Our flight landed early in the morning and within two hours we were seeing the amazing African wildlife! So, there were about 14 of us on this 3-day weekend to Kenya. I knew a few from other trips, but the rest I had never met before. We landed and got through customs .... well, not so quickly. But we got outside to meet our guides. Instead of the planned breakfast we had expected, they said we would be going directly to our first game drive, so everyone got a coffee (I got juice) for the road. We loaded up into three vans and were on our way. Driving out of the airport was interesting as there were pretty cool sculptures of various African animals along on the side of the road. Nairobi National Park After about ... read more

It was beautiful they said.... I decided since I was already in the western hemisphere to go ahead and again visit my friend who was traveling central America. He didn't need to try too hard to convince me, especially when my Jetblue flight was canceled. I initially planned to fly to Jetblue to Liberia, Costa Rica, but while my sister and I were hiking with friends, she received a message from Jetblue. I had given them her number as I do not have a US number. Apparently, only Americans with American numbers are allowed to book American flights or some BS - it is really annoying. Anyway, we waited to listen and found out that that flight was also canceled. Wth? I thought Jetblue was one of the most reliable. I wound up rebooking with American ... read more

Early in the morning, most of our group woke up to climb Kala Pattur, 5550m (18,209ft), which would give you great views of Everest and the other surrounding mountains at sunrise. It is the highest one can climb without a permit. Due to not dying to feel altitude sickness again any time soon, I opted to stay in bed a bit. A few of our group also opted to rent donkeys to take them up so left a little earlier than the hikers. I woke up around 6, intending to go outside and get some decent photos in peace and at my own pace.... but the weather was not good - it was very overcast and seemed quite windy. Apparently, this was exactly the case. Not everyone summited and those who did had no view - ... read more

This was my favorite day of hiking! When we left after breakfast, and after I had taken my first diamox pill (I only did half in the morning and half at night), we had about a 20 minute climb behind the village. When you search on google maps, it shows that you're coming down hill and walking up along the river bed. No, this way was so much better. Not only was the hiking much easier, the views were absolutely breathtaking! We walked for about 90 minutes along this fairly easy route, which had no distinct trail per say, but was an almost flat slope with an absence of vegetation, so easy to see the way. We stopped at a couple locations for some amazing photo stops, one over Dingboche, and another area at a large ... read more

Day 3 was strange as a few people were still sick. After breakfast and packing, most of us left around 8 am. My roomie was worried she would not be able to go at all but we assured her there were options; we were still early in the trek, multiple guides, and it was not that busy on the trail so maybe she would be a half day behind. Another girl and one guy also stayed behind. The rest of us made our way up some steep steps for about 20-30 minutes. From here, the hike was easy and just absolutely beautiful. We were high above the river with views of the snow capped mountains and tree covered slopes below. The weather was perfect and at a certain point we came around a hill and we ... read more