Geo: 37.5406, -77.4334After a 1-1/4 hour flight from Kigali (Rwanda) to Nairobi (Kenya), a 7 hour layover at the Nairobi Airport in the makeshift tents, 8 hour flight from Nairobi to Zurich, 6 hour layover in Zurich, 9-1/4 hour flight from Zurich to Dulles (DC), a mad dash to locate our bags and get through customs in DC, and a 50 minute flight from Dulles to Richmond, we made it home.It is good to be back but it was definitely a trip worth taking. I would highly recommend Natural Habitat Adventures for a 1st class travel agent for those who have interest. If anyone is interested, let me know and I will give you their contact info.... read more

Geo: -1.95325, 30.0587We had an interesting flight out of the Nairobi Airport on Rwandair. Since the fire at the Nairobi Airport, the departure terminals have all been moved around. So, it took us a while to find out from what terminal we needed to check our bags. But, everything worked out fine. We arrived at the Kigali Airport in Rwanda, and were greeted by our Natural Habitat representative. We did a quick drive through the city, including a pass by Hotel Rwanda. Then, we visited the Genocide Memorial/Museum. It was very moving and thought provoking. It is very hard to believe that something like that can happen in 1994. We found it interesting that today Rwandans do not even discuss Tutsi and Hutus "classifications" anymore, nor the classification of their ancestors.From there, we made the 3-hour ... read more

Geo: -1.48848, 35.0464We woke early and started our drive into the Maasai Mara Reserve. William remained with us as our guide. This is a different geographic landscape, with more tall grass, rivers, vegetation, and hills. We had not been in the Reserve long before we spotted our first elephants. William navigated the Land Cruiser incredibly close. It does make you a little nervous when you know those animals could crush you with one move.Then, it was the thousands of Cape buffalo, wildebeest, and zebras......and finally....lions. Our first encounter was with a mother and 3 one year-old cubs. Then, a male and female later on but both were just sleeping under a tree. We also saw dozens of hippos along the banks and in the rivers, and many more groups of elephants.We arrived at the "Mobile Camp" ... read more

Geo: -1.27975, 36.8126Where do I start? What an incredible day. We began the day with a safari through Nairobi National Park via a open roofed Toyota Land Cruiser. We came incredibly close to White rhinos, hundreds of zebras, ostriches, hartebeests, giraffes, warthogs, thompson's and grants's gazelles, impalas and ilams, cape buffalo, crocodile, baboons, vervet monkeys, and others that we probably forgot.After lunch, we headed to the giraffe center where everyone but me thought is was a great idea to let the giraffes eat out of their mouths. (Not pretty) Then, we visited Karen Blixen's plantation, who is the author of Out of Africa. From there, we went to the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage where they rescue baby elephants that are orphaned due to poachers or the death of the mother as a result of other unfortunate means. ... read more

Geo: 47.6973, 8.63493We happen to be in Zurich for the massive Techno Music Street Party. They estimate 1 million techno music fans descend on Zurich for a big parade and techno music festival....lot's of freaks.In the morning, we took an excursion to the Rhine Falls, which is the largest falls in Europe. It does not compare to Niagara (which we visited a month ago), but they were still pretty awesome. We actually drove through Germany very briefly (but did not even have to show passports), and through some old Swiss villages. Got back to Zurich around 12:30 for lunch and people watching. The techno freaks were already lit up and making the pilgrimage to the gathering. We had a great dinner in the city and drinks to continue to Techno watch.Heading to Kenya tomorrow at 9:00 ... read more