6 months down the line!

A humble apology to our loyal onlookers who have faithfully been continuing to check out our blog site for an update on what's been happening... We have had a busy 6 months since arriving back from America and have been a bit slack at keeping up to date with our site. However, be warned that the Zammit's will be back with news and photo's very soon!!!

The Nation's Capital!

Here we are hanging out in Washington DC. It was a beautiful sunny day today so a perfect opportunity to walk around all the monuments. Behind us is the Capital which was our first stop. We then saw the Washington Monument, which is a 100m tall obelix-type structure with 50 American flags around it. A short walk from there took us to the White House. Taryn says she spotted the President but Ryan thinks it was just a bush! There was a strong presence of policemen and some were even riding around on horses.

From there we walked to the World War II Memorial which was a beautiful fountain surrounded by a circular wall of pillars with names of all the States. Lincoln Memorial was the next stop and as we climbed the stairs the sun set over Washington making for some excellent pictures. On the way back we stopped at the Vietnam Memorial. There were tens of thousands of names of all the men and women who had died since 1959.

As it was now dark and the temperature way below zero, we found a Starbucks on the way back to the bus stop and indulged in hot chocolate...

St Louis

After narrowly escaping an avalanche by a day and with a dangerous storm approaching, we managed to fly out of snowy Colorado just in time. We arrived in St Louis and that night an ice storm hit the area freezing the rain to trees, telephone wires and roads. As a result, hundreds of trees fell onto electricity cables leaving thousands of houses in the dark and cold.

Met up with Taryn's friends, David and Brigitte, who showed us around the city. St Louis is situated on the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It was the gateway to the West where travellers met and prepared for their adventures. It was a trading port and has now grown into a 3 million plus city. We were pleasantly surprised at how interesting the city was and that it had so much culture.

We got to visit the Gateway Arch which is over 200m high and is made of stainless steel. Can you believe that there is a tram inside the arch which takes you right to the top where you can see for miles. Ryan braved the tiny egg-shaped capsules that rotated every few metres to ensure the passengers remained vertical as they ascend. We both kept looking up at this incredible structure and marvelled at the video showing how it was constructed.

We were also very fortunate to have the opportunity to see Chuck Berry performing live at the Blueberry Hill bar with his son and daughter. He is 80 years old and lives in St Louis. Despite his years, he still put on an incredible show, jumping around on stage with his electric guitar.

Brrrr - it's cold!

Here is Ryan scraping off a foot of snow that fell overnight. We are in the Colorado Rockies at a place called Eagle - Vail. While Ryan was trying to get all the snow off the car, he had the car running with the heater on inside andclosed the front door; these fancy new cars have an automatic locking device and after a few seconds we were stranded outside of the car with our bags and keys for the house inside and no way of getting in! A locksmith helped us out.

The next morning, after a clear sky, the temperature plummetted to -23C, the coldest either of us have ever experienced! But that didn't stop the Zammits from hitting the slopes (or rather the slopes hitting us!) We tried our hands (or should I say feet?) at snowboarding and discovered how hard snow can be! On one occasion, Ryan's board dug in and he flipped so quickly that he landed on his head and did a full somersault! We managed to get in 4 full days of snowboarding with beautiful clear blue skies (pictures will follow when we can download them).

Just down the road was a beautiful place called Hanging Lake. It was about an hour's hike up a mountain and although the path was extremely icy, it was definately worth the trek. As you can see behind us, the waterfalls flowing into the crystal clear pond were all frozen but this didn't seem to worry the trout - they seem to thrive in the freezing cold water.

Just above this lake was a cave with frozen stalagtites and a waterfall that gushed out the middle of a rock face. Here Ryan was taking a picture and like a true photographer was so focussed on his shot that he wasn't concentrating on his footing and slipped (like you see in the comic films) right onto his back! He lay there for a minute and then managed a thumbs up to let Taryn know he was still alive.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to family and friends! May 2007 be a year of great challenges, successes and happiness...

Run Forest!

This is the famous road which Tom Hanks ran down in the movie "Forest Gump" (Monument Valley is what you can see behind us). An interesting fact about this place is that the air in the valley is so dense that if you wave your arms vigorously you can lift yourself a foot off the ground - something to do with being below sea level. You can lift yourself even higher on 1 April every year!

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon was an interesting place, basically a big donga full of eroded red rock formations. It was still snowing when we got there so the donga was transformed into a "winter wonderland". We did a little hike about 3km down into the valley where Ryan found some shortcuts down the hills by sliding down on his bum (much to the horror/excitement of our fellow Trekkies!). The Korean girls were always excitable but when Ryan jumped over the guard rails and slid down the mountainside, they were beside themselves!

Viva Las Vegas!

Couldn't keep Ryan away from the showgirls (or maybe it was that I couldn't keep the showgirls away from Ryan!). Above Ryan were 3 million lights which form the world's largest illuminated show. The entire roof of this street (about 1km long) was covered in lights and every hour there was a light show.

Every hotel in Las Vegas competed with each other for guests and gamblers and so in order to attract them they have their own unique facade or show. We particularly enjoyed the fountain/music display at the Bellagio, the authentic skyline of New York New York and the Eiffel Tower replica at Paris. We stayed in the largest hotel in the world with over 5000 rooms (imagine how much washing they have to do!!!). We did see some machines where $1000 was the smallest you could bet at one time. Ryan said we should play it for his Dad but with the $10 a day gambling budget that Taryn had set, there was no chance! So Ryan played $10 but unfortunately all we got from it was 15 seconds of entertainment!

