Raising Flowers and Skids

Leaving Gomo Gomo and Heading to Elephant Plains Game Lodge

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Leah

This morning the boys were up early – hoping to catch a glimpse of the resident hippo in the watering hole outside our room. Hippos usually only get out of the water at night. Unfortunately, no hippo out of the watering hole. But he did grace them with his body popping up a bit…

(At this point, I must tell you that many of these photos are Zach’s. I ended up downloaded all of his into my own “Africa photo file”… resulting in a whopping 3500 photos between me, Rob and Zach!!)

We went on another game drive, but it was pretty quiet. It’s funny how eventually some of the animals you were oohing and ahhing the day before become “uninteresting.”

After breakfast, we packed up to head to our next lodge. We were all very sad to leave Gomo Gomo lodge. It was really special; quiet and intimate, and the people there were so lovely. Our guide Dean gave us directions to our next place (and luckily gave us a map too) and suggested we head to the closest town to fill up and get some money from the bank. There were a few little towns along the way that we would drive through, but none safe enough to stop in…

We quickly saw what he meant… When we saw the police walking with their guns out like they were hunting someone down, we rolled up our windows completely and Rob tried to drive a little faster on the pot hole infested road…However, as soon as we left the little town, we started to see lots of little kids in their school uniforms waving and calling out to us. It was so sweet!

We finally made it our next lodge: Elephant Plains in Sabi Sands Private Reserve. We had heard this is where there is a high density of animals.

They had to put us in 3 rooms, so there was a bit of discussion as to where everyone would sleep, and of course they warned us not to leave anything on the balcony or the balcony door open as the resident monkeys can be pretty monkeyish and make a mess!

After lunch, we chilled a bit before heading out to our 6^th big game drive (all together – 1^st one here). What an incredible drive. The landscape is slightly different – less dense bush, more open plains. Much more the Africa I had imagined.

We saw some incredible stuff – including 4 out of the big 5 (cape buffalo, elephant, lion and leopard) – in addition to wild dogs (very rare), wildebeest, hyena (the kids were dying to see these guys), warthogs, zebra and of course, dozens of impala. We did get some excitement as our ranger went through some serious bush to reach the lions (we saw them asleep when it was light out and by nightfall they were wandering, so we saw them twice!)

One of my favourite parts is stopping for drinks as the sun goes down. With every drive, they pack some drinks and some snacks for you to have a couple hours into your drive (each drive is 3-3.5 hours). You can get out and stretch your legs. It’s usually in a big open area so they can see anything approaching – and you can get some spectacular views of the pink orange sky as the sun sets. The stars come out, and we can do “starlight, star bright”. Amidst all this beauty and this very thin moment for me, the kids are usually bugging each other and being overall obnoxious with each other— but I guess that is part of the thin moment too. I know it’s overkill on the photos, but I seriously could not get enough of these sundown moments.

We headed back to the lodge and enjoyed supper before rolling into bed completely exhausted. One more day here…..

Gomo Gomo Game Lodge Days

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Leah

Our day started early again with the Rangers knocking at 5:15am to get us up. These were our rooms:

Our game drive started at 6am, so at 5:45 I went to check on the 3 older kids who were in their own cabin beside us (once you are in your cabin at night, you can’t leave without the rangers escorting you. If you do have to leave, you have a walkie talkie to contact the rangers. So, I had not checked to make sure they were up. In true teenage style, they were fast asleep. I went in their room (there are no locks on anything around here – and it just feels right), and said, “You guys slept in hurry up we have to go” in my really loud Mom-is-mad voice. You should have seen them jump!!! They were ready in 5 min….

The view of the water hole in the early morning^^

We had two goals today: elephant and rhino to complete our big 5. Halfway through the morning drive, our driver got a call that a herd of elephants had been spotted. Our driver put the pedal down and we sped off (seriously, half the fun). We found them and parked the truck and snapped away. One elephant came up behind our truck. She was curious – but she came really close. Zach and Zandra were in the back and they could literally reach out and touch her.

Of course, they didn’t. The ranger banged on the car a bit to get her to back away. She shook her head at them (the ranger said she was letting them know how powerful she was). We tried to be really still AND take some good photos without moving our arms too much. It was awesome.

