larawan/photo/foto

Nairobi

2011-02-26T20:09:00.000-08:00

Nairobi, Kenya

So, we are now on our way back to Nairobi from Masai, and we had this photo stop, to take in the rift valley!

Our visit in Kenya wouldn't feel like "Out of Africa" if we didn't stop by Karen Blixen's house! The house has been turned into a museum and after the movie was filmed, they left the furniture used for it. They have a painting of Karen Blixen there, and of Meryl Streep and Robert Redford! I still can't imagine, how Karen must have felt while she was there. In the middle of Africa, before world war 1... Oh, and yeah, I still haven't seen the movie, but I heard it's good. The book, I highly recommend if you're setting foot in that neck of the woods! =)

Of course, our travels for the day wouldn't be complete without any animal sightings. As we were walking out of the museum towards the garden, where Karen used to have a view of the Ngong hills (There's a lot of trees now blocking the view), we saw some rock hyrax! Aren't they cute?

Our next stop, was the giraffe center! These are Rothschild giraffes! Notice their white socks. (No more spots below the knee). We have now seen 3 types of giraffes!

Aren't their eyes just adorable? One of my tripmates placed the food between his lips and the giraffe went for it! hahaha!

Here's one last look at the cutie giraffes! One of them was pregnant and was about to go into labor! We were kinda hoping we could see it give birth, but, oh well, they told us maybe in a day or two. =D

Alas, everything must come to an end. Here's our ride, out of Kenya. Kenya is such a beautiful country! That was quite an experience!

It was funny, to get on the plane, some people were able to ride the tram but we didn't all fit. So, I was sort of at the back of the line... Guess what, they made us walk on the tarmac towards the plane!!! All my other tripmates were laughing at us who had to walk on the tarmac! That was a hoot and a half!

What we've been waiting for!

2011-02-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

Masai Mara, Kenya

We had an early day this day... Can you tell? Hee-hee! We were all really excited though so all of us was able to wake up early enough!!! We're going to be flying over the mara on a hot air balloon! I, was very excited since it's my first time to be on a hot air balloon!!! =D One of my friends has been on one before, but she said this was a little different... We got on the basket while it was still tipped over! It was hilarious trying to get all of us in the basket!

What a gorgeous sunrise! It was a little chilly that morning but once the sun started rising, the temperature was just perfect!

There were two balloons leaving that day from the company we went with, and this is the other balloon. Our balloon colors are the same, by the way, except that this one is a 16 person basket and we were on a 12 person basket.

The views from the balloon was just amazing! Here, we saw a herd of cape buffaloes! We also saw a pride of lions, antelopes, giraffes! It was good we brought along our binoculars! Although, our pilot would sometimes swoop down so we can get a closer view of the animals!

Can you see the giraffe heads peeking above the trees?

Here's some topi.

Here's the other balloon swooping in for a closer view of the masai giraffes!

After the balloon ride, we were served champagne and breakfast, right there in the bush!!! Can you see the trucks parked? That's where we had our breakfast! They had tables setup complete with linen and chairs! What we thought though when we got there is, there's too much food for the cats here! (Zebras and wildebeests! Hee-hee!)

After the wonderful breakfast, we were off for a game drive right by the mara river!!! It's the circle of life once again... There was like, 3 types of vultures hanging out here by the carcass!

So, we were hoping to see some action here like on those nature programs... You know, the crocs trying to bite wildebeests while they are crossing the river... Alas, we would be not so lucky to see that. We did see a lot of crocs there! Can you see the croc in the photo above watching a wildebeest carcass? Our guide said that it is letting the wildebeest rot so it would be softer to eat! So I guess the crocs biting the wildebeests is not really to eat them, but to kill them and eat them later!

More hippos!!!

This looks promising!!! A lot of wildebeest is amassing at one side of the river... At this time, we were just waiting patiently to see if they will cross!!!

There they go!!! This is what we have been hoping to see on this trip!!! The wildebeests crossing the river!

And guess what, it wasn't just the wildebeest crossing!!! We saw some zebras crossing with the wildebeest too!!!

Look at how many have crossed so far! And they told us that this is one of the first wave of the migration! Amazing!

We saw another tawny eagle!

Here's a lioness resting, and a lion a few feet away from the lioness! The great part here is we were maybe 7 feet away from them!!! This is the closest we've been to the lions!

This is one of the hilarious part of that game drive... So we were all just you know, taking photos of the cats, observing them, chilling, when the lion suddenly got up and went towards the lioness... Before we knew it, the lion was on top of the lioness!!! At that point, all of us were hysterical, trying to get our camcorder, our cameras, what nots... Of course, with my luck, I ran out of space on my camera!!! Luckily my friend has an extra card handy and of course I was able to take a photo of what was happening.... =D

Before we knew what was happening, the lion roared and walked away from the lioness!!! Our guide told us that it was mating season and what we witnessed was their sort of wedding! We're all impressed with the lions! Our guide told us that they mate 40 times a day for a week during mating season! Of course, each session lasts for only 4 seconds... Hee-hee!

Here's one last glimpse of the lion and lioness! =)

It's amazing here, we saw so many lions!!! Male lions, simbas!!! Here's another one!

We actually saw a pride up close! A little bit scary though, because when we saw the guys above (young males), when we turned around, what do you know, there was more lions! Luckily they decided not to jump inside our vehicles!!! (Our vehicles were open!)

After our morning game drive, we stopped by a Masai village. Here the men was performing their jumping dance, similar to the Samburu's dance. Very interesting tribe. Their houses are also made of sticks and cow dung but is a little bigger than the Samburu's and it is a square shape. They walk everywhere! They can run really fast too! There was a Masai at our lodge who was smitten with one of my friends and asked her, how many days walk to her village! Hehehe!

After the Masai village visit, we went on another game drive. Here's some zebras showing what else, but their best sides to us! Aren't their stripes really well defined?

Despite the tall grass, we saw this secretary bird!

Here's a crested crane. Isn't the bird colorful?

We haven't seen a giraffe there bent down like this!!! =D

Aren't giraffes just cute?

Cute or ugly? hehe!

Another view of zebras! We have not seen them drinking water before... hehe!

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of these birds... hehehe! They are colorful though!

Another beautiful end to a wonderful day of animal sightings! Gorgeous!

Masai Mara

2011-01-25T22:22:00.000-08:00

Kenya

Now this, this is what I have been imagining we'll see when we got to the Masai! Wildebeests as far as the eye can see!!! It's amazing how many there are! Our first question to our guide was, is this part of the migration??? Hehehe! Well, we had more Lion King moments here... Like...

Can you see a wildebeest horn among the grasses? A lionesses face? It's the circle of life, in real life here! That lioness in the grass was eating a wildebeest!!! We were told that the lions here usually try to go after the weak among the herd, like the old, the young and the sick. It's a sad reality here in the wild.

and of course, if there's going to be a carcass, there are vultures! Nature's cleaners! This tree was right next to where the lioness was feeding and to our amazement, was just filled with vultures waiting for the lion to leave the carcass!!! Surreal!

To our great delight, we saw another Simba!!!

And here, a yawning lioness! Aren't they just like big kitties? =)

Whenever there's a bunch of jeeps bunched together, there's always something worthwhile to see... In this case,

A lion!!! We have seen quite a few lions at this point, but, the wow factor doesn't go away every time we see a new lion! Hee-hee! You can tell that the lions are the king here. Just look at them sleeping anywhere they want, right out in the open without any fear of predators! They don't even care about all the people around them taking their photos!!! Well, our guide did say that no one is allowed out of the vehicles when there are possibly cats around... Hehehe!

Can you see the lion among the grass? It's another Simba!!! I think they all look magnificent!

Oops... One of the jeeps in our group ran into traffic... Wildebeest traffic that is! =D

If I remember correctly, we saw three types of vultures at the Masai. Now this one, I can't remember what type, but it's definitely a vulture, right? Hee-hee!

Here's a topi! Look at the pattern on its ears! Isn't it pretty? You can't really tell here, but the topi has a purple patch close to its rump!!! There's like a gajillion type of antelopes here! =D

Our final destination in Kenya

2010-12-30T21:02:00.001-08:00

Masai Mara, Kenya

Here we are on our way to the Masai Mara! Isn't the scenery gorgeous? (Yup, this isn't the Masai Mara yet, still pretty though!)

Here's a few photos of the first animals we saw at the Masai Mara! It's shaping up to be a good place for animal sightings!!! (From the top, common zebras, a lioness, thomson's gazelle and jackals)

Out of Africa

2010-11-16T23:50:00.000-08:00

Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Finally! Wish granted! Hippos!!! Have you ever heard them grunting??? Their grunting sounds like a heavy desk being moved around! Har-har!

At first, we thought it was just rocks there in the water... Then we started noticing eyes and ears... =) Aren't they cute? Our guide said that you can find hippos only if the water is deep enough because they want their whole body submerged in the water to protect from the sun since they have very sensitive skin.

This one even yawned at us!!! What big teeth! Or should I say what big two bottom tooth! Hehehe!

We were on a boat here in Lake Naivasha to take in the sights, see different birds. Look here, white pelicans! Did you notice the right most bird has spiky hair? =)

It wasn't just birds that we saw here... Look at the Defassa water bucks! I know, I kinda like the common water bucks too with their bulls eye on the butt, but, the defassa water bucks are also beautiful! Hee-hee!

This are cormorants.

Of course, I forgot the name of this bird... Hee-hee!

That's the very first Tawny eagle we saw at the lake! One of the boat guides has a bunch of fish with him and threw one up for this tawny eagle... Well, we think this eagle is full. He didn't even bat an eye when the fish flew up in the air! =)

Luckily, we found another eagle on a different tree who was hungry! ;) When the guide threw the fish, it swooped down and caught it!!! That was really amazing to see the eagle swoop down really close to the water!

You're probably wondering about the title of this post, "Out of Africa"... Or maybe not... Anyways, the island pictured is called Crescent Island and was the actual location they used for the film "Out of Africa" with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford! I have yet to watch the movie but I have read the book and wow! The descriptions used in the book was exactly how it was! Well, minus all the progress that has happened in Kenya... =) I wish I had read the book before going on this safari! Well, regardless of the sequence of events, I'm still glad I read Out of Africa, for me, it's a pretty good book!

