Off to Africa

Hi All,

Kathy and I are getting ready to leave for another adventure and this time I am delving into the 21st Century and doing a blog of our trip. My nephew Kip was instrumental in helping me make the transition. I hope all of you will like it.

Here's a map of our journey on a macro scale. We leave Arizona, fly to Minneapolis, change planes and head to Amsterdam, and then will fly from Amsterdam to Nairobi, Kenya for the first part of the trip. All in all 26 hours of travel time from home to Nairobi. The first part of the trip is a traditional safari while the second part involves traveling to Botswana, Zambia and Zimbawae for a river cruise and to visit Victoria Falls via Johannesburg.

Beginning part one, we only spend the night in Nairobi and the next morning head out to Amboseli National Park at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Then it's off to Lake Manyara in Tanzania for a night, followed by two days at the Ngorongoro Crater. After the Crater, we fly to a Camp in the Serengeti National Park for three days before a long day of flights from Serengeti to Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport to Nairobi to Johannesburg, South Africa. This is not a day we are looking forward to as we leave in the morning and arrive in Johannesburg at midnight and then have a flight to Kasane, Botswana at 10:00 AM.  Oh, did I mention that the shorter flights are on bush planes?

This is a more detailed map of our time in Kenya and Tanzania.  The orange is by vehicle and the yellow is our flight back to Nairobi before heading to Johannesburg.

After barely a nap in Johannesburg, we fly to Kasane, Botswana to board our river boat  for four days of sailing up and back on parts of the Chobe River. The wild life viewing should be spectacular and we will also be able to get off of the boat to explore native villages, go on game walks and do some fishing in crocodile infested waters. Then we transfer to Victoria Falls for two days there. Our journey ends with a long day of travel leaving Victoria Falls on Sunday morning and flying back to Amsterdam arriving at ten in the morning on Monday. 

Here's a map of the river cruise and Victoria Falls. As you can see it's pretty sparsely populated.

We plan on hanging out in Amsterdam for three days before heading back. I will do my best to update the blog when we have wi-fi service. Wish us luck!

Show Low

Before we left for Africa, we made a quick run up to Show Low, Arizona to enjoy the hospitality of our good friends Carolyn and Murray and to escape the heat. Three hours northeast of Scottsdale and at close to 7000' elevation, Show Low offers quite a contrast in topography, weather and lifestyle. From desert brown to expanses of green, from 100+ dry to 70 degrees and daily rains, from an urban setting to country, the two city's may be in the same state, but that's about all they have in common.

On the other hand, as this photo shows, we weren't exactly roughing it in Show Low. Carolyn and Murray rented a really great three bedroom townhouse at a golf community called Torreon. The amenities at the property were excellent and we hope to find away to get the family up here at some point and are definitely thinking of using it a place to escape the heat if we are not traveling elsewhere.

One of the points of interest in Show Low is that is on the Mongollon Rim. It is a two hundred mile long escarpment that runs across northeastern Arizona. Ranging from 5000 to 8000 above sea level, it is full of ponderosa pine forests, mountain lakes and streams, and provides not only stunning views, but a vivid contrast to the desert Arizona most people picture when they think about the State.

Once one leaves the rim, the landscape changes into high range country with stunning vistas stretching as far as the eye can see.

The area is sparsely populated and one can travel for miles without coming across another vehicle. If you blink, you could miss the few towns you pass through.

This morning we will head back to the Valley. It was a great weekend with friends and it gave us a chance to spend time exploring this lovely, cool, green corner of Arizona.

 

 

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