this is Africa baby...

We’re feeling a little sore about the price of what it costs to drive into and stay here at Serengeti & Ngorangora (yip, we’re here, made it this far, and gonna soak it all up), and after a long day on really shocking roads, I (Laura) said I would do the blog update for you all.

We headed north from Morogoro and decided to stop for the night at a little town called Sane.  We parked and slept in the parking lot of the Elephant Motel which also served us a delicious supper.  We’re still not sure why it’s call the ‘Elephant’ Motel, because we woke up surrounded by cute little monkeys!  On our roof, trying to get into our windows even.  They kids loved it of course.

We then headed towards Moshi which was only about an hour away, hoping to get a good view of Mt Kilimanjaro.  We found a campsite there, but unfortunately there were too many low lying clouds, so we didn’t get a glimpse of the famous huge mountain that day or even the next before we headed off.  We did find a great coffee shop in town that served a great CafeLatte, milkshakes & waffles!

Last night we slept at Karatu near the gate of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.  We entered the park this morning (after paying a ridiculous amount to just drive through as this is the only way to get to the Serengeti).  Once we got to the rim of the Crater we stopped at a viewsite and got out to enjoy the view.  After getting back into the truck and driving about 20 meters down the road, we spotted 3 leopards right next to the road (excuse the pun).  This was only the beginning of the sightings we would see today.  Shortly afterwards we saw a female lion about 20 meters up on a hill.  Other game vehicles were just driving past not noticing it, but I think because we were higher in a truck, we could see it better.  I really enjoyed the brightness of the Masai people just wondering through the area with their herds of cows & goats, with just a spear for protection from wild animals.  Their bright red blanket clothing, and their beaded jewellery – really brings to mind my Std.3 school project, little did I know back then that I’d be sharing a bit of their country with them.

We got to the Serengeti gate, and luckily they took Visa – boy this place is expensive.  Ok, it’s a bit more for us because we’re in a 8 ton truck which is triple the price for some reason.  They can’t be putting the park fees into building nice roads, because we soon discovered that one of the ways that they control the crowds coming here is to make sure that the roads are almost unbearable!  We shook and shuddered our way to the campsite, passing lots of wildlife – wildebeest, zebra’s, various buck, giraffe, warthog, dungbeetle, tortouise, hippo.  Now we’re at our campsite, which I’m a bit nervous about...... there’s no fence around us!!!!  What’s with that?  And there’s a big sign saying that no one must wander out of the campsite because wild animals might attack human beings (those words exactly!), whats to stop the wild animals from wondering through here?  I did eventually pluck up the courage to get out of the truck, because the kids were already running around without a worry, so how could I be so nervous?  Then we saw the impressive footprint (see photo).  Mmmmm, I’ll be opening the blinds and peeking out in the morning before I open the front door.

We have an exciting day tomorrow – Reg (Alex’s dad) is flying in to meet us and spend the rest of our trip with us.  The kids are really excited to see Grandpa.  We’re planning on spending another 2 nights here in Serengeti, then 2 more at the Ngorongoro Crater, and then heading towards Nairobi where we can hopefully leave Max and all fly back home.

 

 

 

slowing down in Tanzania...

Tan-ZANE-eea, or Tan-zi-NEEA ... still not sure! But its really nice here. We’re staying at an organic herbal tea & spice farm resort just outside of the town Morogoro – we were “forced” to stay here (i.e. bend my rubber arm) because the handyman fixed our fuel pump – pumping the fuel from the big tank to the small driving tank. Staying the extra night here (three meals a day, luxury rooms, swimming pool etc) was a much better prospect than sucking diesel every day for the next 2 weeks.

A few days or ago, or a few weeks ago – we can’t really remember – we left our last campsite in Karonga, Malawi and headed to the border. The lake narrows and the mountains loom the further North you drive and driving into Tanzania was really beautiful – thick lush mountainous landscapes, and everyone looks neater and more fashionably dressed, and there are many many home farms along the road. Definately looks like more economic activity than Malawi, although its hidden in the Economic Indicies of each country (which is very interesting).

