Anjali’s parents had their 50th anniversary.  Here is Anjali with her parents in the middle and her brother on the right.  In the front and back row are her cousins.

Here are the kids with their Great Grandmother!

Here are the five of us.

Here are the kids at Anjali’s uncle’s vacation house outside of Pune.

One of the days we went to Sinhagad, a fort from the 1600′s with quite a colorful history.  Here are the kids at the entrance to the fort.

Here is the view from inside the protected walls of the fort.

On most days, we did our shopping trips and visits in a scooter rickshaw.

We did a side trip to Nagpur which is about a two hour flight from Pune.

We visited my uncles and cousins there.

My cousin Shirish (on the left in the photo above) took us to a wildlife sanctuary outside of Pune.

Here are some pictures from the Pench Tiger Sanctuary.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any tigers but lots of other big game including sambars, horned deer, antelopes and all kinds of monkeys!

On Christmas Day, we went out for Chinese food at Mainland China in Pune.  Probably the best Chinese food in India! Christmas Day in India is like any other day there.

On our last day in Pune, Anjali was lucky enough to catch her 30th year high school reunion at St. Joseph’s.  Here she is with her friends.

What a trip!

Here is one of about 20 we saw that day.  Most of the time they are sleeping to conserve energy.  All they eat are eucalyptus leaves.  We were lucky enough to see one moving around.

We also saw the penguin parade, but no pictures were allowed.  This attraction is well worth the drive to see the penguins swim to shore.

Our first stop was a lake and nature preserve.

Here is a picture of some emus standing by the side of the trail.

We stopped for lunch at an old mining town – mostly abandoned now.

The kids got to scavenge at an old marble quarry.

In the same area called Chillagoe, there was also an abandoned old ore and gold mine.

The highlight was the tour of an underground cavern filled with stalagmites (these grow from the floor – and might grow up) and stalactites (these drop from the roof – and have to hold on tight).

On the ride home, we stopped off at the world’s smallest train station in Petford.

We also stopped off at a coffee plantation and the kids got to play with a cockatoo.

The next stop was Port Douglas and the Sugar Cane factories.

We all started with a snorkel dive.  The reef is about 10-15 feet below and the visibility is excellent. We were at a reef called Norman Reef, one of the outermost reefs which is surrounded by deep water.

Here is a picture of Annika below.  After a short 10 minute snorkeling lesson, she was off on her own.

Here is one of a maori wrasse fish I was able to capture that swam up along side us.

After the snorkeling, me, Nikhil and Vikram went for a couple of scuba dives.

The boys took to the water like fish!  They scuba dived to 12-15m deep which took them to the bottom of the reef.  We saw turtles, giant clams, clownfish, an eel, sea cucumber and lots of other fish.

We picked a perfect sunny day for our dive.

We returned after a full day of snorkeling and diving.  The next day would take us on an adventure into the outback.

Unfortunately, United Airlines lost my bag.  It remained in San Francisco!  I finally received it four days into my trip.  I had to buy some new clothes but fortunately, the stores are very similar to the states – Target, Costco, etc.!  Their allowance for lost baggage is a measly $50 US which doesn’t go too far in Melbourne.

Anyway, after spending a couple of hours buying  some basic necessities, we went to Cardenia to check out the kangaroos and were not disappointed.  Our plans for Philipps Island had to be postponed due to all the coats being in my bag.

The next day, we caught a Virgin Blue flight to Cairns and checked into our apartment on the beach. The weather in Yorkey’s Knob was at least 40 degrees warmer 80-90+ the whole time.  Here is the view from our place – about 200M from the beach.

The water was warm – in the low 70′s.

During the summer months, the jelly fish are a problem and they have a first aid kit at the ready.    Who knew!

The next day, we took a boat to the Reef.  I’ll continue on the next post.

Here are some pictures from Melbourne.  This first one is a park within walking distance from Madhura’s house.

This is a picture from Mount Dandenong.

Here is a picture with Keya.

Here is one of a parakeet eating spicy potato chips from Nikhil’s hand!

Here is one in Cardenia with some kangaroos behind the gang.

The kids in front of the James Cook historic cottage.

Here is one at the Melbourne Aquarium.

I’ll continue on another post.

We started our hike at 5:30 AM and started up the John Muir Trail.  Here we are at our first break about an hour into the hike.

Vikram and Shree at Nevada Falls

We were fortunate to see this rare sighting of a bear cub at about the 10 mile mark.  Vikram snapped this shot and we moved along quickly just in case the mother bear was near.

