Home is Where Our Hearts Are

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

The journey home began last night at 5 PM Tanzania time; it's now 11:25 AM Amsterdam time and we are sitting aboard our final leg, KLM to Boston. Our last safari jeep trip started at the Serena Lodge in Arusha, Tanzania after enjoying a "day room" at the Serena Lodge.  There were 7 of us traveling to Kiliminjaro Airport along with our last 2 drivers/guides and Esto, our leader from Asilia Safari Group. We again drove through the outskirts of Arusha and even stopped once to photograph the fields of sunflowers. 

After a very emotional farewell to Esto, we entered the airport at 5:30. THREE HOURS LATER, we had our boarding passes!  It was an excruciating wait!!! Three agents checking in first class passengers and ONE doing the rest. Even that lone agent was often assisting other first class agents. AND, the printer was "down" so they had to manually write the luggage claim tickets. Not an auspicious start to our journey!!  After our third time through security, I couldn't find my backpack!!!  I yelled to Peter to ask if he had it when I found it!!  On my back!!!!  A little distracted??  Finally on the plane, our ride to Amsterdam was pretty easy and uneventful. 

We landed on time in Amsterdam at 7:15 AM Amsterdam time, had coffee with Bea and Tom and met up with Gail and Carol from our safari group. Fortunately we had wi-fi at the airport and were able to find out from both Pete M. and Karen that Suzanne's surgery was over, deemed successful and she was resting comfortably in her room at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. Thank you, God. We then headed for our gate and the final leg of our journey home. Wheels up at 10:50 Amsterdam time (5 AM. EST). We are due in Boston at 12:20 PM and we'll go straight to the hospital. 

In reviewing my blogs, I discovered one glaring omission!  After our balloon safari on Wednesday and before arriving for our elegant outdoor safari breakfast, we experienced a singular event. In our jeep, our driver noticed one cheetah running through the grass. He proceeded to follow the cheetah off road for a bit so we could observe him. This was our only cheetah sighting during the whole safari. They are very rare and endangered because the local village people kill them since cheetahs prey on their goats. 

Finished for now!!  Kiliminjaro Airport to Boston Logan Airport:  22 hours!  If I discover any other omissions, I will report them. What an awesome experience this has been, to observe these wild animals in their own habitat. We were extremely fortunate to have Esto as our naturalist expert for the whole trip. His knowledge, sense of humor and caring spirit were the BEST. Also, our drivers/guides were exceptional as were the camp hosts: Jackie and Justin, Angel and Future and Abel and his crew. "Asante sana" to all for an unforgettable  experience. Also to Bea and Tom, our dear friends, who "hooked us up" with the Living Desert safari; Alan, Deirdre and Ashley who represented The Living Desert; and the rest of our group, Falon and Bob, Carol, Gail and Jo-Ann. "ASANTE SANA to everyone."

"Out of Africa"

Monday, June 29, 2015

Up early to repack. I heard a hyena in the distance. Breakfast with the crew at 7:30. Lively conversation, as usual, full of farewells. Each of us received a "kanga," similar to a Hawaiian lava-lava, which some of the staff modeled for us. Our says in Seahili,"Anything valuable is achieved through hard work."  

Left Sayara Camp for the airstrip nearby. Along the way we saw a parade of about 15 elephants with males, females and babies. Arrived at Kogatende airport at 10:30. Wheels up at 11. Full plane with 12 plus pilot aboard another Grand Caravan.  Before the flight can take off, a trucks drives around the  grass runway to make sure there are no animals on the runway. Flight is one hour and five minutes.  We flew over the active volcano Oldoinyo Lengai, "mountain of God" in Maasai. It is the world's only cold volcano and last erupted in 2008/9. 

