Month: September 2016

September 1st, 2016

Day 154: Dubai – Day 2

Our flight to Beijing wasn’t scheduled to leave Abu Dhabi until 9:30PM, so we requested a late check-out from our hotel to give us time to explore a few more sights in Dubai. While we were up and ready to go early in the morning, we discovered that the souks (traditional marketplaces) in Old Dubai don’t open until 10AM, so it was unfortunately already ridiculously hot and humid when we exited the subway and started wandering around the open-air markets. After an hour of trudging through the heat and constant shouting of the pashmina & jewelry hawkers, we escaped to the creek, hoping for a cool ride along the water. We paid 100 dirham (USD $27) for a 45min private boat ride up and down the creek, which was a bit too slow to be refreshing and a bit too dull to be much fun. By then it was noon, and we decided to call it a day, returning to the hotel for much needed showers and fresh clothes before hitting the highway back to Abu Dhabi where we were looking forward to pigging out and raising a few glasses of wine at the *international* terminal lounge.

 

We bravely leave the comfortable air-conditioning of the ultra-modern Dubai subway to take a walk in the blistering heat of the Old Dubai Gold Souk – a marketplace full of…GOLD

 

Window-shopping in the Gold Souk in Old Dubai

 

A fast-talking salesman quickly lures us into his shop as soon as we enter the Spice Souk, and rapidly guides us through the dozens of spices he has for sale

 

Beautiful potpourri, a fortune in saffron threads, and aromatic menthol shavings. When the salesman put some menthol on a hot incense holder and literally blew medicinal smoke in our faces, Igor was hooked and promptly bought a small jar of menthol for 50 dirham (USD $13.00)

 

Wandering through the many outdoor souks in Old Dubai, where aggressive salesmen keep shouting, “Where are you from? Germany? England? Australia?” Surprisingly, they never guess the USA.

 

Exotic atmosphere in Old Dubai

 

Taking a slow boat ride up and down the Dubai Creek

Old fishing boats moored next to modern high-rises along the Dubai Creek

 

Retreating back to the fancy, air-conditioned subway. The cars are packed during the lunch rush-hour, so Lindsay rides in the relatively empty women-only car while Igor suffers sandwiched between a crowd of sweaty men.

 

Driving back to Abu Dhabi

 

Flavors of Dubai: mosques every few miles, and we saw billboards of this guy everywhere. Unfortunately, the signs never had English translation so we still don’t know who he is. The Prime Minister maybe?

 

You’d think in a country where 85% of the economy is dependent on oil, it would be easy to find a gas station to fill up your rental car before returning it to the airport, right? It took us a good hour and a half to finally find the nearest state-run gas station, which was 20min away from the Dhabi Airport, which had a half an hour line. Guys, you’re doing it wrong.

 

Relaxing (a bit too much) at the executive lounge in Terminal 1 – a good 15min walk (and 3min sprint!) to our gate in Terminal 3

We were glad we left Dubai so early – even though we had over 7 hours before our flight and traffic was good, finding gas was a nightmare and killed a good 2 hours of our extra time. Still, check-in and Immigration went smoothly, and we arrived at the executive lounge with several hours to spare. When we presented our boarding passes to the lounge manager, she warned us to keep an eye on the time as our gate was in a different terminal and there would be no announcements. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. Lady, we’ve been on the road for almost half a year now, we know what we are doing.

Famous last words.

Did you know that the time difference between Nairobi and Abu Dhabi is only 1 hour? Since we had been so busy in the last 2 days, we had barely opened our computers and had forgotten to update the time zone. Since we knew we had “plenty of time,” we didn’t think it suspicious when we reached for our third glass of wine and the clock still read 7:50PM. At 8:15PM, about 10min before we planned to get up and walk to our gate, Igor got a phone call from a UAE number. Normally he screens calls that he doesn’t recognize, but he couldn’t figure out how a UAE telemarketer could have gotten his number, so he picked up.

An annoyed voice on the other line asked him if he was Igor, and if he was in the airport. “Yes, why?” Igor asked suspiciously. “Because, sir, it’s *9:15PM* and your flight is closing. You need to RUN to the gate immediately.” FUCKFUCKSHITSHIT, HOW DID WE LET THIS HAPPEN? We frantically threw our laptops in our bags and ran like mad through the airport. When we arrived at 9:20PM (10 minutes before departure), the agent tells us the captain has already started deplanning us. “I’ll radio the captain and see if he will allow you on board, but already rejected that woman over there who arrived before you, so I doubt it.” Seriously?!? You knew we were in the airport, you called us and knew we were running over, and you couldn’t hold the plan for 3 passengers? Wouldn’t it take longer to find our baggage in the cargo area and remove it than to just let the three of us walk onto the plane that is SITTING RIGHT THERE? “You are adults, it’s not my job to babysit you and make sure you arrive at the gate in time.” Smug, useless asshat. Why bother calling us at all?