Here is a great shot of the approach to Half Dome.    If you look closely, you will see the trail of people.  The lower half is a rock scramble up the mountain, the upper half is the famous cable hike.

Half Dome Cables

Here we are at the hump right before the cable section.

Finally, we reach the top.   I had all the boys harnessed into the cable with an Alpine Bod harness,  runner and carabiner.

The hike back down the mountain was a bit quicker and had some glorious views of Nevada and Vernal Falls (below).  We had all carried up over 4L of water per person and yet nearly all of us were running out at the end! Once again, it amazes me how many unprepared people we saw along the way with a bottle or two of water in 90 degree heat!

Here is a picture from one of the hotels in mainland China.   The smog lingers constantly and the construction continues into the night.

Here is one of an 8 story shopping mall.   One of the malls we visited was all electronics fakes.  Their slogan there is “you make it, we fake it”.

Here is one of the beautiful harbor area looking from Kowloon to HK island.  I visited my friend Todd and also Alka mavshi and Naya kaka who both live in the midlevels area on Hong Kong island.

Here is a picture from their apartment.

Mavshi cooked me a wonderful home-cooked meal which was very nice after being on the road for so long.

On the Friday night I spent there, Todd and his wife Anne took me to the American Club.  It was a wonderful oasis for expats and served some of the best food I had there for two weeks!

A good trip… and I got really good at using chop sticks!

After each zip line, they hurried us through to the next one.   It was loads of fun as you can see from the expressions….. but I must say, it was all a bit too “sanitized” for my liking.  Guess you have to do it once but, I would go back for another river ride instead!

Here are some pictures from the adventure.

We started off slowly and then hit some major rapids.  It definitely looks scarier than it felt at the time.

They referred to this section of the river as La Boca del Diablo or the Devil’s Mouth.

There was also another section of the river we got to “surf a hole” – a technique where you are paddling upstream against the flow of the river and keeping up – too cool to describe.

We were fortunate to have a great tour operator and boatman (Ramirez) leading our raft.  Only a few of us fell out of the boat and were quickly rescued!  This was an amazing and thoroughly enjoyable day on the river.

Here are some pictures of the kids on the beach behind the house.

Each day we built a (bigger and bigger) sand castle in the hopes of battling the high tides.  Each morning we would come out to see the waves had wiped clean our hard-work!

One of the features of the beach house was the daily monkey crossing.  We got to see a troop of monkeys crossing thru the back yard.  The monkeys would stop by pretty much every afternoon for plantains and flowers.

In between the beach and the monkey sightings, we enjoyed the wonderful backyard and pool.

During the week, we also did a day of white water rafting and one day of a canopy tour.  I’ll post those pics separately.

Here we are at the start of the hike. You have to read to the end to see why it is called the Subway!

The entire hike is along an ancient riverbed with steep canyons along each side. We saw some dinosaur tracks part way thru the hike.

Here are Doug and I getting our feet wet.

Here is a picture of one of the sandstone overhangs.

Finally, here is the Subway. This water carved formation extends for about a 1/4 mile and dead ends in a deep pool of water that requires rapelling gear to continue.

This is the end of the trail for us!

Here is Doug climbing through the canyon.

And one last look at the awesome Subway!

After that, it is another 5 mile hike back to the top of the canyon.

Fortunately, all we saw was a peaceful mountain and amazing views.

Here is a picture of the “spa” we stayed at in Banos at the base of the mountain. It is in a picturesque location underneath a waterfall.

The spa itself is a cheesy motel about the quality of a Motel 6 or worse but is was the best in town.

As you can see, the kids can have fun anywhere.

In the morning, we took a ride on the “terabithia” which is essentially a tram that goes across a gorge and ends in a waterfall. Banos is known for these “cascadas” that sit at the edge of the rainforest.

The one that we rode was 500m long and 100m above the ground. Check out the video of the ride. They stopped the tram about 2/3 of the ride and just before the waterfall.

After the ride, we headed back to Quito. On the way, we stopped off for some ice cream in the town of Salcedo which is known for its ice-cream. There must have been 100 ice cream vendors in the town.

After about a 4 hour ride back to Quito, we had a quick dinner at our favorite restaurant called the Magic Bean and were entertained by our little angel!

It was an amazing experience overall and one we will remember forever. Special thanks to Anjali for researching and arranging the whole trip!

Here are the kids on the equator line.

