Ayaan starts sharing his perspective when he was 9 years old and as we journeyed across 11 countries in 2024

CABO

On Sunday my parents told me I had to shower because we were going somewhere, but it wasn’t that clear and the clue they gave me was that it is in the direction of the mall we went to yesterday when we went to our friend’s house. So, I hoped in the car and started going. I I asked the driver where we were going, and he didn’t tell me. Then he said “terminal 1 right” to my parents so I knew it was the airport. First, I thought we were going to SFO but then I saw the Richmond bridge sign and I realized it was OAK – Oakland airport, not SFO. Then when we got to the airport, they tricked me into thinking that we were going to San Jose to watch the Earthquakes soccer team play (the boarding pass said “SJD”). But when I got in the plane and heard the pilot announce the flight time which was 2 hours 45 minutes, I realized it was actually San Jose Cabo. Then I found out why we didn’t drive. I was very excited, and Ari was happy because her friend Astrid was also in Cabo at the same time as us.

 When we landed, we rented a ford SUV and went for our 3-hour drive to our hotel and on the way, we were going to stop for dinner at The Green Room. Me and Ari liked The Green Room a lot because me there was a fun beach I could play in where I got soaked and for Ari, she was playing Gymnastics. I ate a fish ceviche and my parents ate fish tacos. Then we got back on the road for our 1 and a half hour drive, and we reached the Courtyard by Marriott. Then we got our room and went to sleep.

In the morning we went to the famous beach the water was really calm. For lunch we went to the rough beach and ate lunch – it was very windy. Then we went to another beach, last we went to our hotel and went to the pool. The pool was really warm even though it wasn’t heated. Then we went next day we were going to the JW Marriott which I was really excited about. On the way we stopped for street tacos.

What a great surprise! I wrote this note to my mom on the flight back.

South Africa

We arrived in South Africa on Air Seychelles. Then we went to rent a car, and we got a free upgrade to a bigger car because we were driving in Kruger National Park. Then we went off to our six hour drive to our next hotel, Kruger Gate Hotel. On the way, we stopped for gas and we saw 5 white rhinos with zebras and gazelles. After we saw that we went to our hotel. The sun set at 5:15pm and we were still 1 hour away so we had to drive in the dark and my dad was getting worried, but after six hours of driving we reached and went to have dinner. The dinner was nice with heat lamps and a big fire but it was still cold. We slept early because we were tired and had to wake up at 5:00 am the next day.

The second day we went out to the game drive. Our first animal we saw was a hippopotamus fully outside of the water. Second was a a bird. Third was a warthog (my favorite animal, I was very excited to see it). We also saw gazelles, impalas, zebras, baboons, buffalos, giraffes and a crocodile. After that we went back to our hotel and went to the pool for a little bit; we saw a white rhino there. Then we played mini golf and tennis. After that we watched the sunset and went for dinner where we were the first ones in we got a really nice seat right next to the fire.

The next day we were driving to our next hotel. We decided to drive through the park. Right when we entered the park we saw to giraffes that were 2 feet away from us. Then we drove for a few hours and found a a lion eating a giraffe kill. After that we went out of the park to a private reserve where our hotel was. On the way we saw an elephant. Then we reached our hotel which was a Luxury Tented Camp called Honey Guide. Then we went to lunch and our next game drive. Where we saw some animals and a beautiful sunset. On the way back we saw 4 lions – 3 females 1 male walking towards us.

Seychelles

We arrived in Seychelles and rented a car which was really tiny. After that we drove 20 minutes to our hotel Marriott Laila. Then we dropped our bags and went for dinner on the beach across our hotel it had a DJ. After that my dad had an interview. In the morning we went to a botanical gardens where there were really big Tortoises.

After we went to a 1 hour hike (roughly 1 mile two kilometers) and came to a really nice beach with a lunch spot. We ate lunch there. After that I realized it became high tide so I went to check on my shoes and luckily I found them laying in the lagoon with Ariana’s crocs and hat I also found mommy’s slippers but daddy’s I sadly couldn’t find so we all tried to find it. We took a long time to find it but we finally did. We were all so happy and went back in the water. After spending 3 hour there we started our walk back and went to the hotel and had dinner.

