Spent the morning on packing & last minute errands, getting more excited with each passing hour. Except the last 2 hours (12:30-2:30pm) before the towncar that Adam had ordered for us---those hours FLEW by as we rushed to finish packing, garage keys to neighbors, "bon voyage" calls from family, etc. It was a wonderful ride to the airport, easy check-in (pretty short line) then a snack at the airport cafe & boarding at 5pm. Can't believe we are going, but here we go! We shared 3 seats to ourselves, giving us a little more room. Flew British Airways and it was exceptional service all the way. Good food, juice and water brought around all night long to keep us hydrated. We both slept some through the night. Arrived London 10:30am (Wednesday, London time), turning our watches ahead 8 hours. We landed in Heathrow but depart for Nairobi from Gatwick tonight.

Our baggage was checked through to Gatwick, so we have only our carry-on stuff to take with us as we go to explore London. Gosh, it sure was heavy by the end of the day! We took a double-decker airbus from the airport to town, saw lots of sights along the way. (Driving on the "wrong" side of the street, of course!) Lots of chimneys here in London, reminds me of scenes from Mary Poppins. We got off the bus near Hyde Park & walked from one end (Windsor Castle) all the way up past the Peter Pan statue and Italian gardens to have lunch at a cafe on the lake at the other end of the park. SO cold & windy, just like Seattle but we were dressed for Africa! Continued walking after lunch up to Victoria Station where we rented a locker to hold our things until train time. Our load lightened, we continued walking up to Buckingham Palace and then through St. James Park to the parliament buildings and BIG BEN. His chimes hit 5pm and we began heading back to Victoria Station again through St. James Park. Saw British army guys in full regalia changing guard on the way. Got to Victoria station, dinner at McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken (there's a food court on the upper level) and boarded the 6:30pm train to Gatwick, about a 30minute ride. Checked in at Gatwick and then had 3 hours until our flight to Nairobi. Bought clean underwear, took showers, played air hockey, window shopped in stores. Got on the plane and SLEPT most of the flight (still great service on British Airways). 3 hours more time difference in Nairobi...arrived 9am Nairobi time.

Made it through customs and everything with flying colors. Wasn't sure what to expect, but the Nairobi people were so kind right from the start----even when Annette dropped her immunization certificate w/o knowing it & got a bit panicky. An agent had found it on the floor and gave it to Adam. We were met by JOB and CHARLES from Big 5 Tour Company. They had big smiles and a sign with our name waiting as we left the luggage area. "Jambo!" means hello in Swahili, native language in Kenya. They loaded our luggage in the Big 5 van and drove us to the beautiful Norfolk Hotel, our first night's stay. The Norfolk is one of a chain of luxury hotels in Kenya---the Lonrho Hotels. We stayed exclusively at their properties, including The Ark, Sweetwater Tents, Mt. Kenya Safari Club, Aberdere Country Club, Masai Mara and the Norfolk. All different, but all so beautiful and very comfortable accommodations. Upon arrival at the Norfolk, we had an hour to rest up/take showers. Then we met Job at Noon to go over the safari agenda and ask questions. (Job was the tour coordinator/host from Big 5; Charles was our guide and driver for the trip.) Had lunch on the terrace of the hotel. Coca Cola and Sprite plus plenty of bottled water to drink, beef and cheese grilled sandwich (Adam) and cheese/tomato pizza (Annette) for lunch. 2pm - Met Charles in front of the hotel and he took us to see Karen Blixen's house ("Out of Africa") and then to the GIRAFFE SANCTUARY----our first African animals! Fed them giraffe chow "eye-to-eye" from an elevated hut with platform. One licked Annette's cheek! Stopped at local crafts market, looked but did not buy. Charles said there would be better deals along the way in the days to come. Back to the hotel by 6pm, went directly to bed. Slept until 1am, woke up and ordered bacon cheeseburger and fresh fruit salad from room service. Back to bed and slept until 6am. Guess we're adjusted to the time zone now!

