doohickey

Leely:
Whooo! That h e a t and humidity was sumthin else! My next installment is nearly done; I hope to have it posted tonight or tomorrow...got caught up in work

Safarimama:
Bummer about that link! I haven't ordered from it and suspect my friend got it at a local retailer here in MT. So I'll avoid that internet vendor and find a replacement somewhere else. Thanks for giving us all the heads-up warning!

-doo

safarimama

It's not a big loss, just annoying! One of them works fine though. Like I told you privately, I couldn’t help myself despite the warnings. I put my entire hand on the racket/swatter and pushed the button. I’m blond!!!!! It works just fine!!!!!!!!!!! ZAP! SPARKS!! It didn’t take long; what a charge!!

I’m happy now and …. Wiser too!!!!

Amazon has the iTouchless Rechargebale Portable Handheld Electric Bug Zapper/ Swatter for $15.99. I may order one of those instead.

doohickey

Monday, March 17, cont.

The desk staff at this hotel are lovely folks. As is typical for Tanzanians, they speak and walk in a slow, gracious and professional manner – even when faced with someone from another country who’s talking to them at a mile-a-minute which was something we witnessed a couple of times.

When we checked in the staff was surprised to learn we were a couple as they had been expecting a single. Luckily they had a double available and quickly made it ready. Also, our Thomson documents showed that our breakfast, lunch and dinner (BLD) had been prepaid. However, this hotel is a Modified American Plan in which just breakfast and dinner can be pre-paid. We were informed that we’d have to pay for our lunches while there. Well, this was a rude surprise but one we’d deal with and discuss with Thomson after we got home.

The reception area was very nice and open air. And what we saw of the rest of the hotel and grounds on the way to our room was also very attractive and inviting. Everything is built papapa-style. There are many inviting seating areas spread about. An exchange library is available, board games, ping-pong, gift shop, a spa and a dive/snorkel/watersports “shack” staffed by the requiste blond, tanned young Aussie guys. The dive shack is where I heard a telephone ring for the first time since leaving the States.

Our room was in a round bungalow divided into two guest rooms with their own entrances. We were assigned Room 4, a Superior Chalet. The stairway to the door was so steep that it was almost like climbing a ladder. Two handed use of the banister was necessary to stay surefooted. It could be done with one hand but only with great care. The most prominent feature in the room was a huge oversized king bed with a beautful carved headboard and footboard. It had a canopy with full mosquito netting. The most _appreciated_ feature was an air conditioning unit We were both really happy to have the “Japanese air”, as Sayedi had called it, and the ceiling fan. We nearly broke the A/C unit from running it so much during our stay!
The floors were tile. The bathroom was small but sufficient; shower only, no tub. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, sunburn relief lotion, and non-DEET insect repellant were provided as well as shower caps. The bathroom had one electrical outlet but it was for a shaver only. The main room had two electrical outlets. Both were fully used and in locations that required contortionist-only access. A minor-league in-room hair dryer was plugged into one of the outlets.

It was just as hot and humid inside our room as out because all the windows and drapes had been open when we got there. As soon our bellboys left we slammed shut the windows, closed the drapes agains the sun, turned the “Japanese air” on to high and even turned on the fan. Then we stripped and lay/sat still in our underwear; we were just dripping with sweat. Two hours later we finally began to cool down. It was only then, when we began to stir, that we realized we had a CPAP crisis.

When I tried to plug my CPAP in I realized my converter accepted only a two-prong plug – my unit requires a 3 pronged plug. Oh, no!! I hadn’t even considered that when I had belatedly gotten my converter and adaptor just hours before our trip. DH and I went to Reception and asked if they had an adaptor for my plug. They had some all right but they were checked out to other Americans who had been caught short in the same manner.

Oh, man, was I in a bind! I kicked myself for not listening to that little warning voice in my head when our trip departure specialist suddenly changed things on me a couple of weeks before we left when, instead of providing a car battery as initially promised, he told me to just get a converter and adaptor instead. On the surface it had sounded reasonable but nevertheless…

DH was none too pleased at this situation as well. A wife who does not get enough sleep – and poor sleep at that – for three nights running doesn’t make life for hubby too good. I hoofed it over to Reception, paid $6 bucks for internet access (1 hour worth) and fired off an email to Thomson detailing the problems. It was still business hours in Boston so I figured they’d get it right away. I cc’d the sales supervisor, too. Thomson called the hotel lickety-split. Everything was taken care of. The hotel provided me with a battery and promised to re-charge it every day. And though we’d have to front the money for our lunches, Thomson would reimburse us when we got back home.