Landed outside Arusha at a small airport, stopped to do some shopping at the Cultural Heritage Center of Tanzania. We saw a group of school children entering as their teacher said, "Look with your eyes, not your hands!"  Does that sound familiar, Pete, Matt, Mike andSuzanne?  Even more interesting was driving through the bustling streets of the city on our way to Serena Lodge. We saw many bed frames for sale made of olea africaner wood, a very hard wood grown in Tanzania and lots of other brightly colored stuffed furniture all displayed out in the elements. In the residential outskirts, there were cows and goats along the road. Women carrying sticks on their heads, were removing them away from the path of the newly installed electric cables. We arrived at Serena Lodge a little after 1:30. 

We each got our own room to freshen up, shower and change clothes before heading for the Kiliminjaro Airport and our trek home. First to Kigali in Rowanda to load more passengers. Then on to Amsterdam and an hour plus wait for our KLM jet heading for Logan Airport in Boston. Home sweet home and Suzanne!

Last Day in the Bush!!

Sunday, June 39, 2015

Left on safari after breakfast today at 7. Pretty chilly so layers were the order of the day!!  And, oh, the sights!!!  Our first sighting was a pregnant giraffe who will give birth standing up and the baby will be 5 feet tall!  We encountered the hyrex on the same rock as yesterday!  Hyrex have a gland on their feet which allows them to cling to a rick without falling for a while. He actually looks like part of the rock. Saw some Cape buffalo and our guide told us not to let them lick us---VERY rough tongue!! Also they have a very good sense of smell but very bad eyesight. 

After a VERY hazardous  but successful crossing of the creek, we saw a croc sunning and then he slipped into the water. He can live for a MONTH without eating!  Vitamins from the sun and a gland function keep him strong. Met many hippos loving the Rapids!  Saw many Thompson's gazelles (bigger than Grant's gazelles and with a dark stripe) and impalas cavorting together. Then more hippos in the Mara River. Across the river, a topi antelope lying in the grass. Like impalas, topi are the only antelope with their own tribe. This is because of a gland (shown as a black patch on the back of the ankle). Saw a mixed group Impala (male , female, and baby) traveling together. More large crocs sunning themselves on the rocks.   

At 9:45 we crossed over a seasonal creek to see even more of everything. With one very special sighting. The seasonal readiness of the wildebeests for migration to begin in a week to ten days. There was a line of wildebeests that had no end, all walking, ambling, running in the same direction!  Some zebras were with the, a hyena was checking them out.  Absolutely AWESOME!!  We were surround by wildebeests, 360 degrees of wildebeests, some nearby basically ignoring us, some in the distance, ALL moving in basically the same direction. We'd been in the vehicle more than 3 hours so, for a break, we got out and did some yoga for the animals!!!

On the way back we saw giraffes, Cape buffalo and a matriarchal society of elephants (all females and babies). The day has gone from chilly to quite warm and lovely. And by this time we were pretty hungry!!  It was Bea who spotted the rolls of toilet paper on a tree!  And next we saw a picnic all set up with tables, chairs, plates, silverware, tablecloths, wine. All set up as a surprise for us by the Sayari staff. The TP was by our "bush bathroom" which was a hole behind a tree. Great lunch and we arrived back at camp "bushed" about 2. Some relaxed, some checked out the curio shop at the camp, some went to the pool, some snoozed.......I shopped and went to the pool where last week a staff member found a hippo frolicking. Fortunately it wasn't there with me today!  Today it was pretty hot there!

Refreshed, we all met for our last dinner together, told stories, laughed a lot and ate an "African feast" of grilled meats and veggies with many side dishes. Dessert was a fabulous African donut. Weirdly, it had started to rain. We hadn't seen any rain since a sprinkle in Amsterdam. So we were escorted back to our tent under an umbrella. Tomorrow we leave for Arusha and say goodby here to 5 of our group who are going from here to Rwanda to see the gorillas. 