The one thing we really enjoyed was a Chinese Buffet that we had 2 nights in a row. It was all-you-can-eat prawns, salmon, chicken, ice-cream - over 30 different dishes to choose from! As a result, our stomachs have expanded 2-fold.

Las Vegas gave us the pleasure of 2 awesome shows: David Copperfield and Cirque du Soleil's "O". Although David Copperfield was magical, "O" was UNBELIEVABLE and unlike anything we have ever seen before. Thanks Fish for the recommendation!

Everything is big in America!

This was an average size popcorn and drink! Everything is big here - the cars, the food portions and the people! We sometimes order one meal and share it because it's too much for one person to eat! Still trying to get used to the custom 20% tip which is already included in the bill when you get it - no customer discretion! Ryan nearly got into a fight with a taxi driver in Las Vegas because the driver didn't feel Ryan had tipped him enough (even though he'd given him over 10% of the fare!). Ryan told him he was lucky he even got a tip and that we didn't have to give him one!

Learning to lassoo!

Yee-haw!!!

Trying to lassoo a cowboy! Stayed at a Dude Ranch, ate ranch-cooked meals, rode horses in the snow and stayed in log cabins. We learnt a new game called "Mafia" which we will teach all willing participants when we get home! Stayed 2 nights here and on the 2nd night we had a foot of snow overnight - it was beautiful.

Arches National Park

Landscape Arch - the world's largest arch! 90m wide and only 1,5m thick at it's thinnest point. Here we are trying to hold it up before it falls - which they say can happen at any time so you aren't allowed to walk too close to it. We are about 60m from it in this photo. Arches National Park was an incredible place where hundreds of natural arches have formed over the years and walking through this landscape was one of our highlights.

Grand Canyon - again!

This is the end of the hike to Plateau Point where we stopped for lunch. The Colorado River is behind us and the sides of the canyon rise up in front of us! The Grand Canyon was more than we expected. Little did we know that it stretches over 500km with views all the way to the horizon. We thought the Fish River Canyon in Namibia was impressive but after seeing this it looks like a donga! We advise anyone who visits the US to ensure they give this park full attention.

Grand Canyon

Howdy! Welcome to the Wild West! Temp 0C and the scenery breathtaking... Although it doesn't look like it, this is the Grand Canyon. We were heading down to Plateau Point and this was us still near the top and feeling good! The path down to the bottom was amazing, nothing like we have in the berg. It was like a 2 person highway cut out of the rock with a reasonably gentle slope meandering all the way down the gorge. The Zammits were keen to do the longest hike in the park and the rest of our group followed to their detriment!

Route 66

Hello again from Route 66, the historic road through America from Chicago to LA. We have joined 12 others on a Trek America trip and are writing from Flagstaff Arizona. We have 11 girls and 3 guys in one big van. We have 2 from Australia, 1 from France, 3 from Korea, 2 from Japan, 2 from California, 1 guide from the US and us.

Flagstaff is a mountain town situated 2100m above sea level and is full of historic shops and places of interest. We have found shops full of frisbees and disc golf equipment so are in our element. We are off to the Grand Canyon tomorrow! Temperature at the moment is 4 degrees.

Bahama Mama

It's a hard life but someone has to live it! We have to admit, out of the three days on the Bahama's we only had one morning of good sunshine and warm weather. We made full use of it! The sea was clear and calm while the sand was coral white.

The "cruise" back to Florida was more of a survival crossing with rough seas and motion sickness on the menu. We made it back in one piece and spent one more night in Ft. Lauderdale. Off to the airport next to fly to Las Vegas.

First Week in the USA

Hello everyone! We have finally found a place to log onto the internet! We have sneaked into a 5 star hotel and are typing from their business lounge. Little do they know we are staying in the shanty motel across the road.

We are in Fort Lauderdale at the moment and are heading for the Bahamas tomorrow morning. We escaped from Daytona Beach a day early, and I say escape as it was a complete dive! Our hotel room smelt like a septic tank, we have a giant boiler thing outside our room which went off every twenty minutes and woke us up. The toilet was another story on its own. Anyway, Ft L, is great and the beaches are beautiful with palm trees and flat turquoise water.

Besides the Daytona experience, the trip has be great so far. 5 nights were spent in Orlando where we visited Disney World and several other resorts. The Zammits loved the parks but were particularly excited to come across those challenge games where you can walk off with big teddy bear prizes etc. As South Africans, the challenges were far too easy and before long we became the proud owners of a giant killer whale, polar bear and nemo fish. We also walked away with three other bears and seals. So much for packing light! Anyway, it was great fun and the next challenge is trying to bring these 6 foot monsters home!

Looks like hotel security is heading this way so we are going to keep it short tonight. Hope all is well back home.

This is our first destination- Orlando Florida! Countdown 6 days to go.

Injasuti hike

At the end of October we did a hike with some friends to Marble Baths in Injasuti. The Drakensberg scenery was awesome as always and the guide was very entertaining!




The marble slide was great fun - although the water was cold!!!

I wonder if our baby will ever get too big to sit on Daddy's lap...!? (Zanna - 3.5 months)

She is turning into a lovely dog and is proving to be a great watchdog (no unnecessary barking).

She is very fond of the comforts of our home and there have been numerous occasions on which we have arrived home from work to find her stretched out on the couch or sprawled ON OUR BED!!!