We're off to South Africa

Once again we're about to cross the equator and head to the southern hemisphere. A LONG flight from NYC to Johannesburg later today on South African Airways, then a connection to our first "port of call" - Cape Town. Total travel time before our head hits the pillow at our hotel is going to be about 24 hours.

We stopped first in New York for a couple of days. The weather here is like walking into a steam bath. Last night the skies opened up, lightning and thunder hammered the city, and rain came down in sheets (all while we were trying to get to a theatre). New Yorkers are very creative when it comes to rain gear - I never knew that trash bags could be worn so stylishly by so many people.

Despite the rigors of the long haul to SA, we should be in for a great time. It's winter down there, so we're prepared for some chilly days in Cape Town. Kinda like L.A. in winter - it's at the same latitude and with similar climate.























Cape Town is supposed to be one of the most picturesque cities in the world - Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope, V&A Waterfront, winelands. Lots more info and pictures to follow.

Here's a satellite map showing our itinerary: Microsoft Virtual Earth Map

Here's a cool interactive map of Cape Town: Map of Cape Town

Check out today's weather in Cape Town:

Riding our bikes along the beach

We've been trying to ride our bicycles for 15-25 miles along the South Bay Beach Bike Trail once or twice a week.

Last week we had a beautiful day (every day in SoCal is a beautiful day) and the scenery made for some great pictures. Here are a few of our pics:

Picasa Web Album from the beach

Preparing for the next expedition

It's been a while since our last post. We've been making preparations for our travels for the rest of 2006.

We head off to southern Africa at the end of June, going to South Africa, Zambia, and Botswana. We bought a couple of safari vests to hold our camera gear during our game drives/hikes. The vests make us look like dorks, but who cares? Taking along a lot of old khaki clothes as well. Do the animals really care what we look like?

It's going to be winter down there, so we expect something like LA's winter when we're in Cape Town and then cool, dry weather everywhere else.

The fellow from Southern Hemisphere Wines gave us some useful suggestions about wineries to visit in the Cape Town area and wines to order with meals while there.

In October, we're still planning to do a B&R bike trip thru Puglia, Italy and include a pre-trip for four days in Tuscany and a post-trip for two days in Rome. We've been bicycling along the South Bay beach trail for 20+ miles every week to keep our rear ends in shape.

Then in late November we're taking the kids to Peru for eight days and visiting Lima, Cusco, Arequipa (Colca Canyon), and Machu Picchu. First time the family will take a trip together since we went to Hawaii when the kids were still in high school.