TravelStream™ news feed for member zolab on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/zolab en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:28:38 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1251327931/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1251327931/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1251327931/tpod.html Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:28:38 -0400 Kid on the Move: Round the world with my family

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Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia

For the last week, I have been at one of the best and wildest safari camps ever, Chiawa Camp in the Lower Zambezi National Park. We flew there with the Friedlands, our friends from the Beaverkill. It was really cool to bring friends with us on safari after traveling by ourselves for so long. They have four kids - Nicolas and Keira, twins who are 7, Anna Sarah, who is 6, and baby Daniel, who is just one year old! Also, Kate, who is one of the very best counselors at my camp, came with us to help. She is awesome!The flight was very long (15 hours or more) to Johannesburg, then we had to fly to Livingstone, Zambia (another 2 hours), then get on a bush plane to Chiawa Camp (another 2 hours), so by the time we got there we were pretty tired. But even though we were tired, it was still very cool to look out of the plane and see elephants and hippos in the Zambezi River. The Zambezi River is the fourth largest in Africa and it is amazing to fly over it in such a small plane. Kate was a little nervous but that was okay.When we landed at Chiawa, which is right on the Zambezi, we had to take a boat to get to the camp. We stayed in tents, really nice ones. The first night we went on a short night drive and saw four porcupines! We even got to collect some of the quills from a poor porcupine who had been killed by a lion. That was great. Our guide Boaz was amazing. While we were eating dinner, we heard lions roaring but they thought they were far away. However, the next morning we had a huge surprise! Just as we were about to walk down the path to breakfast, Boaz drove up in the Land Rover and told us to get in, quick! A mating pair of lions had killed a water buck right in the camp! They were roaming around and it was too dangerous for us to walk around. We drove over to the fire pit where breakfast was served and while we were just eating, a huge hippo charged out of the river and came running right towards us! Since hippos kill more people than any other animal in Africa, that was scary! As we were getting in the land rover again to look for the lions, a big bull elephant came charging through camp. It was truly WILD there! We found the lions sleeping in the bush right behind camp, then went and found another pair of mating lions, more elephants, hippos, buffalo, and lots more. The lions stayed in camp the entire time we were there, which made it tough to walk around. We had to have a guide with a gun with us at all times to protect us. My mom even got charged by the male lion while she was standing next to our tent with one of the guides. Luckily, it was a fake charge!One day, while we were at the main camp, a big bull elephant walked up. He came right up to us and Dad, Mom, and I got a very close look at him. His tusks were huge! Then suddenly, he started walking down the path towards the tents and just then, Tallulah, Kate, and Keira and Anna Sarah were running down the path!!! Shaiza, their mom, saw that they were about to come face to face with a huge elephant, so she blocked the path and they were able to run back to their tent. Crazy!Mom and Shaiza went for a walk and saw two more lions and a hyena. They also saw a huge crocodile with a huge eel in its mouth. And while we were there, we also saw a leopard in a tree right by the river in the middle of the day, which is very rare! Dad and Jon got to go canoeing on the Zambezi and saw tons of huge crocs, hippos, elephants, and more. Chiawa was a great place. We had marshmallows over the fire one night and also a very good chocolate cake. Kayla and and Jason, who run the camp were very nice to us, too. I hope we can go back there soon.Now we are flying to Cape Town, my favorite city!
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Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

We just got back from a few great days in my favorite city in the world, Cape Town!We flew down there from Zambia and the first day we had a real South African winter day. It rained and rained all day, but we still had fun. We took the Friedlands to the Aquarium and they loved it. Jon, their dad, loves tropical fish and has a lot of fish tanks. He even helps set up tanks at the Museum of Natural History, which is very cool. So that was fun. That night we had dinner at the Africa Cafe, where I have gone lots of times. It serves and African Feast and has food from all over Africa. My favorite is the Mozambican chicken and the bread. One of the ladies who works there remembered me from when I was a tiny baby. My parents know the owners and used to go there when it was in their house.We did take the Friedlands up Table Mountain on the cable car. It was very windy and cold at the top but fun to be up there again.While we were in Cape Town, we visited lots of schools and also looked at houses. I had to take a test at Reddam, where my friend Alec goes, and I liked his school and I liked the other all-boys schools that we visited. Lu had a sleepover with her friend Sienna and went to school with her one day. And I got to have a very short date with Alec at his house. On Saturday, we went out to the wine country to Paul and Lucille's wine farm. Sienna and Ashlyn were there and Ashlyn and I had lots of fun. She is really funny. We climbed to the top of the mountain and found a very old cannon from 1784 and we also had sword fights, played hurling (the Irish game), and rugby. Lucille is about to have a baby and we all wished she would have it while we were there. On Sunday, we went across the valley to a Chocolate Factory and ate lots of homemade chocolate. That was an awesome lunch! We could see snow on the mountains which is pretty rare.When we move to Cape Town we will be able to go the farm a lot more because we are going to buy part of it to share it with Paul and Lucille and their friends Francois and Lindsay. I am very excited about this as it is such a cool place to hang out.I saw the World Cup soccer stadium - it is almost finished. Schools in South Africa are going to be closed during the World Cup so that means I can go see some of the games! We were all very sad to leave Cape Town but know that we will be back soon. I am now very jet-lagged and just wish I was back there.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1249954330/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1249954330/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1249954330/tpod.html Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:42:56 -0400 Kid on the Move: Round the world with my family