We saw lot of other stuff too:

After the morning drive we had breakfast and then several hours to just chill.

We went on a bush walk – which was soooo hot!! But we learned about trees and bugs:)

We swam, read, napped, and some of the kids and I worked on a little scrapbook of all the Africa things we had (airline ticket stubs, bills) and write little things so we won’t forget. We had lunch, and then just chilled some more.

At 3:45, under the beating sun, we went out for another drive. Our goal was to see Rhino (although Zandra surprised us all by saying she wanted to see a kill!!!). Part way through, they saw tracks for a male leopard, and then another truck called to say that they found him. We went chasing after him too, but no luck.

However, in passing a water hole, what did we find? A rhino with her little 2 month baby (so cutey!). They went to a mud bath and the Mama bathed, and then the baby copied her! It was incredible!! We also learned a ton about the serious poaching problem – especially with rhino. They figure it won’t take long before the rhino is extinct:((

We spotted some elephants again, including a HUGE elephant (but my pics of him didn’t turn out). We stopped for a drink and snack as the sun was setting and the sky was turning all amazing shades of pink, purple and orange. They we noticed the darkness on the other side of the sky…a storm was brewing.

We witnessed the most incredible lightening storm! We put ponchos on, but it really didn’t rain much, but the lightning was just unreal. It was so beautiful.

Our ranger, Dean, mentioned, “This is true nature”; this a moment after Rob had said to me, “We have witnessed the majesty of the animals, and now Mother Nature is letting us know her power.”

Riding along those bumpy roads, the sky lighting up, feeling raindrops, looking around at my family dressed in a goofy poncho, each of us trying to capture the lightening – and the majesty of everything on camera, I just sat in awe. You can not capture any of that in photos or movies; just impressions left in my memory and heart.

Dinner is great at this lodge. Feels like you are eating at someone’s home. We had to eat indoors because of the lightning.

People always told me a safari is such an unbelievable experience, but I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I understand what they meant now. But still, I could not put it into words. Our first ranger (at the other lodge), Andre mentioned that he did not believe in evolution. It’s not surprising — this experience really brings heaven and earth together. Truly a thin place, with lots of thin moments.

The world and all its creations is such a beautiful place.

Pezulu Tree House Lodge to Gomo Gomo Game Lodge

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Leah

When the alarm went off at 4:30 am, Rob rolled over and asked how much driving he had to do that day. Today, we only had 1 hour drive to our next destination. (He was relieved to hear that because, he said he was beginning to wonder what kind of vacation this was getting up at 4:30 in the morning and driving all day long!!)

Before we moved on however, we went on our first safari! Pezulu doesn’ t have a safari from their lodge, but they arrange for you to go to one close by. It started at 6; hence the early morning, again! As we were getting ready to leave our tree house, who should walk by our driveway? Why, a zebra of course! And his friend. Very casually walking by!

We arrived at our meeting point and met our guide Andre. He was super nice; last year university student and a wealth of knowledge.

The safari was just so cool. Can’t even describe it. We saw zebra, giraffe, kutu, impala, buffalo, warthog, baboons and lions! We got so close to the lions – 4-6 feet! It was awesome.

We stopped at a watering hole for some muffins and loved learning so much about life in the bush.

After our first game drive, we went back for breakfast and packed up. Sad to see the treehouse go (but it was a little too rustic for me!)….

We drove for about 1.5 hours – on the craziest roads (have to drive so slowly) and then entered the private reserve bordering Kruger National Park. It’s sort of hard to find places as the GPS isn’t so accurate, nor were my printed directions from home.

Nonetheless, we arrive at Gomo Gomo Game Lodge (in the Klasserie reserve bordering Kruger National Park).

Wow.

Is all I can say.

You overlook a watering hole!!!

Amazing rooms, great little pool and did I mention you overlook a watering hole?

We got settled, chilled out, and then had some yummy lunch: Ostrich salad. It was quite tasty (tasted like steak to me). After lunch, the kids swam and then we got ready for our evening game drive.

