Update and Engagement Photos

We’re happy to report that we’re settled back here in Denver and our transition back into life stateside went smoothly and surprisingly quickly.  Jen found a job within only a few weeks of getting back in to town and so far, it seems to be a good fit.  They’re even training her in orthodontics, which she’s pretty excited about.  I’ve been grinding away again at my dissertation and I’m hoping to have a draft finished in the next few months.  I’ll also be teaching another class in the spring at the School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver.

Also, we just got our engagement photos taken near Guanella Pass here in Colorado.  Neither of us really wanted engagement pictures, but we’re pretty happy with the way they turned out.  If you’re interested in taking a look, follow this link: http://www.andrewandjessica.com/data/web/jenniferandkevin/

Thanks to Andrew and Jessica for a great afternoon in the mountains.

Finally, we wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to keep current on our travels through our blog and also let everyone know how much we appreciated your comments throughout our journey.   We feel very fortunate to have so many incredible people in our lives.

 

Cape Town and Stellenbosch

Our trek to Cape Town from Jo’burg  was more pleasant than we expected.  Even though we were nine hours late getting in – it took 36 hours instead of 27 – we had a nice time viewing the South African landscape and plowing through our books. The food was pretty good, the service decent, and the ride smooth.  The only real problem posed by the late arrival was having to walk around Cape Town after dark, which apparently is not recommended.   In our search for a taxi, we came across a baggage handler who was getting off work just as our train was pulling in.  He offered to walk us to our hostel, which was only eight or so blocks away and we accepted.   After the 10 minute walk to our lodging, our chaperone requested that we pay him $20 for his services, which was about four times the price of a taxi.  After we paid him the cost of a taxi, around $5, which was more than fair, he made a big scene in front of our building.  Then, once he realized that we weren’t going to budge, he surprisingly thanked us kindly and was on his way.

Table Mountain

We were very glad to finally arrive at a comfortable bed for the night.

The next day, we decided to get the lay of the land via a hop-on, hop-off bus.  We were treated with spectacular views of Table Mountain and magnificent coastal drives.  After touring around the city and seeing many Nelson Mandela-related sights, we got off the bus at Table Mountain and took the gondola ride up to the top.  The view of the city and the ocean were incredible!  We stayed at the top for nearly an hour soaking up the views and enjoying the rushing sea breeze.

Part of our bus tour took us near a township, or slum, but we didn’t feel like we’d gotten close enough, so the next day we booked a township tour through our hostel.

Township tour

With Apartheid (meaning, being apart – or segregation) still very raw in the minds of many South Africans (it wasn’t until 1994 that Apartheid fell), there seems to be de-facto segregation still going on throughout the townships.  From what we understand, during Apartheid, blacks and coloreds (non-blacks, often Malay) were not allowed to live within the city.  Rather, unincorporated land just outside of the city center was set aside or allowed to be settled by these groups.  So, people set up vast shanty towns with whatever building material they could find: broken palates, tarps, corrugated sheet metal, scrap wood, signs, etc.  Shacks are typically very small (six feet by eight feet) and can often house entire families.  Each shack seemed to consist of a bed, kitchen table, hot plate, and occasionally a television.  Now, the townships have electricity, permanent port-a-potty structures, and shared wells for water.  In addition to the shacks, there are occasional city-supplied shipping containers (each container is split in half and each side houses a family) and city run hostels, which basically amount to boarding houses with three families sharing each room.  The most dire problem however, is the 70% unemployment in the townships, obviously a huge hurdle to phasing out the dismal living conditions.  All in all, though we felt very safe and were warmly welcomed by dozens of children upon our arrival.  In addition to driving around the township in a van, we tasted local homemade beer at a she-been, toured a couple of shacks, drove through the local market, and watched some local children perform a gumboots dance, many of whom were HIV positive (another huge problem in all of Africa).

After our tour, we headed to a couple of the local craft markets for some shopping.  Throughout Africa, we had admired wood carvings and had our eye on a few souvenirs.  We picked up a carved wooden giraffe, a bushman mask, a carved hippo, a painted zebra, and bicycle made out of wire.   Additionally, Jen bought a round mirror lined with porcupine quills in a sunburst pattern, which should look great at home.

Finally, our time in South Africa came to an end on a final wine tasting excursion to Stellenbosch which is part of the Winelands region.

Stellenbosch!

Rather than take a tour, we opted to rent a little car, which turned out to be a pretty cheap alternative since it included a transfer to the airport.   Stellenbosch was beautiful!  We toured six or so wineries and decided to bring back a few bottles, so we made some purchases along the way. We started at the Spier winery, which we settled on primarily because of its name.  We purchased some Private Collection 2007 Pinotage, which was very good.  We also checked out the cheetah sanctuary, which was an impressive facility that housed ten or so cats.

From here we headed to another few of the over 200 wineries, where we mainly sampled pinotages, cabernet sauvignon, and a few chenin blancs.  We got a few bottles from the beautiful Zorgvliedt winery and a couple from Knorhoek as well.  After an evening enjoying some of our newly purchased wine at the Stumble Inn, it was down to the Cape of Good Hope.  We took a spectacular drive over Chapman’s Peak, but ran out of time to check out Cape Point National Park.  Then we headed back up to Cape Town where we caught a ride to the airport.  We can’t believe the trip is almost over!

Safari Part 2

We started off our journey to Chobe with a couple more water crossings.  We had heard from Bushlore and a few others that the shortest way to Chobe from Kwhai was flooded and impassible.  We had already planned to take the long (but safe) way around, when the park ranger said it would be no problem to head the short way.  He said that many people were heading that way and it was no big deal…you just had to know where to drive.

croc infested water crossing

We decided to trust him and took off for our first water crossing, which was said to be the simpler of the two.  After stopping at the water’s edge to get up the nerve to go, Kevin plowed through the water.  We were shocked to find out that there was a huge dip in the middle of the crossing where our hood plunged precariously under water, and it seemed for a moment that we might get stuck.  Somehow our trusty Toyota made it through…with a little damage.  We surveyed the vehicle to find out that both front plastic wheel wells had become dislodged and were rubbing against the tires, the front grate was popped loose, and there was water dripping from every part of the engine.  This stressed us out thoroughly.  We were grateful to have made it across (and crossing our fingers that there was no permanent damage), but then we had to worry about the second (and worse) crossing.  Not wanting to head back the same way again, we were stuck with braving the second crossing.  We parked at the water’s edge again and, unfortunately, saw a couple of crocodiles milling around.  Of course this made things even more stressful.  What if we got the car stuck in these croc infested waters?  It was a nightmare.  After about 20 minutes of waiting for another vehicle (to hopefully show us the way) we realized that there was a small access road a few minutes back.  We headed there and were relieved to find that we could follow a park vehicle across.  Although it still got the heart pounding, it wasn’t quite as stressful when we had someone to follow.  I think it took about an hour for our blood pressures to get back to normal.

