Oct 31
Well Happy Anniversary to me. Today would be my 17th year on Bonaire.
This morning was not a good one. I woke up with running. Literally running as fast as I could to the potty. I can honestly say this morning that I was thrilled to have the potty. I took drugs straight away as this is no place for this mess. Thank god for cipro and pepto. I was actually looking for me imodium but could not find it and decided that if I had a bug the cipro would take care of it.
Needless to say I did not get much sleep again last night. This morning was a beautiful morning. The sun is shining and I feel great. In case I have not mentioned it..........this trek is really easy compared to most of the climbs I have done. I am quite suprised.
Good news for me. My guide is heading back down. I will be with the assistant guide now. Of course just as he was leaving he needed to bring up the tip one more time. UGH!!!!!! GO HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
My new guide does not speak much English and my Swhaili is not great either. We head off at 7:30. We go for an hr and then stop for water. It has cooled off a bit. I needed to add a layer of clothing. Not 5 mins later we need to put on our rain gear. It is pouring rain today. I am pretty warm and I have on my woolen gloves for my hands. I am shocked to see just how warm woolen gloves can keep you when they are soaken wet.
AT 11:30 we reached what is called Luna tower. This is meant to be our lunch spot but it is still pouring rain. My guide has hot tea with him. We each take 2 cups and call it. We go back to trekking. No point in eating as we are only going to cool off and our food will get soaked as well. I think this spot is amazing but I cannot see it well.
Ok............nobody but nobody told me that we were to descend down the faxe of a friggin waterfall. Some of you know me to be a clutz. Well, climbing down rocks covered with water and algae is not a good palce for me. I knew I could do it but needed to go slow and be extra careful not to slip. Yes, it is still pouring rain. I was also wondering if my boots were really water proof. This was the way to find out. Thank god for gortex. My feet totally remained dry.
Anyway, down we go. It now starts to hail as well. It rains and hails one more time just for good measure. I am sure that the terraine is amazing but I can only see my feet and what is under it. I go from being scared to death that I will fall and/or break an ankle to a walk in the park. As soon as we get off the waterfall face then the path smooths out. Once I get into that we have more rocks. I am actually very proud of myself. I have never done this type of terraine so easily. Maybe I am getting better balance after all. I am also without my glasses as they are so covered with water that I can see better without them than I can with them.
The rain lets up for awhile so I say...let's take a rest and eat. My guide says "OK". Then he say.......but we are only about 15 mins away from the camp. WHAT!!!!!!!!!! I of course had no idea. I was thinking we had at least 1 - 2 hrs to go. I took this oppertunity to take a few photo's as it looked like it was going to start to rain again any minute.
We arrive camp at 1:30. The porters (now 3 of them) were there already and had my tent up. I had my hot water wash, tea and popcorn waiting for me. It has stopped raining so I decide to get my tent ready. It is a good thing that I am alone today as I spread all of my stuff out. The tent actually had a leak last night so I wanted to try out my sleeping bag and mat. As I do this the rain starts again. Great time to pick up my book and read. I hope and pray for better weather over the next two days.
We are at Barranco camp tonight. Not sure of the altitude but it is close to 4000m.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006
Oct 30
This is the second day on Mt. Kilimanjaro. My guide is still harrassing me. I am done with him already. Just so you know what he was expecting.......$15 a day for the guide.......for 6 days is $80. The porters are expecting $7 a day each. There are 5 of them for 6 days.....that is $210. In total it would cost me $300 in tips alone. Now I know how hard they work but I do not have that kind of cash to hand out.
Ok, enough of that. Dinner last night was great. They make the best homeade soups. It was really weird to be having dinner in a tent c/w tables and chairs on a trek. I am getting alot of reading is as I have nobody to talk to but my guide. Seems like when I am in the mountains I do not sleep well. It could also be that the ground is pretty hard and my hips are getting sore. The good thing is that I am up at the crack of dawn packed up and ready to go.
Today we left at 7:40am. We were not meant to leave till 8:30 but I was up and ready to go so we went. At 10:30 we stopped for lunch. I was so far ahead of the porters that we needed to wait 45 minutes for them to catch up. I would have prefered to get to the destination spot to wait but the guide did not want to do that. Guess he had nobody to chat with as I do not have much to say. With this wait everybody else was catching up with me and then passing me. That also sucked.
I did get to actually meet some people. Yup! A group of 7 British men and one women. She is one of the first females I have seen so far accept at the gate.
Good news. Well for me. Guess that is not very nice but my guide is coming down with altitude sickness. He is dizzy and has a really bad headache. He really does not look well. He is talking about heading back down. He is talking it over with the assistant guide who's English is not very good. Hey, what so I care. We will manage. He says that this is the first time ever for him getting sick on the mountian.
It rained on us today. Not for very long thank god. I am go glad that I got my rain gear this year from Mountain Hardware. It was awesome. I also learned a lesson from this. Always and I mean always, carry the rain bag for the backpack. I have it for the big back pack but did not have one for my day pack. Needless to say I will transfer that one tonight so that it is with me at all times.
At 12:30 we arrive at the camp. This camp is called Shira camp. The first camp was Machame camp. I am sure that I forgot to mention that. This camp site is at 3900 m. I spend the rest of the day reading, eating and waiting to crash. Needless to say it was yet another early night. Good thing I brought two books. I almost did not cause of the weight.
This is the second day on Mt. Kilimanjaro. My guide is still harrassing me. I am done with him already. Just so you know what he was expecting.......$15 a day for the guide.......for 6 days is $80. The porters are expecting $7 a day each. There are 5 of them for 6 days.....that is $210. In total it would cost me $300 in tips alone. Now I know how hard they work but I do not have that kind of cash to hand out.
Ok, enough of that. Dinner last night was great. They make the best homeade soups. It was really weird to be having dinner in a tent c/w tables and chairs on a trek. I am getting alot of reading is as I have nobody to talk to but my guide. Seems like when I am in the mountains I do not sleep well. It could also be that the ground is pretty hard and my hips are getting sore. The good thing is that I am up at the crack of dawn packed up and ready to go.
Today we left at 7:40am. We were not meant to leave till 8:30 but I was up and ready to go so we went. At 10:30 we stopped for lunch. I was so far ahead of the porters that we needed to wait 45 minutes for them to catch up. I would have prefered to get to the destination spot to wait but the guide did not want to do that. Guess he had nobody to chat with as I do not have much to say. With this wait everybody else was catching up with me and then passing me. That also sucked.
I did get to actually meet some people. Yup! A group of 7 British men and one women. She is one of the first females I have seen so far accept at the gate.
Good news. Well for me. Guess that is not very nice but my guide is coming down with altitude sickness. He is dizzy and has a really bad headache. He really does not look well. He is talking about heading back down. He is talking it over with the assistant guide who's English is not very good. Hey, what so I care. We will manage. He says that this is the first time ever for him getting sick on the mountian.
It rained on us today. Not for very long thank god. I am go glad that I got my rain gear this year from Mountain Hardware. It was awesome. I also learned a lesson from this. Always and I mean always, carry the rain bag for the backpack. I have it for the big back pack but did not have one for my day pack. Needless to say I will transfer that one tonight so that it is with me at all times.