The border was fairly well organised and efficient, but I guess they can afford it with the various US dollar fees, visas, car import duties and 3^rd party insurance. And 30 minutes after getting into the country, our first police road block asked persistently about something for new year ... after ignoring the question a few times, intentionally not misunderstanding what he was saying, and saying no, and asking why, and asking for a receipt, and saying no ... I eventually gave him the crumpled up 200 Malawi Kwacha in my pocket (R 10). That was irritating, and added onto the border crossing sales activities (assistance, money changing, insurance, SIM cards, money changing, assistance, SIM cards) the 250km to Morogoro was just too far. So we settled in a coffee lodge in Mbeya. And we couldn’t leave for 2 days.  Our Illy coffee beans that we stocked up with from home were running low, so this was great timing.  We camped next to the lodges tennis court, and plugged our electricity into their room used for a gym (this lodge was clearly a good find).  With all the water and electricity we could ask for we straight away got the washing machine into overdrive and did about 4 loads of washing.  We enjoyed 2 days at the lodge, the kids found a big pile of clay bricks and built themselves a little house which they enjoyed picnic’s & playtime in.  We went on a family trail run through the forest to the coffee plantation, and made friends with two of the resident dogs who joined us back to our campsite.  When it was time to leave we went to unplug our plug only to find that it had totally burnt out!  Even the socket in the wall was destroyed!  Oops!

After a late departure from the lodge we drove towards Dar es Salaam. There was a lot of truck & bus traffic (as was expected) but the roads really are a bit narrow for two trucks to pass (did we mention that we broke the driver side mirror on a large truck’s mirrors coming the other way in Malawi?)... and we had heard stories of blind rise overtaking etc. So it was a little stressful, but of course everything was fine. It’s nice not being the slowest car on the road, and its also nice not being able to drive 100km/hour.

We stopped at a town called Iringa with the recommendation of a campsite on the river.  We were pretty bummed because on our drive there our fuel pump broke, 2 of the cupboard locks broke so things were pretty scattered in the back of the truck, and driving into the campsite we broke our front door step on a rock on the side of the narrow road.  After meeting a friendly family at the campsite who were staying there for a month to learn Swahili (they work a a pilot for Mission Aviation Fellowship), we decided to stay for 2 nights.  Their two kids were exactly a year younger than our two kids so they clicked straight away and fun was had by all!  After recovering well and checking the rest of our cupboard locks, we were on our way again.

On our way to Morogoro we stopped for a drink & a bite to eat at “the white house” which was pretty decent, and the highlight was definitely driving through the Mikumi Game Reserve. Its a bit like the N1 going straight through the Kruger Park for 50 km! With nothing different from the normal highway except a slightly lower speed limit. Laura saw the first wildlife – a baboon, and shortly after that some buck. Then it got even better as we were cruising on the trans Africa highway – a herd of giraffes, a baby elephant right next to the road, and then a small herd (4 or 6?) of elephants just off the highway. It really was fun trying to spot the game.

A few km’s after the diesel sucking adventure, we got to the town Morogoro and phoned a nice sounding lodge with green grass (thanks Lonely Planet) to ask whether we could camp. Language problems. When we arrived they insisted we stay in one of the cottages, as it was all prepared for us.  We only realised afterwards that they had mistaken us for another family that were arriving that day.  We took the opportunity though, and the situation was sorted out after the real guests had arrived and 2 more plates were set out at the dinner table that evening.  ... we’re suspecting $100 a night, and if we’re surprised it’s going to be on the upside! That’s quite a bit more than our normal R 50 per night!

The best part of all of this was how we got to the farm lodge (following the directions in the Lonely Plant)... we drove 10km out of town, then a few km’s down a track only to arrive at a little rusty metal bridge over quite a flowing river with a white sign saying “2000kg only, cross at your own risk”. We probably would have done it, but the bridge wouldn’t have been wide enough for us, let along strong enough for our 8 200 kgs. So the manager came to see us, and sent us with the handyman back into town and on the back roads ... 40 minutes later, through villages (as in right in front of their doorsteps, making sure not to take out their roofs with the truck!) through some sand and mud and bumps and turns. It was perfect, and we arrived to have dinner with the other guests who arrived shortly after us.

And then it rained, and poured! And the dog bit Xan. It was way past their bedtime, and they had managed dinner very well. Xan was a little bit too friendly with the resting grumpy old dog (we think he tried to kiss him) and the dog snapped at him. You’re never too sure whether the cry is fright or pain, but this one was both! After a minute you could see where the dogs teeth had scraped from his one cheek to the other, with a small hole in the bridge of his nose! That was obviously the end of the day for us all.