After a few hours of driving, we reached the gate of Chobe National Park.  We were delighted to see a lot of animals very quickly.  We were very happy with our decision to move up to Savuti a day early.  We reached the campsite, hoping that they had a space for us since we didn’t technically have a reservation for that night.

sunrise

After a couple trips back and forth to the office, we secured a campsite and hoped we wouldn’t get kicked out later in the evening.  After loads of elephant sightings and an amazing African sunset, we settled down in our campsite.  Unfortunately, our fridge stopped working so all of our meat and cheese went bad after the first day in Moremi so we were limited to soup, pasta, and PB&Js.  Also, there were absolutely no stores between the town of Maun and our destination of Kasane, five days later…but we did have plenty of wine!

The next morning we woke up early to catch the sunrise and were rewarded with a spotted hyena sighting.  We had another great day of animal sightings, but the real treat was three lion cubs.  We just happened to see the cubs sleeping behind a fallen tree.

sleepy cubs

They had little interest in us and just continued to take their naps.  We waited around for about an hour to see if mom would show up, but she never did.  It was really amazing that the lions seem to be unafraid of everything.  Even with us roaring around with our diesel engine, they barely lifted their head to see what all the racket was about.  I guess that’s what you get when you’re the top of the food chain.  We were also excited to see a big group of elephants drinking from the river and we finally spotted another of the Big 5- African Buffalo.  After a long morning of driving, we headed back to our campground to find our reserved spot for the night.  Unfortunately, our site was already occupied by a bunch of South Africans.  When they finally returned, we went to the office to clear up the mix up.  The South Africans had the wrong site, but they were reluctant to take down their tents and move all of their stuff.  We were a little bummed, but decided it wasn’t worth the fight so we headed to one of the smaller camps (the one the SA’s were supposed to be in).

After a noisy night’s sleep, we awoke to find huge elephant tracks going right through our campsite.  I was kicking myself for not taking a peek when I heard noises, but I was too exhausted to move.  The Savuti campground, although expensive at US$50/person/night, was amazing for its wildlife.  We would fall asleep to the sounds of honey badgers, hyenas, baboons, and (apparently) elephants!

elephant track in our campsite

On our way out of the park we drove around some of the watering holes where we got to witness the hilarity of giraffes drinking.  It just seems like such a painfully awkward task for the gangly creatures.  After dozens more giraffe sightings we headed out the gate for our long and sandy ride to the town of Kasane.  It was pretty uneventful except for our first flat tire.  FYI-it is nearly impossible to jack up a car on a soft sandy 4×4 track.  After our long journey, we arrived back in civilization and found a nice campsite near the river at Chobe Safari Lodge.  We decided to treat ourselves to some real food and headed to The Old House-one of the only restaurants in town-for a beer and some amazing burgers (our first meat in days).

We got up early the next day to head to the northern part of the park called Chobe Riverfront.  We were able to see large numbers of hippos (in and out of the water), lots of crocs, and amazing birdlife.  One of my highlights was when we spotted a herd of about twenty elephants up in the bush.  We were between them and the river, so we just stopped to see what would happen.  After they got used to us being there, they strolled down to take a drink and cool off.  I actually climbed on the roof of the car to take in the scene.  It was breathtaking.   On our way out of the park we were able to see more African Buffalo up in the bushes.  I was kind of disappointed that was one of the few animals that I didn’t get to see close up…but I didn’t have to be disappointed too long.  We headed out of the park and onto the highway back to Kasane when we spotted a huge herd of animals crossing the road ahead.  They turned out to be buffalo!  Needless to say, we got plenty of close up viewing.

The next day was our adventure to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.  We decided to do a tour since driving the vehicle across the border seemed to be an expensive hassle.  The “tour” was actually just transport to and from the falls for US$70/person.

Vic Falls

Both the border crossing and the Vic Falls entrance fees were a hefty US$30/person, so it turned into kind of a pricey day (which seems to be the theme in Africa).  The falls were high so some of the views were obstructed by spray, but they were still spectacular.  One area, called Danger Point for its lack of a fence, was truly amazing.  You could really get a feel for how huge the falls really are (though the torrent of spray).  Even with our ponchos on, we got soaked since the spray seemed to come from all directions.  After watching a couple people bungee jumping off the bridge nearby, we headed back to town for lunch.  Everything seems to take a lot longer here in Africa and lunch was no exception.  We then headed back to our pickup point at the Victoria Falls Hotel.  We were pleasantly surprised to find perfectly manicured back lawns with a stunning view of the valley.  We just lounged in the chairs and took in the view.  Once back in Kasane, we hung out at our campsite for some beers and a sunset over the Chobe River.

We spent the whole next day driving.  We ended up at the Nata Bird Sanctuary, but the only real news that came out of there was another flat tire.  We headed into town for a patch since both of our spares were now shot…and one more tire that seemed to have a slow leak.  We found a little tent next to the road where the repair was done (all by hand).  Although it was starting to get dark, we decided to continue on to the town of Francistown.  In hindsight, we probably wouldn’t have made the drive since there were free roaming donkeys and cattle all over the road.  They were very hard to see and made for a very slow drive.  We stayed at the Tati River Lodge which was pretty inexpensive and had two hours of free wifi!  (Unbelievable since internet was extremely hard to come by in Botswana).

We had another long day of driving, but ended up at Tuli Game Reserve.  We had heard that, since it is privately owned, you can do self drive night safaris.  We were hoping to possibly see the elusive leopard or other cats.  Unfortunately, the rules had changed so we pulled into our campsite just before dark and had to stay there.

cooking breakfast at Molema

We were extremely pleased with our campground, however.  It was called Molema Bush Camp and the campsites were enormous, each with its own flush toilet and hot-water open-air shower.  Although we didn’t spot many animals (besides a bunch of hyenas through the campground) we really enjoyed our stay there.

Our final day was back to Johannesburg, South Africa.  It took us longer than we expected (about 7 hours) to get back to Bushlore, so we pulled in after 5pm.  We felt terrible for being late, but had a warm welcome from our old friend Rob (the one who took us the bank, etc before we left Joburg).  He brought us out beers and we chatted about our adventures.  I just can’t say enough good things about the personal service that Bushlore gives.  Their rentals are a little pricey, but they are a great company that Kevin and I highly recommend.  Since Duane had the robbery at his home, understandably, he could not host us again.  Bushlore dropped us off at our hotel and we met up with Duane’s sister, Charmaine, to hand off all of our borrowed gear.  We were pleased to find out that Charmaine is just as friendly as Duane.  We really appreciated how they went out of their way to help us out.  Truly great people.

Today we boarded our train from Joburg to Cape Town.

train to Cape Town

Although flights are about the same price as the train, we decided that we wanted to see the countryside by rail.  We were so pleased to find out that the Shosholoza Meyl is really comfortable. We have our own 2 berth private sleeper compartment for only US$60 per person.  It is now 8pm and we have been travelling for 10 hours, although it doesn’t seem like it.  We are thoroughly enjoying this journey.  We plan on hitting the wine region and checking out the city over the next few days.  I can’t believe it’s almost over!  Time sure flies.

