The Trip that Never Was...2014

In Fall 2013, I began planning to join a group trip to China to check out the Great Wall and Terra Cotta Warriors...I had paid the reservation fee and traveler's insurance and it was a week away from when I was going to pay the remainder of the cost, however, I began to have second thoughts.

So I asked God to show me if it was still okay to go or not...

One day, after Thanksgiving, my mom and I went into a local store during their open house weekend. They were having door prizes and a raffle. So we both entered the raffle....and as I entered, I asked God to show me clearly one way or the other if it was okay for me to go to China....if I won the raffle, I should definitely not go...

So, a couple days later, when they had the raffle drawing, I got a phone call telling me I had won 1st prize in the raffle...a bittersweet victory, because I knew I had to cancel my trip:(

Although I did win a nice basket of Vermont-made goodies as a consolation prize!

Basket full of Vermont-made goodies

Since I was forbidden to go to China, I ended up staying in the country in 2014. However, I still ended up having 2 nice family vacations that year! One to Plymouth, Mass. to check out the plantation and Mayflower 2:

Plymouth Plantation 1600s

Mayflower 2

And one to Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse in Maine:

Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse, Maine

Cool little ship

So even though I couldn't go overseas, I still had a great time exploring more of New England! :)

God knows best;)

Happy Travels!

Rachael

#newengland #plymouth #maine #lighthouse #mayflower

My German South African Adventure March 2013

It was March in Vermont...and I was ready to go somewhere warm!

I took the train down to JFK in New York and flew over to South Africa via Germany. Two years previous, I had seen African animals at the San Diego Safari Park in California, and I wanted to go see them in their natural habitat as well!

I stayed my 1st 2 nights in Cape Town at the Nine Flowers Guesthouse and went on an all-day tour down to the Cape of Good Hope.

View out my window in Cape Town

I went on the Cape Peninsula Tour, which included a boat ride to Duiker Island to check out the seals,

Seals on Druiker Island tour

 the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern tip of Africa, where I saw ostriches, baboons, and amazing cliffside views! I also tried an ostrich burger, but it was too gamey for my liking;)

sign at Cape of Good Hope

Ostriches

Baboon visitor on our tour bus!

Sea Cliffs over the Atlantic

Boulders Beach, where there were tons of cute little African penguins,

African Penguins on Boulders Beach

and the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which was full of trees and flowers, and very hot! It was in the 80s, which was definitely a lot warmer than back home that was in the 30s and 40s!

Kirstenbosch

pretty flowers

A wonderful day tour full of all kinds of amazing experiences!

I then took a plane over to the east coast to Port Elizabeth where I spent the next 6 nights. I stayed at the Bluewater Beachfront Guesthouse, which was right across the street from sand dunes leading to the Indian Ocean! My 1st and probably only time going to the Indian Ocean.

View out my window of sand dunes and Indian Ocean

One of my favorite tours I went on was an all-day safari where I got to see all kinds of animals in their natural habitat! We went to two different preserves, the one in the morning we were in a closed tour bus and saw many animals, such as, elephants, water buffalo, painted turtles, gazelles, zebras, antelope, and even a hyena that came to the watering hole after a recent kill!

up close encounter with elephant

Water Buffalo

Painted Turtle

Hyena at watering hole after recent kill

In the afternoon, we were in an open jeep, and saw animals like, rhinos, giraffe, crocodiles, hippos, and a pride of lions lazing under a bush not too far away!

Rhino

Giraffe peaking through trees

Pride of Lions, about 40 feet away from our open jeep!

We then had dinner in a boma under the African stars. A perfect way to end an amazing day!

Boma where dinner was served

The next day, I went on an elephant ride, and met my tour guide, who was a nice Dutch lady who had also gone to school for Anthropology like me, which led to further bonus adventures I wasn't planning on! I had not booked any tours for my last 2 days, so she showed me around, and I ended up going to several places I wouldn't have otherwise...God provides!

