Our long-awaited safari is finally underway. Another casualty of COVID and 2020, our trip to Southern Africa is finally underway! Flight delays in Las Vegas shortened what would have been an opportune layover in London, but after 10 hours in the air, we decided to spend the few hours we had in London rather than at Heathrow.
The Heathrow Express makes it easy: 15 minutes from the airport to Paddington station, and then a quick ride on the Tube to get around town. With our shortened layover we had to be selective. Maile recalled that Big Ben was surrounded by scaffolding the last time she was here and thought that would be a great place to start. First stop, Westminister.
Big Ben, without scaffolding
Like last time, we were unable to enter Westminister Abbey (which was already closed for the day). We did walk around it, and around the protesters calling for Boris Johnson to resign. Then back on the Tube to Tower Hill.
The Tower of London and Tower Bridge are quintessential London. Especially with the beautiful weather, we encountered, walking around the Tower and across the Bridge is uniquely London.
The Tower Bridge on a beautiful day in London
Its been a few years since Alex and Maile have been to London
We continued our walk along the Thames, back across the London Bridge, and onto Blackfriar’s Bridge. Blackfriars to Embankment on the Circle Line, transfer to Bakerloo, and back to Paddington Station where the Heathrow Express delivered us back to the airport, and to another delayed flight. Still, can’t complain. Enjoying the comfort of the Virgin Atlantic Club Room with a glass of wine while watching the sun set on an unusually beautiful day in London is a tolerable way to wait for our flight to South Africa.
Happy 16th birthday, Maile! After listening to (and singing along with) the Hamilton soundtrack for years, we decided it was time for her to see the play live on Broadway. This was the impetus for a birthday trip to New York. With Maile in charge, we saw things we wouldn’t have ever seen on our own. like The Color Factory.
Skeptical at first, turns out it was actually a lot of fun.
Of course, we had to go to the Statue of Liberty. The last time we brought our kids to New York I had Maile on my shoulders for most of our time at the Statue.
One of the best things about the Seychelles is the diversity. In addition to the main island group that is prominent in nearly every beach calendar ever made, there are a multitude of smaller “out islands” to explore. They can be quite different and unique. We chose Desroaches Island, where the Four Seasons has a resort. This small sandy island in no way resembles the green mountains and black granite boulders of Mahe, but it is equally beautiful in different ways. Our beach villa opend up on a pristine sand beach where we enjoyed one of the most spectacular sunsets ever, on our first night!
Our villa was amazing! Right on the beach with kayaks, SUP’s, and 4 bicycles to travel around the island. In addition to the beach, great diving, and the amenities of the Four Seasons, they have giant tortises on the island also.
Giant Aldabra trotise on Desroaches Island
The warm turquoise water of the Indian Ocean is not like any other. The beaches are unreal.
It took almost a year and a half to get here but we finally made it to the Seychelles. This trip was initiated, then postponed by the pandemic: in mid-2020, Qatar Airways offered two free round-trip tickets anywhere they flew to a few lucky “healthcare heroes”. I was lucky enough to secure these tickets and had planned a trip to the Seychelles in October 2020. Unfortunately, they had closed their borders by October and the tickets went to waste. Luckily, nearly a year later, Qatar Airways reached out and offered a “do-over” on this special promotion. This time we planned ahead, bought a couple of extra tickets, and, voila–Spring Break for the Bowles Family in the Seychelles!
Arriving in Mahe, we chose to stay at The Mango House, a new boutique hotel affiliated with the Hilton Brand. As it turns out, it was an excellent choice. Fantastic rooms, amazing views, great restaurants, and impeccable service.
A surprisingly nice weekend in November prompted a last-minute reservation at the Zion Lodge to hike the West Rim. It has been years since I hiked the 16-mile trail from Lava Point to the Grotto in the main canyon, and I couldn’t recall how long it took. The room at the lodge was just to ensure we had a way out of the canyon just in case the shuttle buses were no longer running when we finished. Days are much shorter this far into fall, and the possibility of hiking in the dark was a concern as well. As it turns out, the first day of daylight savings worked out in our favor. We took the 6 am Red Rock Shuttle and had plenty of light when we arrived at the trailhead at 7 am to start the hike without headlights. Making it into the park before the shuttle stopped running also was not a problem. While I read accounts online of the hike taking up to 12 hours, we completed it in just over 7 hours. A month earlier would have been ideal as all of the leaves on top had fallen, but there was still plenty of color in the canyon and a sunny 75-degree day in November was too good to pass up.
For fall break, we decided to return to Atlantis in the Bahamas. Our kids have always loved the place, and it makes a great destination for a long weekend. Now that the kids are older, I thought it would be a good time to take them diving with sharks. They have seen sharks in many places, but this would be different.
Relaxing in The Current.
Here, you can expect dozens of sharks being fed at a site called “the arena”. But first, Atlantis. The waterpark is great! Several exciting waterslides, with a “crazy river” surrounding them. We were joined by the Nyberg’s who arrived a day earlier. The weather was excellent and the resort was just starting to attract visitors after the COVID shut-down. Only two of the Atlantis towers were open, so the waterpark did not have any lines. Perfect!
The Royal Towers, Atlantis
I made my first shark dives nearly 30 years ago in the Bahamas with Stuart Cove. I knew he was still around, as I saw his name on some of the adventure options at Atlantis like “Walking with Sharks” in the Mayan Temple shark pool. Alex did this several years ago when he was too young to SCUBA dive. Diving with sharks in their ocean is much more appealing to me.
All 9 of us made the two-tank dive with Caribbean reef sharks, and for Ashlee Nyberg, it was her very first ocean dive. She was certified in a local lake just prior to this trip just so she could join us on the dive.
Diving with sharks in the Bahamas
Our first dive was free swimming on a wall and through a wreck. There were plenty of sharks around, both reef sharks and nurse sharks. Like Pavlovian dogs, they knew dinner was coming even though they were not being fed on this dive. Our second dive had us fixed on the bottom in a circle, waiting for the divemaster to arrive with dinner. The sharks were well accustomed to the ritual, and they followed him down from the boat to the arena. The divemaster and photographer were both wearing chain mail, not unexpectedly. In addition, Michelle, our photographer, was wearing a helmet! This was a first for me, seeing someone dive in a helmet, but it didn’t take long to see why. While the divemaster was feeding and focusing on the sharks, she was paying more attention to us, capturing some great photos and video and the sharks were inadvertently knocking her around in their struggle against each other to get to the food.
Feeding sharks at the Arena, New Providence Bahamas.
Skeptical at first, turns out it was actually a lot of fun.