To the Northern Serengeti

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Today we left at 8:30 for our plane ride to the northern Serengeti. We said our farewell to Angel, Fortune and the rest of the staff at Dunia Camp. Our regular drivers Raphael, Emmanuel and Chande drove us to the airstrip in central Serengeti where we said adieu to those three perfect guides. Esto, our naturalist, accompanied us. The plane was SMALL, 14 passengers! The flight was quite pleasant in the Cessna Grand Caravan with our pilot Harry. We were able to observe the migration lines of zebra and wildebeest in the grassy terrain. Arrived at Kogatende at 10:25 after a 25 minute flight. 

All 12 of us plus left in 2 open Toyota safari vehicles, each equipped with  Mkias, fly swatters made of animal hair, to wend our way to Sayara Camp. There are bigger trees here and it's hillier  and the roads are muddy and deeply rutted. We arrived at Sayara Camp at 11:30 and were,as usual, greeted warmly with cool, wet wash cloths. The camp has elaborate tents, a dining room, a lounge area and a natural pool built into the rocks. We freshened up, unpacked a little, relaxed on our canopied deck and went to lunch at 1. Lunch was a salad spread with sorbet for dessert. Bea and I then spent some time at the pool. 

At 4 we went on safari. Saw many impalas before arriving at the Mara River. There we saw a harem of Impala, all females with one male. An all male group is called a bachelor of Impala!  We observed the points for migration which will start in a week or so. As of the 2000 census, there were 1.6 million wildebeests, 700,00 zebras and 330,00 gazelles in the area. Many, many more now!  We observed a crocodile lounging on a rock in the river and another croc moving around on a sandbar. We also saw some hyrex on the rocks. Hyrex is of the elephant species because of its bone structure and because it has internal testicles. But, it looks like a rodent!  Also saw a leopard. 

Back at the camp, we had cocktails at the fire pit and then dinner Al fresco. Conversation and wine were flowing!  Tomorrow we start at 7!!  So, off to bed. 

UP, UP AND AWAY.....

Friday, June 26, 2015

Up at 4:30 for coffee delivered to our tent. We were escorted to our waiting vehicles at 5 for the drive to the site of the balloon launch. There were 4 green and white striped balloons waiting to be launched. We were a group of 7 in our party so we merged with another group of 9 to complete our basket. 

The basket itself was prone on the ground and contained 16 open rectangular fairly deep cubbies into which 2 people crawled till they were prone to the ground. The balloon pilot had his space between each group of 8 cubbies. Then he checked to make sure the balloon was full and and fired up the burners to gently raise the basket to an uptight position and up we went!  Our FIRST balloon ride.....in the Serengeti no less!!

"Up, Up and Away in our Beautiful, our Beautiful Balloon."  What a sight!  We traveled in the 8 knot wind, up and down, between 40 and 800 feet. We saw a male lion lying in the grass 40 feet below us , hundreds of zebra and wildebeest and passed  over a hippo pool with many hippos, one even yawning with his mouth wide open!  We were floating around, enjoying the breeze, the sunrise and the renowned Serengeti below us. What could be better? Our landing was perfect and, right then and there, we celebrated with champagne!

After climbing back into safari vehicles, we headed out a few minutes to a beautiful field where we were treated to a traditional English breakfast including bangers and roasted tomatoes. Oh, and more champagne. Moses, our pilot say with us and chatted. A Tanzanian by birth, he's now married to a Canadian and lived in Canada. After a delightful repast served by uniformed waiters, we rejoined our Asilia group and headed back to Dunia Camp  via some pretty rough roads. Saw more wildlife and searched for lions, leopards and cheetah.   

Upon returning to Dunia, I read Suzanne's latest Caring Bridge blog and was extremely emotional. What a beautiful exposition!  Thank you, Suzanne. Lunch and R&R for a couple of hours before taking a sunset safari where we traveled back roads and saw a parade of elephants (one actually looked like he might be ready to charge us), a dazzle of zebras and a gang of Cape buffalo. Finally stopped near a river of flamingoes where some of the staff from Dunia met us for sunset drinks (sundowners!). What a pleasant surprise!