“I’m sorry, the captain has already deplanned you.” Our hearts fell. What the FUCK are we going to do now? “The next flight to Beijing is at the same time tomorrow – you have to go and collect you bags and rebook yourselves on the next flight.” Still in shock, we made our way back through the airport, and had to explain to the security agents why we needed to go back through Immigration and into the Arrivals area to collect our bag. When we arrived at Baggage Claim, the agent told us we could leave our bag there, since we were planning to take the next Eithad flight. So we exited and returned to the Departures area and starting going over our options with the Customer Service desk.

Unfortunately for us, the next flight didn’t have any Economy seats left – only Premium Economy which would require an additional $550pp charge – that’s the cost of another flight! We immediately started looking at alternative airlines, and found an Emirates flight departing at 4AM that morning for $500pp. If we’re going to be $1,000 in the hole, we may as well not kill an entire day. While Igor booked the flight and tried to contact Expedia to see if we could get a refund on the missed flight, Lindsay navigated her way back down to the Baggage Claim area to pick up our backpack.

We were able to save a small bit of money on the transfer back to Dubai, as Eithad let us take their complimentary shuttle, however, the guy sitting directly in front of us got motion-sick halfway there and puked on the bus floor. Tired, disgusted, and frustrated, we ran out of the bus as quickly as possible when we arrived at the Eithad office in Dubai around midnight. There were only 2 taxis nearby, and we dashed to the second one as if our lives depended on it – we are NOT missing a second flight!

Unfortunately, we had already exchanged all of our UAE dirhams for Chinese yuan in Abu Dhabi, and the taxi didn’t take credit cards. In our first stroke of good luck, the taxi driver allowed us to pay him with an American $20 bill, which was super nice as the exchange rate wasn’t really in his favor. We checked into our Emirates flight (the manager at the counter was very pleased to hear that they had stolen a customer from Eithad), and made our way to our gate. Only after we had carefully verified the correct time and confirmed that we had a full hour before boarding began, did we allow ourselves to go upstairs to the executive lounge, which was thankfully located directly next to our gate. We ate as much of the free food as we could – we now have a $1,000 deficit in our budget that we need to make up somewhere…

 

Checking in to our new Emirates flight in Dubai. We very carefully confirm the time and gate number of our flight, before cautiously allowing ourselves to grab a second dinner in the executive lounge, which was right next to our gate

 

Squeezing every penny of enjoyment out of our unexpected $1,000 flight to Beijing

August 31st, 2016

Day 153: Dubai – Day 1

As we are on a tight budget for our Year Trip, we couldn’t afford to stay in one of the world’s most expensive cities for more than two nights, so we had only one full day and one half day to pack in all of our sight-seeing. After a big, egg-sandwich breakfast we headed out into the city to start checking off our list of must-do attractions. Our first stop was the Mall of the Emirates. As we rode the subway (although it wasn’t really a subway, as it was above ground), we marveled at the high-tech cleanliness of the city – we felt like we were visiting a glittering, futuristic New York. Just like in Kuala Lumper, the subway stop was (thankfully!) connected to the mall entrance via an air-conditioned walkway.

 

Waking up to a great view in our high-rise hotel room, while Igor cooks us breakfast

 

Exploring Dubai via subway

 

The Dubai subway is so clean, modern, and thankfully air-conditioned. Lindsay spotted a virtual grocery store in one of the stations – if only we had these in NYC!

When we got to the Mall of the Emirates, we headed straight for the #1 item on Igor’s bucket list: Ski Dubai – an indoor ski resort in the middle of the desert! It may be 38⁰C outside, but it’s a chilly -1⁰C inside! After looking at the price options, Lindsay decided to forgo the snowboarding as she’s very picky about her snow quality and didn’t feel the Dubai snow was powdery enough for her. So Igor took the GoPro and headed up the mountain solo for his 2hr time slot, while Lindsay wandered around the mall.

 

Dubai LOVES its malls – the AC is a sanctuary from the stifling heat! But it’s not all about shopping – the Mall of the Emirates is home to one of the fewer indoor ski resorts in the world – Ski Dubai

 

It’s 101⁰ outside in the desert, but Igor dons his snowcap and thermals to hit the slopes! Unfortunately, the website failed to mention that gloves are not included in the rental gear, so his poor hands were freezing by the end of the morning

 

It’s still morning, and the mountain is practically empty, so Igor has the snow to himself

 

Lindsay waits outside the theme park and waves as Igor goes up the chairlift, and catches a glimpse of him shredding the pow

 

While Igor was snowboarding, Lindsay explored the mall, doing some grocery shopping and thumbing through the new Harry Potter at the bookstore

Once Igor got out of the mountain, he and Lindsay hopped back on the subway and headed for the Palm Jumeirah – one of three man-made archipelagos in the shape of a palm-tree off the Dubai coast. The second Atlantis Resort is located at the top of the islands, and although we didn’t have time to visit the water-park, we did a quick walk-through of the aquarium and took a short break outside for lunch, before hopping in a cab to our next destination.

