http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/dougfitz/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from dougfitz en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:43:39 +0000 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:43:39 +0000 Walking to HabuTodays plan was to walk down one of the jungle walks from Tanah Rata to Robinson Power Station and on to a Buddhist temple just a little down the road and then back to Tanah Rata. Just past Robinson Falls the trail branches and I had decided to take the steep option down and come back the easy path. It seemed like such a good idea at the time At this point the descent is ab http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Cameron-Highlands/blog-377235.html AcclimatisingArrived in KL on 21st and had a smooth trip from the airport to KL Sentral. Avoided the taxi hawkers where the bus stopped and went upstairs where we got a taxi voucher for our final destination. Staying at the Mandarin Oriental in KLCC Kuala Lumpur City Centre right next door to Suria KLCC about five floors of shopping I wonder why Elaine chose that spot. Its also next to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-376147.html Driving to PhoenixToday is my birthday and I have driven from San Diego to Phoenix. Big drive hot day and we are staying in a rather spartan van park on the north side of the city.We stopped for lunch at El Centro in southern California just north of the I8. Dusty and hot but it was nice to get off the road. Elaine tried driving today but it was a bit of a disaster and neither of us were v http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Phoenix/blog-344710.html Left Hand DriveThank goodness for US drivers. I have just spent my first three hours driving a left hand drive vehicle on the right hand side of the road getting from the San Fernando Valley to San Diego. What an introduction I have new found admiration for the patience and tolerance of the local drivers. Despite some quite awkward moments we were not tailgated honked at or any of the othe http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Diego/blog-344705.html Tourist Time in AnaheimArrived without much drama at Anaheim. We are going to spend the next four weeks driving in a big loop from here down to San Diego across to Phoenix up to the Grand Canyon Las Vegas and into Utah. From there we will cross Nevada to Death Valley go up to Yosemite before heading for the Napa Valley and then down the coast back to LA.But first we are doing the typical to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Anaheim/blog-344700.html Full Fare Go AnywhereI got out of Jo'burg by upgrading and paying a full fare. Elaine was not prepared for Singapore Airlines to continue us mucking around. Cathy Schroder at Jetset Travel in Southlands was a great help getting this organized and Qantas were able to change my local flights so that I got back to Canberra early on 1412. The trip was not without its minor hiccups but nothing t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Gauteng/Johannesburg/blog-111931.html Crossing the RockiesCaught the train across the Rockies from Vancouver to Calgary. Left in the evening and by early morning we were well into the foothills and spent most of the day in the Rockies.Arrival in Calgary was interesting We had booked a hotel from the Qantas brochure because it was relatively cheap only to find that it was a 75 in 1984 taxi ride from the airport. My first less http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/blog-110262.html More pole poleDidn't get away again today Spent most of the day at the airport. First waiting for Singapore to finally decide whether they could board me from the waitlist and then trying to get them to allow Kenya Airways to move me. Neither happend and I have spent the night at a rather nice guest house close to the airport. Sipping Coffee SlowlyE has arranged a new eticket to get me hom http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Gauteng/Johannesburg/blog-110252.html Leaving Kenya EventuallyHad a car booked to get out to the airport the 2.5 hours Kenya Airways stated was an absolute imperative only to find that they were taking a much more relaxed attitude to opening the checkin counters. Nonetheless had plenty of time before the scheduled 0735 departure to browse most of the duty free.Pole poleManaged to find a couple of Kili related articles teeshir http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Gauteng/Johannesburg/blog-109883.html Day One Transit to the gate and climb to Mandara HutsDay Two Climb to Horombo HutsDay Three Acclimatisation Day Climb to Zebra Rocks Mawenzi Ridge and returnDay Four Climb to Kibo HutDay Five Gilman's Point then Uhuru PeakReached Uhuru Peak the highest point in Africa at 5895m at 0555hrs this morning. We left Kibo Hut at 0010 hrs and reached Gilmans Point at 0445. ExhileratingDay http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Mount-Kilimanjaro/blog-109114.html Land Borders BluesIt took just on an hour to get across the border and the payment of USD50 for a rubber stamp in the passport and then it was on again to Arusha. Here we took everything off the bus before putting it all back on again. It seemed to be some baggage control measure. We did get back on the truck with some new pax but otherwise there was little change.MoshiArrived here about 16 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Moshi/blog-107466.html Lost Baggage AlmostAll that one needs after a redeye special is for the airline to deliver your bag on a completely different carousel to the one they are using for the rest of the flight Waited for ages before going across to the lost baggage counter only to be told 'some bags' were on a different conveyer. Great start.The day got gradually worse. Was now a few minutes late to make the de http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-107465.html Another TruckArranged to travel on a truck relocating from Vic Falls to Jo'berg. Arrived at the pickup point at the appointed time 0600. Truck was there but it was a very quiet stay. First sign of movement about 0700 and finally got away at 0800. I was really glad to have been up since 0430 to get thereSaw a new bird on the way out of Vic Falls a ground hornbill. Quite unexpected as we http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/blog-107234.html Zambian Lobster KneesMy knees are the delightful pinkishred of a well cooked lobster. Today four of us from the group went rafting with a group of five from another Kumuka trip that has also just ended here in Victoria Falls. We went with a Zambian company who do an 'all day' raft down 25 rapids over 28 km. In reality they only do 23 because they enter downstream from the first rapid and ju http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/blog-106346.html Victora FallsThe end of this leg of overlanding with Kumuka is just about over. We have arrived in Victoria Falls and have done all the the administration of upgrading rooms changing money etc etc. We are what must qualify as the worst backpacker hostel that I have seen for several years. There is dogshit all over the place and three Great Dane cross something and a few cats to contend with http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zimbabwe/blog-106343.html Game DriveSet out early this morning into Chobe National Park. Were only inside the park boundary for a matter of minutes and had spotted a herd of elephant walking along the ridgeline. Impala puku turtle warthog hippo banded mongoose and crocodile were also spotted on the way as well as a variety of birds.River CruiseAt 1530 we loaded up with other guests at the hotel on the river cruise http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Chobe-National-Park/blog-105372.html Mark turned 30Oh to be so young http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/Swakopmund/blog-105365.html Swakopmund ArrivalWe went out for the first evening meal we hadn't cooked ourselves for several days. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/Swakopmund/blog-102424.html Orange RiverLast night was our first real camp. Felix Unite is well set up and we were allocated one of the lawn areas close to the amenities. Everything worked reasonably smoothly although I suspect that we will get much better at the routine things like setting up and knocking down the campsites as the trip progresses.Feed the man meatHad a BBQ meal last night and again tonight. Big serving http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/blog-102436.html Short drive long drinkToday was what might be called a 'warmersettler' day. Not too much time in the truck introduction to dorm living and an alcohol fuelled tour of four regional wineries where the normal conventions of responsible service of alcohol were completely ignored.After the truck brief we finally got away about 0930hrs and were at Stellenbosh a little over an hour later. Much be http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-102201.html