In Kenya, we went on 2 safaris. They were amazing! We arrived in Nairobi at 4am. Once we were all rested, we went to see the city. We went up to the top of a very tall building and it had a good view of city. Next we went to the markets, which were very crowded. Locals were selling bracelets, necklaces, statues and paintings. 
The next day, was a lot of driving we took a five hour drive to Maasai Mara and went for an afternoon safari. On the safari, we saw plenty of zebras and wildebeest, 2 cheetahs and gazelles. We stayed in a tent kind of like the 2 we stayed at in Jordan. The next day, we had a full day safari and we saw cheetahs, lions, leopards, hyenas, giraffes, monkeys, warthogs and many more. Our drivers name was Cyrus. He was a great driver because he got us super close to the animals. Almost too close. We once were less then a 2 meters away from 2 cheetahs. It was so fun but really scary. We also got super close to a lion, and guess what was beside him? A dead wildebeest half eaten. Out of all that I think the scariest part was when our car got stuck. We were about 8 meters away from 6 lions, though. It felt so good to finally see a leopard. We had been trying to find one for so long. We were chasing them everywhere in Sri Lanka, but never saw one. For lunch, we had a picnic at the river. At the river, there were lots of hippos and crocodiles. That safari was amazing! Definitely a #1 highlight of the trip! The next day, we went back to Nairobi (5hrs) and then to Arusha, Tanzania (also 5hrs). We did SO MUCH DRIVING!!!
Ngorogoro Crater, Tanzania- by Anna
The Ngorogoro Crater was such a beautiful and unique experience. Our drive out to the crater took about three hours. When we entered the national park, we drove all the way up the sides of the crater. The road leading up was surrounded by forests and Baboons. The Baboons were crossing the road at randomly times so we stopped quite suddenly a couple times. The view from the top was beautiful even though there was fog. 
As we started our descent, we realized that it felt warmer inside the crater. Millions and millions of years ago, the crater was a volcano. The volcano collapsed and is now home to many different species of animals including the Big 5. The Big 5 are known as the five hardest animals to kill on foot. They are the lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino and the African elephant. It was an amazing day. We saw lions, buffalo, elephants, hippos, two white rhinos (from a far distance), tonnes of Impala (a type of deer) and lots of birds. 
At one point we watched an elephant walk up to a sleeping lion and the lion jumped up and ran away but the elephant charged after him. So much for the King of the jungle! After lunch, we kept driving around and finding more animals. The hippos were so fun to watch because every once in a while, a baby would try to climb on top of his mom. 
But the sad thing is that we found a dead baby hippo near the edge of the pond. 
A neat thing about the hippos is that they don’t swim they just walk through the water. At the end of the day we made our way back up to the top of the crater. The same question kept going through our heads. How did the animals get into the crater?
France – by Elise
When we arrived in Paris, the thing I was most excited to do was to see the Eiffel tower. I was waiting our whole trip to do that! I was so happy that we made it to Paris. We walked around the city and saw the Louvre, Notre Dam, and of course the Eiffel Tower and lots of museums. The one that I liked the most was the Picasso museum, it had some pritty cool paintings. OK, I said I really liked the Eiffel Tour but what is better is the baguettes with avocato, cheese, turkey and mustard. I LOVE BAGUETTES.
The most annoying part of the trip is the driving. The one that we did was seven hours!I hate those things. After the seven hour drive we were all so excited to meet our friends, especially because we were going to the World Cup women’s soccer game. We got our shirts that said Canada, a hat that said Canada, a bag that said Canada, a Canada tatoo and a Canada flag. We were so excited because we were playing against a team that was not as good as us.That team was called the netherlands, BUT we lost.
We arrived in Languedoc, wich is close to Provence. We stayed at a place that used to be a barn. It was buatiful and big but I got bitten by so many mosquitoes. It was so hot so we went to the river. We got to the river and I went cliff jumping. I’m going to tel you the things I engoyed, the river the ice cream the bike rides the kayaking the baguettes and seeing our friends. I REALLY LIKE LANGUEDOC.
