June 16, 2015

Well, it’s hard to believe but we are leaving Kenya today.  😦  Our safari was amazing and we saw (just about) everything that we wanted to see.  I was a little disappointed because we never got a good view of Mt Kilimanjaro…it was cloudy when we went by so we only saw the very top.  (Looks a lot like Mt Rainier!  lol)

I guess we will have to come back another time to see Kili and to go trekking with the gorillas in Uganda.

We had a couple of extra days here in Nairobi which was actually kind of nice to relax and unwind.  We had a mall right near the campsite, so we walked up there pretty much each day for the past 3 days to eat some good junk food in the food court.  🙂  We also went to an elephant orphanage at the Nairobi National Park.  They take in baby elephants that have been orphaned due to either poachers or were found abandoned.  For an hour each afternoon, people are welcome to see them during feeding time.  It was pretty awesome.  Hayden got to pet a couple of the babies.

Feeding time!

Bottle feeding

Puddle jumping!

Loving the elephants

Tiny baby!

Petting the baby

Loving the elephants

Petting the baby

Hugging elephants

The elephants were so cute when they came running down.  They know the drill and came right inside of the nursery area and each ran for a bottle.  They got 2 bottles each, then they have to eat leaves/grass for the rest of their meal.  It was pretty funny because after they finished a bottle, they would walk around to the other trainers and try to get another bottle.

We are getting ready to head out to the airport now and our next stop is Cairo, Egypt!!!

June 11, 2015

Following an awesome morning yesterday in the Ngorongoro Crater, we spent the afternoon in the Serengeti, stayed overnight in the park and then had another game drive today before heading back to camp this afternoon.

The Serengeti was absolutely amazing…”Serengeti” means wide-open plains in Swahili and it certainly lives up to it’s name.  It’s really cool to see…due to the volcano eruption that formed the Ngorongoro Crater over 2 million years ago, the ground has just a thin layer of soil and is unable to grow tall trees (or really much more than grasses).  Because of this, the land is very flat and open.  We were here just before the start of the Great Migration (wildebeests and zebras), so there were TONS of zebras and wildebeest in the park.  In addition to these, we saw a bunch of lions (3 separate prides), elephants, giraffe, lots of impala and other types of antelopes, and a mom with her 2 baby cubs (guide said they were about 5 months old).

Here are a ton of pictures from the game drives…(I took over 500 pictures just in this 24 hour period, so this is only a fraction of them!)

Welcome to the Serengeti

Zebras on the Serengeti

Three Brothers

Zebra crossing

Giraffes

Running giraffe

Lazy lion

Lion cub

Lion cub

Lion cubs

Mama lion

Lion cub

The Serengeti

Male lion

Lioness on the prowl

Lioness on the prowl

Leopard cub

Mama leopard

Climbing leopard cub

Young male lion

Following the game drives, we had lunch in the park before we had to drive back to camp.  On the way back to camp, we got the opportunity to stop in a Maasi village where Hayden got to go into the school and talk to some of the kids.  It was a pretty cool experience.  The villages look exactly as you would picture them with the huts, wall around the outside and the people all wearing traditional clothing.

Maasi Village

Maasi Village

Maasi Village

We are now back in Arusha and we get ready tonight to leave for Nairobi tomorrow.  Unfortunately, that is our last stop and the safari will come to an end.  😦

June 10, 2015

Today was awesome!  We spent the morning in the Ngorongoro Crater, it was as cool as I had hoped.  The trip started out great from the beginning.  We drove to near the crater to camp the night prior.  The campground was nice and we had a decent dinner cooked for us.  The highlight of dinner (for Hayden and I at least) was the giant plate of popcorn before dinner.  🙂  After dinner, some of the locals put on a dance/acrobatics show.  They were amazing…seriously, I think these guys could have taken gold in the Olympics the way they could tumble around!

We got up EARLY the next morning to get a start into the crater.  The drive in was pretty hazy, but it cleared up once we were inside of the crater.  The Ngorongoro is the largest in tact crater in the world at 260 square km….it is a really cool sight to see!

At the Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Crater

Inside of the crater, they have the Big 5 (Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Rhino, and Cape Buffalo).  We saw everything except leopards while we were driving around.

Taking a nap

Zebras in the Ngorongoro

Ngorongoro Crater

Young male lion

Young male lion

Cape Buffalo

African Elephant

Wildebeest

Wildebeest

Lesser Pink Flamingos

Hyena

We did manage to see a few Black Rhino, but unfortunately, they were all wither in the distance or laying down (and very hard to take a picture of!)