All was well by the end of dinner. When we got back to our room we found that the turndown service had been there. The mossie nets around the bed which had been tied back were released and the bed was fully enclosed. DEET had been freshly sprayed (the room was also sprayed every morning at housekeeping time.) We climbed into that romantic bed and slept like babies.

Tuesday, March 18

Breakfast, lunch and dinner at this hotel were really good. Sure there were some dud offerings here and there but generally one could get a very nice, even classy, meal without any problems. The ambiance in the open air dining area was very nice. One could have lunch delivered to ones chaise on the beach or to the pool area as well. Dinner on Mondays and Fridays at Ras Nungwi is an elaborate buffet with loads of food options. Dinner is at 8p every night. Perfect for Europeans but a stretch for most Americans I think. Dinner while on safari was at 730p every night and even that took a bit of getting used to for us.

After breakfast DH and I browsed the hotel’s nice little gift shop. I bought a beautiful scarf with matching straw purse and John bought a batik shirt. Afterwards we changed into our swimsuits and moseyed on down to the beach each grabbing a comfortable hammock. The beach attendant made sure we had mats for the hammock, beach towels and pillows. There are plenty of shade opportunities on this beach which is nice given the equatorial sun.

Ahhh, the water and sky colors in this location are soooo beautiful! They were so many gorgeous colors and shades of blue and green. After a read and a snooze John swam in the ocean. Later I did, too. I went down and waded out a loooooong way until I was up to my neck in the Indian Ocean. Depending on the tide, the shallow first 100yards from waters edge at Ras Nungwi had a lot of rocky stuff to walk through to get out deep enough to swim. The water was too warm until I got in past my waist whereupon it became a very pleasant temperature. Ever since I had a run-in with a sea urchin I always wear dive booties in the sea. When John told me about the rocks I was really happy I’d packed them along; the booties protected my feet from harm.

John went on a snorkeling trip in the afternoon while I just lazed around reading under a palapa with loads of sunscreen on. The rest of the day and evening blissfully drifted by.

Wednesday, March 19

This was our last full day on Zanzibar. John and I thought about making an excursion inland but it was a very brief thought. It was just too stinkin’ hot and humid for us to do anything but lie around or go in the water – which we once again did all day. John was a bit adrift all day with nothing to do but I wasn’t I went to the spa and got a long relaxing treatment, nosed around the gift shop some more, read my book, napped, frolicked in the pool…you get the drift. John eventually rented a kayak and paddled the ocean for a bit. We hung out at the beach bar in the late afternoon watching some hotel guests kite surf. In the evening we had another delicious meal and closed out our wonderful, wonderful safari and relaxing time in an island paradise.

Next up – Life & politics in Zanzibar, a circuitous trip to the mainland, and swimming in the Dar es Salaam Airport.

Patty

Glad to hear Thomson resolved your issues quickly.

doohickey

Patty,

Yes, Thomson resolved the issues very quickly. I'm glad I fired off that email when I did instead getting rotten sleep and stewing about it all the while until we got home. That wouldn't have done me or DH _any_ good. It also wouldn't have given Thomson the opportunity fix it right away and make us happy campers again.

I've heard of people who don't do anything about a mix up when it happens. They just work up a serious head of steam about a situation until they get home and blow off at their travel agent or tour company. What the heck good does that do anybody?!

Btw, our credit card account has already been credited for the lunches - including beverages and tips!

So Thomson is still tops with us

-doo

doohickey

Airport Security

Here's an odd little airport security fact. I have a knee replacement. All that steel and titanium sets off the alarms at 99% of the metal detector gates at I have to go through in the US. It's so normal that I always have to allow an additional 15 minutes to get through security.

However, my knee did not set off the alarm at the Amsterdam airport in either transit nor at Dar.

