Thailand

Sawasdee Ka (Hello in Thai)

We are coming to the end of our Thailand adventure and i am thinking that Mrs Maynard should have taken some Thai lessons from Miss Van Rooyen; as between you and me, she is not very good ! But the main thing is that she is trying and having a go.

See if you can have a go, you might need Miss Van Rooyen to help you here.

Hello - Sawasdee Ka
Good bye - La Kron
Thank you - kop khun kha
How are you? - Sabai Dee Mai?

The money over here is Baht. 1 English pound will get you 45 Baht.
The time difference here is 6 hours, so when you start school at 9am, it is already 3pm here.

We have been very busy, as Tim has learnt how to Scuba dive and Mrs Maynard has also done some diving.

I stayed on the beach, whilst they went off diving on a boat.

They said that they saw lots of fish of different colours and sizes. It was like swimming in a huge fish tank.

The island that we went to was really small, so Mrs Maynard and Tim hired a motorbike, so we could all whizz around the island. We were very careful as Mrs Maynard told us about James` daddy had broken his leg on a motorbike. I do hope that it is all fixed now James?

We stayed in a very small hut that only had 2 rooms; a bathroom and a bedroom. It was very cheap and only cost us 4 pounds a night - isn`t that cheap !?

We did however stay in a nice hotel a few days later, with a view of the sea from our balcony and a BIG TV in our room. Even Mrs Moore would have approved of this one.

In Bangkok, which is the capital of Thailand, we hired a small tuk-tuk who took us out for the day to all the different sights and temples around Bangkok. Did you know there are over 450 temples in the city of Bangkok alone.

Below, you can see me riding on the tuk-tuk and some of the temples and Buddhas we saw along the way.

We leave Bangkok and Thailand tomorrow and are heading to Vietnam, so look forward to telling you about the next leg of our trip soon.

Take care

Buster

Safari in South Africa and Botswana

One thing that I was most excited about when Mrs Maynard told me about their trip was the safari that we would be going on.
This was a 11 day trip where we actually camped out in the wild with all the animals around us. I was a little scared but Tim told me that we would be safe in our tents.

We did a 2 day trip to another National Park called Kruger. Kruger is so big our guide told us it is about the size of Wales. How crazy is that.

 

We saw so many animals through out the 2 days. So many more than I though we would. Are you ready for the list. (I think this will test Miss Van Rooyen or Miss Sinclair with there animals signs now. Lets see how they do)
Elephants, zebra, wildbeast, buffalo,gnu,hyena,impala,kudu, warthog,giraffes, lions, leopards, hippo's, monkeys, baboons, monkeys, wild dogs, crocodiles, rhino and quite a few more including lots of beautiful birds.

The lion came so very close and walked right by our jeep on the road. I was really so scared but luckily it didn't take any notice of me or us in our big jeep. I wonder if this lion has ever seen a bear before? The size of his paws were so big. Just one paw was nearly the size of me.

After leaving Kruger we went over to Botswana which is the country next to South Africa to a very special place call the Okavango Delta.
Botswana is quite similar to South Africa with the climate but can be a little warmer which Mrs Maynard was happy about.
The money they use over here is Pula. Amran can you tell everyone what the flag colours are for Botswana? Maybe a tricky one for you?

Here in Botswana we had a lovely couple of days camping again in the wild. To get to our camp site we had to go in special boats called mokoros. They are quite like canoes but made out of wood and pushed along by men that stand at the back of the boat with extremely long wooden poles who push us and steer us in the right directions. They are called Polers.  We could only take a few clothes for the days that we were at this camp site so we had to pack just a few T-shirts and shorts into a black plastic bag.
We had a little campsite set up with just 4 tents. Every night our guide Lloyd would cook our dinner on a camp stove and we would sit around the fire eating and listing to the animals around us.

During the days were very relaxed learning how to pole the mokoros, writing our diaries and swimming in the delta.
The water was so very fresh that we could have drunk it. We decided not too as it could have given us poorly tummies which would have very nice while we were there. We did did very early morning walking Safaris (we left at 6am) but didn't see too many animals which I was quite happy about.

One evening we went for a mokoro ride to see the sunset and we saw some more elephants. It was so peaceful sitting in the mokoro on the water seeing them having there dinner and literally eating a whole tree.

Mrs Maynard told me about our scenic flight that we were going to do on our last day. A flight in a small plane with only 6 seats. How cool! Let me tell you cool isn't a word to describe this. It was AMAZING!

I was allowed to sit in the pilots seat for a while and pretend to fly the plane which was fun I though of Lukes Daddy who Mrs Maynard said was a pilot. Has anybody else sat in a pilots seat before?