Re-packed our luggage for safari and checked the rest that we wouldn't need into hotel storage before check out & a breakfast buffet on the terrace. Fresh pineapple and incredible potato cakes were very good! Charles picked us up at 9am sharp and we're off to the Aberdere Country Club, a 2-hour drive from Nairobi. Saw lots of people and countryside, very interesting. We brought a bottle of water with us to drink along the way, and Charles has a cooler full of softdrinks and more water for us. It's pretty warm and dry (80-85 F). We stopped at a store and restaurant after about 1.5 hours for a break and to try our negotiating skills at shopping. Didn't do that well this first time -- traded ~ $125 US + a Seattle Mariner's t-shirt for several carved animals and a spear! Arrived at Aberdere CC in time for lunch; we join a group of people from another tour here and he'll pick us up tomorrow morning after our night at The Ark. Aberdere was built in 1934 and was originally a private residence. Great lunch buffet & beautiful grounds. Huge poinsettia bushes, lots of azaleas in full bloom. Interesting tree called the "Candelabra" tree...looks like one. Met people on a different tour who were also from the Seattle area! Walked the golf course after lunch and saw a warthog family on the 8th & 9th holes----so funny to watch them run with their tails straight up---------that's how the babies can see mommy when they are running through tall grass. After lunch we had a 45-minute bus ride up to The Ark, a hotel on stilts built right above a watering hole. Nice rooms, kind of like a ski lodge, and there is a buzzer by our beds. If animals arrive during the night, the Ark staff buzzes you so that you can come down and see. 2 buzzes = elephant or rhino, 3 buzzes for lion. Saw lots of cape buffalo, an elephant family, suni antelope and a genet (cat/ferret like animal). Had a nice turkey dinner with a couple and their daughter Melinda from Australia, watched the animals in the spotlights and then to bed, reading books while waiting to hear a buzzer go off. A hotel steward had placed hot water bottles in our beds! 11pm buzzer for rhino, but some kids staying there were too noisy running down the hall and scared them away. Another buzzer at 2:30am was a mommy and baby rhino, back again.

The staff rings chimes to call guests to meals here at The Ark. We were up at 6am (before chimes) to shower and beat other guests to the hot water! Breakfast (wheatabix cereal, fruit and eggs) at 7:30, then on the bus back to Aberdere by 8am. Sent my nephew Joe a postcard as it is his birthday today back in the USA. Charles was there at Aberdere to meet us and take us to our next stop, Sweetwater Tented Camp. We stopped at the Equator on the way for the traditional Equator demo (water swirls different directions depending on which side of the Equator you are one) and some shopping. Bought a carved giraffe and some batik postcards. A whole bunch of baboons were there to greet us at the entrance to Sweetwaters. We checked in and Tent #2 was ours, looking right over the watering hole and out to Mt. Kenya in the distance. Pretty nice tent, two beds with rhino pictured bedspreads, rug on the floor, nice shower, toilet & sink right in the back of the tent behind a curtain. Went to lunch at the lodge, a big ol' stork peeking in at us from the patio. Took a short nap and met Charles at 3pm for an afternoon game dive. We were very fortunate to come across 4 lions, a mom and 3 almost full-grown cubs! They were just sitting on the side of the road, waiting for us (or their DINNER, really). Saw lots of zebra, some jackal, antelope and got to meet a 25-year old Black rhino. We got to feed him and pet him in the wild, with his "guard" standing by...a person in military uniform & rifle that follows the rhino around so that he can be found by visitors but not by poachers. Met BLOW THE WARTHOG next. This old warthog was apparently the model for "Pumba", the warthog character in Disney's The Lion King. He was sleeping when we arrived, but got a whiff of Annette's perfume and then wouldn't leave her alone! He snuffled all over Adam's hand and leg, too. Back at Sweetwaters, we had steaks for dinner then a nighttime game drive where we got altogether TOO close to some elephants who looked like they were ready to charge us. We were SO tired when that drive ended at 11pm. Off to bed in our tent, a steward had put flower petals on our pillows and hot water bottles in our beds. The electricity went off at midnight, but we were also long gone by then.

