Roaming Brood

The Dead Sea, from the highway- dat's a salty a meat-a-ball-a!! The airport in Amman isn't actually in Amman - it's much closer to Madaba.  Madaba isn't a town you hear a ton about - akin to Rimouski, Cornwall or Kelowna for Canadians.  Coming from the Maldives, it seemed like a perfect place to acclimatize for our family.  We had planned a 16-day leg in Jordan. The kids getting organized in Madaba... notice Parker's prized new scarf and everyone's focus on COVID-19 We rented an AirBNB close to downtown and made our way there at 11pm on our first night in Jordan - we were tired.  I could tell, even from the late night drive in, that we were going to like Jordan - drivers were respectful, signage was good (in Arabic and English), lighting was adequate and the air wasn't thick with smog. Passed out in the car on the way to Madaba from the airport   We took a drive first thing the next morning to get our bearings and fetch some breakfast... ...

We traveled from the Maldives to Jordan on March 7th, 2020.  We were welcomed so warmly by the Jordanian people and have some wonderful stories and beautiful pictures to share so stay tuned. The Monastery at Petra Camel-riding in the Wadi Rum Desert As the Western World started to strengthen its response to COVID-19, we had to make some quick decisions.  Our initial plan was to fly from Jordan to Paris on March 23rd, 2020 to begin our 3-month European roadtrip.  We knew this was no longer a feasible plan. We stayed ahead of the game, trusted our gut and navigated crashing airline websites, credit card fraud, overbooked flights, airport riots/protests and hotel lockdowns to bring our brood home. We arrived home to Canada just as Jordan closed its borders and canceled all flights in/out of the country.  The process of getting home was very stressful - we have never been more under the gun in our lives.  Read through the section below to put your...

It is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been The marine life is thriving Coral bleaching is evident but for the first time ever, we did see some brightly-coloured coral Maldivians follow the Finnish curriculum and all high school students complete the British system exit exam There is so much plastic visible in and on the ocean...so sad People are friendly Lots of plastic waste washes up on shore The weather is always the same.  June and July have a bit more rain but even this is spotty Thoddoo garbage is burned on the island  Big conical shells in the ocean have creatures that are poisonous Male garbage is sent to an uninhabited island and burned There is no recycling in the Maldives Maldivians are proud people Fish is so so fresh We saw the largest bats ever.  They looked like hawks and we saw them during the day! Cars drive on the left side of the road Dhivehi is the main language and is a unique language that is a combination of North Afri...