 

The heat was so intense when we exited the mall, the camera lens completely fogged up as Lindsay tried to snap a picture of Igor crossing the subway tracks!

 

No matter how tired we are, we’re going non-stop today – jumping on the monorail to visit the man-made archipelago, the Palm Jumeirah

 

Atlantis! Are we in the Bahamas? Nope – it’s the mega-resort’s second, lavish property in the Middle East

 

The Ambassador Lagoon is the largest open-air fish tank in the Middle East, with over 65K types of fish, rays and sharks

 

Admiring the fish in the Ambassador Lagoon, at the Palm Atlantis

 

Since we’re backpackers, we’re too poor to buy lunch at the Atlantis Resort, so we crawl miserably out into the oppressive heat, walk out of the hotel parking lot and find a tiny patch of shade on the empty boardwalk to eat our packed lunch

 

Cheapy, cheapy! Eating hard-boiled eggs and oranges for lunch outside the Atlantis Resort

We really wanted to visit the Burj Al Arab – the world’s most luxurious hotel – Igor even considered booking us a room, but at USD$1K+/night, it was WAY out of our price range. We tried to get as close as possible, hoping there was a way to walk onto the property to check out the lobby, but the hotel was on another private, man-made island which was only accessible to guests. So we snapped a picture from the nearby mall before heading back to the hotel for a short break.

 

More malls! Igor starts to lose steam as we visit the Souk Madinat Jumeriah – a small mall built to resemble a traditional “souk” or market-place, but with the added benefit of air-conditioning. After an ice-cream pick-me-up at Baskin-Robbins, he is ready for more walking

 

A gold-bar ATM?! Only in Dubai! We would have liked to buy one, but the machine was SOLD OUT

 

We had hoped to visit the Burj Al Arab – the world’s only “seven-star hotel”, but it is only open to registered guests, so we could only view its unique architecture from afar

 

Window-shopping in the Souk Madinat, we found so many lovely items – tea sets, chessboards, lamps and fabrics – once again, we found ourselves wishing we could buy souvenirs on our Year Trip

 

Catching a cab back to the Shangri-La Hotel where we had a 2hr break before heading out again. Lindsay took a dip in the nearly-empty hotel pool while Igor took advantage of the super-fast Wifi to upload the last of our Africa photos

Our hotel helped us book a 6PM ticket to the top of Burj Khalifa – at 2,700ft and 163 floors, it is the world’s tallest building. We usually don’t go in for this type of thing (we skipped the Petronas Towers in KL), but we figured once we’ve visited the tallest building in the world, we’d never have the desire to pay to go up another tall building again. We headed up with plenty of time to see the sunset, and since there was no time limit once you were at the top, we hung around to see the city lights at night.

After spending a good hour and a half at the top of the Burj Khalifa, we finally headed back down, caught the Shangri-La’s free shuttle bus from the mall back to the hotel, and retired for the night. Whew!

 

THE Dubai Mall – where guests can buy tickets to visit the Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world

 

As we scanned our tickets, one of the guides points out the 125th floor observation deck to us

 

The elevator to the top went dark and featured an LCD display on the walls during our 45sec ride to the 125th floor – we traveled at 33ft/sec, but barely noticed we were moving!

 

With the hazy summer heat, the view of Dubai from the top of Burj Khalifa looked pretty smoggy

 

Beautiful chandeliers and fancy ceilings inside the Burj Khalifa

 

Igor standing by the window, and Lindsay on the observation deck, waiting for the sunset

 

Trying to snap a few pics on the crowded observation deck required some aggressive tactics as many selfie-snapping Millennials were hogging the windows – one girl was seriously sitting in front of one window pane for over an hour, taking multiple pictures of herself wearing a fedora!

 

Since the sun set at 6:45PM, we knew we wouldn’t make it down in time for the fountain show, which happens every hour on the hour. Since we were exhausted and hungry, we didn’t want to wait for the 8PM show, so we just stayed at the top and watched from above

 

Dubai night-scape, from the top of Burj Khalifa

 

After seeing the Burj Khalifa lit up for the night, we finally got into the elevator and made our way down to the ground

 

One final stop at the corner grocery store for some fresh cheese for our second pasta dinner in our hotel room

August 30th, 2016

Day 152: Travel Day – Nairobi to Abu Dhabi to Dubai

After a final breakfast at La Maison Royale (who totally redeemed themselves from our first stay), we were picked up by Robert – our guide from our first day in Nairobi – who brought us back to the airport. We arrived at 11AM, very early for our 2PM flight on Eithad, but we were hoping to get an hour or two to relax at the airport lounge. Good thing we arrived early – there was a massive line at the Eithad counter – we soon realized the line contained everyone on our flight. After a waiting 45min without the line moving an inch, we got frustrated asked what was going on – turns out the airport internet connect was cutting in and out, and the airlines were having trouble checking in their passengers!

