Last blog before US tour!

It’s Friday, 26 September 2008, and we are down to the wires on preparing for our departure. We will leave Lagos on Tuesday, 30 September for our 33 day US and Peru tour, and we are very excited about the trip. Don’t know if we will ever want to take a trip this long again, but that is what we are doing this year. In the US, we will be visiting Charlotte NC, Roanoke VA, Dallas, Lubbock, Alpine and Houston in Texas. Good news is that at least two days of our home leave are Nigerian holidays so those will give us a couple extra vacation days for this year. There may also be holidays that come up while we are gone. Their holidays are not always planned very far in advance, like Chris may get a text message on his phone that tomorrow we will be celebrating “Independence Day”, so don’t come to work. We may not get to celebrate Presidents Day, 4th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day or Thanksgiving, but the Nigerians celebrate everything and they are all holidays for us as well.

I decided to post one last blog because I have a few new pictures to share and wanted to have a separation in before and after. We will certainly create a lot of great memories and hopefully some great pictures while on our US trip. We purchased a few new pieces of art the last time Chris and I went to Lekki Market together. I seem to have been appointed (unofficially) as the guide for new ex-pat wives for their first Lekki Market. Hey, I had a good teacher! And of course we will be bringing goodies from Lekki Market for family members including Jasper.

Of the art, the large horizontal piece is “Apapa” (a place) and is by Darlington who painted “Dreams of an American Child”. The vertical is titled “Three Wise Men” by Osaretin Osadolor. No more art for a short while. When we return, I will have curtains made and then there are a few pieces of furniture we want to have made. And of course, I will need to replenish my collection of beads after sharing in the US.

The flowers Chris bought me to celebrate finally getting the dining table cleaned off, although they were too tall to set on the table. I don’t know exactly what they are. They look like birds of paradise, but I have never seen any with the part that hangs down; very interesting and colorful like everything else here.
I also took some pictures of our front and back balconies which I immediately started filling with plants in pots. You will notice there are a couple of empty pots for plants I haven’t bought or found yet. I have seen a bamboo palm with a red stalk that is quite the most striking thing I have seen, but I have not found any for sale yet. I also decided not to add anything else for Emmanuel to have to water while I am gone.

And last but not least, I took a picture of our driver, Samuel with the Hyundai Santa Fe that is our car while we are in Lagos. We got the windows tinted last week and they are so dark I don’t need sunglasses! Samuel keeps the car immaculate. It was unfortunate that I remembered the camera on a rainy day. Oh, we, get over it Samuel.

I am in a US state of mind since that is what we have been plotting and planning and looking forward to. We know when will see our families and a few friends but if you are or will be in one of the cities listed and are not on our calendar yet, please call or email.

Hope to see you real soon!

South African Safari 2008

We didn't really know what to expect of this first Safari adventure, but of course we are very open minded and mostly flexible; okay, not always. To say the very least, it was an adventure we will treasure for our lifetime. The lodging was fabulous, the food was wonderful and our guide was a hoot! He made it fun for us even on the days when we weren't able to find what we were looking for. It is one of those experiences where if you can't find the one you love, love the ones who appear in your path.

One of those near empty days, we had a French couple with child and an elder gentleman from Australia who had just joined our group. (We felt very privileged to have enjoyed having the guide to ourselves for the first two days.) We couldn't seem to find anything other than Impala and they show up everywhere. Guide drove us to a watering hole which is often times a good place to find game. He stopped the jeep, got out, walked over to the water's edge and picked up a big handful of green mud and then proceeded to paint his face. We tourists just stared at him and he said "okay, who's next?" My first thought was 'you gotta be kidding'. Surprisingly, the very conservative French man was the first to follow and Chris was the second. And of course when we left the water hole, we were all wearing our green mud faces proudly and we got a lot of attention. You will see pictures of most of our adventures by clicking on the following web link, or by doing a copy paste:
http://picasaweb.google.com/donniedayp/SouthAfricanSafari2008