Back at Dunia, another great dinner and dessert and bed on the early side. Tomorrow we fly to Saraya Camp so we leave Dunia at 8. 

African massage and African poda

June 25, 2015

Up this morning for a quick breakfast at 7, checked out, left with Peter, Bea, Tom and our driver Chande for the Serengeti. We passed rustling Acacia trees onto the endless plain of the Serengeti, which means endless plain!  

Our first stop was the Oldupai Gorge where the Leakeys did their fossil work. There was an informative narrative done by a charming young lady with a great command of the English language. She explained the various levels of the gorge, the oldest of which is 2 million years old, and the discovery of homo erectus and homo sapiens. 

On the next leg of our journey we saw dik-diks and a tower of giraffes who were going from tree to tree eating. They do this because, after a few minutes, the trees emit a distasteful liquid!  We passed boma corrals for Maasai herds of cattle, sheep ang goats. The boma are made of bushes in a circle. Soon we were at a Maasai village where we had a tour.

At the village, Matthew, the son of the village chief, speaking in excellent English, introduced us to village life. The men of the village, dressed in traditional garb did a jumping dance. The women did the same. Joseph was Peter's and my guide around the village. He even showed us one of the huts where a family sleeps. Since the men are polygamous, each wife has a hut for herself and her own children. As a matter of fact, each woman builds her own hut, surmounted by a roof made of grass. SMALL!!  After the tour, we surveyed the  goods handmade by the village members all of whom are related. We ended the tour by buying 2 small carved animals and some jewelry and paid $90.00 in dollars!  Way too much money but a good way to support the Maasai people. 

At noon we left the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and entered the FLAT Serengeti. We soon saw jackals, gazelles and zebra and our first hartebeest, saddle bill stork and topi. Next we stopped to register for our balloon ride tomorrow and then proceeded to Dunia Camp. Along the way we observed our first leopards. They were snoozing on the limb of a tree, completely oblivious to us!!

Dunia Camp is another Asilia facility as was Oliver's camp. Asilia is a safari tour group based in Arusha and has planned and guided our safari in Tanzania. Our naturalist is Esto and our guide/drivers are Raphael, Emmanuel and Chande. They are 4 of the Asilia employees and have done a superb job!

At Dunia Camp we were greeted as we exited our vehicles with wet, warm wash cloths to refresh our hands and face after a fascinating but grueling 8 hour drive mostly on rutted dirt rods. Hence the "African massage and African  poda!"  Poda in translation means dust". Angel, the camp director, welcomed us and gave us the "lay of the land."  We have raised tents, each with a deck,  a zippered opening to the inside where there is a sitting area, a bedroom area with king size bed, a bathroom and a shower. We were able to rest a bit and take a shower before dinner; it's a bucket shower and I had to order the warm water and have it delivered to our tent. The water flow is controlled by a spigot!    We then joined the others at"bush tv"for a drink around the fire before a great dinner with our group of 12 and then retired  for the night at 9:30. We have to get up at 4:30 AM tomorrow and leave at 5 so we can start our balloon ride just before sunrise. 

FLAMINGOS, LIONS AND RHYNOS, OH MY!!!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Our day started at 6 AM, breakfast buffet at 6:30, on the road at 7 driving down into the crater. First sighting hundreds of wildebeast , then a pride of 3 lions, some Thompson gazelles, zebras, beautiful crowned cranes who sport what looks like a golden Afro and a grant gazelle with her.  The "piece de resistance" was a view of thousands of pink flamingos on blue water!  Amazing!!!

Further along we observed wildebeests grazing together, a zebra sniffing prone wildebeast and then "hippo heaven," a family of hippos lounging and snoozing in the water!  A "dust devil," a perfect funnel was the backdrop, many miles away.   

The crater is a perfect eco-system with grazing land and a soda lake whose size varies with the rainfall. The wild animals enjoy the area together with little or no conflict unless a lion is hungry!

