learning about the Maasai culture and getting to meet and know a few of their people
- Learning the importance of understanding a cultures values and how this impacts their perspective (how the Maasai thought our family was poor because we don't own any cattle)
- Experiencing the world view of a hunter-gatherer tribe (the Hadza) and gaining an appreciation for the ways that we are different and alike
- Waking up to the sounds of hyenas, wild dogs and lions during the night and early morning hours
- Seeing the sunrise and sunset again and again-each time large and beautiful on the African horizon
- Viewing the southern hemisphere near the equator and being able to see the southern cross and big dipper (even if it was upside down) in the same sky
- Hiking in the middle of Africa through local tribal villages
- Laughing and playing in the refreshing waterfall after our hike near Lake Natron
- Negotiating for jewelry and spears in Lake Natron
- Watching Asani, the head of the Hadza family we visited, make an arrow
- Being in pictures with local women
- Watching women effortlessly carrying loads on their heads and babies wrapped on their backs
- The colorful jewelry and pieced ears of the native people
- The small homes and lack of material possessions of the native Africans
- Arriving at the school in Arusha and finding hundreds of school children awaiting our visit on a Saturday (a non-school day)

STEVE

- Seeing the huge herds of wildebeest from our small plane as we prepared to land in the Serengeti
- Our amazement at seeing such a variety of animals almost immediately after arriving at the small landing field in the Serengeti
- Witnessing the incredible migration of the herds in its entire splendor - FANTASTIC!
- Our private encounter with the pride of lions by Lake Masek
- The beauty of the wide open plains of the Serengeti
- The unique spectacle of the Ngorongoro Crater
- Our close encounter with a huge elephant bull inside the Ngorongoro Crater
- Watching a pride of lions devouring their kill inside the Ngorongoro Crater and watching other lions as they hunted
- Seeing 28 lions in a single day inside Ngorongoro Crater
- Our multiple encounters with elephants in Tarangire, including the one who almost charged our jeep
- The leopard we saw by the road in Tarangire, and how he jumped high in the air for the spur fowl
- Always searching for mongooses, and finally being rewarded with great sightings in Tarangire
- Spending time with the Maasai, and being fascinated with their very different culture
- The day we spent hunting, digging roots, and gathering honey and berries with the Hadza hunter-gatherers
- Our multiple camping adventures and being surprised that we signed up to spend so many nights in tents ("Camping, the great outdoors…")
- Being woken up by the sound of "Jambo, Jambo" each morning while we were camping
- Nassibu's amazing intuition, and his unique ability to always put us in the right place for wonderful encounters with Tanzania's wildlife

 

SOUTH AFRICA

KATIE

- Riding up to Table Mountain and watching the clouds move over the city of Cape Town
- Our visits to local families where we discussed our plans for South Africa
- Seeing the Olympic Torch being carried next to our car and getting stuck behind the escorts
- Driving to Cape Point and watching the thick fog clear away to improve our view
- Watching the whale breach off the Cape of Good Hope and seeing the enormous waves crash along the shoreline
- Seeing the African penguins at Simon's Town
- Visiting Robben Island and seeing where Nelson Mandela was held
- Learning about ostriches at Oudtshoorn and holding their eggs
- Watching the staff try to put a bag over the unlucky ostriches' heads and getting to ride them
- Eating all kinds of ostrich products
- Watching the two close whales at De Kelders
- Trying fresh oysters at a bar in Knysna and learning about "Eric" the enormous oyster
- Riding the waves on our small boat in between The Knysna Heads and learning (after it was too late) that it was the third most dangerous exit point in the world
- Seeing two humpback whales and dolphins on our boat tour in Knysna
- Eating "home cooking" in our hotel for Father's Day
- Seeing rhinos and lions on our own at the Hluhluwe reserve, and being stopped by elephants on our way out
- Our long trip to Kruger and passing through Swaziland along the way
- Seeing hippos and crocodiles at "Sunset Dam" near Crocodile Gate in Kruger National Park
- Baboons jumping on our car in the southern part of Kruger, and watching a group of beautiful giraffes drink at a watering hole
- Seeing a serval walk on the road and leaping to try and catch a bird
- Seeing the leopard and white rhinos on our night drive
- Seeing lots of giraffes, zebras and impalas near watering holes in the central region
- The beautiful horns of the kudu
- Laughing when our book said that a certain area was like the Serengeti plains (it was nothing like them)
- The enormous line of cars stopped behind a pride of lions along the road

DAVID

- Frightening cable car ride up Table Mountain in Cape Town
- Seeing the Cape Peninsula
- Watching the neat African Penguins
- Riding ostriches
- Whale watching in Knysna
- Motoring through the Knysna Heads, the third most dangerous passage to the ocean in the world
- Seeing rhinos up close in Hluhluwe
- Getting stuck behind elephants
- Traffic near animal sightings in Kruger
- Baboons jumping on our car and seeing the leopard and white rhinos during our night drive in Kruger
- Following a serval on the dirt road in Kruger
- Our final memory party before getting on the plane to head home

PAULA

- Marveling at the fact I was standing on the tip of Africa
- Natural beauty of Cape Point-rocky shoreline, Atlantic and Indian Oceans
- Harsh contrast between white neighborhoods of Cape Town and the non-white shanty towns along the highways
- Stories of apartheid shared with us by volunteer guides in District Six and Robben Island
- African penguins and right whales, especially the one we spotted on our own breaching in the Cape of Good Hope
- Seeing ostrich farms, eating and riding an ostrich
- Riding through "The Heads" in Knysna, that first big wave and then watching the waves crash into the shoreline while we floated at sea
- Riding the waves on the coast of the Zululand in Umhlanga Rocks
- Discovering lions in the road in Hluhluwe and then being frightened by the rhinos and elephants blocking our path later in the day almost making us miss the gate curfew
- Viewing animals at Kruger especially the giraffes, white rhinos, serval and leopard
- The silhouette of David and Katie sitting side by side in front of our cottage on the last night in Kruger watching with delight as a gecko caught flies
- The beautiful klipspringer antelopes on the rocks as we left Kruger

STEVE

- The beautiful views from the top of Table Mountain
- The fantastic scenery of the Cape Peninsula, and the way that the weather cleared perfectly for us at Cape Point
- Visiting the huge African Penguin colony at Boulders Beach in Simon's Town
- Our interesting visit to Robben Island and the prison where Nelson Mandela was held
- The gates and security systems that we saw in place everywhere in Cape Town, a direct result of the large crime problem that the city faces
- The vast shanty towns that we saw on the outskirts of Cape Town and along the N2 as we drove east
- Eating ostrich for the first time in Oudtshoorn, and loving it
- Visiting the Safari Ostrich Farm, and watching Paula, David and Katie ride the ostriches
- Our encounters with elephants and rhinos in the Hluhluwe Reserve that were much too close for Paula's comfort
- Being cut off by elephants in the road at Hluhluwe, and our mad dash in the dark to make it out of the reserve before the 6:00PM closing time
- Our two best animal encounters in Kruger - seeing the leopard at night, and finding a serval walking on the road
- The baboons that jumped on our car at Kruger
- Finally seeing lions on our way out of Kruger - the only problem being the 30 other cars that were parked and trying to get a view