Christmas!

I have always loved christmastime, all the small things like decorating, planning ,candle lights,and listening to christmas carols. Only thing missing is the snow, I dont mind the darkness, but I would like to have a white landscape in front of me and feel the snow under my shoes...but Im happy as it is:)

All presents are wrapped and Santa Claus is coming tonight, we have a wonderful smell of christmas ham in the house, I had a 10kg ham in the oven over night and it turned out perfect and delicious:)

We are spending christmas at home, with sauna, dinner and family. Girls are so excited and it is enjoyable seeing how happy they are,running around the christmas tree, looking at the presents Santa Claus brought here last night while they where sleeping,and now they cant wait for the evening when he come back to hand them out ...:) makes me think of myself as a child.

I WISH YOU ALL LOVE, PEACE AND HAPPINESS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU,

Jannika

South African trip!

Im back home again after a amazing tour trough South Africa with a wonderful group. We started out in Cape Town, quite windy, but we managed to go up Table Mountain, visited Cape Point, did a tour to the townships, and spent a day in the winelands. After that we moved north and visited the Blyde River Canyon , Potholes, Moholoholo Animla Rehab Center and spent a few nights on safari at Honeyguide. I think everyone had a enjoyable time:)

Here follows a few pictures from our tour, enjoy:)

Picture taken from Signal Hill
Duiker Island just outside Houbt Bay,thousands of seals.
Houbt Bay taken from Chapmans Peak drive.
Cape Point
Winelands, Delheim wine estate.
On our way up to Tabe Mountain with the cable car.
View from Table Mountain
Our Township tour started in District Six,the years stands for historical happenings during apartheid years
Township, Langa
Township ,Langa
Township, children

We visited a school, here a pictures of a lady in my group who is a teacher meeting the lady who started a private school in the township to help children to get an education.
Children in school
We have moved north, a visit to the famous Blyde River Canyon.

Blyde River Canyon, Swadini Dam in the bottom.
Bourke Lock Potholes

Our visit to Moholoholo Rehab Center for animals, we got to meet a few of the animal ambassadors, here a cheetah. The Moholoholo rehab center started over 20 years ago and their work is very divers, all from helping animlas who got caught in snairs, to farmers calling to say they have a leopard on their property, to taking care of abandoned animals,sometimes they managed to introduce them back to the wild, otherwise they stay at Moholoholo and work as ambassadors for their species.
An 18 month old rhino.
Wild dogs

Leopard at Moholoholo
Or accommodation at Honeyguide
Elephant in must,quite agressive and did not like us very much, we entered his territory.
He chased us away so we had to reverse
We found lions with cubs
These giraffes where following the lions, because they wanted to make sure they where safe and if they got a chance they would kill the lions cubs, interesting to follow, at most there where 11 giraffs, all looking in same direction
Here hyenas have found the giraff the lions had killed the day before, it was their turn to eat, and after the hyenas the vulters cleaned up the rest, in just 2 days there was nothing left of the giraff.
Rhinos
A kind elephant:)
A rhino blocked our way

That was in short our tour.

Our flight home was delayed so after sitting 7 hours in the bus, we had to wait 3 more extra hours at Johannesburg airport, and of course we missed our connection flight in Frankfurt and had to wait 6 hours there too. Luckily I managed to find a cheap flight home to Vasa for the evening and after 36 hors of traveling I was finally home on sunday evening, to a white Vasa. I just hope the snow will stay now.

Take care and love to all of you.

Jannika

South Africa

A short update...the flight to SA went well, I actually slept some on the plane:) It was a great feeling getting off the plane and feel the sun on my skin...even if it was quite windy the first two days here in Cape Town. On friday we just did a short city tour, drove by Camps Bay, and yesterday we went to Cape Point, and also visited the African penguines. And today, a hot day, no wind, we started at 9am by going to the winelands, after a full day there we ended the day with a visit up Table Mountain, and to my suprise there where no ques when we came at 6pm,and it was nice a warm up on top( 1068m). It think everyone was tired by the time we got to the hotel. I still went to have a bite to eat at the new cafe/restaurant around the corner, cafe´Extrablatt, a nice place. Tomorrow is a new day starting early, we are going to the townships in the morning, but afternoon is free and I need to sort out a few things. Cant put any pictures in here now, only after the trip.

I will update soon again but for now I have to say goodnight and sleep tight:)

Love Jannika

Beautiful!

It feels good to be 40!