We were both awake early due to all the birds ~ 5am. Adam thought to set up the camcorder on the porch of our tent and was able to tape a beautiful sunrise over Mt. Kenya. There were a couple groups of school children also staying the night, so they were all running around the camp. Had breakfast at the lodge and then we walked over to take pictures of some camels they had on the property for camel rides. Lots of interesting birds---we're beginning to think that bird watching could be an interesting sport here in Africa! Charles picked us up at 9am and drove us to the chimpanzee sanctuary (started by Jane Goodall). Chimps are not native to Kenya, but this is an orphanage of sorts. Funny monkeys, couldn't help taking lots of pictures. It was nice to see them in a safe environment as many of them had sad stories prior to coming there. A short (less than an hour) drive later, Charles dropped us off at the Mt. Kenya safari Club around 11:30am. WOW! Incredible grounds, clubhouse, 9-hole (par 3) gold, tennis, croquet, etc etc etc. At every hotel so far, including Aberdere, this one and the tented camp, we had been greeted by the staff and handed a fruit drink upon arrival. We waited in the club lounge for a while, sipping our drinks and enjoying the view of Mt. Kenya out the window surrounded by a pair of huge elephant tusks. We were so tired from our early morning so took a short nap as soon as our room (a lodge-like bungalow) was ready. In the afternoon we were off to the Animal Orphanage on the property, founded by actor William Holden and later Stephanie Powers. There we got to PET a bunch of the animals we'd been seeing in the wild, including holding some monkeys. This was a real highlight...bongo, crested crane, porcupine, monkeys, baboons, ostrich, llama, white rhinos, zebroids (horse-zebra combo), cheetah, suni antelope and a 135 year old tortoise. Had a BIG rain/sleet storm right in the middle of our visit, so we huddled under a shelter with our guide (Simon), 2 men from Mexico City, a golden retriever named Lady Boss, 4 llamas and an ostrich! We became very close pals. Went back to the lodge to shower and dress for dinner after some shopping in the Mt. Kenya Art Gallery. (Bought an ebony rhino and ebony elephant statues and had them shipped home via UPS. They should arrive a week or so after we are home.) The staff comes in a van to pick you up at your lodge, so we got a ride in to the clubhouse for our dinner. Dinner was a 7-course meal and we each had 11 utensils at our place setting. Didn't know exactly which to use, but the server took a couple away after we'd ordered and then we just worked our way from the outside in and hoped we weren't embarrassing ourselves! Had a bottle of red S. African wine (Roonderg) with dinner, very good. Saw a domestic cat outside the restaurant window---wildlife! (There are gates around the whole property to prevent other wildlife from getting in and eating the peacocks & guests that roam freely.) Took the van back to our lodge (#84) where a fire had been lit for us in the big stone fireplace. Annette took a bubble bath in the big round tub before bed. Very tired, both of us, but would love to come back here & bring Adam's boss, Tim. He would really enjoy it, as well!

Note: Called Annette's parents just before dinner, found out that her Dad had fallen & broke his hip. Mom wasn't going to tell us, didn't want to spoil our trip, but says he's doing better after the surgery. Hope so! It's hard to hear from so far away since all we can do is say a prayer and send our love.

Woke up at 4am---don't know why. Watched "The Music Man" in bed on our portable dvd player then tried to sleep a bit more. Up at 6am to shower and pack. Last minute shopping and breakfast before Charles arrived at 9am to take us to the airfield for our flight to Masai Mara. Said goodbye to Charles here as no guarantee that he will be the driver to pick us up on return. Gave him a nice tip and a thank you card with stickers for his little boys in appreciation for his wonderful service. He stayed by his van and waved all the way until we were airborne! 50 minute light over farms, hills and valleys to Masai Mara. Greeted by the Masai Mara staff at the little airfield, short drive to the Camp. Had cheese/veggie pizza for lunch on a terrace overlooking the pool on one side and the river on the other. Saw ~ 50 hippos sunning and sleeping in the river down at the end of the Camp, "Hippo Hideaway". Decided to skip the afternoon safari and spend the time relaxing by the pool and reading books. Still not getting a really good nights' sleep, waking too early. Attended a 7:30pm lecture on the local tribe (Masai), very interesting. Dinner was next----almost always in Africa we get soup, appetizer, salad, main entree w/vegetables and potato, dessert. Sometimes we also get cheese and crackers with dessert, or else they are on the salad bar to supplement the meal. Drinking lots of bottled water ~ 180 shillings per. We both had lamb with mint & ginger seasoning, and strawberry ice cream for dessert! Hippos make very funny noises, kind of a honking sound. Tonight we heard crickets, too, and some birds we can't identify but they sure make interesting calls. There was a little frog by Adam's bed when we came back from dinner. Took pictures then set him free! Steward put hot water bottles in our beds again tonight, just like at Sweetwater. Mmmm, sweet dreams!