At 12:30 we arrive at the camp. This camp is called Shira camp. The first camp was Machame camp. I am sure that I forgot to mention that. This camp site is at 3900 m. I spend the rest of the day reading, eating and waiting to crash. Needless to say it was yet another early night. Good thing I brought two books. I almost did not cause of the weight.
Friday, December 01, 2006
So...........for those of you who have been patiently waiting. I am back and will see how much I can get done. Well I know I can only post 20 photo's a day and seeing as I have almost 1000 of them.............this is going to take awhile just to post some of them.
Let me take you back to Oct 29. This is the day that I was suppose to run the marathon. It is also the day I am booked to climb Kili. Well, as you all know........Killi won. I met someone who did the half marathon and he told me that there were 3000 participants. OUCH! That is amazing
Off I go..........the first leg of my trip up the highest mountian I will ever attain. I have a guide and 6 porters. All of this just for me. One of the porters is the cook and another one is the spare guide. Yup....I am again on my own. I sure would have liked it if I could have joined another group but that was not meant to be.
We left the hotel at 9am. Drove off to the gate for the Machame trek. That is where we picked up the porters. After getting all signed in and the porters all organized we started up at 10:30. The path is totally groomed. We walked for 2 hrs and them took a 15 min break for lunch. My lunch was huge. I am thinking that it was for both my porter and I as he had no lunch but he says no. I make him eat more than half of it anyway as it is way to much food for me. In this food box are 2 pieces of chicken, 2 pieces of bread, 3 cookies, an egg, bottle of juice, 2 baby bananas, a orange and a chocolate bar.
Off we go again. I pass two young guys (younger than me that is) who started out about 15 mins before me. This always shocks me. An hour and 45 mins later we are at the first but we must wait for the porters as I left them in the dust. The porters arrive and camp is set up in a jiffy. It is a wee bit chilly out and I need to add a few layers. I am a princess again. HAHAHAH Here is what the porters are carrying up the mountian to make me feel like a princess. A dinner tent c/w a table and 2 folding chairs. Ohhhhhhh it gets better............They also have a port-a-potty and tent for that potty. Oh my god.....no wonder there are so many porters. I do not keed this stuff. Of course I will use it......they packed it. How could I not use it.
The guide is starting to get on my nerves. Right after lunch he started to talk about his tip. WRONG! What the hell is he thinking? He does not let up. It is on going even after I told him to stop. Then the icing on the cake. I know....some of you think that this should have been a nice thing but I hated it. He started to hit on me. Insisting that I needed a warm body to keep me warm at night. He actually said.........I have been waiting my whole life (31 years) for you. Yes, this was on the very first night. I know that I said that I was going to meet my hubby on Kili but not like this. I took to my tent by myself and read to get away from him.
Let me take you back to Oct 29. This is the day that I was suppose to run the marathon. It is also the day I am booked to climb Kili. Well, as you all know........Killi won. I met someone who did the half marathon and he told me that there were 3000 participants. OUCH! That is amazing
Off I go..........the first leg of my trip up the highest mountian I will ever attain. I have a guide and 6 porters. All of this just for me. One of the porters is the cook and another one is the spare guide. Yup....I am again on my own. I sure would have liked it if I could have joined another group but that was not meant to be.
We left the hotel at 9am. Drove off to the gate for the Machame trek. That is where we picked up the porters. After getting all signed in and the porters all organized we started up at 10:30. The path is totally groomed. We walked for 2 hrs and them took a 15 min break for lunch. My lunch was huge. I am thinking that it was for both my porter and I as he had no lunch but he says no. I make him eat more than half of it anyway as it is way to much food for me. In this food box are 2 pieces of chicken, 2 pieces of bread, 3 cookies, an egg, bottle of juice, 2 baby bananas, a orange and a chocolate bar.
Off we go again. I pass two young guys (younger than me that is) who started out about 15 mins before me. This always shocks me. An hour and 45 mins later we are at the first but we must wait for the porters as I left them in the dust. The porters arrive and camp is set up in a jiffy. It is a wee bit chilly out and I need to add a few layers. I am a princess again. HAHAHAH Here is what the porters are carrying up the mountian to make me feel like a princess. A dinner tent c/w a table and 2 folding chairs. Ohhhhhhh it gets better............They also have a port-a-potty and tent for that potty. Oh my god.....no wonder there are so many porters. I do not keed this stuff. Of course I will use it......they packed it. How could I not use it.
The guide is starting to get on my nerves. Right after lunch he started to talk about his tip. WRONG! What the hell is he thinking? He does not let up. It is on going even after I told him to stop. Then the icing on the cake. I know....some of you think that this should have been a nice thing but I hated it. He started to hit on me. Insisting that I needed a warm body to keep me warm at night. He actually said.........I have been waiting my whole life (31 years) for you. Yes, this was on the very first night. I know that I said that I was going to meet my hubby on Kili but not like this. I took to my tent by myself and read to get away from him.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
At a computer again. It feels like forever since I wrote last. We did 10 dives at Matemwe
Beach. It was wonderful. My air consumption sucked. Could barely get an hour on most dives using an 80 cu. ft. tank. What was up with that? The water was a bit cooler and a wee bit of current but that in not a very good excuse.
Anyway, I saw turtles, a shark (baby), leaf fish, nemo's (clown fish), scarface (Morish idols) , turtles, alagator fish. etc etc etc. It was way different than home. Way for fish but the vis was not that great. I did get some photo's but not so many. I totally could not figure out the macro. Chuckie---------------HELP??????? I did get a few nudibranches.
Right now we are at the Mtoni hotel which is only 5km out of Stone Town. I was upset at first to see how far away we were but now that it is raining we would be stuck in our room where here we can still be outside. Both of the places we stayed in on Zanzibar have been awesome. This is a beautiful island.
Well tomorrow we head back to Nairobi. I cannot belive that my holiday is almost over. Two days in Nairobi and then I start my 3 day trip back home. It has been a totally awesome time.
More once I get to Nairobi.
Hugs
Beach. It was wonderful. My air consumption sucked. Could barely get an hour on most dives using an 80 cu. ft. tank. What was up with that? The water was a bit cooler and a wee bit of current but that in not a very good excuse.
Anyway, I saw turtles, a shark (baby), leaf fish, nemo's (clown fish), scarface (Morish idols) , turtles, alagator fish. etc etc etc. It was way different than home. Way for fish but the vis was not that great. I did get some photo's but not so many. I totally could not figure out the macro. Chuckie---------------HELP??????? I did get a few nudibranches.
Right now we are at the Mtoni hotel which is only 5km out of Stone Town. I was upset at first to see how far away we were but now that it is raining we would be stuck in our room where here we can still be outside. Both of the places we stayed in on Zanzibar have been awesome. This is a beautiful island.
Well tomorrow we head back to Nairobi. I cannot belive that my holiday is almost over. Two days in Nairobi and then I start my 3 day trip back home. It has been a totally awesome time.
More once I get to Nairobi.
Hugs
Monday, November 13, 2006
Sorry that this has taken me so long. You all need to know that I am just fine. I have not had a computer for 9 days and I got some devestating news on the one day I was on.
I did make it to the top of Kili. That was awesome. On the 4th of Nov. was the first time I could reach my email. I found out the my totally favorite kitty Rembrandt got out of the house around the same time I was going for the top of Kili. He was hit by a car a killed. I cried for two days solid. All we were looking for on Safari were the cats. Lions, Lepoards and Cheeta's. Needess to say I did even more crying when I saw them. The worst was a few days ago when we found a pride of lions with 3 cubs.