The next morning we returned the car and took a boat to our next to hotel the Hilton. When we reached we got a tour after the island and went to the pool while Ariana went to the kids club. Then we went to shower and go to dinner. At dinner I had fish. The next morning we went to eat breakfast and Ariana went to the kids club while we went to the pool at lunch Ariana came to the pool for a little bit. We went to the beach played in the waves. Then we went to shower. And went to dinner where there was a museum up so we went because we were a little early. It was a local food restaurant.

Kenya

In the morning on Ari’s birthday we woke up and went to breakfast. At breakfast there was a surprise cake that came. After that we were ready for our 5 hour drive to Masi Mara. When we were leaving we wanted to go to the orphanage so we went while daddy stayed at the lobby waiting for the driver. At the orphanage we sang happy birthday to Ariana and got a tour of the orphanage (Ariana got a fresh cucumber from the garden). Then daddy came to the orphanage because the driver was not there (he was late). Then he finally came and we got on the road. After a little bit we were on a gravel road and there were a lot of kids. I had some beach balls in the car that we bought for donating. There were 4 I decided to throw them out the window to the kids. That was really fun for me throwing out the balls and kids felling very happy.

Then we reached our third hotel where we found a humongous black spider. We asked for a different room and it was newer we liked it a little more. Then we went to our first game drive in Masai Mara we saw a little of cool animals including two lions playing together.

Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok on Scoot. We had a 45 minute drive to our hotel, the Marriott Marquis. Check-in was at the lounge which was very nice. After the lounge we  went to our room where there was a surprise waiting for Ariana – it was her birthday! There were balloons and they gave a cake and they painted on the mirror. After that we went to Asiatique which was a really fun place with a lot of rides including a Ferris wheel, a haunted house,  a Carousel and on the way out we found a VR that we did. Then we took a Tuk Tuk to Chinatown where we had dinner. We also had coconut pancakes.Then we took another Tuk Tuk back to our hotel. In the morning, we realized we lost our malaria medicine so we spent half our day going to find it then we finally found it. After we got it we went back to the hotel while daddy went to get a haircut. We did a golf simulator. After that we went to get a foot massage. Then we played a little soccer simulator. After that we took a taxi to the airport to take our flight to Kenya.

While we were checking in our bag, I saw that our flight was delayed to 2:30 when it was supposed to takeoff at 1:30 AM. Than we passed through security and went to a lounge After a little bit in the lounge I realized our flight got delayed even more. So we waited in the lounge most of us went to sleep. Then we went to the flight and got in the air.

Indonesia

We were going to Bali in Indonesia on air Asia  On the way we stopped in Malaysia. After that, we went on our flight to Bali. When we reached, me mama and Ari took a car to the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Bali. While my dad stayed at the airport to wait for big dada and dadi. We stayed at the hotel for 4 nights.It was a nice hotel. It had a kids club and a really big pool. After we went to Sunny Sun Villa and we stayed there for 3 nights. On the way we went to a monkey forest and saw a lot of monkeys

It was really cool seeing all the monkeys. After that we drove to the hotel. Then we ate dinner and went to a show. The next day we woke up and my parents planned a surprise for me and I was hoping it was good and it was it was ATVing. I was really happy! We checked in and got ready then it was time to get on. I was excited. I was ready to drive. Then we started moving after a little bit then we went in a river. We got wet and muddy after we drove on circles for a few times and then we went out and drove and land for a few minutes and then we went back in another river that was really deep. After we went out. We were really wet then we drove to a resting area and we ate some ice cream there. Then we went back to the lodge. and went to the  pool. Then we drove to our hotel when we reached we took a break for a few hours. Then Ari big dada and dadi came to the hotel. After we went to the pool and showered than we got in the car and went to dinner. I was really happy when I saw that we were eating dinner on the water with fish under us. After we were down we took a grab back to our hotel went to sleep.

In the morning we went to breakfast next to the Four Seasons. After we took our car to the rice fields. Our family went to the rice fields and walked on it while big dada and dadi stayed in the car. After that we took our car to we went to Mount Batur and had lunch there. Than we went the the hotel and showered. Than we got back in the car and went to dinner – it was a long line of traffic so we just got off at an Italian place and ate dinner there. After we ate we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

In the morning we were ready to go to gili. Big dada and dadi went back home to India at 8:00 and our boat was at 1:00 but we left at 10:00 after they left we went to the pool and showered. Than we got in the boat and headed to Gili.