A quick trip to Atlanta....

It had been several months since I'd been in ATL long enough to see ALL my family...it was waaaaay past due....I needed a kid fix.
Denny and i got there on Fri nite and by Sat morning we hit the ground running....first up, Dylan's soccer game on Sat morn. It was the only cool fall morning we experienced...one of the girls.. not sure which one I had since they look exactly alike was cold and didn't mind snuggling with Nanny...and Nanny was ok with it too....LOVED IT!!!!

After the game we had to head back to Mom's to get some things done and to head out for our cemetery walk with Karen.....however Denny got to not feeling well, so Karen just came over and we had wings and played cards with Mom and Shea while Denny rested...was a fun nite. Sunday was church and Denny and Mom headed to the Falcon game. I got in some quiet time and a Hallmark movie. I had to pull some odd hours that nite for work and when I got off the next morning I headed to the dentist to start the "crown" process....remember that root canal just before our trip to Africa.....Denny headed home and my week of work and adventure began.  I met a friend for dinner that night in PTC and did a little shopping. The next day was work and a drive to Dahlonega to see Ashley...hadn't seen her since her May graduation...was so nice to spend some time with her. 

Meanwhile Britt's crew had sent pics of their trip to the Mountains for a Pumpkin patch train ride...

 Looks like fun to me...maybe I'll go next year...

I zoomed into the office for a day and then dinner with Reba...my sushi buddy...YUM-O!!

The next day was a quiet day working from Mom's, laundry and walking the driveway...finally.

Fri was my date night with sweet Ella....been a while since I'd seen her too....we gave Mom and Dad a date nite. The next morning was her second pancake day...I think she likes them!! She ate almost the whole thing. 

The next morning I zoomed back to the soccer field to watch Dylan and get Denny..he came back Fri nite, but had no way to get to me so he stayed at Mom's and met me Sat morning...

After the game we went over to Walton High School to see if we could help with set construction for the upcoming play Little Shop of Horrors....Chad was set construction Mgr. Alas, there was nothing we could do, so we decided to go meet up with Brad, Cindy and Ella at the pumpkin patch. That was a blast.

 Ella was such a good girl....just loved being outside....

Daddy was showing her the cows and goats in the petting farm.. 

Then we headed to Culver's for some yummy custard and to the outlet mall for a little shopping. Then home for some football and wings....thanks guys for letting us hang out we had a great time. Sunday morning Brad and Cindy both needed to catch up on some work so we got some extra Ella time and I cooked french toast with some yummy bread I bought at the Pumpkin Patch...then it was time to head out. To to visit with Brooke, Dave and kids. There was a fall festival we went to, then to Dylan's t-ball game. 

 These games at these ages are so cute....

And he hits and runs.....

And he makes it all the way home...

Then we made a quick trip to Marta to get Denny headed downtown for the Falcon game and I headed back to Brooke's to play with little kids and get caught up with big kids....it was a great evening, bath time and bed time and we practiced trick or treating....it was tomorrow nite, can't wait. Got in a nice visit with Brooke and headed home to Mom's. 

Monday....work and get my final crown at the dentist...finally, no more dentist for 6mths I hope....love my dentist, but my mouth needs a break. Then was time to head to Brooke's for Halloween....their neighborhood all gathers on one street and then they head out to collect candy...

The girls were not happy, but big brother Dylan, the green dino next to them, was just fine...he was ready to get some candy... 

Daddy Dave decided to join the family Dino scene...

Ella came to hang out...she was an elephant...they were all soooo cute.

Earlier in the morning...Ella had been a mouse at her daycare parade...Daddy Brad went to see it...

She got this costume while visiting in Michigan with cousin Brooklyn...

And she talked Shea-Shea into letter her wear her Halloween hat...she really got into the spirit..

Meanwhile in SC..cousins Witt, Jase and Quinton were dressed up and gathering candy of their own..2 Night Ninja's (I think it was all about the swords) and Captain America.....adorable. 

