Karl Julie

Zanzibar Now that we had 2 ½ weeks of safaris, it was time for some R&R. So we boarded a plane for Zanzibar. Off we went to Pongwe beach resort. Both of us have done many beach vacations, but this was out of this world. First, our accommodations were amazing. We had a little hut, on the beach (sand outside our door) complete with our own beach chairs, shade and trees as well as a hammock. It was just decadent! Second, the tide in Zanzibar is very dramatic. When it goes out, it leaves less than 12 inches of water for about 1.5 kms. So for about 6 hours the equatorial sun is heating 12 inches of water. When the tide comes in at about 3pm, the ocean is about 90 degrees! It is like sitting ... read more

Lake Manyara Lake Manyara is the only place in Eastern Africa with lions that fall asleep in trees. While we were not privileged enough to witness this phenomenon, we did see lions, baboons, more monkeys, elephants, hippos, zebras, gazelles, giraffes and many new birds. So it was good fun and a pretty low key end to our last safari. The lake Manyara area is quite affluent and fertile. There is lots of rain and agriculture and it shows in the homes, shops and roads. People are not quite as desperate and needy. They seem to have a reasonable standard of life. In Lake Manyara we stayed at the Wild Africa Lodge. It was a neat place because the rooms were actually tents. It is difficult to explain, but essentially the foundation is built with a bathroom. ... read more

Ngorongoro Crater The crater is one of the most famous reserves for black rhinos because it is so easy to protect them in the crater. There is one road in and one road out. We did not see any, but the trip was really amazing. The views and vistas as well as birds and other wildlife were great. We saw more hippos, more lions, plus all the usual suspects (zebras, ostrich, toppees, gazelles, giraffes, and elephants). We also saw a great deal of Maasais. The Crater itself was created by volcanic activity and left a plateau 22kms in diameter. Perhaps the best part of the crater was our accommodations. We stayed at a coffee plantation (The Plantation Lodge) in the most amazing little cottages. The owners were German and the food was unforgettable as were the ... read more

Serengetti, Tanzania As we drove into the Serengetti, the first rain of the rainy season began to fall. As that happened, many animals came to drink out of the ditches on the road. At that point we had been travelling for about 12 hours, and of course get stuck behind a herd of elephants with babies on our way to the lodge. No recourse but to wait. The next morning we headed out for an all day game drive. We had heard some rumours that there was a leopard in the area eating a kill. So we went off in search of that. We found the kill, but could not identify the leopard. So we waited about 20 minutes. She did eventually slink out from her hiding place and walk towards the jeep very slowly. As ... read more

Jambo Mengi Sanna from Home! Well, we know it has been a while since we updated our blog, but we were unable to find internet access for almost three weeks. Now that we are home, we can bring you up to date. You will also be happy to note that we have posted a fraction of our 3000 photos. So Enjoy! Let us bring you up to date. Aberdares National Park & the Ark I believe when we left you, we were off to The Ark. The Ark is a novel experience in the Aberdares national park. It attempts to mimic the feeling of a cruise with decks and viewing decks. You get there at tea time, set up yourself at a viewing deck and wait for the animals to come. In the afternoon we saw ... read more

Jambo Again! Knowing it has been a couple of days does not mean the fun has not continued! Saturday, we spent the day in Sweet Waters. Sweet Waters is a privatly owned game park that should not be missed. While we saw many animals (zebra, giraffe, wart hogs, and impala) there are two other major attractions to Sweet Waters. The beautiful Black Rhino, which I had an almost unfortunate incident of being charged by. While he was beautiful to look at and rather tame, Rhinos have very small brains. And I guess he forgot I was a human and not a tree. Freaked Karl out something fierce! I was calm, but he saw it happening much faster than I did. We have some GREAT photos of it though! The other really cool part of our day ... read more

Jambo Again! Knowing it has been a couple of days does not mean the fun has not continued! Saturday, we spent the day in Sweet Waters. Sweet Waters is a privatly owned game park that should not be missed. While we saw many animals (zebra, giraffe, wart hogs, and impala) there are two other major attractions to Sweet Waters. The beautiful Black Rhino, which I had an almost unfortunate incident of being charged by. While he was beautiful to look at and rather tame, Rhinos have very small brains. And I guess he forgot I was a human and not a tree. Freaked Karl out something fierce! I was calm, but he saw it happening much faster than I did. We have some GREAT photos of it though! The other really cool part of our day ... read more

Jambo our friends! Well we had another fabulous day on Safaris. Today we saw some lion cubs that were less than a month old. They played and had fun about 15 feet from our van. They were a joy! This afternoon we had another experience of a lifetime. We visited a real Samburu villiage outside of the reserve. We were greeted by the chief. The women greeted us with a tribal dance. We danced with them and talked with them and had a moment to enjoy their children with them. For a people who have nothing, they showed us a great deal of joy. We dropped off some school supplies for their new school and we learned a great deal about their lives and their day to day struggles with survival amid a 2 year drought. ... read more

Jambo again from Samburu Well we had 2 more game drives today and a nature walk and just had another amazing day! We saw a herd of elephants, more lions, baboons, water buffalo, giraffes, cheetah, camels and many many birds and small animals. We apologise, but we are having a great deal of difficulty downloading pictures. We may try again later, but for now, it takes too long. Good Night and talk again soon! -Julie & Karl ... read more

Jambo friends and family! We made it! We are really in Africa, after 19 hours of travel. 31 hours Karl was awake straight. We landed in Nairobi (nothing to write home about) got up early this morning and headed on north to Samburu. We crossed the Equator from the southern hemisphere, back to the northern hemisphere. We arrived at our lodge (which, by the way, is gorgeous) and headed out on safari (the real thing) an hour later. It was amazing, we had been in the reserve about 3 minutes when we saw Ostriches in the wild. We saw many beautiful birds, antelope, impalas (deer like, with straight horns) and a bunch of others we do not remember the names of. (but we will learn, and will be able to recite them for you when we ... read more