Ukutula Lion Park

Yesterday was a South African holiday and day off of school, so we took advantage of the great weather and headed to the Ukatula Lion Park.  We have heard great things about this place but had never been.  Our expectations were definitely not disappointed.

First, we stepped in to an enclosed area where the four of us got to pet, hold, and play with lion and tiger cubs.  We have pet cubs before, but never have we had so much interaction with them.  The girls LOVED this part of the day.  The lions were so mild and tame and loved to have their bellies rubbed.  The tigers, on the other hand, were a bit frisky and a little too playful for young children.  They liked to leap on to the girls and were really strong, so the guides held them off for a while so that we could enjoy the lions.

Next, we went in to the 1-2 year old lion pen to sit and pet the next age up of lions.  These lions were definitely not as tame as the cubs and stalked the girls a bit.  We had to hold them while petting the lions which was difficult because the lions liked to gnaw on fingers and clothing.  So after a little while, I took the girls out of the pen, and Justin stayed in to get some good pictures.

The cheetah pen was next where we went inside and pet one particular cheetah that was rescued when she was a baby.  Our girls were not allowed inside this pen, so Justin and I just took turns.  Taelyn was quite disappointed that she couldn't go inside too, but she knew that it wasn't safe.

The day ended with the mature lions.  We walked alongside their pens which really stirred them up a bit because they wanted to go after the girls.  They jumped at the fencing from time to time and paced back and forth.  The girls thought it was a little funny (and scary too) because they knew that the lions wanted to eat them.  One of the pens, however, was very calm because a female had just given birth to five cubs seven days prior.  Three females and the male were laying down together with the cubs in the middle.  They were adorable.  They had their eyes open but couldn't see yet and could barely walk without stumbling.  Kaelia especially loved these cubs.

Top O' the Morning to Ya!

St. Patrick's Day is not just a holiday in our household.  Justin absolutely loves this day and ensures that it is celebrated at the highest level possible.  This does not mean drinking green beer and wearing gaudy green.  Instead, Justin looks for more traditional fare such as Celtic singers and good old Guinness.

Unfortunately, Justin has been sorely disappointed with South Africa's version of St. Patrick's Day.  That is why this year he decided to throw his own party and do it right.  We rented a clubhouse at a friend's complex on Saturday and brought in some decorations from the US.  Then Justin bought a keg of Guinness with a real Guinness tap like you would see in any bar.  To top the evening off, he hired Highland and Irish dancers while a few people sang some traditional Irish songs.  I even performed a little Danny Boy with a friend.  Justin also hired a bagpiper to come, but sadly he fell ill and was in the hospital that day.  He also had a hard time booking a traditional band, so he made his own mix of music that included nothing but Irish, old and new.

One of the best parts of the night was Justin's attire.  He surprised everyone by wearing a kilt and even showed off his dancing skills with a little Irish jig later in the evening.

On Sunday, the actual St. Patrick's Day, we also continued the festivities by going to a local brewery.  There we shared some great Irish local brews while relaxing in the grass in front of a mountainside.  A guy performed traditional music in the background  and a band of rock bagpipers made an appearance to play a few rock Irish songs.  It was perfect because whatever Justin could not pull off at his party was there the next day.   It really was a great weekend, and St. Patrick's Day was finally "done right."

Here is Justin showing Taelyn how to do an Irish jig.

Vacation in Kenya

For our Spring Break this year, we travelled to Kenya and had a fantastic vacation.  We started in Mombasa for a safari experience where we saw Tsavo East and Tsavo West.  This is where the movie, The Ghost in the Darkness is based on, when many people were attacked and killed by lions when first building a railway in Kenya.  And it was not hard to believe that such an event could happen because we saw lots and lots of lions.  At one point, there were five lions following the scent of some water buffaloes, in hopes of a good lunch time meal.  This hunt was early in the morning, though, so we were not able to see the kill, and I'm not so sure we would have really enjoyed seeing that anyway.

Elephants crowd the water hole just
outside our room at Tsavo West.

The highlight of Tsavo was by far the game lodges, though.  We stayed in a resort lodge right inside the game park.  We took advantage of the beautiful scenery in the room, at the restaurant, the pool, and the cliff-side bar that overlooked a watering hole just 10 meters away.  After our first game drive, we spent some time at the pool with many elephants just below us, and at sunset, we hung out at the bar, watching the migration of hundreds of water buffaloes passing through.  Four of the water buffaloes actually gave birth that evening right in front of the bar, but unfortunately, we were in our room at the time taking care of some potty breaks. We apparently missed the births by only 10 minutes.  We did get to see the little calves amongst the herd, however.  They were simply walking on all fours along with the crowd.  It was amazing.