5:45am - Steward brings coffee and hot chocolate to our tent. We're going on a 6:30am safari! Saw 3 lions, wildebeest, zebra, Thompson's gazelle, giraffe and elephant. Breakfast at 8:30 then showers before our 10am mid-morning game drive. Saw hippo, white rhino and more giraffes. Went swimming in the pool and had lunch poolside in the afternoon....incredible lemon chiffon with strawberries on top for dessert. Also liked the tempura batter dipped vegetables. Wonderful chefs out here in the bush! Sent my sister Sue a birthday card as it is her birthday today. 3:30pm, time for the afternoon game drive. Saw a herd of giraffe just outside camp and then back to see the white rhinos again. (The men from Mexico City that we'd met at Mt. Kenya Safari Club were with us and had missed the morning game drive and wanted to see them.) No luck finding cheetahs or lions but it is such fun LOOKING. Around 6pm a BIG rainstorm hit so the guides (Peter & Joseph) put the top up and we drove back for dinner at camp. Some Masai dancers came to provide pre-dinner entertainment and during dinner the staff came out singing with a cake for a couple celebrating their anniversary. Kind of like being at an African Farrell's! To bed after dinner, watched some more Music Man. Fell asleep before the Wells Fargo Wagon came.

Note: Masai Mara = Masai is the PEOPLE (Masai warriors and tribe); Mara means "spotted" for the single trees you see all over the plains.

Early morning game drive again today, the steward woke us up again with coffee and hot chocolate and "biscuits" (cookies). Saw a male lion down on the plain and then saw his whole lion family having breakfast about 2 miles away (10 lions, 3 females, 1 male and lots of cubs of different ages). Fresh wildebeest kill! We watched them for over an hour, just wonderful, and then the papa lion joined them to finish off the meal. Usually the male lion eats first, but since he was so far away, the babies got to chow down. It's amazing how our guide (Peter) can look out over the plain and read what is happening with the animals. We were especially lucky this morning and also got to see CHEETAH----2 males eating their own fresh wildebeest for breakfast. Back to the camp at 8;30 for breakfast, packed up again (getting good at this!) said goodbye to the hippos and off to the airstrip at 10:30am for our flight back to Nairobi. Really bumpy flight this time, both of us feeling nauseous. Charles and Job met us at Nairobi airfield and took us back to the Norfolk Hotel. Unpacked and sent dirty clothes to hotel laundry. Room service lunch, bacon cheeseburger for Adam, tomato soup and bread for Annette---shared chocolate ice cream for dessert, more grainy like ice milk. Called the father of Annette's co-worker, Vipul Shaw, to say hello. Mr. Shaw sent one of his workers to pick us up at the hotel and bring us over to his CalTex service station so that he could meet us. Mr. Shaw is a very successful businessman here in Nairobi and it's obvious that he works very hard. The service station was incredibly busy but he said it was the slow season! He bought us a Sprite, we talked a bit in between customers, he had Adam talk to his nephew who called (he does Telco over there) and then Mr. Shaw directed us to a couple shops in the neighborhood where he knew the owners. We were to have the owner call Mr. Shaw if we saw anything we wanted to buy....he would get us the best price! (Native price rather than tourist price.) Very crowded downtown, both on the sidewalks and the streets. Mr. Shaw flagged down his brother who was driving by to give us a ride back to the hotel. (Even though we were close enough to walk, just a few blocks, it was apparently not particularly safe enough to do so.) Charles picked us up and took us to dinner at the Carnivore Restaurant in town. We ate Zebra, Hartebeest, Lamb, Chicken and more before we threw down our little white flag in "surrender" to the waiters (indicated we were done). Sent e-mail messages home from a little internet site at the restaurant, then back to the hotel.

