Sea Turtles

Along the North shore of Oahu are several popular beaches, but for different reasons. There are beaches with enormous/violent looking waves that are popular with surfers. There are beaches that are staked out with enormous/violent looking fishing poles that I’m assuming pull in fish that are equally enormous/violent. We were looking for something enormous, but not so violent…

The gentle and slow-moving, but enormous sea turtles beach themselves on Laniakea Beach to soak in the warm Hawaiian sun. There were two beached when we arrived, but looking out you could see several riding the surf along the shore. Humans are required to stay at least 6 feet away from the turtles, and there were volunteers from the Sea Turtle Conservation along the beach making sure that rule was enforced.

There were several snorkelers in the water, and I’m sure they had an awesome view of the turtle gathering underwater. We decided to stay shore-side, but nevertheless, it was incredible to see these amazing animals in the wild.

 

Memorial Day: Pearl Harbor

As the big discounts hit the stores this weekend for their annual Memorial Day Sales, it’s important to remember the real reason for the holiday; to remember the fallen men and women who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. This is a day that we traditionally spend at the cemetery, but because we’ve been traveling for the majority of the past 13 months we’ve had some great opportunities to expand our tradition. One year ago we spent Memorial Day in Turku’s cemetery on the southwest coast of Finland. This year we found ourselves in one of the best places to remember our fallen soldiers, Pearl Harbor.

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese successfully pulled off a surprise attack on the U.S. damaging all 8 of the U.S. naval battleships anchored in Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, and killing over 2,000 Americans. The then President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, declared December 7th as “a date that will live in infamy.” Several of the ships were recovered and put back into action, but the U.S.S. Arizona went down along with nearly all of it’s crew, 1,177 in total, and stayed down making Pearl Harbor it’s final resting place. Because the waters are so shallow in the harbor, parts of the USS Arizona stick out above the surface, and the top deck rests just below. A memorial was built above the USS Arizona, giving observers a look at the destroyed ship and tomb.

While standing over the USS Arizona you can still see oil rising up from the battleship, even after all of these years.
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The entire harbor is a memorial to that horrific day, with white markers in the water signifying the battleships that were hit, and two small museums as well as a short film giving a brief overview of what happened on Dec. 7, 1941. The place was packed with Japanese and American tourists alike. It’s amazing that 71 years later those who were once enemies can now look back together to mourn the lost and learn from history, and I can’t think of a better way to spend Memorial Day.

 

Aloha, Oahu!

As of early this morning (and I do mean early, 4am to be exact) we were off on yet another adventure, only this time we weren’t on our own. With the Hawaiian Islands as our destination, and our family as our traveling companions we packed up the limo and headed to O’Hare.

After two flights and 12 hours travel time we finally spotted the islands.

Upon arrival we were greeted with necklaces made out of shells, and made to feel a part of the ever expanding Hawaiian family.

It was about a 30 minute drive from the airport to our hotel, the Moana Surfrider on Waikiki Beach. The Surfrider is the oldest hotel on the island, celebrating over 100 years. They also boast the oldest Banyan tree on the island.

When we arrived at the Moana we were once again greeted with necklaces, only this time they were made out of Kukui nuts.

We could not have asked for a better location, for the hotel sits right on the famous Waikiki Beach.

Our rooms are at the top floor giving us a great view, not only of the beach, but also of downtown Honolulu. As if the view wasn’t enticing enough to spend all of our time on the balcony, we set up our hammock we brought with us and immediately took to lounging around like a couple of beach bums.

It’s just pushing 8:30pm here, but because our bodies are still on Chicago time (1:30am) it’s becoming more and more difficult to keep our eyes open. We’re eager to explore more tomorrow, but for now we just need some sleep!

 

Hipsters, Unite!

While thousands of people descended on Chicago this past weekend to protest the NATO summit, we were in a less hostile mood and headed the opposite direction towards the Northern neighborhoods. Nestled in Chicago’s North Side is one of our favorite places to go for a good time,  The Lincoln Lodge…

Located in the back of a pancake house, the Lincoln Lodge is the best place to go in the city for stand-up comedy. No, really…the best. The first time we went to the LL for a show we were skeptical, mainly because the entrance to the comedy club at the rear of the restaurant is pretty shady…

One would never know, by looking at the outside of this place that it’s tiny stage has been graced by the likes of TJ Miller, Fred Armisen, and Hannibal Buress, as well as being the launch pad for many of Chicago’s up and coming comics. Because the Lincoln Lodge is still a bit “underground” and hosts alternative comedy (nothing “Jerry Seinfeld” about this place) it’s a hot-spot for hipsters. On any given night a good portion of the crowd will have arrived via bicycle, even more will be sporting an uneven haircut and forget about matching clothes!