The alarm went off at the Arusha airport but that could have been my super-sized watch which I had forgotten to remove. Then there was the oddity of requiring our bags go through a machine on a belt but no one staffing the viewing screen.

There was no metal detector at the Zanzibar airport.

Airport security at Amsterdam surprised me the most. In addition to my fake knee slipping by undetected, John and I were allowed to travel with the wrong boarding passes. We accidentally had each others boarding passes for the flight back home. When we checked in separately about 20 minutes apart the document mix up was not noticed even though we each were pulled aside for screening interviews and our documents examined.

Like I said - odd.

-Judith

doohickey

Thursday, March 20

This morning John prepared tip envelopes for the room maids and kitchen staff, presenting them to the hotel manager upon checkout. I had really appreciated the international clientele at this hotel; many were from Europe and Britain. The guests at this hotel were subdued which was wonderful since I’d had my fill of loud, brash ones. But many were quietly eager to introduce themselves to other guests and get to know each other a bit while in lounge area before lunch and dinner. We found it a pleasure to meet folks from Britain, Switzerland, France, etc.

Sidebar: I would guess that Thomson Safaris clientele is probably 95% American. If international exposure is important to you while at Thomson’s Nyumbas, well, you’re probably not going to get it. I don’t think Thomson allows other safari outfitter’s clients to stay at their camps.

Our luggage was picked up at 945a and our driver/guide from Gallery Tours was there to take us away as soon as we got to the lobby. We asked him to drive us through Ras Nungwi Village before heading into Stonetown as we hadn’t done any exploring since our arrival on the island. The village was depressingly poor. But, as with so many very poor places, there was a video rental shop. Escapism is universal, eh?

As we drove south to Zanzibar Town and Stonetown we engaged our guide (I wish I could remember his name!) in conversation about the Island and its relationship to the mainland. Seeing abject poverty during our drive up and down the island we were curious about the distribution of the 20%VAT attached to all the hotel room rates. On the assumption that there are thousands of hotel rooms on the island, the hotel VAT has got to be a huge sum of money. Our guide really opened up when we mentioned this. Apparently all that tax money goes to the central government which is on the mainland and then is distributed throughout the entire country. There is a growing political party on Zanzibar which would like to secede from the mainland and keep that money on island. This was very interesting. Of course, it’s all a bit more complex than that; I’ve recounted it very simply here. But you get the gist.

Our guide told us the average monthly income of a non-professional family (guides are considered professional) is $100 a month. Suburban Zanzibar Town is mostly inhabited by professionals.

We headed into Stonetown but first passed the market area that all the Zanzibarians go to. I was startled to see a Maasai warrior in full blown Maasai dress walking with purpose into a shop. Our guide told us there were several warriors on island acting as hotel guards. Boy, I wonder what the result would have been if Maasai had been guarding the Cristal Hotel when it got robbed! An interesting scenario, eh?

On into Stonetown we went where I found the perfect scarf for my neighbor Judy and where DH found a couple of other last minute items for friends. There weren’t any crowds and there were very few touts. This day was a religious holiday so many of the regulars were spending time with their families. We went to the Archipelago Restaurant for a tasty and very filling lunch. Our guide didn’t join us but was extremely prompt in picking us up. He drove us past the Serena and Tembo hotels, the Africa House and a few others that could be seen from the streets cars are allowed on.

We arrived early at the airport for our flight to Dar. Check in was easy and bag inspection superficial. We were asked to unlock our TSA locks for the two inspections ladies who then began to gently push a couple of things aside. My inspector and I engaged in conversation about some pretty things I’d purchased on island. Then she noticed my Thomson Safari baggage tag, quietly read it, nodded to herself and turned my bag back over to me. The other inspector took that cue and did the same thing with John’s bag. What that was all about, I don’t know. But, hey, I’m happy I didn’t end up having to repack my duffle!

There were some nominally operating air conditioners in the passenger waiting area but the doors to the tarmac were kept open. So we sweltered in 97degree heat and high humidity waiting for our flights.
Our pilot was a high energy kind of guy – a little kinetic really. After we were all buckled in he turned around and told us that we would arrive in Dar in 20 minutes – “InshAllah.”