This is our first sighting of Masai giraffes!!! You ask how can you tell it's Masai giraffe? Just look at the pattern on their bodies, it's shaped like an oak leaf! Of course our location also helps in the identification of the giraffe, we're getting closer to the Masai Mara! Aren't the giraffes beautiful?

The nice thing about Crescent Island is we were allowed to walk around there, because there are no cats on the island! When they did the film, they said they only had 4 giraffes and 5 wildebeests. Look at how many they are now! I guess it helps a lot when there's no predators, huh? =D

Gnu! That's the actual sound they make! Boy are they noisy too! They seem to like running around! I like our boat guides description of the wildebeest. If you look at it, it's got the horns of a cape buffalo, the beard of a goat, the front legs of an antelope, the hind legs of a hyena and the tail of a horse! My-my, it's a mixed up animal! He said because of that, it's described as one of the ugliest animals! Har-har!

Lakes in Kenya!

2010-11-13T22:13:00.000-08:00

Lake Nakuru, Kenya

We are now on our way to Lake Nakuru and of course, we're all still like kids full of excitement trying to figure out what new animals we'll see today! Well, this is not Lake Nakuru, but the view along the way from Samburu to Lake Nakuru is beautiful! =)

This is our second time crossing the equator in Kenya. First, we crossed it on the drive from Nairobi to Mt Kenya, then on the drive from Samburu to Lake Nakuru. On our second crossing, we stopped by an equator marker and of course had the obligatory demonstration of the coriolis effect... Well, you know, they said if you flush the toilet in the northern hemisphere, the water drains in a clockwise fashion and the opposite in the southern hemisphere. Since we were right at the equator, the guy had 2 buckets, one 20 ft north of the equator line, and the other one 20 ft south of the equator line. I brought my gps with me there, and yes, it did not say 0.0.0, but, it was close though! =D

Since it's a long drive from Samburu to Nakuru, we stopped by Thomson's falls for a few photos. I love water falls! Oh yeah, we noticed there's a lot of things named Thomson there in Kenya... Our guide said most things were named after the person who "discovered" them. Turns out this Thomson guy discovered a lot of things there. Hehehe!

We're finally there! Let me tell you that the roads are no piece of cake, it seems like some areas are like washboards! Hehehe!

Here's a view of Lake Nakuru! It was actually raining when we got to our lunch stop! Real rain! Can you see the black line of dots just before the tree? We found out that those are cape buffaloes!



Can you see the lionesses in the grass? Unfortunately the grass was too tall at the time, but you can still see their heads above the grass. Those lionesses were stalking some zebras! We were hoping to see some action! One of the lionesses was getting closer to the zebras... Unfortunately again, the wind changed and the zebras smelled the lionesses! You can see the zebra's ears pointed up once the wind changed! They smelled the lionesses, and unfortunately for the lionesses, dinner is canceled! =D



Beyond the zebras, we saw a bunch of cape buffaloes!

This is the first time I have seen flamingoes fly! All the flamingoes I have seen in zoos and what nots are all just standing there! This was very exciting for all of us too, because our guide let us get out of the van and walk a little bit closer to the flamingoes!

This is what I normally see in zoos, flamingoes just standing! =D

As we were trying to walk closer to the flamingoes, our guide suddenly told us to halt, and move back slowly... What do you know, we did not notice there were cape buffaloes nearby! We were joking that it was fine, as long as your not the last one to be running away... hehehe! So we were all asking each other how fast can they run! =D

Well, here's another photo of a cape buffalo. Can you see his fuzzy ears? So cute!



Oh wow! Now we can put a tick mark next to another big 5 animal, the rhinoceros!!! These are white rhinos, and no, they were not called white because of their color, they were called "white rhino" because something got lost in translation, when the dutch guy described the animal as having "wide" lips ("widj" in dutch I think). Well, something like that. So, that's how you distinguish a white rhino from a black rhino. White rhino has the wide lips, since they eat the grass on the ground. The black rhino has a prehensile lip (a curve) since they eat the young leaves on branches. See, we learn something new everyday! =)

Well, I'm just showing this because this was the first time we saw cape buffaloes actually in the water. Hee-hee!

Can you see the baby baboon nursing from mom? =)

The baboons here did not leave the middle of the road until our van where really very close to them!!! Look at how many there are of them!

Vervet monkeys monkeying around on a tractor. Har-har! It was funny too, because there was a car parked on the side of the road with a woman inside the car, when suddenly, a vervet monkey went inside! The woman tried to shoo it out, but it just went circling around inside the car! Finally, a guy came over and brought out some crackers and managed to get the monkey out! I should add that all the people involved there was laughing so hard! So were we. Hehehe!

Finally, we're home for the night! Our guide told us for this place, there was going to be a lot of mosquitoes because the university just released mosquitoes to kill the malaria carrying mosquitoes, and that we shouldn't be worried if we get bit since they won't be carriers. He reassured us that the mosquitoes would be gone the next day since they will die off! Very comforting right? Hahaha!

More Samburu Game Reserve Wildlife

2010-11-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

Samburu Game Reserve, Kenya

Another day, another area to explore at the Samburu Game Reserve! In the beginning, we thought we were going to explore the same areas at Samburu that we explored the previous day, what do you know, the place is ginormous!!! The gate we entered last had the zebra stripes, this one has the giraffe pattern! =)

The first animals we saw, was the zebras! We saw two types of zebras in Kenya, and this is the second type, that our guide just named as common zebra. Hee-hee! Aren't their stripes just lovely?

Here's a dik-dik, or as we were joking to our guide, a "Richard-Richard". Har-har! =D Isn't it cute? And by cute, I mean small... The dik-diks are small, maybe the size of a chihuahua! Hehehe!

I think our guide said that this is a lilac breasted roller... I looked up some pictures online and it doesn't look like this bird at all... Anyways, in my memory, this bird is a lilac breasted roller. Hehehe!

Notice the long necks? We thought at first that they were impalas... Then we started thinking, how come they are standing up on their hind-legs to eat? The neck looks a lot longer too, like a giraffe! =) Our guide said that these are gerenuks, but we prefer calling them the giraffe gazelles! Hehehe!

I didn't realize there are different types of ostriches. This is a male blue-necked ostrich. You'll know if the ostrich is male because their feathers are black and white! Female ostriches are brown. I believe our guide on the Mt Kenya trail mentioned that the name of the country, Kenya, came from the word "Kiinyaa", referring to Mt Kenya, which looks like a black and white ostrich, and if you think about it, the mountain does look black from afar and if there was snow on it, it would look like the black and white male ostrich feathers!

It was funny, have you noticed we haven't seen as much wildlife so far this day? Our guide also wondered about it! It's like all the animals were hiding! We didn't even see any elephant! The day before, whenever we spotted elephants, we were like, oh, it's just elephants... hehehe! Well, I guess it was okay, we still saw different things, mostly the birds now, and we started really looking at the landscape there. This is a desert rose bush. Isn't it beautiful? It's a splash of color among the brown grass and little bit of greens around!

This are yellow billed ground horn bill I think. Aren't they cute? At first, we only saw one, then, what do you know, there was two of them! I love the yellow color of their bills!

Yey! More elephants! Hehehe! You can't tell from this photo, but elephant tusks are not the same length. They said you can tell whether an elephant is right handed or left handed by looking for the shorter tusk. If the left tusk is shorter, the elephant is left handed. This is because, for the left handed elephant, they use their left tusk more for rooting around, which gets filed I guess. We learned so many things, didn't we? Har-har! =D

Hahaha! I can't remember the real name of this bird now... All I can remember is our nick-name for it, the "take a look at me" bird! Hehehe! It's because of their teased hair! It's like telling us, look at me, look at me! =D

Can you see the tree with a bunch of nests hanging from the branches? Those nests belong to weaver birds! The weaver birds creates lots of decoy nests, so the eagles won't be able to steal their babies from their actual nest! All the work they have to do, huh? Oh yeah, the weaver birds were also really colorful! We saw yellow, red, white weaver birds! =)

We have seen enough elephants so far, but this was still a wow for us! Elephants crossing the river!!! The thing is, you know when you watch nature shows, when you see elephants in single file, they look like their connected, trunk to tail... This was not like that at all. Still pretty cool though!

A herd of elephants showing their best sides to us! =D

Our very first mother and cub lion! The mom wasn't too happy with us, can you see her sort of growling at us? There were actually two cubs there, the other one is asleep! =)

We did not stay here, but just stopped by to use the wash room and cool off with a drink. Isn't the place lovely?

This are Samburu people. The top photo shows Samburu men doing the jumping dance. They said the higher they can jump, the better to attract the girls! The girls also showed us one of their dances where their necklaces seem to fly in the air! We tried it and it's really hard! Or maybe I just don't have the dancing genes! Mweheheh! Can you see their houses? The houses are made of sticks and cow dung! We went inside one and no, there was no smell at all from the cow dung walls... They told us that they are semi-nomadic, staying in one place for 6 months, then they pack up everything, breakdown their houses, collect the sticks and build a new home in their new location. And guess who builds the house? It's the women! It's a completely different way of life! Of course, at the end of our visit, they sold us their crafts, where all the profits goes to the community for everyone to share, so it doesn't matter who you buy from!

Aren't the giraffe's cute? Hehehe! Our very first family of giraffes!

A pumba! We found out that pumba is not a swahili word for warthog! Ngiri is the Swahili word for warthog! Can you tell I've seen Lion King one time too many? Hehehe!

Love the bulls-eye on the bottom of this common water buck! Hehehe!

Finally, baboons up close! Hehehe!

A hare! Look at his ears!

Can you believe that's a termite mound? It's gigantic! And look at the acacia tree growing on it!

We saw more elephants! Hehehe! Look at how wrinkly this one is!

This is a helmeted guinea fowl! Yes, it's similar to the guinea fowl, except that it looks like it has a helmet! Love the blue in this bird!

Isn't the horns of this impala just amazing? He looks magnificent!

And here is the buck's harem!

Another gorgeous end, for a gorgeous day!

Finally, the elephants! and more!

2010-10-29T22:52:00.000-07:00

Samburu Game Reserve, Kenya

Okay, this is not an elephant, but, it was still exciting to see grevy zebras! We were on our way to our home for 2 nights (the Simba Samburu Lodge) when lo and behold, a herd of grevy zebras started crossing the road in front of us!!! What a very nice welcome to Samburu! Notice the stripe pattern on the grevy, the stripes are skinny and their bellies are white! Grevy zebras are only found in the northern hemisphere. We were lucky to get up close to a herd! Can you imagine our excitement at that point? It was shaping up to be a great day for animal sightings!!!