Black Rhino in the distance

We stopped and had lunch inside of the crater at a hippo pool, it was a great place to sit and eat.  There were zebras right next to the lunch area and tons of hippos in the pool!

In the Ngorongoro Crater

Next up is the Serengeti this afternoon and again tomorrow morning.

June 6, 2015

Our 2nd and 3rd days in Zanzibar where even better than our first day.  After a morning of relaxing by the beach and building sand castles, we went to the Natural Aquarium where there is a tide pool with Green Sea Turtles where you can swim.  It was really awesome.  There are over 20 turtles that permanently live in the tide pool, and the aquarium feeds them and takes care of them.  We had a great time swimming with them for a couple of hours.  It is certainly different than the US because I’m sure that you would not be allowed to touch/kiss/ride the turtles anywhere at home!

Swimming with turtles

Tons of turtles!

Swimming with turtles

Kissing a turtle

Our group with the turtles

After a few hours in the water, we went back to the hotel for dinner.  It was nice to stay in a real hotel for a couple of nights after all of the camping over the last 5 weeks.  The hotel had a nice restaurant, so we have been able to get some real food for the past few days.

The next morning, we spent another couple of hours on the beach before we went snorkeling out in the ocean. The water was beautiful and there were tons of fish, but there were also tons of tiny jellyfish that were stinging all of us!!  It was pretty painful, so we were only snorkeling for a short while.

Snorkeling in the Indian Ocean

We had another good dinner that evening and went to bed early after the past few days in the sun.  This morning, we got up to head to the ferry to get back to Dar Es Salaam.  On our way back to town, we stopped to get Hayden a tattoo before we left.  He wanted the Dark Mark from Harry Potter, so we each got one!  They should stay on for about 3 weeks (Henna).

Getting inked

Hayden’s first tattoo

We almost missed our ferry to get back to the mainland, but we made it after a quick run to the port.  Unfortunately, it was a VERY bumpy ride back to Dar.  The boat was like a 2 hour long rollercoaster…Hayden loved it, but I was getting a little queasy by the end.  We sat in the very front, so we had a nice view and with wind right in our faces.  Hayden’s hair was pretty much standing straight up by the end!

Crazy hair!

From here, we continue north in Tanzania up to the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater…we’re very excited for the next week!!

May 4, 2015

We spent two very long days drive days (a total of over 23 hours!) in the trucks, but we finally made it to Dar Es Salaam.  Although the drive was scenic, we were all pretty sick of sitting in the truck after that much time.  We had to leave very early in the morning because the traffic in Dar Es Salaam is terrible.  If we would have waited and left later, we may have added an additional couple of hours to our time!  As it was, we arrived to the city early and STILL got stuck in traffic…they weren’t kidding about how bad the traffic is out there.

We stayed the night at a camp outside of the city at a campsite right on the Indian Ocean.  First thing this morning, we were on the ferry heading out to Zanzibar.  The water was a beautiful blue and we had a pretty smooth ride over.

Indian Ocean to Zanzibar

Once we got to Stone Town, Zanzibar, we settled into our hotel and went straight out to go on a Spice Tour.  They grow tons of different spices and crops on the island, so it was really neat to see them all growing.   Hayden’s favorite was the Cinnamon Tree.  I didn’t realize that cinnamon is literally just the bark of the tree!  The crazy part about the tree is that the roots smell exactly like Vicks Vapor Rub.  Some of the other things that we saw were:  Turmeric, Peppercorns, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Lemongrass, Clove, Cocoa, Clementine’s, Vanilla pods, Chilies, Cardamom, and Ginger.

Spice Plantation

Tasting Cinnamon Bark

Cocoa plant!

Vanilla pods

They also have coconut trees and they pick them by having someone climb up to the top of the tree…the guy was crazy!

Climbing the coconut tree

Cirque Du Solei!

At the end of the tour, they made Hayden an awesome crown, necktie, and fan out of the leaves from the palm tree.  We all got to drink a fresh coconut as well.  I hadn’t really been a fan of coconut water before, but straight out of the coconut, it was pretty good!  We also had a fresh fruit tasting where we got a chance to eat all of the fruits that they grow right there on the farm.  Everything was wonderful!

Fresh Coconut

All decked out in leaves

Fruit Tasting

After the Spice Farm, we went to visit the old Slave Market in the center of the city.  They have kept a small portion in tact so that we can see where they slaves used to be kept and sold.  It’s really eye opening and very sad to see the conditions that people put other people through.  The tiny room where they kept the slaves before going up for auction had 1 tiny window and no toilet or anything.  They would put as many as 75 people in this tiny room for up to a couple of days at a time.