Botswana Self-drive Safari – Part I

We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa only a few hours before the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands was set to commence in “Soccer City”, just outside of Jo’burg.  The place was abuzz with football fever.  In Jo’burg, we stayed with Jen’s cousin’s (Alicia and Arnold) friends, Duane and Candice, who turned out to be incredibly hospitable, with a beautiful home.  We had a very a nice evening of lamb chops, wine, and watching the World Cup final, which was happening only a few miles down the road.  They also loaded us up with safari gear (an extra sleeping bag and binoculars, which were both huge)

One of the first things we noticed about Jo’burg, was the overwhelming presence of security measures seemingly everywhere – nearly every building, home, or community has a fence, often with razor-wire and electricity and there are security guards posted at entrances of nearly all buildings.

Unfortunately, after we had left for our self-drive safari, we found out that Duane and Candice, and their two small children were subjected to an armed robbery after two men forced their way into their home a few days after we left and took many valuables.  Despite having been in their home only a few days before, we’re still having a hard time fathoming how such a horrible thing could happen in such a nice home, to such nice people.

After our nice stay, we picked up our self-drive safari vehicle from Bushlore, the rental company.  We ended up, thankfully, with a Toyota Hilux 2700i DC 4×4 camper complete with a cap cover, fridge/freezer, tent roof, and long-range fuel tank.

Day 1 – Prior to taking off, Rob, one of the owners of Bushlore, drove us all around town to help us secure our train ticket from Jo’burg to Cape Town, which we would be taking after our safari.  We were grateful for his help, as it would have likely taken us several hours to figure out how to transfer funds to the train company’s bank account.  But, we took longer than expected and didn’t get on the road until the mid-afternoon.  From Jo’burg, we hit the highway and headed for Waterburg, which is a small game reserve owned by Bushlore a few hours outside of town.  We got in around sunset and left pretty early the next morning, so we didn’t get much of a chance to explore.  But, we did see our first Kudu, impala, warthogs, and wildebeest here, which was pretty exciting.

Day 2 – Since we got an early start, we were able to cross into Botswana and make to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary at a decent hour.

Khama Rhino Sanctuary

Here, we set up camp at a beautiful spacious site, then headed out for our first real self-drive experience.  We were rewarded with some very close encounters with six rhino, including a couple of babies.  We continued our drive around the reserve and spotted a herd of zebra, about a half dozen giraffes, a few wildebeest, and loads of impala.  While the sanctuary felt small (3400 hectares) it was a nice introduction to the self-drive concept.  Plus, we caught an amazing sunset over the African savannah.

Day 3 – From Khama, we made our way to the public Central Kalahari Game Reserve located in the middle of Botswana.

Sunrise over the Kalahari

We had a long day of driving, but were again rewarded once we got onto the massive game reserve (52,000 sq km – Africa’s largest protected area) and made our way to our campsite.  From the main road, we had roughly a two hour drive over rough, sandy 4×4 track to our campsite in Deception Valley, famous for a study conducted on the rare Brown Hyena.  On Mark’s recommendation (the other founder of Bushlore) we decided to head to the Kalahari because unlike most of the rest of Botswana, it was still relatively dry, and thus easier to spot wildlife.  Apparently, when there is abundant water during rainy seasons, wildlife is more dispersed.  But in dry areas, wildlife congregates around permanent water sources and is easier to spot.  So, rather than heading to the Nxai Pan national park which was under water due to the worst flooding in 70 years, we headed to Central Kalahari.  Excited to explore some of the enormous northern part of the park, we got an early start and headed out before the sun came up.  We caught a magnificent sunrise over and iconic acacia tree on our way to the Letiahau water hole.

Brown Hyena

Upon arriving to the water hole, we were happy to see that we had it to ourselves.  Here, we jackals and guinea fowl drink from the water for an hour or so.  Then, a big shaggy looking dog-like creature came strolling up and had a nice long drink.  He hung around for an hour or so, coming in and out of view.  We later found out that it was an elusive Brown Hyena, so we felt pretty lucky to see the nocturnal, solitary creature at close range.  After an hour of watching the hyena and thinking it had left the area, I ventured out to the back of the truck make some breakfast.  As I was walking back around the front of the car, I looked over to see the hyena closely examining my moves from a bush only a 10 yards away.  Not yet knowing what the animal was, I darted back into the safety of the car and enjoyed breakfast in the safety of four walls.

From the water hole, Jen and I drove around for the next 12 hours exploring the very remote Kalahari.  Over the course of the day, we only ran into two or three other trucks, which made us feel like we were really out in the bush.  We saw loads of gemsbok, springbok, giraffe, kudu, and a few bat-eared fox.  Then,  after having scoured the landscape for any sign of lions, we were surprised when three full-grown adult lions seemingly appeared out of nowhere only a few yards from our car.  At first, we saw a lioness trotting directly next to the road, which was strange, because she blended into tall grass unbelievably well.  Since she was coming in the opposite direction and we got so close before we saw her, we had to hit the brakes and reverse to catch another look.  We soon realized there was another female along with a young looking male lounging among the tall grass in the shade of small tree.  We watched the three laze around, roar, mate, and play for around 20 minutes.  It was an absolutely incredible experience to be so close to such an enormous and potentially fierce animal, although they seemed to not even notice us.  This was truly a highlight of our two weeks in the bush.

Feeling pretty excited, we spent the evening at the Sunday Pan water hole hoping to see more big game, but other than a gemsbok and a few Kudu, we didn’t have much luck.  If we ever go back, we’ll try for a campsite near the Sunday Pan water hole, which would make dawn and dusk game viewing easier.

The next morning, we took our time packing up our gear and making our way out of the park.  We had a few hour drive on very deep, sandy tracks, which made us realize the necessity of a 4 wheel-drive vehicle.

After a few hours, we were back onto tarmac road and headed to Maun, a city that claims to be the “gateway to the Okavango Delta region.”  Here, we knew we would have to purchase some permits to enter the parks, as well as book campsites for nights to come.  What should have taken half an hour in the States, turned into a 4 hour ordeal of going to the National Park office, then going to two separate offices to book campsites located within the national park, and finally going back to the national park office to prove that we had booked campsites.  It was an incredibly inefficient and frustrating experience, but at the end of it, we were relieved to have campsites secured for our upcoming trek back into the bush.

Third Bridge campsite, Moremi Game Reserve, Okavango Delta – Within the Moremi Game Reserve, we had booked three nights – one at the Third Bridge campsite and two at the Kwhai or Northgate campsite.  We had hoped to get in another night at the Third Bridge campsite because it is considerably cheaper (only $20 USD per person per night) than the Kwhai campsite ($50 USD per person per night).  But, given that we didn’t book ahead, we weren’t complaining.  Almost immediately upon entering the park, we were greeted by a large herd of around 30 elephants that were congregating around a water hole for an afternoon wash and drink.  We sat and watched the enormous and wonderfully wild creatures romp around for about an hour before we could tear ourselves away.  It was a terrific introduction to Moremi.

