Socks in New Zealand

Hello friends! Socks here, we have just left New Zealand and are on our way to Australia. We spent a whole month travelling around New Zealand. We are finally the farthest we could possibly be away from Canada. When you guys are going to sleep we are just waking up in the morning the next day!

New Zealand was a lot like Iceland and had lots of snow capped mountains and glaciers. We loved taking hiking trips up the mountains and looking at all the cities below. One hiking trip was 4 hours up a huge mountain. I was lucky and got a ride inside of Ally’s backpack, and didn’t have to climb all the way up! By the time we reached the top Ally was very tired.

One of our hiking trips. 

Have any of you ever wondered were kiwis come from? Guess what, they grow them right here, in New Zealand! We went to a kiwi farm and saw the kiwi trees! I have never seen a kiwi tree before! It was so cool!

At the kiwi farm.

Under a kiwi tree. Can you spot the kiwis?

We also stayed in a place that was on the set of a movie! They used the place as an ammunitions bunker in the movie Vertical Limit! The movie was about mountaineering, which means mountain climbing. It was about a group of climbers that got trapped in a crevasse (deep crack) on K2 the second biggest mountain in the world. They had to be rescued by blowing open the crevasse so the rescue people could get them out. The bombs that were used to blow open the crevasse were held in the ammunition bunker (the place were we were staying)! The place where our beds were was in the movie! We even got to sign our names beside the the director of the movie on the blackboard wall. I think I am the first monkey to ever have slept in a set of an old movie!

The bunker!

I really enjoyed my stay in New Zealand and it was very pretty there! I hope to come back some day with my family and explore this neat place even more!

Socks

P.S Did you know that New Zealand is also home to the movie the Hobbit?

Milford Sound. 

Milford Sound.

Milford Sound.

Kayaking with Ally.  

Socks in Dubai

After a long flight in Megs bag from London, we arrived in Dubai, the city of shopping. If you can imagine a place where everything is very modern and man-made that is Dubai. We were only in Dubai for two nights so we didn’t have too much time to explore, but we did get to the shopping center and on a desert safari.

In the Desert

The shopping center was called the Dubai Mall and was huge. It was the biggest and fanciest shopping center I had ever been to. Nothing like the shopping centers monkeys go to in Canada. We were so surprised to see a Tim Horton’s along with many other familiar restaurants like Cold Stone Creamery and New York Fries. I have only ever seen a Tim Horton’s in Canada since leaving home. I wonder what else we will come across in Dubai.

At the start of our safari, we went dune bashing. Dune bashing is when you go up and down steep dunes very fast in a 4X4. It was so exciting! We went for 40 minutes and I don’t know if I would be able to do any more than that. Monkeys tend to have very weak stomachs. We arrived at a camp and that is where we ate traditional Middle Eastern Food including flat breads, curry’s, meat on a stick. There were also a lot of activities including riding a camel and getting a henna tattoo. We also saw a falconry show and some traditional belly dancing. I had a great time in the desert.

Meg getting a henna tattoo 

I am glad we had a stopover in Dubai even if it was only for a day. I enjoyed experiencing the different culture.

Socks in Kenya

Hello Again! For our next part of our journey we headed to Kenya. We were really looking forward to visiting and volunteering in a local village. Ally told me that she and her cousins raise money every year to help send a girl to High School in Kenya. The girl they sponsor is named Sylvia. They have written her letters but they had never met her in person. Finally after 4 years of helping her we were able to meet her. We also went on a Safari and saw lots of animals.

We stayed in a little village called Mauko, in western Kenya. In the villages, most people live in mud huts with thatched roofs.  Thatched roofs are made of long grass bundled and layered. Their houses are usually small with 2 rooms in them. Many people do not have mattresses to sleep on so they make them out of straw. This is the way of life in Kenya, because many people don’t have high paying jobs. This is why Ally and her cousins raise money for a girl to go to High School. Sylvia, the girl they sponsor, is in her last year of high school. Now that she has had a good education, hopefully she will be able to help provide for her family. When we met her she was very thankful for what Ally and her cousins had done. She told us that she was going to try and work really hard in school, so she could improve not just her own life, but her family’s as well.

 

Ally, Meg and Sylvia

Every day Ally and Meg went out and played with the local kids in the village. They taught them how to play Ultimate Frisbee and had games in the backyard. All the kids were so happy and really enjoyed playing with them.

 

Ally playing frisbee with the kids. 

My other favourite experience in Kenya was going on a three day Safari in Tsavo National Park. Have any of you been to the African Lion Safari? I have, and I can tell you a real African safari is much better. We were able to see wildlife in a natural environment and could get really close to some of animals. We were extremely luckily and on our second day we saw a leopard! Our safari guide had only seen one other in the past two years. That was so exiting. We also got to see lions and cheetahs lazing in the shade on a hot afternoon. Our guide’s name was Carlos and he loved to chase all of the rare animals in the park. Whenever he got a call over the radio about a rare animal, he would hit the gas pedal and we would fly down the road until we spotted the creature! We also saw hippos standing in the river. Ever since I watched the movie “Madagascar”, I have wanted to see a hippo in the wild! Our African safari was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.

 

Feeding a Giraffe 

The Safari Van. 

The Leopard. 

These are just a couple of the amazing things we did in Kenya and we really enjoyed our stay. At the end of our visit, we all were amazed that even though the people did not have very many things or money, they were so happy and generous. We also learned that even the smallest things meant the world to the people and us as well.

Socks 

  

Socks in South Africa

A long time ago, Ally met a girl named Lauren Bryans. She was from South Africa and moved to Canada for her dad’s work. Can you believe it, all of the way from South Africa? After a couple of years she had to move back. Sadly, Ally and Lauren couldn’t chat as much as they were used to. One day, when Mrs. Mitchell was on Facebook, she received a message from Lauren’s mom saying that she heard about our trip and was wondering if we would be going to South Africa. It wasn't originally part of the plan, but after a bit of convincing on both Ally and Laurens part, it became part of the trip. I was excited to go to South Africa because I would get to meet Lauren who Ally had been talking about constantly, and it would be a whole different experience.

                  When the day came that we were leaving for South Africa, everyone was ecstatic. I was so excited that I even packed Meghan’s bag for her. As we were leaving for the airport, I poked my head out of Meg’s bag and waved good-bye to London, at least for a while. We landed in Port Elizabeth on time and I am happy to report we were all ok.

                  After a couple days of lying in the sun at Lauren’s house, we headed out on a camping trip. Ally and Meghan had told me about camping before, but I had never been. After a day of driving, we set up camp in Oudtshoorn.  We tucked into the tent, and Ally, Meg and Lauren talked and told stories about when they were little. The next day we went to a cave system called Cango Caves and learned about who first explored them. One of the chambers was so big that they used to hold concerts in it. We also went to an ostrich farm. An ostrich is a very big bird that you do not see in Canada. Ostrich eggs are big and very strong. We could stand on them and they would not break. They were even bigger than me. We continued on to Cape Town and by far my favourite part was taking the cable car up Table Mountain and getting pictures of the beautiful scenery. At our last stop, we went through a difficult maze and did zip- lining through the trees. After our camping trip we went back to Lauren’s house and enjoyed our last days in South Africa.

I feel very privileged to have meet the Bryans because I had the chance to see and do many things other monkeys would not be able to. I hope to bring my family back here one day so they can experience the different culture.