We visited a museum that had a water demonstration supposedly showing the coriolis effects. On the equator line, the water drained from the sink straight out. On either side of the equator line, the water drained out with a whirlpool effect. It was even clockwise on one side and counter clockwise on the other. Pretty cool demonstration, but I find it hard to believe how just a few feet on either side of the equator can make a difference.

Here we all are posing for the Tustin News. We had our picture taken for the “Where in the World” section of the paper.

Another interesting feature of the equator is that one can balance an egg on a nail head. Supposedly, the gravitational forces at the equator are neutral allowing one to balance the egg. Once again, I’m not sure I buy the logic, but sure enough, it did work and it sure impressed the kids! We should now try it at home to disprove this theory. Any physicists in the house with a hypothesis as to why this works?

Vikram got to shoot a blow gun. See the arrow in the cactus.

After the equatorial museum, we headed off to the Otovalo market. On the way, we stopped off for lunch at a restaurant at Lake San Pablo with a wonderful view of the Imbabura volcano in the background at 8000 feet.

Otavalo is about two hours north of Quito on the Pan American highway (also known as the Avenue of the Volcanoes) . Otavalo is one of the oldest and most famous markets in the world. The Indians make and sell their handicrafts at the market.

This is a real hagglers paradise. Be warned though, as I bought two large size T-shirts that both shrunk to a youth size!

We have two more days left in Ecuador and tomorrow, I’ll post some more pictures from our trip to Banos and a different rainforest.

Click here for the next post.

On one of the days, we climbed up to the top of a 135 foot (40 meter) kapok tree and viewing platform. It sits just above the rainforest canopy and provides the opportunity to view the birds and monkeys from a different vantage point.

Here are the boys looking thru the telescope at the birds.

Here is a picture Nikhil took of a toucan thru the telescope.

The next day, we went to the top of a 90 foot (30 meter) suspension bridge. Here is a video of the walk across the bridge.

At the top, we saw more toucans just sitting on the bridge. Six in all.

Here is a picture from back down at the bottom, looking up at the suspension bridge. It looks scarier than it is.

Ont the way back to the lodge, we saw a fungus called a champagne cup.

Here is a school of squirrel monkeys. They traveled in packs. If you look closely, you can see 3 of them. We saw several of them up close and personal.

And here is me and my better half taking a break.

On the ride back to the lodge, we were surprised by a fast approaching thunder and lightning storm.

We made it safely back to the lodge and enjoyed another wonderful meal.

The Amazon is a truly awesome experience and Sacha Lodge was a great place to see all that it has to offer.

I still have a couple more posts of the equator trip and a trip we took to a volcano in Banos. Stay tuned!

Click here for the next post.

The kids really took a liking to Segundo. Even though he spoke no English, he showed them special jungle trees, birds and bugs and cleared the path for them on all our hikes with his super machette.

Here is Vikram with a millipede on his hand.

Here is Nikhil with some of the butterflies that seemed to be attracted to him.

And here is Annika by the nut trees.

Here is Annika in front of one of the millions of odd looking trees. It is said that 10 acres of Amazon jungle have more species of wildlife than the entire United States. This picture is in the middle of the day, but because the jungle is so dense it seems almost dark and requires the use of a flash.

One of the kids’ favorite trees was Sangre de Drago or dragon’s blood tree. When pierced by a knife, the tree oozes a red sap that is medicinal in it properties and is said to treat everything from cuts and bites to cancer. It is one of the magical herbs in the jungle. Our guide also showed us the trees used to make everything from pitocin (from the cecropia tree), jungle viagra, the rubber plant (used to make chewing gum), jungle peanuts, and all kinds of magic mushrooms.

Here is Vikram looking inside a bat hole.

The bats are hiding inside the tree trunk (this picture again uses a flash). One of the evenings, we did a night-time canoe ride and saw (and felt) whole flocks of bats flying around.

One of the hundreds of unique spiders.

Here is a picture of a termite nest. There were thousands of these huge nests along the trails.

Here is a picture of a couple of vultures hanging out at the top of a tree.

We saw so many birds that the guides pointed out including euphonias, macaws, toucans, herons, crested owls, tanagers, woodpeckers, hawks and hummingbirds.

We also saw many different types of monkeys including the tiny pygmy marmoset, night monkey, squirrel monkeys, capuchins and howler monkeys. The monkeys were particularly fun to watch as they traveled in packs and were extremely loud and disruptive.