We had a wonderful evening...and gathered waaaay more candy than any kids need ....in fact Quinton gathered over 6lbs....how did he even carry it all...I can see some recycling as Santa candy!! 

The next few nites were quiet ones at Mom's...then we got to attend Chad's play.....

A really cute play and the set was amazing...good job buddy....

Whew...it had been a busy but wonderful 2 weeks....headed home the next morning and played catch up all weekend. It was busy but good....and in 2 days I have to head back to ATL for a week of working in the office....another busy time. But this time I will also get to see Britt and family...oh goody, those boys are a mess....

The holidays are close and fun times are coming.....meanwhile...

Enjoy Fall Ya'll!!!

The Mighty Victoria Falls....one of the 7 wonders

Giles is a wonderful pilot, Shea sat up front with a headset on and chatted with him, Mom and Denny read and slept...and I was one happy person with my Beats headphones on listening to music and blogging....music, what a great sound....

About 2hrs later we were circling above Victoria Falls...wow, it was amazing from the sky...can't wait to see it up close.

Amazing....they are twice the size of Niagra Falls...the bridge you can see connects Zambia and Zimbabwe...

 The river is not full and they are not flowing at full capacity...

Seeing the falls from above gave us a great idea of their size ...Thanks Giles

Our landing was perfect...

Got the luggage out and on a trolley (a cart as we'd call it) and headed for the loo.....we all needed it. There was a guy there to pick us up and take us to the Lokuthula Lodge.

This property has about 4 resorts on it...some of them as upscale as $350 a night per person....we were not in those accommodations, but they looked wonderful.

The Safari Club was the top of the line....was VERY nice.

We were in our own hut/lodge..

3bedroom/2 bath/family room/kitchen/front porch

Our door...note how thick the roof is....

Our front porch...

Very open air....nice if it wasn't mosquito time...

Our family room and Shea is coming out of the kitchen...small, but there.

A few steps that lead up the bedroom level...that's one bath on the hall..

Steep loft type steps that lead up to a huge bedroom, Shea's Spot

 Mom's room...twin beds...and important netting

Our room...queen bed...with bath inside the room

 Our bath..

Mom and Shea's bath..

The family room only had tent like drop downs...it was meant to be open air, but we kept it closed up because of the mosquitoes...will we ever see a/c again...

We had lots of animals wandering around....Guinea Fowl

Lots of Warthogs...and a few Bush Bucks

We got checked into our 3 bedroom, 2 bath, family room and small kitchen "lodge" and we were so happy to see electricity and running water we just sat for a bit, but hunger got us so we found the bar that is close and got some lunch. 

Our lunch place and aka internet cafe'....

The pool looked ok, but not good enough for any of us to try..

Cool wine holder at the entrance to The Boma restaurant

We headed back to just chill, it's really hot here too but we finally decided to do some laundry, self service...glad to see that.....and get in some inter-netting (only available at the bar for $1 an hour). Got the clean clothes put away and we were pooped. This heat, day after day with no a/c to escape it, really tires you out. This is a nice place but a little a/c this time of year would make it amazing. We literally took showers, had a few snacks for dinner and went to bed.

We have traded dust for mosquitoes....really glad we have netting, didn't need any in Mana Pools in the bush...but we do here...glad we're taking Malaria pills.

This place is designed to be very open air, but if we have a prayer of keeping the bugs out we have to keep it closed up....so glad we have overhead fans. It does cool down at night and the beds and showers are great. Good-night, glad we're here for 4 nights.

Needless to say we were all hunting breakfast in the morning....we didn't set alarms but we were all up about 8ish....breakfast is included with our stay and ends about 930a so we headed for the restaurant. The large dining area is open air and overlooks a large watering hole...

Breakfast is a mix of buffet and menu. You can get fruits, breads, pancakes (like in the US, not crepes) yogurt, meats, cheeses and bloody marys from the buffet..then you order hot egg dishes off the menu....the menu and buffet never change...but it was good....by day 4...we were all looking for a WH!!! 