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New York City, New York, United States

Last week was the last week of Beaverkill Valley Camp. It was a great week. Dave and some of the counselors took the nine and ups Paintballing. It was sooooo much fun! I got two huge bruises but had an awesome time. I would love to get my own paintball gun.We also had Water Wars on the last day of camp. We have them every year. This year I had a huge water gun. There are some new kids at camp from the Hague. Jasper, who is my age, and Josh and I hung out this week and had canoe wars and pretended it was the Titanic. I also hung out with Rachel, who is moving to South Carolina. She is cool and so funny.I also got three biking badges for biking 156 miles this summer. Lu got a badge for biking 53 miles on her burley behind Mom. I was proud of her!We had two big bonfires this weekend, one in our field and one on top of Beech Mountain with the Friedlands and the Swaaks. I love bonfires - especially at the Beaverkill. Mom saw a baby bear cub this morning on her run but I have not seen any this summer, but I hope I do.Today we drove to New York City, where we will be until Wednesday when we leave for Zambia with the Friedlands and Kate, Lu's favorite counselor from camp. I can't wait to see leopards - I hope we do!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1249353593/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1249353593/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1249353593/tpod.html Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:04:12 -0400 Kid on the Move: Round the world with my family

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Livingston Manor, New York, United States

Hello everyone! It has been a long time since I wrote, but since June I have been pretty busy enjoying being back with all my friends and family. So what have I been doing and is our year of travel over yet?Well....After we went to Florida, I did a week of sailing camp in New York City. It was awesome! I met some really great new friends, like Elan, who is totally funny, and Max, who is really nice too. We all had nicknames - mine was Godzola (like Godzilla) and Elan was the King. Our instructor was a great sailor and has sailed around the world.I learned lots of knots and we got to sail every day. On the last day we sailed all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge from the Upper West Side boat basin. I hope that I can do it again next year.After sailing camp, we headed to the Beaverkill, where we have our house in the Catskills and where I have been going to camp every year since I was only three years old. The first week my cousins, Andrew and Nic, came down from Maine to stay with us. We had canoe wars and swam in the pond and had a lot of fun together.Then camp started and I saw all my friends - Charlie, Wyatt, Joshua, Nicolas, Willie, Andy - plus all the girls too. We have a new camp director, Dave, who is pretty cool, and new counselors too, including Liam from Australia and Roxy and Ginger, who are very nice. My counselor is Ramona and I like her a lot, too. We have been swimming in the river, hiking, riding bikes (I am almost up to 200 miles again!), playing soccer and tennis, hanging out, and doing fun stuff. And we get ice cream at the end of campFor the fourth of July, my friend Wyatt took me, my dad, and Charlie and Willie to see a Yankees game in New York City. It was great! Then we had fireworks here and a triathlon. My mom's team won.I had a campout in my tipi with some of my friends - it was great. We had a cookout and bonfire and told ghost stories, then we all slept in the tipi. The next week, some of the guys at the campout got lice. I don't think I had them but my mom made me get checked and washed everything in our house. Ugh!I was also in the camp play again - this year it was "Cinderella" which is not a very good play for boys, but I was the King and Andy was the Prince. Josie was Cinderella. I liked being in the play.Last week, my cousins Charlsi, Isabella, and Colton, my aunt Danielle, and Gramae and Pop came to stay with us. We went blueberry picking, swam in Big Falls, rode bikes and went fishing, and hung out. We also had a big bonfire and looked for bears. It was so great to have them here. I miss them a lot.This week is the last week of camp. On Friday we have Water Wars then it is over. I am going to be sad, because it is so much fun. But next week we start traveling again for a while.We are going to Zambia to a safari camp on the Zambezi River then we are going to Cape Town to check out houses, schools, and things like that. We have rented a house in New York City for the fall, but we are thinking about moving back to Cape Town. I like this idea but we will see what happens.So I will probably write from Zambia or South Africa, then let you know where we are going to move. Bye for now!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1244952000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1244952000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1244952000/tpod.html Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:25:29 -0400 Kid on the Move: Round the world with my family

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Destin, Florida, United States

