BubblesandBugs.com - Travel and Scuba

Where to Next?

This is a complete and total rip off of a post found here: (love and chopsticks) but I loved this post and have been wanting to update this site since I am sick of the squat toilet post being on top…..aren’t you?

Now that we’ve been to so many amazing countries - the urge to leave is still in us - so, here is our updated trip wish list - not that we’ll ever have a year to take off and travel again, but here’s to hoping someday we will become independently wealthy (yeah, right!) and can make it to all of these places:

1. Iceland - I have been wanting to go here since 2003 when I met 4 incredible friends from Iceland and this past year, we met 4 more while traveling through in Laos.  I am fascinated by this country and hope to make it there someday soon!

2.  New Zealand - as you may know, we were originally going to make New Zealand the last stop on our trip - but because Africa was SO freaking expensive, we decided to put this off for another time.

3.  Australia -another country we wanted to visit on our trip - but will have to return.  We both dream of diving the Great Barrier Reef and to explore Western Australia with a chance to swim with Whale Sharks!

4.  Israel / Egypt: To see the pyramids?  Wow!  It’s a dream of mine.  And to visit our buddy Gal in his home country of Israel and dive the Red Sea is also at the top of my list!

5.  Bosnia/Croatia: 7 years ago I met two of the strongest and most brave women I’ve ever known - Jasmina and Edina.  They came to Salt Lake during the Bosnian war and I learned so much from them.  If you haven’t read the book “Love thy Neighbor” by Peter Maass - it’s a must read!  I can’t wait to explore their country with them someday - and also make a stop at the beautiful Croatian coast!

6.  Galapagos Islands, Ecuador:  Who wouldn’t want to swim with these guys?  This island is a nature/animal lovers paradise!  But good hell it’s EXPENSIVE!

7.  Revillagigedos Archipelago (or called ‘Socorro Islands’ off the Baja peninsula) - This is sort of a current obsession for both of us.  When we read about this place the the liveaboard boat called the Solmar V - we knew we had to dive here!

8.  ALOT of South America (particularly Argentina and Peru) - As we both sit here jobless (now almost 2 months) - we wish we could just take off and travel around here for 6 months to greatly improve our Spanish skills while discovering these beautiful countries……too bad we need jobs and money to pay for this journey.  Sigh.

9.  China:  Another country we were originally going to visit on our trip - maybe next time!

10.  Antarctica - we met some friends who ‘cruised’ here from Argentina and said it was a must see destination.  I always said I’d love to see every continent excluding this one - but hey, why not hit them all?

Where do YOU dream of going?

Cheers!
Cindi

How to Use a Squat Toilet

So I was looking on my iGoogle homepage today and was checking out the “How To” section and came across this video. I found it hilarious, yet helpful. I wish I had seen this video before we left so I wouldn’t have been caught so off guard the first time I had to use one of these toilets. And yes, they are just as nasty as they look on this video. Enjoy!

(see full article here: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Squat-Toilet)

Anti-Social?

We’ve been home since the 11th of March - and it’s now the 23rd.  We spent a few days in Missouri with Jason’s family and stopped into a BBQ at the Cliffords’ - and then we arrived in Utah on the 15th and are enjoying our stay at ‘Hotel Davis’.  However, we haven’t seen anyone here except my family.  I am not sure if it’s that we don’t want to leave our nice comfortable bed, couch, hot shower, free internet, laundry, fridge, etc. - but we have hardly left the house since arriving.  How lame are we?

We did get cell phones, a new laptop (I’m not supposed to say that it rhymes with snapple), a GPS (for Jason to learn his way around SLC), and hit the slopes of Brighton one day…..but really other than that and running a few errands - we are hermits!

Job searching is really not the thing to be doing during this “recession” but we are staying optimistic and hoping something comes through sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, enjoy a few of our favorite pictures from Africa and stay tuned for Jason’s review of “Absolute Africa”, perhaps a few beer reports, some trip planning/executing tips, and maybe reports of employment!