Having frequented this place over the past several years, we have our favorite comics that we keep an eye out for, and this past Friday was the “send-off” for one of them. The name of the show was “Side Mullet Send Off” and it was a final goodbye for one of the Lincoln Lodge’s main players, Cameron Esposito. Where does the “side mullet” come in, you ask? Just take a look…

Like all of the other comics we’ve seen at the Lincoln Lodge, Cameron is hilarious. We’re always in for a good time when we pull up to the back lot of the restaurant and walk through the shady hallway to the comedy room. Every single time we’ve left the Lodge, our stomachs are sore, and our faces hurt from laughing so hard. If you’re looking for some laughs then I cannot recommend this place highly enough. With it’s laid-back atmosphere, good food & drinks, and hilarious line-ups the Lincoln Lodge beats out any other comedy house in the city.

 

Row, Row, Row…

It’s easy for people to take their surroundings for granted, especially if they’ve been there for a while. Although it’s easy to get downtown Chicago from the suburbs, it’s not uncommon to come across people who have lived here for years and never been to the top of the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower). Many people who call the Chicago-area home haven’t experienced most of what the city has to offer, and part of the reason is because they want to avoid the crowds and chaos that come with the tourist hot-spots. Since Britt and I began traveling, the way we go about planning leisure time has changed drastically. Prior to planning a day out, whether it’s in a foreign city or our own back yard, we do some research via blogs and travel books.

This past week Britt and I both had a day off of work, and the weather was due to be in the 70′s and sunny. We contemplated going to the city to stroll around some of our favorite neighborhoods or catch a White Sox game, but in the end we decided to head down the street to the Fox River and rent a couple of Kayaks.

There are two places to rent kayaks from at this point along the river, one of which is way overpriced and requires a 2-hour safety course prior to leaving, and the other which is a small family run shop that is incredibly laid back and much more reasonably priced. Needless to say, we went with the later. We got in the cold water right after the rapids, and because the water was so high the going was easy.

Or at least I thought it was. I had gone a few feet ahead of Britt when all of a sudden I heard a loud splash. I turned around to find this…

Now, we were both going slightly faster than the speed of smell at this point, so I was utterly baffled at how Britt managed to go crashing into the water and flip her kayak. Thank goodness it was shallow at this point in the river, because the Fox is known to have some wicked under-currents that have claimed the lives of many people. After the initial shock and laughter died down, Britt explained that a submerged tree branch had caught her boat from the under-side and one thing led to another and the next thing she knew she was in the water and her boat was upside down. I got out of my boat to help Britt with hers, and it turns out that it’s much easier to get/fall out of a kayak than it is to get one right-side up and get back in one. By the time we were both upright and in our boats, we were completely soaked and covered in mud. On with the trip.

The weather was picture perfect, and the water was like glass. It was so relaxing floating down the river and soaking in the sun. We had arranged to do a 7 mile trip, and anticipated taking 3-4 hours to complete it. About one hour in, we pulled up to a small island, and because by this time we knew how awful we were at getting out/in of our boats we decided not to risk it and had our picnic lunch in the kayaks.

Although we live less than 5 minutes from the Fox River, and we cross over it several times a day, this was only our second time in the water. The entire time we were out kayaking I was kicking myself for not doing this sooner/more often. The only reason I can think of as to why more people who live in this area don’t take advantage of this great opportunity to get outside and enjoy the surroundings, is the same reason we’ve never been to Lalapalooza, or to the House of Blues; because we’ve lived by it for so long and we take it for granted. Well, no more! Thanks to spending most of the last year abroad, we’re stuck in “tourist” mode, and want to go out and see/do as much as we can. We know that the next move is coming soon, and we want to soak up as much of our hometown as possible, and kayaking down the Fox River was the perfect way to do so.