But, the real story of Third Bridge was getting there.  Due to high water and poor bridge conditions, we were advised to take a long, backdoor way to the campground.  Rather than go over the aptly named First and Second Bridges, we were told to go the long way, then come over Fourth Bridge.

Water crossing - deeper than it looks!

Wanting to take our time getting to the campsite and sufficiently explore some of the small dirt roads off of the main road, we managed to get pretty lost in the mazed network of dirt tracks.  The difficult roads, coupled with water in the tracks, made for some difficult navigation.  We managed to get stuck in pretty deep mud, miles from any sort of help for about 10 minutes.  But, after putting the truck in low 4 wheel drive, and rocking it forward and backward, we managed to get it out.

Feeling a little rattled by our experience in the bog, we decided to head to the campsite.  But, the only sign we could find pointing us toward the campsite was submerged under three feet of water on an impassable track.  So, we asked for some directions, turned on the GPS and wandered around until we found Fourth Bridge.

Elephants!

Here we should clarify what is meant by the word bridge: usually small to medium sized timbers bound together haphazardly and somehow suspended over some moving water.  Since the water is currently so high in the delta, however, nearly all of these bridges are either submerged, or submerged and severely damaged.  So, the bridges become less of passageways, and more of indicators that the river may be more shallow in this area than others.  While we actually drove over fourth bridge, despite it being under two feet of water, we had to negotiate through deep muddy pools of water afterward.  Finally, we arrived to our campsite where we were warned to not leave our tent at night, for fear that we might “lose our lives”.  Apparently, lions and hyenas are common in the area and use Third Bridge as a thoroughfare, although, the high water deterred much animal movement.  We were greeted by several baboons and could hear numerous other animals throughout the night.  That evening, we decided to go explore the Second and First Bridge crossings.  Since Second Bridge didn’t look too bad, we had some fun and plowed the truck through the water.  We were rewarded with loads of zebra, giraffe, and impala.  When we got to First Bridge, we took some time to get out of the car and try to get a feel for how deep the water was, in case we decided to come out this way the next day.  So, after  looking around for crocodiles and hippos, I was examining the crossing when a big caravan of private vehicles came from the other side, which provided a good opportunity to see how deep the water was.  The first Land Rover, driven by a figure who resembled Jerry Garcia, proceeded and dropped the hood of his car way down in the water, which was very scary to watch, but he made it across.  The next truck, a Mazda, wasn’t so lucky and after dropping down into the deepest part of the crossing, his back wheels got stuck, which was our greatest fear.  So we watched the Land Rover tow him out, then we took off before the rest of the caravan attempted, avoiding watching the anxiety inducing event.  On our way back to the campsite, we had to tow a jeep out of some deep sand – they seemed pretty relieved to see us.

The next day, we opted to try our hand at the Second and First Bridge crossings.  Having watched a few other trucks try and not ruin their vehicles, we thought it would be good to get our blood pumping.  We made it, but not without dropping the whole hood underwater and having water gush onto the windshield.  It was a very nerve-wracking experience.

Kwhai campsite, Moremi Game Reserve – That night, we made our way to the Northgate of Moremi, where we had a very nice campsite (number 3) right on the Khwai river.  Here, we had hippos right outside of our tent, along with vervet monkeys, baboons, and we could hear hyenas at night running through our campsite.  Plus, due to all of the flooding, not many people were here, so we felt like we had it to ourselves.  Near Northgate, we had loads of hippo spotting, we saw our first crocodiles, watched the fascinating baboons for an hour or so and drove through the least developed road in Africa through tough, dense shrub.  I was relieved to see we didn’t scratch all of the paint off of the truck.  While Khwai was nice, we managed get out a night early (we were supposed to spend three nights here) and spent an extra night up north in Savuti.

All in all, it’s been quite an adventure so far!



A Guest’s View From the Top

Possessing dreams that lay at the very edge of possibility… what a tantalizing dimension that adds to life!  It makes the greeting of each new day a jubilation of hope and expectation.  For me, climbing Kilimanjaro was a culmination of boyhood dreams, a clashing of adulthood practicalities, and a chance to touch the edge of possibility.  Spurred on by the support of wife, daughters, and a soon to be son-in-law, tackling Kilimanjaro was just what this “old guy” needed. The invitation by Kevin and Jennifer to join them will remain a cherished memory.  Thank you from the very bottom of my oxygen starved heart.

I can say with confidence that tackling the Machame Route in six days was a challenge… even for the young.  For me personally, my goal was Uhuru Peak.  I completely lost track of the fact that once up the mountain, it is a very long trek back down.  Forget that on the final climb I observed beautifully constructed rock shelters where none existed, sucked dry/cold mountain air better suited for cryogenically preserving mummies than breathing… for it was on the walk down where I confronted reality and truly became acquainted with my body.  The beseeching agony resonating from my quadriceps and sundry pieces of meat convinced me that I was depending upon “ground round” to get me back down after the trek up.  I was thrilled that I climbed Kilimanjaro and doubly thrilled that I made it back down.

Kevin, Jennifer… thank you for including me in this adventure.  It reminded me of the beauty of love and the incredible romance that comes when a young man asks for the hand in marriage that will steady and support his life and his dreams.  To be a part of that was a priceless gift that I will carry to my grave.  It also reminded me that endurance is preparing and caring for your body and then digging deep to find the strength to do what the mind screams that it can’t… just one more step… and then another, and another… Lastly, it supported what I have always known.  There is nothing more powerful and empowering than the love of family, friends, and kindred souls.  That, in reality, is the real view from the top of the world.

Rwanda

After a very heavy night’s sleep, we awoke at 5 am to catch out bus to the Kilimanjaro International Airport.  We knew it was going to be rough catching such an early flight to Rwanda, but it was the only time we could get.  After lots of hugs and goodbyes to my dad, Kevin and I left Springland’s Hotel and headed off for our next adventure.  Our flight was a quick two hours in a small plane (the views of the countryside were amazing from our lower cruising altitude).  Once we arrived at the Kigali International Airport, we headed out to get some transportation to town, about 20 minutes away.  Taxis were very expensive (about US$20), so we decided to try our luck with the local buses.  After much confusion and language barriers, we were finally able to find a small bus to take us into town for only US$0.50 each.  We were the only one on the bus carrying bags (and the only westerners), so we were constantly being shuffled around as passengers got on and off.  Everyone was very nice and helpful, but we felt kind of bad taking up so much room and seemingly being in everyone’s way.  We were lucky enough to have a young man (who spoke good English) offer to show us the way to our hotel.  After a few stops he had us get off in the center of town and walked us to our hotel.

hills of Kigali

We were relieved to find out that he did not want money, he was just being nice.  All he asked for was Kevin’s e-mail address so he could write to his new American friend.  We were disappointed to find out that the hotel (Auberge la Caverne)  was booked, so they took us to a tiny place up the road.  We were unsure what we were getting into, so we accepted the room.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be quite a dump (for US$25).  We made the best of the situation despite the fact that the water did not work for most of the evening and we had to walk down the road to the original hotel to talk with reception.  It seemed that we were put in some old, dilapidated apartments that they called an extension to the original hotel.  At least the laundry was cheap! (US$4 for all of our clothes)  We felt a little taken advantage of, but this seems to be a common theme on our first night in a new country…It takes a little while to learn the ropes and figure out what we can get for our money.