The epic bike trip- by Anna
Our bike ride across 3 countries was a once in a lifetime experience. Throughout 4 days, we rode through Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. It was the most beautiful 4 days of my life. We rode through forests, mini towns, one big city and along the ocean. The first day was long. We started of the day with a very chaotic ride through Trieste, Italy, trying to get over the border into Slovenia. 
After entering Slovenia, the rest of the day went pretty smoothly besides a broken chain and finding out my mom had booked us a fancy hostel at the top of the mountain. 
What part of Hostel Panoramic View did she not understand? 
We started off the next morning with a nice ride down the mountain. It was beautiful day biking along the coast and crossing the border into beautiful Croatia. 
We ended the day with a huge downhill which was hard to enjoy because what comes down must come up. Once our huge hill was over with, Day 3 was ok. 
At one point I started to daydream on my bike and payed the price when I dove off the path on my bike and landed in a prickly bush. On the bright side, it was a soft landing considering we were riding along a cliff. I was covered in dots because of the swimmers itch I caught in France and now stripes because of the scratches. Just great. We ended the day climbing an actual mountain. The mountain on the first day almost seemed like a small hill compared to this monster. 
Our town was on the peak. It went well besides getting chased by mosquitoes. We will never forget that. On our final day, we climbed back down the mountain and then rode on a gravel path all the way to Porèc. At the end of our very tough bike ride, we were all so proud of each other. 
Finishing each day exhausted and dreading the next day, waking up early so we would be done before it got too hot, and each day the news of our accommodation being on the top of a mountain. Physically, it was the toughest thing I’d ever done. Besides it being tough, it was also one of the greatest things we’ve done. Altogether, the Parenzana trail was an amazing experience.
Paris part 2 – by Anna
Amelie bogged about our first two days in Paris and I’m blogging about the rest. Day 3 was spent at the Louvre Museum. It was so huge! We started off our visit at the Mona Lisa. On our way, we saw plenty of paintings from the French Revolution in 1789 and many religious paintings. When we entered the room with the Mona Lisa, we were all shocked because it was so small! When I thought of the Mona Lisa, I thought of it as a big painting but it was much smaller than I expected. It wasn’t very busy so we managed to get a selfie with her. 
After that, we walked down a very long hallway full of furniture from Louis XlV’s room. Don’t get me started on his bed, it was so luxurious. 
I thought that the kings looked quite funny in the paintings because of their wigs. When we were done with the French kings, we moved towards the Egyptian exhibition. We were all disappointed when we found out that section was closed for the day. On our way out, we stopped by the Venus de Milo. 
That night, we had a good dinner on the Champs D’Elysée, the most famous street in Paris. 
The next morning, we went to the Palais de Versailles. The palace was ruled by the King Louis’. We visited the palace and learned about the French Revolution. We did not end up visiting the beautiful gardens because they were closed. That night we went back to the Champs D’Elysée to do some shopping and to go up the Arc de Triomphe for a panoramic view of Paris. It really was spectacular.
On father’s day, we visited the Picasso Museum. Picasso drew and sculpted some amazing things and some that seemed too simple to be famous. After the museum, we went for a walk to the Sainte-Chapelle church. It is well known in Paris because of its beautiful stained glass windows. It was one of the most beautiful churches I’d ever seen. There wasn’t a single window without stained glass.
In the late afternoon, we went for a walk around a quaint neighbourhood and enjoyed ice cream. The weather was so hot! The next morning, we drove down to………..Provence!
Vilamoura- By Elise
Villamoura was very fun. We met our uncle in Lisbon and then went to Villamoura with him. He surprised us by opening the door to a bed room and our grand parents were there!!! I was super excited. So we went out for dinner with them. The next morning we went to the pool. Then at 1:00 pm we met up with our grand parents and went to the beach. Then that night we went to a restaurant with are grand parents. The next morning we rented 2 cars, one for our uncle and grand parents and one for us. The first stop was the beech with a boat tour that went thru caves. There was one view that is a famous view that is known from all over Portugal. Then we got off the boat at our stop and some of us went to a view and some of us stayed at the beech. After that, we went up a very big hill up to our car and drove to our next stop which is a town called Lagos and we walked around the town. Anna got flip flops because her old ones got taken by the river. Then we came across a book store and I got two books.