To be fair, the grevy zebras was not our very first animal sighting in Samburu... We saw a bunch of impalas and oryx! After that, we saw the zebras, and then finally, our very first elephant! The elephant was a bull by itself and it was kind of far so I didn't get a good photo of it... Har-har!

Once we were in our rooms at the lodge, guess what we saw from our lanai's.... You guessed right, elephants finally!!! Can you see them? It's a family of elephants! We also saw some baboons but, again, it was too far away for me to take photos... We were using our binoculars to look at the baboons... =) It was great that we could see animals even from our rooms!

We were on our way to our very first game drive, and look at what we saw while waiting for everybody else, a couple of horn bills!

Here's more oryx! Aren't their horns gorgeous? I think somebody said that the "unicorn" may have originated from people seeing an oryx from the side, notice how straight their horns are and if you look at their profile, you'd think they only have one horn, hence, a unicorn. Interesting, isn't it?

Have you noticed their butts? Gorgeous isn't it? And, do you think the pattern sort of looks like the letter "M"? This is a harem of impalas, or as we were calling them there, the McDonald gazelles! Hee-hee! The owner of the harem (bull/ male impala) was off to the side so you couldn't see him in the photo... Our guide asked us, what do we call a group of male impalas if the group of females is the harem, he said, "the losers"... Hahahha! Losers because they don't have any females/harem. Our guide was a hoot and a half!

More elephants!!! Isn't the baby a cutie? There was a herd of elephants crossing the road in front of us! It was close, a little too close for comfort for one elephant! There was this one elephant who was looking at our vehicle, and then trumpeted at us! It even lifted it's leg and we thought it was going to step on our windshield!!! Our guide floored the gas and got out of sight of the mad elephant as fast as he could! =D

Here's more photos of elephants! When we saw the bull, and then a family of elephants, we started telling our guide we want to see a herd! Wish granted! (Or, we are getting greedy huh? Hee-hee!)

More elephants crossing the road! These are different elephants from the one we saw before!!! It's unbelievable how many elephants there are! Our guide said that if we see an elephant by itself, it's usually a bull. If we see a herd, he said it's mostly females and juvenile males. Once the juvenile male reaches sexual maturity, the matriarch of the herd kicks out that male to prevent in-breeding. Isn't it smart of the elephants? Hee-hee!

Are you tired of seeing more elephants? Here's an elephant with egrets(the white birds on the ground) following around! Our guide said that the egrets are following the elephants because, when the elephants uproot grass on the ground, the egrets does not have to do much anymore to get their grub! Aren't the egrets smart? Or maybe lazy? Hee-hee!

I love the blue color of the guineafowl! Our guide said that the meat of this bird is sweet! And no, I did not try guineafowl meat. They're too pretty to eat! Har-har!

Our very first African lion!!! Did you know that the swahili word for lion is "simba"? Yes! Like the lion character in "Lion King", Simba!!! So, there you go, you learned another Swahili word! =) Oh yeah, we also asked for the Swahili word for elephant: "tembo". We're learning all sorts of things on this trip, aren't we? =D

It was funny when we saw our first giraffes... My friend was trying to spot animals and she suddenly started jumping up and down in the vehicle, excitedly shouting, are those giraffes? The funny thing is, we can barely see the giraffes she was pointing at even with our binoculars! When our guide started driving away, she was like, we're leaving already??? It turned out that our guide spotted a couple of giraffes a lot closer! Hehehe! It was a couple of reticulated giraffes! Our guide said we would see at least 3 types of giraffe in Kenya, and this, is one of them!

What a lovely African sunset! What a day too! We got to see lots of animals! I should mention that they say on the trip that animal sightings are not guaranteed!

So far, from the big five, we have seen the cape buffalo, the elephant, and the lion! Three down, two more to go! Of course, we also loved all the other birds/animals/plants we have seen so far! We are very thankful for all that we have seen!!! Of course, we still have like a mile long wish list of other animals to see! Har-har!

We're on our way to see the Big 5!

2010-10-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

Nairobi, Kenya

Woohoo! After spending 20 hours on different planes and many more hours at various airports, we finally arrived in Nairobi! We didn't stay long though, since we were just there to spend the night to be able to leave early the next day for the official start of our safari! Apparently, "safari" is a Swahili word that means "journey" in East Africa. Of course, one of the first words we learned to say in Swahili, is, "Jambo" or hello in English!



Here's the view on our way to Mt Kenya! Does it look familiar? A lot of people who grew up from different places mentioned to me that it looks just like home for them! Hee-hee! On the right is our home for the night! The Serena Mountain Lodge. When we got there, we were all excited because we saw a lot of elephant poo on the road to the lodge! =) You know what we are expecting to see there now, right? Tee-hee! We had a very nice welcome at the lodge with hot towels and juice!

This is one of the very first animal encounters we had in Kenya! (Well, we encountered tons, and I mean, tons of I think grasshoppers at the hotel in Nairobi, but I am not counting that as our first animal encounter! Hee-hee!) It's a sykes monkey! They may look very cute, but they're really naughty!

So, there's four of us who went for the trip... Once we got to the Mountain Lodge, 3 of us signed up for a walk on the slopes of Mt Kenya and my other friend decided to chillax at our room. She decided to go out on the balcony to see the animals at the watering hole behind the lodge and as she was standing there enjoying the view, a sykes monkey used her shoulder as a jumping board!!! Another trip mate also had an exciting encounter with the sykes monkey... She was reading a book on the balcony when suddenly, a monkey tried to grab her book! They ended up in a tug of war with the book until the monkey decided it wouldn't be able to get the book! Talk about cute monkeys huh? =D



Here's a couple of photos from the walk we talk on the slopes of Mt Kenya. Of course, we were not climbing to the peak, just walking around to see the flora and fauna... =D

Can you see the tree hangings on the left that looks like it has been chopped? Our guide said that that was done by elephants passing by the forest to get to the watering hole behind the hotel! Guess who got more and more excited by the minute? Hee-hee! It's not like we haven't seen elephants at the zoo, it just felt really exciting for us to see elephants in their natural surroundings... Hee-hee!

Once we got close to the lodge again, we had a really pleasant surprise, they prepared cookies and tea for all of us! Whodduthunk? Me and my friends, drinking tea and eating cookies in the forest, in Mt Kenya! Well, we didn't really drink the tea, because we really had to go to the bathroom (After just around an hour of walking around)! Hehehe! We did eat a lot of the cookies though!

The trees and plants there is beautiful! We did see some animals, but most of them were far off (a rock hirax and a black and white colobus monkey way up on the trees) or just bones... Hyuk-hyuk! Our guide showed us a few cape buffalo and elephant skulls/bones that they collected and put in the forest as part of the lecture on the walk. Did you know that elephants have six sets of teeth? Our guide said that the teeth falls off after ten years and gets replaced. We asked what happens when their last set of teeth falls off? Our guide said that by that time, the elephant would be eating only soft grasses instead of the thorny acacias. There are actually places there that they call an "elephant grave" simply because a lot of old elephants go to that area because of the soft grasses and die there(so there's a lot of elephant bones in those areas, hence, elephant graves). Our guide was great! We learned a lot of things about animals and trees and plants in Kenya that I wouldn't have known or tried to learn by myself, if I hadn't been there. Hee-hee!

There was also a lecture that night at the lodge about animals found in Kenya. It was very informative and nicely presented, except, I think we were still getting adjusted to the time zone, and I found myself dozing off more than a few times!!! I was still able to remember a few of the things mentioned at the lecture... except for the parts when I started dozing off... =D

After the walk, we started really looking at the animals at the watering hole behind the lodge... This is one of the animals lounging there, a cape buffalo! Doesn't he look like he's looking at me too? =) Look at the ears! It's really hairy! Hee-hee!

Caught in the act!!! A sykes monkey trying to enter our room!!!

Look, a cute kitty! Hee-hee! Well, it looks like a cat with a really, really long tail! It's a genet! The people at the lodge puts out some food at the ledge and I guess the genets just come there! We saw 2 of them! Cuties!

Oh yeah, the lodge has this really interesting sign-up to be woken up in the middle of the night if an animal of your choice is spotted at the watering hole! Of course we signed up to be woken up for any and all animals that goes to the watering hole! Well, except the cape buffaloes since we already saw a ton that afternoon... Hee-hee! So, it was probably 1 or 2 in the morning, when there was a knock on our door telling us there's hyenas outside! It was hilarious! My friend and I were like drunks getting out of bed... My friend got to the balcony door first, went out, then came back, telling me we need our binoculars, and of course, I went to the bathroom first before I went out... Hehehe! During the commotion of us trying to get our binos, we hear a bark! By the time we got out, we can only make out the antelopes who seem to be frozen, staring at one direction... We followed the direction they were looking at, and we saw a hyena!!! We can see our neighbors from the balcony and asked them what they saw, we missed seeing the family of hyenas at the edge of the watering hole! We stayed out for a while and saw the hyena try to get at one of the antelopes... I guess the antelopes knew they were safe because there was only one hyena there, and they didn't really care about the hyena! Now, you wouldn't see that type of behavior at the zoo! Exciting isn't it?

Another exciting day is awaiting us! When we woke up, there was a bunch of defassa waterbucks behind the lodge and a few of them were in the water!!! Can you see the white rump of the waterbuck? =) (I think that is a waterbuck... Hee-hee! I'm a little fuzzy now on animal names...) We were a little disappointed that we didn't see any elephants at the lodge the day before, but then again, we thought we have seen plenty and it's a new day with lots more different animals to see!!

We are now on our way to the Samburu Game reserve and we were lucky to get a glimpse of the peak of Mt Kenya! Our guide told us that even though Mt Kenya is not as high as Mt Kilimanjaro, the climb up to the peak of Mt Kenya is harder because it's a little bit technical. Isn't the peak beautiful?

Here's a few more sights along the way to Samburu... I love the flat-top acacia trees there in Kenya! It looks like they have gigantic gardeners there to trim the tops but we were told that it is natural! Hee-hee!



Our guide joked with us about the flea market on the right, that if we have donated some clothes for Africa, we may find it there... Har-har! Notice that they drive on the left there! I guess they got that from the British... I learned something new that day, Kenya got their independence from the British around the 60's.