The next day (this morning) we made sure that Xan wasn’t affected, and he was very happy to be friendly to the dog again – so either he’s very brave and understands how a healthy respect works, or he’s incredibly dumb and can’t remember why hes got a little bruise & cut on his nose! (for all the other moms & grandmothers out there, the other guest at the farm who studied to be a Vet agrees that Tetanus is extremely unlikely for such a small cut. Germaline will be fine).

We’ll be leaving here tomorrow, after a gourmet breakfast of course, ready for a day of driving – Excited for what Northern Tanzania has in store for us!

welcome to Tanzania...

I've been thinking quite a lot about sustainability and the wastefulness of luxury, or should that be the luxury of wastefulness? After travelling from Senga Bay (Clifton in Africa with warm water) to Nkhata Bay a bit further north, we took a terrible terrible potholed road into the mountains and to Nyika National Park - that's about 150 kilometers at 30 km/hour! It was beautifully remote up there, cold and rainy, with buck roaming through the campsite, fresh elephant dung on the road, and a jackal posing for photo's on the way out ... but really remote! Officially the campsite was closed, which means: we don't bring water, the hot showers last about a minute and there wont be anyone else there. And we had a fantastic time.

Did you know how many liters of fresh drinking water it takes to have a short responsible & eco friendly shower? 25 liters if your hair is short, and 35 liters if its long (I beat laura by nearly 10 liters, and I promise I used conditioner!) Flushing a normal toilet is about 20 liters, rinsing your toothbrushes for a family of 4 (again responsibly) uses around 5 liters, washing the dishes around 10 liters if you do a good job. that's a whole lot of water!

One of the luxuries we're missing is a long hot shower - and by long I'm thinking 200 to 400 liters of fresh drinking water (a normal shower by wasteful luxury standards). We were obviously getting low in our 400 liter tank, and because they weren't delivering water to the campsite we had to conserve our last 90 liters ... and then it started to rain!

In about an hour I collected 250 liters of rainwater! all this while we were recharging the batteries with a generator and managing a fire for our lunch (aah, the modern man) .. (i did use a bit of petrol for the fire, just because the jerry can was open - that's not very sustainable!) It was really fun being self sufficient, and I definately want to start collecting rain water at home, and considering the 12V solar power conversion. I have never comprehended how much energy a full time geyser wastes!! Again, the luxury of 24/7 availability of water as hot as you want it no matter when you want it. Our little gas geyser in the truck heats up 25 liters of water to hot within about 2 minutes of turning it on.

Back to the travel experiences ... we had a recommendation of a place full of potential and a little run-down near Nkhata Bay so we pulled in there and had some supper and a sleep, but we knew when we pulled in that we wouldn't stay for long the next day. Some people seem to have the knack of getting "lost in Africa" and we were happy to find a more ambitious campsite the next day. We did however have our first bump into two elderly (post retirement age anyhow) German ladies, each in their own 1970's (maybe 1980's) landrovers - imported from Germany and they were on their annual Africa holiday. Of course being landrovers there were some issues, but we stayed at the same campsite as them last night (4 days or so after we met them) and they had made a plan to get around the alternator problems ... hardcore!

We found a great place in Nkhata Bay the following evening, and enjoyed a great Balcony / wooden deck high above the lake in amongst the trees. In 24 hours we spent R50 on camping, and R 600 on restaurant food - nice, but I must say with hindsight, "overpriced". We'd do it again! The Central parts of the lake are much steeper shores and more rocky than the beachy south - something we didn't really think about too much, so the  swimming was definately less of a highlight. Very beautiful though. Here's a picture of Kaylin & Xan contemplating what careers they should have when they get back home.

And then there was Nyika, another one of our trip highlights so far. A random National Park with a closed campsite, 200 km on a bumpy road with no-one else around (except for that Swiss couple in a hilux double cab taking a career break and deciding whether to go to Australia or South Africa for their next season of life). After the heat and mosquitoes of Mozambique and normal Malawi, to get into the cool air of the mountains was really fantastic - the kids had one of their best sleeps ever and we got to sleep with our duvet again! We had a few walks in the grass, one where we came across a mommy buck lying in the grass being protected by the daddy buck, and after she had run off we nearly stepped on her baby buck - which scampered off in the other direction. I trust that they'll get together again shortly! 