The next morning, we took a couple moto taxis to the bus station where we hopped on the Virunga Express bus to the mountain town of Musanzi.  The bus did not have any space for luggage and seemed to be all locals, so we made the trip squeezed into a couple of seats with our packs on our laps. The two hours flew by, though, since the ride through the “Land of a Thousand Hills” was so beautiful. Once in Musanzi, we hopped on another moto taxi (literally sitting on the back of a motorcycle) and made our way to the small town on Kinigi-at the base of  Volcanoes National Park.  We checked into our hotel, Kinigi Guesthouse (US$45/night) and proceeded to the park to make sure we were on the list for gorilla trekking the next morning.  Boy are we glad to checked in a day ahead of time!  Apparently, most people organize the gorilla permits through a travel agency.  We, however, skipped the middleman and price markups and wired the money directly to the Bank of Rwanda before leaving the US.  Besides the money transfer receipt from my bank, I had little proof that we were confirmed.  After a few calls, the ranger told us that the bank did receive our money and we should be ok for the next day.  It seemed pretty unorganized, so we just crossed our fingers that everything would work out.  We then proceeded to our room for some much needed R&R.  We really hadn’t caught up on our sleep since Kili.  We were just constantly on the go, so it was nice to curl up in bed and catch some zz’s.

The morning of the gorilla trek, we showed up at the park headquarters without transportation (since it was US$100 per vehicle).  You are supposed to arrange 4-wheel drive transport from the park headquarters to your assigned trailhead (different trailheads for each gorilla group).

gorilla trek

However, we read in our LP that it should be pretty easy to hitch a ride to the trailhead with your group…although we seemed to be the only people trying to do this.  We were told a couple times, by the rangers, that we needed to arrange transport and then we would be assigned a gorilla group.  After explaining our intentions, the guides finally gave us our assignment (last) and we were able to chip in some money to share a ride with our group.  It seems that they are really trying to discourage the sharing of vehicles since it is such a money making machine.  We were relieved that everything worked out and we headed to our trailhead 40 minutes away.  We were placed in a group of three American medical students from Michigan.  They were all very nice, but one girl looked like she had never hiked in her life.  She had a lot of trouble with a fairly simple trail and only made it with a porter carrying her bag and pushing her up.  Coming from Colorado, it was unbelievable that someone could be so whiny and wimpy!  Despite the slow pace, it was a nice one hour hike though local farmland and many local, curious children.  After an hour of hiking, we reached the edge of the jungle where we bushwhacked through the dense foliage for another half an hour to find our gorilla group.  We were lucky enough to find a group of 11 or so mountain gorillas just lounging around.  We were very excited when the “big daddy” silverback walked right past us and proceeded to sit down and just stare at us.  He was a very intimidating presence, but didn’t seem to care that we were there.  The ladies just lounged while the babies (some less than a year old) played and reeked havoc on the group.  One kept swinging from the trees and landing on the silverback, while another climbed up some vines and started dropping large, round fruit on the females below.  It was truly an unbelievable experience to be so close to these animals in their natural habitat.  It was magical to look a mountain gorilla in the eye and see how human their actions were.  Although the price tag of the gorilla permit is a hefty US$500/person, we believed that it was well worth the money.  It is a once in a lifetime experience to feel a part of a group of gentle gorillas.

After another relaxing night at Kinigi Guesthouse, we made our way back to Kigali for our final night in Rwanda.  We checked into the Sky Hotel (US$40/night) which had amazing views over the hills of the city.  We were expecting a little better quality since we forked out a little more money, but this was not the case.  Budget to midrange options in Kigali are all in dire need of renovation!  I guess it’s hard to get used to how expensive Africa is after months in dirt cheap Asia.  We spent the afternoon at the Kigali Memorial Center, which is a sobering reminder of the 1994 genocide that occurred here.  The grounds contain an excellent museum, gardens, and mass graves for over 300,000 genocide victims.  It was unbelievable to see the horrors that occurred so recently in Rwanda, and it is a must see for anyone that visits Kigali.

Right now we are on the plane headed for Johannesburg, South Africa.  We are staying with a family friend there (a friend of Arnold and Alicia—thanks guys!).  Tomorrow we are picking up our 4×4 to start our self-guided safari adventure.  We plan on camping through Botswana and up to Victoria Falls over the next 16 days, so we will most likely be unplugged until we get back to the city.  Internet is harder to come by in Africa so far, so the blogs are becoming harder to keep up with.  We will do our best, though, and post them as soon as we get connected again.  Off to try to see the Big 5!

Great news!

I just wanted to share some very exciting news…I’m ENGAGED!!  Kevin
got down on one knee on the crater rim atop Mt. Kilimanjaro.  On day 5
of our ascent, after 6 1/2 hrs of hiking in the dark on summit day,
the sun began to rise above the clouds at 19,000ft.  Kevin took me to
a more secluded area to “take pictures of the sunrise.”  As the sky
lit up with beautiful pinks and yellows, Kevin pulled out a beautiful
ring and asked me to marry him.  I was so shocked and surprised that
it took me a minute to comprehend what was happening…but of course I
said yes!  The ring belonged to his great-grandmother and is a
beautiful antique.  It is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.  My
dad carried it over from the US when he came to climb Kili with us.
Kevin’s parents mailed it to my parents and the handoff was made in
Tanzania the morning of our 6 day climb. I was totally clueless!

the proposal spot (later in the morning)

I am
so happy and can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone
else. This amazing world journey has brought us even closer together
and solidified the fact that we really do compliment each other very
well!

Mt. Kilimanjaro

Despite a relaxing few days in Zanzibar, on our last day we started to notice a distinct knot in our stomach every time we thought about our looming trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro.  We were both feeling somewhat unprepared, both physically and gear-wise.  Nonetheless, we were still excited about the adventure ahead.  On our flight in, we were treated to views of Mt. Kilimanjaro out our plane window.  To help us grasp the magnitude of our challenge ahead, the pilot announced that the cruising altitude of our flight was 18,000 feet, a full 1,400 feet below Kilimanjaro’s 19,453 feet.

Upon arrival to our prearranged accommodation (the Springlands Hotel which was organized through Zara, our trek outfitter and organizer) we were greeted by Jen’s Dad, Mr. Speer.  Jen had been increasingly looking forward to seeing her Dad for several weeks, and the reunion did not disappoint. It was certainly nice to see a familiar face after six months away from our family and friends.