I didn't know they have camels there in Kenya!!! Although, I think the camels there are smaller than the camels from Egypt... What do you think? =)

So, you're probably wondering what I meant by us on our way to see the big five. The big five, are the five game animals that are hard to hunt! We said we wanted to see the big five, the elephant, the lion, the cape buffalo, the rhino, the leopard! At this point, we have seen one of the big five, the cape buffalo! Don't forget we also saw elephant poop! We're getting closer to seeing an elephant! Hee-hee!=)

Southwest Deserts

2010-10-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Arizona-New Mexico

Correction, some of the Southwest deserts. Hee-hee! Have you ever taken one of those China Bus Tours/Go To Bus Tours? It's those super cheap tours that takes you to different places by bus with the hotel and most entrance fees included!!! Let me just say too, that the hotels you stay in are not bad at all. Well, we took this one tour that would take us from the China Town in Los Angeles, CA all the way to AZ and NM! Talk about a long drive huh? The tour is nice but, the downside is you'll be on your butt for a long while! Hehehe!!! Oh yeah, I should also mention, that the guide conducts the tour in multiple languages. Luckily for us, the tour we were on was only done in 2 languages, Mandarin and English. Hee-hee!

Anyways, this was our first stop on the bus tour, Phoenix, AZ! This is the capitol building, and guess what we saw? Another replica of the Liberty bell!!! Well, this is the second replica I have seen... hehehe! (First one I saw was in Honolulu)

We didn't really do much here but take photos and a brief lecture from our guide about Phoenix... We were here like, 15 minutes, 30 minutes tops. So does this still count as me having been to Phoenix? Hee-hee! Well, I have been at the airport here in Phoenix at least a couple of times before for a connecting flight... =)

From here, we had a long drive to our hotel for the night in Tucson, AZ.



Our next stop was the White Sands National Monument, NM. On the way though, we were lucky enough to be let inside the White Sands Missile Range to gape at all those planes/missiles!!! We saw the Patriot missile used in the Gulf war! The place is really cool!

Here we are at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico! I have to show the sign somehow, so here it is. Tee-hee!

The white stuff you see is not snow, but really, really white sand! (Guess where the place got its name? Hee-hee!) Don't forget to stop by the gift shop to purchase those round sled thingies to slide down the dunes! That purchase was worth it! It was fun sliding down the dune! The not so fun part is getting to the top though, my feet kept sinking in the sand while trying to get to the ridge!!!

The next day, on our way to Carlsbad, NM, we stopped here at the visitor center of Guadalupe Mountains. I didn't realize before that there's a lot of hiking/camping trails here in New Mexico/Texas! Hehehe! From the brochures we were looking at, it looks like there's quite a few trails out there. The mountain you see at the back is part of the Guadalupe Mountains!

More Caves!

Who doesn't like caves? Here we are at one of the most famous caves around, Carlsbad Caverns! The caverns is impressive!!! It is big, so it's just fitting that they named the biggest area in the caverns, the "Big Room".

For some reason though, I think I like the stalactite and stalagmite formations in Luray Caverns and Shenandoah Caverns better... For me, the formations here at Carlsbad Caverns were not as impressive... Looking back on it, it's probably because there's less lighting there to highlight the formations... Don't be discouraged with my impressions of Carlsbad Caverns. I know some people who have been there and they were really impressed with the caverns! I, am also still very impressed with the size of that caverns! It's Ginormous!



Is there somebody standing in the distance? Here, we saw a lot of one of my favorite cactus, the saguaro!!! I love the protrusions on it, it looks like arms!!! Hehehe!



We stopped by the Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ to see other types of cactus in the area. (What? It's not just saguaros growing here? Hee-hee!) Disregarding the nice cactus specimens they have there, the view was just amazing! Different cactus and brushes on the foreground against the mountains and endless blue skies in the horizon! The deserts here are just beautiful!

New York, New York

2010-09-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

Where else, but New York! =)

Guess what time of year this is in New York... The streets are packed with people... There's gigantic balloons floating on the streets...

Yes, it's Thanksgiving day! These are some of the balloons from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!!!

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see all the balloons (something about us wanting to sleep in... hehehe!), but, it was still pretty cool!

We first tried to view the parade by going to 57th St I think (at around 10 or 11-ish I would say), but by the time we got there, there was only a few balloons left! So, we decided to run along with the parade on a parallel street, and we did see quite a bit of balloons (we saw the Pillsbury balloon and the smurf's house, and some other things that I don't really know... hee-hee!) After a while, we got tired of running along with the parade, we thought there's no way we could catch up to the front of the balloons... So, we decided to take the train to 34th street and just watch from there... By the time we got to 34th St, let's just say we were not able to catch up with the first balloons. =D We were still able to see some balloons we haven't seen yet, and some balloons we saw twice. =)

The photos above was taken from 34th Street. So, if anyone wants to see the parade, I suggest getting up earlier than we did so you can see the performances and all the balloons! Hee-hee! Maybe we'll try again some other time to watch the parade from beginning till the end...

What better way to put you into the holiday mood than watching the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City? After watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, we headed over to Radio City. I saw the show for the first time! Although, I have met a Rockette before when we took a guided tour of Radio City a few years back! =) One thing I can say about the Rockettes, they really do kick very high!

After the show, we headed over to the Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree! My what a big tree! At that time though, they haven't lit the tree yet... I think they light the tree on the next Wednesday after Thanksgiving Day. It's still amazing though! Of course, it's also fun to watch the people ice skating. Hee-hee! Ooh, have you seen the movie Elf? This is where Jovie took Buddy to see a really big and beautiful Christmas tree in town! Yeah, Elf is one of my favorite movies for Christmas! A lot of people I know have been pleasantly surprised with the movie, give it a try if you haven't seen it yet! Hehehe!

Our last stop for the day, the Brooklyn bridge! It was my first time walking on the bridge. =) The views there is pretty nice, except that it was really, really windy when we were there and it was drizzling a little... Oh well, it was still very nice!

Oh, and we didn't actually cross the bridge... =D We just walked a little and took some photos, then headed back home for a very nice Thanksgiving dinner my dear friend hosted!

That's Macy's theme for the 2009 holidays! Oh yeah, we actually arrived in New York at 3am Thanksgiving day... Guess what, the streets were still alive and we saw some of the performers for the parade practicing in front of Macy's!

More Waterfalls!

2010-09-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

Niagara Falls, Ontario

This is one of the first views we got of the falls. Isn't it amazing? We were getting a little bit wet from the spray of the water! Can you see the Maid of the Mist(the boat on the water)? I've been on it a long time ago, and it's a pretty neat experience getting close to the falls, you can really feel the power of the falls!

That's the American falls on the left, and the horseshoe falls on the right, as viewed from the Canadian side. Yes, I agree that the views of the falls from the Canadian side is better than the US side... Hehehe! Last time I was at the falls, aside from going on the Maid of the Mist, we also went on the Cave of the Winds tour where we walked down to a point beneath the bridal veil falls (US side). I can't remember the experience exactly but I remember a kid pushing me towards the falls so I was really drenched! Luckily, I was still wearing the blue rain coat from the Maid of the Mist. Hehe! Maybe someday I'll go back there and do the Maid of the Mist and the Cave of the Winds again!

We walked a little bit around the area and I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, there was a lot of arcade thingy things around and of course all those tourist souvenir shops and restaurants... Interesting, I guess. Oh yeah, and we did see a mountie! And yes, we had our photo taken with the mountie! Hehehe! (He was glad to have his photo taken with anyone! There was actually a line of people wanting to get a photo with him! Hehehe!)

We got another opportunity of viewing the falls from a different angle, from the SkyWheel at Clifton Hills!!! Okay, it's only a ferris wheel, a very slow moving ferris wheel that gives you an opportunity of viewing the falls from above, for awhile anyways(hehe!), and the surrounding areas... I don't know what it's called though... =) Anyways, the views were gorgeous!

Snorkeling Day!

2010-08-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

Icacos Island, Puerto Rico

Here we are on our way to our snorkeling destination, Icacos Island! The cool thing with this trip is, lunch is included and there's free flowing rum! Hehehe! Plenty of mojitos and pina coladas to go around! =)

The water here was great!!! Well, compared to the cold Pacific waters, Carribean waters is warm and nice! Hehehe! I can't believe I was able to snorkel without needing a flotation device! (That's an achievement for me!) For some reason also, I think I saw more colorful fishes here compared to Hanauma Bay in Hawaii!!! Ooh, but I will not forget the fish that bit my finger!!! I was holding a piece of bread on my left hand and feeding some other fishies with my right hand when this big fish snatched the bread from my left hand taking a piece of my skin!!! Hehehe! Even if that fish bit me, I wouldn't mind going back there to snorkel, the water and the fishes there was just wonderful!

Another highlight of this trip is, on our way back to the docks in Fajardo, there was a bunch of Iguanas hanging out at the side waiting for freebies from the boats! They threw all the leftover fruits at the iguanas who all went for it! It was pretty cool seeing a lot of iguanas together! Hehehe!

A cave and a radio telescope

2010-08-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Puerto Rico

This is the Camuy Caves in Puerto Rico. It's an interesting cave since it's the first one I saw that's got a hole where you can see the light and plants from above! I guess you could call the hole a "sinkhole" from above? I don't know, I'm a bit fuzzy on the description of the caves now... hehehe! Wikipedia to the rescue!

(Lifted from wikipedia) "
The Parque de las Cavernas del Río Camuy (Camuy River Cave Park), is one of the largest cave systems in the world [4][5][6] and the largest in the Western Hemisphere [7] ."

I believe we were inside the Clara cave. The walk inside the cave is not that long but I do remember the floor being slippery especially once we got closer to the river!

This is the radio telescope that we went to see at the Arecibo Observatory. It's huge!!! What was interesting too was, we saw it move since somebody was performing some experiments at the time!!! Have you seen the movie "Contact"? This is where they filmed it! They have a museum there that mentions the work of SETI there!

Well, this is not a photo from the caves or the observatory... This was taken on our way back to San Juan from the observatory... hehehe! Isn't it pretty?

Here's a view of the fort from a different angle! Can you see the light house? =)

El Yunque!