Re-packed our bags, laundry all done and we're checked out and ready for breakfast on the terrace by 9am. Charles picked us up at 10am to take us to the Nairobi airport for our flight to Zimbabwe. "Kwaheri" to Charles (means goodbye in Swahili), another tour operator named James helped us get through check in. Our flight was supposed to be at 12:45pm but didn't leave until 1:15pm so we had a long wait at the airport. It was also supposed to be a direct flight to Harare, Zimbabwe, but stopped over in Tanzania so we didn't get to Harare until 6pm (5pm Harare time)----2.5 hours late! We also didn't have a Zimbabwe visa nor any US Cash, so there was a little delay entering Zimbabwe at the airport customs. (We needed $20 US each to enter, but this hadn't been outlined on our itinerary, so we were unprepared.) A smiling guide from another tour company (Wild Africa Safaris) was there to greet us curbside, however, and off we went to the Meikles Hotel, a very old and beautiful hotel right in downtown Harare. (Harare is the capital of Zimbabwe.) Lots of upgrades but yet retaining some of the history. We checked into room 611, then went off to explore the hotel and surrounding neighborhood, but most everything was closed by 6pm. Really neat spiral staircases in the hotel, you can see all the way down from your floor to the lobby. Pretty flowers and carpets with subtle animal paw prints. Room service dinners and showers/bath, then to bed at 9pm for a movie. Neither of us made it through the first 10 minutes! Looooong day of travel. Goodnight!

Awoke 6am-ish, showers and complimentary coffee/juice in the room. We hadn't bothered to unpack, so we are pretty much ready for our flight to Victoria Falls. Wish we could get a box to ship some souvenirs home, but the hotel concierges don't seem to be able to help us, so we'll try again in Victoria Falls. Can't wait to see the actual Falls! Sent some photo e-mails to family & friends from the business center at the hotel before we left. Then our driver from Wild Africa Tours picked us up and we're off to the Zimbabwe airport by 8:30am. He gave us some details about Zimbabwe and tips for "Vic. Falls", as the natives call it. Nice, easy flight to the Vic. Falls airport, we could even see the spray of the falls from the air. Our plane was met by another guide from Wild Africa Tours. We asked to stop by their offices in Vic. Falls to confirm our travel vouchers, times for tours, etc. (There was a little mix-up as 2 sets of bookings had been sent to us from Big 5 tour offices in Florida, for some unknown reason.) The airport is only about 5 minutes from the town of Victoria Falls, and the drive into the Victoria Falls hotel is quite impressive. Our room wasn't ready at 11am when we arrived, so we checked our luggage and opted to explore the grounds. Saw a calico cat sleeping in the shade of a garden. Had lunch down by the pool and read books for 1.5 hours...toasted cheese sandwiches. Room #1 was ready for us at 2pm, so we moved in and organized our souvenirs to ship home & lighten our load. At 4pm our guide arrived to take us down to the Zambezi River for the Sundowner Cruise, a.k.a. "The Booze Cruise" by the natives. (They serve you some light snacks and ALL THE DRINKS you want, alcoholic or no! Saw hippo and 1 crocodile. Nice sunset, it was very hot out on the river. Back to the hotel at 7pm, did some more looking in the hotel shops and then to dinner on "The Stanley Terrace" (Livingstone, I presume!) Steaks for dinner, ice cream for dessert. Still very pleasantly warm at 9pm, we were both ready to fall asleep at the table. To bed and quickly to sleep soon after.

Up at 6:45am - complimentary coffee & biscuits served in the room. Showers then to breakfast on the Stanley Terrace. Beautiful breakfast buffet with interesting things called Rose Berries....look like a small Queen Anne cherry and have an after-taste like roses. Hard to describe, really. Sent laundry to be done...couldn't do it yesterday as they were having trouble with the water in the Laundry. We were picked up at 9am by our guide from Wild Africa Tours to go tour Vic. Falls. He asked us to bring a raincoat and umbrellas, even though it was 80 degrees F and sunny! Very confusing. Didn't fully appreciate why until we got to the Falls and experienced it! Drove 5 minutes down to the park entrance and walked on trails to the Falls. It was such a beautiful site and it was so warm but the spray from the Falls was so wet, we couldn't tell if we were sweating or just wet. It was like a rainstorm at some points along the Falls. Note to others who might go: DON'T bother bringing an umbrella, just wear your swimsuit and some shorts and put a large towel in the car. Watched a bungee jumper go off the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia...yipes! Later we got to walk across the bridge to Zambia, ourselves. Next to Elephant Walk mall for shopping, lunch (impala kabobs, delicious!) and to ship some gifts home at a nearby freight company. Sent Annette's brother Bob a postcard as it is his birthday today. Also toured a native village and visited a back street of native shops. Bought beautiful handmade sweaters and some stone & wood carvings, adding these to our shipment home. Very hot day, both of us got some sun. back to the hotel for a movie and a rest before dinner at the hotel's Jungle Junction. Had ostrich w/grilled onions and chocolate mousse/strawberry ice cream for dessert. Also Lion beer/lager, best Annette has tasted in Africa. Very muggy night. Back to air conditioning and another movie to fall asleep to.