Since we flew in later in the evening, unfortunately, we had missed our group briefing and had also arrived after the rental office had closed.  The next morning, in an effort to quell our anxiety over our inadequate gear (i.e. neither of has hiking boots or waterproof jackets) we got up early to make sure we secured the necessary gear.  I ended up with gaiters, rain pants, rain jacket, hiking poles, a -25 degree sleeping bag, long underwear, warm gloves, and hiking boots.

Porter

Jen ended up with a slightly shorter, but similar list.  Overall, the gear seemed decent, but we could both tell that the hiking boots might pose a blister problem down the road.

The route we chose was the six-day, five-night Machame route, or “whiskey route”.  The route is almost always attempted in six or seven days and requires hikers to camp in tents (the more popular Marangu route has huts with beds, but is only five nights).  Machame is known for having a relatively high success rate due to the extra day for acclimatization as well as a more up-and-down profile, which also facilitates acclimatization.

The next day, after a quick breakfast, we met the rest of our group, which included Lars and Kare (from Norway), Aleks (a physics student at Cambridge in England), Khaire (most recently from the US, but grew up in Palestine), Mr. Speer, Jen, and myself.  In addition to our seven hikers, we had an astounding 27 man support crew, including our guide, Joseph (aka “Photo”), Asst. Guides Julius and Dezi, our cook Abdul, our waiter Karim, and 17 porters, among others.

Day 1: Machame gate (elev. 5940 feet, 1800 meters) to Machame hut

Hikes up Kilimanjaro are famous for passing through all of the different ecosystems.

Jen and her Dad at the Machame Hut

On the first day, we started in the rainforest, and as you’d expect, was a pretty wet day.   Our rented raingear came in handy, but we still managed to get pretty wet.  The day was a 15 km steady ascent up to the Machame Camp, which was toward the top of the rainforest.  During this hike, we got caught up with Jen’s Dad and also got to know some of our fellow climbers.  Feeling a mix of tired from our hike and excited about the days to come, we retired somewhat early to get a good night’s sleep.

Day 2: Machame Hut (3100 meters, 10,230 feet) to Shira Plateau (3900 meters, 12,870 feet)

The hike today started with a pretty steep ascent over rocky terrain that occasionally required some minor scrambling.  We quickly gained altitude and as a result, left the wet rainforest weather behind us.  We stopped for a hot lunch, which like most meals on the trip, was excellent.  We usually had some sort of hot soup, fresh fruits and avocados, meat and a carb dish.  To say the least, we were very well fed throughout the journey.  Today was a little more difficult than the previous day, but we were rewarded with fantastic views from the Shira plateau.  Here, we could see Mt. Meru in the distance over a sea of white, fluffy clouds.  Sunset provided a magnificent view of Kili cast in orange and pink light.

Day 3: Shira Plateau to Barranco Camp

Today was our acclimatization day, which means that we went up to 4600 meters (15,180 feet) at the Lava Tower, then went back down to sleep at a lower elevation.

Shira Plateau and Mt. Kili

This “hike high, sleep slow” approach is supposed to help with acclimatization process.  On today’s hike, the landscape changed from an alpine meadow, to a one that resembled the moon, with few plants and large lava rock boulders strewn across the seemingly dead land.  After a brief boxed lunch at the Lava Tower, we, somewhat counter intuitively, descended back down to 3900 meters (12,870 feet) to the Barranco camp, where there was more plant life.  By this time, we were starting to get a little grungy from our lack of showering, but no one seemed to mind.

Day 4: Barranco Camp to Barafu Hut

We started the day by tackling the steep Barranco Wall, which was a near vertical rock face that took about an hour to negotiate.

Porter

While Jen and I enjoyed this portion of the hike, several others in our group were not so keen on the steep traverse.  Either way, everyone in our group gained a new appreciation for the role the porters played in getting us to the top.  We  were expected to carry a daypack with rain gear, water, sunscreen and other essentials (which ended up being around 12 lbs.), but the porters would wrap our backpacks in plastic bags, then hoist our bags onto their heads, put on their backpacks with their own gear totaling close to 50 lbs.  In the morning, they waited until we finished our breakfast and packed up our gear, gave us a little bit of head start, and then basically  ahead of us about half way down the trail.  Here we were huffing and puffing, slowly making our way up the mountain in our expensive gear, and here comes a guy with 1980’s track pants and dress shoes carrying all of our stuff, going about three times as fast.  It was quite a humbling sight to see these guys scale the Barranco Wall with seemingly very little effort.  After a full day of hiking we ended up at the Barafu Hut, which lies at the base of the final ascent to Uhuru Peak.  We had a quick dinner, then retired to our tents by 7pm to try to get some sleep before our summit bid, which started in only a few hours at around midnight.

Day 5: Barafu Hut to Summit (Uhuru Peak) to Mweka Camp

At around 11pm, we were woken by our waiter, Karim, and told to get our gear ready.  We climbed out of our very warm, cozy sleeping bags and started to pile on the layers.  Before we knew it, with our headlamps blazing, we started up the mountain at about midnight.

Our Group

The first few hours of the hike, while slow were not too cold or miserable.  But at about 3am, or 5000 meters (16,500 feet) , just as our guide had suggested, the temperature began to drop dramatically and altitude sickness started to have an effect on several members of our group.  It was at this point when Kare started to slow down, Khaire became unresponsive, Aleks started to feel somewhat queasy, and Mr. Speer started to envision warming huts that we weren’t taking advantage of along the trail.  While it’s difficult to say exactly when, somewhere around this time we stopped for hot tea that one of the porters had lugged up the mountain – a real life-saver.  The higher we went, the slower our group got, and the more sick people became.  Fortunately, Jen and I seemed to be the only people in our group who were not affected by altitude sickness.  We attribute at least some of our fortune to Diamox, which is supposed to help with acclimatizing, and some of it to luck.  Just when spirits were getting pretty low, along with the temperature, which by now had to be around -10 F, the sky started to lighten as the sun came up.  For more on the sunrise, see the following post.

After a brief but necessary stop at Stella Point, which marks the end of the steep ascent and sits perched atop Kili’s volcanic crater, we slowly made our way up to Uhuru Peak, Kili’s highest point (5895 meters, 19,453 feet).

The Crew and Mt. Meru

Since Jen and I were still feeling pretty good, we went ahead of the rest of the group past the impressive (and massive, although shrinking) glacier fields toward the summit.  At this point, nearly everyone in our group aside from us and Aleks seemed to be feeling pretty miserable.  But, spirits were soon soaring once we all reached the summit sign and took our group picture.  “Photo’s” crew had delivered all seven of us to the top, despite some moderate cases of altitude sickness.

After we took our photos, we started our four hour descent back to the Barafu camp.  This section proved difficult for many members of our group, since most of us didn’t have much energy left in our tanks.  But, after some “scree skiing” down, we all arrived safely, but depleted at the camp at around 11 am.  Having only a few hours of sleep and full 11 hours of hiking already under our belts, we were treated (or teased) to an hour nap.  We then tried to choke down some food, however, many appetite’s were lacking.  Somewhat unfortunately, we then had to pack up our gear and make our way another four hours down the Mweka route to the Mweka camp.