2010-07-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

Puerto Rico



Our stay in Puerto Rico was short but packed... We took a tour that combined the El Yunque forest and bio-bay kayaking in La Laguna Grande. The waterfall on the right is the La Mina Falls. It is so green there and you'll feel you're really in a rainforest because of all the gigantic ferns and various plants that I don't know the name of... hehehe! Of course, since we were in a rain forest, it did rain while we were there. How fitting! =)



We took a short hike and there, we got to another waterfall that you can swim in! The water is cold though, so I just took photos! Hehehe!

Our next stop, was the Yokahu tower. We saw an ylang-ylang tree on our way to the tower! So fragrant! Our guide told us that one of their top exports, is, pharmaceuticals! Pharmaceuticals, you say? Yes, he said, pfizer, etc, gets their ingredients from the rain forest there in Puerto Rico! Did you know that you can use impatiens on your wounds? (Now, don't try it at home since I don't know if I remembered correctly what our guide said about the impatiens! hee-hee!)



We climbed to the top of the tower, and what a view!

Remember I mentioned we took a tour to go to El Yunque and paddle the bio bay in Fajardo at night? Well, I got no photos of the biobay... It was too dark for my camera and I have no clue how I would capture the bioluminescence... Hehehe! Well, if ever you are in Puerto Rico, don't miss the bio bay! It was just amazing! When you let the bay water run through your fingers, the water just sparkles!!! It was like there was a million stars in the water! While we were paddling, you could see our kayaks sort of glowing!!! Wherever our paddles touched the water, it just sparkles! Look it up, the biobay, and you'll be amazed at the photos! Of course, nothing beats experiencing it yourself! The paddle itself was enjoyable, we went through a mangrove using flashlights (don't worry about tipping over, the water is really shallow! hehehe!) We saw an iguana who was hanging out on one of the tree branches there! Once we got a bit close to the bay, you could already see some bioluminescence in the water! Everybody was really excited! Once we got to the bay, all our lights was turned off, and, you could see fish swimming in the water because they are illuminated! hehehe!

Bienvenidos a Puerto Rico!

2010-07-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Old San Juan, PR

Around Old San Juan

The first thing we did when we got to San Juan was to try to get onto one of those segway tours around old San Juan (Is going on segway tours too dorky? mwehehe! I just really wanted to use a segway!) Unfortunately, no one was picking up when we called, so, we just went to their office in old San Juan and of course, no one was there. So we ended up just taking a walking gps tour... Which was also pretty neat, since it was giving us directions and giving a narrative about what we are seeing at different areas! If you walk back, it's able to determine your position, and start the corresponding narrative for that place! It was a Dell, the gps thingy, unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the device... hehehe!



It's a big ship isn't it? And no, we were not taking a cruise... We just wanted to see Puerto Rico! =) Maybe next time. One thing I remember when we were walking around old San Juan, it was really hot!!! I think it was the humidity, my friend said I looked like I was dying from the heat (in December) and we had to make a bunch of stops wherever there's shade!



Here's a view of Fort San Felipe del Morro... We were cheapskates and didn't want to pay to see the inside of the fort so, we just took photos on the outside. Hee-hee! =)
Here's a description of Fort San Felipe del Morro(lifted from wikipedia):
"Fort San Felipe del Morro —or El Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Spanish— is a sixteenth-century citadel which lies on the northwestern-most point of the islet of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Named in honor of King Philip II of Spain, the fort, also referred to as "El Morro" or "promontory", was designed to guard the entrance to San Juan bay, and defend the city of San Juan from seaborne enemies."



Here's a few more photos around old San Juan. It's a charming place, isn't it? The photo on the right is the city hall all decked out for Christmas! They had tons of lights on the trees around the area and my friend mentioned how weird it is to see a palm tree decked out with Christmas lights! It was pretty festive!

Machu Picchu At Last!

2010-07-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Aguas Caliente, Peru

Here we are at Aguas Caliente! We're now just a bus ride away from Machu Picchu! Hehehe!

Have you noticed a lot of places here in Peru have stairs/uphill!


Here's our first glimpse inside Machu Picchu! We were lucky that morning since it wasn't too foggy and we had a clear view!


The sunrise was amazing! You can see the sun's rays slowly lighting up the ruins. The photo on the right is the guardhouse, and yes, we climbed up there! That's where you'll get more beautiful photos of the area!





Isn't the stonework here just amazing? Can you imagine being the first person to rediscover the ruins as Hiram Bingham did? It was covered by the jungle but to suddenly see very fine stone work underneath all that would have been, just wow!

Here's some photos around Machu Picchu:




Can you see the llamas? Those llamas have free reign at the area! Everybody was oohing and ahhing when we saw a few of them walking with people on the paths at the ruins! The photo on the right is the side showing the terraces built as the foundation for Machu Picchu... It's just amazing that people of old was able to build such structures without heavy machineries, in the middle of the jungle, on a mountain!!!

Tada! Isn't the view just amazing? One nice thing about the trek was, every night, our guide was telling us the story of the Inca's, what happened when the Spaniards arrived, what may have happened in Machu Picchu. Our guide mentioned, that some people believes that the Inca king is still alive, and is living in the Amazon forest, protected by the Amazon people. What do you think?




Here's a few photos on our way to the Inka bridge. I was expecting a bridge that's suspended... what do you know, the bridge we saw was quite interesting... It was tree logs put across the gap on the cliff (The bottom right photo is the bridge)! They were in the process of restoring it at the time, but you can walk up to where the bridge starts. I walked up to the bridge, and it was pretty hairy! Have you noticed that there are no rails or anything on the cliff side? The good thing is, there's a rope you can hold onto while walking, which gave me a little bit of comfort! Hee-hee!

Isn't the llama cute? Hehehe!

Look at how big the steps are in some areas there! My friend was saying, why are the steps at the ruins so big, when the local people that we see there were not tall at all! Hahaha! She's got a point though. The steps were really big at the ruins, even in Cusco! =)

Alas, we have to say goodbye to this magical place!


Yes, we took the train back to Cusco... hehehe! I don't think we've got the energy to walk back to Cusco... =D

On the trail...

2010-06-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

Salkantay Trail, Peru

Here's the beginning of our really long walk at high altitude towards Aguas Caliente, the nearest town to Machu Picchu!!! Notice our starting elevation - ~11483 feet!



On the first day of our hike, our guide told us the trail was pretty much flat at the beginning and the hard part wouldn't be until we reach the 7 snakes pass... Guess what, when our guide said flat, it's Peruvian flat!!! As in rolling hills sort of going up and down and up and down! Just look at the photo on the right, our guide described that as flat!!! Hehehe!

Here we are on our first home, just a little below the highest point we will be on the trip... Let me tell you, they are not kidding when they say the 7 snakes pass is hard! I wimped out and rode my horse for 15 minutes on the trail... hehehe!

No worries though, I wasn't affected by the altitude at all... I didn't take any medicine and no problems while we were there... Well, except that it was freezing cold that night that I really had to think very hard that night when I felt I had to pee if I should go or just hold it in 'till morning since it's so cold even inside the tent (20 degrees fahrenheit!)!!! Oh yeah, almost all of my trek mates were affected by the altitude and they couldn't really eat... As for me, let's just say my appetite's the same at sea level and at high altitude... mwehehehe!

Look at how cold it was, there was some sort of pond near our camp and when we woke up in the morning, the pond has ice on the surface! It was that cold!!! Oh yeah, I remember that morning that we were woken up by mooing cows! Hehehe!



Just look at the view from our first home, gorgeous! Oh yeah, while we were on the trail and while in our tents, we could hear some rumbling, which was, our guide said, avalanches!

Here we are at the highest point of our trek (2nd day)! Everything is now downhill from here... I mean, literally, we're going downhill! Hehehe!


Here's a few of the animals we saw on our trek, they may not be wild, but still cute! Look at the baby sheep!!! =)

Look at our peeps! Hehehe! They are our support team!!! The mules carrying all our gear and kitchen stuff and two horses in case we wimp out on the trail! The trail is pretty busy in some areas by the way... There was one time another mule/horse team was going in the other direction on the trail and we were told by our guide to stick close to the wall. I guess one of the horses was really tired and that horse was not listening to the horseman because it sort of nudged my pack and almost took me down! That horse about gave our guide a heart attack! Hehehe! That's the good thing with this trail... You can hire a horse to carry your gear or even carry you! Hehehe!!!

Here's our home for the second night... Anybody else need to hang their laundry? Hehehe! I believe we were camping out in somebody's backyard here... hehehe! Oh, there's a toilet here and running water by the way!!! There was also a stream were we were able to sort of wash our hair (no soap though!)... Hehehe!!!

Here's another photo of the trail we were on... We must have passed by quite a few creeks here. So, I think I would recommend wearing waterproof hiking boots here... hehehe!

And no, we did not cross this river... Just walked alongside it! Hehehe!

So do these guinea pigs look like your regular guinea pig pets at home? Okay, if you have a guinea pig pet, stop reading...

I warned you, these guinea pigs are being raised for food and called "cuy" here... I didn't have the heart to try them after seeing them like this!!! Although, I have read that cuy is pretty tasty!


Some more animals we saw along the way... The monkey is cute, as in, it is small... hehehe!


On the third day, we were given an option of stopping by a hot spring, and of course all of us jumped on the chance!!! The hot springs was at Santa Teresa and boy was it wonderful after three full days of walking!!! There was a girl there at the spring who kept muttering "my feet hurts" while we were soaking... I don't blame her! Hehehe!


Oh, and something exciting happened while we were on the trail... The train that we were supposed to take from the hydroelectric plant to Aguas Caliente was not running that day because of a strike. So instead of us walking to the hydroelectric plant on the fourth day, we got a ride instead to the hydroelectric plant and we were hoofing it to Aguas Caliente... That's our ride above! Hehehe!

Look at the views while we were on our ride! Beautiful!


Here's the next part of our trek... Walking along the railroad ties!!! Oh, the bad thing with the strike was the people coming back from Machu Picchu who needed to catch a plane were hoofing it to Santa Teresa to be able to get back in time for their flight in Cusco, with all their luggage!!! I don't know if I would have been able to do that! For us, we were told to just carry a change of clothes for the next day and our cook was going to wait for the trains to start running again and take the rest of our stuff with him to our hotel in Aguas Caliente... What an adventure, right? =) We're almost at Aguas Caliente and the next day, we'll be at Machu Picchu!!!

Salt mines, agricultural terraces anyone?