Here is a link to all of our world travel pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/islandindigo/collections/72157604360580057/

Cheers!
Cindi

the way home

yes…its true.  heading home…but first -we have had an exciting week…

 - we stayed in Swakopmund on the west coast of Namibia.  Weird town, but cool.  It is like little Germany.  German food, pubs, beer, people.  Kinda weird.  Rode 4 wheelers on the biggest dunes in the world - tons of fun.  Willits and I went twice.

 - we moved on to Stellenbosch, South Africa where we traveled the vineyards tasting wine and cheese.  Willits won the “reddest teeth” contest.  We also bought a couple bottles to share with a special few of you.

 - we tried to cage dive with the great white sharks in Gaansbai - they didn’t come - bummer

 - we dove in the Cape Town 2 Oceans Aquarium in the predator exhibit shark tank.  They have 5 6-9 feet ragged tooth sharks - mean looking, but didn’t really mind us in there.  They aslo had a bunch of huge stingrays, eaglerays, yellowfin tuna, and other fish.  This was a highlight of our trip for sure.

 - we also dove a 2nd time in the aquarium in the Kelp exhibit.  Surging, full of kelp, sharks, and fish, we jumped into the cold water for another 35 minute dive.  Willits, Cindi and I got to hand feed all the fish out of a bag - tons of fun and action.  It is also really weird to look at the dry people on the other side of the glass…

 - yesterday we got back into the cage with the Great Whites Sharks and they didn’t dissapoint.    While we are in the cage, the bait man on the boat is luring them toward and infront of the cage.  At one point the shark bit onto the cage right beside me for about 5-10 seconds.  You can hear and feel the teeth on metal grinding - Unbelievable.  This is a must do in CapeTown and definately worth the 11 degree water to see this huge beasts underwater.

 - cindi ate sushi.  she has been talking about it for months - glad we could appease her appetite for raw fish.  She figured if the White shark was eating tuna…she would have sashimi too. 

After 10 months of travel, we are flying home from Cape Town, SA in 2 days time.  Its a lot of things at once…our trip is over (maybe), we’re excited, we’re tired, we’re sad, and much more.  I am ready for family, friends, a bed, a shower, familiar food, and snow.  

Most of all for me I want to say that I love Cindi Davis with all of my heart.  I want to thank her for everything she has done…putting up with me and my crazy ideas, taking care of me, helping wholeheartedly with all the details (pleasant and unpleasant parts), taking great pictures, and tons more. 

Cindi…Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure.  I wouldn’t have lasted with another person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 10 months.  You are my best friend and my everything.  I love how adventurous you are.   When the other girls are crying in the corner and won’t jump - you will.   I love your caring and nurturing side.  I love how funny you are, and how you always make every situation fun.  I love taking pictures and experiencing new things with you.  I LOVE YOU…and THANK YOU.

When we get home, we will have a massive picture upload, and also write our top 10 lists, as well as recap on all of it.

Talk to you all soon…as soon as we get a cell phone. 

Mom, start cooking! - haha just kidding.

jason

Hard times

It’s been a really tough week on the road.  It’s times like these that I wish I were an elegant writer - but I’m not, so bear with me.

Last Friday I checked my email and was alerted that my grandma Alice was in the hospital due to kidney failure and may not make it.  My heart dropped.  I would say my grandma is one of my most favorite people in the world and I have been really looking forward to seeing her when we get to Utah in a few weeks.  I really miss her when I’m away.  Even if she does repeat her stories over and over - and if she ruins jokes by telling us the punchline first.  She cracks me up and I love her to no end.

I was up worrying about her all that night and Saturday when we got to a new town, I immediately went to the internet again.  My sister informed me that things were looking worse.  She had just returned from the hospital and grandma was sleeping, not responding, and they believed she’d had a heart attack.  My parents were in Hawaii for a company trip - and it was 4 AM there, but I decided I would give them a call for any news anyway.

