Havin' some fun at the Nubian Party on The Nile

This was our first evening on the Sonesta Star Goddess in Aswan. 

Recognize anyone?  Dennis was such a good sport!

Sept 23-27: Pyramids, Trains, and Boats

We were SO BLESSED when we landed in Cairo to be greeted by Rami Sayed, our Tour Rep for our Egypt adventure.  What a smile!  We were taken in by his warmth and knew immediately that we'd be well taken care of during our Egyptian Journey.

With the exception of this African Adventure, we have never traveled extensively on a private tour where EVERYTHING was handled.   What a joy it was to sit back and be led through the process of a trip that we (mostly Dennis) has been planning for 3 years.  Of course we COULD have handled it on our own, but it was MUCH MORE RELAXING having it all handled for us.  Or ~ let's be honest ~ when Dennis is relaxed, EVERYONE is relaxed!  :-)

I think the biggest adjustment when we arrived in Egypt was wondering where Harvey and Deb were!  There IS an adjustment when going from traveling with friends to traveling alone.  Both have their advantages ... and disadvantages.  Unfortunately, without them we didn't take as many people pictures as we did in Tanzania.

The other adjustment for me was transitioning from such a dynamic trip to a static one.  Photographing animals that may or may not appear is quite different from photographing a temple that has stood still for 4000 years!  But these extremes added to the mystique of this Trip of our Lifetime.

Below are pictures from our 36 hours in Cairo, our overnight train to Aswan, and the highlights of our 4 night Nile Cruise.

CLICK HERE to view D&D photo album

1993 in Cairo

We got roped into the papyrus factory.

2010 in Aswan

We got roped into the Essence Factory.

 



EGYPT! 1993 vs 2010

Dennis and I were SO BLESSED to visit Cairo and Alexandria in June, 1993.  We were both working at Ophthalmic Imaging Systems at the time, and we took a Business Dream Trip.  Of course we didn't have much free time, but I remember falling in love with Cairo.  It felt so FAMILIAR. 

Unfortunately, we both caught King Tut's Revenge on that trip, and it took us several weeks, after we returned to Sacramento, to get the bug out of our systems.  Of course ... back then we didn't get ANY shots, we took no pills, and we ate fruit and veggies with abandon.  We even ate lettuce & tomatoes ... what we've been told is the worst thing to eat. 

Ah ... YOUTH.

1993

The back of this photo says

"a real Egyptian on-the-street fish restaurant"

I know it's not good to compare, but we were overwhelmed to see the changes in Cairo.  Of course, it's been SEVENTEEN YEARS since we were there ... what did we expect?  With a current population of over 22 million, and being the largest city on the entire continent ... well, me bad for being surprised. 

Of course ... Dennis and I haven't changed much in 17 years ...   As my Mom loved to sing "I'm staying young, while everyone around me is growing old". 

June, 1993

September, 2010





NOTE:  You can double-click on any pictures I place right in the blog

 and see a full-size version of the image.  

Of course, if you do that,

then you'll see that we HAVE CHANGED in 17 years. 

ha ha!

The HUMAN Animals of Tanzania

This will be my last post with photos of Tanzania.  I'm excited to start posting our Egypt pictures!

It is the PEOPLE who make or break any experience, and I feel so blessed to have spent 10 days in Tanzania with such GREAT PEOPLE. 

CLICK HERE to view D&D photo album

THANK YOU to our friends ~ both old and new.

The Wild Animals of Tanzania

I have so many memories of the animals we saw ~ but the feeling of the encounters are hard to capture on film.  Such as:

• Driving along and all of a sudden spotting an old, male lion laying RIGHT NEXT to the road
• Our close encounter with the elephant who stood his ground in the road ahead of our vehicle
• Hearing lions roar during the night
• Relaxing in our tent and seeing elephants WALK RIGHT BY US
• Watching Harvey do the Tsetse Fly Dance as those flies did love HIM.
• Following the female lion in the Crater who walked right up to and around our vehicle
• Using the "bush bathroom" by squatting behind the Land Cruiser while looking at a giraffe, who was looking at me

Now I understand why people get "hooked" on safaris and want to go back.  It is not a zoo and not Disneyland ~ but REAL LIFE.   You never know what you will encounter next.

CLICK here to view the D&D photo album

My "bush bathroom" giraffe


Sept 19-20: Mobile Decadence in the Serengeti

Olakira Camp, in the northeast Serengeti, was our FAVORITE camp.  Somehow in all of our planning, I never realized that we would be RIGHT NEXT TO the Mara River where the Great Migration comes through.   Our tents were on the ground ~ but trust me, we were still in the lap of luxury!  The staff and service here was over-the-top!