We also celebrated rainwater and my birthday - the baking of the cake, or should I say the licking of the icing bowls was definately a highlight for the kids, and the most frustrating part of the trip so far (for Kaylin) has been Xan constantly telling me what my birthday presents would be! Of course I was suprised on the day, what else could I have been! The day has added to my good family experiences.

After Nyika we headed back down the bumpy road (with a few mud video stops which has made the truck look hardcore) and we slept at Karonga showing a little bit of earthquake damage, but suprisingly well recovered. The lake definately wasn't a feature and the highlight was talking to two different groups of travellers coming back South about their experiences (2 couples on 3 BMW bikes kind of regretting going to the artificial luxury of Zanzibar, and two families in Landcruisers regretting travelling so hard, and not staying 2 nights in any place except on Christmas day in Serengeti!)

So we're definately decided to stay away from Dar es Salaam & Zanzibar (for the traffic which sounds a bit like Lagos, Nigeria (we can do without that) and because the underwater power cable to Zanzibar broke, and when they plugged it back in, the surge fried most of the appliances on the island!) and we'll be heading North to Arusha and the Northern areas (Serengeti, Ngorogoro, Kilimanjaro etc). That means that we have a lot of time and we really dont have to drive hard anymore! So we were planning on driving 400 km today, but stopped after 200km in Mbeye. We're staying on a coffee plantation and there is a really nice lodge here - one of those places that looks expensive, but isn't, and the small things (like coffee ice cream, and a nice pool and restaurant) tell you that someone has thought about it and is making something of the place. we booked in for 2 nights already, and we're sleeping behind the tennis courts and just outside a really nice set of ablutions (and 200 - 400 liter hot showers!)

So that's it for now, we're in Tanzania, and our plan is still to organise a Carnet de Passage for the truck through the AA (but the forms on their website are down) to leave the truck in Nairobi for a few months, which will save us a long hard landcruiser style drive back home, and we have all the time in the world to enjoy this beautiful country where we've never been before! the luxury of time. 

Have a good sleep tonight (or tomorrow night) to catch up from last night, and get a good start to 2010! May God's plans be obvious to those who seek Him! Catch you later!

Chilling by the lake and Plan C...

Well, tomorrow we move on from Senga Bay – our first long holiday! These last few days have been really great. We have a spot about 30m from the lake, the water is always warm and inviting, and our coffee machine is still working (surprisingly!)

Up until this morning, we were neighbours with a couple and their 5 year old daughter returning to Holland (www.terugdoorafrika.nl); a father & son from George on 2 month travels and a small overland crew on their way back south on their 24 day round trip.

As of this fine Christmas morning, and right up until 2am tomorrow morning (so we hear) we’re also neighbours with half of Lilongwe ... apparently the whole town has an agreement to go to Senga Bay (Steps Campsite) to enjoy the water, the sun, the parking facilities in the campsite and the tables & stuff that the campers leave lying around!!Basically it’s been like we’re camping on Clifton 4^th Beach for the day – but in Africa! (Actually very pleasant and happily festive). We moved upwards away from the campsite crowds to the hotel upperclass – where they charge you to swim and provide entertainment (singing & drums & dance through blown speakers) while you eat your buffet lunch. We booked a lunch table with our travelling neighbours from the 24^th; and shared our picnic table and braai grid, as well as Xan’s toys with our neighbours from the 25^th a bit later on when we found our Truck again amongst the growing crowd in the campsite.  It was quite an education on how other cultures celebrate Christmas.

So our time at the lake has been fantastic. The picture of the kids swimming with their clothes on is from the first late afternoon we got here – before we were even parked and plugged in to our site they were in the water clothes and all, and since Xan convinced himself that he CAN swim now, he’s been absolutely LOVING the water – he’s even taken up Stand Up Paddleboarding ... exotic beginning.  We’ve been enjoying having the PaddleBoard here with us, and even got in a few waves this morning after a night of stormy wet season wind swells.  Laura has enjoyed the peace of paddling without the stress of looking out for shark fins, the occasional imaginary hippo grunt is a bit unnerving though.

Hendrik & Alex & their daughter “Phine” (Josephine) have been great neighbours – the girls especially have enjoyed playing Barbie dolls, and dressing in their best dresses together. They’re 7 weeks into their 5 month journey back home to Holland after 4 years in SA building, running and now selling a game lodge in Hoedspruit. Trusty Landcruiser 70 s/w doing the job for them!