We saw a Kori bustard with its baby. Chande, our driver today, said he's never seen a baby Kori. An ostrich group was nearby. The males are polygamous and ALL of the impregnated eggs are in one nest and the females take turns sitting on the nest!

The next highlight was a buffalo kill with 2 male lions enjoying the carcass.  There were also 3 or 4 female lion nearby waiting for their turn. The females typically kill the prey, the males eat first, then the females and then the hyenas and jackals have their chance.   These  lions were surrounded at a distance by a single buffalo who looked to be in mourning. The curious jackals and hyenas were waiting their turn. Interestingly there are only 3 lion prides in the Ngorongoro Crater. Shortly after that, we saw some hyenas slinking around, stalking wildebeests and they were chased off by other attentive wildebeests. 

HIGH POINT: a black rhino sighting at 11:00. The sighting was at a distance but the guides are incredible at spotting wildlife with the naked eye. The rhino was not not any more attractive closer up!!  Almost prehistoric looking!!  Rhinos don't travel in packs; they are "loners!"

Local Maasai take their cattle down the steep walls of the crater, a right negotiated with the government, to graze the cattle. The interaction of cattle with wild animals is almost non-existent. We actually saw cows and zebras grazing side by side but not interacting and thereby preventing the spread of disease between them. Amazing!

Lunch was quite memorable! A picnic in the savannah of the crater with tables set with tablecloths and napkins, dishes, silverware and wine glasses!  All elegantly served by Serena Lodge personnel. We had grilled chicken and beef sausage, vegetable casserole, parsley potatoes and salad. Dessert was a choice of raspberry cake, lemon pie and eclairs. Wine, beer and water were poured!  WOW!!

Before making our way up the crater on a road paved with stones (done by hand!), we were treated with a sighting of a black maned lion who had 3 females nearby!  Back at the lodge about 3:30, we were given the rest of the afternoon "off!"  And we all took advantage of the time to rest before meeting for cocktails at 7 PM. 

Carol joined us for cocktails. Dinner was much better tonight. The cream of broccoli soup was good as was the salad bar. Peter's beef entree and my traditional chicken were both very good as were the desserts. Again we had to pay $2.00 for a bottle of water!  Joanne also joined us for dinner and the talk was lively. We still are questioning the tips here at Serena Lodge and think the explanation by Classic Escapes needs to be more transparent. There needs to be a clear leader of the group to answer our questions about tipping. 

We leave tomorrow at 8 AM for Dunia Camp in Serengeti National Park.  May not have wi-fi for a few days. Will post when I'm able!

OUR FIRST HIPPO

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Up at 6:30 for breakfast at 7 in order to leave Oliver's Camp for Lake Manyara National Park, the Ngorongoro Crater and Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge. I took photos of everyone in our group and Justin showed us photos of wildlife who, last night while we slept, activated night cameras set up near camp buildings. WOW....even an elephant!

Back in our Land Cruisers, we took a last swing through the Tarangire.  We saw more elephants, giraffes with babies, a troop of baboons (suckling, fighting, and mating) 

small green lovebirds,

several dazzles of zebra and a

pride of 3 sleeping lions!!!

We left  Tarangire National Park at 10:45 and drove through an area of towns and farms with cornfields and herds of cattle and goats of all colors and sizes crossing paved roads. We followed a new road toward Manyara 

and stopped at 11:30 to pick up a new Classic Escapes passenger. While there we 

bought local peanuts and handmade bracelets from Masai women who approached our vehicle.  $1 each!!!

At noon we stopped at the Children Concern Foundation where we fell in love with the orphans who are cared for and taught there. Esther grabbed my hand and we walked together to tour the school and dorms. Delightful!  We knew we were stopping there so each of us had brought books for the children. 

Soon we passed through a lively, busy Masai town outside forested Manyara National Park and entered the park at 1. First stop was a picnic, bag lunches from Oliver's. Driving through the park we observed baboons grooming each other and blue velvet monkeys chasing each other. The park is essentially a ground water forest that supports fig and mahogany trees. The star event was the Hippo Pool. Even though we saw only one hippo, there were cape buffalo, wildebeasts, zebras, Maribou storks, egrets and other water fowl. 

