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Published: October 27th 2021
The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands- Sir Richard Burton
I've used the above quote before, but it seems particularly appropriate for this trip. We are beyond excited to finally be travelling again! We are flying to Amsterdam tomorrow, where we will spend four nights. Our B&B is located in central Amsterdam, and we expect to walk to pretty much everything. We've got some activities booked, and hope to have some time where we can just wander around and soak up the atmosphere, since we've never been to Amsterdam before. I'm re-reading Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl", since we will be visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
After Amsterdam we fly to Nairobi where we spend a couple of nights before starting our Kenyan safari. We are so thrilled to be going on a safari - it is something we've talked about for years and finally we are going. It actually came about kind of unexpectedly. Along with everyone else, we had our 2020 travel plans cancelled because of the pandemic (we had a trip to Mexico booked for March 2020, and Croatia tour booked for September 2020). Our
Autumn Scene from our Window
Trees starting to change colourCroatia trip kept getting delayed, and is now booked for May 2022. But several months ago our friend Martin, who organizes a Kenyan safari every year in November, told us his trip was on for this year. So we decided, despite Covid, that this was the year we would join him. We've been hearing about these safaris for quite a few years, and we decided, this is the year.
A brief snapshot of Kenya: Kenya is located in eastern Africa, and borders Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, and Tanzania. The equator passes roughly midway through the country. The east coast of Kenya is located on the Indian Ocean (we'll be swimming in the Indian Ocean when we're in Mombasa). The population of Kenya is approximately 47.5 million (in 2019), and the majority of Kenyans (around 83%) are Christian, with around 11% Muslim. Swahili is the national language. We are so looking forward to travelling around the country, and of course, seeing all the amazing wildlife. I can’t wait to be enjoying a gin and tonic while gazing out at a herd of elephants (or giraffes, or zebras, or whatever we are lucky enough to see!).
So, I hope you enjoy
reading the blog and travelling with us! If you would like to receive an email when I post a blog entry, you can subscribe to this blog (click on the subscribe button above), or you can follow me if you are a member of TravelBlog. If you didn’t want me to add you as a subscriber, or if you no longer wish to subscribe please unsubscribe - via the link in the email from TravelBlog. I will post as regularly as I can, but there may be some delays as wifi, and time, may not always be available. I appreciate all comments on the blog, but I may not be able to answer while travelling. But know that we read and very much appreciate all your comments.?
The pandemic is waning, but still very much ongoing, and travelling during these times caused me much more anxiety than preparing for previous trips. I’ve checked, double-checked, and triple-checked the covid related requirements for Holland and Kenya. For Holland we do not need a negative covid test since we are both fully vaccinated. We will need a negative test for entry to Kenya though, and we’ve booked appointments for our PCR tests
in Amsterdam. We will also have to have another PCR test in Mombasa, for our flight back to Canada. We were able to upload our covid documentation online with KLM, and have it validated, which will save time (and anxiety!) at the airport. (We will be flying with KLM on this trip). The Canadian government has very recently implemented a vaccine card for both national and international travel, but of course, it’s not yet in place in British Columbia (our province). It it supposed to be in place October 30, so we will have to figure it out while we’re travelling. We’ll need to upload it to the ArriveCan app before we fly back to Canada.
The pandemic has made travel more complicated, but no longer impossible. With our proof of vaccination in hand, we venture beyond our borders once again!
And a big thank you to my coworker Valenda for house/cat sitting while we're away! See you all next in Amsterdam!
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
I will be following you as you explore Amsterdam and Kenya...
Travel in 2021 is still ridden with anxiety as authorities can change the rules at any moment. Having to quarantine in place for 10 days would be a big budget buster. I've postponed my Scotland trip to next June hoping that every country will accept that covid is now endemic. I got my two vaccinations and then was a breakthrough case which was like a bad cold, and I'm now over it.