Temples

There were so many temple here I could post a whole photo album and not cover them all, but here are a few of the highlights.

This is the temple at Abu Simbel, with the giant statures of king Ramses II. This wasn't initially on our itinerary, but we were instructed by our friends that it was a must see and it was really cool.

This one gives a little perspective on how large this temple really is.

This is another section of the Abu Simbel temple.

Here is the outer court of the temple of Isis.

The inner court of the temple of Isis. The columns and the carvings on the stone is really breathtaking.

A column at the temple at Kom Ombo. This one dedicated to the Crocodile god.

Another of the temple of Kom Ombo. This one shows a place where they would keep a crocodile caged up.

This picture shows how they would draw in red "ink" on the stone before carving. This one they didn't get to finish and erase the red.

Dave and a statue of the god Horus.

The temple of Queen Hatshepsut who ruled without a king, until her son took over and tried to erase everything she had built.

This was quite interesting it was a listing of different cities being presided over by king Ramses II.

You can't leave out the obelisks can you?

The temple of Karnak. The largest ancient temple in Egypt. 2800 meters away from the temple of Luxor, with a row of Sphinx's all the way from one to the other.

The wonderful temple of Luxor, with it's beautiful mosque right in the middle.

This one is not really one of the temple. It was taken while at the temple of Kom Ombo. I just thought it was a beautiful sunset on the Nile and wanted to capture it on the camera.

Hot Air Balloon

One thing we have wanted to do for quite some time is ride in a hot air balloon. Until now we either haven't had the time, or the place wasn't right. However there is not much of a better place to go in a balloon then in Kenya.

Early morning, pre-sunrise getting fired up. It was a little chilly in the morning but close to the burner was quite warm.

Both of us looking cool pre-flight.

Sunrise on the Mara!

Can you see right in the middle, the Giraffe? We were pretty high up at this point.

Some elephants roaming in the forest. Still pretty high. It was a little difficult to get the camera to focus. It took a couple of tries but I think we go some pretty good ones.

A lot of Zebras and Antelopes called Topi. Remember this was pre great migration time. I can only imagine what it is like during the migration.

I had to do the stretched out arm picture again, from the balloon with the beautiful Mara in the background.



The Pilot had a camera on a string so that he would be able to get a picture of all of us, I think it turned out pretty good.

A nice smooth landing.

Enjoying a wonderful time. We had breakfast and a game drive to compliment out balloon trip.

A nice glass of champagne by the rivers edge to toast a beautiful morning.

Fun with Pyramids

The Pyramids really are one of the true wonders of the world. Just the beauty and genius and sheer size created so long ago by some truly amazing people.

The step pyramid in Sakkara, really demonstrates the evolution of the pyramids. This beautifully preserved specimen, claimed to be the very first pyramid ever built.

The pyramid to the left is called the bent pyramid. This is where the builders started at an angle that would not support the entire weight of all the bricks and needed to change the angle midstream.

Truly a great pyramid. The great size and amount of blocks that went into building this pyramid is simply astounding.

Here is another angle where you can see all three of the great pyramids. This is from quite far away but in order to get all three in the picture it requires being far away.

A camel ride was quite interesting. Suzanne refused to get on the camel so she got to stand next to him.

View from the other side where you can see the great sphinx, another one of the amazing things to see here in Egypt.

Us and the sphinx! Way cool! Yes Eric I was wearing my hat again. In case you didn't know its really sunny in Egypt. You know the pyramids were a little easier to capture in the pictures, they don't move quite as fast as some of the animals :)

Maasai Mara

Following are just some samples of the animals that we saw on this trip. It is really awesome to see all the animals not caged up but just running free and natural.



No safari would be complete without the king! This guy and 4 of his buddies were staring down a Buffalo. We didn't see them actually chasing after him but it was obvious what they were after.



This guy would take more than just one Lion to take down but he could feed a whole pride for about a week if they got him.



Here is a family of Elephants trekking to their patch of forest for the evening. If you look closely you can see a 4 day old baby. we got several pictures of him hiding behind his mama.



This fella shares the waters with the Hippos. He is just slipping along waiting for his chance. The water was pretty low at the time so the Crocs were well exposed and the Zebras could tell where not to cross at this time.



The Hippos just basking in the sun and bathing in the water. They pretty much stick to themselves unless you try to get in their area of the water.



This was a very beautiful Impala looking out making sure nothing was coming his way. He is so perfect he looks almost like a statue.

A lone Wildebeest trotting along. The time that we went was several months away from the great migration time. This means that this guy and a couple others got separated from the herd, leaving them vulnerable to the many predators in the Mara.

A Hyena and a Vulture sparing over a piece of scraps left by the Lions. The Vulture was there first but the Hyena decided that the meal should be his.

Look at the little baby Zebra right in the middle. Since it was a few months before the great migration time, it was about time that the animals were having babies. We got to see several baby animals.

A picture just for Sydney! There were many Giraffes there. This was a big male with several more of his family walking with him. The pictures that we have with all of them they are walking away, this one is a better view of the animal.

A mama Cheetah teaching her two growing cubs how to hunt. The cubs came back empty handed but it was cool to watch them try.

A couple of Homosapiens. They are very elusive and hard to catch up with, but we found a couple of the good looking ones!

1475

The number of pictures that we took on this trip. I'll upload a lot of them eventually but that may mean that I'm blogging about this trip for quite a while.



This was at the temple of Isis. This was a beautiful temple on an isle. There were so many beautiful temples and relics. This was a really cool trip!

Society of the Performing Arts

Dance Teachers in Training



This year I have been working with SPAN, which is the Society of the Performing Arts of Nigeria. It is a nonprofit organization that uses tuition paid from the wealthier students as well as outside donations to fund programs in public schools and orphanages around Lagos. Before SPAN, there was no actual training in ballet, jazz, or ballroom dance in Nigeria. I started a teacher training program for young adults who are interested in becoming dance teachers for SPAN. We have been focusing on a ballet and jazz technique and choreography. They are nowhere near perfect but they have improved so much since the summer, especially since I am traveling pretty often out of Nigeria. Each of them has become a real friend to me and I am so thankful that I have gotten to know them.





Jazz class



I also teach several creative movement classes and regular ballet classes for kids. These are some of the little ones doing their butterfly dance. Josephine is one of my assistants and a member of the SPAN teacher training program. I don't have very many pics because I always get too caught up in their classes to remember to take pictures. I will post more later hopefully.

Visit to school and ophanage

This morning I joined one of my friends and we visited a local maternity clinic that is also a school/ orphange. The school is one of the organizations supported by the American Women's Club. I met the lady who runs the school- everyone calls her Mama Teresa. Apparently she inherited some property and uses the rent income to fund the clinic/school/orphanage. There is a section for babies and children whose mothers cannot care for them. When we were there we met a two day old baby girl whose mother could not keep her after having her in the clinic. She was so cute and slept the whole time we were there. Dave almost got a surprise to come home to tonight!



I taught them a few songs and dances. This was the older kids doing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." They seemed like they were having a great time.



They are doing some coloring. To donate, I took some children's books that I shipped for the purpose of giving them to people who would use them. The teachers were excited to recieve new books for the school.



Here are some of the younger kids. They are all between 2 and 4. I had so much fun with them and I will bring some music with me next time I visit to teach them some more dances. Most of the day they are crammed in a really small room so I think they really liked to get outside and move around.