At first it wasn’t so impressive. We weren’t seeing any animals! And we were all sleepy, and the bumpy road was luring us to sleep! We did end up finding 4 male lions (brothers) sleeping under a tree and giraffe (start to become a dime a dozen if you can believe it!) We were happy with that.

We stopped for drinks and snacks and saw the sky change colours with the sunset – which was pretty amazing.

We climbed back in the jeep as it was getting dark to try to spot some nocturnal animals (the tracker used a flashlight). Except for this little chameleon that loved Sam and Josh’s heads:)

We weren’t seeing much, but then our ranger (Harry) got word that a leopard was seen at our lodge’s watering hole! Our ranger whipped it into gear and started zooming back to the lodge. The other rangers and trackers were calling each other on the radio telling where she was last spotted. We were on the hunt! The drive was part of the fun – to be racing around on this jeep!

The finally found her and shone the spotlight on her and we followed her around. She was so patient and didn’t seem bothered. It was the coolest thing ever!!

We headed back to the lodge for another amazing home cooked meal outside the fire. Love this tradition!

Off to bed — completely exhausted!

Ready for our next game drive at 6am!

Heading to Greater Kruger Area

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Leah

The next morning we woke up really early (like 3 am) because of the jet lag. We forced ourselves back to sleep, and when the alarm went off at 6:30, it was brutal (I guess our bodies got back into sleep mode!) Luckily, we awoke to a yummy breakfast and the excitement that we were heading to our safari in the Greater Kruger National Park Area (we were staying on private reserves bordering Kruger).

We got on our way and surprisingly got out of the city pretty easily. We knew that the direct route to our first stop was about 6 hours away, but also knew that there were some pretty amazing things we could see along the way, so counted on an extra couple of hours.

Of course, we did not realize that the couple of extra things were on a “slight” detour and we had to end up back tracking a lot and the drive turned into 11 hours….

BUT, we saw some beautiful things and ended up having a great day.

We drove along what is known as “The Panorama route”. We stopped at a place called God’s window for the amazing views. We also did a short hike to the rain forest that was there.

We continued on our way, looking for Blyde River Canyon, and ended up stopping at this amazing area called “The Potholes”.

On our way out, we met these little baboons:

We had A LOT of backtracking to do after that so we finally decided we need to stop the sightseeing and get to the park before dark. But there was still so much to take pictures of as we drove through some neat towns and got to see some interesting things a long the way.

We drove on the craziest, bumpiest roads EVER and thought our rental car would just collapse with all the bumps (the air conditioning was broken too, which really sucks!). We finally made it to our first stop just as the sun was setting.

Pezulu Tree House Lodges is not in a private reserve bordering Kruger, but it’s not too far away. The cool thing about this place was it was truly a tree house! Ours had 3 main rooms, plus a couple of bathrooms (outdoor showers) all in one house connected by this walkways and stairs. It was super cool.

Although sleeping in mosquito netting, no air conditioning in a tree is fun, I’m not sure it would be my pick for longer than a night!

The kids loved it though!

After we settled, we headed to get some drinks before dinner. When we heard the drum beating, it was a sign that dinner was served – outdoors around a campfire.

I love how here they just serve dinner. There is no ordering, No choice it’s just home-style cooking for everyone. And it was GOOD!!! After a delicious meal, we headed back to the tree house where everyone had an outdoor shower and headed to bed!

It was another great day!

Johannesburg

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Leah

So… after our long flight, we landed in Johannesburg, got all our luggage (always holding my breath for that), and went to look for the rental car location. Of course, there are many guides and porters that try to grab your bags to help you, and one who decided to lead us to the rental place – in the exact opposite direction….

We finally found it and got our touristy truck (more like a mini bus)!

I reminded the kids, that the first day of any adventure – especially after travelling for 25 hours – is always a little uncomfortable – or even scary. Travel is the best way to get comfortable with sometimes being uncomfortable.

We checked into the cutest guest house that I found (and was not disappointed with) and dumped off our bags.

We then headed out in our rental to do some very deliberate exploring – straight to the Johannesburg temple and the FNB soccer stadium.

We knew the dangers of Johannesburg and since our guide cancelled last minute, we still wanted to do these two things, but not anythings else.

