Life in Africa

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Cape Town, South Africa

For our Spring Break/Easter travels, we took a marathon trip to South Africa, Zambia and Botswana (stepped briefly into Zimbabwe). It was just amazing! Cape Town is more like a mix of Europe/America and feels nothing like the rest of Africa. It is beautiful, scenic, clean, quite inexpensive (with a US Dollar) - healthy and fresh food, adventure, relaxation, modern, historic, and more. We spent a week in CT doing everything from seeing penguins and other wildlife to touring the wine regions to hiking to shark diving to touring a township to shopping and eating REALLY WELL! Did a lot of 'local' things like a wine festival and a weekend food/craft market as well. I was in my element for sure. It's very family friendly as well - so I can't recommend it enough! A place I will DEFINITELY get back to!

This is a sample of the townships located in grouped areas around the city.

Winery at the highest point in CT

Beaded works seemed to be the thing here

Olive oil tasting

I love penguins

Wild ostriches along drive to Cape of Good Hope

View from Chapmans Peak

Grape juice tasting for the kids

Went to the BEST 'bird' show/experience at a winery

On top of Table Mountain

Wine Country

Hipster neighborhoods

Signal hill photo spot

On the way (yes, we flew business class with points) - wow!

My three boys loved all the biltong (South African version of beef jerky)

making a beaded tiger

Seal Island

Shark!

The cable cars to Table Mountain

view from Table Mountain

taking food from his head

his first ever real zip line (maybe his fave thing)

Colorful neighborhood Bo Kaap (from Signal Hill)

I can't seem to get away from these guys

Friday, May 9, 2014

People Shots (Turkey Part Six)

A few more shots of the people I encountered. They speak for themselves. The people are always the best part and my goal by the end of the trip was to capture some pics of the Turkish women. The men primarily ran the shops, did the trade, etc... so we didn't see very many women. What a fascinating place! Definitely a place to visit more than once. Thanks again to our awesome hostess and now friend Catherine!

Inside the metro station

Glass Blowing

Shoe shine

Call to prayer

Some of the BEST food ever!

sweet friends holding hands

Copper work

boy on the bridge playing instrument for money

fishermen lined the bridges

Preparing to go into the Mosque

Hagia Sophia and Underground (Turkey Part Five)

We went underground -many parts of the city are being restored as they were years ago...ruins and cities underground. But the highlight of this day was visiting the Hagia Sophia.....you cannot go to Turkey and not see it! The history of this place is fascinating and worth reading about (more than my google blurb).

going underground

Hagia Sophia was choosen a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1985.

Rebuilt by the orders of Emperor Justinian in 537, for 900 years Hagia Sophia had been the center of Orthodox Christianity until 1453 when the city was concurred by Ottomans. 500 years following the conquest of Muslims, it became a jewel for the Muslim world and as the grand mosque of the sultans.

In 1935, Hagia Sophia had been converted into a museum of Turkish Republic by the orders of Ataturk, and became one of the most significant monuments not only in Turkey but on earth with its architecture and its historical richness. (www.hagiasophia.com)

Amazing mosaic detail under all that plaster

you can see how they are slowly chipping the plaster away to reveal the mosaics underneath

View from inside

Turkey @ The Grand Bazaar (Part Four)

Right outside the bazaar - the arch is the entrance

Awww the Grand Bazaar - what a wonderful place! Old with character, bustling with sights, sounds, and color, but most importantly - SHOPPING! We went here every day (except maybe one) - it is enormous, but it was easy to just pop in for an hour or two...it didn't require a marathon trip. We broke our 'shopping' up into categories (linens, rugs, jewelry, bags and scarves, etc...) It made it seem more manageable to categorize the outings and focus. This alone made the girls trip legit - had I traveled here with the husband and kids, they might have lasted an hour in the Grand Bazaar. Loved it!