I have written this message a zillion times in my head. Each and everytime I wrote it differently. Now that I am doing it in person I have changed it again. I just cannot believe that my baby is gone. The worst part is going to be when I get home and he is not there to meet me. This was the highest price I could have ever paid to have my dream come true.
As for keeping up on my blog.....well mostly it will depend on if I have access to a computer or not. I can honestly say that I am not as into it as I started. What I am thinking of doing now is to just catch you all up when I get home. That way I can do the photo's easier and I will relive it all over again. Time will tell.
Till when ever...............again.......I am so sorry for the delay. I hope that I have not dissapointed anybody.
Lots of love to you all
Linda
I did make it to the top of Kili. That was awesome. On the 4th of Nov. was the first time I could reach my email. I found out the my totally favorite kitty Rembrandt got out of the house around the same time I was going for the top of Kili. He was hit by a car a killed. I cried for two days solid. All we were looking for on Safari were the cats. Lions, Lepoards and Cheeta's. Needess to say I did even more crying when I saw them. The worst was a few days ago when we found a pride of lions with 3 cubs.
I have written this message a zillion times in my head. Each and everytime I wrote it differently. Now that I am doing it in person I have changed it again. I just cannot believe that my baby is gone. The worst part is going to be when I get home and he is not there to meet me. This was the highest price I could have ever paid to have my dream come true.
As for keeping up on my blog.....well mostly it will depend on if I have access to a computer or not. I can honestly say that I am not as into it as I started. What I am thinking of doing now is to just catch you all up when I get home. That way I can do the photo's easier and I will relive it all over again. Time will tell.
Till when ever...............again.......I am so sorry for the delay. I hope that I have not dissapointed anybody.
Lots of love to you all
Linda
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Yesterday Denlo took me to the Massi market here in Nairobi. I went crazy hopping. I got 2 handbags, 5 woven bowls, 12 braclets for the kids, a mask and a batik. We were shopping way longer then I had planned but Delno is a great wheeler dealer so we stuck around for more deals.
In the afternoon we joined Nikos for lunch and then came home to rest. I started to get organized for the next leg of my trip. I need to take just about everything with me as I will not be back here till the 22 of Nov.
We were invited for supper at Delno's neighbors. She is from Ireland and is a wonderful cook. Did not stay out to late and had another great sleep.
Today we went to the orphanage. This amazing Kenyian women has taken in 150 kids. Twenty of these kids have HIV. It is amazing how this place works. I bought them 40 blankes, toilet paper, cookies and a few toys.
We then went out for breakfast and now home to get ready. I do not fly to Tanz till 5:30 this evening and I am already packed. I will kill the rest of the day reading. I cannot believe it but I have already read 4 books. I am so loving this vacation. L
In the afternoon we joined Nikos for lunch and then came home to rest. I started to get organized for the next leg of my trip. I need to take just about everything with me as I will not be back here till the 22 of Nov.
We were invited for supper at Delno's neighbors. She is from Ireland and is a wonderful cook. Did not stay out to late and had another great sleep.
Today we went to the orphanage. This amazing Kenyian women has taken in 150 kids. Twenty of these kids have HIV. It is amazing how this place works. I bought them 40 blankes, toilet paper, cookies and a few toys.
We then went out for breakfast and now home to get ready. I do not fly to Tanz till 5:30 this evening and I am already packed. I will kill the rest of the day reading. I cannot believe it but I have already read 4 books. I am so loving this vacation. L
Friday, October 27, 2006
Soooooooooooo, Let me try this again. Earlier this morning I had my entire posting done. When I went to hit the send button I lost it all as the internet was down. UGH!!!!!!
Oct 21
This is travel day. I leave here at 9am. Nikos from Africa Calling takes me to Bushtrekers as he only has me. Here I meet up with 5 more people. Emma (Brit), Derek (Scott), Seta and Anna (Belgium) and Maryana (Mexico). We all pile into this huge truck. We are taking a huge truck as we are to pick up 6 more people in 2 days for Massi Mara. We drive to Lake Baringo. We are meant to go for a boat ride on the lake but it is late when we get there and soon after it begins to rain. We eat dinner and crash.
Oct 22
We get up at 6am and go for our boat ride to see the Hippos and birds. It is on the boring side. We get back, have breakfast and head out to Lake Bagloria. This is a much nicer lake. Here we see a zillion flamingos. White ones and pink ones. Further on we get to the hot springs. They are great. I wanted to get into them but they are natural and are not made for people to enter. As wel, they are serioulsy hot. You can hard boil an egg in it after just 5 mins.
From here we drive on to Lake Nakuru. When we arrive at the campsite it is raining. I had booked a room for the night before I got there as I was warned that it was cold up there. The rest of the people also took a room. We were all glad that we did as not only did we have elect. but soft beds and shelter. Yup! It rained most of the night.
Now this lake is beautiful but drying up. More flamingos, white Rhinos, Giraffes, Hyhinas, Impallas, Buffallok, monkeys and Eland zebra, which is the largest Antelope in the world if I understood it correctly.
Oct 23
Now we head back towards Nairobi to pick up the other people. Oh, the roads are not the best roads in the world. They are seriously bummpy and with a big truck it makes it even worse. The driver has been worried about the wheel since yesterday. We leave at 7:30 and arrive at 11:30. The driver decides that he wants to get another truck as he does not trust this one. We have lunch while waiting but the whole time takes 3 hrs. We pick up 7 people and they are cranky alreadty. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! At 2:30 we head off again. After hrs and hrs of driving we fianlly reach Massi Mara at 8:30. On our way to the camp we see Elephants. At this very moment I have a realization. OH NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I did not transfer my sleeping bag. I can only hope that someone eles did. I am not worried about the rest of this trip but I am worried that I may not have ti for Kili.
As soon as we get to the camp I let everybody else off the truck. I as the driver and he says that he double checked the truck and did not see anything on it. I find the guide and he tells me that he saw it and transfer it for me. WHEW!!!!!!!!!
Now we are all assigned to little huts. They are so quaint. Maryana is my roommate again. She is so sweet and we totally get along. She is all of 24 but we have some amazing conversations. Maryana and Emma both work with disabled children. Emma is a speach therapest and Maryana a special eds teacher. Needless to say we have a ton in common and it is so refreshing talking to people who are doing what I so wanted to do.
Anyway, our hut has a single bed and a bunk. I give Maryana the bunk. All the huts have elect which is huge. Way more than I ever expected. Eat a late dinner and crash.
Oct 24
Today we did two game drives. One early in the morning and one in the late afternoon. We see tons of Zebra, Elephants, Giraffes, Lions (YEAH!!!!!!!!!! and a male to boot), Impala, Gazzels, Topis, Elands, Hippo's and mongoose. The only thing we are missing is the Leopard of the big 5. We also get to see the Wilderbeast migration. They are coming back from Serengti in Tanz. We go the the place where they cross the river to safety. In the river are a bunch of Crocs. We see on open it's mouth but it is not hunger. They are all corssing very safetly while we were watching anyway.