Elephant Ride

Elephant feeding

In between my elephant ride and bonus adventures, I went on a boat tour of the Sunday River to the Alexandria Sand Dunes, which are the 2nd largest sand dunes in the world!

Boat on Sunday River

Alexandria Sand Dunes

Then, during the last 2 days of my stay, I got to explore parts in and around Port Elizabeth like the locals! Marianne, my guide from the elephant ride, took me around the city of Port Elizabeth, to Settlers' Park, a nice local bistro/bakery, a penguin sanctuary, a lighthouse, a fort, and a Hindu temple, as well as a nice walk along the Indian Ocean!

Queen Elizabeth Statue

Settler's Park

Penguins at Sanctuary

Lighthouse

Fort

Hindu Temple

Indian Ocean

I then said goodbye to my new friend and got ready for the long journey home in the morning.
I woke up to a beautiful sunrise, a perfect send off!

Sun rising from Indian Ocean

I then headed to the airport to fly back to Cape Town, and then up to Munich, Germany, where I had a 10-hour layover. Luckily, I had met someone in London back in 2005 when we were both studying abroad, and he agreed to show me around! So instead of sitting in the airport for hours, like I'd done in Frankfurt on my way there, I enjoyed an afternoon exploring Munich and surrounds!

My friend Christian picked me up and we drove around the city, taking photo stops along the way. He even let me use his camera, since mine had run out of room from taking so many pics in South Africa! Port Elizabeth had been in the more comfortable 70s, but it was still late Spring in Munich, and the wind chill felt like it was in the 30s! Good preparation for going back to Vermont:)

We went down many streets, including the medieval square Marienplatz, and saw the New Town Hall and a big glockenspiel (musical clock)!

Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall)

Glockenspeil

I also saw many other cool buildings, including the 'Yellow Church', several statues of lions, which I had, of course, just saw real ones, and a cool statue of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf!

Yellow Church and Lion Statue

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf Statue

We also went outside of the city and saw a couple palaces, including the Old Palace.

Old Palace

I then said goodbye and started my long flight home.

I flew into Newark, New Jersey and took a bus into NYC to spend the night at the Port Authority Bus Terminal to catch an early bus back to Vermont.

It was quite an experience!

Over in South Africa I had seen quite a few homeless people, and when I was in New York it was no different...homeless people came into the bus terminal for the night to get out of the elements. My one night sitting in there was but a mere taste of what they had to deal with all the time...hopefully someday there will be better solutions for the homeless situation around the world!

In the morning, I took a Greyhound bus back to Vermont, where I saw that the snow had finally melted and it was beginning to look and feel like Spring!

All in all, it was an amzing adventure that God provided protection and even more cool experiences than I had planned for!

If you would like more information on planning your own South African Adventure, click here!

Happy Travels!

Rachael

#travel #safari #southafrica #germany #adventure #wildlife #explore

From L.A. to the Big Apple: Exploring 2 major U.S. cities 2011-12

It was a year to stay in America and explore some major cities for a change. Thanksgiving week 2011 I went to L.A. to visit a good friend who I had met over in Scotland in grad school, and the following Spring I went down for a long weekend in New York City to visit a college friend.

If any of you have ever been to either city, you know it can’t get much more cosmopolitan! I usually prefer the countryside, but every once in a while it’s nice to visit a big city with their massive skyscrapers and many cultural fascinations.

In L.A., I stayed with my friend and she showed me around the metropolis going this way and that on the many freeways that connect the city sprawl. One of the better parts of being in a city is the variety of things to do and cultures to learn about. I arrived on a Friday night. On Saturday we went to one of my friend’s friend’s messianic synagogue for a service that was in both Hebrew and English. On Sunday, we went to my friend’s father’s church, where he spoke Spanish and had someone translate to English. Both services were very interesting to be a part of! I enjoy worshiping God with many types of believers within the Christian faith wherever I go:)

One of the places we checked out was the famed Santa Monica Pier. This was my 2^nd time at the Pacific Ocean, but unlike the 1^st time down in Costa Rica, this time the temps were much cooler! 