Our Kenya SIM card still had some data on it, so we asked if we could just check-in via mobile, and bring our bags as carry-on – the attendant said sure, but before we had a chance to finish, she changed her mind and just told us to go into the first class line, where the computer was momentarily working, and check our bag as well. Not sure why we got bumped up in line, but we’re not going to complain! The attendant was able to get Igor’s boarding pass and our baggage ticket before the internet cut out again. She then ripped off a blank boarding pass ticket, and starting hand-writing Lindsay’s boarding pass! “Um, will they accept this at security?” Lindsay asked dubiously. “Yes, yes, you can go ahead.” O…K…

 

Navigating Nairobi traffic on our way to the airport. Before we even get into the airport grounds, Robert tells us we have to exit the car and walk through a metal detector, while the security agents inspect the car. Not sure to be impressed by the layer of security, or worried, as there was no one manning the metal detector

 

Lindsay’s hand-written boarding pass got her through security. Unfortunately, we discovered that our Priority Pass lounge was in the domestic terminal, not international, so we just walked by the Government VIP lounge with envy as we waited for our plane. We got super lucky when we boarded and the woman behind us in the exit row asked to switch seats with us, as her son was too young to sit there – score! We had tons of legroom, entertainment, and a three course meal with wine for our trip to Abu Dhabi.

We arrived in Abu Dhabi around 8PM. After an hour long wait at Immigration, we finally picked up our bag and headed to the car rental counter to pick up our brand-new but bare-bones 2016 Ford. The highway was pretty empty by the time we got out of the airport at 10PM, so the drive to our hotel only took about an hour and a half – especially with a 120KMPH speed limit with officially sanctioned 20KMPH wiggle-room.

We were starving by the time we checked-in and were about to start searching the hot and humid streets for take-out, when the hotel manager mentioned the grocery store behind the hotel was open until midnight. We were ecstatic! Dubai is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and we had booked a room with a kitchenette, hoping to save money on meals. We dashed over and picked up some pasta, eggs and fruit just as the poor guys were closing up. After a cheap – yet satisfying! – dinner, we finally called it a night.

 

Driving from Abu Dhabi to Dubai

August 29th, 2016

Day 151: Masai Mara – Day 3

We crawled out of bed in the dark for our final game drive, which did not disappoint – gorgeous scenery and lots of cats – Kenya sent us off on a high note for sure. True, we never got to see a kill, but we’ve come to realize that it’s 90% right-pace / right-time-of-day, and 10% pure luck. Even Joseph – who proved to very talented tracker – couldn’t find us a kill in Tanzania. Besides, Igor is such an animal-lover, he probably would have cried, and Lindsay doesn’t need to see that.

 

Now *this* is an early start! Out in the Masai Mara sunrise for our final game drive EVER

 

As the light starts to fill the sky, we see a pair of giraffes in the distance

 

Edward gets two notifications on the radio at once, and both are cats! We are closest to a pair of cheetahs, and we reach them just as the sun appears over the horizon

 

Dozens of other vehicles start crowding the cheetahs, so we move on to the lion pride, which has a playful little cub!

 

The cub tries to jump on mom, but she quickly shows the baby who’s boss on this savannah

 

One final herd of wildebeest crosses our path as we head out of the Masai Mara

We had a 5-hour drive back to Nairobi, with a lunch break halfway through to break it up. When we finally got back to La Maison Royale in Nairobi, we were pleased to see that the staff made good on their promise to put us in a nicer room – high floor with a view outside of the building! We considered heading out into the city to see if we could shop for a new backpack, but as we only had an hour before sunset, we decided to just take it easy and enjoy our hotel TV. Lindsay went a little MacGyver on the ripped backpack to make sure it would make it to Dubai (personally, she thinks it’s just like new and doesn’t need to be replaced) before heading upstairs for another roof-top Indian-food dinner. Next stop: UAE.

 

Lunch stop on the way back to Nairobi – rice, beans, veggies and a cold can of Coke – no complaints here!

 

We were delayed for an hour by an accident ahead of us. A few entrepreneurial locals took advantage of the traffic jam and started cooking & selling corn on the cob on the side of the road (if only we hadn’t just eaten!) – we were relieved when we finally got through amd back to our hotel in Nairobi

 

Duct-tape and hotel sewing kit – all I need to fix a rip and make our backpack travel-ready!