We are meant to go to the Massi village today but be put it off till tomorrow. Game drives are exhauting. You spend all of your energy looking for things that your eyes get sore. You never, ever leave the truck to see anything. You are seat bound the entire time.
Tonight we are blessed with a serious lightening and thunder show but now rain. This is good for alot of people as it is hot out.
Oct 25
Today we do two more game drives. Inbetween the game drives we got to the Massi village. On the game drives we see a cheeta which was the highlight of the day till we came upon a moma lion and her 1 year old babies. We did not see it but mom had killed a wilderbeast and dragged it down to the river bed. The cubs (3 of them) were so not interested. They were playing and having fun. Mom was eating but we could not see her. What we did see was the blood on her face.
The village is interesting but way to touristy for me. The Massi warriors did two dances for us and the women followed by doing two dances as well. They were selling their wares. I should have bought something but I knew that when I got back I would be at a Massi market and would get a way better price.
Oct 26
Wow! We had alot of excitement last night. At about 1am the Elephants decided to come to our camp. They were just passing by.....so we thought. At 4:30am we hear the Elephant blow it horn and a lion roar. This wakes up most of us. I hear the Massi Warriors tell someone to go back into their room as it is not safe. I can see them sneaking around the cabin next to ours. After an hour of this we are given the okay to come out again. I run into Emma and she is scared The Elephants were right next her rooom. She could hear them eating. Before you could not see the river for the bushes now it is totally clear. Thsi was the conversation of the day. Oh ya, Maryana slept through the whole thing.
So, today is anohter travel day. We are on our way back to Nairoi. We leave at 8am and get back at 5pm. Everybody quickly splits up afer a fast and furious good bye.
Oct 21
This is travel day. I leave here at 9am. Nikos from Africa Calling takes me to Bushtrekers as he only has me. Here I meet up with 5 more people. Emma (Brit), Derek (Scott), Seta and Anna (Belgium) and Maryana (Mexico). We all pile into this huge truck. We are taking a huge truck as we are to pick up 6 more people in 2 days for Massi Mara. We drive to Lake Baringo. We are meant to go for a boat ride on the lake but it is late when we get there and soon after it begins to rain. We eat dinner and crash.
Oct 22
We get up at 6am and go for our boat ride to see the Hippos and birds. It is on the boring side. We get back, have breakfast and head out to Lake Bagloria. This is a much nicer lake. Here we see a zillion flamingos. White ones and pink ones. Further on we get to the hot springs. They are great. I wanted to get into them but they are natural and are not made for people to enter. As wel, they are serioulsy hot. You can hard boil an egg in it after just 5 mins.
From here we drive on to Lake Nakuru. When we arrive at the campsite it is raining. I had booked a room for the night before I got there as I was warned that it was cold up there. The rest of the people also took a room. We were all glad that we did as not only did we have elect. but soft beds and shelter. Yup! It rained most of the night.
Now this lake is beautiful but drying up. More flamingos, white Rhinos, Giraffes, Hyhinas, Impallas, Buffallok, monkeys and Eland zebra, which is the largest Antelope in the world if I understood it correctly.
Oct 23
Now we head back towards Nairobi to pick up the other people. Oh, the roads are not the best roads in the world. They are seriously bummpy and with a big truck it makes it even worse. The driver has been worried about the wheel since yesterday. We leave at 7:30 and arrive at 11:30. The driver decides that he wants to get another truck as he does not trust this one. We have lunch while waiting but the whole time takes 3 hrs. We pick up 7 people and they are cranky alreadty. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! At 2:30 we head off again. After hrs and hrs of driving we fianlly reach Massi Mara at 8:30. On our way to the camp we see Elephants. At this very moment I have a realization. OH NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I did not transfer my sleeping bag. I can only hope that someone eles did. I am not worried about the rest of this trip but I am worried that I may not have ti for Kili.
As soon as we get to the camp I let everybody else off the truck. I as the driver and he says that he double checked the truck and did not see anything on it. I find the guide and he tells me that he saw it and transfer it for me. WHEW!!!!!!!!!
Now we are all assigned to little huts. They are so quaint. Maryana is my roommate again. She is so sweet and we totally get along. She is all of 24 but we have some amazing conversations. Maryana and Emma both work with disabled children. Emma is a speach therapest and Maryana a special eds teacher. Needless to say we have a ton in common and it is so refreshing talking to people who are doing what I so wanted to do.
Anyway, our hut has a single bed and a bunk. I give Maryana the bunk. All the huts have elect which is huge. Way more than I ever expected. Eat a late dinner and crash.
Oct 24
Today we did two game drives. One early in the morning and one in the late afternoon. We see tons of Zebra, Elephants, Giraffes, Lions (YEAH!!!!!!!!!! and a male to boot), Impala, Gazzels, Topis, Elands, Hippo's and mongoose. The only thing we are missing is the Leopard of the big 5. We also get to see the Wilderbeast migration. They are coming back from Serengti in Tanz. We go the the place where they cross the river to safety. In the river are a bunch of Crocs. We see on open it's mouth but it is not hunger. They are all corssing very safetly while we were watching anyway.
We are meant to go to the Massi village today but be put it off till tomorrow. Game drives are exhauting. You spend all of your energy looking for things that your eyes get sore. You never, ever leave the truck to see anything. You are seat bound the entire time.
Tonight we are blessed with a serious lightening and thunder show but now rain. This is good for alot of people as it is hot out.
Oct 25
Today we do two more game drives. Inbetween the game drives we got to the Massi village. On the game drives we see a cheeta which was the highlight of the day till we came upon a moma lion and her 1 year old babies. We did not see it but mom had killed a wilderbeast and dragged it down to the river bed. The cubs (3 of them) were so not interested. They were playing and having fun. Mom was eating but we could not see her. What we did see was the blood on her face.
The village is interesting but way to touristy for me. The Massi warriors did two dances for us and the women followed by doing two dances as well. They were selling their wares. I should have bought something but I knew that when I got back I would be at a Massi market and would get a way better price.
Oct 26
Wow! We had alot of excitement last night. At about 1am the Elephants decided to come to our camp. They were just passing by.....so we thought. At 4:30am we hear the Elephant blow it horn and a lion roar. This wakes up most of us. I hear the Massi Warriors tell someone to go back into their room as it is not safe. I can see them sneaking around the cabin next to ours. After an hour of this we are given the okay to come out again. I run into Emma and she is scared The Elephants were right next her rooom. She could hear them eating. Before you could not see the river for the bushes now it is totally clear. Thsi was the conversation of the day. Oh ya, Maryana slept through the whole thing.
So, today is anohter travel day. We are on our way back to Nairoi. We leave at 8am and get back at 5pm. Everybody quickly splits up afer a fast and furious good bye.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
I am now back from safari. Who knew that it could be so exhauting sitting in a truck for hrs watching for hrs on end for animals. Exhausting it was. I need to shower and rest. I will post more tomorrow when I am fresh.
Do know that posting photo's this time around is going to really suck. I took over 400 of them. I will try to pick 20 of my better shots. I am starting to get the hang of the camera so I hope that they will be good.
Some of you are wondering how I am posting this. NO, I do not have a computer/laptop with me. If I did I would be posting a wee bit more often. I use my friends computer when I get back to his house. I leave for Tanz. in a couple of days. I will be using the computers at the hotel there.