So our plans have changed again... now the latest (plan C) is that we’ll leave Max in Nairobi at Jungle Junction (a place where overlanders leave their trucks and cars and motorbikes while they go back home for a break ... long term secure storage) and we’ll fly home near the end of January, and return to Nairobbery sometime later (May onwards) to do plan M, N, O or P (Ethiopia? Uganda? Southern Africa? Sudan & Europe? Cairo?)... its great not having a plan!

Tomorrow (26^th) we’re heading further north to Nkhata Bay for another 3 day relax, and then we’ll head further north (past Koronga where the earthquake was) to a National Park (Nyika) and then Tanzania (Zanzibar, Serengeti, Ngorogoro) & then into Nairobi, Kenya. We’re driving straight past Kilimanjaro International Airport, and have 4 extra beds (roof top tents) with us if anyone wants a ride into Serengeti?

That’s it, we’re having a great time, and trust that you’re all having a good time too!

enjoy the rest of 2009...

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aah, the start of the holiday...

What a great 2 nights we've had relaxing and catching up ... suprisingly in a parking lot of a backpackers place in Blantyre! I was here at Doogles on my motorbike trip in 1998; Laura & I came here (and lost $1000) in 2000; and its pretty much exactly the same now in 2009! We've climbed out of the 40 degree lowlands (northern Moz & southern Malawi) and into the cooler highlands of Blantyre - it's amazing how refreshingly cool 27 degrees can feel after 40 degrees.

We've adjusted our plans for the next few weeks - instead of pushing into Tanzania & Rwanda, we'll spend more relaxed time at the lake, and in Zambia, so our rough plan is now:

 - Malawi lake (Senga, Nkhata Bay) & Nyika National Park for the rest of this year

 - Zambia (South Zambezi National Park & Vic Falls) till about 6 January

 - Namibia (Etosha & home) for the next week

 - and that leaves us with a week or two of spare days to fill in our trip as we wish! probably around the lake, but we're not sure.

If you know anyone who wants to rent the truck from us next year on a Cape Town to Nairobi holiday, please let us know - and we'll pick it up in Nairobi and do the Tanzania / Kenya / Rwanda part at that stage ... we're really stoked to be here now and very much enjoying the slower pace and the comfort & self sufficiency of our little family in the middle of where-ever we want to be! Fantastic!

There's always a story or two... we came into Malawi through a tiny border post on the southern most tip from Mozambique - a few delapidated buildings and a few "guards" sitting around waiting for the usual nothing to happen. On the Malawi side they were really friendly, but apparently didn't have the forms for a "Road Toll" and we didn't need 3rd party insurance because our normal policy has it ... we did get a Temp Import Permit (T.I.P) though. We were told we should head to the National Roads Authority in blantrye and pay the road toll - something between $50 and $100. 40km's from Blantyre we were stopped and asked for everything - road toll forms (even though at the border we were told that they can't stop us for that) T.I.P & 3rd party. 

So apparently we had made 2 offences and that would cost 10 000 kwacha - and the cop wouldn't take the R500 or the $60 that we had ... so I was told to sit with him at his little booth with about another 5 guys (some military, some hangers on, I don't know!) and he kept asking me how we would sort it out .. I think he tried to see if some of the people coming through his boom would swop Rands to Kwacha, but they wouldn't. .. and in the little market there was no-one doing enough business to have 10 000 kwacha! 

one military guy told me I must speak to him, a lady there said I must ask him to forgive me ... all of which I did very politely (i did have a R 50 note floating around in my hand quite a bit of the time (I realised later) so if he wanted a bribe he definately could have asked ... but he didnt. Eventually he said (after I had been sitting with him for about an hour in the 40 degree heat) "So, I think you must go" .. .and then he told me to take two young ladies with us to Blantyre while we went ... so we were paid R 500 to be a taxi I think?

In Blantyre today, looking for the NRA I went into a legal consulting company, and a smart guy said " Road Toll? What's that? we dont have a Road Toll in Malawi." and I went to the insurance company on the ground floor for the 3rd party insurance for a month, and they said: "we dont really do that". 

So I don't really know the rules of the game, but we'll play anyhow - worst case it will be a 10 000 kwacha fine (of which we have sufficient) and some wasted time (of which we have a lot) and some patience (I think we've recouped enough of that!).