Have to share these wonderful drawings my girls made me for my birthday:)

Love Jannika

December on the doorstep

Hello everyone,

Sorry I havent written for ages, it just has not happened so much this month, maybe because November is such a quite and dark month...? But it is time for an update today:)

Last few weeks has been final planning for the tours, Im going on tour on thursday with a finnish group, we are first flying to Cape Town and spending 5 days there and then we are flying up to Johannesburg, driving further to Mpumlanga province, visiting the Blyde River Canyon, and of course spending some days on safari,and visiting the Moholoholo Animal Rehab Center,always a touching experince, I will have my camera close by all the time so I can update later with some nice pictures:)

Im also crossing the 40year line tomorrow, can´t understand where all these years have gone, especially the last 10 years, when I turned 30, same day I was sitting on a plane to Miami for some adventures out in the Caribbean, I worked on a ship for 6 months, a great time, met people from over 65 countries and, as I love traveling, I took every opportunity I had to explore places we visited..Cayman Island, different Ports in Mexico, at one place I swam with the Sting Rays,at one time the ship was on dry dock on one of the Caribbean Islands for a week and we went hiking around the Island for a few days, sleeping in tents on the beach..:) and I visited New York and Bermuda, hired a scooter and drove around in Bermuda....it was a great time of my life,and Im happy I got to experience it, as it is a great memory to have. Im actually looking forward going on a cruise one day when the girls are a bit bigger, and where else if not to the Caribean. And after the time on the ship I headed for South Africa and to make a long story short, there I stayed for over 4 years and started my company that I still have today.

And at 30 I had no children and not yet any plans to have any, and not a husband or plans to gte married,not even a place where I wanted to settle down( I had a suitcase I travelled around with:)... and now when turning 40 I have two most beautiful,wonderful girls and a loving husband, and a house that is my home.

Im also in the process of getting a new job, will update later when I know...tomorrow:)

Otherwise we have decorated a bit for christmas, last saturday I went for a christmas party with work collegues, it was a nice evening, good food, everyone dressed up and live music:)

The girls are very excited about christmas, and one just realizes how much the girls bring to the christmas atmosphere, to see them sing christmas songs,see the shine in their eyes when they plan what gifts Santa Claus shall bring them, makes me enjoy this time even more:)

To all and everyone, have a wonderful day and I will keep you better updated over the weeks to come!

Love Jannika

Dark November

At 4pm it was already dark outside, where is the snow to light up the darkness?Luckily November is almost half way trough, and it is soon time to start planning for X-mas:)

Today we have cleaned the house and trying to simplify our life by getting rid of a lot of extra things around us, and it feels so good to look around and one can see a result:)

On friday Nico and his friends went to town to watch Erik Amarillo, and we women and children had a chill evening with yoga, sauna and dinner, of course the children had their own program with dvds and snacks:) A very nice evening, thanks girls!:)

In about 3 weeks Im going to South Africa to do a tour, looking forward to that, and it is a bit exciting too, starting in Cape Town a few days and then we move up north for the safari part, it will be nice to be in the bush again and see the wild animals close up, to only be a few meters from an elephant or lion, that is for me Africa.

Also time to start buying x-mas gifts for the girls, I can see that they are getting excited, today when we cleaned the house Liina said `the house looks so nice, now I wont make a mess anymore so that Santa Claus can come to a clean house´:)

Another fun thing Liina said when we thought about what to by my dad `moffa´...she had seen an add on tv about smoking, where you just spray something in your mouth instead of smoking, she thought that was a brilliant idea , a way for moffa to start stopping smoking( her own words) and be healthy:)

Have a wonderful sunday!

Love, Jannika

Back again!

It is quite some time since I have updated my blogg, I have been busy working and organizing and have had some time to relax and enjoy also, like last friday we went to Strampen for the dinner&show with the rest of the group from our hill, 23 people, and we had a great time!

This week monday&tuesday I went to Helsinki for a course, and today Im again sitting here at home by the computer working.

In only 3 weeks time Im going to South Africa for 10 days with a group, will be nice to get a break from this grey and foggy weather and see some sun:) But this time I go without my family so it is a good thing Im busy everyday, then I dont get time to think how much I miss them. And then I will be home just before christmas again...havent been in Finland over christmas the last 3 years, so it is something we all look forward to..just waiting for the snow to fall soon too, Liina& Viivi cant wait to build a snowman,he is all designed in their mind already with hat and carrot and a scarf:).

To anyone who travels to South Africa this season and who has some extra time and would like to have a relaxing day, I can recommend a visit to Mangwanani African Spa, a treat for your body, soul and mind:)

Have a lovely week further on!

Jannika

Lady Line Open house!

Today I spent an enjoyable day helping out at Lady Line Gym on their open House day, it was nice to meet my old collegues, a busy but fun day, had time to catch up on many things with my friends!