The next evening, we stayed in a lodge inside Tsavo West.  The watering hole here was even closer than in Tsavo East, and there was a branch beside it where the management attached meat at sunset each night to bait leopards over.  We sat on the front deck waiting to see if any would show up, and sure enough, we saw two leopards that night.

After our safari experience, we headed for the beach and stayed at Turtle Bay Beach Club.  Turtle Bay was amazing for everyone in our family.  We spent most hours of the day swimming and relaxing beside the pool while the girls also took advantage of the kids club.  Every day from 10am-9pm, the kids club posted different activities for each hour, so the girls would pick 1-2 different ones that they wanted to go and hang out with other kids from the resort.  They ended up making some friends that are the same age and played together as kids club and at the pool.  One really nice feature of kids club for us was that they had movie night every night just as the adult dinner was starting.  So we would get the kids some dinner just before and drop them off for the movie while Justin and I had a little date night for an hour and a half each night.  At Turtle Bay, we had the perfect combination of family and personal time.

We also went on a couple of day trips from Turtle Bay. First, we went to a falconry and crocodile farm.  At the falconry, the girls got to ride a tortoise that is 130 years old.  He was friendly and awesome!  It was amazing to see how prehistoric he looked.  The girls also got to hold a bird on their arms and pet a very old, blind owl.  Taelyn loved the tortoise experience; she kept talking about how squishy he was, and Kaelia was fascinated with all of the owls - especially the smaller ones that she thought were the babies.  At the crocodile farm, the girls also got to hold smaller turtles as well as view various aged crocodiles.  The most intimidating part was the fully grown crocodiles; some of them were captured from rivers because they were too problematic.  The crocodile with the biggest resume had eaten five people prior to being captured!

Another trip we took from Turtle Bay was to a local orphanage where we spent time with some orphans and donated money and kids' items.  The girls even picked out quite a few toys that they don't play with any more to give to the orphans.  We had a great time playing with the children, but it was also very sad to visit the orphanage.  It is located in a rural area of Kenya, and the orphans do not really get adopted.  Instead, they usually stay there until they are 18, and then leave and start their own lives.  We spent a good amount of time with the 2-4 year-olds, and they were desperate for our affection.  Various children immediately ran to us and wanted to be held.  One little boy wrapped his arms and legs around me and wouldn't let go the entire time we were in the room.  Taelyn had a nice time playing with these children too.  She ran around with them which turned in to a little game of chase.  Later on, we also visited the babies, and Kaelia and I fell in love with a little 4-month old named Abby.  She was full of smiles, and Kaelia really liked holding her hand.  To end the trip, the girls each brought a toy over to the owner and asked her to give them to the orphans.

The rest of our trip was spent mostly in the pool and on the beach.  We liked going crab hunting on the beach and also finding crabs throughout the resort when they lost their way off the beach.  Taelyn also started to learn how to swim without her arm floaties.  In the beginning of the trip, she finally had the courage to jump in to the pool on her own with arm floaties.  But by the end, she not only would jump in without floaties, but would them pop her head back up out of the water and start swimming (or more like doggy paddling).  Justin even taught her how to jump in and then turn around and swim to the ledge as a little survival tip if she ever accidentally fell in a pool.  Kaelia also loved her time in the pool, and spent a lot of time swimming with her new friends from kids' club.

Our trip to Kenya was the best family vacation that we have taken so far, and it was really hard to leave.  The girls were devastated when the time came.  On the plane ride home, Taelyn asked if we could turn around and go back.  Then we were in our own beds in South Africa that night, she said she was sad that we weren't in Kenya any more.  It will be pretty tough to top this vacation for the girls, but we will do our best to give them many more fantastic vacations!

This photo album personalized with Smilebox

Happy Birthday, Meeka!

We celebrated Meeka's 1st birthday today, and I say celebrated, because she doesn't technically have a birthday for four more years.  Yep, that's right, Meeka is a leap year dog.

The girls, of course, wanted to throw Meeka a big birthday party where they could invite all of their friends and have cake and presents, but we were able to talk them down a notch.  Instead, we sang happy birthday and gave her a small present: a bag of bones.  Meeka loved all of the attention and, of course, the bones!