When my mom answered the phone and sounded like she was awake and had been crying, I knew right away.  My grandma didn’t make it through the night.  It was Valentine’s Day morning and she finally decided to go see her Valentine.  I had tried to prepare myself for this before I left - but it’s never easy.  In fact, it really sucks.  I’m really happy she didn’t had to suffer much and that finally her own heartbreak can end, which began on November 10, 2007 when grandpa died.

My grandma was amazing.  For the past 15 months she has insisted on staying in her house and taking care of it.  She had wonderful neighbors who looked after her.  When grandpa died, my family got her a new car, because she couldn’t back her old car out of the garage without taking off a mirror - that was grandpa’s job.  She continued to do yard work.  She kept her house spotless.  She continued to drive herself to her Friday morning hair appointments and did her grocery shopping.  She learned how to put gas in her car and even got the internet.  How I loved when I would get an email from her or see that she was ‘logged on’ to her MSN messenger.  She insisted she kept her washer and dryer downstairs because walking down there weekly to do laundry was her exercise.

I could go on and on about memories I have of her - but I will not bore you.  Just know that I am a better person for having her in my life and she will never be forgotten.

Jason and I have been continuing our tour of Africa and have make it through Botswana and are now in Namibia.  Here are a few things we’ve done in the past week:

*  We happened to luck out and be at Victoria Falls on a full moon to view the lunar rainbows.  It was definitely one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever laid eyes on.
*  Went river rafting down the Zambezi river.  Jason also tried river boarding, which he said sucked.  The river wasn’t actually as crazy as we were lead to believe, but we still had a few good rapids, Jason and I both fell out of the raft - and we had a great time
*  Went to Chobe National Park where we saw a ton of hippos and elephants
*  Toke a flight over the Okavango Delta in a 6 seater Cessna.  Jason even got to play pilot for a few minutes.  He is now convinced he needs to get his pilot’s license.
*  We took a mokoro ride through the delta and spent a night on an island out there.  It was pretty crap.  The peaceful night of sleep and seeing a sky FULL of stars was great, but basically it was a waste of money.  If you go there - just do the flight and call it good.
*  Went to a Cheetah Park where we got to pet 3 semi trained cheetahs and feed about 20 not trained cheetahs
*  Last night we spent a night camping on the beach on the Skeleton Coast on some sand dunes - we saw the most beautiful sunset ever.

The internet is quite speedy here and we are in this town, Swakopmund until Thursday - so perhaps we can upload some pictures.

Cheers
Cindi

Fun & Mohawks in Zambia

First things first! Happy Birthday Ben!!  My little brother can now buy porn and cigarettes…just kidding, I know he doesn’t smoke - hahahahaha

ok ok….we know we have been slackers, but our time in Africa has been jam packed, full of adventure, and internet is rare and expensive.  i can assure you, we have some unbelievable pictures, but you won’t get to see them until we get home.  sorry for that.

ok, since the last post, here are the things we have done, and some other stuff from the last week….

• left Malawi and entered Zambia
• Things are more expensive in Zambia - probably because of tourism
• houseboated for 3 days on Lake Kariba.  This lake lies on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe.  It was pretty fun, but you can’t swim because of Crocs and Hippos.  We saw both plus elephant on a few outings.  Mostly it was nice to have a bed for 3 nights and someone cooking for us.  Only 26 more days camping!!
• willits and i got mohawks
• arrived in Livingstone, the town closest to Victoria falls.  Haven’t seen the falls yet, only the mist from the drive in.  Heading that way today.  Might also try to get into Zimbabwe for the day.
• bought charcoal - yes I am the offical fire starter on this journey.  dirty job, but it means i don’t have to cook or clean… haha
• we lost cindi’s thermarest…she refuses to take mine, so she is sleeping on a borrowed foam roll mat.  sorry bruce, we will replace it when we get home.
• yesterday we went abseiling, flying foxing, and gorge swinging.  Cindi, Willits, and I agree it is the craziest and scariest thing we have ever done.  You step off the edge of the gorge, freefall for 53 meters and then the swing catches you and you end the terrifying moment with a minute or 2 or relaxing swinging over the gorge…crazy, scary, beautiful, adrenaline action all in 1 minute.  we have video…same applies - youll see it when we get home.
• this morning, we went walking with the lions.  lots of fun.  basically we walked for about 1.5 hours with 2 lions around 18 months old….got tons of pics and then got to visit with 3 cubs arounds5 months old…really cuddly, but the little guys still have one hell of a roar. 
• tomorrow we go whitewater rafting and riverboarding on the zambezi river.  according to the video we watched and the fact that it is wet season, means it should be pretty crazy.  river boarding, we get to boogie board our way through some of the rapids…we don’t need a raft for those class fives.
• we are running low on cash…africa is expensive…even if you are camping.
• tonite, we are cooking chili - cindi and I are excited to cook something ourselves.
• on thursday morning we head for Botswana where we will hit Chobe National Park, the Okavango Delta, and more.
• I am starting to look for jobs at home…wish me luck folks!!

