We had another leisurely breakfast on the beach before getting back into the van for the ride to Stone Town. Once in town we had about an hour free for last minute explorations, and I took the time to go back to a shop I'd seen earlier to get gifts for my office staff.  I set out on my own, with plans to meet the girls at a different store when I ( Read more... )

We had a lazy breakfast on the beach this morning of eggs and fruit, more amazing and yummy fruit.  A bunch of us hooked up with the dive shop next door for a day on the water, snorkeling and diving.  We waded out through the water to a long wooden boat that was to take us out for the day.  The water was rough, so rough that I took the offer of sea ( Read more... )

Today was a busy, wonderful day.  We started off with a tour of Stone Town, which is a predominantly Muslim town, and absolutely fascinating.  There must be multiple Muslim sects represented here, because the women are all very conservative in their dress, but there’s a huge variety.  I’ve seen women fully covered in black burqas, mostly covered ( Read more... )

This morning we left Caprice behind and were picked up by a van and taken back on the same ferry we’d ridden the day before and then to another ferry - the ferry to Zanzibar.  We settled in for a long boat ride with our books and a movie, and had a very uneventful ride, arriving in Stone Town at noon with the rain.  It was a torrential downpour as ( Read more... )

It was chilly when we started out this morning, and we bundled up as we moaned and groaned our way through breakfast.  We were on the road on time, and unlike previous days, this day’s driving was long and boring.  We did stop once at the Tanzanian equivalent of a truck stop and were able to stock up on cold drinks and snacks, but that was exciting ( Read more... )

How I didn’t have a hangover this morning, I’ll never know.  But I do wonder if it’s possible to get Konyagi at home, since it seems to agree with me!  Good thing I wasn’t hungover, since we had a 5 hour drive this morning into the mountains.  The scenery on the drive was amazing - the Maasai steppe spread out around us, leading up to ( Read more... )

We had a day full of activities today, starting with a visit to a local school.  We were driven up through the village and then walked the rest of the way up to the first part of the school, which is funded in part by Intrepid’s Planaterra Foundation.  We met Bob, an older genteman from the UK who took an early retirement and then moved to Tanzania ( Read more... )

We drove back through Arusha this morning, and stopped to pick up supplies and lunch.  I was hoping for some time to find a working internet café, but I had my truck duties to attend to first.  Everyone on the truck has different jobs - getting the bags out of the back locker at each stop, loading and unloading of tents, keeping the truck clean are ( Read more... )

We were up with the sun this morning, breaking camp and game driving out of the Serengeti.  We passed more elephants on the way out, and of course wildebeest and zebras.  And then we were back at Ngorogoro Crater.  We descended the steep, rough road down to the floor of the crater, and when we got there it was incredible.  The blue of ( Read more... )

It was still dark out when my alarm went off at 4:45 this morning.  The early wake up call was because 4 of us - myself, Tia, Tanja and Sherelle were going for a hot air balloon ride at sunrise.  Our jeep picked us up at 5:15, and the first thing we saw, less than 5 minutes from our camp, was two lions eating a fresh kill.  They were ( Read more... )