Bob, I will not start my trek up Kili till Oct 29th. I am thinking of doing the Magaru route only cause I can take the extra day I need. I am not so sure I can make it up the Machame route without the extra day. I need to pounder this a wee bit more. I am told that you do 7 hrs. then 2 hrs rest then 5 hrs with a hour rest then 6 more hrs. If that is the case there is no physical way I will make it to the top and the top is where I want to be.
Later guys
Do know that posting photo's this time around is going to really suck. I took over 400 of them. I will try to pick 20 of my better shots. I am starting to get the hang of the camera so I hope that they will be good.
Some of you are wondering how I am posting this. NO, I do not have a computer/laptop with me. If I did I would be posting a wee bit more often. I use my friends computer when I get back to his house. I leave for Tanz. in a couple of days. I will be using the computers at the hotel there.
Bob, I will not start my trek up Kili till Oct 29th. I am thinking of doing the Magaru route only cause I can take the extra day I need. I am not so sure I can make it up the Machame route without the extra day. I need to pounder this a wee bit more. I am told that you do 7 hrs. then 2 hrs rest then 5 hrs with a hour rest then 6 more hrs. If that is the case there is no physical way I will make it to the top and the top is where I want to be.
Later guys
Friday, October 20, 2006
Ok, it is official. I have a cold. I kept on thinking it was only allergies as I was sneezing so much but it is definately a sinus cold. It will be gone along with my blister before I head up Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Today was a rest day. I slept in.......did laundry.....went to this majorly weird glass place. Very excentric. When we got back I worked on my photo's. I learned two things. The photo's were way to big and that was why I could not send them. I fixed that problem and set up my Orchid photo's as an experimant. Well when I saw that that worked I then moved on to the Giraffe photo's only to learn that I can only post photo's once a day. UGH!!!!!!!! I was on such a roll.
I still am not happy with most of my photo's. They are so dark. Chuckie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where are you? What do I do? I will have to play with it on my own during the safari. My bag is packed. and I am ready to go. This time instead of a 20k pack I have a 5k day pack. I am totally loving that. I leave tomorrow for 6 days.
Happy travels
Today was a rest day. I slept in.......did laundry.....went to this majorly weird glass place. Very excentric. When we got back I worked on my photo's. I learned two things. The photo's were way to big and that was why I could not send them. I fixed that problem and set up my Orchid photo's as an experimant. Well when I saw that that worked I then moved on to the Giraffe photo's only to learn that I can only post photo's once a day. UGH!!!!!!!! I was on such a roll.
I still am not happy with most of my photo's. They are so dark. Chuckie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where are you? What do I do? I will have to play with it on my own during the safari. My bag is packed. and I am ready to go. This time instead of a 20k pack I have a 5k day pack. I am totally loving that. I leave tomorrow for 6 days.
Happy travels
Thursday, October 19, 2006
So let me take you back a few days.
Oct 15
This is the first day of my Mt. Kenya trip. We did a 4 hr drive to the campsite. The country side is amazing. You can see that many of the people do not have much but what they do have they work very hard for. Lots of different plantations along the way. People are walking everywhere. There are alot of bikes being used as well. At the campsite there are two groups there. A group of 9 tents (all Dutch) and one of 8 tents. My tent stands alone.
Oct. 16
We get up and have breakfast. While eating this lady from the Dutch group comes to me and say's " Are you alone? Yes. With these two men? Yes. You are a very lucky lady. I know, I say and I will be picking up two more this morning. My guide was laughing really hard. He says, she is jealous of you.
We head off to get the porters. On the way we pass the Equator. Of course this is a major tourist trap and we needed to stop. I get the photo and move on. The next stop it in town for more food and the porters. On again to the entrance gate for Mt. kenya.
As we arrive we can see that there is a huge group getting ready to climb as well. There are 28 Kenyians doing a fundraising trek. I have no idea how many porters/guides/cooks they have but there are a ton of people involved. I alter find out that it is a drug company that is sponsering this trek.
At around 11am we head out. This part of the trek is alone a road. The huge group have an ambulance and landrover with a huge trailer ahead of them. They also have camera's as they are documenting this trek. I manage to get into some of their filming. The ambulance gets stuck and needs to be rescued. I find out later that it too 8 guys to push it out.
This part of the trek is about 9km and took me 6 hrs to get there. I carried my own bag which I am guessing weights about 20k. Old Moses is at 3400 meters
The place that we arrive at is called Old Moses. I meet Mark (France) and Ana (Angora) who are on their way down. The are mountaineers and were saying that they conditions were not good enought to make it to their peak. There are 3 peaks in all. Then I meet Peter (Sweden) who is not really prepared for this trek as he decided to do it on a whim. Then there is Kevin (Kenya) who is a total sweety. Last was Krish (Mauritias) who askes me if he can interview me. They are all in there 30's accept for Mark who would be in his 40's. As they night goes on we get to know each other better. Later there is a group of 8 older men (50's) and a young man who are all over weight and loud.
At dinner time my guide puts down a table cloth. Everyone is jealous and ask how I rate. I say jokingly......I am a princess. From then on I was dubed the princess. Not only did I have a table cloth on my table but I had a room to myself. The food is great. The company is amazing and the night is over.
Oct 17
I did not get much sleep last night. The brits were loud till late and then they snored loudly. I could hear them 3 rooms down. We were all up early to head off to our next site. It had rained that night which was great as the weather was beautiful this morning. We can see the peak of Mt. Kenya today.
We are heading up to Chimpton which is about 14 km away and at 4200 m. This trek is nasty. It is up and up and up. There is no plateau for hrs. We get to a peak and think we are almost there. NOT! We walk along a vally that is still climbing but not as steap. I am still with my back pack. I have passed the Brit's and the Kenyians took up the rear as they left later.
Along the way some porters pass me. One is carrying a chair. I say....that is for the queen. Then there is anohter chair and I say that is for the King. Then more chairs, tables and dinner tents. This is all for the drug company trek. Yikes. This is scary. Kevin tells me later that even he is embarassed when he sees what they are carrying.
At about 4 hrs I tell my guide that I desperately need to eat. I am losing energy. He says it is a good time as there is a great spot along a stream for us. After we finish eating the Kenyians arrrive and stop for lunch as well and we continue on. At about 7 hrs we come to yet another nasty climb. I decide that it is time to give up some of my backpack. I take out two small bags and give them to the porters. They want to take it all but I will not give it up as yet.
I finally arrive at the top and there is Peter. He was first up and I find out that I am second up. About 20 mins later the Kenyians start to arrive. We cheer them in. They tell us that alot of there people are hurting and that the brits are even furthere behind. The Brits had to do the nasty part in the dark as they did not arrive till about 8. That was 4 hrs after us.
As the evening passes I find out that Peter, Krish and some of the Brit's and Kenyians have altitude sickness. I am mostly worried about Krish as he is to mountianeer to the peak with three others. He is so mad as he wants to go. He tells me that he will go no matter what. A mans ego! I tell him to go ahead and push himself but not to put anybody in danger. I wait to hear if he made it or not. Oh, by the way, that is a 14 hr climb.
This evening I have everybody around my table. Not just to chat as that they would have done anyway but cause I am the princess my guide has made a can of charcoal to put under my table to keep me warm. I feel so special.