August 28th, 2016

Day 150: Masai Mara – Day 2

Our last full safari day in Africa was a bit of a shitshow. Literally – our driver had the runs and had to pull over multiple times to take a dump behind the minivan. We gave the poor guy one of our precious Imodium, which seemed to help.

Unfortunately, animal sightings were not much better. We saw a few herbivores, but no predators. While we took a quick drive into the Mara Triangle, we passed through in about 15min and didn’t see any wildebeest crossing. (From our experience with Joseph in Tanzania, we know it requires A LOT of time and patience to get lucky enough to see a crossing – Edward didn’t seem cutout for an hour-long stake-out. Especially not with his bowel condition…)

We were sad with the idea of ending the trip on such a low note – we have one last game drive tomorrow morning…fingers crossed for a kill!

 

Refueling the minivan before our game drive – this is the sketchiest gas station we have ever seen! Edward buys 10L of gasoline, which the guy brings out in watercooler bottle, then funnels into the gas tank! Not even going to guess if it is unleaded or not…

 

Waiting at the park gate again, while Edward pays our entrance fees. Park security stands around with an AK47 hanging on his shoulder, and the Masai women swarm the safari vehicles like zombies in a horror movie

 

Finally! Through the gate and on the open road! Like the Serengeti on the Tanzania side, the park is so massive, you loose the crowds of other cars quickly

Driving through the Masai Mara

 

Our rickety safari minivan

 

A family of giraffes and a lone elephant wandering near the road in the Masai Mara

 

As a female ostrich struts her stuff, two males get enticed

 

The male ostriches fight each other over the sexy female!

 

Making a bathroom stop at the airstrip…then another in the middle of the road! What a shitshow.

 

Breaking up the game drive with a guided walk along the Mara River. Our guide, Robert, also carries an AK-47 (in case of lion attack?)

The Mara River, in the Masai Mara

 

Jumping over a hippo trail and watching out for huge crocs during our walk

 

Our guide, Robert, points out a dead hippo that was attacked by lions a few days ago. While the hippo fought off the lions, it quickly died of its wounds, and became lunch for the croc population. We notice a group of tents on the riverbank directly above the dead hippo and discover it is a campground – imagine the smell those campers must have to sleep through – phew!

 

A family of hippos in the Mara River

 

We watch a pair of Egyptian Geese flirt dangerously with a crocodile lying in the water, before heading back from our walk. Igor asks for picture (I think we was hoping Robert would let him pose with the gun)

 

We cross the river and pull over in front of the gate to the Mara Triangle for lunch. Once again, we tried to reduce the size of our lunch boxes by asking for a vegetarian meal – but the Sopa Lodge had another menu in mind: we got a full Indian lunch (rice, dahl, roti) IN ADDITION TO a sandwich, chips, an apple and yogurt! “It’s too much!” we cried pitifully to Edward. We finished the Indian food (OMG, so yummy), and asked Edward if he could give away the rest. As we passed Masai children on our way back to the lodge, Edward would call them over to the van in Swahili and dole out the food

 

Driving back through the Masai Mara at the end of our game drive, we pass by area where the Masai and park management have burned the grass to promote new growth – the contrast between the two landscapes is stunning

August 27th, 2016

Day 149: Masai Mara – Day 1

We left Lake Naivasha before dawn, as we had a 5 hour drive to reach the Masai Mara – the Kenyan side of the Serengeti. We’d been looking forward to this park for days, as we still had our fingers crossed for witnessing a kill and this was our last shot. While we did get some amazing animal sightings during our short “evening” game drive, we unfortunately missed out on the hunt by mere hours.

 

Breakfast box on the road as we have a long drive to the Masai Mara

 

“Evening” game drive in the Masai Mara

 

Edward gets an alert on his radio and we rush down the road in tim to see a massive Black Rhino coming out of the bushes! With only 5,000 in the wild, this is the most rare and endangered specie we had the luck to see on our trip!

 

A small pride of sleepy lionesses, napping in the shade

 

One lioness starts to walk off to another group of trees, so we follow her to see if she is going on a hunt – too late! Looks like she and her sisters already made a kill and she was peckish for another bite of antelope

Very satisfied with our short drive through the park, we returned to the Sopa Lodge where we pigged out on amazing Indian food. Yeah, we’ve gotten really fat in Africa, but the diet starts next week China. We are going to enjoy it while it lasts!

 

So. Much. Indian food. LOVING Sopa Lodge!

 

After a delicious dinner, we hide out in the lobby for a few hours to use the Wifi

August 26th, 2016

Day 148: Lake Naivasha

We left Amboseli in the morning and had a short drive to our next location – Lake Naivasha. We checked-in to our Sopa Lodge in time for lunch and had a few hours downtime to enjoy the grounds before our excursion on the lake. We were super excited when we found out our boat ride on the lake included a walking safari on the predator-less Crescent Island! After weeks of being cooped up in SUVs and safari-cars, we really appreciated the opportunity to get out and WALK.

