So Where Do I Start ?
Now that we are retired and are pretty much in charge of our own calendar, except for the pandemic and American Airlines and cancer. I guess there are too many variables to actually be in charge, but we make a good go of it.
But I digress. Back in January 2023, my daughter, Tracie, asked “what’s next on our travel bucket list”? Having already booked an 11 day Baltic cruise on NCL in June and considering our annual sojourns of 2 weeks in Avon, CO, 1 week in Park City, 2 weeks in Solana Beach, CA, for July and August (the hottest time of the year in Phoenix!) I wasn’t quite sure that I needed to be planning anything else for the year. But hey it’s just rumination, right ? Right then, unplanned, out of the mouth of an old man I said “well, maybe it’s time for an African safari”. Teresa, from the other room, says “where did that come from” and “I’m in” in the same breath”.
And so it begins.
How many concurrent task can we both undertake?
First I started reading the magazine African Safari Travel that I checked out from Libby and tried to narrow down the region(s) that we wanted to see. Then, I tried to predetermine how long we wanted to go, dumb. Remember, this started in January.
Next, depending on where we decided to visit would decide what visas we would need and what shots we would need to get.
Now, I could see that the journey has to be committed to, then the visa and shot requirements will come naturally.
One potato, two potato, three potato, four.
The Decision
There are many, many safaris to pick from. How did we decide? Right or wrong, who knows, but we picked Absolute Africa and a 62 day safari that started in Nairobi traveled thru 11 countries and ended up in Cape Town, South Africa.
So many variables and of course one of the biggest ones, for me, was price. With Absolute Africa it’s a bit of sweat equity and if you don’t mind that, it works pretty well. However, there were no white tablecloths or bow tied waiters.
You’ll see what I’m talking about as the story unfolds.
Given all our other travels this year the first workable timeframe was September – November.
Now that we have picked the safari, we knew what visas that we would need in advance were Tanzania and Malawi.
For our shots, we initially went to a local “travel healthcare” organization that would have been very pricey and then we learned that Safeway pharmacy offers the same travel service at a much more reasonable price. The inoculation list was the same and I like our pharmacists there. And as a side note you get 10% off coupons for each shot…. We’re gonna be rich!
The Big Yellow Bus
I’m hoping the folks at WordPress will get back to me and help me clean up my template issues. In any case I wanted to take advantage of our downtime in Solana Beach to keep capturing my thoughts on our journeys.
Here’s our accommodations for the next 62 days. That’s not exactly true… several nights we opted to take advantage of “upgraded” accommodations, which were unique in their own right. I’ll show some of them as we move along.
One more side note to keep in mind: I’ve started this journey with a slight sore throat but I avoided going to the doctor because I did not want to have any pre-existing conditions if things got serious.
What’s It All About
An amazing adventure was ahead for us. The bus started off from Nairobi with about 18 of 26 seats occupied. Not bad, but just wait. There are some challenges offered by riding in the big yellow truck. First and significant there is no air conditioning. During our journey we traveled on three different trucks. One had individual glass windows and the other two had roll up big plastic windows. Fortunately it was not too hot in Africa, yet.
Lake Nakuru National Park
But no matter we’re going to see some amazing stuff.
I used three different devices to capture our journey phone, iPad and little digital camera. Now I realize what a mistake that was. I can’t get the best of each picture here, but in the end, I think it will be sufficient.
Two of Teresa’s favorites monkey shots: breast feeding and ole blue balls.
Previously I mentioned that Absolute Africa was a sweat equity adventure. The first indication of that is the setting up and taking down of our tent every night and morning. The second is where and what do we eat.
Starting in Nairobi, Joseph was part of the crew.
Joseph was key to orienting us on how to cook for 20 – 30 people. Where you have to accommodate multiple dietary requirements, including vegan. I have to admit I learned how to appreciate eating a vegan dinner.
Almost every night was a new situation/layout.
Lake Naivasha
When we arrived at Lake Naivasha it was raining cats and dogs. Actually I should say monkeys as they were all over the next morning. Fortunately, in our nine week trip it was the only night it rained. Most of the group pitched their tent under the roof of the dining area.