Well within 15 min of our journey, Rob and made a traffic violation (and we know he had), and a police officer had pulled him over. They told us we had to go to the police station to pay equivalent of $100…

The lady asked Rob to come fill some paper work out and while over at her car, they had a conversation about whether he really wanted to to the police station or not… Rob had NO idea at first that she was hinting at him paying her off instead. However, he finally clued in, and came back to get the equivalent of $20 to give her (she had hinted at more, but in talking he mentioned he was on the way to the LDS Johannesburg temple. She then asked him if he was a preacher – and he just went with that, and then $20 seemed fine….)

ANYHOW, quite the start to our little adventure (but we had been warned about this kind of thing, but with the jet lag everything seemed sort of fuzzy and slow so it took Rob a bit to clue in).

We finally made it to the Johannesburg temple and walked through the lovely gardens. A beautiful building, but different than any others we have been to (all brick, much smaller gardens).

We got a little lost as we set out to the FNB stadium and pretty much drove through some interesting areas. Our air-conditioning is not working either, but there was no way we were rolling window. Rob was struggling at times to stay awake:( All the kids were completely wiped.

But, we made our way to the stadium – 1.5 hours before our tour time.

I had contacted the stadium for a tour, and they had told me they don’t do them anymore. I begged and pleaded and they found a lovely gentlemen named Ebraham that was willing to tour us around. He saw us arrive and was happy to start the tour early.

We were starving and their cafeteria was sort of open —- they ended up being willing to make us some chicken sandwiches. They were so delish especially since we were starving!

Following lunch, we went on the BEST tour!!! They and told me it would be quick and limited, but Ebraham took us everywhere: president lounge, locker change rooms, the tunnel, the stands and the pitch! He shared history, stories of the world cup, concerts, and sporting events.

He wanted to take our pictures all the time too (with my camera) – and had us posing all the time!

The boys were in heaven!!! To be on that pitch, in that change room (they even went to the bathroom in the locker room bathrooms!)

We made it back to the guesthouse without any incident, and enjoyed the rest of the day in the amazing game area – pool, trampoline, pool table, ping pong and darts. We all sort of snoozed a bit too:)

They served a delicious home cooked meal of beef stroganoff and we had a great night – playing pool, darts, pingpong and sitting around the outdoor fire they had going.

Bed early and a bed has never felt so good….

Perfect day to start our trip off!

Cape Town

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Leah

The Internet is still not cooperating:( I get a little bit of connectivity to get a wee post up, but certainly not a real one with photos. But, I have been writing along the way, so will likely post daily when I return home to catch up! I don’t want to miss the chance to capture these memories in writing and in photos, even though they have left such deep impressions in my mind and heart.

To say the safaris exceeded our expectations would be an understatement. Words can not describe the adventure, the awe, the majesty of these animals and their natural surroundings. You are removed to another place – certainly a thin place http://raisingflowersandskids.com/2014/12/thin-places/ – where you can really gain some perspective on how simple this world is and how the circle of life and Mother Nature have it all figured out….and how we are such a small part of how it all works.

We arrived in Cape Town yesterday. A stark difference from the threatening Johannesburg. We had a great first day and even went to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was in prison for 18 of the 27 years. Sobering, educational and humbling visit. Cape Town is gorgeous and we are looking forward to exploring it and the outskirts over the next few days.

We have all truly grown and learned so much, and chuckle at the teachers who huffed about us taking the kids out of school a few days to come here. Sorry, this education is priceless and we are so fortunate and grateful to have it.

Safari Days

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Leah

Internet is very spotty here, so hard put up a real post (and forget about pictures!)

However, a quick post to say we are having a spectacular time! We have seen 4 of the big 5! There is nothing that compares to this. Truly an incredible experience.

Will post as soon as I can!

London Calling

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Leah

Even though we had a bumpy time right before our trip with Josh’s dramatic knee extravaganza, we still were excited; even moreso when we got to the airport to leave and the lovely check in man upgraded us all. Not to first class, but a step up from economy – with more space and a few extra perks so we were happy with that!

The flight went by quickly and most of us slept.