 

Checking-in to the Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge in time for the buffet lunch – which was delicious! We asked Edward later if we knew who owned the Sopa Lodge chain, and he said the owners were Kenyan and Indian – which totally makes sense now, since every buffet had a large selection of Indian food. YUM!

 

The Lake Naivasha location was our favorite Sopa Lodge. While we had a long walk to our room, it was very comfortable – cable TV with English-language movie channels and a second floor balcony with a view of the grounds

 

The Sopa Lodge grounds were not fenced, which meant animals were free to roam across the property. As we walked across the lawn, we were able to get really close to the herd of waterbucks

 

Boarding the minivan for the short drive to our excursion on Lake Naivasha

 091716_2337_August26th210.jpg

Heading out for our boat ride on Lake Naivasha

 

Pretty flowers in the wetlands

 

What an ugly face! Lots of Marabou Storks fishing in Lake Naivasha

 

Shy hippos hiding in the waters of Lake Naivasha

 

We dock at Crescent Island for a guided walking safari – since the island has no predators, we finally get a chance to leave the confines of a car!

Crescent Island, Lake Naivasha

 

A herd of Thompson’s Gazelle graze on Crescent Island, a scenic spot that was one of the filming locations for the movie, “Out of Africa”

 

Walking amongst the animals – zebras and waterbuck

 

Exploring the island on foot, we have the opportunity to get really close to a herd of giraffe, including this adorable baby

 

Lindsay creeps up slowly on this beautiful female giraffe by hiding behind a tree, however when she sticks he hand with the GoPro out from behind her hiding spot, the giraffe gets spooked and runs off

 

A fish eagle, swooping down for a catch!

 

High up in the trees we catch a quick glimpse of a Colobus Monkey, and tons of darter birds

 

Back at the Sopa Lodge, we take another stroll unescorted around the grounds before sunset, where we spot another big waterbuck grazing in the duckweed

 

We spot more giraffes at the edge of the property and walk over to snap some close-ups

Ah, now *this* is good Wifi! We bring our computers with us to the common area so we can catch up on emails before dinner

August 25th, 2016

Day 147: Amboseli National Park – Day 2

We met up with Edward after breakfast for our “all day” game drive through Amboseli National Park (which ended at 3PM). The haze that had obscured Mount Kilimanjaro the day before had cleared overnight, giving us a lovely backdrop for our pictures. We had no trouble sighting Amboseli’s many elephants.

As the day went on, we noticed a few more differences between the Kenyan and Tanzanian safari standards. Whereas Joseph had to rely on his own tracking skills and binoculars, Edward’s minivan (like all the others) was outfitted with a radio, which he turned on every day as soon as we entered a park, so he could listen to the chatter of all the other guides to help him spot the animals. We got an alert that afternoon for one of the few lions in Amboseli (there are only about 35 in the park) and arrived just in time to see a juvenile crawl into some bushes for a nap. During lunchtime, Edward handed us our boxes, and told us to walk up to the top of the hill alone to eat at the picnic area, while he stayed below with the van. In Tanzania, Joseph sat with us for lunch every day.

We returned to the camp in the afternoon, and tried to use the Wifi in the common area when the electricity turned on at 6PM (it was very weak – barely strong enough to check emails), before returning to our mosquito-free tent to get ready for dinner.

 

As the sun comes up, we get our first view of Mount Kilimanjaro. We head into the park on our game drive after breakfast, where we have a beautiful backdrop for our pictures

 

Amboseli elephants, with Kilimanjaro in the background – it doesn’t get much better than this!

 

A stately giraffe crosses the road, with Mt. Kili in the distance

 

A thirsty giraffe checks to make sure the coast is clear before bending over for a drink

 

More animals enjoying the swampy water – a herd of Cape Buffalo, covered in mud, and a pair of lazy hippos

 

A huge flock of flamingos take flight at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro

 

Flamingos in flight in Amboseli National Park

 

The elephant population in Amboseli is too big for Amboseli to naturally sustain, so the park management has to fence off groves of trees to give them a chance to recover. However, the fences don’t keep out the wildebeest, who easy pass under the hanging wires on their way to grazing grounds

 

Sleepy Lindsay.

 

Lunch stop at the Observation Hill View Point – another HUGE lunch box from the lodge.

View of the Amboseli swamplands from the top of Observation Hill

 

Zebras and elephants both look for refuge in the cool swamp waters in the heat of the afternoon

 

As the day wears on, the wind picks up and we are surrounded by dust devils

 

The haze clears up just enough in the afternoon to give us one final view of Mount Kilimanjaro

 

While we are in the buffet line, a French couple tried to take our table, but Igor tells them off. Tonight, the Americans are #1!

