After our whirl wind trip - 6 countries in 5 weeks - throughout Afrika (their spelling), and visiting with friends in Dubai, there really is nothing quite like being home. Mark and Sherri looked after everything so well, I worried, our critters didn't even miss us, but they were all happy to see us and we readjusted to our routine very quickly. I never quite understood jet lag until experiencing it first hand. I'd say it took a good couple of weeks to get back to our "clock". The spring time change was helpful; instead of waking up at 4:30 am, it started waking up at 5:30 am. It didn't help that I caught a nasty cold soon upon arriving home.
As you know from my previous blog, our first stop was Egypt. From there we headed to the Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania and spent 6 days on safari. Starting at Lake Manyara, then to the Serengeti for a few days, and finishing off with a visit to the Ngorongoro Crater. We had close encounters with nearly 200 species of birds and animals, thanks to our guide, Kimaro. Our next stop after Tanzania was Rwanda to meet up with our friends Jerry & Oraysha, and visit with the wild gorilla. Unfortunately Rwanda is best known for its horrific genocide less than 20 years ago. The government has done an amazing job of rebuilding and it is an extremely well run, clean, safe country.
Our guide, Francois, led us to Group #9, the Sabyinyo Group. This group of wild gorilla is famous because their leader Guhonda, is the largest and oldest wild silverback in the world. Francois has been guiding folks to this group since 1984. His intimate relationship with the Sabyinyo group is infamous and he really made our visit extra special. His ability to "speak" gorilla came in handy as he beckoned a youngster to come within a few feet of us.
Our next stop was Zambia to visit the spectacular Victoria Falls. We had a couple of down days there and decided to visit an animal refuge that has habituated young elephants, lions and cheetah to humans. After going on an elephant trail ride for an hour, we went for a cuddle and walk with two year old lions and then went to cuddle and walk with 3 young cheetah. To be touching and walking with these magnificent animals was beyond thrilling.
From Zambia, we headed to Botswana, the catalyst for going to Afrika in the first place. We were flown to Macatoo camp for a 5 day horseback safari. All I can say is WOW. Most of the horses were thoroughbred or thoroughbred crosses, although there were a few other breeds. These horses were well cared for and other than having very hard mouths, they were very safe as we galloped alongside several giraffe and rode amongst a herd of 32 elephant. Our guides told us that it can take up to 6 months of working with new horses to ensure they are safe around wildlife.
Finally, we finished up with a few days in the fascinating city of Dubai to visit Ron and Carol. They live in a beautiful apartment on one of the man-made palm islands. I was glad to be in their winter because the temperatures were moderate in the low 20C range. I can't imagine the 40C temperatures they get in the summer - no thanks for me.
It was a fantastic trip and I am happy to have been able to experience so much but I have to say, we live in a beautiful part of the world, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.
Karibu from Tovie & Gord