 

She’s BAAaack!

As of 5:10pm today, both of us Britts are on US soil. After 12 months and 15 days, 2 countries, thousands of miles (and dollars), several new friends and countless memories later, our year abroad is over. This past year has gone by incredibly fast, and yet we have grown more individually, and together, over the past 12 months than we have over the past 9 years that we’ve been together. We feel so much more mature and aware from being on the road for so long, and it’s given us an entirely new outlook on life. Between Finland and India we’ve done some amazing things, met some wonderful people, found ourselves in incredibly awkward situations, came the closest to death that we’ve ever been, but mainly we’ve come to realize how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to do all of this. We’ve been able to do more in our short lives than most people get to do in a lifetime, and we are so tremendously grateful.

Now, all of that isn’t to say that we are done traveling. Quite the contrary. We’ve got a few trips planned, all within the US borders, for this next month, but it looks as if we will be moving back overseas in the near future for more of a permanent duration (several years) for Britt’s job. We’re not sure what country we’ll be moving to, or how soon we’ll be leaving, but until we do know we’re here in our hometown near Chicago, on our toes! But before we start worrying/planning on our next big move, we have to get Britt acclimated to being home, and nothing says “Welcome home to Chicago” like a a good ole’ Chicago-style hot dog!

 

Out With a Bang!

Prior to arriving in India, Britt and I decided that I would head back to the States in March, leaving Britt with two more months in India before we’re on the move again. We tried to cram as many last-minute things into my final weekend in Deli as possible, because chances of us going back to India any time soon are slim. With several of the sites checked off of our list, we only had one remaining by my last weekend; Humayun’s Tomb.

Located in Delhi, Humayun’s Tomb is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a major tourist hot-spot. It is a “garden-tomb”, as evidenced by the lush and organized foliage surrounding the site.

Humayun’s Tomb is a popular spot amongst tourists because it is the architectural precursor to the Taj Mahal. When placed side by side it’s easy to see the similarities between the two…

      

It was bittersweet checking Humayun’s off of our list, because it meant that it was time for me to get packing, but to be completely honest, I was more than ready to get the hell out! Between the thousands of people packed into small spaces, the worst illness I’ve ever experienced, and random ambushes, I was counting down the hours until my plane left. But India couldn’t let me leave without one last bang!

I woke up on my last day at 2am with the all-to-familiar severe cramps of Delhi-Belly, or as it’s formally known, dysentery. I wasn’t leaving for the airport until 10pm that night, so I had several hours to load-up on anti-biotics and get myself ready for the 24-hour trip home. Several hours later I was laying on our couch while Britt was making me some toast in the kitchen, when all of a sudden everything started shaking. Never having been in an earthquake before I was confused as to what was happening, but it wasn’t long until I realized what it was and I was paralyzed with fear. “I’m never going to make it out of India alive,” I thought. Though the earthquake only registered as a 5.2, it was enough to scare the hell out of me and set me on edge for the rest of the day.

When it came time for me to say, “goodbye” to Britt tears were streaming down both of our faces. It’s true that we were upset about having to be apart for 2 months, but it was so much more than that. On one hand, Britt was scared to be left behind in Delhi. She still had to face all of the crowds, sickness, and terror that goes with being a Westerner in India, but now she had to do it all alone. On the other hand, I was never more excited to get home. Now, this isn’t to say that we didn’t have any fun in India. We did, loads of it. We met some extraordinary people, and did things that we will never forget! India is a beautiful country, filled with wonderful people and so much history. It was just a lot to take in at once, but we will definitely be coming back to tackle it once more.

Fast forward to the present, and Britt now only has 9 days left in India. She is in the home-stretch and is even more eager than I was to get back. Still no word on where we will go next, but we’ve got our fingers crossed for Sweden!

 

Gondwana Express pt. 2, Jabalpur – Delhi

Britt and I were riding high on our way back to the Jabalpur train station. We had just had one of the best vacations of our lives, and we also had a travel companion on this leg of the trip. One of the volunteers from Kipling Camp was headed back to Delhi, plus the Kipling Camp representative that drove us to Jabalpur was going to stay with us until we got on the train. The only concern we had was that one of our two train tickets wasn’t confirmed.