We decided it was the night to take an upgrade room. Cutest room with open air shower in the back. After breakfast we let some of the group use the showers.
Masai Mara Tribe
Birthday
The Absolute Africa (AA from now on) surreptitiously brought a birthday cake that we celebrated my 69th birthday at the Masai Mara tribe compound.
What’s love got to do with it. EVERYTHING! It is natural after all. From Kenya we visited The Masai Mara National Park where first saw “the big 5.” Actually we saw the big 5 in several of the parks but given the small size of the Masai Mara we got to see more of the animals in a shorter amount of time, so we enjoyed it most.
What a pair. We were in and out of Nairobi a few times…
One time I got homesick, not really. Here’s what I saw.
While in Nairobi we also visited an elephant orphanage and giraffe park.
Moving on to Tanzania and The Serengeti
Yes, we saw lots and lots of animals, but we also saw lots and lots of rough and dry roads traveling from park to park. The point is; the parks were marvelous but you have to endure a fair amount of drudgery to get to it.
We spent 3 days and 2 night on multiple safari trips in 8 person 4×4’s. Again able to see many more animals.
In Arusha we picked up more travelers and the bus looked like this. As I recall every seat was taken plus there were those that had too much and it got to be strewn all over. We also lost Joseph who had become quite a good friend.
I helped with meal preparations and cut up fruit salad every morning that I was assured everyone loved.
En route to Zanzibar we had the opportunity to spend 2 days at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
There were some hearty folks in the group that hiked to the base, but Teresa and I decided to enjoy the peace and quiet while being on our own.
On to Zanzibar
And another cute place to rest our weary heads. This was on the beach of the Indian Ocean in Dar es Salaam. We were greeted with a candlelight dinner on the beach. Of course again it was an all day drive to get there. Tomorrow we will head to Zanzibar where we get 4 days to hang out at the beach.
Zanzibar
And can you guess what is next ? Wrong ! One of my “roles” while traveling is to capture alternate scenery like the one below for my BFF Randy.
Teresa off to scuba dive at Zanzibar.
After Zanzibar we were a little lighter as 6 headed back home.
We rode in tuk tuks back to the ferry to get back to Dar es Salaam.
Lake Malawi
Leaving Zanzibar we headed into Malawi to Kande Beach at Lake Malawi. Here we had a few days to see part of the poorest country in Africa. We visited the local school where there were nearly 100 students per teacher and the hospital.
Teresa also met Jonathan at the school and he had the skirt made that she is wearing. We were also invited to dinner with his family, an honor for us.
School at Lake Malawi
Beautiful night at the Lake Malawi shore line. You never know what visitors are going to stop by.
South Luangua National Park
This leopard really did not like us under his tree. Rude… he left us wanting more.
Lake Kariba
Lake Kariba is the largest man made lake in the world on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. We spent 3 days on the houseboat. Game drives by boat throughout the day. We shared the houseboat with Chris and Marlene who we became quite friendly with, as we we by far the most senior travelers.
Great Zimbabwe Ruins
The Great Zimbabwe Ruins were built between the 11th and 15th centuries.
Victoria Falls !
We had three days of rest and exploring of Victoria Falls, the city and the falls.
FYI we both got haircuts here but I can’t find a picture of mine yet but it doesn’t really look that different than today.
Check out those boars wandering through town.
Etosha National Park
Another long drive but well worth it to get to Etosha National Park. Two nights here. Check out this poor camper !
Ai Ais and Fish Canyon
We stayed a few nights at the Ai Ais Hot Springs resort, which was a welcome relief after another long, windy and very hot day on the road. After the resort we explored the second largest canyon in the world, behind the Grand Canyon, Fish Canyon.
South Africa
We were fortunate to be able to spend a few days after the safari in South Africa. Oh nuts, it’s all done.
What a great journey. It had many challenges. Some days were very hot and long on the road. Not that we weren’t cautioned about it, but still it was occasionally tough. There were a couple of weeks that there were too many travelers and bags packed into the big yellow truck. But truth be told, we still would take the Absolute Africa safari.
Looks great