In the evening our friends Kia,Nicke& little Kasper came to say hi, and I realized I havent seen Kia for over a year!! But that does not mean we havent spoken on the phone, but with us being away, and they being so busy, a year just past without seeing each other...scary how fast the time goes by.

Have wonderful saturday evening,maybe I still make trough a whole movie tonight:)

Love to you all!

Jannika

This and that!

Liina 5 years took a picture of me:)

Weekend has arrived, I feel like I have deserved a break now:) Today in short.. up at 4am, to work at 5am, busy day and back home...after an hour spent in the food store. I can feel the sleep behind my eyelids...but it is still a few hours until bedtime...I have Idols to watch tonight:) Yesterday was about the same, besides we went to the movies with the girls and watched Winnie the Pooh...I also enjoyed it with popcorn, of course:)

On my way to pick up the girls now, but before that I will share a few links, I have been comparing flights this week and here is a few sites worth looking into when booking a flight:

www.poptravel.fi , www.travelpartner.com, www.cheapflights.com, www.expedia.co.uk, www.ebookers.com,www.momondo.com......and there are many more, please share your favorite once:)

Have a great weekend all of you!

Love Jannika

This is africa!

Today I thought I just share a few pictures...enjoy:)

Botswana, Okavango Delta
Okavango Delta
Okavango Delta
Okavango Delta
Okavango Delta
Chobe River
Victoria Falls

Chobe River
Chobe River

Have a wonderful day!

Jannika

Train journeys

Hi everyone,

As I have had my hands full with work lately I havent had time to write as much as I wish, but today I got a good start, girls early at daycare( going for a trip to the forest) and Im about to have breakfast and work a bit with the tours, and write in my blogg and go jogging..and tonight watch the swedish Idols:)

Today Im going to write about train journeys trough south- and southern africa. This way of travelling part of the South African trip has become very popular, and no, we are not talking about a normal train trip where we get our seat and sit and watch out the window, with a break to the cafeteria( if there is any) , these train trips are an experience to remember, a dive into the past, every little detail in place, your own cabin, excursions, first class service.

There is a few to choose from, with different routes,rates and style.

We can start with the Shongololo Express

The Shongololo experience will take you for example on a 6 day tour along the famous Garden Route in south africa for about a 1000€/pp ,this tour has lodge/hotel overnights and different activities included in the tour, other journeys offered are the 16 day tour starting from Johannesburg, going trough Swaziland, Maputo, Kruger Park, various stops in Zimbabwe, including Great Zimbabwe, National parks, and then over to the Livingstone on the Zambian side, and to Chobe National Park on the Botswana side before tour comes to an end at the Victoria Falls . This 16 day tour costs about 4,500€-6000€/pp, depending of what accommodation category is chosen, as most nights are slept on the train, this tour also includes many different kind of activities like game drives,walk with lions, visit to rural school , victoria falls, markets....a long list with interesting activities, a full package.

Other tours offered are a 12 day tour starting from Johannesburg going into Namibia for a rate of 2,500-4,000€/pp, and a 12 day tour from Victoria Falls to Dar Es Salaam for a rate of 4,500-6,000€/pp, and then there is a 13 day extensive South African tour for 3,200-5000€/pp.

Another famous and luxurious train is Rovos Rail

It is said to be the most luxurious train in the world. Onboard this train you will step back in time. All accommodation is onboard the train, the service is 5 star,all meals and drinks are included,activities, and you have your own personal staff looking after you. And there is a dress codes, during day it is smart casual and for evening the minimum requirement is jacket&tie for men, so here ladies is the reason for you to pack down all the beautiful dresses of yours:). There is a large variety of tour to choose from, most popular being the 3 day tour from Pretoria to Cape Town, or the other way around. This tour costs about 1,300-2,600€/pp depending of accommodation category.

Other tours by Rovs Rail are 3 day tours from Pretoria to Vic Falls, or the other way around.

A great way to add Victoria Falls to your South African trip, tour costs 1,500-3,000€/pp.

Longer tours are a 7 day Pretoria to Namibian tour , 9 day golf packages tours, 14 day Cape Town to Dar Es Salaam.

And then there is the Blue Train

The Blue Train concentrates mainly on the route Cape Town-Pretoria-Cape Town. The rates in high season are between 1,500-2,100€/pp. Their journey takes 2 days. The same dressing code applies here as on Rovos Rail, it is a very luxurious train journey.

If you have any questions about train journeys in South Africa, please feel free to contact me and if you plan to make a booking, I will happily help you with all arrangements without any extra costs.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend and this time of the year it feels good to sit down and plan for future trips, even if just dreaming away. There is so many wonderful places in the world to see. If you have any great suggestions, please share them:)

Love,

Jannika