We were probably 5 minutes late landing in Dar because the pilot was on VFR and tried to land before a South Africa Airways jet that was gliding in. First he circled near the airport to reduce altitude. Then he dropped in for a landing hoping to beat the SAA jet to the punch. But he had to pull up when the jet landed first and taxied too close to the runway our pilot was about to land on. So our pilot pulled up and circled a third time. We were in a Cessna Caravan again and I, being seated right behind the pilot, watched this whole thing happen up close and personal so-to-speak. When we finally landed the pilot simply stopped on the runway, did a 180 right there and taxied to the gate. No passing go, no collecting 200 dollars. This I have never seen happen before and don’t know if I ever will again. And that’s all right with me

We were met by Coastal Travels and driven to the Slipway Hotel. By now it was over 100 degrees (38centigrade) outside with high humidity. The Slipway was about a 45 minute drive. Because of the Muslim religious holiday there wasn’t as much traffic as normal; the drive should have taken much longer. The Slipway Hotel was an odd place for us. It’s on an estuary and consists mostly of little gift shops. The Terrace Restaurant is there (a decent dinner though nothing special), a hookah place, juice bar and an ice cream shop, too. There is also a little bookstore.

There are probably no more than 20 rooms at this hotel. It’s a strange setup in that the rooms are above the shops and are accessed on the same walkways that any shoppers can easily walk along, too, though I don’t think any came up there. Our room was drab, plain, worn and strictly utilitarian. A small bedroom, small bathroom, all tile floor. There was a TV but we did not turn it on. Thankfully there was an A/C unit. I was glad we were only in the Slipway a few hours. It was here that I brought out my blow dryer for the first time on the entire trip. I promptly tripped a fuse shutting off all the electricity to the bathroom. The only good thing about this room was that the fuse box was in the room which allowed us to easily flip the trip.

Coastal Travels dropped us back off at the airport for our 1145p departure in a vehicle with no A/C. Our driver did not escort us in or assist us in check in. The airport was – hmmm, how shall I say – STINKIN’ HOT AND HUMID inside. There was no functioning central A/C. None. There was one fan operating in the whole general waiting area. It was just as well that I hadn’t been able to blow dry and curl my hair because it would have been a waste of time.

After check-in we just sat there swimming in our own sweat. It was pouring off John’s face and body; he was wet as a fish. The best that can be said about the ladies room is that they aren’t pit toilets. They are old and in disrepair with no circulating air. When I closed myself into a stall I broke out into an intense steam. It wasn’t until one passed through a final security check just before boarding that any chillers could be found. I know you’ll believe me when I say I nearly knocked people aside making a beeline for one of those chillers!

While cooling down and waiting for our flight to be called I couldn’t help but think about how much tourists spend on safaris and idyllic beach vacations in this country. I couldn’t help – still can’t help! - but wonder where the heck all those tourist dollars – and 20% VAT – are going! Certainly not to the infrastructure of the most major airport in all of Tanzania!

Happily none of our return flights were full so many people had extra space in coach. I tried to spend my remaining Euros at the XpresSpa in Schiphol again but the spa was short staffed and couldn’t squeeze me in before I had to check in for my flight back to the States.

We landed in Bozeman at 7pm on Friday, March 21; our journey home took 28 hours. The same neighbors who had taken us to the airport, Judy & Jerry, picked us up and brought us back home. Judy presented us with a wonderful surprise by having prepared a delicious full meal and desert for us that we only had to warm up to eat. Once we got our pooch back later that evening we could begin to relax and reminisce on how wonderful our holiday had been and how blessed we were to be able to visit such a lovely country and people.

Next up – Things I’m glad I took, things I wished I’d taken, and things I could have left at home.

safarimama

Thanks Doo,
What a wonderful experience you had and shared with all of us.

I can't wait for your next installment. Packing light and having everything you need is such a challenge ... for me anyway!!

doohickey

Things I’m glad I took, things I wished I’d taken, and things I could have left at home.