Down side.....my guide keeps telling me I have to eat more. I will need the energy for the climb in the morning. I keep telling him I am full and cannot. I push a little bit more down. I am totally stuffed.
We head off to bed early as we need to be up at 2:30 am.
Oct 18
We get up at 2:30 and I am shocked to see Peter and 3 of the Brits up and getting ready to climb. I did not sleep well again as the Brits chatted loudly for an hr after we crashed and started snoring immediately when they did crash. As well, a few of them were pucking their guts out most of the night. Oh I forgot. This night we all shaed a room. My guide has breakfast out for me. I say........I cannot eat another bite. He is not happy so I try some bread with peanut butter. I will pay for this later
The Brits head out first then Peter and I leave together at 3:45am but he gets way ahead of me fast. I give up my pack to the porters as I know this will be a nasty climb. I have on 4 layers of clothing and do not feel the cold much. The stars are out and the sky is clear. It is amazing. About 45 mins into the climb I start to feel sick. I totally lose it. I puc my guts out for about 10 mins. At least that is how long it felt. Now on an empty stomache and feeling a zillion times better and I carry on. I walk slowly and surely. I know that I will make the top but it will be hard.
I finally get to a point where I see the Brits. They are heading back. They did not make it to the top. Then Peter is comming down. He made it to the top but is freezing as he does not have enough clothes on. He says that he missed sunraise by 3 mins. I am thinking.....to hell with the sunrise.....just get there. We part ways again and I continue on. I am taking alot of breaks to get my breath and part of me is thinking that I will not make it but I know that I have to as we are heading down on the back side of the mountain. Did I whine? Hell ya. I was about 20 mins to the top. I so wanted to quit. I was exhausted but I pushed on. A total of 4 hrs later I arrive at the top. This peak is Lanana Point and is at 4991m. I can see Mt. Kilimanjaro. The sky not clear but the moutanin raises about the clouds. I take my photo's with the reporter and start down as it is cold and windy up there.
To get to our next point we need to crawn along the ridge of the mountain. It is scary and I am thinking.........what was I thinking.......HAHAHA..........Actually I am loving this part. The sun is shining upon us. I am so glad the weather is good. There is no way in hell I would have made this trek if the wearther was bad. Anyway, an hour or so later we get to the Teliki huts and take a 10 min rest. Next we have a long way to go walking on loose gravel. We are slipping and sliding most of the way. This stuff is really hard on the knees. This whole way down takes me 3 hrs. We arrive at Mailind's hut (4300m) at 11am. There we have breakfast. Finally I get some food back into me. All I want to do is crash. NOT!!!!!!!!!!! I still have another 4 or 5 hrs ahead of me. I take an hour nap and carry on. Now I am digging deep. I am exhausted but know that I need to get to the next huts before I can call it a day.
This part of the journey takes me into bog. It is dryish but still very hard to walk in. We are in this for about 2 hrs. It is beautiful but I cannot enjoy it much as I need to concentrate on my feet. When we finally get out of that we hit the jungle. This means waking down rocks and roots. Not my favorate conditions. I trudge on. My knee is starting to hurt. I find out my guides toes are killing him. Again this area is seriously beautiful but still I cannot enjoy it as we need to keep on moving. On and on we go. 5 1/2 hrs later we finally arrive at The Road House. What a charming place. I have a room to myself again. I am desperately trying to keep awake for dinner. I am really to tried to eat but will try my best. I get some dinner down and then give up. It is now 9pm. This trek took me about 14 hrs. This is my longest trek ever. I know that I should be proud of myself but I am way to tired.
Oct 19
I had the best sleep ever since I arrived here. I was told by the porters that the buffalo were in the camp and asked if I saw them. Nope I said. I was out like a light and heard nothing. The blue monkeys were there to meet me this morning. That was nice of them.
I eat breakfast and get ready for my last trek. I am told it is 26 km and Megway (my guide) thinks it will take 4 hrs. I am so refreshed after a good nights sleep and food in my belly that I am back to myself. We head off . The guide and porters are shocked to see how strong I am again. Hey......I say..........see what a good nights sleep will get me. This part only takes us 1 3/4 hrs. Now that we are early we must wait for a few hrs for the driver to arrive.
As I sit and wait for him I am starting to feel very proud of myself. I DID IT!!!!!!!!!! One down and one more climb to go.
I am still working on attaching photo's. Last night I waited till midnight for them to process. I finally had to shut the computer down and go to bed. I hope to get some on tonight.
Oct 15
This is the first day of my Mt. Kenya trip. We did a 4 hr drive to the campsite. The country side is amazing. You can see that many of the people do not have much but what they do have they work very hard for. Lots of different plantations along the way. People are walking everywhere. There are alot of bikes being used as well. At the campsite there are two groups there. A group of 9 tents (all Dutch) and one of 8 tents. My tent stands alone.
Oct. 16
We get up and have breakfast. While eating this lady from the Dutch group comes to me and say's " Are you alone? Yes. With these two men? Yes. You are a very lucky lady. I know, I say and I will be picking up two more this morning. My guide was laughing really hard. He says, she is jealous of you.
We head off to get the porters. On the way we pass the Equator. Of course this is a major tourist trap and we needed to stop. I get the photo and move on. The next stop it in town for more food and the porters. On again to the entrance gate for Mt. kenya.
As we arrive we can see that there is a huge group getting ready to climb as well. There are 28 Kenyians doing a fundraising trek. I have no idea how many porters/guides/cooks they have but there are a ton of people involved. I alter find out that it is a drug company that is sponsering this trek.
At around 11am we head out. This part of the trek is alone a road. The huge group have an ambulance and landrover with a huge trailer ahead of them. They also have camera's as they are documenting this trek. I manage to get into some of their filming. The ambulance gets stuck and needs to be rescued. I find out later that it too 8 guys to push it out.
This part of the trek is about 9km and took me 6 hrs to get there. I carried my own bag which I am guessing weights about 20k. Old Moses is at 3400 meters
The place that we arrive at is called Old Moses. I meet Mark (France) and Ana (Angora) who are on their way down. The are mountaineers and were saying that they conditions were not good enought to make it to their peak. There are 3 peaks in all. Then I meet Peter (Sweden) who is not really prepared for this trek as he decided to do it on a whim. Then there is Kevin (Kenya) who is a total sweety. Last was Krish (Mauritias) who askes me if he can interview me. They are all in there 30's accept for Mark who would be in his 40's. As they night goes on we get to know each other better. Later there is a group of 8 older men (50's) and a young man who are all over weight and loud.
At dinner time my guide puts down a table cloth. Everyone is jealous and ask how I rate. I say jokingly......I am a princess. From then on I was dubed the princess. Not only did I have a table cloth on my table but I had a room to myself. The food is great. The company is amazing and the night is over.
Oct 17
I did not get much sleep last night. The brits were loud till late and then they snored loudly. I could hear them 3 rooms down. We were all up early to head off to our next site. It had rained that night which was great as the weather was beautiful this morning. We can see the peak of Mt. Kenya today.
We are heading up to Chimpton which is about 14 km away and at 4200 m. This trek is nasty. It is up and up and up. There is no plateau for hrs. We get to a peak and think we are almost there. NOT! We walk along a vally that is still climbing but not as steap. I am still with my back pack. I have passed the Brit's and the Kenyians took up the rear as they left later.