August 24th, 2016

Day 146: Amboseli National Park – Day 1

At 8AM sharp, Joseph picked us up for the last time. He was in a good mood (whether it was because he was home, or because he only had to work a half day, or he was pleased with the tip we gave him the night before, we weren’t completely sure – hopefully a combination of the three) and was super chatty with Igor as we drove back to the Namanga border. Given the chaos we experienced the first time we crossed, we knew it was going to be a long morning. Again, leaving the country was pretty easy, getting back into Kenya required a few more hoops to jump through.

We have noticed some inconsistencies with Kenyan Immigration. When we first entered the country via the Nairobi Airport, our agent had no issue with Igor pulling up our e-visas on his smart phone. When we tried that at Namanga, the agent told us we needed a PRINTED version! How the hell are we going to print this from our phone? Well, conveniently enough, there is a guy with a computer and a printer around the corner who will let you login to the Kenya visa website and print your documents for about 6,000 shillings (about USD$6). Lindsay noticed that the stack of visa behind the counter also had photos attached, but the agent let us get by without them. In fact, the agent didn’t even keep our printed e-visas, he simply scratched over the visa to make sure it couldn’t be used again! Well, he did that to Lindsay’s. Which is very silly as we know how easy it is to reprint it! Plus, our visas were technically single-entry visas, although our safari company assured us that going to Tanzania and back doesn’t seem to “count” as far as Kenya is concerned. Whatever, glad we got through in under 2hrs.

We returned to the Land Cruiser to say our farewell to Joseph, and meet Edward, our Kenyan safari driver. Edward was a young guy, with admittedly very good English, but even so, he wasn’t very chatty. Igor had taken to sitting in the front seat with Joseph so he could have conversations while we were commuting from park to park, but Edward was a tough nut to crack.

As we turned off the paved road toward Amboseli National Park, we passed a Maasai man walking on the side of the road and Edward pulled over. “This is my friend; he is going the same way we are – do you mind if we give him a ride?” We were caught off guard and said yes, assuming he just needed a lift down the road. After all, he was travelling by foot, so we assumed he couldn’t be going that far, and besides, we had been feeling guilty for weeks now, passing locals and being unable to offer a ride. After driving off road for over an hour, however, we were getting very suspicious that Edward was going out of his way and using our safari van as a taxi service. But our suspicions were unfounded, as it turns out the Maasai passenger worked at the hotel – we can’t imagine how long it would have taken him to walk the 30+KM back from where we picked him up!

Edward helped us check-in, then told us to meet him back at the lobby at 4PM for an evening game drive. At first we were excited, as we never had a game drive fter dark before – everything with Joseph was from breakfast to sunset! Turns out, in Kenya a “full day” game drive ends around 3PM. Anything after that is considered an “evening game drive,” which also ends at sunset. Oh well, at least we got into the park for a couple hours. Kenya is proving to be very, very different from Tanzania.

 

We arrived at our hotel in time for the buffet lunch. While we were initially disappointed that our tour company gave us a minivan instead of a Land Cruiser, one look at the hotel’s parking lot showed us that this is the standard in Kenya. Only the really expensive companies – like A&K – have 4×4 vehicles.

 

While our tent was very nicely constructed and the screens were fully zipped, we soon discovered it was infested with mosquitos. We spent our entire afternoon hunting them down – we tried to keep count, but we lost track after killing about 50. Edward recommended that we ask for a can of bug spray, so when the maid came for turn down service later that night we asked for a can of Doom. At first she just giggled and nodded that, “Yes there are a lot of mosquitos here,” then she plugged in an air freshener and tried to tell us that it would repel the mosquitos. “But where will they go? The tent doesn’t have any holes!” Igor said. “They will just go away.” She said with a smile. We insisted again that we wanted SPRAY, which she finally brought after dinner. By then we had killed another 50, but the can was still useful in destroying that last handful that tried to hide on the roof. NO MALARIA FOR US, THANKS.

 

We left the hotel at 4PM for our “evening game drive” through Amboseli National Park. Even though we are a short 5-10min drive from the park entrance, we had to wait another 30min at the gate while Edward paid our entrance fees. As we were waiting, about a dozen Masai women were going around from car to car, aggressively hawking souvenirs. “No, thank you,” didn’t seem to work, so we eventually just slid down in our seats and refused to look out the window until they left.

 

Once we entered the park, we drove slowly in a long line of safari vans along the dirt roads. The dust kicked up by the wind and other cars was intense – we were absolutely filthy by the end of the drive. While Amboseli is famous for stunning views of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the hazy atmosphere completely blocked the mountain – we couldn’t even tell it was there.