Slave holding room (held 75 people)

There is also a memorial to the slaves that were sold here in hopes that this never happens again. They have not torn down most of the market area (except the memorial) and have replaced it with a church.

Old Slave Market

Old Slave Market

Tomorrow morning, we will be leaving for the North side of the island where we will be staying on the beach for two nights.  We’re planning to hang out on the beach, build some sand castles, see the turtles and do some snorkeling!

May 2, 2015

The last three days have been very relaxing and eye-opening. We spent two nights at Kande Beach right on the beach of Lake Malawi and another night in on the North shore of Lake Malawi in a village called Chitimba. The first two days on the beach, we spent most of our time just hanging out and playing in the water and the sand. Hayden made a giant sand castle and we played in the water, which was very warm.

Building sand castles

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi

Sunset at Lake Malawi

The third day, we drove a couple of hours up to a village named Chitimba. At this location, we got the opportunity to go out into the village and meet with the local people, visit an elementary school, and see a witch doctor. We also went to visit a local hospital. I’ll tell you what, going into the village certainly gives a new appreciation of many of the things that we take for granted in the States. For starters, we toured a local house (the house of our tour guide). It was a total of four (tiny) rooms with a thatched roof and brick/mortar that is made there in the village. There are two toilets in the backyard of the house…one is just a pile of rocks that you can pee on and the other is a hole dug in the ground for number 2. The family consisted of two brothers, their sister and her three sons. There were a couple of mattresses on the floor, but none for the kids. The kitchen was outside with a fire pit where they cooked. If they need drinking water, it comes from a pump in the idle of the town.

Village

Village kitchen

Village bathroom

Local water supply

Local town near the village

After that, we went to the local school where they teach 1^st – 8^th grades. The school has over 100 kids in each class and the “classroom” is an open room with no fan, no a/c, and no electricity. Everything is written on pieces of paper and taped to the walls. The teachers teach all subjects and there are only two teachers for each classroom with over 100 students. We were able to meet the 3^rd grade teacher and she showed us some of the things that the kids are learning. In addition to Swahili, they begin learning English in 1^st Grade. I think that the saddest part is that after 8^th grade, they need to take a test to get admitted into high school and only about 15% of the kids (the top scoring testers) will be accepted into school. The kids are allowed to repeat 8^th grade up to four times in order to improve their test scores. Of that 15%, anyone who is admitted needs to pay for their own education…if they can’t pay, they have to give up their spot.

Classroom for over 100 kids

Classroom Materials

Hayden got to meet some of the kids that were at the school working. Even during the weekend, the kids come to the school from the village to help keep up the landscaping and maintenance of the school. We decided that we are going to do a community service project for them when we get back to collect books, clothes, school supplies, etc. to send to the school. Hayden is really excited about it and wants to be in charge of the project…we were very proud of him for coming up with the idea on his own! Hayden and the kids talked about their favorite subjects (English and Math for them, Science for him), and their favorite sports. They like soccer best, but have had to make their soccer balls to practice.

After the school, we went to see a witch doctor…it was very entertaining. He danced, chanted, ate fire, and showed us his different potions. (Hayden was excited because it reminded him of Harry Potter). We each got a chance to dance with him and to have our fortune read. He told Adam and me that we would have a long, happy life together and that Hayden would grow up happy, healthy, and much loved by his family. Not the most original fortune, but hopefully it’s true! 🙂 We also went to a local hospital and it was pretty shocking. There is limited electricity and no a/c. There are only 2 beds in the hospital and they get over 500 patients/month. Many of the patients come for HIV/AIDS treatment and about ½ are kids. Lots of them can’t even afford the medication which is only $5 for a month’s worth of pills. Certainly makes me appreciate all of the medical care that Hayden has received from CCMC and All Children’s over the past 4 years.

Hayden and the witch doctor

Adam and the witch doctor

Witch doctor eating fire

Back at the campsite, Hayden was pretty excited because there was an orphaned, baby Jennet (a type of small cat) that he got to hold. We left early in the morning to head up to Tanzania for the next part of our tour. The drive has been really nice because we are coming through the Great Rift Valley and Baobab Valley. Lots of amazing scenery along the roads!

With a baby Jenet

Great Rift Valley

Great Rift Valley

Great Rift Valley

Baobab Valley

We’re looking forward to Tanzania which includes a trip to Zanzibar, the Serengeti and the

May 30, 2015

Last night we went on an absolutely awesome evening/night Game Drive in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia.  We got into the park before sunset and saw lots of animals on our way out to try and find (hopefully!) some leopards.  As soon as we got into the park, there was a pretty decent sized crocodile laying right on the bank of the river sunning itself.  We also saw some very cute baby elephants and a couple of baby zebras.