2010-05-27T00:59:00.000-07:00

Maras-Moray, Peru



Peru is such a beautiful place! This is the view on our way to Moray!
Oh yeah, it was interesting the way we got to Moray and Maras... We just hired a cab to take us there and what do you know, the cab driver does not really speak English!!! Well, the good thing with that is we got to practice our Spanish... Hehehe! It worked out pretty well, since I can understand better what our driver was talking about, and my friend can speak better Spanish than me, so I listen and my friend speaks... hehehe!



The photos are a little blurry... (Okay, it's really blurry but it's good enough I think... hehehe!) Here we are in Moray! Here we saw agricultural terraces where they said each level has its own micro-climate, good for growing different varieties of plants.

On our way to Maras, we saw a bunch of fully loaded donkeys! I thought it was cute! Hehe!



Here we are at the salt mine! According to our driver, each pool is owned by a family who has worked on it for generations! Try counting the pools and you'll be amazed at how many families work on the salt mines!!!

At night

2010-05-27T00:52:00.000-07:00

Cusco, Peru

If you have time in Cusco, check out the cultural show. (I forgot the actual name, but it's included in the tourist ticket... hehehe!) Chez Maggy is a pretty decent place to go to for dinner if you're in town. Just don't ask me which street it was on... Hee-hee!! It was like in a small alley from the Plaza de Armas... =)

Our day on the water!

2010-05-27T00:39:00.000-07:00

Chuqui River, Peru

Don't we look like professionals? Hehehe! The rapids was class 2-3 according to our guide... My friend insisted though that some of the rapids were more like a class 4. Hee-hee!

The river was just gorgeous that day! I remember too that the lunch provided to us was muy delicioso!

Sacred Valley

2010-05-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Peru

Nope, this is not yet the sacred valley... hee-hee! I just took a photo of the street while waiting for the bus that will take us to the sacred valley!!! =)

Aren't they cute??? The one on the left is a llama (their ears are shaped like a banana, and, their wool smells when wet!!!) and the one on the right is an alpaca!!! We're almost there!


Here we are now in view of the Sacred Valley! We were told that not too many quechuas farm nowadays since they make more money selling trinkets to tourists than farming... It's a little sad, don't you think?




Our first stop for the day, Pisac.


When I took this photos, I was actually following a group of Japanese tourists... Hehehe! Unfortunately, I had to get back to our meeting point so, I wasn't able to explore as much... What I have seen though, is already pretty amazing! What I remember now in Pisac is that I had to run back as fast as I can since I saw all my busmates already close to the meeting point and me still far away! Hee-hee! I was really huffing and puffing at that time, and I guess the altitude didn't help me much... Let's just say that I was building my red blood cells there that's why I was huffing! =)

Take a look at the photo closely... I still can't believe that the bus we were on fit on that street!!! It was really narrow!


Loved the market there!!! I couldn't believe how many types of corn and potatoes they have there!!! It's in the hundreds (I meant the varieties in Peru, not in the market... hehehe!)!!!!

Isn't this colorful? All the colors you see here are natural!!!





Nope, this is not Machu Picchu... This is Ollantaytambo. Pretty amazing huh? So many steps! Again, I was huffing and puffing to get to the top!!! At least I made it!!! The views are just amazing from there!!! Notice how intricate the stone work is...

Isn't this a nice view? The snow on the mountain reminded us that the place is pretty high!!! Someone on our bus was actually sick because of the altitude... The local remedy there is to chew coca leaves. I don't know about chewing those... We did try the coca tea and the coca candy!!!





Here's our last stop for the day: Chinchero. They've got a pretty big market there and pretty nice views too!!!

Dinner time!

2010-05-26T23:40:00.000-07:00

Cusco, Peru

Can you believe the size of the corn kernels in this picture??? It's really huge!!! That's the first time I've seen such big corn kernels!!! Hee-hee!!! I believe the dish above is chile relleno... My favorite dish though is still the paella we ate at Junio's in Lima! Hehehe!!! The lomo saltado and aji de gallina was also not bad!!!

Some more ruins around Cusco

2010-05-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

Cusco, Peru

I believe the one on the right is Tambomachay... I'm not sure about the one on the left... One thing you'll notice with Inca holy places is there's always a water feature, like in the photos above.

Q'enko. If I remember correctly, one of the rocks outside the cave we went into looked like a frog... I have forgotten about this site so... Here's a little more info from the intarweb =) Q'enko

Sacsaywaman

2010-05-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

Cusco, Peru

When you first enter, you'll think that the stonewall is flat... Once you get close to it and take a step back, voila! It's jagged!!! Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore those jagged walls, so, we just climbed on the other side so we can take in the whole view! =)

Ooh... I thought the giant Jesus statue is in Brazil... Then again, I shouldn't have been surprised since I have seen a giant Jesus in Ensenada, Mexico too! Hee-hee! Well, it's still a pretty view!

Around Cuzco

2010-05-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Cuzco, Peru

The stone wall on the right is inside the convent. It is one of the best examples of stonework by the Incas. They said you can tell how important a place is by how neat the stone work is. Looking at the stone work here, this must have been a very important place before. Ah... another interesting thing our guide said is, the Inca knowledge of stonework is not originally Incan, but from the Tiahuanaco from neighbor Bolivia (If I remember correctly... Heehee! It's been awhile, and I know, I should have posted right away... Oh well! =))

If you look at this side of the convent, you can see the different influences in Cuzco. It's pretty cool I think.

What do you think of their Plaza de Armas? I remember thinking that day that the sky is so blue!!! We went inside the church, it's pretty nice inside, they've got some interesting statues of saints that may look a little bit graphic to some people, and they've got some gold leafing on some areas too... What I remember the most, is a painting of the last supper, where, the dinner served on the table in front of Jesus and the apostles, is a cuy (guinea pig)! It's pretty cool the local artists were able to integrate some local stuff into their work!

Cuzco!

2010-05-26T22:58:00.000-07:00

Cuzco, Peru

Does the sky look so much closer here than in other places? Is it not? Or is it? Cuzco is at 11,200ft elevation! Maybe that's why the sky looks closer! Hee-hee! That's the view from our hotel, El Balcon Hostal.

Nasca Pottery

2010-03-25T23:39:00.000-07:00

Nasca, Peru

That's an authentic Nasca pottery! The guy at the shop showed us how the Nasca people made the pots before. The interesting part was how they put on the glaze for the pot... It's not varnish or anything... They used the oils from their faces and then wiped it on the pots to make it shiny, then it gets baked!!! They must be running around a lot before to get enough oils from their faces to glaze the pots... hehehe!

More Lines

2010-03-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

Nasca, Peru

There were plenty of lines there in Nasca that in the beginning, I couldn't even figure out the carvings pointed out to us by the co-pilot of the plane!

Oh yeah, the exciting part about this excursion was we were on a small plane flying over the lines! Luckily, we were on a 12-person plane instead of the 5-person planes... The plane was tilting left and right so everybody could get a good view of the lines!!! If you're in Nasca, I think the flight over the lines is worth it!

Hmm... My favorite among the lines is the one of the monkey... Unfortunately I was not able to take a good photo of it! hee-hee!

Strange lines in the desert

2010-03-25T23:20:00.000-07:00

Nasca, Peru

Up to this day, they haven't figured out what the lines in the desert are for... What's interesting is that those figures carved are ginormous! That down there they said is a hummingbird!

Here's the wikipedia entry for the Nasca lines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines

So, do you think the Candelabra on our way to Ballestas Island was carved by the same people who carved the Nasca Lines?

Yipee!

2010-03-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

Ica, Peru

Guess what we're gonna do here!!! Hehehe! A dune buggy ride!!! If ever you're in Ica, Peru, you shouldn't miss going on a dune buggy ride.

We didn't just go on a dune buggy ride, we went sand boarding too!!! The sand boarding part was interesting, we were on these boards that looks like a surfboard, but we were put on our bellies (since we are no experts, they said accidents happen more often if we stood going down on a dune... hee-hee!) and then pushed down the dunes! It was quite a rush! The only thing is, you'll get sand everywhere, and I mean everywhere!

That night after we went sand boarding we were eating dinner, and I hear this crunch-crunch while eating... The weird thing is, my food is not crunchy at all... And I have taken a shower before dinner because of all the sand I ate while sand boarding! he-he-he! (I even had a sand beard on our third dune!)

Right after our dune buggy adventure, we went on a pedal boat ride around the Huacachina oasis. They told us that it is a natural oasis, and because Lima has started pumping water from underground, the water level at Huacachina has been going down too. Pretty nice view there, right?

At a winery... A pisco winery!

2010-03-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

Pisco, Peru

See those jars there? Instead of oak barrels they use those earthenware to age? the pisco, a Peruvian spirit. Pisco itself is pretty strong... I guess their cocktail, called a pisco sour, just isn't suited to my taste buds... Maybe it's because of the egg mixed in it? hehehe! The pisco drink that looks like chocolate milk though, tastes really good! Hehehe!

Here you can you see all the different pisco products you can get from the winery... Quite a selection there, right? =)

Guano, anyone?

2010-03-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

Ballestas Island, Peru

Guess how we knew we were getting close to the islands... No, it's not because we started catching a glimpse of the islands... It was because of the smell (of all the bird poop on the islands!)! The smell of money they said... hehehe! Do you see the white stuff on the islands? Those are bird poop, or guano, which they say they collect and sells for a pretty sum! Well, the islands are still pretty cool despite the smell because of how many birds/sea lions, etc there is! The birds look like mosquitoes from afar, they are that many!!! Look at the sea lions too! There's plenty of them there and very playful!

This has got to be my favorite there on the islands... The humboldt penguins! Very cute, don't you think so too? =) (Although, I think we only saw them on some of the islands... I wonder why? Hmm...)

Candelabra

2010-03-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

Ballestas Island, Peru

Here we were on our way to see Ballestas Islands to see some penguins and sea lions and what nots... Interesting carving on the hill right? I guess it's a pretty good introduction for us on what we saw in Nasca! I think until now, they don't know the reason why that candelabra is carved there...

Does it look like a cathedral?

2010-03-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

Paracas, Peru

They said that rock used to look like a cathedral until the earthquake... Must have been huge before!

Peruvian birds!

2010-03-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

Paracas, Peru

We don't know if those birds are condors or vultures... They did tell us that those birds are babies since they didn't fly away when we got a little bit too close to it... Pretty cool we saw the birds up close!