Howdy from Destin, Florida, where I have been for the last week! I flew down from New York City with my mom and dad and my sister on Saturday. We had to fly to Atlanta, then we rented a cool Mustang convertible to drive to Destin. We thought it was only a three hour drive, but it was actually five hours. But I did not care, because we got to ride with the top down the whole way and play the music loud! That was really fun! It felt like we were back to our year of traveling again.When we got to Destin, we found our beach house where we will be staying with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. But they had not arrived yet, so we went down to the ocean and swam for a little while, then went out for a seafood dinner. My Uncle Jason met us there to get the keys and we drove the convertible back to see everyone. It was great to be all together again, especially on the beach!Destin beaches are really nice. The sand is very white and soft, and the water is calm and very blue, almost turquoise. My grandmother thinks it is the most beautiful beach in the world. Our house was right on the beach, so it was easy to go there anytime we wanted. We spent a lot of time on the beach, swimming in the ocean and digging in the sand. We also rented sea kayaks, which was fun. And we tried out Yolo Boards, which are big paddleboards that you stand up on and paddle around in the ocean. You have to keep your balance or you tip right over.We celebrated my Dad's birthday while we were there, and had chocolate cake and Dippin Dots, which are frozen ice cream dots. My cousin Hannah thinks they are awesome. They are actually very good. We also went to a natural springs called the Vortex, where I got to jump off some high jumps into the water and even swing on a wicked and quite dangerous swing. The water was cold, but clear and the only worry was the eels. One day, we all went to the Big Kahuna, which is a giant water park. I did almost all the rides, and my grandfather, who is 74, did too! He was very brave and crazy. We did Thunder River and Lazy River, the wave pool, tons of Giant Slides, and had a super fun time. On our last day, my grandfather took us deep sea fishing. Our captain, Ed and the first mate, Joe, where nice but very strict. We went 8 miles out to sea and fished for red snapper. I caught the first fish and the biggest fish, and got to bait my own hook.The best part about being in Destin was being with my cousins. We had so much fun, swimming and hanging out. On our last day, my mom took us to ride Nascar gocarts, because we had been doing boot camp with her every morning. The go carts were so much fun to drive. My cousin Charlsi kept crashing, which was funny. It was sad to say goodbye again but I hope I will see them again very soon in the Beaverkill, if they get to come visit. Florida is great!
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New York City, New York, United States

It is great to be back in New York City! We have decided to act like tourists in our old and maybe new home town. On Monday, we went to the Intrepid, the huge aircraft carrier docked on the Hudson River. I went a lot when I was younger, but it was being restored and repaired for a while, so I was excited to go see it again. It was cooler than ever. We got to check out the Concorde, the superfast French plane as well. On the flight deck at the Intrepid, I checked out lots of amazing fighter jets, like the Blackbird and the Stealth Bomber, and the Tom Cat. One of them was painted like a tiger and another was painted like a shark. I also met a really nice guy who was restoring one of the radar planes. It has a huge circle on top of it and it was used to fly ahead of the ship and look for enemies. The guy who was working on it seemed to love his job. He gave me a book with all the planes in it and their stories, and a key chain for Lu and me. Seems like a fun job!Down below, I tried out a flight simulator, that was super hard. And we watched two movies. The one about kamikazes was great. I did not know that five Japanese kamikaze planes hit the Intrepid, but it did not sink. It was sad - a lot of guys died including the chief fireman. The Japanese called the Intrepid the ghost ship because it did not sink. The Intrepid also helped in the Vietnam and Cold Wars and with the astronauts. It is an amazing ship.Today we went to see Lady Liberty. I have been with my grandmother once before, but I could not climb in the body of the statue, but today we could! We rode on the ferry across to the island where she stands - she is huge from up close. Lu kept calling her a giant! We had to go through lots of security checks but finally we were up inside her. The views were great. Later this summer they are going to let people go all the way up to the crown - we are going to come back when that opens. There were lots of people there from all over the world - everyone knows the Statue of Liberty. When we left, I got to help a group of street performers with their act. It was kind of scary - they jumped over me and three other people - but I did not get hit. They were really good! Dad came home early tonight because Mom had to go to a speech at her old office, so we got to go to the playground until after dark and eat ice cream before dinner. It was a good day!
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Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Howdy from Nashville, Tennesee, home of my Gramae and Pop, my cousins and aunts and uncles, and the best chocolate cake in the world. Oh, I already said that!Well, I got what I wanted for our return to the States - lots of time at my grandparents house in Tennessee! I had a great time there, and we did all sorts of things. We went roller skating (easier than ice skating), ice skating (which made me miss hockey), skateboarding, and rode bikes and went swimming. We also went to the Nashville Zoo twice, where we saw the cutest baby Siberian tiger cubs, who were white and whose ancester was the white tiger from India! I love the Nashville Zoo!We went to a crazy Japanese restaurant where the chef cooked right in front of us. The chef flicked shrimp right into my water, and into his pocket, and into his hat! He kept calling my "Baby" and he made a volcano fire out of onions and oil! It was really fun to watch. We also went to the Franklin Rodeo, the first rodeo I have ever seen. My favorite thing at the rodeo was the bullriding - I could not believe how long the cowboys stayed on the bulls. One guy was thrown off right into the fence but he just got up and walked away. The rodeo clown was very brave. Lu liked meeting Miss Tennessee Rodeo and wearing a pink cowboy hat! The next night we went to see Women's Roller Derby - the Nashville Roller Girls vs. the Dixie Chicks or something like that. Basically, the women just raced around a track and kept knocking each other over - it was really weird! My grandfather went with us and he said he used to go all the time when he was in high school!I had a great time with my cousins and grandparents and I was very sad to leave. I got to go to work with my Pop and even earn extra money doing chores for my Gramae ($15!) and I got to see our cat Wilbert (who did not seem to miss us) and I even lost another tooth - that makes 16 lost teeth overall! It was fun to tell everyone about our travels - I even did a presentation at my cousin Hannah's school. And I got to to go on a field trip to the Tennessee State Capital with my cousin Charlsi's class. We even got to vote in the legislative chambers - that was really fun! And we celebrated my baby cousin Colton's first birthday - he learned how to walk while I was there! So overall, a fun trip!
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Lyme, New Hampshire, United States