later jason

Malawi Wowie!

Finally we’ve found internet at a decent speed so I thought I’d take a second to update.  We are at Kande Beach, Malawi which is on Lake Malawi.  This country has taken place in my top 3 most beautiful countries (others are Nepal and Laos).  I’ve never seen sky so blue and the hills are so green.  The lake, unfortunetly is not as beautiful.  You have to swim out about 100 meters to get past all the nasty brown algae.  But nothing is keeping this girl out of a mid afternoon dip in this heat!

We’ve taken a break from all the game drives and took a week to visit Zanzibar island, otherwise known as the Spice Island.  We stayed one night in Stonetown and took a spice tour and then went to Kendwa beach for 3 more nights.  Jason, Willits and I took the opportunity to go scuba diving - which was beautiful.  Our first dive was a local dive which was sort of a waste of money as we didn’t see much - so the next day we splurged a bit and headed out to the atoll and saw much more - including a swim with about 30 dolphins.  The following day we went snorkelling with our truck group and were lucky enough to swim with the dolphins again!  Zanzibar has stunning white sand beaches and the most clear, green/blue water you’ve ever seen.  Go here!

I’m trying to get pictures uploaded, but that isn’t going to happen as internet is $6/hour and it’s taken 30 minutes to upload one.  We leave Malawi Monday (?) for Zambia for 3 nights on a houseboat and then to see Victoria Falls and hopefully raft the Zambezi river. 

Last night we had a pig roast - Jason was the official pig turner and he made an amazing rub and marinade.  He is currently making me a sandwich from the leftovers, so I must run. 

Cheers!
Cindi

Hakuna Matata

Jambo!  Karibu! 

We have been in Africa since January 5th and man has time flown.  We arrived in Kenya on Tuesday and were picked up by our truck, Rafuki, Wednesday morning.  12 people were already on the truck as they had gone to Rwanda and Uganda to see the gorillas (which I’ve added to my list of things to see in my life - sounded amazing!) - and 8 of us joined in.  Here’s a short recap of what we’ve seen and done thusfar:

*  Went to Lake Nakuru National Park, Naivasha (we had to skip Hells Gate as ironically enough, it was on fire), Serengeti NP, Ngorogoro Crater, giraffe center, elephant orphanage
*  We’ve seen black and white rhinos, hippos, chimpanzes, gazelle, impala, elephants, hyenas (2 were heard in our campsite), baboons, bush pigs (again, seen in our campsite), buffalo, wildebeest, ostrich, flamingo, lion cubs, a lion hunting a warthog, a male lion (huge mane and all), and a highlight was kissing a giraffe

Our group mostly consists of Aussies, Kiwis, and Brits.  And for those of you who think camping in a tent for 58 nights is insane - it’s actually not so bad.  Tonight we lose our cook which we’ve had the entire trip and we start cooking for ourselves - should be interesting. 

Also - I turned 30 on January 9th.  One day we had a long bus ride so I decided to recap my 20’s.  Man they were good to me….