What each of us takes on safari is very personal. Some things of course are no-brainers – pants and shirts for instance. But there are lots of things that for some are options but which for others are necessities. Safari Fodorites have posted lists similar to this which I have always found interesting if not downright helpful. Here’s my own personal selection

Glad I took and would pack again:

1. Battery powered fly swatter! Though our Rover was equipped with several standard fly swatters I found the electric one better to use. We cleanly killed tse tses and a bee with no muss nor fuss. We didn’t have to clean up smashed flies on the windows and it was very efficient when nailing a fly on upholstery. Besides, it was very entertaining :0

2. Two packs of disposable washcloths by Sage Products – “Comfort Personal Cleansing Bath, Pre-Moistened Washcloths.” “Hypoallergenic, Aloe & Vitamin E enriched formula” is written on the front of the blue and white package. Each pack of 8 was $3.33 at my local drugstore. They were great for morning wash-ups at our Tarangire and Ngorongoro camps where the bathroom sink operation was a pain-in-the-neck and not as easy as at the Serengeti camps.

3. Head lamp. Invaluable in our tents which had warm and inviting but dim solar lighting. It was great for additional light at all times, even during duffel foraging in the middle of the day. The extra batteries got used as well.

4. Blow up neck pillow. I didn’t need it for any of our flights but it was a great lower back cushion on bumpy game drives. After a couple of days of lower back discomfort I remembered I had the darn thing. My back discomfort was immediately relieved.

5. Second CPAP mask. I took it as a “just in case” back up. Well, the just-in-case happened when I broke my main one in the middle of our safari. I’d have been screwed without it.

6. Afterbite. See my bee sting account in a previous post. Need I say more?

7. Cipro, Imodium, Advil, Tylenol PM, antacids…Oh, yeah, baby – I used them all!

8. For the ladies only – Ahem, lots of panty liners. Kept those pants and shorts fresh in the heat, especially on Zanzibar.

9. A small bottle of Woolite and a Tide stick for washing out smalls and getting food dribble stains out of shirts Thank you to LyndaS for the Tide stick recommendation.

10. Two pair of good binoculars – one for each of us. Thomson does not provide binos for their guests, only their guides.

11. Our spotting scope. At 5 pounds we almost didn’t take it but we’re glad we did; we used it many times.

12. Multiple colorful bandanas. With no ability to use a hair dryer and curling iron these covered up a multitude of hair sins. I took about 8 and ended up giving two of them as gifts to the women chefs at our crater camp who wore them, too.

13. Bubble wrap and duct tape. The bubble wrap doesn’t weigh anything but has bulk. The duct tape is heavy depending how much you bring. We used the wrap and tape to protect delicate souvenirs. I also used the tape as a temporary patch on my broken CPAP mask though it held for only one night. It would have been great to patch up a duffel had one of ours gotten torn in all that travel.

14. Dive booties and Rx swim goggles. See my trip report posting about the shore at Ras Nungwi for the booties. The Rx swim goggles are ones I use for swimming laps at home. But I took them along because I once got hit by a rogue wave in the Pacific while wearing my regular script glasses without which I’m nearly blind. The glasses were lost forever. I can see pretty well with the Rx goggles and they strap tight around my head. Yep, I probably looked like a dork wearing them at Ras Nungwi but it was nice to be able to see what direction I was headed in while in the ocean

15. Gifts for special people we’d meet along the way.

16. Euros for our layovers at Amsterdam Schiphol. Also, exchange rate cards for Euros and shillings that I’d downloaded from oanda.com a few days before our departure.

17. A broad brimmed hat. Mine was a Tilley that I’ve had for years. I’m sun sensitive and despite the hat, 30 or 45SPF sunscreen during all daylight hours and a pop top Rover, I still came home with a tan on my face. Btw, if you need strong sunscreen you’d better pack it along because all I saw over there were max 25SPF.

18. Face masks for the long-haul flights. I feel and look like an idiot wearing these things but it’s worth it as it keeps the air I breathe warm and humidified. I suffered terribly from sinus infections as the result of the dry air on long-hauls before I discovered this solution. All the other OTC preventions never worked for me.

19. A skirt and nice pair loafers. I did this for church. And while I only wore the skirt twice on the entire trip and the loafers only three times, I was glad to have taken them.