The flight was so much fun although a little bumpy which made Mrs Maynard scream quite a lot which was funny. We got to see yet more animals and take in how big the Delta was. We even saw the area where we got into our mokoros on the first day.

Well Year2  this is my last blog from South Africa and Botswana as tomorrow we are off to Thailand. Have any of you been there? Tim and Mrs Maynard are going to be doing some diving so of course I will be sure to get some more pictures and tell you know what we are doing.

Bye for now
Buster xx

Addo National Park

Before our final stop along the garden route was a National Park where lots of wild animals live. Although they are wild and free to walk around there is a big fence that goes around the edge meaning that the animals can't get hurt by cars.

We had a great afternoon driving ourselves around the park with just a map looking for any animals.
We saw lots and lots of elephants which was really fun and exciting as we got very close.

Because the animals are wild we were not allowed to get our the car. This was fine by me as the elephants where huge compared to me.

The Garden Route

We have now hired a car and are driving along a famous part of South Africa called the Garden Route. It's famous because it is a very pretty long drive. If you were to drive it in one go it would take about 10 hours which is the same I think if you drove from Virginia Water to Scotland. Fergus you have family in Scotland. How long does it take you? We took 6days which is nearly a week to drive it as we stopped off at some pretty towns and had some lovely walks along the beaches.

Along the route we saw some more whales and visited some wineries which is where they make wine. I wasn't allowed to try any wine as I'm too young so I stuck to water and juice. Mr Maynard and Tim had fun. Do you know what fruit wine is made from? Grapes. I learnt a lot about wine making while I was there.

One of my favourite day was when we visited a place called Tsitikamma. We did a very long walk here along the beach and saw some waves that left us all breathless. Some where so high that they would have been higher than your school. How crazy is that. I enjoyed sitting and watching them from a safe distance though. I was very tired at the end of the day as my legs are not as long as Mrs Maynard or Tim's. I slept very well that night.

Have any of you done surfing before? If so you would have really like a beach that we went to called Jeffery's bay. It is very famous for it's surf as the waves are perfect for surfing and body boarding.

I really wanted to have a go but because I still wear arms bands Mrs Maynard decided this probably wasn't a good idea. So Tim and I enjoyed writing in the sand.

That day Mrs Maynard seemed to really enjoy just sitting on the beach and watching the surfers in the water and instructors teach. I think maybe she was taking notes for when she next does it.

South Africa

So where do I start. I guess by telling you which country we are in.
We are in a country called South Africa. They use Rand over here as there money.  1 pound = 12 ZAR
The weather is like a warm English summer during the day but can get a little chilly in the evenings. Mrs Maynard always pops her scarf on to keep her warm.

There is a time difference of only 1 hour. When you start school at 9am in the morning it is 10am here.

Cape Town
We have been away now for just over a week and have been VERY busy. I thought we would spend our days eating ice creams, playing on the beach relaxing but oh no Mrs Maynard has Tim and I up early every morning and we don't get back to our room till late that afternoon. We are definitely making the most of our time here in Cape Town.

Mrs Maynard told me that Luke has been to South Africa. Did you visit Table Mountain Luke? Or has anybody else been there? If you look at the picture can you guess why it is called Table Mountain?
When the clouds roll over the top the South Africans call it 'The table cloth'. Isn't that a good way to describe it.

Table Mountain is Thousands of years old and very famous for being able to see some amazing views for the town and sea below.

We had a day visit to the southern most point of Africa. I know Mrs O'Connell has a map on the wall. Can you see it?
On the way to the point we stopped at a Botanical Gardens and saw some lovely South African Plants. Mrs Maynard said that it reminded her of when she went to Kew Gardens with you and Ms Peter's in Year 1.
We also saw some whales which I know Alex would have like because Mrs Maynard told me that you like whales Alex. Is that right?
They are very large indeed. 

Introduction

Hello there year 2,

Let me introduce myself. My name is Buster and I am cousins with Barny who I know you know very well.
I know that Barny and some of my other cousins like to go on holiday with you in the school breaks but I am a little bit more adventurous and so when Mrs O'Connell told me about Mrs Maynard's and her new husband Tim's adventure around the world I wasted no time at all in asking if she would mind me coming along for the ride.

I was over the moon when they agreed and said that I could come with them for the 6.5 month trip.

Mrs Maynard said that there was only one condition. I had to keep a diary and promise to keep you in Year 2 updated with our adventures and tell you about the sights and sounds that we are experiencing.

The easiest way I thought was to keep a Blog. Do you know what a blog is? Well, let me tell you. It is like a diary that I will write but instead of writing in a book I will type onto the computer which will mean that you at Trumps Green will be able to read my thoughts and see all my pictures in your classroom.
The Internet is a clever thing don't you agree?