A must bookmark, as mentioned previous times before – would be Susan’s site. Specifically written for Almaty is: http://kazakhadoptivefamilies.com/cities/almaty.html I promise you won’t regret a moment of time you spend researching and learning there.



During Max’s adoption, we were able to explore Almaty at the beginning and end of our adoption journey. We actually spent a little over a week in Almaty in April of 2001 with Max’s adoption. We returned to Almaty in 2004 for Logan’s adoption and could not begin to imagine the changes! The Almaty airport for one – it was really a very modern and nice airport. We vividly remember not thinking “much” of Almaty – until we sent time in Semey, which had chuck holes the size of cars and really not much to explore or do. So upon our return – we bought a stroller and had some fun at the ZUM store and the RAM Store.

A little history about Almaty, it was at one point the Capital of Kazakhstan 1929 – 1991. The city was founded in 1854 – but not named Almaty till 1921. Its name means the “Father of Apples”. Its history had many earthquakes and mud slides – improvements were made to prevent this from occurring as often.

I highly recommend if you are in the process of adopting a child from Almaty or are home with your child(ren) – that if you haven’t already done so – join the regional Yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Almaty_adopt/ - it provides a way for families to network and keep their children’s heritage alive.

One of the sites that Susan also mentions and is a must book mark is http://expat.nursat.kz/ - on the left hand side of the site, you will see So you in Almaty – on the top of that page- you’ll be able to click on a map! The internet and phone service link is also helpful.