One of the afternoons, the boys went fishing in the lake for live piranha. They were extremely aggressive and devoured the bait as soon as it went in the water. Our Indian guide with lots of skill caught one and showed off the piranha’s razor sharp teeth. There were dozens of these red bellied and white bellied piranhas swimming in the lake.

The boys then went swimming in the same lake! It is said that although the piranha are vicious, they only attack if there are open wounds and they can smell blood. In the same lake at night, we saw a caiman. Again, the guide said they only come out at night. In fact, the last evening we were there, there was a group of kids still swimming at the dock and the guide ushered them to come out of the water.

I will add one more post with some additional videos and pictures from the suspension bridge and the tree house in the kapok tree. These were some of the best features of the lodge.

Click here for the next post.

We started off with an early morning plane ride from Quito airport to a small town called Coca about a 1/2 hour east of Quito.

From there it is a short “chiva” bus ride to our safe house where the staff pack our bags into sealed waterproof containers for the boat ride thru the jungle.

At the safe house we have a quick lunch and then board a small power boat for the 70km ride down the Napo River.

Here are Nikhil and Vikram fast asleep during the two and a half hour ride.

Along the way, we see the pristine old growth rain forests being carved up by big bad American oil concerns like Chevron and Texaco.

The river is dotted by the tell tale signs of tanker boats, oil rigs and the flames of burning oil.

The only way to get the oil out is by river boat. There are no roads in and out of the jungle. It is tragic to see the rain forest disappearing for the sake of big oil profits.

Once we get to the dropoff point on the Napo River, it is a 1/2 hour hike on a boardwalk and mud trail followed by a 20 minute canoe ride.

And finally, we arrive at Sacha Lodge to begin our adventure. The lodge has running water, 24 hour electricity and even made special accomodations for vegetarian meals.

The huts are comfortable and spacious and as posh as one can imagine in a jungle this remote.

After a short night hike and a briefing dinner, we got into the daily routine of a 5:30AM wakeup call, a 3-4 hour morning hike, an afternoon swim in the lake and a night time canoe ride or another hike. On my next post, I’ll highlight some of the rare birds, butterflies, monkeys, trees, bugs and other wildlife we were able to see.

Click here for the next post.

I’ll start posting pictures but we did soooo much in the 10 days so it may take several posts.

We arrived at our hotel room on Thursday night. I had packed some bananas that we purchased from Trader Joe’s (in California) that were originally shipped from Ecuador. When we got to our hotel at night, the restaurant was closed, so we all ate our Ecuadorian bananas! The Chiquita bananas were happy to be back home in Ecuador (if only for a brief moment).

The next day, we took a tram ride called the Teleferico that starts at 2950m (9700ft) and elevates to 4100m (13,500). There are a couple of hundred more feet of climbing at the top! Quito, the capital of Ecuador is the second highest capital city in the world (the highest being La Paz). It takes a few days to get used to the altitude which causes shortness of breath, a headache and a bit of nausea. At the top, there was a medical clinic as it was common for people to get altitude sickness. We were all spared, aside from the headaches and overall sluggishness.

Here is a view as we climb the mountain in our tram – a ride that takes just 8 minutes.

The view from the top is incredible. The city is quite large with a population of about 2 million and is in a valley surrounded by volcano formed mountains all around it.

Click here for the next post.

Anyway, here are a few of the local sights.

The United Nations is on the outskirts of town. There were many dignitaries and events related to the UN.

Here is Lake Geneva with the the local Starbucks (the one with the green awning on the far right). It looks just like any other, except that a latte there will cost you over $6! Our Hotel Angleterre is right on the lake and close to all the restaurants and shopping.

Here is Anjali at the “longest bench in the world” in the Old Town at the top of Geneva. The bench at the Promenade de la Treille measures 126 meters long!

Well that is it! This was the last episode of our mini-vacation. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Many thanks to Mom and Dad for watching the kids while we were gone. It sounds like they had their own adventures.

We took it pretty easy and just visited the Louvre and walked around the Eiffel Tower.

Here are a few picture from the Louvre.

We did see the Mona Lisa but boy was it unimpressive! They make you stand 20 feet away from the painting. It is covered in 2 layers of plexiglass and is at most 2 ft by 2 ft. Not sure what the big deal is.

Anyway – see for yourself!

After a nice lunch at the Dome Cafe near the Eiffel Tower, we headed back to Geneva which was a 4 1/2 hour drive. I must also mention that without our TomTom GPS system we would have been hopelessly lost in Paris. Maybe not such a bad thing.

We hope to get back again in a few years, though there are too many other sights to see on our list of 50!