Lydia and some of the ladies from Sunset Beach (& surrounds) have been knitting teddy bears to give to under privileged kids, and she gave us 15 to give as needed. Today a girl (Helen) came asking for a cork screw, and she stayed for about two hours telling her story - on a mission here (from England) as an Occupational Therapist and with a passion for community based orphan care, she was telling us of the horror story of the mission she was placed with - how the waste and comfort of the leadership couple were seriously affecting the orphans that they've been entrusted with, and how their support have been turning a blind eye to everything, and how she's been trying to shine the light on their bad deeds & poor stewardship & low levels of love and dealing with huge oppression and blockages all the way! She's partnering with a local pastor in Blantyre who is currently looking after 15 orphans and they're building and doing good work ... well we thought that if someone came with the need at the right time, then we couldn't be picky, so the orphans that she's assisting with will be benefitting from cute knitted teddy bears, and they'll love them! (thanks to Lydia & her friends who have put their knuckles into these bears, and we know that God will demonstrate love & hope through them to the right children at the right time - like he supernaturally does all the time - in Malawi. 

So, that's pretty much it for our regular blogging this year - it feels a bit like work, so we'll do a big update somewhere near the end of the year. Until then, have a great holiday and don't check your email or internet .... see you then! (Laura's phone is on quite a bit of the time, so you can sms her number if you need to .. we're going disconnected!)

See you in 2010.

Alex (& Laura & Kaylin & Xan)

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the turning point...

These past two day have certainly been memorable. I am typing this (Laura), because to be honest with you, Alex was so close to turning back, that he would probably give quite a one sided account of what happened. I urged him to look beyond our situation, and now here we are in Malawi!
So, what happened...... we left Inhosorro yesterday morning after a weedy swim in the sea and headed towards the Malawi border expecting a night stopover somewhere. We had a long day driving, on pretty good roads, however when we stopped around the kids bedtime we decided to put them to sleep in their bunks and carry on driving to gather some distance towards to border. So we headed off on a road which the map showed us to be a secondary road, but after 60km of lots of jiggles, we saw that the road crossed the Zambezi, by now it was well after dark. We reached the part of the road that should turn into a bridge to cross the river, and what the map didn't show us was that the road is no longer in use! Very very disappointing! So, we had to turn around, and drive the 60 bumpy kilometres back to the town where we had put the kids to sleep in the back. I must add, that with all the bumps and pothole juggling, Xan slid out of his bed. I did see it happen because I hardly took my eyes off the camera showing them asleep in the back. We pulled over and settled him down again. He had slid right through his safety railing! How does that happen?
Anyway, back at the little town called Caia, we slept at the petrol garage where we had ironically filled up with Diesel 120km earlier! The armed security guard guaranteed us that we would be safe so after a big debate about wether or not to turn back home, or go the long way round into Malawi, we decided to sleep on it. But our sleep was short because the trusty security guard woke us up with a knock on our door at 1:30am to ask us to move our truck to the back, and then again at 4am for his tip because his shift was finished!
Alex woke with a bit more travel enthusiasm, and we headed off towards Malawi. Around 10:30 though we reached another map misconception. We arrived at a ferry crossing, with no one around that could speak English very well, and a ferry that looked rather rickety. We were told (in bad English) that the ferry will be going across the river today, maybe around 2 or 4 'o clock. Now all we could do was wait. With the temp outside nearing 40 degrees, we decided to stay in the truck and do a little spring cleaning. We still had coffee beans all over the place from our little coffee machine accident, so I felt great after all was swept. At about 12:00 we noticed that some guys looked like they were sorting something out with the ferry. They had to row across the river, attach a wire rope onto that side, bring it back onto this side etc. This took a while and just as we were about to board the ferry a huge thunder storm arrived and we were told to wait until the rain passed. This took another 45mins. The kids enjoyed Alex's version of Cat in a Hat while we waited. We then crossed the river with much excitement, and we were greeted with some lovely muddy roads on the other side which Alex loved ofcourse!
The border into Malawi was a breeze, and we found a Lodge where we can park & camp. The kids even got a chance to run around catching fireflies before bed. Kaylin managed to put 2 into her "bugbox" and fell asleep with them next to her pillow. Sweet dreams my little Adventure Kids!