beentouring's Guestbook

School discipline
I sometimes wonder if tourists set back schooling everywhere they go! In Guatemala I visited a school with one of my instructors and the kids were just as you described: squirrelly. I liked the story of your interaction with the vegetable gardener - it makes me wonder about the ripples from that one encounter. We meet folks in other countries, but my contacts with tourists in Canada are few and far between, even though I live in a tourist destination.

Fantastic
Love this shot.

Lots of little (yellow!) birds
A great video - I think I can get my leg as high as my knee. The girls seemed shy, as teenagers can be anywhere, at least with strangers. I was surprised to see that dinner included Vietnamese soup. Was that special for the tour, or is food in South Africa as cosmopolitan as in North America?

Various
That's a pretty tidy mall! Downright clean. And are those red flowers tulips? As for Happiness Hill, it's probably a good general rule that if they name things cheerily, there's something wrong with them. Just think, "Greenland."

Astounding Southern Africa
Great blog, so interesting I want to go there! thanks for this history blog!

Wow!
You got some great shots - lovely light and composition. Of course the baby vervet is the cutest, but the enthusiastic zebra is wonderful too. And the rhino at sunset is striking. Nivel done. My only complaint is that I could have lived without knowing how big inchworms can be.

Estuaries are grand!
As are your photos! I especially like the kingfisher - clearly recognizable as being in that family, yet so different from the ones here - and the croc and the hippos. It almost entices me . . .

Questions
I wonder how gracious I would be with foreigners, answering questions about how I live and what I believe. I fear not very - just trying to explain our health care or parliamentary systems to Americans can be exhausting! By contrast, Justice seemed entirely calm and patient - he knows what he believes, maybe? And his hurry to make the weaving OK so as not to attract his mother's "wrath" was cute, too - family relationships vary, of course, but similar elements can be recognized not just family to family but across cultures, too.

Great shots!
That's one funky cardinal! And the impalas in the video are so graceful, picking their way and leaping/landing lightly. Quite an experience to actually see it!

Easy things and being tired
I laughed when I saw your comment about it being easy to grind (slightly pre-ground) corn - for a one-minute shift! Yes, our lives have their challenges, but not so many physical ones. As for being tired every evening while travelling in a new place - yes! Whether it's from assimilating new experiences or making decisions I'm not usually called on to make, I need a vacation after I get home from my trips.