Ready for the Game Drive

Crocodile!

Elephant family

Tiny Baby Elephant

Baby Zebra

We continued to drive to the spot where we were planning to watch the sunset.  Right as we were getting to the stopping point, the driver spotted another vehicle and it turned out that they had found a leopard that was in the process of stalking some impala.  Unfortunately, we never saw it attack, but it was pretty cool to see that close!

First Leopard Sighting

Leopard

Leopard

Leopard

After about 30 minutes of watching the leopard, the sun was setting so we needed to get to our sunset viewing point.  It was definitely worth the stop…the sun was beautiful and the guide had brought popcorn and drinks for the viewing.  Maybe it’s because we haven’t had popcorn for so long, but it tasted awesome!

Sunset in South Luangwa

Sunset in South Luangwa

Once the sun was down, we continued out drive.  For a while, we were watching the first leopard again to see if he was going to catch an impala, but they were eventually spooked way by some trucks, so he missed out on his dinner and we decided to move on.  Boy, were we glad that we did…we found another leopard that was right out in an open field…perfect viewing spot!!  Theses pictures were all taken with our little Nikon point and shoot camera…no crazy zoom lens at all.  It was so cool that Hayden said, “I think I must be dreaming, because this is too awesome!”  He has become a big fan of cats!

Leopard at night

Leopard at night

Leopard at night

Leopard at night

Leopard at night

We got back to camp and we were so pooped that we barely even ate dinner before going to bed.  Hayden didn’t even eat, he was so tired.  I always know that he has had a good (and tiring) day when he asks to go to bed!  🙂

Today we will be leaving for Lake Malawi which should be a nice break since we will be hanging out at the beach.  Hayden is ready for some sand castles and swimming!

May 26, 2015

Following our weekend at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, we came back into Botswana to spend another night at Chobe National Park and boy are we glad that we did!!!

It was a quick drive across the border and back into the park. We saw quite a few giraffe, kudu, and tons of elephants before we got to the highlight of the trip so far…a lion pride (along with 4 cubs) eating an elephant that had died a few days before. We have seen a few lions in other parks, but nothing like this. There were six adult lions and 4 cubs that we could see. We know that there was a dominant male in the area as well, but we didn’t get a chance to see him. We spent at about an hour sitting right next to the lions while they were eating, playing and relaxing. It was really amazing. To see them in the zoo is pretty cool, but right next to the vehicle, in the wild was absolutely unbelievable. I took at least 400 pictures, but here are a few of the really good ones.

Resting Lion

Lion relaxing

Lions eating the elephant

Lions eating

Lioness

Stretching after a rest

Lion eating

Lion relaxing

4 adult lions

Lion relaxing

Lion Cub

Lion Cub

We got up early the next morning so that we could go back and see the lions again, we were hoping to see the male, but he was just behind a bush out of sight, so we could hear him, but we didn’t see him. The lions were still eating from the elephant and the cubs were still playing…it was really awesome.

Right next to the lions!

Right next to the lions!

Don’t get eaten!

As we were leaving the park, we were about 1 km from the exit when our driver spotted a Leopard; the last of the Big 5 that we were missing. We’re pretty excited to be able to say that we have seen the Big 5 and we still have almost three weeks left to go! Our next mission is to see a baby of each of the Big 5…so far we have seen baby elephants, lion cubs, and baby buffalo. We are keeping our eyes open for baby rhino and baby leopard cubs from now on.

Leopard

Leopard

Leopard

Baby elephant

Baby Cape Buffalo

Lion Cub

We left the park and started to make our way to Zambia for the next part of our trip. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of the Zambian government right now…when we came into Zimbabwe, they told us to buy a UniVisa (multiple entries to Zimbabwe and Zambia) for $50 to save the extra money at the Zambian border. Well, we came out of Zimbabwe and spent the night in Botswana before we came to Zambia, so they said that it voided our Visas!!! We had to pay another $50 to get in again. The bright side was that Hayden was free since he’s a minor, but we were still out $100…dang it.

Ferry from Botswana to Zambia

Adam and Hayden on the ferry

We spend the next 4 nights at various parks here in Zambia before we continue on to Malawi and into East Africa.