Ed Sheeran- By Elise
We were so lucky to get an ED SHEERAN ticket for Christmas. In Portugal we went
to the consert. The opening band was James Bay and I only new one of his songs. After, Ed Sheeran came on. By the way, we went to the concert with our uncle. Ed Sheeran osang: Photograph, Shape Of You, Perfect, Thinking Out Lowd, Eraser, l Don’t Care, Castle On The Hill and You Need Me Man I Don’t Need You and many more. There was so many people. The oncore was Shape Of You and You Need Me Man I Don’t Need You. He is on a world tour. I got a shirt and on the back it has all the cities he did concerts at.
Paris part1-by Amelie
Paris was definitely something on my bucket list. It was great! We were there for six nights, so we saw a lot of the city. We stayed in a great location in the middle of the city. The first morning, we walked along the Seine river. We also saw the Notre Dam witch was beautiful. We walked past the Louvre, Le Grand Palais and a lot of different buildings, palaces and museums. 
In the afternoon, we went to the Eiffel Tower. We went up to top floor and it had a beautiful view of the big city. 
After the Eiffel Tower, we went to the Champs D’Elysee (which is the shopping road in Paris, one of the most famous roads in the world). The next day, my dad had to work so we went to the Musée d’Orsay. The museum was full of pretty paintings and sculptures.
Later that day, we went to the Catacombs. The Catacombs are tunnels built underground for the bones of the graveyards, because there was no more room for the buildings of the city. We waited in a long, long line to get in. When we finally got to the front of the line, we went down a lot of stairs. We walked down a long underground tunnel and finally entered the room of bones. There were so many bones, which means there were so many people who died. Those first few days were amazing! Anna has blogged about the rest of the time in Paris.
Languedoc, France, part 1- by Anna
Languedoc was a nice break from travelling. One of the first things that we planned before starting our trip was our two weeks in Provence. At midnight, we arrived at La Grange, an old converted barn. The first two days were spent buying groceries and exploring the surrounding towns. We drove up to Reims on Friday to meet up with our friends, Mikaela,12, Emily,9, and their parents, Sara and Neils. We met up with them at the Canada vs Netherlands womens World Cup soccer game. We lost 1-2 but it was a really fun game. 
The next day, when we got back to our mini town called Vers Pont du Gard, we had a lovely dinner with our friends who were joining us for our time in Provence. Our town had less then 2000 people. There is a local bakery with delicious chocolate croissant that we would have for breakfast almost every day, a cute bar, a cafe, a magazine store, and a fresh produce market every two days. If we wanted something besides fruits and veggies, we would have to drive to the big supermarket 20 mins away. We were staying in a perfect location because we were about 45 min drive away from Avignon and 10 min drive away from Uzes. During our two weeks in Provence, it was record breaking hot! We spent lots of time cliff jumping in the river, surrounded by french teens toppless bathing. 
The frustrating thing about the river was that I got the swimmers itch. Now that sucked. While travelling, we eat out 90% of the time so it was nice to finally enjoy some homemade meals. 
We went on a bike ride one day but it was so hot that we decided not to do it again. 
Amelie is blogging about part 2.
San Sebastián-byAmelie
We only went to San Sebastián for the food. The food is different, but they serve it a different way too. You walk into the restaurants and the food is already there, like a buffet, but not quite. The food isn’t like a meal, it’s more like five bite snacks. They’re called tapas. The thing to do in San Sebastián is to go to a lot of different tapas places in one night. Our family was there for two nights, just to have a break of trains until we went to Paris. We would walk around half the day, then we would eat the other half of the day. The food was really good and the food culture was really interesting. There was a lot of sardines, anchovies and cheese, It was so fun!
One Family, One World, One Year 