We travelled by taxi to the north tip of Zanzibar - an area known as Nungwi. This is a section of Zanzibar known for its fantastic beaches and expensive hotels. Places such as the Coco Cabana and the 'Z' charge anywhere from $400 to $550 a night. We are coming to the end of the tourist season in February - the rains arrive in March - so weekend rates run from $1500 to $1700 for three nights!! Monica and I had booked eight nights in a guest house resort called Makofi's. We were paying $216 for eight nights - or $27 a night. Obviously, we were not expecting much for the price, however we were pleasantly surprised. Makofi's is located only minutes from the beach, about a hundred yards down an alley. It has a large ... read more

Our final safari day began with another six hour drive from the Masai Mara Reserve to Nairobi. The most telling event that can best describe the quality of the ride occurred about an hour outside of Nairobi when our truck finally pulled onto an actual paved highway - at this point, the entire group broke into one long applause. Later, we told our driver David, that the clapping and shouting was for him and the wonderful job he had done navigating the rough, dusty road. In reality, it was a sign of relief from all of us, that we had actually survived the ordeal. We arrived at the Karen Camp and without a second thought, Monica and I paid an extra $36 for an upgrade. We needed hot showers and a chance to clean out our ... read more

We left Jinja on the morning of the 17th, and crossed the border into Kenya at Malala. It took four hours to reach the border crossing and the only incident was the refusal to let us use their bathrooms. According to one stocky female security person, all the facilities were for staff only. Eventually we were herded across the dusty lanes of traffic, side stepping the many convoys of petrol trucks, to a public toilet located behind the animal holding cages. One had to take a deep breath before entering - sucking in any of the fumes from inside made the animal cages seem aromatic. One hour at the border - lining up first to leave Uganda and then again to enter Kenya - followed by another hour, heading due east, on the road before we ... read more

We stayed in the Rafiki Guesthouse for three nights, Jan. 10-11-12. Eleven members of our group went gorilla trekking on the 11th. Our group of seven would go on the 13th. So we had two days to ourselves to prepare for the trek and recharge our batteries. The owner of the guesthouse had a number of tours planned for us - coffee plantations and the like, however Monica and I were quite content to clean our laundry and explore the town on our own. We had lunch a couple of times at a wonderful little place called the Coffee Pot. African coffee certainly is wonderful. So dark and rich. We also had lunch at a kind of guesthouse called the Traveler's Lodge. Very nice indeed. The food was great and the history of this place says ... read more

This will be a short blog as the Serengeti is something beyond words - something only pictures do justice to. We drove for about three hours on the morning of Day 3 passing through Masaai territory. We passed many Masaai farmers, clad in their colourful wraps, herding their goats and cows. Outside the Serengeti, wildlife is plentiful and the Masaai are allowed to hunt but only for their own consumption. We entered the Serengeti at Naabi Gate. This area contains over 200,000 zebra and 350,000 gazelles who attract an incredible concentration of predators including lions, cheetahs, leopards and hyenas. We spent the two days doing 'game drives' at a slow pace. Chris has a fantastic eye for spotting game - they blend in with the terrain so much that our untrained eye simply overlooks most of ... read more