Up early (5:45am) to repack for our 2-day jaunt to Chobe national park. Breakfast again on the Stanley Terrace. Left 3 bags with the Porter to pick up in a few days on our way back to the airport from Chobe. Elias (our guide from Wild Africa Tours) picked us up at 7:30am for the 2-hour drive to Chobe Game Lodge. Crossed the border into Botswana at 9am---very nice border compared to the others we've seen. Just seemed more official, somehow. Arrived at Chobe at 9:45, but had to stop on the way to the gate as some Lions (7 of them!) had just killed a Cape Buffalo. It was literally dead in the water and we'd just pulled up when some rangers were typing a rope around its home to pull it out of the water. That way the lions could eat it (rather than letting it sit and fester in the water). The lions were a bit upset until the ranger truck moved away and they could DIG IN! Got checked into the hotel and took a 10:30am game drive with our driver, Elliot and a couple from London. (John & Helen were amazed by our camcorder and our telephoto camera lens.) Back for lunch at 12:30 after seeing elephants, the lions still eating their kill, etc. Walked around the hotel, lots of warthogs just grazing on the grass. Learned that this is the hotel where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton got married & honeymooned the 2nd time they got married! Took a small boat ride at 1:30pm out on the Chobe river channels, saw crocodiles, lots of birds, a water moccasin, hippos, elephants. The sky got darker and darker and all of a sudden----rain storm! Really hard pelting rain for 10 minutes, then clearing. We were soaked, but still enjoyed the ride. Later a 4:30-7:30pm game drive, more elephant, hippo and lion. Dinner at 8pm, then back to the room for showers and begin editing videos before bed.

Early morning wake-up knock on our door from the steward for a 6am game drive. Not much left of the lions' buffalo by this morning, and although the lions are still there eating and sleeping to recover from eating (!), the vultures and other scavenger animals are gathered and moving in. A brief glimpse of a leopard this morning completes our checklist---we've seen all of The Big Five animals now. Watched some baboons chasing each other up and over trees, playing king of the hill, very funny, and saw some very small baby baboons, too. Great breakfast (Black Cat Peanut Butter on waffles) including champagne for mimosa and eggs cooked as desired, not the runny scrambled ones we've gotten every where else. Also, fresh baked bread at every meal. We're drinking Fanta orange soda, sometimes Sprite, and lots of water. Sat on the patio after breakfast and edited video taken to date. John and Helen from London looking over our shoulders in awe. It's lots of fun to be seeing all the shots we've taken and the editing equipment is wonderful and easy to use. The pictures are incredible! Can't wait to see them on our big screen TV back home. Went for a swim before lunch, really nice pool, and the warthogs walk around it and don't bother the guests. Another good soup for lunch, cream of corn & ham (the soups we've been served in Africa are just incredible, all!) plus all the rest of the buffet including vegie pizza. Went on the 1:30pm boat ride again and saw the HUGEST crocodiles, ~ 2 meters long. Also saw some dugout canoes "parked" by the side of the river and a fish net---lots of fish. It's fun riding around in these little boats.

They go really fast and it's like being in a James Bond movie. 4:30pm game drive----went what seemed like a long way down the main road nad other dirt roads, but we finally saw Giraffes in Botswana that John and Helen so wanted to see. Beautiful! And then it turned out that we weren't all that far away from the lodge, only down by a campground we'd seen the night before. Note: Can't imagine tent camping in an area with all those animals roaming around, especially the baboons! They must get into everything! Back to the lodge for dinner at 7pm. It sure is a beautiful and secluded place. Adam edited a few more videos and added subtitles. To bed by 9pm to get a good night's sleep. Note: We've been saving coins from every country here in Africa and have quite a collection already! Adam's grandfather did this during all his travels, and we used to enjoy going through his coin dish and dreaming of all those countries.