CLICK HERE to visit the Olakira website

Actually, I feel quite blessed that Raphael even FOUND the camp.  We drove for mile upon mile of  masses of wildebeast without seeing another camp or vehicle.  Since it is a MOBILE CAMP, you can't find it on a map.  We stopped for lunch in the middle of all of the animals ...





After lunch we kept driving, and of course, Raphael found the camp.  And we were greeted with smiling faces, a wet towel, and a cocktail.  What a blessing to stay in this camp for two nights.

The most blessed, unexpected surprise, was the early rain.  Yes, the beginning of our trip was overcast, but little did we realize that it WAS RAINING in the northern Serengeti.  And when the rains come, so does The Great Migration.  WHAT A SITE!

Of course we didn't see the full onslaught of the migration, but what we saw was still incredible.  Skulls and skeletons strewn everywhere, crocodiles as long as a car laying alongside the river waiting to eat the slowest wildebeast ... many dead carcasses floating down the river, babies being separated from their mothers and crying for each other across the river ... and wildebeast as far as the eye could see.  

It is a vision of life and death that I will always remember ~

  CLICK HERE to view D&D photo album

Sept 17-18: Migration Permanent Tented Camp

We arrived at this camp on Friday afternoon, Sept 17th, for a two night stay.  It was only a few hours of game driving north from the Mbuzi Mawe Camp.  It was quite cloudy, and we just barely beat a rain storm upon arrival.

CLICK TO view website of Migration Camp

Yes, we experienced quite a bit of cloudy weather all week, but it didn't dampen our spirits.  It just made our photography more challenging. 

When I saw our deck on the back of our tent, I told Dennis I was going to bow out of the next morning's game drive.  But of course Raphael talked me out of it.  Good thing ... we saw lions mating the next morning on our drive!

CLICK HERE to view D&D photo album

Gelish Nails

I had a manicure right before we left, and Tony insisted that I try his Gelish polish.  It IS fabulous, as my nails looked great for a full month!

Do you think they'd be interested in me as a spokesperson?

Sept 15-16: A Lodge and a Camp ~ 2 short nights

We knew that the middle of our trip would be hectic as we had quite a long drive to reach the Serengeti by Friday.  So on Wednesday and Thursday, we stayed at 2 different places.

On Wednesday night we arrived at the Ngorongoro Crater Serena Lodge after dark.  We had a quick dinner ... I was dizzy and could barely stay awake.  We were up super early the next morning to explore the crater before everyone else.  Raphael was very clever to drive the OPPOSITE way than most vehicles so we did enjoy some solitude watching and tracking 2 lions.  In fact, I have some incredible video where this simba walked right up to and around our vehicle!

We were all unnerved by the TRAFFIC in the crater ~ there were 150 vehicles in the crater that day.  We had been so blessed to be off the beaten track, that to be with lots of other vehicles felt a little Disneylandish ...



We left the crater and DROVE.  And DROVE.  AND DROVE.  This was the worst road of the entire trip ~ thank God for my sports bra!  We reached Mbuzi Mawe Permanent Tented Camp after dark, but as we stepped out of the vehicle, we immediately heard a simba!

Please click below to view our pictures of the lodge and camp.

CLICK HERE to see D&D photo album

The Famous Black Rhino!

We did see it ... but way far away through our binocs.

Raphael made sure of that!

Sept 13-14: Swala Camp ~ the UTMOST in luxury in the bush!

On Monday morning, September 13th, our Land Cruiser and driver arrived.  We chose Good Earth Tours as our tour operator, and BOY ...did we make the right decision!  We instantly took a liking to our driver who would guide us through our 9-day adventure.

CLICK HERE to visit Good Earth Tours & Safaris


Our driver's name is Raphael, but many call him Chinga.  It didn't take me long to give him a new nickname of CHA-Chinga in honor of my sister.  He took it all in stride!

So after a brief stop in Arusha to exchange money, we headed towards Tarangire National Park.  After an all-day game drive enroute, we arrived at what became our favorite permanent tented lodge ~ Swala Camp. 

CLICK HERE to visit Swala Camp

CLICK HERE to view D&D Photo Album



Sept 10-12 Tucson to Kilimanjaro -- Our Journey Begins!

Thanks for asking to see pictures of our trip!

I’m surprised at how many family and friends thought we’d be living in PUP tents in the bush! That was HARDLY the case, so I decided to start with sharing our accommodations and food in Tanzania.

So here we go ~ starting with our 33 hour journey of 5 flights, and through our first night in Arusha, Tanzania.

CLICK HERE to view Photo Album

Moon & Star over Cairo