Because we had a long layover, we got to explore London a bit. We went to Buckingham Palace (of course) as well as saw the Parliamentary buildings, Big Ben, and WestMinister Abbey. I’ve never been to London, and this quick visit certainly gave me the desire to come back! Here’s a few random snaps for a taste of the day:

This was the first double decker we saw. We had a good chuckle:)

Our tour guide, James.

Buckingham Palace! We were invited to tea with the Queen, but had to turn her down. Ha.

The famous balcony!

I love taking pics of my family just taking it all in. Not the best photos, but the best memories.

The hazards of other people taking your photo! Look closely – it is us!

We finished our London experience with fish and chips in a London pub:

I love watching Zach taking all his photos. Will definitely need to take some from his collection!

Poor Rob. He really won’t eat stuff like this so he ate the fish and removed the batter (aka – the best part!!)

Back to the airport, where they did a full, uncomfortable body search on me and totally searched my bag! The kids wandered the shops, and picked up a couple of Londony souvenirs while we waited for our next flight to Johannesburg!

The flight was pretty good – lots of sleeping, but how much sleep can you really get on a 12 hour flight? We each watched a few movies, so that was a nice treat! I sat with Zandra and Josh and it was funny because Zandra watched quite a few parts of movies – but had to keep turning them off due to the “inappropriate or disturbing” level. That girl has a good gut check. Josh kept recommending we just stick to Paddington Bear:)

After 25 hours of travelling, we landed in Johannesburg! Our plan was to get our rental, check in to the guesthouse we booked and head to the LDS Johannesburg temple and FNB stadium where FIFA 2010 was held—biggest highlight for the boys!) We had booked a guide, but he cancelled last minute on us, so we still figured we could do those two spots without any issues (Johannesburg is known not to be the safest…)

I bless the rains down in Africa

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Leah

When I was growing up, I loved the song “Africa” from Toto.

I dreamed of going to Africa one day and would sing the song all the time.

It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

Although, I must admit the words of the song were a bit confusing to me (apparently the song is about the story of a man who comes to Africa and must make a decision about the girl who comes to see him. He is enamoured with the country, but must leave if he is going to be with her.)

Anyhow, the song always made me think of Africa and what it would be like to travel there.

Shortly after Rob and I were married, we sat down with the kids to come up with a couple of HUGE trips that we wanted to take with them when they were older (when the three older ones were teenagers — and while Gabe was still in high school.)

The idea of these big trips were always on my agenda since BEFORE I had kids, so when I married Rob, I let him know of my dreams and how he had to buy into those dreams no matter what:) He wasn’t much of a traveller (and I don’t think he really knew how much of a traveller I was), but he agreed to making these trips a priority. Which really translated into making some choices and sacrifices on some other things so that we could save over years to make these trips happen (and still save for other vacations every year. Ok – multiple vacations every year. Travel is seriously my top priority. And we have been blessed to be able to save for these luxuries. )

So, when we sat down with the kids 7 years ago, they ALL said a safari in Africa was a top trip.

Phew. I didn’t have to try to convince any of them (although I’m not sure they ever really thought it would happen.)

Because you needed to be a bit older for safaris, we decided it would be the second “Trip of a Lifetime” we would do. (We did our first one to Fiji, New Zealand and Australia in 2013 which you can see back here).

And now?

I can’t believe the time has come.

We are heading to South Africa…tonight!

Of course, there are always a few hurdles to overcome….

On Saturday, Josh injured his knee pretty badly playing soccer. By Saturday night, it was pretty angry looking, despite the icing and resting. By Sunday, we had to head to Sick Kids Hospital.

He was loving the attention, playing around in his wheelchair, chatting everyone up and being pretty goofy.

But the doctors were not impressed with the amount of swelling, the limited range of motion, and the non weight bearing. They did an X-ray to rule out a fracture, but were guessing there was a tear. (Josh loved this cute little Westie painting in the Xray department)

So a trip to South Africa, with two long flights (7 hour one and an 11 hour one)? Nope. Not going to happen. There was no way they would recommend this.

My heart sunk. Josh burst into tears and we both went into crisis mode. Rob, luckily takes completely over, and asks all the right questions and gets all the info that we need. I just kept asking him, “what are we going to do?”

