Belize - Third time's a charm (- not that the first or second times weren't!)

January saw us getting out of DC's winter for a week and heading back to Belize, the third time we have been able to visit this lovely country. See previous more comprehensive post here. We were able to find really good mileage awards on Delta and bonus...got upgraded on all our flights! Frequent travel status paying off! We stayed at Treetops Guest House on Caye Caulker which is where we stayed our very first time in Belize fourteen years ago. When we were last on Caye Caulker, we were a little put off by some aggressive touts but this time, in spite of even more development, we found this lovely island back to it's charming self. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. It was so good to be warm, watch the water and sky through the coconut trees, do a lot of swimming and snorkeling and be far far away from Washington.

The view from our room

Our room

How every morning should start...

...followed by a walk along the water...

...to Glenda's where they still serve great Cinnamon rolls...

Continuing your walk after breakfast, you might pass this mural...

...or see these friends...

...and this colorful boat

If you arrive at the split, you'll notice some changes, it's all be fixed up!

Back to Treetops and some hammock time on the roof...this is your view

Australia – New Zealand – Part 1

Australia

The first three months of 2016 were busy and wonderful and so much more. We began the year with a long awaited trip - and a true holiday/vacation - to Australia and New Zealand. We were able to use miles to get us there which lowered the cost of the trip considerably. (Tip – If you are a Delta flyer and participate in their mileage program it is generally always a better to use your Delta miles on their partners and vice versa. Want more information see here and here.)We flew on Korean Air into Brisbane and returned from Auckland, transiting both times through Seoul. (However, back to Delta for a moment, I have heard recently that Delta has made it much more difficult to go to Australia via Asia as they want you to use their flights from Los Angeles - just another FYI.)   

There were so many highlights on this trip, beginning with an amazing view of Brisbane and the Brisbane river as we arrived, but our time staying with Jenny and Remo and their kids about an hour outside of Brisbane started us off on such a good note that we weren’t sure if the rest of the trip would measure up. I have known Jenny for thirty years. She was a year ahead of me at Chefoo and we continued on in school together at Faith Academy where we were also in the same dorm at one point. The last time I saw Jenny and Remo was a cold grey day in Seattle back in the '90s while they were both obtaining PhD’s in Minnesota. We have stayed in touch and valued each other’s voices over the years but I think we were both pleasantly surprised at how great it was to be together in person as adults and have so much to talk about.  And so we hung out and talked a lot, asked a million questions and listened to stories all while sitting  around their dining room table, exploring their property or driving.

The view from the front of Jenny and Remo's place looking down their driveway.

The view from the other side of the house

We didn’t do too many ‘touristy’ things but we did see a lot – one day going inland a little more to Toowoomba where Remo and Jenny were both working. We explored several parks and gardens and had some good coffee and food as well as a gelato donut! Another day we went with Remo as he drove his mother (who was also visiting) back to her home so we got to see a little more of the beauty of this country.

We did go into Brisbane one day and went for an hour long cruise up the Brisbane River to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which was fabulous and a lot of fun to see so many Australian birds and animals and be able to pet Kangaroos to our heart’s content (something we were not able to do back at Jenny and Remo’s place with the wild wallabies that hopped through their property!)

One of the many fun bridges that cross the Brisbane River - this one has apartments you can live in!

Namibia

In November I spent two weeks in Namibia for work. While I won't show any photos or talk about the actual work, I will say that the people we were privileged to spend our time with were so great - welcoming, resilient in spite of many challenges, fun, talented and inspiring  in so many ways. 

Namibia has been on Andrea's list of countries to visit for a long time. When Andrea and I were in South African in 2008 we strongly considered going to Namibia also but we didn't have enough time - so you know she was quite envious of my going on this trip. Which just means we'll have to go together some time in the future! So a few highlights and observations from this trip...

Highlight #1 before even arriving in Namibia was experiencing Delta's direct flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, which is currently the worlds second longest direct flight - 14 1/2 hours going, 15 1/2 coming back! After a night in Joburg our entire team met up for our short flight to Windhoek.  And as we came in to land, this is what we saw...nothing - just stark beautiful landscape! As we came into land at the airport (which you can see in the photo below) we couldn't see anything - buildings, roads, people. It was amazing.

Namibia is a large country by size but small in population (only 2 million). Below the view from my room at our hotel with the hills that surround Windhoek.

Another view from the hotel with the Supreme Court buildings in the front and the famous Christ Church behind. 

Above - the team (Dawn, Walter and Molly) from the US in planning mode on the roof of the hotel prior to our work. We spent a lot of time together and worked really well as a team. Each brought different strengths that made it a joy to work together. And we had some good meals...(see below)

On the weekend Molly and I hit the road with Chameleon Backbackers to see the desert and especially the dunes...

Oryx

Above - our campsite, and the small wall surrounding it below - on which the cutest jackal jumped up and looked at us that evening while we were eating!

Getting up at 4:30 in the morning allowed us to experience sunrise at Dune 45 - which was spectacular

More Oryx...and dust and sand...

On our way to the dunes, we stopped in at the tiny 'town' (encampment?) of Solitaire - one of my new favorite places in the world...

After our work days were over on the second week, the rest of the team returned to the US. I stayed a few days longer to go to the beach - specifically, Swakopmund.  The landscape became more and more arid and stark until it looked like nothing would survive...and then wedged in between this desert terrain and the ocean is the holiday town of Swakop.

Huge wide roads

Surprised by flamingos on the beach

Breakfast to send me on my way...

Beautiful, stark and striking - so much to love and more stories to tell, but I know some have been asking when I would post on the blog - so this is a start and I'll circle back around and add some more.

Duncan