Southern Icefields near Uhuru Peak (summit)

Due to general exhaustion and poor trail conditions, this section of the trek was extremely difficult.  If you ever plan to climb Kili using the Machame route, we’d recommend taking a hard look at the day 5 schedule to avoid this monstrous day.

Nonetheless, after a few tumbles and slips, all of us safely arrived at Mweka camp and celebrated with a beer.  Here, both Mr. Speer and Khaire hit the sack somewhat early (at around 6 pm) as a result of extreme exhaustion.  The rest of us were treated to some wine by Photo and an enormous feast of local banana and beef stew and fresh fruits that had been hiked up the previous day.

Day 6: Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate, Springlands Hotel

After some very hard sleep, and a hearty breakfast (most of us were getting our appetites back) we made our way down through wet and muddy rainforest conditions to the Mweka gate where our trek concluded.

We all made it...with our packs!

From here, we took a van back to the hotel, and quickly convened to sort out the tips for the crew, which was a more difficult task than we expected.  In addition to the tip, I donated my running shoes (I ended up not using my rented hiking boots at all and made it up the mountain just fine) and some medicine to our guide to distribute to the porters.  Mr. Speer also brought some hats to donate.  If you ever plan to climb Kili be sure to bring plenty of old gear to donate to the porters, who are often under-equipped for the harsh conditions.  We then rounded out our day by a long overdue shower, some beers at dinner and some much needed rest in a bed with a mattress – sheer bliss!

Overall, we both thought the first four days of the trek were somewhat easier than we expected.  However, summit day was a much more difficult task than we had anticipated.  Despite the fact that we luckily seemed to avoid any altitude sickness, the cold, steep slope, duration, lack of sleep, and general difficulty experienced by many members of our group created a far more exhausting experience than we expected.   Oh, and Zara turned out to be a terrific, affordable outfitter, and “Photo” proved to be a patient and able guide.  We’d recommend this outfit to anyone interested in an affordable Kili climb.

Zanzibar

Jambo!  We arrived in Dar Es Salaam without any more problems.  As soon as we got to the airport we headed straight to a travel agent to help us book a flight later that day to Zanzibar Island.  While we were there we went ahead and booked our flights to Rwanda and South Africa, as well.  We were not able to do this ahead of time because online booking doesn’t really exist…it was a real pain to do it from the US.  We were able to book the flights without a problem; however, everything in Africa is done in cash.  We had to come up with around $1400 in cash in order to secure our flights.  This led to multiple withdrawls from the ATMs (as they went in and out of service) until we were maxed out.

plane to Zanzibar

At this point we counted our wads of Tanzanian Shillings only to realize we didn’t have enough.  We decided to empty out our emergency cash that we kept on hand, which left us with only about US$10 between the two of us.  We headed to the tiny airport nearby to catch our flight to Zanzibar and crossed our fingers that we could get money out at an ATM there… If not, we would have to walk 7km to Stone Town (Zanizbar Town) from the airport).

We were excited to find out that we were going to fly over the Indian Ocean in a tiny 4 seater plane.

It was a little bit of a bumpy ride, but it was unbelievable to fly over the ocean at such a low altitude that you could see the different shades of turquoise and the tiny island beaches along the way.  It was 30 minutes of pure eye candy.  Once we landed we were relieved to be able to take out a small amount of money from the ATM—at least enough to get us to Stone Town and grab a hotel and dinner.

Local kids doing flips off of a tractor tire at sunset

After checking into the Flamingo Hotel, we headed down to the waterfront for another spectacular orange and pink sunset.  We were able to find some great cheap eats at the night food vendors.  We scarfed down some Zanzibar pizzas (basically a beef and veggie omelet wrapped in dough and fried over coals) which were delicious and only US$1.  We also sampled some falafel and washed it down with tasty sugarcane juice (which tastes kind of like sweetened lemonade).  We were instantly exhausted and headed back to our hotel for some much needed zz’s.

The next morning we crossed our fingers and headed to the ATM.  Neither of us were able to withdraw money and we started to get a little worried.  We bought a sim card and called our banks (since internet access was very spotty and didn’t have Skype).  They thankfully raised our daily limits so we were both able to take out money within a few minutes.  Crisis averted!

Stone Town

We were able to grab a shared taxi to take us to the beach town of Nungwi, on the northern tip of Zanzibar  (which was quite pricy at US$7/person).  An hour and a half later, we pulled up to one of the cheapest beach hotels in town-Union Bungalows.  For US$35 we were able to get a very basic room right on the beach.  We had a great view of the ocean right out our window.  We relaxed on some beach loungers and sipped on Kilimanjaro and Safari beers at sunset.  Paradise!

The next morning we had decided to take an all day boat ride and snorkeling trip.  We piled onto a small boat with 25 other people and headed out on the ocean.  It took over two hours to get to our island snorkeling spot, but no one was complaining since the views were stunning.  I have to say that I, personally, found the waters around Zanzibar Island even more beautiful than those of the southern Thai islands.  The turquoise water was almost fluorescent and crystal clear…and white sand beaches everywhere.  After about an hour of really good snorkeling (tons of colorful fish, a sea snake, an eel) we headed to the beach for a BBQ lunch.  Then it was back to our hotel for a sunset dinner on the sand.

We decided that the next day we would do nothing, which was exactly what we did.  After hours of reading in our loungers, listening to the waves crash on the beach, we strolled down to grab some local food.

snorkeling trip

We spotted a tiny restaurant and placed our order…and then the owner disappeared for about an hour.   He came back sweaty, with some grocery bags and a big fish.  Apparently, we were the first customers of the day so he had to go shopping to make our food.  Most of the restaurants and hotels seemed completely empty.  It may be that it is still low season, or it may be that anyone in who is coming to Africa on vacation is in South Africa for the World Cup.  Either way, the whole island of Zanzibar seemed almost free of Westerners.  After a delicious, but long lunch we strolled back to our loungers for a couple more hours.  It was truly a piece of paradise…the only worry on our mind was Kili.  We were having pangs of anxiety—feeling like we are very unprepared.

Chiang Mai, Thailand to Bangkok to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Somewhat sadly, we said goodbye to Laos and started to make our way, yet again, up the Mighty Mekong river on our way to Thailand.  At Lonely Planet’s suggestion, we opted for a slow boat up the karst dotted Mekong to Pak Beng, Laos – a very small village on the river, halfway to the Thailand border.  The first day of the two day trip included 9 hours of cruising during which we passed by very remote Hmong villages located on the river, often dropping off some of their residents who had been in town doing the monthly shopping for the village.  While these villages were not as outwardly friendly as those further down the Mekong in Vietnam, we still managed to make friends with some of the local villagers and boys on our journey. One man was proudly gleaming as he and his wife were just returning to their village after being married in Luang Prabang.