We purchased our tickets two months prior, even so, one ticket was “waitlisted #1″. From what we can gather, being “waitlisted” is just a way to oversell the train tickets, and give false hope to those unfortunate ones given false tickets. The only way your waitlisted ticket is confirmed is if there is a cancellation or a no-show. Immediately when we booked our tickets we knew that the one was not confirmed, but after asking several expats and contacting Kipling Camp staff we were assured that a #1 slot was good as gold. No worries! That is until we arrived at the Jabalpur station only to find out that there were absolutely no cancellations or no-shows, and that we only had one seat on the train.

Thankfully, we had a national with us who could converse with the ticket collector fluently, but that didn’t do much good. The conductor was dead-set on not allowing both of us on the train, and our poor travel companion was waitlisted #12, no way she was getting on! Panic began to settle in, and we started weighing our options. We could book a flight from Jabalpur to Deli, but the next flight wasn’t until tomorrow. We could try and get on another train, but the next departure wasn’t until tomorrow.

“Do you have cash on you?” We were a bit confused by this question, but the Kipling Rep. looked serious. “Yes, but we only have large bills.” Immediately he gave us 5 100 rupee notes for 1 500 note, and told us to slip the conductor 200, no more, and then get on the train. What?! He must be joking! Unfortunately, he wasn’t. By this time another Kipling Representative had showed up and the conversation started all over again. Time was ticking, and there were only minutes before the train was to depart. I started scaling the train, trying to figure out a way to climb on top to endure the 17 hour trip clinging for our lives. It seemed like the most legitimate way to get out of Jabalpur at that moment.

All of a sudden, Britt and I were being pushed toward the train door by the Kipling Rep. #2. The conductor was no-where in sight, as we were pushed onto the train and told to go and find a seat. Now we’re in a pickle. If we get caught now or down the road, we risk the chance of getting thrown off in the middle of no-where. If we don’t get on the train, then we’re stuck in Jabalpur for the entire night. After weighing the options we decide to risk it, and go to find the one seat that we have booked.

Once again, we’re riding First Class A/C so that means 4 to a berth, except now it’s 5 including both of us. We sat down, taking up as little room as possible, and man-alive did we get some dirty looks. The second we sat, the middle-aged woman across from us started yelling in Hindi, unhappy, no doubt, that there are too many people in our little room. Her husband, who is sitting next to her, says nothing, but just stares us down like we were two pieces of trash. The man next to us speaks English, and proceeds to tell us that we are breaking the rules. “Yes, yes, we know. But we have no choice!” They continued trying to convince one of us to get off, but when the train jerked forward they no longer saw the point in arguing with us, and just glared, especially the woman.

It turned out that the man next to us, who was clothed from head to toe in a salmon color linen outfit, was some kind of god-man. It wasn’t 5 minutes after we took off, that a crew of his disciples invaded the room, each one removing their shoes and bending over to touch their foreheads to his feet (all the while sticking their hairy butts up in the air, for the rest of us to awkwardly avoid looking at). Now there was not only 5 of us in what was already a small 4 person berth, but there are now 7! And it was very apparent that the disciples were much more welcome company than we were.

knock. knock. knock.

It was the conductor. We both held our breath, as the disciples left and he took everyone’s tickets, leaving ours for last. We had our money out, ready to bribe him. Our riding companions were looking at him just as intently as we were, eager for him to kick one of us out. Fortunately, that did not happen. He looked our ticket over, and then said he would try and accommodate for the both of us, but until then we have to share a bunk. phew! We were safe! We decided to give our angry and disappointed pals their space, and crawled up to our upper bunk. Granted, it wasn’t the most comfortable thing, sharing an upper bunk on a rickety train, but it was better than the alternative! Here’s a pic of our bunk before Britt climbed up…

Several hours in to the trip, when we were all fast asleep the conductor came banging on our door and told Britt to move down to the next room. There was an opening. Reluctantly, Britt left, but everything turned out just fine. We were both able to stretch out, and before we knew it we were pulling in to the Delhi station. When we got out of the train we saw that the volunteer from Kipling made it as well, although she didn’t fare to well, getting kicked from seat to seat all night long. Nevertheless, we were all where we needed to be!