On the way to Ngorongoro Crater we had a break at a very well appointed souvenir shop where Peter found an authentic brick oven where they made pizza margarita. Only problem:  no time to wait for a pizza!! On the road again we drove by some very well tended farms growing lots of sunflowers. This area, just outside Ngorongoro, seems to be more prosperous than others we've seen. 

Ngorongoro itself is unique. It is an ecosystem of 102 square miles and 1800 feet deep formed 2 million years ago when the cone of a volcano collapsed. It is a microcosm of East African scenery with abundant wildlife. Masai families farm the land so wild and domesticated animals live together. We will visit it tomorrow.   

After 10 hours in our vehicles, we finally arrived at our "resting place" for the next two nights, the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, built at the edge of the crater. Unbelievable!!  75 rooms in a lodge with the feel of Frank Lloyd Wright!!!  Beautifully appointed but not great food!  

Early morning tomorrow!

A DAY AT TARANGIRE

Monday, June 22, 2015

After a good night's sleep in our huge bed warmed by hot water bottles and surrounded by screens and the pitch black, we awoke at 5:50 to get ready for our day of safari in Tarangire National Park. At 6 a staff member arrived with a tray containing a pot of hot coffee with cups, accoutrements and biscuits. Up at the open air dining room, we assembled with the other guests and our group for a breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, fruit and muffins. And then, at 7, we were off on safari. 

Today I went with Peter, Bea and Tom with our guides Esto, the boss and naturalist of the Asilia Safaris guides and Emmanuel, one of the driver/guides. They have been taught that the park/bush is "the animals' home, not our home!"  We drove by many acacia trees, aka umbrella trees, because of their shape. Also saw a couple of "candelabra" trees.....amazing!  

Here is a sampling of what we observed: A black backed jackal,a bush chicken, a Martial eagle who had preyed upon a guinea fowl or bush chicken (this eagle can eat a baby impala!), mongeese atop and in a termite mound (they eat termites!),  and black-faced monkeys.  We also saw plovers, black storks, white faced whistling ducks, herons and also rollers who are very colorful ( 7 colors) but who sing terribly, an eagle owl, and a water buck (who has a natural white circle on his butt that looks like a toilet seat!)

Do you know the following names of groups: a business of mongoose, a tower of giraffes, a Parade of elephants, a pride of ostriches or lions, a parliament of Eagles and a school of monkeys. 

ATTENTION:  a lion sighting at 11:20 AM!!!!!  Esto has great eyes and saw a lion in the distance sitting atop a termite mound. A little far away but we could see it through our binoculars. And then another sighting at noon. This one was much closer!  A mother and 3 Cubs came down from hills, crossed in front of us and sauntered down to the water and back!  WOW!!!!!

After more than 7 hours on safari, we returned to Oliver's camp for a delicious lunch of self-made wraps with chicken and marinated veggies, beautifully served and ending with a fabulous jelled passion fruit dessert.  My Kilimanjaro beer (quite light) hit the spot. The remainder of the afternoon we spent regrouping, repacking and resting. 

BTW:  AS I'M WRITING THIS, IT'S 4:40 PM AND 4 GENET JUST STROLLED BY OUR TENT BOLD AND BRAZEN AS COULD BE!!!!  5:45 A PARADE OF ELEPHANTS JUST PASSED BY ON THE SEVANAH IN FRONT OF OUR TENT!!

Off to sunset and cocktails. More later.  

Sunset was spectacular on the Sunset Deck with gin and tonics followed by lively chatter around "the bush TV" fire pit. Dinner was again delicious and elegantly served in the roofed dining roof: steak, broccoli, scalloped potatoes, butternut squash and coconut cream pie. Again, lively discussion ensued. Dinner ended with a lively musical parade with drums by the staff. All in all, it was a fitting end to our stay at Oliver's Camp. 