For the last few days, I have been at my Gram Anne and Grandpa Steve's house in New Hampshire. It is actually also kind of Vermont, because they live right on the river on the state border between Vermont and New Hampshire. My dad grew up in Vermont but he went to school in New Hampshire every day! I had a great time seeing Gram Anne and hanging out with Grandpa Steve. Mom, Lu, and I drove up from New York City, armed with Magnolia cupcakes (my favorite!). We listened to a great book on tape on the way up - that made the trip superfast. At Gram Anne's, we made homemade pizzas, watched the mother fox and three baby foxes who live in her yard, looked out for the mother and baby bear, went to the Montshire Science Museum, a super fun museum with lots of cool exhibits, and also had a party at Auntie Brinna's house on Saturday night. I got to see my cousins Charlotte, Jonathon, Annabel, Owen, and Liam and meet some new kids as well. We had sparklers and ran around the pond - it is really nice in Vermont. We also got more pancake mix from Auntie Brinna's King Arthur's flour store and I got a new Dartmouth sweatshirt to replace the one we lost last June at the beginning of our travels in England.Now we are back in New York City and ready for a week of city adventure!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1241038380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1241038380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zolab/1/1241038380/tpod.html Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:56:04 -0400 Kid on the Move: Round the world with my family

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Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Guess What!!! Finally, after a very long time, I just ate the very best chocolate cake in the world, baked by my Gramae Jane!!!! We arrived yesterday and she had a big chocolate cake waiting for me, plus presents and lots of other cool things. It is great to be here. Lu and I played with our baby cousin, Colton, who is only one year old (actually, almost one), then we went to pick up Bella and Charlsi from school. We got to go to an Author's party at their school and hear some of the books that won the contest being read out loud.Last night, we had a birthday dinner for my Aunt Danielle and played and played played! It is so good to be here, at last!
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Bonita Springs, Florida, United States

Hello from New York again. I just got back from our first of three grandmother visits. On Thursday, Mom, Lu and I flew to Fort Meyers, Florida to see Gram Judi. I was really excited to see her - we have not seen her in over a year. On our first day there, we went for a walk to the docks, where we had a picnic. She packed alligator eggs (I think they were real), and lots of other good things and we watched the fish jump out of the water. After lunch, we just hung out at her house and took it easy and went to the pool. Her friend Larry came over for dinner and we had a great meal - it is so nice to have real food. And best of all she had these little desserts called creme puffs - they were amazing!The next day we went to the beach. To get to Gram Judi's beach, you have to take the car to a bus, then take a boat kind of like a ferry. That part is really fun. We had another picnic at the beach, then went swimming and read books and made sandcastles. It was a great day! Dad got there late that night, which is also great. I am not used to being away from him at all.For our last day, we went sailing!!! Gram Judi is a great sailor and she wins lots of races. First, I went out with her and she taught me how to sail. We beat Dad, Mom, and Lu. Then Dad and I went out together and raced Gram Judi. It was going fine until the wind changed and Dad and I flipped over. At first I was scared, then I realized that the water was warm and not too deep. We flipped the boat over and kept on sailing. Now we are back in New York for a day or so, before we head to Nashville for grandmother visit number 2 and homemade chocolate cake!!!
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