After approximately 33 hours of traveling time spent either in planes or on layovers, we made it home! We were a little bit worried about our luggage not making it to Calgary, because we had it checked through all the way from Mombasa to Calgary (including changing airlines and terminals at Heathrow). But it made it, no problem. So yeah! One of the first things we did when we got home was go through the closet full of all the clothes we had left behind, it was like going clothes shopping in your very own closet. Everything was so new and [View Full Entry]

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Ahhh... so relaxing! All we did for the 4 days spent in Mombasa, was hang out by the pool, or when it got too hot, swim for a little. We also splurged and got a couple of massages by the friendly spa staff. It was just what we needed at the end of a long trip. [View Full Entry]

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With the exception of the month off in South Africa where we rented the car, and a few days in between trips (Cape Town - 5 days and Nairobi - 5 days), we've been on a Drago/Encounter truck since about September 22nd 2007. It's been very tough at times, but also very enjoyable at other times. For the most part our groups have been pretty good, there is always going to be the one or two people on the trip that don't put in the same amount of effort as others, but that's group travel for you! Now we're off to [View Full Entry]

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It was an amazing experience, definitely a trip highlight! The trek itself was tough! We pretty much hiked uphill for 3 hours straight, gaining approximately 600m in elevation. The trails were muddy, and at times very steep. Also we had to be wary of the stinging nettles. When we did see the gorillas, it was on a steep hill and through dense bush, which made it tough for viewing, but the guide and trackers were amazing, and always tried to help place us in a better spot for taking photos and viewing the gorillas. We visited the Bwenge group which had [View Full Entry]

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We rafted the Nile, it was awesome!! Too bad we didn't have a water proof camera with us to show you what the rapids were like instead we bought the DVD. They say that the rapids on the Nile are probably some of the best grade 5 rapids in the world. The water was warm, so it didn't matter if we fell out (which Kathie did on the rapid they call "Silverback" - a giant wall of water) and the water is deep enough that you don't really have to worry about hitting rocks. Being that this was Jordan's first time [View Full Entry]

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After booking the Hot Air balloon safari over a year and a half ago, we were finally able to enjoy the experience. It was absolutely amazing. Originally we had booked the balloon safari for March 24th but it was canceled due to poor weather conditions. We were fortunate enough to have another opportunity to visit the Serengeti on this trip, and we were able to re-book the balloon safari for our second visit. It was a little bit on the expensive side but since we were able to pay for it while we were still working (back in 2007) it made [View Full Entry]

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We consider ourselves pretty lucky to have had the opportunity to go back to the Ngorongoro Crater during this trip. Although I have to admit, I think the first time through we had amazing luck with the animals, which we didn't quite have this time around. Although we did see a Serval hunting not too far from our vehicle, which was pretty neat. The Ngorongoro Crater is still by far one of the better places for viewing wildlife. The park is smaller, which generally means that the animals are easier to spot, and they tend to be closer to the road [View Full Entry]

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To finish off our month off in South Africa, we decided to spend a few days wine tasting in the Franschhoek/Stellenbosch area. We figured it was appropriate considering how much we've enjoyed the South African wines (especially the pinotage and shiraz) We planned on limiting our wine tasting to a maximum of two wineries per day. One of our favorite wineries that we visited was the Simonsig winery in Stellenbosch. Our daily schedule looked something like this: 7am - woke up, ate breakfast at the hostel 9am - checked email 10am - went for coffee and decided which wineries to visit [View Full Entry]

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This is probably the most spontaneous thing that we've done on our trip so far. We had initially planned a few days in the Hermanus region for whale watching and never even considered diving with the sharks. When we met a really nice couple at the backpacker's lodge in Oudtshoorn, they had just come from Gansbaai and they couldn't stop talking about it. We immediately went online and booked accommodation and a diving trip following their recommendations. We're so happy that we did, because it was one of the most amazing experiences that we've had (so good that we actually went [View Full Entry]

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We woke up super early from our base in Kleinbaii and drove to Betty's Bay to see the penguin colony. We enjoyed the ones in Cape Town so much that we just had to see more. Here was a much different experience as we literally had the place to ourselves. After a windy morning visiting the penguins we headed to Hermanus for lunch and spent the afternoon watching the Southern Right Whales from the shoreline. [View Full Entry]

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