This is a complex of 3 different hotels, and 2 restaurants...ours that is Lokuthula Lodges, The Safari Lodge and the main Makuwa Kuwa Restaurant. Our restaurant The Boma is evening only and has a show with drums and native dress...and our bar serves lunch. However, the The Makuwa Kuwa is the main restaurant that serves all meals and only place to get breakfast. It's very open air and our table had a great view of the watering hole. It was so nice to not get up at 545a and have ants drop on the table....we enjoyed our leisure breakfast and then rode into town.

The free shuttle goes to town and to the falls...but our goal today was a little shopping.

The shopping area was as one might expect in a 3rd World Country....lots of folks trying to get you to buy their things and LOTS of price bargaining. Lots of the same things...had to look hard to find unique things, with an affordable price. 

We sat and rested a bit, found a place that had milk shakes...well, sort of. They were a lot more similar than an attempt yesterday that turned out to be much more like chocolate milk...I'm sure I'll find one when I get home. One good thing...we won't gain much if any weight on this vaca!!

Many guys on the streets tried to get us to buy their old money. Some time back when their economy went bad, their government printed these crazy amount bills...and for some reason, these guys thought we'd want them as souvenirs....no thanks. They got very pesky and Mom got a bit stern with one of them...he said "there's no need for that, we are nice people"....then take NO THANK YOU for an answer and stop following us!!

This is a poster about their Hyper Inflation with a $1 and a Trillion $ bill on the poster....wow

....there were some neat things in the market and the stores, we bought a few things but honestly found their prices a bit high. We were surprised. Thought these folks needed money, lower your prices and we'll buy more We headed to the grocery store, we wanted a few drinks and snacks in our lodge....then we headed home.

The grocery store was hot and not as nice a place as we'd hoped, but it served out purpose and we were fine..

Cheerios...and crackers....LOL

Were a bit lazy until time to head to the restaurant for Gin and Tonics....a bad habit we now have.....and dinner.

Mom and I couldn't wait to try Warthog....delish.....the 2 chickens got duck and beef.....but wanted to taste ours...it was yummy. Then some dessert and we rolled out the door for a van pick-up and off to bed. 

We sprayed our rooms and netting again for bugs and climbed in....nice to be in a real bed again. Tomorrow we plan to go see The Falls. 

All slept well and we were up and out again...breakfast and off to the falls....was a short ride but at least the bus has a/c. We got there and paid and walked in. The front area had these  maps explaining about the falls....they are twice the size of Niagra....WOW!!

Mosi-oa-Tunya....The Smoke that Thunders...Victoria Falls named by David Livingstone in 1855 after Queen Victoria

During full flow mths you can't see the falls only the spray/smoke....and hear the "thunder"
At full flow you can see the spray for 50 miles..

We headed out on our own down the rock trail.

This display of skulls was interesting....just some factoids along the way..

we could hear the falls....then we saw them....

The Zambezi River is not full right now so the falls are not at full flow...that' happens in May, but we are told at full flow you can't see them for the spray the falls put off....they are approx 1 mile long....that's lots of water.

They had "fences" made of branches and twigs that were very thorny...pretty smart.

They were serious about you staying on the trails.

Breathtaking....hard to describe and capture in photos...

Denny took a little rest with a friend...

Many lookouts along the way well marked...

At one point we saw folks on the other side in a "pool" of water that was formed by some rocks at the top of the falls...we thought they were nuts, but they were loving it. There appeared to be a small camp on a narrow piece of land at the top of the falls. We could see tents and figured they had powerful boats or a helicopter to get there...and maybe a death wish!!

Suppose it's something cool to say you did...but wow.

It was a good walk all the way to the end...very little water was flowing at the end but at the bottom we could see swimmers and rafters....

He was getting the raft tied up and ready....others were coming to join him..

They had their paddles and were headed to the raft....have fun..

then we walked over to view the bridge that crosses the Zambezi.....one side is Zimbabwe the other side is Zambia....reminded us of the DMZ in Korea. Folks were freely crossing, so don't think they are fighting...at least not now. 

