Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tanzania


Sorry it has taken a long time to write this, but we have been very busy. 

The last country we visited on the tour was Tanzania. Tanzania is not as poor as some of the countries we have been to. A lot of people from all over the world go to Tanzania every year. This is because there are lots of different things to see and do there. There are huge game parks with lots of animals. There is the highest mountain in Africa, called Mount Kilimanjaro, which is nearly 6000 metres high. It is so high that it has snow on the top all year. And there are also beautiful islands with lots of beaches.
The island that we went to is called Zanzibar. It is a very beautiful place and has white sandy beaches. The ocean is warm and clear like a swimming pool. A lot of people here are fishermen so there are lots of boats that go fishing every day. We went scuba diving here and saw lots and lots of pretty fish. We also saw an octopus, a stingray and some moray eels. And on the boat back to the beach we were very lucky and saw lots of dolphins playing in the waves.
At the end of our trip we went to two huge game parks called Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. Game parks are habitats where the animals are safe and people look after them. In Africa, many animals like elephants, rhinos and lions have been killed because people think they make their homes look beautiful. They use the skins of the animals or the tusks of the elephant to decorate their homes. We think the animals look a lot more beautiful alive in the wild. Game parks help to stop bad men killing these animals. Ngorongoro Crater is a very old volcano that does not erupt any more. There is lots of water for animals to drink and grass for the herbivores to eat. In these game parks we saw lions, elephants, hyenas, buffaloes, wildebeest, zebras and many more animals. And on our last day we were very lucky and saw a leopard sitting in a tree. It had killed a wildebeest and carried it into the tree to eat. After eating and taking the wildebeest up into the tree it was very tired, so it was resting.
This is T. Nick writing for the first time. T. Tanya is better than me at writing. I hope you are all enjoying the new school year and working hard. We are now in South Africa and the football World Cup has finished. We will write about South Africa soon and tell you about this amazing country.

If you want to write to us, click on the 'comments' link below. Write your comment in the pop-up box and then click on 'Name/URL'. Write your name in the small box. Next you click on the orange rectangle 'Publish your comment".
Take care,
T. Nick


Sunday, July 18, 2010

Malawi...


Sorry it has been so long for me to write on here. It has been very difficult to get on the internet. I hope you are all well and enjoying school.

Malawi... Malawi is one of the smallest countries in Africa. It has a lot of people for such a small country. There is a really really big lake in Malawi. This lake is so big it takes up half of the country. It is called Lake Nyassa.

We went to a beach on the lake. We went swimming in the lake. It had waves but it was quite warm. We were told there were crocodiles in some places on the lake. We also went scuba diving in the lake. There were not many fish, but there was an old car under the water. You can sit in the car and open the front of the car.

One of the days in Malawi Nick and I went for a horse ride. We went for 2 hours. We rode up into the hills, then through villages, along the beach and then we went into the lake on the horses for a swim.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, but the people are some of the friendliest people in the world. It is a very beautiful country. You can do many adventure sports.

Please write to us and let us know how school is going in Bangkok.

If you want to write to us, click on the 'comments' link below. Write your comment in the pop-up box and then click on 'Name/URL'. Write your name in the small box. Next you click on the orange rectangle 'Publish your comment".

Take care,
Tanya

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Zambia


Welcome to Zambia...

We have now finished half of our bus ride across the continent of Africa. We are in Zambia. There are about 11 million people here. Life expectancy is quite low, people die at about 40 years old here. People live a lot longer in Thailand. Zambia is the same as many other places in Africa and the people are very poor. It is quite expensive to be on holiday here though. Taxis and food are a lot more expensive than in Thailand.

Zambia has one of the most famous waterfalls in the world. It is called Victoria falls. It is one of the biggest waterfalls in the world and is really beautiful. We walked next to it and there was so much water coming down the waterfall that it was like standing outside in heavy rain. We got really really wet.


In Zambia we went to South Lawangwa Game Park. This was the best place we have been to see animals. We still did not find Lion king, but we saw a really tiny baby elephant. The one bad thing about the park was that we had to drive for 6 hours on a really bumpy road. Our bus bounced up and down so much that it started to break and fall apart. Now we have many problems with the bus and it keeps stopping.

If you want to write to us, click on the 'comments' link below. Write your comment in the pop-up box and then click on 'Name/URL'. Write your name in the small box. Next you click on the orange rectangle 'Publish your comment".
Take care,
Tanya

Botswana


We left Namibia and drove into Botswana. Botswana is another big country with not many people living there. It is not as big as Namibia, but it is a lot bigger that Thailand. Botswana is one of the best places in the world to find diamonds. Out of all the countries in Africa Botswana has quite a lot of money. Many of the people still live in houses made out of mud and grass though, many people are still quite poor.

