November 2
We are getting tired of the hassles of being at the marina in Portage Bay. It is a beautiful spot but we have had our car broken into, a window on the boat broken, a homeless person living on the beach, etc. After looking around, Dave reached out to BananaBelt Boats in Anacortes to see i…
We spent the weekend at Sagecliff resort, which used to be known as Cave B. The winery Cave B is still here, but the resort was separated from the winery. Years ago we visited here and loved it. The view of the Gorge is like a painting. This time we stayed in Cliffhouse 15 which is way off by it…
After yesterday's arduous gorilla trek, we decided to chill and relax. Who wouldn't enjoy looking out at this view?
And there are always the monkeys to amuse us.
Melissa had a massage, and for the third night in a row, we had dinner in our room.
The hotel manager came to us three …
We awoke early in anticipation, and somewhat in dread of the trek ahead of us. We knew that gorilla trekking required we be fit. So we started training with a personal trainer a year ago. Yes, there have been some setbacks – particularly for Melissa who had surgery this summer. But overall, we a…
This morning we got up before dawn for a 7am flight out of Entebbe to a tiny airstrip in the Uganda mountains.
We had been warned that the limit was 15 KG in luggage sum total (baggage and carry on). But you can buy more luggage weight – space permitting. We are off season, so we were taking a …
When we awoke this morning, the buffalo carcass was all but gone. The hyenas were departing, just as the vultures set in to get any small tidbits that were left.
We then departed the tiny airport next to the camp in a caravan (airplane) for Entebbe. We were to spend one night in Entebb…
The hyenas did a pretty good job of eating their way through the buffalo last night. He looks about half eaten.
We found ourselves again grateful for the Maasai warriors that provide security here. The whole gang lined up for a picture with their spears. They walked us back and forth from…
We awoke after the first solid night’s sleep Melissa has had. When we went to breakfast, the Massai warriors were waiting to take us to breakfast. They explained that overnight a herd of buffalo had come through the camp and one of them had died.
A problem. Because tonight the predator…
The Farmhouse where we have been staying has absolutely gorgeous gardens. They grow the vegetables that they use in the restaurant. Talk about farm to table!
The staff was all concerned about why we didn’t show up to dinner last night. The manager and the chef visited our table this morning …
The farmhouse where we are staying is at 5000 feet. Not super high, but Melissa, with her cold is struggling with low oxygen saturation. Today’s trek is supposed to take us to the Ngorongoro crater rim which is at 7500 feet. Maybe not the best idea. Another failure on the part of the travel agen…
Today we headed off for visits with the Hadzabe Bushmen and Datoga tribes.
The Hadzabe bushmen would have taken us on a hunt, but we decided a few days ago that watching them try to kill a baboon was just a bit more than we would enjoy. We like seeing how other cultures live but seeing a primate…
Today we packed up and moved closer to the Lake Manyara region of Tanzania where we visited the village of Mto Wa Mbu – which translated literally means river of mosquitos – much to Dave’s horror. Fortunately, the mosquitos were largely under control in the little town.
We met our guide, wh…
Melissa was still pretty sick with her cold, so she decided to forego the early morning safari and ended up sleeping most of the day. When she was awake, she enjoyed watching the warthogs out the window. They would chase each other around snorting and grunting.
Meanwhile, Dave and Shabani wen…
We left Legendary Lodge right after breakfast. Melissa was still feeling crappy, so she elected to wear a mask to protect our guide, Shabani while in the jeep. Much of the landscape was somewhat barren as this this the very end of the dry season here. In the rainy season this same land would be l…
Melissa woke up in the middle of the night with an awful sore throat. The beginnings of a cold. Its super dry here, so a cold is going to be bad news as her asthma is already flared up. Dang it. After breakfast she went right back to bed for a nap. Snoozed and read most of the day while Dave wo…
We got up, had breakfast, and then it was time to move on to the second coffee plantation. We were supposed to stay at the first one for three nights (plus the one 3am arrival night). But the travel agency screwed up and we suspect didn’t actually book the hotel correctly originally. So they were…
After a few hours of sleep, got up for breakfast deciding to try and stay awake the whole day to snap us onto the current time which is 8 hours ahead of Puerto Vallarta.
At breakfast it became clear that the hotel restaurant was unaware of our food allergies. We had been promised by the travel age…
We departed our condo at 10am Puerto Vallarta, and arrived at our hotel in Arusha Tanzania at 4am local time – in total 34 total hours in transit. The trip from Puerto Vallarta to Houston was uneventful, but the flight from Houston to Istanbul was over an hour late departing.
Turkish air busine…
When we were originally planning our trip to Africa, we had thought to do it the way we usually do – Melissa researches a ton of options and then we book directly with the hotels. In this case though it’s a little different since you will need a guide to take you to see the animals and other cultur…
Unlike the good ‘ol US of A, Mexican residents and citizens have to ask permission to leave the country. Well, that might not be entirely fair. They have to fill out paperwork and get it stamped. Not clear anyone would be refused permission or if this is just a way to keep people employed rubber …