Santa Monica Pier

We also went through Hollywood and I saw the Hollywood sign…didn’t see what the big deal is, but some people enjoy such things;) 

Hollywood Sign in the distance

We also got to tour Sony Studios, which was pretty cool. I saw memorabilia and props for movies such as Men in Black, DaVinci Code, and Spiderman, and got to see the sets for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune:)

DaVinci Code memorabilia at Sony Studios

 

Imagining how nice it would be to win at Jeopardy!

On Sunday night, after having a nice Thanksgiving meal at one of the churches my friend frequented, we went up to the Griffith Observatory. It had some good views of the city lights at sunset! 

Griffith Observatory

 

Sunset over L.A.

We explored some of downtown L.A. as well, and went through Pasadena where the Rose Parade is held every New Year’s, Chinatown, and saw a place that showed the history of the native tribes who lived there and how to make adobe bricks.

Chinatown in Los Angeles

 

Making an Adobe brick

We then left L.A. behind for a day and went south towards San Diego to check out the Safari Park. An amazing place to see all kinds of animals! I like how they had plenty of room to roam around, instead of like most zoos where animals are in smaller cages. We saw giraffes, antelope, gazelles, rhinos,, lions, and more! 

San Diego Safari Park

 

Elephant

 

Giraffe

 

Lion

They also had part of a giant Sequoia tree and many types of plants, including bonsai.

Sequoia tree

 

Cool cactus

 

Bonsai Birch Forest

On Thursday, we paused our explorations to share a Thanksgiving meal and play some games with my friend’s family. Then on Friday we went to La Brea tar pits, the oldest known tar pits in the world! While there we saw the remains of several interesting creatures, such as, saber-tooth cats, dire wolves, golden eagles, giant ground sloths and mammoths! 

Saber-tooth Cat

 

Dire Wolf

 

Giant Ground Sloth

 

Mammoth

On my last full day, we went to watch the latest Muppet movie outside of Universal Studios. Definitely way more expensive than back home, but it was worth seeing :)

Entrance to Universal Studios

I then said goodbye to my friend and sunny California and headed back east to spend another New England winter.

Then, in early spring, I took the train down to the Big Apple for a long weekend to visit an old college friend and check out some of the sights. My 1^st night we walked the streets and saw Time Square and the Empire State building all lit up (which I had pictures of but can't seem to find them...).

On Saturday, my one full day there, I took the subway to the ferry for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. My friend had to work so I was on my own. 

 

Catching the ferry

As I saw the Statue of Liberty get closer and closer, I imagined what it must have been like for those immigrants who came into the country for the first time to try for a better life. 

Statue of Liberty in the distance

 

Statue of Liberty up close

Over 12 million people entered America through Ellis Island from 1892 through 1924, and it became a museum back in the 1980s. 

Ellis Island

 

Registry Room on Ellis Island

 

Model of Ellis Island Facilities

I learned that there was also a point of entry over on the west coast called Angel Island, which was opened from 1910 through 1940.

Angel Island

That night, after my friend finished work, we took a walk in Central Park. It was peaceful at that time of night with not too many people around. We stopped at Belvedere Castle in the middle of the park, which looked cool at night.

Castle Belvedere in Central Park

Then we said our goodbyes and I took the train back home the following morning. Just a little taste of the Big Apple, but a fun weekend nevertheless.

Both trips within the U.S., one in the West and one in the East, were full of cultural and historical adventures, and I was glad I decided to explore a little more of my home country!

For more info on visiting L.A. go here.

For more info on visiting NYC, go here.

Happy traveling!

Rachael

#travel #losangeles #newyorkcity #america #culture #history