*  Met Jason
*  Moved in with 5 of the most amazing friends I could ever ask for
*  Graduated from the University of Utah with a BS in Business Management
*  Backpacked from Mexico to Panama (and Cuba)
*  Made my way to Europe for the 2nd time visiting Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Czech Republic
*  Moved to Charlotte, NC to be with Jason
*  Got the sweetest dog you could ever know, Otis (Great Dane)
*  Went with Jason to Mexico, Jamaica, Grand Caymen, and Hawaii
*  Lost our best buddy Otis to pnuenomia and our great friend Glenn
*  Decided life was too short and sold everything to travel for 1 year

Jason surprised me by smuggling 30 thai balloons to Kenya and we set them off after a birthday celebration dinner.  It was an amazing birthday!

We are going to Zanzibar island tomorrow to get a few days rest from the camping and parks to relax in the sun and do some scuba diving.  Uploading pictures so far is nearly impossible - and our internet visits are far and few between - so we’ll update more when we can.

Cheers!
Cindi

Habari zenu?

Hey everyone - just a quick note to let you know we are hours away from heading to Nairobi, Kenya.  Hopefully internet cafes will be EVERYWHERE in Africa (haha, yeah right) - so we will keep you updated when we can.   Absolute Africa - here we come! 

Cheers!
Cindi

Island Hopping for the Holidays

we spent the holidays on the islands of Thailand.  Phuket (pronounced Poo-get, you dirty people), Phi Phi (pee-pee), Koh Phangan, and now Koh Samui.

but if you really want to get technical, while all of you were eating fruit cake, getting your cheeks squeezed by aunt olga, or opening presents, Cindi and I visited about 6 islands all around the southern andaman sea - and man were they beautiful.  Oh yeah - we did another liveaboard scuba trip in the Similan Islands…make that 18 islands over the holidays.

So…Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!!  We both miss everyone and of course the comforts of home 

I wanted to list some of the things we miss about being home - especially for Xmas

- perogie and pork roll bfast
- my mom’s cooking in general…holy crap - mom you better hook me up when i get home
- just hanging with the family
- jams sessions with bruce, sawyer, and ben - ben when I get home you gotta teach me some harmonica riffs
- going to chuck and mary’s
- my bed
- having a car
- not having to haggle for prices
- taco tuesday
- ”margarita confessions” with aunt lorraine

Cindi misses

- watching neices and nephews open presents from Santa
- going to gma’s with all the family
- reading the twas the night before xmas with the fam
- SNOW and skiing

We are spending New Years on the Island of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand off the east coast.  We woke up to rain and a power outtage….should have stayed on the west coast.

We originally went to the island of Koh Phagnan, but we didn’t have any reservations…and with the crowds getting heavy for the New Years eve, beach, trance music, glow stick raving, moon light, crazy, party on Hat Rin, we couldn’t find a place to stay…so we opted for the quieter Koh Samui. 

Here are some pictures from our island hopping week….

Snorkeling in the Similans

Couple hundred Barracuda overhead

“The Beach”  Yes..I am as hot as Leonardo DiCaprio

Another Beautiful beach - sheesh to many to remember

Me on Bamboo Island

Cindi’s first shark - leopard shark

Lion fish in flight

Phi Phi - I think - like I said - we’ve been to too many

Star Fish Friends

Manta Ray Shopping - this was ripping current - had to hold onto the reef or you would get blown away.  check out her bubbles - you can see how hard it was ripping.

 Ok - we we are heading back to Bangkok on the 2nd and then we fly to Nairobi Kenya, where we will meet Willits and start our 2 months camping in Africa.  We will be traveling overland from Nairobi to Capetown hitting the following countries - Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar, Malawi, Zambia, maybe Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.  We can’t wait.

We will post again before we leave, but whilst in Africa,  you might not hear from us too much depending on internet availability.

Happy Holidays!
Jason

P.S.  last night we got the crazy idea to add 4-6 months to the trip and visit South America….it is still just a thought, but not out of the realm of possibility.  We’ll see!