May 24, 2015

We have spent this weekend at Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side of the Zambezi River.  The falls were absolutely beautiful!  Having also been to Niagara Falls, it’s still tough to compare the two.  Victoria Falls seems much bigger because of the way that the falls are in between the walls of the canyon.  It makes it seem much longer/taller than the horseshow shape of Niagara Falls.  We did learn that Victoria Falls is the tallest falls in the world at 107 meters in the tallest point.  It is the second widest falls in the world (second to Iguacu Falls), and the third highest annual volume (Niagara is first).  Although, we were here at high season, so right now the daily water flow is higher than Niagara.  In fact, in April/May, the annual water usage of New York City flows over Victoria Falls in only 3.5 days!  There was a great viewing walkway around the park with 16 different view points.  Since it is high season, a few of the view points where just mist (well, not really mist, more like a hurricane), but the 10 or so that we could see through were beautiful!

Livingston…named the falls

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls Bridge

Victoria Falls

While we were in Victoria Falls, we also went to dinner at a local African restaurant (called Indabelly…lol) and Hayden got to go up with the locals and dance for everyone.  He was loving the attention…he’s become quite an extrovert on this trip!  It was our last night with our first crew, so we all went to dinner together.  For the second half of the trip, we switch to a crew that is based out of Kenya.  We have really enjoyed this group, so hopefully the next group will be just a good!  (We have the same three other girls with us, but we will add additional people for the next three weeks.)

Group photo

Hayden dancing

Hayden dancing

On the last day, we went to the local market where Hayden got a Nyami Nyami (local good luck necklace) and we also got to touch a crocodile!  Our tour leader taught Hayden an African version of “If You’re Happy and You Know It” which is “If you’re happy and you know it, kiss a croc”, so he kissed the croc for Manda.  LOL  🙂

Touching a croc!

Kiss a croc!

Most of the time here we just relaxed and walked around.  We did make our way down to the Big Tree, which is a HUGE Baobab tree.  These trees are really cool because they look like they are upside down.  The leaves only grow part of the year and they can be very old.  This tree is estimated at about 1,500 years old!  There was a local guy there who was selling souvenirs and we started talking to him about the tree, he found a piece of the fruit for us and opened it up so that we could try it.  This is actually what they use to make Cream of Tartar.

The Big Tree

Baobab Fruit

Tomorrow we will be going back to Chobe National Park in Botswana again for another night in the bush.  We are looking forward to it so that we can see some big cats!

May 22, 2015

We have just arrived to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe after a pretty cool couple of days camping out in Chobe National Park in Botswana.

After we finished our time in the Okavango Delta, we had a long driving day up to the Northeast part of Botswana where Chobe National Park is located.  We had a bit of a stressful day before we went to the park because we are currently fighting with Amazon and UPS over a missing Kindle…Hayden’s Kindle broke the other week (fell face down on a rock…oops), but it has a 2 year replacement guarantee, so Amazon sent a new one to meet us in Zimbabwe.  This should have been great except that it was stopped at customers and Zimbabwe is saying that we owe $250 in fees/customs, but Amazon says it’s paid.  Unfortunately, we have been going back and forth, but no one wants to admit that it’s their fault.  So, for now, the Kindle is sitting in customs and it looks like we will be leaving Zimbabwe without it.  😦  booooooo

Luckily, the great couple of days in the park gave us something good to concentrate on other than the lost Kindle.  🙂  We got to the park for an afternoon drive where we saw a ton of elephants, lots of giraffes, hippos, cape buffalo, kudu, impala, warthogs, and even a couple of crocodiles.  It was pretty awesome that we saw a HUGE crocodile that was in the middle of eating a baby cape buffalo.  We were only a few feet away from him and he didn’t even move except to give us a little growl to let us know that we better not mess with his lunch!

Elephant

Elephant Family

Cape Buffalo

Hippos

Hippos

Giraffe

Warthogs

Crocodile with its lunch

After a couple hours of driving, we got to our camp that had been set up in the park.  It was a nice area where we even had a little porto-potty waiting for us.  We had a good dinner around the campfire and then settles down to go to bed.  It was a pretty noisy night for animals.  We heard elephants right near the camp and there were some lions that were eating nearby.  We also heard lots of hyenas during the night and two of them even broke into our camp and knocked over our pots and pans!

Our bush campsite

The next morning, we went on another game drive through the park.  We saw many of the same animals, but we also saw an elephant that had died the day before (of natural causes according to the guide) being eaten by scavengers.  It was a little gruesome to see, but I guess that’s the circle of life.

Recently deceased elephant

On our way out of the park, we also saw a bunch of warthogs, baboons, vervet monkeys, and some more hippos both in and out of the water.  It was a really cool place to see all of the animals because the park is along the river, so they are all in the area in the morning and afternoon to get water.

Warthogs

Baboon

Vervet Monkey

For the rest of the weekend, we will be relaxing in Victoria Falls until we take off with our group for the second half of the trip.