 

Safari

It’s 5:15 in the morning and Britt and I are flying down the main road to Kanha National Park in an open-top safari jeep. The crisp 45 degree air is stinging our cheeks, but other than that we remain warm because our thoughtful guides have given us blankets to bundle up with. The park doesn’t open until 6:30, but with several jungle camps in the area we have to get to the gate and steak out a place in line. So, leaving Kipling Camp at 5:15 and taking the 5 minute drive to the park gate, that leaves us with over an hour to sit in the jeep. Our guides told us to go ahead and sleep, but we’ve just been whipped through cold air for 5 minutes and we’re about to go on a tiger safari! We’re too excited to sleep!

After going through two entry point gates, we arrived in one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen: Kanha National Park.

Britt and I have both had the opportunity to go on several African safari’s so that is what we had to compare this with. The biggest difference between the two is that on an African safari you don’t adhere to a road. The jeep can go anywhere, since the parks there are made up of mostly flat land. Kanha, however, has an intricate road system that all safari jeeps must stick to, and it was easy to see why. The vegetation was so thick, that even a bulldozer would have a tough time making a go of it. The downside to that is, that you’re chances of seeing an animal are much slimmer.

We spent most of the time tracking tigers, by following the alarm calls of the langur monkey and the barking deer, and searching for pug marks. The tiger was the main “goal” so any other animal we saw along the hunt was incidental. We did end up seeing two tiger cubs, but because of the dense jungle we didn’t get any pictures.

Here are some animals we did happen to get a snapshot of…

Wild boar

Peacock

Owlets

Jackel

Langur monkeys

Sambar Deer

Spotted Deer

We weren’t the only ones tracking tigers in the jungle. Every day rangers on elephants set off into the park and search for the tigers in order to keep a track record of them.

Since no-one is too keen on eating a full breakfast at 4:30 in the morning before taking off for a safari, the guides pack a picnic meal and we break for breakfast around 9 am. The picnic was lovely, and you couldn’t beat the scenery!

Being in the park for several hours at a time, plus eating a meal meant that we would eventually need to use the restroom. We thought we were going to have to just go out into the jungle and squat behind a bush, and we kind of did. The park officials were kind enough to save us the embarrassment of dropping our pants in front of our drivers, or getting chased out of the bush with our pants around our ankles by an unhappy animal, and built a bathroom for safari goers. By “built” I don’t mean they installed plumbing and running water, with a porcelain toilet and a sink. I mean they put up some dried brush in a square and placed two bricks on the ground for us to squat on.

While the animals were exciting to see (I think this guy lost a contact) …

we found the trees equally as fascinating to look at.

In addition to the animals pictured above, we also saw a plethora of exotic birds. We took a total of 4 trips into the park, and if time allowed we would have spent weeks going in to Kanha every day! Kanha National Park is definitely a place that we will come back and visit in the future!

 

Tea with Tara

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we made a new friend while on safari. Tara, a 52 year-old Asian elephant lives at Kipling Camp, and we had the chance to spend some time with her over a bath and some tea. We met with Tara at her custom-made shelter, and climbed on her back for a rocky 30 minute trek through the jungle to the Banjar River.

As soon as we were off of her back, Tara took off for the water and dove in head-first! Here she is after jumping in, can you spot her??

A trip to the river is part of Tara everyday schedule, and it’s her favorite thing to do. Though the temperature was only in the low 90′s (a cool day compared to the summer heat in central India), Tara spent most of her time in the water submerging as much of her body as possible. She also likes to play in the water with her mahout (trainer).

After her “play time” is over, it’s time for a scrubbing! Another part of Tara’s daily routine is getting scrubbed down with rocks, do get rid of dead skin cells. In the wild elephants rub on trees or large rocks, but life at Kipling Camp is pretty sweet!

Never in a million years did we think that one day we would be giving an elephant a bath in India! It was a blast! After we had scrubbed her from head to trunk she was in the mood to play some more. This time she focused her energy on Britt…

Now that Tara had her fun in the water, it was time for a snack. Tara made herself comfortable and munched on some vegetation, while we settled down in the sand and had tea and biscuits.

We had a few biscuits left over, and decided to share them with our new giant friend.

It was amazing how gentle and quiet Tara was, considering her size. She was so affectionate towards all of us, and she has a personality all of her own! Our time with her was the highlight of the trip, and we’ll definitely be coming back to visit her!