Water slides are much more fun when there is a big drop at the end.

The view of the volcano from our hotel room.

There was a gecko in my suitcase.

Our "Tico" Familia

The Tico (Costa Rican) familia that we stayed with.

The Ticos call this a "Suicide Shower"

Spanish school

Our first day with our family was very tiring because we couldn't understand anything that they were saying. They have three very friendly dogs. Our first day of Spanish school was very tiring too. We took a test to see how much we knew. The teachers can speak English but don't during class. The only other person in my class is a 4 year old who speaks quite a lot of Spanish. In my class we do fun things. We play with balls, watch movies and draw things. By the end of the week I could understand a few words. By the end of our second week, I could understand a bit more, but I can't say very much.

Costa Rica

We flew into Costa Rica and spent the night in San Jose. The next day we went to the Manual Antonio beach. We took surfing lessons. Surfing is hard. I fell off a lot. The next day we went to the Manuel Antonio Park. We saw monkeys, Three Toed Sloths and racoons. One of the monkeys tried to steal a man's bag of snacks. Every day the racoons come to the picnic area and steal people's food. One man fed the racoons and then was surprised when the racoon tried to steal some of  his food. Then next day we went on a canopy tour. You go on zip lines and swim in a waterfall. The zip lines are amazing. They are fully supported by trees. The longest one is over half a kilometer (one third of a mile) long. The waterfall was very cold. The next day we took a bus to San Juan, the town that we stay in with a family and do Spanish school.

                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                               

Etosha

Moremi and the Okavango Delta

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

Tuli Block

Ngorongoro crater and The Great Rift Valley

This is when it is sunny.

This is when it is snowing and foggy.

London

1-6 December

We have:

Gone on the London Eye. You get in one of the capsules and ride up to the top. The capsules are big enough to hold a small car. The top is 135 meters up. You can see out across London, and the view is amazing.

Looked at Big Ben. When you come out of the subway station, Big Ben is right in front of you. While we were there it chimed.

Gone to the Harrods department store.

The store was huge. It took up a whole block and was 6 stories tall.

The food section.

The fish in this fountain were real

They had a section that was all chocolates

The Christmas theme this year was the Wizard Of Oz.

Gone ice skating. I fell over alot and couldn't stop without running into the wall.

And went to the Camden Market. The Camden Market is on the bank of a small river. The market is huge. They sell things that range from water absorbing crystals and camel leather bags to Thai food and horse saddles.

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

26-29 November

On our first day, we drove to Lake Manyara. It is a salt lake and it was full of flamingos. It covers about 200 square kilometers. It is in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches from Syria (Southwest Asia) to Mozambique (east Africa), about 6,000 kilometers. We saw a lot of Dik Diks and Hippos. The next day we drove up to the rim of the Ngorongoro crater. We them walked up to the rim of the Olmoti Crater. The next day we had a full day of game viewing in the Ngorongoro Crater. It was amazing. We saw huge herds of wildabeast, buffalo and zebra. We also saw 17 hyenas at the same time, Thompson's gazelle, Grant's gazelle, elephant, hippo, vultures and Golden Jackals. There were 2 dead buffalos near the road. On one buffalo there were jackals and vultures. On the second one there were more vultures and 17 hyenas.

The first carcass

Tripe, anyone?






Vulture fight.

The second carcass

Hyena feeding frenzy.

After we saw the Ngorongoro crater, we took a bus back to Dar Es Salaam. The bus we started on had to stop when the tyre started rubbing on the side of the bus. Then we got on a different bus. The driver drove very fast. He passed cars, trucks and other busses.

Zanzibar

17-25 November

We spent our first 2 days in stone town. Because of its tropical climate, people have been growing spices on it for hundreds of years. After Stone town, we spent 5 nights on the beach. We rented bikes, went out snorkeling on a traditional fishing boat and went swimming. The water on Zanzibar was the warmest that I have ever felt. It is also very salty, which makes you float well.