On another slow day, the French couple were gone and we had a British couple who had joined our group. They were full of questions and the Guide knew everything there is to know about dung. He could distinguish between elephant dung and rhino dung and also between white rhino dung and black rhino dung. We had stopped by a big pile of white rhino dung and he was explaining why they spread it around like they do. We asked about the pile of smaller dung pebbles in it's midst. (It was maybe impala dung.) So, Guide said the impala dung is great for a dung spitting contest. That was another of those wide-eyed moments for us tourists. He drew a line in the dirt, proceeded about six feet in front of the line and drew a circle. Then he went over and picked up a handful of the dung balls, walked over behind the line, popped one in his mouth and spit it dead center in the circle. He did one more, but could not rouse any takers for a contest. We all had to pass on that one.

Our meals were at the main lodge, all entirely gourmet and well prepared. We did take a cooler for drinks and a trayed provided by the kitchen for something like a tail gate party at each of our driving sessions. We went out twice a day, once just after daybreak and again in late afternoon until after dark. On two different evenings, the Chef and kitchen staff prepared dinner over an open fire and served it as if in a fine restaurant complete with candle light, large torches to help keep us warm and at one some African singing and dancing by the staff. These are a few of the many experiences we had and enjoyed. You will get more of the flavor from the pictures if you care to check them out.

We realized how grateful we are for being where we are and having the opportunity to do these things and look forward to many more. We also know that since we are living in Africa, this is the time to really take advantage of the ability to travel here. And last but certainly not least, we are grateful everyday for having this opportunity and experience.

We look forward to seeing you in less than a month now! We are very excited about our US tour in the month of October.

Love & kisses,

Donnie & Chris

 
 
 
 

Cape Town and the Cape, 2008

We are back from a wonderful trip! What great memories! I knew I wanted to go to Cape Town but didn't know why until we arrived. Cape Town is beautiful, and we spent two days driving around the Cape which is indescribable. The first day our destination was the Cape of Good Hope. It was cold and windy and easy to understand why there have been so many ship wrecks there. The wonderful surprise was the African penguins! We saw them close to the the Cape of Good Hope, and then on the second day of driving the Cape, we found a lesser known spot where they are thriving. Just a while after the picture at the Cape sign with Chris and I, there is a picture of an ostrich about half way up the mountain, and the baboons were also unexpected. Part of our second day drive we looked for and spotted several whales. Apparently they come up into the Cape area at mating time.

The beauty is breath taking and everything is so clean and fresh. It reminded us a lot of some parts of Canada. The vegetation was beautiful and the calla lillies grow wild there. At the best whaling spot we found, there was a seafood restaurant built into the side of the hill just below where we were viewing. We had a wonderful lunch there and were able to see the whales a while longer.

We stayed in Cape Town at the Mandela Rhodes Place which we would highly recommend to anyone. They have loft apartment units and a high rise with more standard type rooms. We had a loft with an open floor plan complete with washer and dryer. We went to the open downtown African market but Chris would only let me buy 5 more strands of beads. He doesn't seem to understand that I will be sharing beads with a lot of folks back home. Besides, Paige and I know that a girl cannot have too many beads.

The weather range was about 45 to 60 while we were there, probably mostly 55 to 60 during the day. This is end of winter there but I expect it never gets too warm there. On our next visit, I will vote to go during mid summer which would be about mid October.

Once again, I found it necessary to create two blogs since the Safari trip was such a big deal for us. It may get published tomorrow but not today. I have Val calling at 1 p.m. and have to leave at 1:45 for Mah Jong. So, tomorrow morning, I will try to get the blog and pictures posted for the safari part of our trip.

To view more Cape photos, goto http://picasaweb.google.com/donniedayp/CapeTownAndTheCape2008

We look forward to seeing you real soon. It's only about 28 days until we leave for the US.

More tomorrow morning!

Donnie