We were told folks bungee off the bridge but we were too hot, tired and thirsty to wait...

Some tough women, with loads on their heads and backs..

Then it was time to head back....we took a small short cut, but was still a good walk in the heat. A stop at the gift shop, and then at the open market across the street then we were headed back.

I liked this t-shirt..but not for $30

As we were leaving we noticed the details on this railing....they are very good at wood-working

Not sure if these faces were suppose to mean something, but they were very good...

These guys were playing at the market...

We bought a few things at the market...and caught the shuttle back

 A cold Coke and a snack were great back at our lodge. After a little rest, we did more laundry and inter-netting and again a snack for dinner....breakfast will be looking good...not killing us to back off on the eating and on safari you sit a lot, so time to get moving again. 

Once again breakfast was good...and we were stuffed. Mom and Shea decided to do  more shopping and then go for High Tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel. Denny and I were bums, skipped shopping but did meet them for tea. We have opted to skip the ride on the Zambezi River....bugs might be a problem....pass. Craig had suggested the High Tea...so glad he did...it really is an amazing place and experience. 

The Victoria Falls Hotel is a grand Edwardian-era hotel that was built in the early 1900’s ,during the time when Cecil Rhodes famously attempted to link Cape Town to Cairo by rail. A ten-minute stroll, via a private footpath, leads to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World: Victoria Falls 

Very proper ornate feel, a neat place.

And what place in Africa is complete without mounts...

Comfy sitting room...

The views from the terrace were amazing...

Each trio served 2....wow...sandwiches, cake, scones with jelly and cream

It was lovely, and I got to have iced tea...woohoo!!!

After tea we strolled the grounds a bit...looking back at the terrace..

Quite the stone gallery....

The pool was lovely..

As were the grounds....there gardener had a FULLtime job. Not keeping it nice, but keeping the monkeys away, we watched 2 of them eating the pansies...they are such a nuisance. 

It had been a great afternoon but time to head back before dark....we walked back to main street and caught the shuttle. We hung at the main lodge lobby for just a bit, they had free wifi then we headed home. Once again we'd snacked enough during the day no one wanted dinner...that's ok...tomorrow we head for home...and Mom and Shea head to Cape Town.

Got back to our lodge and started packing up....we took a few things for them since they were going on and we were heading home....then showers and bed...as Denny said, it was our last night in the jungle.

Up and out for breakfast and sent our luggage to the lobby to wait on our airport transfer. Breakfast was good and we headed to the lobby. Denny had intentionally left his dirty tennis shoes in the room to be tossed...but when we got to the lobby we were asked about them. We told them, we didn't want them and we were asked to write up a waiver that we were giving them to Stanley, the guy that cleaned our room and found them, so there would be no confusion. A bit odd but nice of them to check. So we obliged and then headed for the airport. That was uneventful and customs was easy....our flight was delayed, no surprise, but we finally headed back to JNB. An odd little chicken snack, but when you're hungry...you eat...thanks British Airways....

Was only a 1.5 hr flt to JNB....arrived fine and headed for customs. It's odd to take a flight for such a short time and be in another country....but it's the way it is...we have states, they have countries.

Customs took a bit longer and Mom and Shea hurried to their next flt...we had more time but we did keep moving....it was good to see that Delta counter....almost home.

I'd been hunting Biltong since we got to Africa and finally got some at the airport...I had to eat the small package before we landed or customs would take it....no problem, think I can do that in 15.5 hrs. Bought a little chocolate and a Hagan Dazs ice cream bar....YUM....then headed for our gate. 

We boarded just fine and settled in for our long ride....customs in ATL was easy and we were headed for our SRQ flight...finally got home about noon.....had a PILE of mail and stuff but we were home.

It had been an amazing trip....one we'll never forget. 

Thanks Hallie and Al for helping us plan it......

Now....to get our sleeping turned around so we can plan our next adventure....