Wish I would have packed along:

1. For the ladies - more panties. I took eight pair but thought Tarangire camp was too soon to do laundry. Our next camp at the crater turned out to be too damp to have anything dry out in two days. By the time we got to the Serengeti I had a boatload of laundry to send out and was reaching the end of my clean underwear.

2. A hanger hook for my toiletry bag. It has a loop to hang it onto a hook but there was nothing to loop it onto until we reached the Serengeti. This was no biggie but it would have been convenient and taken up little space and weight.

3. More shirts. I got caught short by how quickly I cycled through them.

4. More low socks. I brought 4 pair and some crew height pairs. I used the low type for all but the flights from and to the States and so was constantly washing them.

5. Convertible pants. I didn’t take any. I really should have taken along 2 pair and left all but a pair of cute shorts and nicer pants at home. My husband took two pair of convertibles and one conventional long pair. That work out great for him.

6. My pareo. I accidentally left it at home. I did fine without it but, let’s face it ladies, we all like to be fashionable on the beach don’t we?

Could have left (at least 10 pounds of stuff) at home:

1. A couple of pair of shoes. As one who always likes to keep her options open, I took several pair of shoes. It was foolish. They added bulk and weight when I didn’t need them and wore two pair only twice each. Like I said…foolish.

2. My blow dryer and curling iron. Ah, how stupid vanity can be. I didn’t anticipate being able to use these until we got to Zanzibar. It was stupid weight and bulk for this trip. I just kept slicking back my hair and wearing bandanas a lot. And really, why would I have wanted to spend all that extra time frou-frouing my hair when I could have been out looking at wildlife or lounging on the beach?

3. All but one pair of crew height socks.

4. A second and smaller back pack. What was I thinking?! As you may have seen in one of my earliest trip report posts I gave this away really fast.

5. One of two paperback books and the magazine I brought along. Who has the time or desire to read while on safari for Pete’s sake?! I’d also brought a stack of crossword puzzles that got attention only on the first leg of our flights to TNZ. DH and I don’t watch movies very often so the movies on the plane kept us entertained a lot.

6. Claritin-D. I suffer badly from hay fever for a month every summer. It turns out that I didn’t need the Claritin-D but how could I have known until I was through with my trip?

7. My Thomson Safari ball cap. I wore my Tilley 95% of the time on safari for the wide brim protection.

8. A bunch of our one and five dollar bills. We would have been fine with 30 – 1 dollar bills and 25 – 5 dollar bills besides the larger bills and traveler’s checks that we took. Keep in mind that your travel itinerary, opportunities to spend money and personal level of frugality or spenthriftiness may be very different than ours.

I accidentally left my eyeshades at home and was pretty upset when I realized it because I use them a lot on overnight flights and for daytime naps. I did fine without them.

Last up – Final thoughts

atravelynn

Two lessons from your experience. Use a reliable operator that will fix problems that may arise. Notify that operator ASAP so you can benefit from any fix they may offer.

When you first wrote about throwing your adapter stuff in your bag without looking at it, I knew something else was coming up.

doohickey

Atravelynn,

I couldn’t agree with you more about your two lessons!

I had friends once who spent a week in Paris as part of a second honeymoon trip. Their room was tiny to the point of difficult to manuver in and the mattress was uncomfortable. Rather than seek relief while there they waited until they got home to complain. I remain dumbfounded about that.

I’ll add another lesson to your list based on my two encounters with rude driver/guides and the numerous appalling accounts I’ve been reading about since my return –
3. Select an operator who has a reputation for abiding by the field rules.

And you were very perceptive about the foreshadowing

-doo

doohickey

FINAL THOUGHTS

Introvert v. Extrovert/Private v. Group Safaris

There’s no question about it – if you are an introvert you will do far better on a private safari than a group safari. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to mix with other safari-goers back at your camp or lodge. But if you’re an introvert and you’re in a Rover or Cruiser with a bunch of folks (perhaps even extroverts!) you’ll be exhausted by the end of each day. You’ll need to recharge your batteries in solitude and silence which may be in limited supply. If you’re an introvert and can afford it – go private.

The pleasure and satisfaction of a private safari is fantastic. I’ve been on group trips before; the difference in stress level alone was amazing. Have you guessed by now that I’m an introvert? Additionally, we had the freedom to change things up whenever we wanted. Our appreciation of that grew larger every day.