At our stopover in Pak Beng, we were told to be at the dock at 8:30am the next mornning to catch the slow boat again to Huay Xia, the Thailand morning. For dinner, we were treated to some very nice laap; a pile of seasoned, minced meat found in Laos and Northern Thailand.  The next morning, we made our way down to the pier, asking several people along the way which boat we should get on to go to Huay Xia.  After several people (who apparently didn’t understand us, or speak much English) pointed to the same boat, we got on.  After a while, though, we realized that we did not recognize any of the faces from our boat ride the day before, all of whom were continuing on to Huay Xia.  Finally, after asking another passenger, we realized were on the boat heading back to Luang Prabang.  Then, after making our hasty exit off the boat, we were told that the slow boat for Huay Xia had already left!  Feeling short on time and uninterested in spending a whole day in the tiny town, we inquired about our other options.  A man, in very broken English explained to us that we might be able to catch a speedboat (a very narrow, shallow wedge-shaped boat that somehow fits eight Laotians, or four Americans, with a car engine attached to a long propeller) in about a third of the time of the slow boat.  Our guidebook specifically warned against taking this option, but feeling stuck, coupled with high water on the river due to it being rainy season, we strapped on our motorcycle helmets and were rocketed up Mekong at Mach 1 with one other local.  We’re glad we ended up taking the fast boat and never really felt unsafe.

After an easy border crossing, we ended up in Chiang Rai for the night.  The next morning we headed to Chiang Mai, known as the cultural capital of Thailand.  While southern Thailand has some spectacular beaches, coast, and islands, It also has a strong sense of being part a well-worn tourist trail.  The people were nice, but the constant flow of tourists seemed to have had an effect.  In the north, however, the people seemed genuinely nice and helped us make sense of the “land of smiles” moniker given to Thailand.

We were fortunate to arrive in Chiang Mai on a Sunday, when the Sunday Walking Street takes place.  The walking street, is more or less, a glorified market that sprawls for miles in every direction off the city-center.  Since we were fixing to send another package back home soon, we loaded up some more souvenir junk.   Feeling lazy, we took it easy and burned at day.  Our only activity came in the form of a failed attempt to get a Thai massage at the local women’s prison (we got there too late).  Instead, we headed to a temple, where two tiny little Thai ladies manipulated our limps and prodded at our muscles for an hour for a mere $4 – not bad.  At night we headed to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar – more shopping –which ended early due to a downpour.  Since we rode our rented scooter, we had little option other than to ride the few miles back to our place in torrential rain, fording flooded streets the whole way back.

Our next day in Chiang Mai, we had a delightful time taking a day-long Thai cooking class. We started with an hour tour of the market, where our guide explained about different types of rice (sticky, long grain, broken, etc.), went over many of the local vegetables, and gave us a crash course in local spices and herbs.  From here, we each chose 5 dishes that we’d cook – and eat – throughout the day.  Jen chose and mastered: tom yum soup, green papaya salad, fried cashew chicken, red curry paste, panang curry, and mango and sticky rice.  I tried my hand at: tom kha soup, fried fish cakes, pad thai, green curry paste, green curry chicken, and fried coconut bananas.  Overall, the recipes were great (although the panang was a little strange) and we had a very relaxing and social day of cooking.  As a souvenir, we were given Thai cookbooks, which will hopefully come in handy back home.

At night, we headed back to the Night Bazaar, where we engaged in yet more cutthroat bartering with local hawkers.  The next day, packed up a 22 pound box of mementos and sent if off to Jen’s parent’s.  Later that day, we took an overnight train to Bangkok.  While I was dreading the prospect of spending the night in a cramped, dank, and bumpy train car, our small ration of sleeping pills helped us through what might have been a long night.

Upon our arrival to Bangkok, at the suggestion of many travelers we had met along the way, we headed to Soi Rambutri, near the world-famous backpacker ghetto on Khao San Road.  This put us close to the backpacker action, without all of the noise and debauchery.

Our first day in Bangkok, we wasted little time and got right to pounding the pavement.  We started by checking out the Royal Palace, the Emerald Buddha, Wat Pho, and the amulet market.   Feeling a little “templed-out” we went into the day feeling like we were just trying to check sights off the list, rather than being genuinely excited.  But, the Grand Palace complex was truly a spectacle.  The temple that housed the Emerald Buddha (actually, carved out of jasper, which looks like jade) was a circus of gold, mosaic, murals, and marble.  The outside of the temple is covered in small, mirror-like mosaic tiles, making the building look like an enormous sparkling night gown.

Dress Code at the Emerald Buddha in the Royal Palace

The Royal Palace and surrounding ceremonial buildings which house several thrones, were equally impressive.  While Thailand is considered a constitutional monarchy, and the king has very little real power, he is perhaps the most widely revered individual on the planet.  Shrines, large framed photographs, posters, and calendars adorn images of the king on every city block engaging in nearly activity imaginable, ranging from watering a garden to petting an elephant to sporting a boy scout uniform or Buddhist monk garb.  Apparently, he is the longest reigning current monarch (he’s been on the throne for more than 60 years) in the world and the longest king in Thailand’s history.  In fact, it is a crime to verbally insult the king or deface images of the king, including money, since he is featured on every bill.  And as such an admired individual, his residence was certainly befitting of a king.

Next we scoped out the absolutely gigantic reclining Buddha statue (maybe over 100 feet long and 30 feet high?) at Wat Pho.  Feeling a tired from the heat, we headed to amulet market – a busy, loud, and surprisingly big market specializing in the sale of Buddha statues and amulets.  We picked up a couple of statues here – a Buddha and meditating hand.

Since our time in Bangkok was limited, we finished our day by checking out some of the famous Bangkok nightlife.  We started with a nice dinner at Hemlock, then took a stroll down stall-lined, neon-illuminated Khao San Road to check out the hype.  Here, young backpacker types were getting their fill of Singha and Chang beers to the loud rhythms of house music spilling from the many bars.  If hunger calls, a pad thai from a street vendor would run you a cool 90 cents.  From here, we took a cab across town a rooftop bar (Vertigo) perched on the 59^th floor/roof of the Banyan Hotel.  Surprisingly, the bar was open-air, with little more than a three foot railing keeping the liquored-up patrons from stumbling over the edge.  The drinks were pretty good, but the 360 degree views of the twinkling Bangkok skyline were outstanding.  We rounded out our night near the Patpong night market for some drinks and entertainment.

The next morning, feeling a little groggy from our big night out, we got a late start.  When we finally did get going, we headed downtown to see if we could find any evidence of the carnage left by rioters from the month before.

Riot Remnants

After wandering the MBK market, we finally saw some of the devastated Central World shopping mall.  One of the of the larger department stores, Zen, was scorched with dozens of enormous broken windows, charred insides, and what appeared to be bullet hole-ridden glass.   Despite the clearly fresh wounds, we could find little physical or psychological evidence of any lingering effects of the red-shirt protests.

Later that night, we caught a red-eye flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was rerouted at the last minute to Djibouti due to inclement weather.  We’re currently on a plane to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania where we hope to hop on board another plane or possibly a boat to Zanzibar island.  Time to shift gears to Africa!