Along the way some porters pass me. One is carrying a chair. I say....that is for the queen. Then there is anohter chair and I say that is for the King. Then more chairs, tables and dinner tents. This is all for the drug company trek. Yikes. This is scary. Kevin tells me later that even he is embarassed when he sees what they are carrying.
At about 4 hrs I tell my guide that I desperately need to eat. I am losing energy. He says it is a good time as there is a great spot along a stream for us. After we finish eating the Kenyians arrrive and stop for lunch as well and we continue on. At about 7 hrs we come to yet another nasty climb. I decide that it is time to give up some of my backpack. I take out two small bags and give them to the porters. They want to take it all but I will not give it up as yet.
I finally arrive at the top and there is Peter. He was first up and I find out that I am second up. About 20 mins later the Kenyians start to arrive. We cheer them in. They tell us that alot of there people are hurting and that the brits are even furthere behind. The Brits had to do the nasty part in the dark as they did not arrive till about 8. That was 4 hrs after us.
As the evening passes I find out that Peter, Krish and some of the Brit's and Kenyians have altitude sickness. I am mostly worried about Krish as he is to mountianeer to the peak with three others. He is so mad as he wants to go. He tells me that he will go no matter what. A mans ego! I tell him to go ahead and push himself but not to put anybody in danger. I wait to hear if he made it or not. Oh, by the way, that is a 14 hr climb.
This evening I have everybody around my table. Not just to chat as that they would have done anyway but cause I am the princess my guide has made a can of charcoal to put under my table to keep me warm. I feel so special.
Down side.....my guide keeps telling me I have to eat more. I will need the energy for the climb in the morning. I keep telling him I am full and cannot. I push a little bit more down. I am totally stuffed.
We head off to bed early as we need to be up at 2:30 am.
Oct 18
We get up at 2:30 and I am shocked to see Peter and 3 of the Brits up and getting ready to climb. I did not sleep well again as the Brits chatted loudly for an hr after we crashed and started snoring immediately when they did crash. As well, a few of them were pucking their guts out most of the night. Oh I forgot. This night we all shaed a room. My guide has breakfast out for me. I say........I cannot eat another bite. He is not happy so I try some bread with peanut butter. I will pay for this later
The Brits head out first then Peter and I leave together at 3:45am but he gets way ahead of me fast. I give up my pack to the porters as I know this will be a nasty climb. I have on 4 layers of clothing and do not feel the cold much. The stars are out and the sky is clear. It is amazing. About 45 mins into the climb I start to feel sick. I totally lose it. I puc my guts out for about 10 mins. At least that is how long it felt. Now on an empty stomache and feeling a zillion times better and I carry on. I walk slowly and surely. I know that I will make the top but it will be hard.
I finally get to a point where I see the Brits. They are heading back. They did not make it to the top. Then Peter is comming down. He made it to the top but is freezing as he does not have enough clothes on. He says that he missed sunraise by 3 mins. I am thinking.....to hell with the sunrise.....just get there. We part ways again and I continue on. I am taking alot of breaks to get my breath and part of me is thinking that I will not make it but I know that I have to as we are heading down on the back side of the mountain. Did I whine? Hell ya. I was about 20 mins to the top. I so wanted to quit. I was exhausted but I pushed on. A total of 4 hrs later I arrive at the top. This peak is Lanana Point and is at 4991m. I can see Mt. Kilimanjaro. The sky not clear but the moutanin raises about the clouds. I take my photo's with the reporter and start down as it is cold and windy up there.
To get to our next point we need to crawn along the ridge of the mountain. It is scary and I am thinking.........what was I thinking.......HAHAHA..........Actually I am loving this part. The sun is shining upon us. I am so glad the weather is good. There is no way in hell I would have made this trek if the wearther was bad. Anyway, an hour or so later we get to the Teliki huts and take a 10 min rest. Next we have a long way to go walking on loose gravel. We are slipping and sliding most of the way. This stuff is really hard on the knees. This whole way down takes me 3 hrs. We arrive at Mailind's hut (4300m) at 11am. There we have breakfast. Finally I get some food back into me. All I want to do is crash. NOT!!!!!!!!!!! I still have another 4 or 5 hrs ahead of me. I take an hour nap and carry on. Now I am digging deep. I am exhausted but know that I need to get to the next huts before I can call it a day.
This part of the journey takes me into bog. It is dryish but still very hard to walk in. We are in this for about 2 hrs. It is beautiful but I cannot enjoy it much as I need to concentrate on my feet. When we finally get out of that we hit the jungle. This means waking down rocks and roots. Not my favorate conditions. I trudge on. My knee is starting to hurt. I find out my guides toes are killing him. Again this area is seriously beautiful but still I cannot enjoy it as we need to keep on moving. On and on we go. 5 1/2 hrs later we finally arrive at The Road House. What a charming place. I have a room to myself again. I am desperately trying to keep awake for dinner. I am really to tried to eat but will try my best. I get some dinner down and then give up. It is now 9pm. This trek took me about 14 hrs. This is my longest trek ever. I know that I should be proud of myself but I am way to tired.
Oct 19
I had the best sleep ever since I arrived here. I was told by the porters that the buffalo were in the camp and asked if I saw them. Nope I said. I was out like a light and heard nothing. The blue monkeys were there to meet me this morning. That was nice of them.
I eat breakfast and get ready for my last trek. I am told it is 26 km and Megway (my guide) thinks it will take 4 hrs. I am so refreshed after a good nights sleep and food in my belly that I am back to myself. We head off . The guide and porters are shocked to see how strong I am again. Hey......I say..........see what a good nights sleep will get me. This part only takes us 1 3/4 hrs. Now that we are early we must wait for a few hrs for the driver to arrive.
As I sit and wait for him I am starting to feel very proud of myself. I DID IT!!!!!!!!!! One down and one more climb to go.
I am still working on attaching photo's. Last night I waited till midnight for them to process. I finally had to shut the computer down and go to bed. I hope to get some on tonight.
I have just gotten back from Mt. Kenya today. I tried desperately to post some photo's but the internet here is slow as molasses. UGH!!!! It is almost midnight and I am totally exhausted. Ray, If you are reading this. You are so right. This was the hardest climb I have ever done. I so had to dig deep to finish it but make it to the top I did.
I will log much more tomorrow as it is a holiday here and so there is not much else to do.
I will log much more tomorrow as it is a holiday here and so there is not much else to do.
Friday, October 13, 2006
I arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It has been a very long flight. No problems at all which was great. It went very smoothly. I got to Kenya and expected to see Delno outside waiting for me. Well he was told the plane would not get in till 8:50 so he went out to eat. Needless to say I was not sure what to do but being the cleaver traveler that I am, I had is cell phone number with me and called him. He was there in minutes. Whew!
Driveing at night the traffic was not so bad. Delno's house is awesome. Exactly what I pictured a house in Africa to look like.
It rained last night. That kept me awake a wee bit longer than I wanted to so I did not get up till 9am. Now we will go for breakfast and then off to the giraffe orphanage place.
More later. Just feel my beaming face. I have not been this excited about anything in a very, very long time.