On tented safaris

When John and I decided to go on a safari we quickly had to narrow down what kind of safari we wanted. This has mostly to do with ones quarters and the choice between group and private safari. My previous experience had been all lodges except for Serena’s Kirawira camp in Serengeti’s western corridor. I had loved staying at Kirawira mostly because it had allowed closeness to nature (sounds, smells, and nearness) that I had been insulated from before. So John and talked over the pros and cons and decided to go tented.
Nearly every night we heard lions and other unidentifiable critters. A couple of times John commented on these sounds as if it unnerved him. But when asked if he regretted staying in tented camps he quickly replied, “No!”, he was glad we were staying in camps rather than lodges because we were so close to nature. The sounds were fun and awesome to hear and we both loved being able to walk right out our “door” into the wild. We were both really happy that we went tented though, admittedly, Thomson’s very nice tents contributed to our satisfaction

On the Tanzania people

Gracious, polite, patient, family cherishing, non-hurried (though not in a procrastination sort of way)… Eye contact and an exchange of pleasantries before getting down to the nitty-gritty are very important. We enjoyed every Tanzanian we met.

On the possibility of another safari

Gosh, we’d love to go on safari again! But, unless someone drops a potload of bucks in our laps it’s not likely to happen.

Well, that’s it folks! Thank you for all your help and advice. It’s been a fun ride

-Judith ([email protected])

safarimama

Thanks Doo,
I have read every word of your report; I've enjoyed all your frank observations and honest down-to-earth accounts of how you felt and learned a lot too. Thanks for your last two posts also; they are very helpful to most of us.

I'm sure you will not be able to stay away from Africa; no way - you must be back!

Kristina

atravelynn

Thanks for a wonderful report. Wishing a potload falls upon you.

Leely

Judith, I loved your report. I was just talking to my Africa travel buddy on the phone and we were discussing not if but "when." And I was thinking, Oh, but it's so expensive. Then I sat down and finished your report. Worth every cent and more. Thanks for the inspiration!

MyDogKyle

Thanks so much for a wonderful report! I enjoyed vicariously experiencing every day of your trip, and your sense of humor made for a very engaging read.

I too hope you'll get back to Africa someday -- but if not, you had a wonderful experience that you'll be able to draw memories from for the rest of your life. Thanks for sharing with us!!

doohickey

Safarimama:

Thanks for all your encouragement and feedback as I wrote my report. Yes, I must go back - but how?

Lynn:
Thanks for your potload wish and all your contributions!

Leely:
Many "cents" to ya, girlfriend!

MyDogKyle:
Thanks for your support and kindness.

To All:
I'll continue checking in from time to time. Safari is in my heart so popping into this board is nice way to still get my fix and chat with y'all who feel the same way

Cheers!

-doo

doohickey

Standby sometime this weekend for a couple of links to photos.

Patty:
No pix or You Tube links to bush loo photos!

As embar-ass-ing as that was, it remains one of my funniest safari moments. I know you, Lynn and a bunch of other ladies here understand!

-doo

safarimama

Just one last thing, since it came up here (I guess I brought it up!):
I gave up on dealing with www.sevendeals.com where Dooh's link took me. I considered disputing the charges, but it's not really worth the hazzle for me. I ordered a replacement on Amazon, since I trust them and it was cheaper too. It arrived well packaged and not broken. I recommend these people if you want to order one. It's the exact same item.

Here are the details:
1 of ELECTRIC FLY SWATTER - 1500 Volts - Easily Kill Flying Insects Such As Mosquitos, Flies, and Gnats., $5.37*
*above item(s) sold by and shipped from As Seen On TV Guys LLC
----------------------------
Item Subtotal: $5.37
Shipping & Handling: $6.90
Total: $12.27

doohickey

Okay, pix are up! I must confess a little itimidation at this - they are not Andy Biggs and Hilton quality - but we had a blast takin' 'em


Some photos of our safari can be viewed here:

http://doohickey.smugmug.com/gallery...MJYr#278100437

Some photos of our time on Zanzibar can be view here:

http://doohickey.smugmug.com/gallery...ggqu#278108233

-doo