(It’s also hard talking to the doctors, trying to get the info from them as you feel so incredibly selfish asking about how you can still make your “trip” happen. I mean, people have real problems in this hospital. Not like mine. I do realize that and I am filled with gratitude for that)

But, the weight of your cross, doesn’t lighten mine.

We asked the doctor what it would take to get Josh on a plane by Wednesday night. She said, “well, if MIRACULOUSLY the swelling went down to almost nothing, the pain subsided, his range of motion got to where he could easily bend to 90 degrees (he was about at 20) and he could weight bear, AND if you can get in to see the Orthopedic surgery team in the next couple of days (we have free health care – but the cost is long wait lists), then we might be able to see what is going on.”

We were on it.

We iced 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off (“Mom! I think my leg is numb!!”). He took Advil. He lay motionless on the couch with his leg elevated. We called our homeopath friend and he got him started on arnica pellets and gel. Most importantly, we prayed. Then Rob asked a friend from church to come and help with giving Josh a blessing (there’s a great little movie that explains our beliefs in the power of priesthood blessings; you can see it here).

Shortly after, the pain started subsiding, the swelling started going down, and his range of motion improved….

Yesterday, Rob called the clinic and they said to bring him in.

Miraculously (and I do mean miraculously), the doctor noted his knee had dramatically improved. His injury was minimal. He was good to go. We got the ok to fly.

So… here we go….

We will first land in London on a layover and spend the day touring there.

Next, we continue on to Johannesburg, where we will visit a bit, but mainly catch up on sleep.

Next we head off to Kruger National Park and are staying in 3 different private reserves and plan on enjoying every sunrise and sunset on the African plains spotting the big 5 (and giraffes and zebras that I am excited to see!)

We then head back to Johannesburg for another night before catching a flight to Cape Town where we plan on soaking up some history, some beauty and some sunshine and beaches.

We journey back home via London.

Of course, I will be posting as much as I possibly can to capture every moment and be able to relive it through words and pictures in years to come!

You can bet you know the first song on my Africa playlist (we always try to make a playlist of songs for our trips:)…

By the way, we land in Johannesburg on March 13. What a way to celebrate the 1 year mark of Rob’s heart attack.

We are blessed beyond measure by small and big miracles. It sometimes scares me how blessed we are. SO blessed.

Quote of the Week

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Leah

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Mark Twain

Travel is the best.

I remember getting on a plane for the first time when I was 18. I loved the feeling of taking off and being above the clouds.

When I was 21, I went to Europe for the first time, and completely fell head over heals in love with travel.

The airport lounges, the train station (the announcements in a foreign language – music to my ears! I loved the clicking that the numbers on the overhead signs used to make when they changed — all digital now – but I still love looking up and seeing the destinations you can go to), the new food, the places that you hear about and now are standing in front of….

I knew travel would have to be part of my life.

When kids came along, everyone said travel would change. And it did!

Many years of cottage renting, Florida (Disney) and all inclusives. A different kind of travel, but just as awesome!

Now the kids are older and more options open up! City travel, service travel, cultural travel, and safari travel!

I still love the airport lounges, the train stations, the hotel rooms, the foreign buzz… and now I get to turn to some really cool, amazing, fun people – my kids – and share every second with them. Of course, my partner in crime is my rock when I get stressed out during many parts of travel (especially as we get settled into a new spot). No better person to travel with:)

I love that travel has become a huge part of who we are as a family. Who the CDF’s really are.

Sure, we have the grumplestiltskins for sure (especially when tired), but we have the enthusiasts and the adventure seekers too!

There is no better time for our family. We are away from it all. We get to have exclusive time with our kids where we don’t’ have to worry about schedules (not just school and sport, but parenting!) We get to have them for days uninterrupted by other people’s issues, drama and needs.

We each get to expose ourselves to other realities and experience new things that broaden our minds and perspectives. I think we come back with a little bit more of an appreciation of home. Our minds and hearts are filled with memories of adventures and thin moments. And we usually have some really, really funny stories that keep us laughing for years!

What a beautiful privilege it is to travel. I am so grateful for this blessing in our lives.