Botswana is a very good place to see animals. We went to the Okavango Delta. This is a place where a big river goes into the desert. There is lots and lots of water everywhere. We got into small boats made from the trunk of a tree and went 3 hours into the middle of the water. There were small islands everywhere. We saw wild elephants on some of the islands. We slept in tents on one of the islands. There were no toilets, no fresh water, and had to cook our food over a small fire. Elephants were about 20 metres away on our island. They were quite scary but did not walk to where we were. At night we could hear hippos walking around the tents. Hippos are the most dangerous animal in Africa. They kill more people than al of the lions, leopards and cheetahs. They get very angry!! There were also crocodiles in the water nearby.

We went to Chobe National Park. This is a big place where lots of wild animals are. We saw giraffes, hippos, and baby elephants playing in the water. We even got to see 5 baby lion cubs. I don't think any of them was the 'Lion King' though.

The pictures are not from my camera, I cannot put any on the internet yet. When we get home I will put some pictures up.

If you want to write to us, click on the 'comments' link below. Write your comment in the pop-up box and then click on 'Name/URL'. Write your name in the small box. Next you click on the orange rectangle 'Publish your comment".
Take care,
Tanya

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Africa...

Namibia

When we got to Africa we went first to Cape Town. This is the capital city of South Africa. We stayed there for 3 days before we met the people we were going on the tour with. We are going 11,000 kilometres across Africa on a big bus. The bus only has 16 seats on it. It is very big, very strong, and very slow! There is a lot of space to move around. In the bus we keep all the tents and kitchen things we need to eat. We have a driver, a cook, and a guide to tell us about all the things we see. I am one of the youngest people on the trip.

The first country we went to on the trip is Namibia. Namibia is a enormous country. It is nearly as big as all the countries in Europe put together. It is a big country but there are less than 2 million people living there. There are over 10 million living in Bangkok, and it is tiny next to Namibia.

Driving through Namibia in the bus is really hot. A lot of it is desert. Sometime we would not see a person, house or car for about 3 hours. Some places only get rain one time every 20 years. We went to climb some red sand dunes to look at the sunrise. It is a really beautiful place.

We went to Etosha Game Park and saw lots of animals. There were lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, wildebeest and zebras. We even got to see a lion hunt and chase zebras. We also went to a house that had pet cheetahs. We got to stroke and play with the cheetahs. Then we got to see wild cheetahs being fed. They ate small pieces of donkey.

I will put more pictures up for you to see soon. I hope you are all safe and getting ready for school.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Home....

We have been back in England for about 2 weeks. It is very different from Thailand. It is Spring here now, so the first leaves and buds are growing on the trees, but many of the trees have no leaves on. It rains a lot. We even had snow for a few days. It has been very cold. In Thailand it is about 34-36 degrees. In England it is about 10-18 degrees.

While we have been at home we have been spending a lot of time with our families. My house is about 20 minutes drive in a car from Nick's house, so it is easy for us to see our families a lot. We have also taken the train down to London to see some friends there.

Today we are waiting for some friends to fly to England to see us. Teacher Nigel (the old sport teacher) was coming to see us. Our friends can not get here because we have a big cloud of smoke, ash and rocks high in the sky over England. It has blown on the wind from a big volcano in Iceland and it is stopping all the planes from flying. If a plane flies into the ash, it can make the plane engine stop.

We are getting ready to go to Africa. We go in 2 days. All our clothes are ready. We have had to buy many medicines because it is easy to get sick in Africa. I am very excited but also a little bit nervous. We are going to see lots of amazing places, people and animals. We are also going to jump out of a plane, this is what I am most nervous about...everybody knows I hate flying, and I have to go on a really small plane!!

We miss Thailand a lot, and have been worried about all our friends there. There is a lot of trouble in Thailand because of the red shirts. We hope everyone is ok. We miss our friends and all our students. I also really miss the food!! Food is quite different here.

Here are some pictures from our time at home.

Dogs, horses and cows from the farm, birds and lambs from the lake district.


























Pictures of the farm where I live.

















Some views from the walks we did.



























If you want to write to us, click on the 'comments' link below. Write your comment in the pop-up box and then click on 'Name/URL'. Write your name in the small box. Next you click on the orange rectangle 'Publish your comment".
Take care,
Tanya

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Our students...

Nick and I have been working at Bangkok Christian College for 3 years. We have taught many students. They have given us lots of good memories. Here are just a few of the people we will remember for a long time.

Grade 1
























Grade 2












Grade 3