INTERMISSION FROM OUR TRIP- Scott felt that we needed a few more pictures of Phinda and our safari. Since I have taken 1179 photos so far I thought I would bore you with just a few more. Probably because of the time of year, March, we saw many offspring. Even the kill we had the privilege (and luck) of seeing on our last game drive was of two 3 year old cheetahs trying, successfully, to take down a baby impala from a large herd...which I almost missed having seen 7 game drives, and thinking I had seen everything, and wanting to sleep in past 5am on our last day...fortunately, I didn't! Our suite with our own pool overlooking the savannah was heavenly. The last night they brought dinner to our room and surprised us with lovely candles, etc. We highly recommend Phinda game reserve rather than the popular Sengita Lodge a few hours away...we especially recommend Vlei Lodge and Room 4. We cannot imagine a better experience!

DETOUR - SCOTLAND TO PLAY GOLF AT ST. ANDREW'S-

Part of the fun of this trip is not to have everything scheduled. We had a window of 5-6 days before heading to Istanbul and we decided two to nothing to head off for some golf in Scotland. While Scotty and I were in the casino Scott organized a golf trip to Scotland with some great advice from Chuck Yash, a member of the R&A and friend from RSF. We found a treasure of a place to stay owned and run by Sir Peter Erskine and Lady Catherine called the Cambo House and were able to get onto the Old Course(through the lottery) in addition to two other days of magical golf. Every day called for rain all day and we had great weather in spite of the forecast. We have loved St. Andrew's, a beautiful college town where William and Catherine met and fell in love at school. The gardens at the Cambo House we explored today. Every tulip was in bloom. There are 1,200 acres here and we barely scratched the surface other than to check out the Kingsbarns Golf Course which is part of the property. By way of explanation, Scott is shown here having a Port Pipe for dessert(delicious Port in a glass pipe which is a principal which is the reverse of aerating wine before drinking), at our breakfast of free-range chicken eggs each morning ( table for 20 for just the two of us) and on the Old Course before we teed off and on the famous bridge on the 18th hole. Off to Edinburgh tomorrow, Paris, and then Istanbul on Tuesday. We will be sad to leave here. A great memory...

CARRY LE ROUET, PROVENCE, FRANCE

We arrived here the Saturday before Easter to Anne Navarra's villa overlooking the Mediterranean about 15 miles west of Marseille. Scotty arrived from San Diego on Sunday for the week and Julie and Jim arrived on Friday for the weekend. We toured all around Provence,  tasting wines, having picnics throughout the countryside and seeing the hilltop towns of Provence including Gordes, Avignon, Les Baux, Arles and Chateauneuf du Pape.  We visited the Abbey of Senanque where every Provence poster of Lavender is photographed.We also headed along the coast towards Monte Carlo, our ultimate destination. We stopped at Cannes for lunch, the hilltop city of Eze and a night at the Casino for Scotty! We enjoyed our week there while the Mistal winds blew and we wished for a bit warmer weather so we could enjoy the pool.

LAKE COMO-  ITALY was magical. Although we were quite early in the season we could see how captivating it was. We stopped at Villa d'Este to check it out and we very disappointed. Old, dated and very overpriced. Bellagio was charming but in the rain it lost some of its magic. We came up an amazing villa in the next town beyond Villa d'Este. Beautiful room right on Lake Como with in incredible restaurant that we ate at two nights in a row! (George Clooney frequents and we were hoping for a sighting). The food was fabulous and the best yet!

DURBAN- We visited one of four schools that Terry Rosenberg has started and which are run by a Mother Teresa-type woman who is beyond amazing named Meriam. Terry has funded 4 schools of these orphan children of aids parents and Meriam has made it happen day to day on the ground. She estimates that half of the children would be dead except for Terry's work. Five women were killed in the block of the school where we visited the day before we arrived for telling their tales of rape and incest that happen every day and night to these children. The school provides food which is essentially vegetables two times a week to these children who would otherwise starve and gives them an education...a chance to have a future...through elementary school.
Terry is making a differencc in Durham and South Africa.

We left for Europe on April 1st and flew to London to meet up with some friends we met on the Milford Track in New Zealand. We saw London on a beautiful sunny day. This guy was taking himself
much too seriously however!