It has been a very long flight. No problems at all which was great. It went very smoothly. I got to Kenya and expected to see Delno outside waiting for me. Well he was told the plane would not get in till 8:50 so he went out to eat. Needless to say I was not sure what to do but being the cleaver traveler that I am, I had is cell phone number with me and called him. He was there in minutes. Whew!
Driveing at night the traffic was not so bad. Delno's house is awesome. Exactly what I pictured a house in Africa to look like.
It rained last night. That kept me awake a wee bit longer than I wanted to so I did not get up till 9am. Now we will go for breakfast and then off to the giraffe orphanage place.
More later. Just feel my beaming face. I have not been this excited about anything in a very, very long time.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Saturday, September 30, 2006
After doing a ton of reasearch myself I have finally gotten this trip booked. I have found two wonderful people....James at ATR (Africa Travel Resource) and Heidi at International Ventures Ltd. If you can afford to add a middle person into your travels they are the ones. I unfortunately could not so on my own......with help from them........I searched.
For Kenya........climbing Mt. Kenya for 5 days and doing a 6 day safari in Masai Mara I will be using Nikos at Africa Calling.
For Tanz........climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro 6 days and Safari in Tanz for 10 days I will be using Zara Travel. Zara Travel was totally reccommended to me by a friend who used them when he did his trek up Mt. Kili.
For Zanzibar........diving I will be staying at Matemwe Beach village and diving with one ocean. In stone town we will be staying at Mtoni Marine Centre. These two places were reccommended to me from one ocean (where they have offices out of) and I found one ocean on the net.
Now for a really funny story. On Thursday I was checking in some guests for diving. I looked at their cards and saw that they were certified in Zanzibar with one ocean. I talked to them a wee bit more and found out that they stayed at the same place as I will be staying at. To sweeten up the pot the young lady lives in Sherwood Park which is a city next to Edmonton which is where I am from. She works at the University Of Alberta Hospital. I can hardly wait to get back to work tomorrow to ask a zillion questions to them.
For Kenya........climbing Mt. Kenya for 5 days and doing a 6 day safari in Masai Mara I will be using Nikos at Africa Calling.
For Tanz........climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro 6 days and Safari in Tanz for 10 days I will be using Zara Travel. Zara Travel was totally reccommended to me by a friend who used them when he did his trek up Mt. Kili.
For Zanzibar........diving I will be staying at Matemwe Beach village and diving with one ocean. In stone town we will be staying at Mtoni Marine Centre. These two places were reccommended to me from one ocean (where they have offices out of) and I found one ocean on the net.
Now for a really funny story. On Thursday I was checking in some guests for diving. I looked at their cards and saw that they were certified in Zanzibar with one ocean. I talked to them a wee bit more and found out that they stayed at the same place as I will be staying at. To sweeten up the pot the young lady lives in Sherwood Park which is a city next to Edmonton which is where I am from. She works at the University Of Alberta Hospital. I can hardly wait to get back to work tomorrow to ask a zillion questions to them.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Ok, I am going to give this a go. What I want to do is make this my travel blog so that each and everyone of you who follow my travels will be able to do so on your own time and if you are not interested.....then just shut it down or never come to this site at all.
So. I am not sure if everybody knows this or not but my next adventure is off to Africa. Yup! I am finally going. Those of you who know me really well will know just how excited I am.
I am off on Oct 12.........I will go via AA to San Juan, JFK, Brussels, Nairobi. Ya, hind site.....I should have taken the KLM flights and gone from here to Amsterdam to Nairobi but I thought it would be nice to get off the plane to stretch, use a real bathroom and eat food. Well with the events happening in London has sure put a mess into that now hasn't it. Oh well. On the way back I go Nairobi, London, JFK, San Juan - over night there- then home.
My friend Bob will be staying here for a month and then my buddy Joe and his family will stay for the last two weeks. I hope that they have the best dives ever.
In preperation for this trip I finally broke down and bought a digital camera. I will be practising with it soon. Well, I have taken a few shots up in Washington park but I need to take way more. I am also trying to take better care of my back. I was at the Chiropractor today. He rest me and now I am resting and learning how to move differently. I know.......this is seriously close to my departure time, 0nly two more months, and I should be hiking up Seru Largo and I will again as soon as the Dr. gives me the big OK.
Ok then...........with that out of the way.......Here is what my itinary is looking.
Oct 12 - depart Bonaire
Oct 13 - Arrive in Nairobi to visit with my friend Delno who I will be staying with.
Oct 16 -18 I leave to hike up Mt. Kenya
Oct 18 - 23 I will be on safari in the Masai Mara park area
Oct 23 - 27 I will rest up and maybe go whitewater rafting
Oct 26 I take the bus to Moshi in Tanzinia
Oct 27 - Nov 3 I will be climbing Mt. Killimanjaro
Nov 4 - is a rest day and the day I meet up with my buddy Robin
Nov 5 - 13 Robin and I will be off on our safari to places like Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater
Nov 14 - is a rest day.....time to get cleaned up
Nov 15 - 21 we fly to Zanzibar for 6 days of diving
Nov 22 - we fly back to Nairobi
Nov 23 - At 11 pm Robin heads back to Boston and I back to Bonaire.
Nov 25 - unpack and prepare to go back to work
Now to see just how close I will be with my dates. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
So. I am not sure if everybody knows this or not but my next adventure is off to Africa. Yup! I am finally going. Those of you who know me really well will know just how excited I am.
I am off on Oct 12.........I will go via AA to San Juan, JFK, Brussels, Nairobi. Ya, hind site.....I should have taken the KLM flights and gone from here to Amsterdam to Nairobi but I thought it would be nice to get off the plane to stretch, use a real bathroom and eat food. Well with the events happening in London has sure put a mess into that now hasn't it. Oh well. On the way back I go Nairobi, London, JFK, San Juan - over night there- then home.
My friend Bob will be staying here for a month and then my buddy Joe and his family will stay for the last two weeks. I hope that they have the best dives ever.
In preperation for this trip I finally broke down and bought a digital camera. I will be practising with it soon. Well, I have taken a few shots up in Washington park but I need to take way more. I am also trying to take better care of my back. I was at the Chiropractor today. He rest me and now I am resting and learning how to move differently. I know.......this is seriously close to my departure time, 0nly two more months, and I should be hiking up Seru Largo and I will again as soon as the Dr. gives me the big OK.
Ok then...........with that out of the way.......Here is what my itinary is looking.
Oct 12 - depart Bonaire
Oct 13 - Arrive in Nairobi to visit with my friend Delno who I will be staying with.
Oct 16 -18 I leave to hike up Mt. Kenya
Oct 18 - 23 I will be on safari in the Masai Mara park area
Oct 23 - 27 I will rest up and maybe go whitewater rafting
Oct 26 I take the bus to Moshi in Tanzinia
Oct 27 - Nov 3 I will be climbing Mt. Killimanjaro
Nov 4 - is a rest day and the day I meet up with my buddy Robin
Nov 5 - 13 Robin and I will be off on our safari to places like Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater
Nov 14 - is a rest day.....time to get cleaned up
Nov 15 - 21 we fly to Zanzibar for 6 days of diving
Nov 22 - we fly back to Nairobi
Nov 23 - At 11 pm Robin heads back to Boston and I back to Bonaire.
Nov 25 - unpack and prepare to go back to work
Now to see just how close I will be with my dates. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
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