Can you believe...

2010-03-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Paracas, Peru

...the road in that photo is packed salt? It's brown/black only because of all the vehicles that drives there. Otherwise, they said it looks as white as snow!

On our way to some ruins

2009-11-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

Lima, Peru

Well, there's a lot of ruins in Peru... This is the Pachacamac ruins. All of the structures here are made of mud... It should be noted that it doesn't rain at all in Lima. Imagine if it rained in Lima, there would be no ruins for us to visit anymore! Hehehe! This ruin is pre-Incan, so it was made before the Inca's time. You'll notice at a lot of the ruins there that there is a sun temple. We did climb the sun temple but the fog was too thick we couldn't see far at all. Too bad. The picture on the right is at the top of the sun temple. The climb up was not bad at all. (Or maybe it just felt that way since it's the beginning of our trip? hehehe!)

So, do you think this temple is restored too much? we were told that this temple is about 70% restored and that people are arguing that it was restored too much that it doesn't look like an authentic ruin... What do you think?
By the way, before we came to Pachamac, we ate at a buffet place in Lima called Junio's... I just wanted to mention it because the food was great! Loved the paella! =)

Cute or Ugly?

2009-11-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

Lima, Peru

This is a Peruvian Hairless dog. Is it cute or what? Hehehe! We saw this dog during our potty break on our way to Pachacamac ruins. There was three of them over there. Too bad I wasn't able to take a picture of one of them with the spiky hair! I think the dogs are cute... hehehe!

On our way to Barranca

2009-11-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

Lima, Peru

The picture on the left was taken on our way to Barranca, which our guide said means cliff. Fantastic views when we got there. The picture on the right is the San Francisco Church at the city center. The church has catacombs underneath where people were buried before. The eerie thing there is that archeologists started digging there and they stacked the bones according to parts, like all the skulls are together, femur, etc... No pictures were allowed in the catacombs so I can't show the pile of bones down there.

More scenes from Lima

2009-11-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

Miraflores, Peru

The coast of Lima looks gray doesn't it? I don't think we saw it clear up while we were there. The picture on the left is the Miraflores Kissing Park. They said they have a record with the Guiness book of records for the most people kissing at the same time there at the park. I forgot how many couples were there though... =D The building you see in the picture on the right is actually a restaurant called La Rosa Nautica. They said the views there are great! We just didn't have the time to try it out (or the money... hehehe! It's a pricey restaurant! hehe!)

Museum!

2009-11-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

Lima, Peru

I forget what's the name of the museum we went to at the city center in Lima... The museum was pretty good though in showing arts/timelines of the different "groups" that ruled in Peru leading up to the Incas. There are tons of potteries there that are quite interesting and I wouldn't know what it's used for unless it was written on the cards on the display... hehe!

This is a burial mask made of gold in the museum. Pretty neat huh? Too bad there was not too many Inca gold there since they said most of it was melted/taken by the Spaniards. The only Inca gold we saw at the museum were tiny trinkets.

Hoover Dam

2009-10-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

Boulder City, NV

As I mentioned, there's plenty of things to do in Vegas. Hoover dam is about an hour away from the strip and it's a pretty good place to visit! Just look at the Colorado river, isn't it gorgeous?

2009-10-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas, NV on the Strip

Canals of Venice? Yeah, it's in Vegas! Trojan horse? Yes again, it's in Vegas!

Finally, Paris! Las Vegas though! Hehehe! Someday... =) Oh yeah, you can go up the Eiffel Tower, which gives you a nice view of the valley! Below you'll see Bellagio from the top of the scale model of Eiffel Tower. It's amazing that the fountain takes up almost half of the lot for Bellagio! Oh yeah, I heard the buffet at Paris is good! We only ate at the buffet in Bellagio and it was also good! So, if you're not into gambling, there's still a lot of activities that you can do in Vegas! Buffet galore everywhere! Lots of shows too! We saw Mystere at Treasure Island and it was pretty good! So if you're not sure of coming to Vegas, don't worry, there's plenty of activities for everybody!

Blue Angels

2009-06-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Miramar Airshow 2008

If you ever get a chance to see an airshow, you should go! The acrobatics done by all the different planes were just cool! (Even though your ears will be ringing for a bit after the show... hee-hee!)

More zoos!

2009-06-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

San Diego Wild Animal Park

Can you spot all 4 Lions in the picture? Pretty cool huh? We were waiting in line for the Safari Ride at the park and the lions were just putting on a show for all the people in line there!

Okay, the real reason we went to the park was for the festival of lights... hee-hee! It was cool seeing the lions so active though!

Who doesn't like zoos?

2009-06-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

National Zoo, Washington DC

Checkout the bird on the left, that's a pigeon! The owl on the right is real! I thought it was fake, but no, it moved while we were staring at it!

More Caves!

2009-05-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

Luray, VA

This is Luray caverns. The underground lake is cool! This is the second time I've been here and the lake is still cool for me! Hehehe!

This place is huge! The picture on the right looks like totem poles huh? Hehehe!

And here's the "Stalacpipe", an organ that uses the stalactites to make the sounds. Pretty neat! I guess some people have weddings and stuff in this area.

Spelunking?

2009-05-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

Shenandoah Valley, VA

Nah... Just visited some caverns with paved ways to see stalactites, stalagmites and in this case, a halactite! (it's that stalactite with swirls! That was the first time I saw one!) This is in Shenandoah Caverns close to the Shenandoah National Park. Pretty cool cave and the guides were great!

Capitol... Take Two?

2009-04-12T15:33:00.001-07:00

Sacramento, CA

Does it look like a smaller version of the capitol? I think the capitol in Sacramento is based on the Capitol in DC... Oh well, I didn't see Arnold when we went there though... hehehe!

The Biggest Little City in the World!

2009-04-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Reno, Nevada

Well, that's what the sign says right? It's like a very little vegas... hee-hee!

Lake Tahoe

2009-04-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

CA? NV?

Hmm... I don't know whether Lake Tahoe is in California or Nevada... It doesn't matter I guess... The place is beautiful! Just look at the mountains, the pine trees.. the sand! Just beautiful!

Gigantic Trees

2009-04-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

Sequoia National Park, CA

Here's some sequoia trees from the Grant's Tree Trail, which has the 3rd largest tree in the park, I think. =) People looks like elves/dwarves among those trees... They're huge!!!

Capitol

2009-03-20T22:44:00.001-07:00

Washington DC

Quite an impressive building right? It always makes me think of movies! Now, the walk from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol, is quite a walk! (I thought it was very close to each other!) So, be prepared with good walking shoes if you plan on visiting the area! (Unless you're on a tour I guess, where they will take you on a bus close to the attractions so you don't have to walk too much... hehehe!)

White House

2009-03-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

Washington DC

Twice I've seen the White House, and both times I never got to enter... hehehe! The first time, the line was so long and we found out that people lined up reaaaaally early to get a glimpse of the inside... The time I took this picture, I don't think they still allow people to go inside... Don't quote me on that! hehe! Well, it still looks nice (Even if it's just from the outside, and the picture is crooked... hehehe)!

The Reflecting Pool

2009-03-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

Washington DC

That's a view of the Lincoln Memorial from the other end of the Reflecting Pool and the other picture is of course the pencil, I mean, the Washington Monument (the obelisk, looks like a white pencil right? hee-hee!). It must be really nice around the reflecting pool during spring since I noticed cherry blossom trees planted around the reflecting pool (When this picture was taken, all the cherry blossoms have fallen and the trees were just green...).

Waterfalls!

2009-02-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

Yosemite, CA

Finally! I've been wanting to see Yosemite National Park in person... Hee-hee! I saw only a portion of the park, but still, wow! Look at that waterfalls! That's Yosemite falls above. There's a trail to get to the lower part of the falls and the upper part too. We didn't have enough time to hike the upper falls trail, but the lower falls trail was cool enough! You can get close enough to the falls to get wet if you wanted to!

Above is the famous valley floor of Yosemite where you can see the famous rock El Capitan and bridal veil falls... I'm not sure if you can actually see half-dome from the picture too... Still, it's quite a view! The picture on the right was taken from the lower Yosemite Falls trail. I think there are 7 waterfalls in Yosemite... Two down, five to go then! =)

Sights

2009-02-15T23:14:00.000-08:00

California

Highway 1 has great views, rolling hills on one side and the Pacific ocean in the other. Don't you agree?

Need I say more where the above pictures were taken? (Well, maybe the one on the right is more recognizable by more people...) It's the first time I've been to the Palace of fine arts (left). It's a pretty cool area! The golden gate bridge is also cool, I just don't see the "golden" color... It looks more like rust colored! Heehee!

An American Castle

2009-02-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

San Simeon, CA

Yes, this is the outdoor swimming pool in Hearst Castle, the Neptune pool... Looks really lavish right? It's interesting that the lady of the house (before it was turned into a museum) was not William Randolph Hearst's wife, but his mistress Marion Davies (Okay, don't quote me on that, that's what I remember from what the tour guide said... hehehe!) There's tons of art scattered all over the place like statues from Egypt, and other places. The place even has an indoor pool with gold embedded in the tiles! Talk about lavish huh?

Danish Town... in California?

2009-02-09T23:39:00.000-08:00

Solvang, CA

Nope, haven't been to Europe yet... (Technically I've been to Europe, just Ireland though... hehehe!) This is a small Danish town in Solvang, CA. It's a good area to break your travel from southern California to northern California. There's the Danish looking town and right beside it is the Santa Ines Mission (below).

Flowers everywhere!

2009-02-04T23:44:00.000-08:00

Carlsbad, CA

Isn't this field neat? There's rows and rows of ranunculus flowers here that looks like a rainbow! Another neat thing in this place is they have a sweet pea maze you can go thru! I like the smell of sweet pea flowers, it's not the overpowering type of smell, so it was nice walking thru the maze there.

Mahalo!

2009-01-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

Honolulu, HI

Funny story about Mahalo... My co-worker came from HI and he told us this story... He had a friend who visited Hawaii, and that friend thought that "Mahalo" means trash... since he kept seeing Mahalo written on trash cans all over Honolulu... hehehe! BTW, Mahalo mean Thank you!