 

A herd of zebra wanders through the dusty terrain, looking for grass

 

Amboseli is most famous for its large elephant population – we easily found a large herd grazing & bathing in the waterhole

 

Our evening game drive was supposed to end at 6:30PM – which is when the park gate closes – but we were out and heading back to the hotel before the sunset.

 

It was a LONG day – but nothing that a campfire under the stars and a big jug of cheap wine won’t fix! GOOD NIGHT.

August 23rd, 2016

Day 145: The Ngorongoro Crater

We were on a *tight* schedule today as our admission to the Ngorongoro Crater was exactly 6hrs. We were out the door by 6AM in order to pass through the gates the moment they opened at 6:30AM. Because the crater is such a small and delicate ecosystem (only 100 square miles inside the rim), the best way to limit the vehicle traffic is to charge INSANE entrance fees (upwards of USD$100pp plus USD$40 vehicle). The crater is also off limits to buses and 2WD cars – only 4x4s are allowed.

Even though we were only in the crater for a short time, the wildlife was spectacular! Once again, the density of animals far surpasses anything we saw in Namibia or Botswana – especially predators. Since we had to exit the crater at 12:30PM sharp, we waited until we were on the road back to Arusha to take a break for lunch, in order to get the most out of our half-day game drive. We returned to the capital in the late afternoon, with plenty of time to relax and reflect on the fantastic conclusion to our Tanzania adventure. Next stop: Kenya.

 

Entering the Ngorongoro Crater as soon as the gates open at 6:30AM

 

Inside the Ngorongoro Crater, where waves of fog spill over the 2,000ft rim

The grassland floor of the Ngorongoro Crater

 

While male lions are supposed to be fiercely territorial, these two brother must be very young as they were adorably affectionate with each other

 

Baby brother gets a kiss and snuggles up for more love

 

While the crater is dominated by the big guys – lions and hyenas – smaller predators can be seen scavenging their scraps. A pair of jackals pick clean the ribs of a recent kill, and a short distance away we spot our only Bat-eared Fox

 

So many hyenas! There are an estimated 450 hyenas within the crater, vastly outnumbering the 60-70 lions. While they have a reputation for stealing and scavenging the kills from lions (thanks, Disney!), it reality it is actually the reverse.

 

A dominant hyena (probably female) selfishly finishes the head of a dead wildebeest as the rest of the pack wanders off in search of new meat. She is so close that we can hear the CRUNCH as she chews through the skull, making her way to the brain. Unlike lions who leave the bones, hyenas eat EVERY part of the animal except the horns, which helps keep the crater clean.

 

The Ngoitokitok Spring – one of the most important fresh water sources for animals in the crater. A herd of Cape Buffalo graze up top while a family of hippo lounge in the water

 

A mama hippo with the teeniest baby hippo we have seen yet! Joseph guesses it can’t be more than a few weeks old

 

Hippos aren’t the only ones taking to the water to escape the rising heat! A crafty elephant wades in up to his neck, munching on vegetation

 

A warthog and a Kopi Bustard on the grasslands within the Ngorongoro Crater

 

As we were driving along, Joseph noticed dozens of cars heading down the road – as we passed one he asked the driver in Swahili what was up. Turns out one of the few rhinos had been spotted, so every vehicle in the area was booking it to the sighting. We were very amused as we counted over 20 cars lined up along the road, trying to catch a glimpse of the one rhino, standing a good 500m away. Since we had plenty of rhino sightings in southern Africa (granted they were the more plentiful White Rhinos, not the critically endangered Black Rhino), we weren’t as desperate to snap a picture, but now we can honestly claim that we saw all Big 5 in Tanzania!

 

As we made our way down the road from the rhino, we came across three very full, very tired lions. Judging by their huge bellies and their heavy panting, these guys must have just finished eating a kill

 

As we parked the car to snap pictures, the two lionesses walked up to us. The poor girls were hot and wanted to get out of the sun – one lion laid down in the shadow of the car directly in front on the hood. The second actually *crawled under the car* and settled herself between the front and back tires! All we could see of her was a giant foot sticking out from under the car! Another safari vehicle drove up and started snapping pictures, joking, “You guys aren’t going anywhere for a while!” No, seriously, how are we going to drive off with a lion under our wheel? When Joseph turned on the engine, the lioness didn’t move a muscle. Asking us where exactly she was under the car, he carefully started to move in reverse, causing the lion to adjust herself but she still stayed under the car. After rocking the vehicle gently back and forth a few times, she finally got the hint and walked off.

 

A flock of regale African Crowned Storks

Our final view of the Ngorongoro Crater as we drive up and out the exit gate

 

A short lunch break near an African crafts market (where Lindsay finds the perfect Christmas ornament), before returning to Arusha. We had a marvelous time with Joseph from Base Camp Tanzania!