Click Here to see more photos Hello all. Yes I am alive. I have been in Africa since Aug 24th on an overland safari. I have been keeping a daily journal as I have been going but internet access has been sparse at best and when you do find it, it is amazing slow. There is a saying we have developed within our safari group which is, “TIA: This is Africa” Basically when things don’t work out as planned or just aren’t up to the standards you are used to, "this is Africa." You just hav [View Full Entry]

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Thursday - Aug 27th Got on the bus again at 8am and headed to the Ugandan border. We passed the time by starting a backseat poker game. We had to pay $50 for the visa to get into Uganda. We finally made it to Jinja where we would be camping for 3 days (Nile River Explorers Campgrounds). Nice to have a few days where we can relax and not have to worry about getting up the next day, packing and then heading off right away. Jinja is on [url=http:/ [View Full Entry]

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So, after a 4 hour drive from Saville to Lisbon. Then a 4 hour TAP flight to Heathrow. I then had a 4 hour wait to catch my flight to Dubai. But no, my flight from Heathrow to Dubai was not only delayed but I had to go to completely different airport. Luckily they shuttled us to Gatwick from Heathrow. I then had to wait 6 hours once I got to Gatwick airport in London till the departure time at 3:00am. For some strange reason flights could not land at Heathrow after midnight. But this might just be flights coming from [View Full Entry]

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Sunday Aug 16th - Aug 20th Made my way to Catherine’s villa in Estepona around 11pm Sunday night. Catherine is someone I met through Roy Taylor and her and her husband own a villa in southern Spain. Only shortly after a few times driving in circles around the complex to find her place. We hung out and chatted for a bit and then soon called it a night It was great to hang out there. It was so relaxing and nice to have a proper bed again. Cath has a little girl named Amber who is quite adorable. Adorable when she [View Full Entry]

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Thur Aug 13th Left Lisbon and made my way to the airport to pick up my rental car for the next 10 days. After a few hours of waiting in line and waiting some more I was able to get my kick ass Mitsubishi Colt. So here we go to start my trip down the coast of Portugal and eventually into Spain. I don’t know how people drove around here without SatNav. I would be utterly lost and I have pretty good damn direction sense. Anyhow, I digress. I left Lisbon and crossed a beautiful bridge that spanned the Rio Tejo [View Full Entry]

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Sunday Grabbed and over night train from Madrid to Lisbon on Saturday night. I am still Hemorrhaging money and the train ride did not help. My accommodations were already booked in Lisbon so I needed to grab the train but the only spots they had on the train were 1st class sleepers. It was nice that I had my a whole room to myself and a bed for the 10 hour train ride over night. But $212 later my wallet is once again a little lighter. ::Sigh:: Got into Lisbon, slightly delayed, Sunday morning and found my way to the Hostel. [View Full Entry]

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Aug 6th and 7th Continued on with Sandy and Allyson as they made their Kontiki tour to Madrid. Like Barcelona, another city I did not think I would find my way back to. When I was here 14 years ago with Strangio, I don't know why but one of my favorite statues that i remembered was this one of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. For some miraculous reason I stumbled across this statue again. Not quite sure but it was very nostalgic. After the statue experience it made me think of one of my other favorite places in Madrid and that [View Full Entry]

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Aug 4th - 5th Two trains, one bus, one flight, another bus ride, one cab ride and 12 hours later I get to Barcelona from Interlaken. I told myself I would not go back to any cities I had already been to before. Too may other cities too see. Oh well. 14 years later I am in back in Barca for round II. Sandy and Allyson were out from California and were doing a Kontiki Tour through Italy and Spain. So I met up with them for the last leg of their trip. Im still not a big fan of Barca. [View Full Entry]

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Wed 29th I left the mess that is Milan behind on Wednesday and started a much anticipated train ride to Switzerland. The train from Milan to Interlaken was not that long. A few hours maybe. I knew as soon I looked out my window and saw the valley, the lakes and the snow caped alps I was going to love my 6 days here. I checked into The Funny Farm hostel where I would be staying just for the one night. I wanted to stay at a hostel that was a little more central to town but it did not have [View Full Entry]

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July 25 I shed a small tear as I left Munich behind and headed down to the Liguria region of Italy and to the city of Genoa. I desperately missed the ocean and I wanted to spend a day at the ocean and just relax. I also figured Genoa was as good a place as any and I check another UNESCO World Heritage site off the list. In Genoa the UNESCO site is Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli. I always try to avoid rolling into a new city at night. Its just tough in general. [View Full Entry]

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