Around Other Places in Oahu

2009-01-12T22:14:00.000-08:00

Honolulu, HI

Okay, since I have already started about 50 first dates, (hehehe!) Here's SeaLife Park! It's more like a very small Sea World... They do have an interesting tenant there, the wolphin (hybrid atlantic bottle nose dolphin and false killer whale) Kekaimalu! She doesn't look like a bottle nose dolphin that much since she's bigger than the bottle nose, but she's also smaller than a false killer whale... Ooh... I also cracked up a little when I saw the milk fishes in the tank... just because I have eaten a milk fish before... heheheh! Plus, I've never seen milk fish in an aquarium before! heheheh!

No, this is not in Philadelphia, this is still in Oahu, downtown Honolulu to be exact! That's a replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia given to Honolulu as a gift! And yes, even the crack was duplicated! hehehe!

Just a short walk from where the Liberty Bell replica is, you'll find the Iolani Palace. I didn't know before that there were Hawaiian Royalty even before the English came to the Hawaiian islands! (Think about Captain Cook!) It's a nice Palace/Museum to go to to learn some more things about Hawaiian history and what happened to the Royalty.

What's a visit to Hawaii without seeing pineapples, right? So, we went to the Dole plantation in Oahu! Interesting fact, they don't farm pineapples there anymore! They just have the plantation there as a tourist attraction and ooh, they have a pineapple maze there!

And of course, here's the famouse Diamond Head.

We hiked up to the top and the views up there was nice! Of course the view of Diamond Head here in the picture is also nice, since we were on a boat trying to find some whales and dolphins! The spinner dolphins were cool! They were putting on a show while we were cruising the shore, doing spins in the air and there was like, 20 of them in the group!

Big Waves!

2009-01-12T21:54:00.000-08:00

North Shore, Oahu, HI

It was winter time when I was in Oahu, and when we went to Sunset Beach in North Shore, boy those waves were big! They told us some of the waves we were seeing were around 20 feet high! Ohh... I learned a hawaiian word: pupule! We saw a couple of surfers riding those gigantic waves! One word to describe those surfers was: "pupule" or crazy! I've been in like, 2-3 feet waves and when you get thrown by the waves, it feels like you're inside a washing machine! I can't imagine how it must feel if you got thrown by a 20 foot wave!!!

Remember this place from a movie?

2009-01-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

Honolulu, HI

Does this place look familiar? If you've seen the movie 50 first dates, this is the place where Adam Sandler was dreaming (after he got whacked by a golf club) that Drew Barrymore was coming on to him! I also saw the other places they used for the movie! Hehehe!

Snorkeling anyone?

2009-01-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

Honolulu, HI

I guess Hanauma bay is a popular snorkeling area in Oahu. There was tons of people there when we went! The depth is only around 5-6 ft and I did get to see lots of colorful fishes but I was a little disappointed I didn't see the green turtle that the other snorklers told me they saw! Hehehe!

Finally!

2009-01-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

Honolulu, HI

I got to see Waikiki Beach in Oahu, Hawaii in person! The sand was nice and fine and the water was warm!

Amman

2008-07-01T22:16:00.001-07:00

Jordan

Around Amman, Jordan. Here's a view of the city of Amman from the Citadel.

It's funny... I got to see some dead sea scrolls at the Jordan Museum in Amman... When I returned home, I just found out that the Natural History Museum was opening the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit later! Well, I think it was cool I saw some bits of the scroll even though I couldn't make out anything from the bits of the scroll... hee-hee!

Thirsty?

2008-07-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

Jordan

Can you tell that these are coke cans? It's interesting that they have a different can size/shape there... =)

Oh yeah, there's another cool story in this restaurant, some of the people eating there are archaeologists on a dig! Well, I think it's cool we got to meet in person real archaeologists! Hee-hee! If I remember correctly, they are from Brown University...

Mosaics

2008-07-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

Madaba, Jordan

The Madaba Map is the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of the Holy Land and especially Jerusalem. It dates to the 6th century AD. (As taken from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madaba_Map

The mosaic in the church was interesting... You can actually tell which one is the dead sea, etc!

Taybet-Zaman

2008-07-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Jordan

The views from the hotel is amazing! See for yourself!

Loved the hotel we stayed at after visiting Petra! It has Bedouin inspired decor, which was interesting... One thing I remember from that hotel though is it may be a little tough to find your room if you don't have a map! Hee-hee!

Around Petra

2008-07-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

Petra, Jordan

We didn't realize how big the site is in Petra! We were not able to explore the whole thing, I guess a whole day is not enough... What we saw though was impressive! Oh yeah, I tried to climb the 625 steps to the high place of sacrifice, but I ran out of time so I turned back... Back on the bus, when I described where I stopped on the way to the high place of sacrifice, they told me I was just a few more steps from the top!!! Darn! Hee-hee! It's okay though since we were able to explore the other areas there. =)

Can you see where the start of the Siq is and the site itself from here? I couldn't tell until our guide pointed it to us!

The Treasury

2008-07-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

Petra, Jordan

Tan-ta-ran-tan Tan-tan-tan

2008-07-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

Petra, Jordan

If you guessed Petra, you are right!!! We rode horses ala-Indiana Jones to the entrance of the Siq and just hoofed it to the treasury!

It was great when we first got a glimpse of the Treasury from the Siq... Our guide was telling us about something on top of the Siq... When we all turned around, we all saw the sliver of the treasury and started humming the Indiana Jones song at the same time! It was hilarious!

On to our next destination

2008-07-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Jordan

Can you guess where our next destination is? =)

Bedouin Camps

2008-07-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Jordan

On our way to our next adventure, we saw Bedouin camps on the side of the road. You've got to admire them on how they can survive in a land that looks so barren... (It's just sand that I see, with little scrubs!)

Around Town in Cairo

2008-06-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

Cairo, Egypt

Citadel of Cairo

The Crypt of The Holy Family
(I forget which part of Cairo this is... hee-hee!)

Alabaster Mosque

2008-06-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

Cairo, Egypt

Abu Simbel

2008-06-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

Egypt

The temples in Abu Simbel is impressive! What's even more impressive is that the temples are not in their original location but moved block by block to the current location since the original location is now flooded when Lake Nasser was created!

More info on Abu Simbel here from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Simbel

Park at Night

2008-06-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

Egypt

This picture was taken at around 10:30PM! The park is more alive at night! I guess it makes sense since it's so hot during the daytime, no one in their right mind would go out in that heat to play in the park!

Palm Trees

2008-06-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

Botanical Garden in Egypt

The felucca boat took us to this botanical garden, where I found this palm trees with white trunks... Never saw one like that before!

Felucca Boats

2008-06-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

Egypt

I don't know how to describe the boats... so here's a link from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felucca

The ride on the felucca was nice! Whenever you're in Aswan, you should try the felucca rides!

Water Plants

2008-06-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Egypt

Look at how clear the water is in the Nile! You can see the plants in the water!

More Influences in the Egyptian Culture

2008-06-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

Egypt

Quarry

2008-06-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Aswan, Egypt

This is a quarry in Aswan, Egypt where they got the granite stones they used for the obelisks/statues. It's amazing how they transported those granite blocks since Aswan is a ways off from the previous temples we have visited!

More Temples!

2008-06-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Egypt

If you're not yet templed out, here's another temple! It could be the temple of Philae... I'm not positive... Still, the temple was another wow!

Five Deep!

2008-06-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

Egypt

It's amazing how many boats cruise the nile! At one of the ports, boats were docked five deep! We had to walk across a plank to another boat to get to the dock! Now that, I haven't seen before!

The Nile

2008-06-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Upper Egypt

The Nile is so beautiful both during the day time and night time! Notice the contrast of the blue water, the greenery and beyond is just barren hills that seems to stretch on and on!

Greek Influence

2008-06-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in Egypt

You can tell if a temple had Greek influence by looking at the pillars. The pillars tend to be more ornate, like the one pictured. On a side note, I can't believe I don't remember which temple is this! hee-hee! It's probably one from either, Esna or Kom-ombo... We saw this temple during the Nile cruise. =)

Valley of the Kings

2008-03-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

Egypt

Can you imagine discovering the tombs there? The valley is big!

Nile Sunset

2008-03-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

The water in the Nile is actually clean in the southern part of Egypt. We saw fishes and plants in the water!

Sunset at Luxor Temple

2007-08-17T01:23:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

Avenue of Sphinx

2007-08-17T01:20:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

This road lined with hundres of sphinxes used to lead to the temple of Karnak. I guess they built most of the temples along the Nile, since the Nile is the source of life there.

Roman Frescoes on the Walls in Luxor Temple

2007-08-17T01:02:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

Another interesting item in Luxor temple is the Roman Frescoes on some of the walls. Apparently, when the Romans arrived in Egypt, they plastered the walls to cover up the pharaonic carvings and painted Roman frescoes on it. They are currently working on restoring and preserving the frescoes on the temple walls, so there were some areas with scaffolding.

Ramesses II

2007-08-17T00:56:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

There used to be 6 gigantic statues of Ramesses II here in the temple and this is one of the survivors. Everything here is huge!!!

A mosque...

2007-08-17T00:50:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

on top of the columns in Luxor temple! At the time that the mosque was built, the whole temple was covered in sand, without them realizing it is sitting right on top of the temple columns! It must have been an interesting find when they dug up the place. Can you imagine too before the archeologists started digging and exposing the temple? Everything would have been covered in sand!

Luxor Temple...

2007-08-17T00:37:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

The temple is found at the eastern bank of the Nile river. It was really hot at that time that our excursion to this temple was in the late afternoon. (It was still over 100 degrees farenheit though!) When we got to the temple, everybody forgot about the heat and it was another wow moment!

From the back...

2007-08-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

Here's a view of the temple of Karnak from the back. The obelisks there are gigantic! The guide said that obelisks are made from a whole block of rock, usually granite, transported from Aswan. Can you imagine how they transported those obelisks back then?

Columns

2007-08-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

Notice the shape of the columns, it is shaped like an open papyrus. If you look closely at the carvings on the columns too, you'll notice some carvings enclosed in an oblong with a line underneath it. Those oblong enclosures are called cartouche and the one here in the picture is actually Ramses II's cartouche! Isn't that cool?

Temple of Karnak

2007-08-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Luxor, Egypt

We took a plane from Cairo to Luxor, and this was our first stop in Luxor, the magnificent Temple of Karnak. Everybody was in awe when we saw the columns! The columns were huge and covered with carvings telling stories about life during the times of the pharaohs. Can you imagine being the one to discover the temple? It must have been really exciting!