Utatu

Quick highlights: 10 Feb - Drove from Ngorongoro to Lake Manyara: rainforest environment, more Tarzan like, got up-close and personal with a Hippo eating!!! Blue balled monkeys and the best t-shirt place in Tanzania... 11 Feb - Tab and Mar woke up with the biggest spider they EVER saw on the roof. They had to take turns getting ready so the other could stand guard. - Ran into Bill & Hillary - Chelsea stayed in the car - at the hottest little Indian selling African curio shop in Tanzania! Bill says hi! - Drove through Arusha (the jumping off point to Kilimajaro) and parted ways with our beloved guide Arnold. - Took a 12-seater cessna to Wilson Airport in Nairobi where we were greeted by David, our guide from Kenya and killed 4 hours at a ... read more

So far Tabitha is still single. Shirley and I have been beating the guys off… have been to Mountain Lodge (7200 feet up). The highlight was Tabitha running through the forest with her pants down with a few Fire Ants attached to her ass. Quite the lovely sight. Next we were off to Lake Nakuru, which is home to 1.9 million flamingos. A beautiful pink sight. We also saw our first Rhino - rounding out the complete Big 5 sighting. Unfortunately it chased us as he was a wee bit grumpy cuz someone had sawed off his horn and he was pissed (but it weren’t us!). From there it was two nights at the Masai Mara. Being such wonderful giving girls, we let them upgrade us to the one and only State Room! Wow! Second day ... read more

Well here we are in Amsterdam... was in the washroom and who is standing out there but Shirley... she popped into the same washroom as Tabitha and I so didn't have a hard time meeting up with her! And Jim... was at the Vancouver Airport and ran into Fari Ghadami!! Gotta say... Tabitha fidgetted the WHOLE flight! Geeeeezzzz! We're a little tired cuz sleep was pretty much outta the question. We're now looking at another 10 hour flight to Niarobi and then leave on safari tomorrow morning. Shirley's turn to write sumthin' now!!! Hi everyone, Shirl here and it was a very uneventful flight, just the kind that you like. Fully expect to get/be quite wiped out by the time we reach Kenya tonight. Getting really excited, um, thanks OZ for the scotch, it really helped! ... read more

It seemed that this trip was so damned far away that it would be forever till it came and here it is in less than a week! Less than a week away… busy photocopying all the documents… been through a few trial runs of packing and generally running around with my head chopped off trying to get stuff together… not to mention getting things ready at home. I’ve had the luggage out for a few weeks now and on the first day, Sugar (my cat) freaked but I haven’t left yet so I think she forgot that luggage means going away. I feel so bad for Adrian who has to deal with Sugar when I’m gone. For those of you who know her, you understand, and those who don’t let’s just say Sugar is not a ... read more

Well, it's still super early. But people are still interested I guess.... leaving in 7 weeks and 4 days! I got my damned shots... OUCH! 6 needles all in the arm - not to mention prescriptions for Malaria Pills and Travellers Diarrhea (covered by extended health). Mar only needed 5. It’s time to thank four people who’ve done TONS of work to help us get coordinated... man were we a mess! Sandra and Catrien from SA - thanks for everything! We’re looking forward to meeting up with ya guys in 9 weeks and 3 days - can ya believe it?!? To Alison and Anri (our FANTASTIC travel agents) - wow! If weren’t for your awesome work and energy, we wouldn’t be this close to leaving! THANK YOU!!!! (If you want their contact info, email me - ... read more

I know it’s early to have started this thing but it allows me to keep everyone abreast of how the prep is coming... I decided to write in this format for a few reasons - the main one being to save me from answering everybody’s question of “How’s the trip coming?”. I know that when we are in Kenya and Tanzania there will not be internet available and that South Africa should have internet café’s so you will all have to wait until then for me to update it. Today I purchased my plane ticket to Nairobi and return from Johannesburg, my flight from Kilimanjaro to Nairobi and put a non-refundable deposit on the Safari tour. Here's the map. We finally nailed down an itinerary - here it is: January 29th - Arrive in Nairobi 30th ... read more