Back in Tent 3, after being escorted there by a staff member, we went to bed serenaded by silence with only the sounds of nature. 

In the "BUSH"

 Sunday June 21, 2015

So here I go, semi-darkness and no wi-fi!  I won't be able to post until at least Tuesday but if I don't write this now, I won't remember the details!

This morning we got up at 6 AM, ready for our next adventure. After a hot shower in our en/suite bathroom, repacking, and a lovely breakfast in the beautiful dining room of the lodge, we embarked in our Land Cruiser for Tarangire National Park. I rode with Gail and Carol and our charming guide Raphael who taught us some Swahili vocabulary and regaled us with much local info. Peter rode with Bea, Tom and Ashley. 

Driving through Arusha town and a Masai village were interesting but "third World!"  But when we got to the countryside, we were astounded!  Herds of goats led by kids, donkeys carrying casks of water and women gathering water at any water source available. There are many small Masai villages with thatched roof dwellings, each probably belonging to a polygamous Masai male, each dwelling inhabited with a wife and children. All this along with shrub and forest savannahs. 

Once we entered Tarangire National Park, we were "blown away!"  Elephants, giraffes, gazelles, warthogs (pretty ugly!), impalas, ostriches, zebras, exotic birds, beautiful flora and fauna. Unbelievable and totally awesome. Lunch was served at a picnic area, and I mean SERVED!  And there were black-faced monkeys who tried to snatch away some lunch food from picnickers. Back on the road there were more fantastic road views and interesting info from our guides. 

We arrived at Oliver's Camp about 6 PM. It's a "bush" camp in the middle of nowhere. We are in Tent 3 of 10 tent sites. Totally isolated, no wi-fi, escorts needed between 6:30 PM and 6:30 AM to the main camp area because of wildlife roaming the camp at night, all power is solar, all screened, thatched roof. But, there is an indoor bathroom with an outdoor shower. Jackie (South-African) and Justin (Canadian) run the camp of ten "tents" along with a staff of about 20. We had cocktails at the fire pit as the sun set and a remarkable dinner at the   outdoor dining room. It's 11PM, Peter's snoring and our alarm is set for 5:50 AM. 

Until tomorrow, with more adventures.....,

Jambo! from Africa

Saturday, June 20, 2015

We were  "up and at 'em" pretty early today in order to coordinate our plans, get in our taxi at 7 and then head for the airport. Arrived there and went through their unusual baggage check when we were informed that we did not have confirmed seats, that we should have confirmed our seats 30 hours before departure and that we would have to proceed to the gate to see what could be done!  We hadn't received any info about confirming seats. We were the first of the Desert Horizon /Classic Escapes group to arrive at the gate and spent an uneasy hour or so while the others appeared. Everyone had confirmed seats but us!!

Soon we were trying to come up with a plan. "What if there are only 1, 2 or three seats available?"  In the end we decided "all or nothing!" We'd stick together and hope to catch the group the next day!  Then the gate agent approached with a "hard to read" face......we HAD 4 seats!!!  None of them together but ON THE PLANE!!

Hallelujah!!

Flight finally took of at 11:06 AM. Food, movies, snoozing, reading for 8 hours!!  Arrival scheduled for 8:07 PM Tanzania time.  After a very long flight, we landed a little late, spent a lot of time procuring our visas for $100 cash with 20s issued after 2006!  After getting our bags, we met our drivers and their Toyota Land Cruisers and learned our first Swahili......Asante is thank you. We drove 45 minutes to the Lake Duluti Serena Hotel where we had a snack before retiring to our cottage thatched with banana fronds. Off to bed at 11, have to be ready for our first safari at 8:30 tomorrow morning. 

Bicycle Dodging in Amsterdam

Friday June 19, 2015

June 19, 2015

I as woke with my alarm at 7:30 this morning and fell promptly back to sleep. Peter woke me at 8:45 when Bea knocked on the door!  We were supposed to meet the Sextoms downstairs at 8:30!

