3km race at UPLB

Fiona and Conor getting ready for the 3km couple race on the grounds of UPLB. This was Conor's first ever road race! Cillian and Hairy Molly ready to lend moral support!

The start was at Baker Hall, a building with a lot of history...

Cillian being thankful that he has a hat. It was a hot day!

First sight of our team!

 Easing past the slow-coaches...

On the final stretch, with the crowd (Cillian & HM) going wild!

 Finished!

Hardly a bead of sweat on the boy! Not sure about the girl though :)

Team Fiona/Conor showing off their 2nd place medals! Not bad for Conor's first road race!

Pandan Island, 23 Dec to 3 Jan

We spent Christmas and New Year on Pandan Island, just off the west coast of Mindoro in The Philippines.

Conor, Cillian and Fiona opening presents very early on Christmas morning. This is the porch of our beach hut and that's the sea in the background.

Another view of the porch, this time in daylight! Paul on daddy-duty trying to work out how to play the games :)

Conor and Cillian barefoot and on the way to breakfast.

Conor and Cillian reading in Conor's new camping hammock.

Our beach hut from the other side.

Fiona working very hard

The boys on the beach outside our beach hut building yet another sandcastle with friends. In the water behind, we snorkeled with turtles, stingrays, crocodile fish and loads of brilliant tropical fish.

Boys getting ready to go fishing - very early and so Cillian is still asleep

Conor fishing on a handine - looking very comfy!

The gang at the bar playing cards

Fiona in another hammock and reading a different book but still working very hard :)

 A view of the beach from the bar

 Moonrise over the little bay outside our house

 Sunset on Pandan Island - what a hard life

The dive boat speeding along on the way to Apo Reef where Conor did his first dive with sharks!

Conor and Fiona in a kayak on a circumnavigation of the island. It didn't take long.

Drinking Shirley Temples

A much appreciated Christmas present

Fiona, Conor and Cillian trying to take photos of themselves after a hard day snorkling with turtles.

Cillian channeling David Beckham with Fiona's hairband.

Blue Lagoons on New Years Eve!

Bushmanland

Our last stop on the trip was on the Namibia Botswana border in Bushmanland. This is an area with few tourists, poor roads and very little in the way of amenities, sounds brilliant!

 Our camp at Tsumkwe

Cillian looking very bush! Covered in sunscreen and wearing a very appropriate t-shirt...

Some of the smaller roads on our adventure were here...

...as were some of the prettiest spots...

...and Baobabs again! This is Conor and Fiona's favourite tree. The only place we found them, Namibia seems too dry for this fantastic tree.

These were everywhere though.

We found a Bushman village that also had a 'living  museum' thing going. Very similarly organised to the one in Damaraland, it was an interesting contrast.

Here they showed us how to make fire...

...how to make rope from plants, and then use it to make traps...

...they let us try...

... though Conor was the only one brave enough to give everything a go!

Their huts were very tiny

The hunting demonstration was the best, the bow string is extremely taut...

...you really don't need to pull it very far to fire the arrow. Conor did a great job of almost hitting the target. Fiona did a lousy job :))

They were a really nice bunch, very friendly

The road between Namibia and Botswana here is so little used that the border post is a small hut.

Another feature of Namibia was the lack of termite mounds, the wrong kind of soil I suppose. We eventually started to see them as we drove back through Botswana. This one was a biggie!

Back in Joburg at last. From the left, Fiona, Conor, Chantal, Paul, Cillian, Natasha, Philip, Renate.

Etosha

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Etosha National park in the north of Namibia. One of the oldest parks in Africa, and one of the largest. It doesn't have the variety of some of the other parks, but it does have large numbers of game.

Most of the wildlife viewing is done at the waterholes which are scattered around. The Impala here are of a type that doesn't occur elsewhere, they are called Black-faced Impala

Etosha Pan...Fiona and Conor getting a little morning exercise in the early morning chill...

... utterly featureless, surely this is the most desolate bit of Namibia, which has to be the most desolate place in the world. Conor and Fiona have decided this is where they are coming when the zombie outbreak happens...

Zebra giving each other big loves...

Is this my best side???

So many giraffe...

Cillian's happy at least!

We saw a lot of Lion. On every drive in fact.

Damara Dik-Dik, one of the smallest antelope in the world...

...and Gemsbok, one of the most beautiful.

Black-backed Jackal, Fiona's favourite

Kori Bustard, huge

Young Kudu males

Lion, feeding on a Gemsbok...

This Impala wandered past the feeding Lions, and only noticed the big fat male at the last moment. Luckily for her the Lion had eaten so much it couldn't move...

Also while the Lions were feeding this Black Rhino wandered up for a drink...

...and then walked straight past them in mid munch.

Springbok, very common

Blue Wildebeeste