What a day!! We left the hotel at 9 AM and returned at 9 PM (for good, day was over!). For breakfast we went to a traditional Dutch pancake place we'd seen yesterday, for pancakes(more like crepes) with the toppings we desired. I had lemon curd and fresh strawberries an then rolled up the thin pancake. Yum!!  

From there we walked to th famous Van Gogh Museum where we waited in line for about a half hour until we could buy our entry tickets (17E,  isn't that expensive? Isn't $19.00 a lot for entry to a museum?). Despite the free, the museum was extraordinary!  It includes ALL of the Van Gogh family art works. And, if you consider that Vincent sold ONE of his paintings during his life (to his brother Theo), that is a lot of art that has never been available to the general public. Needless to say, I was enthralled. Waiting in line was worth it!!

The day was deteriorating weather-wise. But we plodded on in our quest to see as much as we could!  We decided that with the deteriorating weather, we'd do well, at this point, to take a canal cruise in a covered boat. This city is amazing!  The architecture is so in tune with the environs of Amsterdam. And the stories and history of the river, dam and canals are history-making. So many canals, so many bridges, so many narrow houses-all connected!!  And, before I forget, it's important to be careful of the bicycles. It's hard to know where you are able to walk. And it's a wonder there aren't a lot of accidents!  I think there are more bikes than people in Amsterdam. And none of the bicyclists wears helmets!  Bea thinks the pedestrians should wear helmets!  

After a beer and "coffee" at the Bull Dog Cafe, a coffee shop, we, slowly but surely wended our way to Dubbel, a restaurant recommended by Rick Steves, small, crowded (good sign!). The servers were sooo gracious, gave us a flight of 4 local beers to taste, and tended to us with care!  Mostly a local place but probably for a younger crowd. We WERE the only gray hairs, I mean, Peter and Tom were the only gray hairs there. The food was great:  bitterballen again for an appetizer (!warmed creamy veal surrounded by a crispy, crunchy deep fried ball of crumbs!  Sound delish?  Dinner for Tom and I had Dutch steak with fries and salad, Peter had "American" steak and Bea pork with apples and we all had local beer. Good discussion ensued and, before we knew it we were back on the road walking to our hotel and an early evening. After a cordial, we retired for an early bed, meeting at 7 at the desk. 

"PROOST" from Amsterdam

Thursday June 18, 2015

After a bit of a shaky start to our trans-Atlantic voyage (bus was late, discovery we were flying Delta not KLM, time spent trying to have our mileage added to our Delta Miles) we boarded our plane just a little late and off we flew!  WIth dinner and a movie, a 6 hour time change and a 6 hour flight, not much time for snoozing!  Arrived in Amsterdam at 8 am (2am EST!). Spent time waiting for Bea and Tom by getting our bearings, finding the most convenient way to get to our hotel, NH HOTEL MUSEUM QUARTER, and sipping coffee at Starbucks!  Amazing....EVERYONE here speaks English....and they speak it well!

Bea and Tom arrived without any problems. Took a cab into the city (a a Tesla, as are many of the taxis in Amsterdam) and checked into our hotel easily. Paperwork done, we walked around, past the very ornate Rijiksmuseum, across MANY canals to the flower market, cappuccino at Starbucks and then on to the Leidesplein, a popular square with the Bull Dog Coffee shop.  Most streets are paved in brick, as are the bike lanes and the number of cyclists on the road is colossal!  It's not hard to get in their way. Back at the hotel a couple of hours later. We decided to dine early since none of us got much sleep last night!

Recommended by the concierge, we walked a short distance to the Cafe Loetje, a local favorite. Dinner was very good, lots of good people watching, good steak and Wiener schnitzel. But we were totaled!!  Back to the hotel by 9 with plans to meet at 8:30 tomorrow morning got a FULL day of sightseeing!